Whisper (Whisper #1)(93)
“He did what he was asked to do,” Kael continues, “but when you finally started Speaking, and he realized just how powerful you are and that you had no idea about your heritage, he knew something wasn’t right. It took him a few days, but he sought us out in secret to see if we knew anything. So we told him. The truth about you. And the truth about Lengard.”
I think about the night I found Ward sitting in the dark in my quarters. I’d assumed his windswept appearance meant he’d been topside searching for a new teenage Speaker, but now I wonder … Was that when he first approached Kael?
“I bet that was an interesting conversation,” I somehow manage to say.
Kael laughs. “He was rather … resistant. But Ward has his own sources inside Lengard, and it didn’t take much for him to corroborate our version of events. Ever since then, he’s been working with us.”
“He’s also probably imprisoned now because of that,” I say, and I’m unable to identify what I feel with those words. I’m still stung by what I thought was Ward’s betrayal, but everything is a mess now, especially given his final declaration to me. Not to mention, his desertion of Lengard — which, if Kael is to be believed, happened because of me.
It’s too much to think about at the moment, so I deflect and ask, “Did Cami and Keeda tell you …”
“Keeda told us everything that happened after she entered the lab,” Kael says. Tentatively, he adds, “Cami hasn’t spoken much to anyone, so you’ll have to fill in the rest.”
My heart goes out to my friend, but I know there is nothing I can do to comfort her until she awakens and we have some time to ourselves.
For now, I’m eager to get my recap over with, so I start from when I left my room, providing as much detail as I can remember. I’m grateful Kael doesn’t interrupt with questions, and he only speaks again when I’m finished.
Shaking his head in wonder, he says, “I knew Vanik was crazy, but wanting a survival-of-the-fittest scenario pitting Speakers against the rest of the world? I can’t believe it. I thought my dad cured his insanity.”
“He’s not insane,” I say. “I think it would be better if he was. He’s in his right mind, but he’s so fixated on revenge that he doesn’t realize how unreasonable his plan is. Can you believe he wants to become a Creator?”
“Worse, he now has the means to do so.”
With Kael’s words, I feel a phantom throbbing from two points in my back.
“Maybe not,” I say, trying to remain positive while raising my uninjured arm to cover a yawn. As I do so, Dinger wobbles back down my body and curls up again at my feet. “If he can’t identify the Creator gene in the samples he took from me, he’ll need more before he can replicate my ability or clone my DNA. And I don’t plan on providing him with any more freebies.”
“Speaking of DNA,” Kael says, watching me, his voice low. “You glossed over it quickly, Lyss, and I know that was deliberate, but I still heard what you said about your parents. How Vanik implied things might not have happened as clearly as we all believed.”
I take a deep breath in and release it again, rolling Vanik’s words over in my mind:
There’s no possible way your Speaking ability could have caused your parents’ deaths … I’ve now given you more than enough to find out what really happened to them … Or even, perhaps, to simply find them, full stop.
“I don’t know what to believe,” I whisper to Kael. “I was so sure — so sure I’d killed them. But Vanik said my mind isn’t capable of imagining the intent needed for that kind of consequence. Is that … possible?”
Kael remains silent for a long time, and when he speaks, he does so carefully. “We only know what happened because of Liana. She saw a vision of you yelling at your parents and running upstairs, only to run back downstairs later to find them dead. Like you, we put two and two together. But, Lyss … I don’t want you to get your hopes up, but it’s possible we misinterpreted the events, just as you may have. Your parents had powerful abilities. If they had wanted the world to believe they were dead, it wouldn’t have been difficult for them to make that happen. Just like my dad did for our family.”
I swallow once and force out the words, “What abilities did they have?”
“Your mum had the most powerful ability for suggestion I’ve ever heard of.” Seeing my puzzled look, he explains. “Manning can force people to act, but the actions are never their own — they’re just puppets. But your mum — she could suggest an idea that would take root and grow, making people believe whatever the idea was until they carried it out with their entire conviction. Her ability was like a mixture of Manning’s enforcement, Enzo’s encouragement and Keeda’s hypnotic captivation all rolled into one powerful package. I’m sorry to tell you this, Lyss, but if your mum suggested for you to believe them dead, or even to believe that you had killed them, then you’d have no way of knowing whether or not the thought was your own.”
I don’t realize my hands have balled into fists until he reaches across to pry my fingers apart.
“As for your dad,” he continues, and I don’t interrupt, even though I’m not sure I want to hear any more, “no one remembers what he can do. Or if they can, they won’t say. Which makes me think he must have also had a strong ability. There was a reason they left Lengard in the first place and then later left Sydney entirely. No one seems to recall why — or they’re simply unwilling to share.”