Whisper (Whisper #1)(80)

“Of course you don’t,” Kael replies instantly, to my surprise. “No one normal wants to see what you might find there. But the question is, can you live with yourself if you decide not to go? Regret’s a fickle mistress, especially when it comes from fear. And don’t forget, princess, ‘the truth will out,’ regardless of your involvement.”

“Ugh. Shakespeare.”

Kael laughs. “I take it you’re not a fan.”

“I can hardly judge someone so highly regarded.”

“You’re entitled to an opinion,” he points out. “Everyone is.”

“Okay then, my opinion is that I don’t want to go to the lab.” I force myself to slide back off the bed and to my feet again. “But I also know you’re right. I won’t be able to handle the regret of not going just because I’m dreading what I might find.”

Kael’s look is approving — almost proud. “I have it on good authority that Falon will be away from his office in ten minutes, so I suggest you go then.”

“Good authority?” I repeat, skeptical.

“The kind of authority responsible for causing a diversion to call him away and distract him, just for you.”

“Your people on the inside?” I guess.

Feigning innocence, he says, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

My lips quirk into a smile without my permission, and something in Kael’s eyes shifts as he looks at me.

“There she is.”

I raise my eyebrows in question.

“You want to know why I call you ‘princess’?” he asks.

“Uh — sure. I mean, I thought you were just trying to annoy me. But, yes, of course I want to know.”

“One of my earliest memories of seeing the world outside Lengard was on my seventh birthday,” he says.

I have no idea where he is going with this.

“My parents took me to the aquarium. I thought it was just to celebrate, but it was also so they could meet up with some old friends. Some old Speaker friends.”

I brace myself in preparation for what I think he’s about to tell me.

“You wouldn’t remember me,” he says quietly. “You were with a group of people at a different party, so even though your parents were able to duck out for a few minutes to speak with my family, you never saw me. But I saw you.”

My breath stutters in my chest because I remember the day he’s talking about. I remember the aquarium party, since it was my friend’s sixth birthday. She insisted on a fairy-tale theme, requiring that we all had to dress up.

“I was a princess,” I whisper, vividly recalling the sparkly gown that my mum made for me and the diamanté tiara that I refused to take off even to sleep.

“I only saw you for a moment,” Kael goes on, “but in that moment, you were twirling around with your hair flying out behind you, laughing like you didn’t have a care in the world. To my seven-year-old mind, you looked like you were born to be a princess. And a moment ago, when you smiled, you looked just like that again.”

I honestly don’t know what to say. But Kael must read something on my face, because he laughs suddenly.

“Don’t get too excited. I’m stating a fact, not hitting on you.”

I smile again — fully this time. “I didn’t think you were,” I tell him truthfully. “But you did surprise me. I was just caught up in the memory.”

“I saw you again a few other times over the years until your family moved away,” he says. “Our mums were best friends, if you can believe it. But once my family left Lengard, it was always yours who came to visit mine, not the other way around.”

I shake my head, marveling at this unknown fact, wondering yet again why my parents never told me about the Speaking world. Why, if Kael’s parents were so close to mine, did I never meet them, never even know they existed? What were my parents keeping me from? Or perhaps … what were they keeping from me?

“You were always smiling, always happy,” Kael goes on, drawing me back to him. “That said, I never saw you in that ridiculous dress again. I still don’t know how you managed to walk in it.”

I laugh at that, and his eyes light with triumph.

“My dad ended up carrying me home,” I share, letting the memory wash over me. Rather than feeling the usual ache and the blinding panic that come with thinking about my parents, all I feel is a wistful melancholy. “It may have been pretty, but all those layers were heavy.”

“I’ll bet,” Kael says, grinning. “I have one at home just like it myself.”

“Sure you do,” I say, laughing again. I wonder how I can be so relaxed around this guy, who only a few days ago kidnapped me and held me captive, who has shown up unannounced and left his body behind. But the truth is, I’m more content right now than I have been for years. And that’s with us reminiscing about my parents, two people who I haven’t been able to think about in all that time without spiraling into an anxiety attack. Somehow Kael has achieved the impossible with me. He’s also given me the confidence to be an active part of our conversation. Nothing bad has happened. I’m speaking — but not Speaking. And it feels wonderful.

“Thank you,” I blurt out.

Fortunately, I don’t have to explain, since Kael seems to know exactly what I’m thanking him for.