Unforgotten(92)
“Yes, but,” I continue, a dull pain starting in my chest, “they sent someone to follow me here. An agent. Except he’s different from all the others. He’s … like me.”
“Only better.”
I leave this part out.
She inhales sharply, clearly not expecting this. “And where is he now?”
The dull pain starts to stab as I nod toward the windows. “Out there somewhere. I don’t know. I was pulled under and he was left behind.”
Maxxer flashes a satisfied smile in the direction of the man who led me here. “Well done, Trestin.”
He nods tightly in response.
“Don’t worry,” Maxxer replies gently. “He’s long gone now. We’re a good three miles from the coordinates I directed you to. Another precaution I took. Trestin was instructed to transesse there and back with you. So it seems as though we’ve outsmarted them.” She beams again.
I smile, too. Because it feels appropriate. A minor triumph over Diotech. But the subtle celebration distresses me. Makes my stomach flip. It feels so … so …
Wrong.
I don’t speak, however. I reassure myself that Kaelen can’t drown. He’s a strong swimmer. Like me. Plus, he can transesse out of the water whenever he wants. He won’t stay there.
This eases my discomfort.
He can’t find us. But he won’t perish either.
For just a moment, I allow myself to hold his face in my mind, focusing on his bright aquamarine eyes and creamy white skin. I wish him a silent goodbye. I’ve won. And that means I won’t be seeing Kaelen ever again.
Exactly as it should be.
And yet, somehow, I always thought victory would feel … I don’t know …
Better.
Dr. Maxxer strolls over to a counter indented in the far wall. It is backlit with a soft blue light and stocked with numerous bottles of liquid. “Would you like something to drink?” she asks. “We have a fully stocked bar.”
I shrug. “Sure.”
I watch as she removes two glasses from a shelf, drops a few ice cubes into each, and pours a fluorescent green liquid over them.
“Trestin,” she says sweetly to the man who brought me in here, “give us a few minutes to catch up, would you?”
The man eyes me and I swear I see doubt flash over his face. “You’ll be okay?”
She smiles and gestures toward the two men in white still standing motionless on either side of the staircase. “I’ll be fine.”
“Of course, Doctor,” Trestin replies, and then disappears through the door, closing it behind him.
Dr. Maxxer invites me to sit on the S-shaped couch and I oblige. She takes a seat next to me and hands me one of the glasses. I stare down at the strange green drink with trepidation.
“It’s an energy drink,” she tells me with pride. “My own creation. I modified the molecular structure of caffeine to make it ten times more potent without the jitters or the crash.”
I’m not sure what most of those words mean but I smile politely regardless.
“Who are they?” I ask, glancing at the men in white.
“Bodyguards,” she says bluntly.
“To protect you against me?”
She laughs and takes a sip of her drink. “Heavens, no.” But I notice that her voice rises a few octaves when she says it and she doesn’t make eye contact with me. Instead she hides her face behind her glass. She swallows and presses the bottom of it into her palm. “To protect me against the unknown. It’s a crazy world we live in.” She gestures to me and herself. “Full of so many surprises. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes.” I sniff the drink. It smells rancid and bitter. I place it down on the table.
“But don’t worry,” Maxxer assures me, “we can speak freely in front of them.” She leans in close and whispers, “I adjust their memories at the end of each day.”
I shoot a wary look toward the men in white, feeling sorry for them. Then I eye the door through which the man who brought me here just disappeared. “Why did he look so familiar to me?” I ask.
Maxxer’s gaze shifts uneasily toward the door. “Trestin?” She swats her hand in the air. “Oh, he has one of those faces.”
“One of those faces?”
“Meaning he looks familiar to everyone regardless of whether you’ve met him or not.” Her knee starts to bounce.
Why does she seem so nervous?
“But I have met him,” I argue. “I’m almost certain of it.”
“I’m sure you have many questions,” Maxxer says dismissively, “but first I believe we have some business to settle.”
I raise my eyebrows. “We do?”