I wasn’t prepared for the admission. I had been up all night watching Quinn. It was a bad habit, but one I couldn’t break. I’d never met anyone like her before. At first it was her physical appearance that called to me. She had such long blond hair, like nothing I had ever seen before. And her crystal blue eyes were so innocent, despite the evident fear. Clearly she wasn’t completely innocent. She’d borne a child, yet she had been sheltered and protected in a way I was unused to seeing. But it was the mystery behind her eyes that I felt I needed to solve. There was so much passion and determination laying just beneath the surface.

I was positive she knew I watched her. She’d caught me once, but she’d closed her eyes again and fallen back into sleep. I’d left that night, but I’d come back every night since.

I was nothing if not a creature of habit. I checked on Bailey twice each morning even though she wasn’t on my service. As a child, she was under the supervision of Dr. Tolerson. Still, I needed to make sure she was okay. She meant everything to Quinn. The only time Quinn ever smiled was when her daughter was with her.

The new admission brought all sorts of new questions, questions I was afraid to answer.

“Hello, my name is Dr. Morton.” I greeted the new admission the way I always did. Polite, but professional.

“Hi.” She barely looked up.

“I see you have been Corded. How did you come to be here?” I tried to make eye contact, but she wasn’t having it.

“I was separated during the fire.” She looked down at her hands when she spoke, and I got the sense she was lying.

“The fire at Sray Club?” I led her, but it seemed like the only way I was going to get any answers out of her.

“Yes.” She nodded.

The girl was stunning, yet familiar. She had hair just like Quinn’s, same color and texture. They also shared the same nose. There was no question the two girls were related. I had read over Quinn’s records dozens of times. There was no mention of a sister, but that didn’t mean one didn’t exist. “Why did you come here?”

“I was turned in for the money.” She still stared down at her folded hands.

“Yes… I see here.” I glanced at the manila folder holding her records. “But how did you come to be in the company of the boy?”

“I already told you. I was separated after the fire.”

“Yet you appear completely unconcerned to be here.” In fact she seemed almost relieved to be here. Maybe it was because her situation at Sray had been particularly bad, but considering her resemblance to Quinn, I had my own hypothesis about the situation.

“Where else would I go? The Reine? At least you aren’t going to beat me here. I mean I assume you won’t.” Genuine fear crossed her face.

“No. No. Of course not.” I didn’t like to see her fear. She was a relation of Quinn. I was nearly positive. Whether she was a sister or cousin was left to be determined, but either way I would make sure she was safe.

“According to your intake, you are unaware of your breeding status?” I doubted two in one family could be breeders, but then again if they were actually sisters their family genes were rare already.

“I have never conceived, but I have only had the potential for one cycle. I don’t think that’s enough time to make a determination.”

“One cycle? You were only at the Sray that long?” The timing fit Quinn’s so closely. “Where were you before you moved to Sray?”

“In the Rurals.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Her answer matched Quinn’s. We’d already sent representatives out to the area she described. There was no one there.

“And how did you come to leave your home?”

“Kidnapped by traders. How else would I have ended up in the city?”

“Sray doesn’t buy from traders last I checked.”

She paled slightly. Another lie. I didn’t press her and instead waited.

“I knew someone who was able to get me to a better club.” She ran her teeth over her lip.

“And this personal Cording?” I gently lifted her arm. “Is it possible the man who branded you truly let you get lost in the shuffle?”

“With all due respect, sir. Why does that matter?” She finally looked up at me with blue eyes.

I tried to hide my reaction, but the resemblance between her and Quinn was uncanny. “Because we need to understand your history.”

“Understand my history? Or what? If you don’t like it, you’ll just let me go? I am free to roam around?”

“No, of course we will not turn you out. We are here to—”

“Then what do you care about my history other than my breeder status?” she interrupted.

“It is important to know of any specific abuse or—”

“Oh really? You want to know about past abuse before you abuse me?”

“I already told you, you are safe here.” I was exhausted, so my temper was running on a short fuse.

“Save it. I am here for one reason and one reason only.”

I braced myself, knowing full well what she was about to say. “And what reason is that?”

“To save mankind.”

I blinked. What? I was expecting her to mention Quinn. Quinn, and maybe Bailey if she knew about her, was why she was here. I was sure of it. “Are you sure that’s why you’re here?”

“Is there another reason to be here? Is there something else you do here I’m not aware of?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry, but we must know as much as possible about our patients.”

“Patients?” She clasped her hands together. “Is that what we are? I never knew I was sick.”

“You aren’t sick. It’s only terminology.”

“What happens next?” She adjusted her pillows to sit up.

“You get some rest.” I reached over to help with the pillows, but her expression made me step back.

“After that.”

“We will do some initial testing.” I kept my words as vague as possible. I didn’t want to needlessly worry her.

“What does that testing involve?”

“You have a lot of questions.”

“Yes I do. Is that okay?” She stared me down again.

She was fiery. That was for sure. I’d dealt with other women with an edge since working at Central, but this girl was different. She didn’t even pretend to have a softer side.

“May I ask your name?”

“You just did.” She adjusted the pillows again and sat up more.

“What is your name?”

“Kayla.” She stared right through me again.

“Kayla. Pretty name.”

“Prettier than patient # 261. Isn’t that what my file describes me as?”

“Of course. Those numbers are only to make things easier.”

“Then why did you ask my name?”

“They make things easier, but that doesn’t mean I want to call you by a number.” Maybe it was useless to try to explain my position, but I always tried with the patients.

“Oh. I assumed by easier you meant it was easier to torture me if I I was just a number to you.”

“That’s true too, but I don’t want it to be easier. And it isn’t supposed to be torture. You said yourself, you are here because you want to help save human kind.”

“We all say things we don’t mean.” She slumped down further in the bed.

“Yes, we do.” I headed toward the door. “Rest well, Kayla.” I closed the door behind me.

I was at a loss. There was no question she was closely related to Quinn. My first thought should have been about what a miracle it was that one family could have two girls, but it wasn’t. My mind was on whether this would change anything. Would this help me get through to Quinn? Convince her I cared about her?

I still didn’t know why I needed Quinn to view me different than everyone else, but I did. And it wasn’t just for the hope she’d choose me as an active donor, even if the thought of such intimacy—though only for the purpose of procreation—thrilled me like nothing else in the world. It had been my superiors’ idea. Quinn had conceived naturally, but had that been an anomaly? There was only one way to find out.

It wouldn’t be forced on her. Her other option was the test tubes, but I wanted her to choose the first option—with me. More than that, I wanted her to open up to me. Tell me what really happened to her. She’d been traumatized in ways I could never hope to understand, and I needed to help her.