Unforgotten(94)

Just the sight of Dr. Maxxer holding that vial suddenly sends a thunderbolt of fury through my body.

What is happening to me?

She descends the stairs slowly, never taking her eyes off me for a second. My mouth has suddenly gone dry. Bone dry. I rub my tongue around it, practically hearing the scratching sound it makes against the inside of my dehydrated cheek.

Maxxer seems to be moving in slow motion and when I look closely at her hand, the one holding the vial, I see that it’s trembling.

Why? Why would it do that? Why would she possibly be afraid of me?

She glides toward the table and ever so carefully places the vial down on the glass surface.

I attempt to swallow but there’s nothing to push down.

I glare at the tiny bottle in front of me. I take a step toward it, feeling fear rush over me. An inexplicable, paralyzing fear.

I can’t take it. I can’t.

Something inside is fighting against me. A warning bell is ringing in my head.

Don’t! it cries. Don’t take it!

But I have to! This is what will save Zen! Why wouldn’t I take it?

I press forward, ignoring the clamoring in my brain, the resistance in my muscles. I take another step. I’m within arm’s length of the tiny bottle. I lean forward, my hand shaking violently as I reach for it.

The tips of my fingers graze the cool exterior of the vial and then …

CRASH!

I let out a shriek and leap back. Dr. Maxxer rapidly withdraws five stairs up. Her bodyguards spring into action, surrounding the dark, wet figure that has seemingly dropped from the sky into the room, shattering the glass table in front of me, sending the vial flying across the room only to land with a soft thud against the carpet.

The figure—which I now see is a person—lies huddled on the ground, facedown, shaking. Shards of glass protrude from his skin.

The guards launch themselves on top of him, restraining him, pinning down his legs and arms. I hear the familiar sizzle of the Modifier and his body goes limp. The guard on the left pockets the device and together they flip him over so I can finally see his unconscious face.

I gasp for the second time in the past twenty minutes, breathing his name softly. Urgently.

“Kaelen.”





52

COMPELLED



Maxxer’s usual calm and collected demeanor is suddenly shattered like the pieces of table now lying on her carpet. “Who is this? Is this him? The Diotech agent they sent?”

I nod, fighting every inclination I have to bend down and touch his face.

“How did he find you!?” Maxxer roars.

“I don’t know. I swear I don’t know!”

“Your tracker.” She nods toward my left wrist. “Did you feel it set off?”

I shake my head, realizing this is now the second time Kaelen has somehow managed to find me without the help of a tracking device.

Maxxer bites her lip in thought and sits down on the stairs. Without even looking over at Kaelen, she waves her hand and orders, “Take him to the holding cell. Keep him deactivated.”

“Wait,” I say, watching helplessly as the two guards hoist Kaelen up by the armpits and drag him out of the room. “I don’t understand what’s happening. How could he possibly—”

My thoughts and words come to a crashing halt when my eyes land on the tiny glass vial lying only a few feet away, shimmering blue against the soft white rug.

Zen.

I can fix him.

I can fix all of this.

Once again, I’m drawn toward the small bottle. I move toward it. My hand extending in the direction of its salvation. I kneel down before it, reach out, and …

“No! Wait!” Maxxer calls, launching to her feet.

But it’s too late. The vial is already in my hands, clutched tightly. And then, suddenly, it’s as though the world has turned a shade of red.

My mind empties.

My thoughts vanish.

A rolling storm of blackness seeps into my head, hiding everything from view—who I am, what I want, who I love. I am no longer me. I am someone else.

An entity fueled by rage.

A brain capable of only one concept. One idea. One goal.

The hot ball of ferocity that had once been dancing around the edges of my consciousness is now all I can see. All I can feel. All I am.

It explodes inside me, the blast pushing me forward.

I rise obediently to my feet, storing the vial safely in my pocket.

For him.

For Alixter.

He needs it. And he needs me. My mission is only half complete.

I glance up. Maxxer’s face is contorted in fear. The sight of her sends another frenzy of wrath bursting through me. It consumes me. It spreads to the very tips of my toes and fingers. My hands spasm with the anticipation of feeling her throat crush. My ears await the sound of her heart sputtering to a stop. My existence will not be complete until I watch the light fade from her eyes.