CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - SADIE
When I get downstairs Cyan is banging pots and pans around as she goes through the motions of dinner with Iziah. “Where’s Uzi?” I ask.
“Out,” Cyan snaps. “I hope you and your new lover enjoy the dark side.” She slams a pan down on the stove burner, making the grates jump. “Because we won’t be joining you there.”
“Don’t be dramatic, Cyan,” Iziah says. He smiles at me when I look at him, his eyes warm and happy. “She’s been through a lot and she went through it with this asshole. So…” He shrugs. “Cut her a break.”
“Cut her a break?” Cyan says, sending him a sidelong glance that would make most people tremble. She might not be a level ten mentalist like Thomas, but she’s got her talents. And she knows how to use them. Always has. Even when we were children Cyan was the one coming up with plots and plans. Cyan was the one who kept us safe. Cyan was the one with the idea to break out of Prodigy. “I don’t cut breaks for Alphas.”
“Would you just give him a chance?” I say.
“No,” Cyan snaps back. “I won’t. He’s the one who killed them, Sadie. How the fuck do you just forget that?”
“I didn’t forget that,” I say, defensive. Well, I did. But that memory is back now. Not so for most of the memories with Thomas and Sullivan. There are still a lot of gaps there. It’s so strange. It’s like I traded one set of memories for another. “I’m very aware of who and what he is.”
“And you want to coddle him. Take care of him like a stupid nursemaid? I don’t even know you right now.”
“Well, I don’t know you either,” I mutter under my breath. But she’s too busy banging shit around in the kitchen to hear me. I glance at Iziah, who didn’t miss it. And he just sends me a sympathetic shake of his head and mouths, It’s OK. Which is code for, Drop it.
Iziah turns away and starts grabbing some food out of the fridge.
“Thomas is coming down for dinner,” I say. “So make enough.”
Cyan slams a large metal spoon down on the counter. “Are you fucking kidding me?” She turns to Iziah. “You’re OK with this?”
“Cyan,” he says. Iziah has always been the calmest of all four of us.
“Don’t Cyan me.” She points her spoon at me from across the room. “Are you dating him now? Is Uzi aware that Alpha Thomas is taking his place?”
“What place?” I ask. “Uzi and I are just friends.”
“Friends?” She looks over at Iziah, shooting him a do-you-believe-her-bullshit look.
“Cyan,” Iziah says again. “Knock it off. She’s been gone for two years. She doesn’t even know him.”
“Apparently, she doesn’t know me either.”
Well, I guess she heard my muttered response to her saying the exact same thing.
“Two years didn’t stop us from getting back together,” Cyan shoots back. And the look on Iziah’s face is the only thing she needs to see. “What?” she asks. “What’s that look for? You’re having second thoughts about starting over?”
Iziah is just about at the end of his rope now. I don’t know what happened to him when he got left behind at Prodigy. Just like I don’t know what happened to me. I’m just going to assume it’s bad.
“I never said that. I’m just saying… leave her the fuck alone.”
Cyan looks hurt. She opens her mouth, then closes it and turns her back to him, busy with dinner again.
When Iziah looks over at me, I mouth, Thank you.
He doesn’t respond.
I don’t know why he took my side against Cyan. They’ve been a thing for as long as I can remember. Even as kids, they were always a team. Same with me and Uzi, but I never let him get any farther than that. Cyan always wanted more from Iziah. I always figured he was in love with her. But this… this is not the Iziah I remember.
And the tension in the air is almost thick enough to see.
“Hey,” Uzi says, walking in the front door, slamming it behind him. He takes off his jacket, throws it on a chair as he passes by, then comes right up to me and slips an arm around my waist.
I smile. But… he sends chills up my spine. Just not the way he’s supposed to.
I remember Uzi. I have lots of memories of Uzi. But there’s something about him I can’t seem to shake these days.
“What’s wrong?” he says, feeling my apprehension. Probably reading my mind.
“Cyan’s pissed off,” Iziah says from across the room. He’s looking straight at me when I glance over at him. Like he said that to cover up the fact his brother makes me uncomfortable.
Something’s wrong here. Something is off. Ever since I felt well enough to come downstairs and join them, I’ve felt it. Uzi and Cyan have been on the outside for two years without us. Things have changed. And I know Iziah feels it too.
