Whisper (Whisper #1)(19)

“Jane, you ready?”

Cami knocks once on the door and lets herself in. She sees me and whistles through her teeth.

“Look at you.”

I am looking at me. I can’t seem to draw my gaze from my reflection.

The summer dress fits perfectly, and try as I might, when I look at myself, I have a hard time seeing any traces of them. I’m not sure if that upsets me or fills me with relief.

“Here, let’s do something with your hair.”

I stand perfectly still and let Cami pull my wayward locks up into a messy bun.

“Perfect.” She smiles at me through the mirror and grabs my hand, pulling me out of the room. “Time to go.”

I’m examining my woolen-covered feet as we enter the main area of Ward’s quarters and wondering whether I should take the socks off, when Cami gives my hand a squeeze. I glance up in question — and halt at the expression on Ward’s face.

My face is burning again; I can feel it. I wish they would both stop looking at me. I didn’t choose to wear the pretty — too pretty — dress. As much as I hate my uniform, I would wear the same pillowcase for the next thousand years if it meant I’d never have to feel this uncomfortable again.

“Don’t we have somewhere to be?” Cami asks when the silence lingers, and I’m grateful for her intervention. Ward shakes his head as if to clear it. “Yes. We do.”

Without another word, he leads the way from the room, and a grinning Cami drags me after him. She stops us at the door to hand me a pair of flip-flops. I exchange them for my woolly socks, and they fit perfectly.

“I thought we looked around the same size,” Cami says, nodding to my feet. “I’d let you keep them, but the wackedout rules here say you can’t have any footwear until you’ve committed yourself to the program. What’s with that?”

Her mention of the increasingly mysterious “program” piques my interest more than Lengard’s footwear rules. I consider how I might press her for more details, but Ward calls to us loudly from farther down the corridor, closing my window of opportunity.

“Are you two coming?”

“He’s so uptight tonight.” Cami laughs quietly and drags me after him again. “I’m loving this. You’re seriously good entertainment, Jane.”

I don’t think anyone has called me “good entertainment” — ever. Not even back when I made an effort to be someone people wanted to spend time with.

I try to get my bearings as Ward leads us down a hallway, but I have no idea what area of the facility we’re in. The doors on either side of us all look the same, and the unending, colorless walls offer no clarity. When we come to a stop in front of a door, I frown, because something about this area seems familiar. I don’t have time to figure out why before Ward knocks twice, opens the door and motions for us to enter. Cami is still tugging on my hand, so I follow as she pulls me past her brother and into the room beyond.

What I see causes me to stop dead.

“Mum! They’re here!”

Cami releases me and opens her arms for two golden-haired boys, who run directly toward her. She has to bend to embrace them, and she squeezes them in a hug until the boys are laughingly begging for her to let them go.

A high-pitched squeal rings out, followed by an excited, “Landy! Landy! Mummy, Landy’s here!”

I watch with wide eyes as Ward kneels just in time to catch a blurring missile of dark ringlets.

“Beautiful Abigale, gorgeous as ever.” He rises to his feet with the little girl still in his arms, her legs wrapped tight around his torso.

He throws her up in the air, and she cries out, “Again! Again!”

“Anything for my favorite girl,” he says, his smile almost as bright as hers.

I’m sure my mouth must be hanging open, but I can’t help it.

He’s my evaluator. He’s my evaluator. He’s my evaluator.

I can’t pull my eyes away from them. Not until —

“Hey! I’ve seen you before!”

I turn to look at the boy who spoke. He’s the older of the two, though not by much.

“Ethan, this is Jane,” Cami says, her hand resting on his shoulder. She turns to me. “Jane, meet Ethan and Isaac.”

The older one — Ethan — gives me a curious look, while his younger brother, Isaac, offers me a grin and a shy wave.

“I’m Abby!” cries the little girl, still clinging to Ward.

She pushes against him until he sets her back on the ground, then she takes a running leap that leaves me with no choice but to catch her. I automatically draw her up into my arms, and she doesn’t hesitate to circle her hands around my neck.

“We have the same hair! Look!” She pulls on a strand that has escaped my bun and holds it up against one of her own ringlets. “We could be twins!”

I can’t fight my smile. She’s simply too adorable. But of course that’s the moment Enzo walks in from another room, accompanied by a blond-haired woman I’ve seen once before. Unlike the last time — when she found me with the guards in the hallway — she’s not staring at me in fear. Still, she appears wary.

“Well, I’ll be damned. There’s that smile again.” Enzo crosses his arms and grins at me. “Who the hell are you, and what have you done with JD?”