The Forbidden Trilogy(125)

As if on cue, she kicked inside me. My hand hovered over my belly protectively. "What do you mean, she is the key?"

"Have you not figured it out yet? Genetic mutations such as ours are natural, but flawed. We are at the forefront of a shifting genetic pool from which Darwin's fittest will emerge. But we are no longer at the mercy of unseen gods to propel us forward. We now have the god of science to speed along the process. We have discovered a way to breed out the weaknesses of our kind, and breed into them the best of all powers.

"You were our first successful venture, but we knew we could do better. Combining the genetic material of our father, you, me, Drake, his mother, and some extra ingredients for fun, we created your child, the being you call Ana. What a quaint name, by the way. A lovely way of honoring the woman who helped you escape. Quite a nuisance that was, but it is in the past. We shall think nothing more of it."

The Seeker's madness had escalated to grandiose ambitions of taking over humanity, and yet our father stood at the head of this insane scheme. Was he even madder than the Seeker? What kind of genetic material had shaped me and my child?

I tried to keep my voice calm, to choke back the tears that threatened to consume me. "But you hurt kids. You impregnate girls against their will, and then watch as they die when your experiments go wrong. Now, kids at school are being whipped and shot in the back of the head. You're harming the paranormal population more than society would have. You are the beast you claim to want to protect us from."

He lowered his head. "It is a shame you feel that way. We are so close to the final piece that would save us all. Your friends retrieved a valuable weapon in our fight for freedom. Combined with you and your child, we will be invincible. We cannot allow any rebellion, not when our rightful place in the world is at our fingertips. We must maintain control. Do you not see? Our methods, though severe, are all for the greater good."

I softened my voice. "Is this the legacy you want to leave when you die?"

He looked up and his eyes widened in shock. "How do you know that? I have not allowed you access to those thoughts."

"It wasn't hard to figure out. The nosebleed, your frailness... and I can feel the presence of death on you. What are you dying from?"

His laugh held only bitterness. "I was not so fortunate as you in the genes. My powers are great, but they have come at a great price. My brain is eating itself. Even if I stopped using all of my powers, I would not live long. So I have done what I can to further the cause until I could pass the reigns to you, my sister."

His unnatural calm returned. "Are you beginning to see? This is why we risk lives in genetic experimentation. Too many para-powers kill their hosts. Many of your friends will not survive past their twentieth birthday. But we have made advances, and with you and your baby's help, we can save the others and breed new children."

My universe tipped and rebalanced. Everything I knew, everything I'd experienced now needed an entirely new labeling system. Right and wrong had ceased to be black and white. It had balled up into so many shades of gray that I couldn't decipher anything anymore.

Could evil be justified by good intentions? Or was that truly the road to hell, as the saying went? My hand went to my belly. My thoughts went to Ana and the professor and Mary and Drake. No, evil is never justified, no matter the intention.

"I understand what you're telling me, but there has to be a better way. Having the right motives doesn't justify what you're doing. Do you have any idea what kind of violation you are perpetrating on these girls when you impregnate them?" I moved closer to him and held his eyes. "Help me, brother. Help me set this whole business back on course. We can give these kids real freedom, not this tyranny you've created. We can create a new environment for them, one where they won't be beaten and killed and experimented on against their will."

The only way he could see, the only way he could truly know what he had done was to show him, to make him feel what I felt. I had to merge with him the way I had merged with Drake, but to do so I had to become completely vulnerable.

I hesitated. My sweaty hands clenched and unclenched. As much as I wanted it to, time did not stand still for this. It moved inexorably forward, carrying the safety of my friends with it.

Without further thought, I reached for him, opened myself and allowed him to merge completely with me.

Every memory, ever fear, every tear I'd cried and all my broken dreams, even every joy—I poured them all into the light of his consciousness.

The betrayals and the pain, both psychical and emotional, threatened to engulf me, but still I poured. Still I opened.