Page 36 of Remnants
“I need to see him,” I blurt out. The last time I thought he was dead, I’d based it on a lab coat beneath the rubble. And while I do trust Aiden and Jackson, I don’t think I’ll be able to accept it completely until I see that truth with my own eyes.
Aiden nods slowly, his gaze sharpening as he watches me.
“And I want his body burned down to his bones.” The words fly out of me unchecked, but after I hear them, it feels right. “When his bones are all that’s left, I’ll destroy the rest with my gift. There will be no chance for resurrection.”
“Do you care what we do to him before you burn him?” Jackson asks coolly.
I pause, considering. “No. He won’t feel any of it, so it doesn’t matter.”
He smiles.
“I’ll make the time for us to take care of that in the next few days, then,” Aiden confirms, checking in with me again for a nod of acceptance. “Kellan.”
“We got a report of the quarantine doors opening on their own. I figured it was Harvey up to his usual pranks, but sent Raegan andDane up to the room just in case.” His expression darkens, and he shifts forward to lean on the table. “I found Claudia first. She was already gone when I got there. The fight was over. I don’t know when it started, but the rats in the group grabbed the others and ran through a portal, I’d bet. Since the kids made it out somehow, I’m sure Claudia had something to do with their escape.”
I remember meeting Claudia at Portia’s apartment. When she’d shown up to take and help Isabel, she’d been so proud to be a member of the Guild.
What’s going to happen to the children without Claudia here to help them?
“Harvey was crying behind the desk, covered in blood. I don’t know the extent of his involvement since it looked like the fighting began before he snuck in, but I couldn’t get anything out of him before Charles stabbed me in the back.”
Psycho dad.
“The freak licked my blood, then began shooting me while asking me questions about my gift. Next thing I know, he’s showing me that he has my gift, too. Once he ran out of bullets, he touched my head, and I can’t remember anything after that. Until you woke me up.” He motions to Aiden, who nods.
“Reid informed us that Charles can copy others’ gifts by consuming their blood.”
“Gross,” Dane mutters.
“If that’s all, why not just cut Dane and drink his blood to get his gift?” I question, confused.
“Now he sounds like a vampire,” Kellan drawls.
“It’s so he’s not the guinea pig,” Jackson offers, twirling a throwing knife across his knuckles.
“That’s a good point, but I think we’re missing something else.” Aiden taps his fingers on the table in thought. “He was surrounded by the gifted in quarantine, but there were no reports of him doing that. Now, he could have found blind spots to hide what he was doing, but I haven’t seen or heard of him doing anything outside of the list Reid gave us. I think there’s some other limitation we’re not aware of.”
“Like why he didn’t copy Vera’s gift if it was so important to what they were working on? They had to use Royce,” I chime in.
“Yes. Exactly. It could be a limitation of the number of gifts he can have at a time. Or else a characteristic of who he’s copying the gift from,” Aiden adds.
Dane scoffs. “That could be anything. Can’t Reid answer all this? He and Charles seemed familiar.”
“Because he’s Charles’s son.” Kellan pulls his hair back, tying it half-up and away from his face, though a few shorter strands still fall free. “Which makes him our girl’s brother.”
Dane slaps a hand on the table. “I know that! I mean…familiar. Rae’s related to Charles by blood, but they just met. Reid and Charleskneweach other. I’m sure he knows all that guy’s secrets.”
“Half-brother, according to Reid. And we can’t ask him because he left,” Aiden answers calmly.
Dane stares, blinking for a full breath before his face contorts. “Heleft?! What do you mean he left? Did he turn on us?”
Aiden sighs. “After Cassandra healed him, he teleported away.No, he didn’t say where he was going or if he was coming back, but I don’t think it was to rejoin GE. The most likely option I can think of is that he’s attempting to find and take Tinsley back on his own.”
I’m still preoccupied trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have a half-brother. I’d forgotten that in the midst of…well, almost dying.
I may not have a father to get to know better anymore, but at least I have Reid, right?
Except I don’t. Not until he comes back, if he does at all.
