“I love it.” Just as she said it, Perrin snuck up behind her and yanked the pins out of Katherine’s hair. “Hey!” Katherine grabbed for the bun but it was too late, the thick mass came tumbling down.
Perrin smirked and shoved the stolen pins in her pocket. “My work here is done.”
Chapter Eleven
Katherine had eaten waytoo much but everything had tasted so good and she couldn’t have asked for a better dinner companion. Kong had told her some great stories – like the time he and some others had accidentally painted the general’s Jeep pink.
She’d hooted with laughter. “How was that accidental?”
Kong had just shrugged, a look of innocence on his face. “It was an honest mistake. Green, pink, they’re just so similar.”
Then there was the time that Kong was challenged to see how far he could go while carrying someone on his back. It had started with one person, but more had piled on. By the time he was done, five grown men were hanging off him. He’d walkedthe full length of Black Bay, which was pretty damn impressive considering the size of the island.
“Speaking of challenges,” Kong said as he got up. He returned a moment later with the pan of brownies. “It’s your turn.”
Was he going to challenge her to see how many brownies she could eat? Katherine groaned. She was stuffed. She didn’t think she’d even be able to eat one. “I’m so full,” she protested.
“There’s always room for brownies.” He began cutting them into even squares. “But you promised me the best brownies I’ve ever eaten. Time to see if that’s true.”
He dug out a corner piece and took a bite. Katherine held her breath, waiting as he chewed. He closed his eyes, letting out a littlemmof appreciation before he licked a stray crumb from his lip. He nodded. “Good, but I need another bite to be sure.”
That bite turned out to be the rest of the brownie. As it disappeared into his mouth, his head started bobbing again.
Katherine couldn’t take the suspense a moment longer. “Well?”
Swallowing, he looked at her with perfect seriousness. “I may need another before I can make an official ruling.”
She barked a laugh at his teasing. “Admit it,” she prodded. “They’re the best.”
“Okay. Yes. They’re the best.” He looked at the pan in front of him. “But I’m still going to have another.” Looking back up at her, he asked, “Do you want one?”
“I couldn’t possibly.”
“Sure you could.” Scooping out a square, he put it on a napkin and placed it in front of her. “Save it for later if you have to.”
When he demolished his second brownie, Katherine commented, “You have a sweet tooth.”
Kong nodded. “It started with a chocolate chip cookie. A nurse at Legratia gave me one.” His eyes grew distant. “She was nice to me. Sweets weren’t allowed so she had to smuggle them in.”
Smuggle them in? When he’d mentioned a nurse, she’d assumed Legratia was some sort of hospital. Was this a memory from his childhood? Back before he’d been freed? Katherine listened intently, not daring to say a word.
“Growing up in the lab, our diets were strictly regulated. It was the first taste of chocolate I’d ever had.” He closed his eyes. “Sweet and delicious.” He shook his head. “I’ll never forget what she said to me that day when she handed me the cookie. She said, ‘Every child deserves a taste of happiness.’”
From what Katherine understood, any happiness was a rare occurrence for them growing up.
Kong took a deep breath. “Her name was Laura, and she was the one bright spot in that hellhole.”
Katherine didn’t want to tarnish the woman’s halo – Kong obviously held her in esteem. The woman had done a nice thing for a child and that was great but she couldn’t help asking, “How could she work there? How could she see what was being done to you and not do something about it? Report it.Something?”
Wiping his fingers on a napkin, Kong nodded. “I asked her that once. We kept in touch after the lab was shut down. She told me she didn’t know the full scope of what was going on down there before she took the job. They told her they were running important experiments that would one day help change the world. She knew it was all hush, hush – she’d had to sign a bunch of legal documents – but they didn’t give her specifics. She thought they were curing cancer. Once she found out what was going on, she was horrified but she was locked in by the agreements she’d signed. She still tried to report it anonymously – she was scared of what they might do to her family if they ever found out what she’d done – but nothing ever came of it. Not until years later when the military shut it down.”
“If she was so horrified, why didn’t she leave?” Katherine couldn’t hide the derision in her voice. Nothing would have kept her at a job where children were being abused.
“I asked her that too,” Kong said thoughtfully. “I couldn’t wrap my mind around why she stayed. But she told me it was because she knew that if she left, there would be no one there to help us. Even though she could only do small things, it was still something.”
Kong’s eyes met Katherine’s. “She was right.” His brown eyes hardened. “It was because of her that we understand compassion and empathy. Without her influence, we’d be very different Beasts.”
Without her, they might have turned into heartless monsters.
