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Another tug.

Another long, penetrating slash of eyes. Her gaze branded me.

I nodded, moving my feet to follow her.

Death or freedom.

Death or freedom.

* * *

Addie

“What exactly are you saying?” I whispered, gaze focused on my hands as they twisted the hem of my shirt. The fabric was dark against my too pale skin. Tiny threads dangled precariously from the hem, seconds away from unraveling completely. I focused on that, only that, and it allowed me to pretend my world hadn’t changed completely in the span of seconds.

“You called me Fallon when we first met,” Lucian said softly. He moved from his seat, perching on the front of his desk. His long legs indolently kicked outwards until they were touching mine. I winced at the contact, pulling my own body further back into the chair. “My nephew does look a lot like me. Granted, I’m a more stunning version.”

He tried to smile, tried to have it reach his eyes, but it failed. Epically.

“Nephew?” I parroted, my mind latching onto that one word.

Suddenly, my conversation with Fallon and the others came back to me. The reason they knew so much about the parasite and the natural disasters. The reason they were at the resort to begin with.

Fallon’s uncle had been the Secretary of Defense.

“I see the wheels turning,” Lucian said brightly. “I see my nephew spoke of me?” He stepped even closer, and behind me, Deth ventured a step towards me as well. I felt surrounded, enclosed. Only the high-backed leather chair kept their bodies from touching mine. “I was employed by our President, God rest her soul, when she was first elected three years ago. Unfortunately, President Ali was infected near the beginning of the outbreak, and her Vice President, Reiyna, took over. The country wasn’t aware, what with the lack of internet and cable.” He smiled, almost as if he believed he made a joke.

A fucking joke about the end of the world.

“Soon, she was dead as well. Actually, the entire cabinet fell. Except for me. I knew very powerful men, you see. Like your father.”

His words were the equivalent of a bucket of ice water being poured over my head. My body went rigidly straight. I could hear each heartbeat, but the rhythm was irregular. I was so fucking terrified.

How could he still affect me the way he did? How could I still innately fear a man who had been absent from my life for almost a year?

Full body shivers jolted my body forward, and I brought my hands up to my face. A throbbing headache was forming behind my eyes. I reluctantly dropped my hands and faced the man who wore the face of my lover.

“You see, Adelaide, the government was aware of the Arctic long before it was freed. We studied it. Tested it. Experimented on it. Some of these experiments, I’ll admit, were not sanctioned by the United States government. Sometimes, we have to do immoral things for the sake of billions. Money and power have a lot of pull in the world, you know? Your father was more than happy to accept a handsome paycheck for his services.”

My entire body was cold, numb. I couldn’t look away. God, I wanted to. The need to divert my eyes was driving me hard, but something in me rebelled. I needed to hear what he had to say. Every last horrible word.

“Your father experimented for years. We provided him the worm, he used his connections, and we gave him money. His favorite test subject? His daughter.”

The air whooshed out of me. Even before he had finished speaking, I was shaking my head.

“No, you’re wrong. I would’ve remembered. You’re wrong. It wasn’t me.”

“But it was.” He smiled to take the sting out of his words. I glared in response. “Your father masked it as normal abuse. Don’t you remember the drugs he injected in you? The doctors he made you see?”

I continued to shake my head rapidly.

“You’re wrong! You’re fucking wrong!”

Even as I said that, a memory assaulted me.

I shivered against the cold, pressing my leg closer to Ducky’s. The silver gated fence was against our back, the school’s playground in front of us.

“Are you cold?” Ducky asked softly. Only his head moved to stare at me. We were shoulder to shoulder, and tiny bolts of electricity reverberated through me at the connection.