I wish I could talk to him in private, but we never seem to find ourselves alone together. If Cyan isn’t with us, then Uzi is. In fact, now that I think about it, I haven’t had one real conversation with Iziah since I woke up.
“When isn’t she?” Uzi laughs. He looks down at me. “Right?” His smile is the same. His eyes, still the same. His face is just as handsome as I remember.
But he’s not the same.
Maybe it’s you, Sadie. Ever think of that?
Yes, I have thought of that. I’ve thought about nothing but that since I woke up.
I have changed.
“Right.” I laugh, trying to lighten the mood. “And look, Cyan, I get it. We all know who Thomas is.” Well, they don’t, not really. They have no idea about Sullivan. And I’m not going to tell them. I decided this immediately, as soon as Cyan started asking me questions about him. “But he’s not the same guy as he was when all that shit went down. And none of us were there. You should just let him tell his side.”
“What side?”
All four of us turn our heads to the stairs to see Thomas—Sullivan—staring at us from the bottom step.
Cyan turns back to slamming things. Uzi’s body stiffens next to mine. Iziah says, “Your side,” with a long sigh that says he’s tired of this fight and he’s ready to move on.
“OK,” Sullivan says, walking into the living area. He eyes Cyan with caution, then Uzi, and finally decides that Iziah is the only one worth talking to.
I have to agree with his assessment right now. Even though I feel like a traitor for doing so.
“But you’re gonna have to help me out here,” Sullivan says. “I came in on the middle of the conversation.”
“How about an explanation for why the fuck you felt the need to kill all those kids at school fifteen years ago?” This is from Uzi.
“Not to mention the teachers,” Cyan says. My mouth drops in shock. Teachers?
Sullivan laughs while I’m doing that. “Teachers?” And I might love him in this moment for being on the same wavelength as me. For making me feel—not crazy.
Then he lets out a guffaw. “Are you serious? I have no clue what your school was like,” he says, again, deciding to focus on Iziah. “But mine wasn’t filled with teachers. They were all certifiable mad scientists who used my body like a lab rat. They used my brother like a lab rat. And my baby sister. They used my friends. So if you think I’m going to apologize for what I did, think again.”
“That doesn’t give you right to blow people up. Kids,” Uzi replies. He tugs me closer to him and I suck in a breath. This is not turning out right. I don’t want him touching me. And it’s not because Sullivan just made some kind of offer upstairs. It’s just… I don’t want him touching me.
“You Alphas think you’re in charge. You think you’re so powerful. Well,” he says, gripping the skin of my waist so hard I let out a gasp, “you have no idea what Sadie and I can do together. Or Cyan and Iziah. And if you think you’re going to put us down like rabid dogs, just like you did those other kids, you’re in for a big surprise.”
I don’t think Sullivan even heard him. Because his eyes are trained on Uzi’s grip on my waist. He drags his blazing eyes to mine. Squints.
I don’t know him very well but I think that squint is… something bad.
I push Uzi off me to deescalate the situation and walk over to the kitchen. “Can we just have dinner and talk this out like grown-ups?”
“Pffff,” Uzi says. “You barely count as a grown-up, Sadie.”
“Fuck you,” I say. “And just in case you don’t remember, Cyan and I are twins. We’re the same fucking age.”
“Yeah, but you’ve been at Prodigy for two years. She knows what’s up. You?” he says. “You have no clue what’s happening. And you’re the one who invited this monster into our house.”
I open my mouth to yell at him, but Iziah says, “OK. That’s enough.”
But I’m not done. Not even close. “Whose fault was it that I was left behind?”
I’m talking to Uzi, but I can feel Cyan looking at me.
“We did our best,” Uzi growls. “And I cannot believe you’re taking this asshole’s side over us. It makes me sick thinking of what they did to you while you were there. Just like it makes me sick thinking about what they did to Iziah.”
I don’t know what to say after that. I just want to leave. But I can’t. I’m stuck here. And it sucks that I feel this way about my sister and my friends, but I do.
Something is wrong. Something has happened to the two of them while Iziah and I were still at school. Something very, very bad.
“Hey,” Sullivan says. “I’m willing to tell you almost anything you want to know. About the past, anyway,” he clarifies. His tone is calm now. Like he’s interested in smoothing things over. But we’re linked. I can feel that link right now. It’s a buzz. A feeling of being… occupied. And I like it. And just when I think that, he sends me a message. Just stay calm and let me handle this.
