“I’m sorry. I know that might be difficult to hear, but it’s not your fault. They did a good job tricking you. At least now we know.”
He pulls his arm away. “No, that’s not true.”
“Daniel, listen to me. I saw them. They cut you open and did something, but there was nothing implanted in you. I’m sure of it.”
“No! You don’t know what you saw!” He pushes me away when I reach out to him.
“You know I’m not lying,” I say gently. “At least now we know we can escape.”
He covers his head and drops to the floor.
I’m gutted by the angry sobs that follow. He twists away from any attempt to comfort him and pounds his fist into the wall. “No! It’s not true! I didn’t spend my entire life as a prisoner here because of some stupid joke!”
“It wasn’t a stupid joke. It was extreme manipulation. There was no way you could have known.”
“But I tested it!” he cries, all the pain of the last eleven years flooding his eyes. “I spent three days in the infirmary afterwards!”
“I can’t speak for how they did that, or what they actually did in that surgery, but I know there’s nothing inside you keeping you here.”
He looks like I’ve punched him.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but we’ll find a way to use this.”
After a long pause, he closes his eyes. His cheeks are still wet, his face flushed with old trauma. “Tell them you saw six green pills.”
“Don’t you want to talk about—”
“No. I pulled six green pills out of a sealed Madison Academy envelope.”
“That would confirm someone helped you.”
He nods. “Clausen will have no choice but to suspect his staff. We can play on his longtime fear that eventually someone would show mercy.”
“Has anyone ever tried to help you?”
“Clausen is careful.”
I wait, and he sighs. “Yes, a couple of times. It never ends well.”
“So what’s our next move besides the six pills in the envelope?”
“Nothing. He’s coming.”
Clausen scans his stepson before focusing on me. “You two have a way of making things eventful.”
“Your men are brutal,” I hiss.
“They’re cautious.”
I feel Daniel’s gaze and rein in the rest of my retort. “I was hoping to finish in time for tonight’s movie. Can we go?”
Clausen nods. “What about you, Daniel? How are you holding up?”
“Fuck you,” Daniel says with a glare.
“Well, I suppose we should be grateful you got your spirit back. Come, Rebecca.”
Chapter 17: Sacrifice
