Page 99 of Artifice

Colin froze, and understanding dawned in his eyes, followed by horror, then rage. With a guttural cry, he turned.

Not toward Olive but toward Henry.

“What did you do to me?” Colin demanded, advancing on the man who had turned him into a weapon.“What did you do to me?”

Henry scrambled backward. “Ingraham! Security!”

But Director Ingraham was slumped against the wall unconscious. Tevin now stood, hands still bound. But the syringe meant for Colin was at his feet. He must have grabbed it and injected her.

“Quick thinking,” she muttered.

“I try.” He shrugged.

“It’s over, Henry.” Olive turned back to the man and heaved out a deep breath. “Your operation here is finished.”

Henry’s face contorted with fury as he backed against the wall. “You understand nothing. This is bigger than all of us. The work we’re doing here will change humanity forever. Control without conflict. Order without resistance.”

“You mean slavery.” Tevin shook his head.

Colin stood in front of the mastermind, knife still in hand. His arm trembled with the effort of resisting his programming.

He wanted to harm Henry—and Olive couldn’t blame him.

But she did need to stop him.

“Don’t do it, Colin,” Olive said softly. “That’s what they want—what the drugs want. To make you a killer. You’re better than that, Colin. Onward and upward. Onward and upward.”

Her words seemed to trigger something. The boy’s face crumpled, and the knife clattered to the floor.

Olive grabbed it.

Then Colin collapsed to his knees, sobbing.

Henry remained frozen against the wall.

In the distance, an alarm began to blare.

Backup would be here at any minute.

“Keep an eye on him while I help Colin,” Olive told Tevin as she cut through his restraints, freeing his hands.

Then she knelt beside Colin, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We’ll help all your classmates. Just like we’re going to help you.”

“Can you?” Colin looked up, his eyes clearing slightly but still haunted. “After what they’ve done to us?”

Olive thought of her father, of all the names and identities she’d assumed over the years, of the masks she still wore.

If anyone understood the idea having to reclaim yourself, it was her.

“Yes,” she said with conviction. “One step at a time. The first step is getting out of these tunnels and finishing what you started—exposing Lighthouse Harbor for what it really is.”

The blare of the alarm grew louder, echoing through the stone tunnels with a deafening insistence.

Olive helped Colin to his feet while Tevin kept watch over Henry.

“We need to get out of here,” Olive said.

“What do you want to do with him?” Tevin nodded at Henry.