“Because you don’t know him!”
“Are you jealous? Because you sound like a jealous ex right now.”
Laura reddens, her eyes bulging from her face. “You think you know him, but you don’t. He’ll use you and turn on you just like he does everyone else who tries to get close to him.”
I clench my fists and glare right back. “Pretty sure it’s all of you who don’t know anything,” I spit back and march toward the exit.
I hide in the library until I feel safe to sneak back to my room. A fitful night’s sleep does little to calm my frayed nerves, and the following morning I consider skipping my first meal. But the only way to prove them wrong is to act like it, so I have no choice but to fake confidence. I’ve been pretending since day one. What’s another show for the masses?
As expected, an icy greeting waits for me at breakfast, and I appreciate the opportunity to eat in silence. Lucy’s cold stares are more difficult to absorb, however, and I almost hope for a confrontation to air the hostility. Once again, I have a taste of Daniel’s world, and once again, I wonder how he survived this life without an ally. At least I have him to ground me. What did he have? The luxury of knowing he wasn’t taking anyone down with him?
Clausen’s approach as the students file out of the dining hall sends my pulse racing. I follow him without protest, but whenwe pass the converted closet, a new wave of fear courses through me.
“You have him back downstairs,” I whisper, forcing in a ragged breath.
Clausen glances down at me but doesn’t respond, and we walk the rest of the way in silence. The cold, dark corridor seems longer than before, more ominous. The glow at the end of the hall hurts my eyes.
Daniel tenses in alarm when I walk into the room, which only makes everything worse. He didn’t know I was coming, which means they’ve taken back control of the game.
“What’s going on? Why is she here?” he asks, clenching his fists in anger.
Clausen ignores him.
An assistant closes the door, and Clausen motions for me to be seated in a folding chair. They haven’t chained Daniel to the chair this time, though his hands are secured in front of him.
“I heard an interesting report that indicates the two of you have deceived us.”
Daniel’s confusion is genuine, and his eyes widen as he must read our minds. “Laura hates me and doesn’t like Rebecca either. Why would you believe anything she says about us?”
“Because it’s very believable.”
I cross my arms, following Daniel’s lead. “Laura saw a vision of the past, that’s it. You already know how I felt about him. Why are we even having this discussion?”
Clausen considers our testimony and adjusts his glasses. “She said you were very defensive.”
“I was. I don’t like being bullied.”
“I see. So, you wouldn’t mind if we continued our experiments on Daniel? You would have had a problem with that in the time of that past vision when you cared about him.” It’s bait. And way too obvious bait.
My eyes narrow. “Do you really think I’d condone experimenting on your students? At any time?”
“Right.” He clears his throat and lowers himself into another vacant chair. “I’m not here to waste time, so let’s be blunt. I do believe you still have feelings for him. I do believe you two have been plotting this entire time, and now I want to know why. No more games. Now is your chance to make me understand why you’d do that.”
“You’re the one who sent me back to him to gather information. I only did exactly what you told me to do.”
“No, you reported back what he told you to say.” Clausen turns his attention to Daniel who straightens to a less vulnerable position. “Where did you get the pills, Daniel? Who gave them to you?”
“You figure it out,” Daniel shoots back, glaring at him. “Maybe you don’t have as much control as you thought.”
“Don’t make this difficult. Tell me now, and Rebecca goes back upstairs to her group session.”
I pull in a breath and venture a look to Daniel. He’s scared—terrified. I’m missing something. Clearly I’m missing several things.
“You wanted to use her against me, and I was trying to use her against you. None of this is her fault. She doesn’t know anything more than what either of us wanted her to know. This is between us,” he says.
“You involved her, so here we are. No more games, no more strategy. Where did you get the pills?”
Daniel glances at me, and I catch his instinctive pull at the restraints on his wrists. Something’s wrong. Something changed.
