Page 83 of Fragile Facade

Ah, there is still joy in the unexpected things.

31

MAKE ME UNAFRAID

RIOT

This time,I’m the one lurking in the shadows. Soren is listening to Axel tell him the details about his mom and Gregory Malone being high school sweethearts or something, and I’m busy concocting my own plan for him tonight. My energy level is better after an easy day, and I’m up for this task.

“That’s… she killed my fucking dad?!” Soren shouts.

“If she did, the curse would have broken,” Axel reminds him, pretending to buy into the curse. “She pushed him to take his own life.”

Soren scowls. “To get him out of the way so she could be with Malone? That’s why that nasty fuck always stalked my brothers? They were offing my family for their second shot at love?” He paces the hallway between the new room his mom is being kept in and Axel’s lab, steam brewing and his dark side coming out. “I’m gonna fucking kill that bitch.”

“That bitch is your mumsie,” Kyd says when he bounces into the lab, making Axel sigh in frustration. “Which just means I’ll help.” He smiles wide. “I’ve been building a guillotine in arts and crafts. Wanna try it out?”

I barely hold back my chuckle. Kyd is technically a patient at the asylum. He has a file here, even though he’s never read it, and he’s part of a lot of patient clubs. He’s in the asylum orchestra, joins, and sometimes leads, the arts and crafts class, and he’s been practicing to audition for a stage play they’re putting on next year. He goes on field trips with the other patients, sits in on family visits, and has a bunch of friends who are also patients. The guy takes joy in everything, even being a live-in patient, and honestly, if it weren’t for him, the rest of us would forget to have fun so often.

“Would you please sit down and stop talking?” Axel says to Kyd, eye only fluttering a little. Kyd complies, for now, and Axel turns back to Soren. “Yes, she pushed him to suicide. It’s why I picked her as one of my test subjects. If she didn’t make it, well, I figured I’d be doing you a favour.”

“Don’t act like you give a fuck about me,” Soren snaps at the doctor. Axel doesn’t deny it. “I want her dead, but you can’t tell my brother and sister.”

“I’m not murdering your mother.”

“I got you the fucking file you asked for. You owe me.”

“Not the whole file,” Axel grumbles.

“I’ll do it!” Kyd shoots to his feet again, pink hair flopping into his eyes. Axel pushes him back down, and Kyd pouts while secretly loving being touched, leaning into it like a purring cat.

“Sleep on it. She’s contained here, and you can make that choice tomorrow. Or another day. We have a lot more pressing matters at the moment.”

Soren just grunts and leaves the lab. I don’t have more than a second to react to him stepping into the hallway, so as soon as he does, I step in front of him and smile.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“The fuck do you want?” he barks, trying to push by me.

“Everything,” I whisper, holding up the calling card he left me. Then I slam his head off the wall and catch him as he falls. “Got him! He’s ready!” I shout to Axel.

Kyd wheels out a gurney, and the three of us get him on it.

“He’s going to kill me for this,” Axel reminds me.

“You’re lucky I didn’t kill you for taking my brother. Call us even if you do this.”

“And if he comes for me?” Axel asks as we wheel Soren down the hall to an imaging room.

“I’ll be your knight in pink armor.” Kyd flashes his teeth.

“Don’t worry, doc. I’ll take the brunt of his fury.” I grin, anticipating it.

“We’ll put him under for now, but he’s going to have to be awake for some of it. He’ll need to undergo emotional trigger tests and stress tests so we can watch the connectivity signals.”

I nod, promising I’ll stay here for all of it so Soren doesn’t kill anyone.

He puts Soren under general anesthetic, injects a dye into him, and for an hour, I watch screens and monitors and things I don’t understand while Dr. Graves does the brain mapping thing Soren refused to get. Remi has been so much better since starting his medication, and even if Soren won’t take meds, I want to know what we’re working with. I’ll help him chase death forever, but only if it’s to slam the door in her face. When I saw him walk into my torture room, I didn’t like the look in his eyes. Buried under his murder high was a scared, dark idea, hinting at his shift in need. He was closer to the curse than he’d ever been before, and I’m no longer taking the risk.