I look at Uzi, since he’s the one who’s supposed to be in my head, not Sullivan. But I haven’t felt a link with him since I kicked him out when I made them take me to Thomas. Sullivan. God, that’s confusing.
There’s been no humming, at least. No electricity. No feeling of occupation or completeness.
He’s not in me, I realize. He’s not in me and this is probably why Cyan is pissed off. They think I’m compromised.
“But let’s eat first,” Sullivan continues. “I feel like I’ve been starved for weeks.”
I smile. Almost laugh. But Iziah sends me a warning look to hold that shit back.
“No hard feelings though, right?”
Iziah squints his eyes at Sullivan. “You sure about that?”
Cyan huffs as she cooks.
“Look,” Sullivan says, walking over to the living area and taking a seat in a chair. “I really appreciate the fact that you got us out of that tunnel.” He looks at Uzi, then Iziah. “And I know I hurt one of you with a mind blast, but I’m not sure which, so I’ll apologize to you both. I’m sorry. I thought you were from Prodigy School. Sadie was out from the gas and couldn’t tell me otherwise.”
“And I didn’t remember, anyway. I was sick, you guys. Sul—” Shit. “Thomas saved me, OK? That’s why I trust him. He saved me. I already told you that Prodigy sent me to kill him. Then my memory got fucked up, or reset, or something, when he did this massive mind blast in the hospital. Whoever that girl was who walked into the hospital with orders to kill wasn’t me. This is me, you guys. I’m back. I’m safe. And all of you helped me get here. All of you,” I repeat, looking at Cyan. “Including Thomas.”
We all just stare at each other for a few seconds.
“So we need to forget the past and focus on the future.”
Cyan and Uzi share a knowing look. This, I decide, is the issue I’m having. They’re up to something. And Iziah and I aren’t in on it.
“Before we go any further,” Uzi says, walking over to a chair across from Sullivan, “I’d just like to know what your intentions are.”
“With?” Sullivan asks, glancing at me.
“Not her, you asshole. With Prodigy.”
Sullivan shrugs. “Kill the fuckers. What else? So they can’t do this again, and again, and again. So they can’t hurt any more kids.”
Uzi thinks this over. The rest of us wait in silence.
“Now let’s hear your intentions,” Sullivan says. And even though Uzi wasn’t asking about me when he asked first, Sullivan is. And all of us pick up on it.
“Sadie and I are a team,” he says, staring Sullivan down. “Just like Iziah and Cyan are a team. So I’m just not sure you fit into our intentions.”
“Fair enough,” Sullivan says. “But you’ve got a problem.”
“Yeah?” Uzi says. “What’s that?”
Sullivan smiles. “You’re not linked to her anymore, my friend. I am.”
I watch Uzi’s reaction very carefully. He doesn’t blink or flinch. He doesn’t scowl or get angry. So he knew.
Of course, he knew. He can feel the emptiness just as much as I could.
“I’d like you to think long and hard before you try to take what’s mine, Alpha.”
My mouth drops. I want to scream at him for that remark. But Sullivan sends me a calming message. Let me handle this.
“I didn’t take anything. It just… happened. I don’t think I’m in charge of Sadie’s link any more than you are. It’s out of my control. But…” Sullivan adds, sending Iziah a sidelong glance. “I’ve got friends who might be able to sort it out. Get your link back, Uzi. But we’d need to go there and figure it out.”
“Who?” Cyan asks.
I look over at her. She’s stopped her cooking and her attention is completely focused on Sullivan now.
“The other Alphas, of course. Lincoln Wade has an asset I think could be helpful.”
All three of them laugh. Even Iziah. Apparently, an invitation to meet more Alphas is his line in the sand.
“No way,” Cyan says.
“Pass,” Iziah says.
But Uzi—who is clearly in the leadership position—remains silent.
“Well?” Sullivan asks. “Do you want her back or not?”
We all hold our breath, waiting for Uzi to make up his mind. I feel a little sick over this deal, but Sullivan keeps sending me messages. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me.
So I do.
And when Uzi finally says, “OK,” I have it all under control.
Sullivan has a plan and it begins now. Because he says, “Good. Then let’s skip dinner and get this show on the road.”