Page 84 of Desecrated Saints
“Perhaps God was shining down on me.”
“Bullshit,” I fire back. “You had help. Who?”
“An interesting question. I’m not certain you’ll like the answer.”
I ensure Lazlo is watching while I test the sharp tip of my knife. He hasn’t stopped smiling for a second, seeming far too pleased with our reunion. I fucking hate the satisfaction we’ve granted him.
“The plea deal Sabre has cooked up for your pampered ass is conditional on your cooperation,” I try to say calmly. “Information, Professor. That’s all your life is worth. Prove you’re not wasting our time.”
Flashing yellowing teeth, Lazlo’s grin is triumphant.
“Your mother helped me.”
Seven flashes me a warning look, silently ordering me to keep my shit together. This is just another one of his endless mind games. I won’t fall for it again.
“Spinning another tall tale?” I laugh. “Nobody is going to protect you or your lying hide. This is a waste of time.” Stepping away, I take a second to gather myself.
“She was there, wasn’t she? You saw her.”
My retreating footsteps are halted by his words.
“I heard the news reports,” Lazlo continues. “A deadly firefight in London. Several gang members left dead in the pursuit of England’s most sought-after criminals. I have no doubt that Bancroft sent her.”
Like falling through cracked ice into the depths of the ocean, my entire body stands frozen. Every word he speaks infects my mind with more of his venom. Despite everything… an image swims into my mind. All I caught was a glimpse from across the street.
Strolling through the flames, the woman headed straight for Phoenix, intent on violence. Her misshapen skull was exposed by her bald head, with two sunken eyes raking over us. A skeleton draped in papery skin, she was more dead than alive. I saw her, but… she wasn’t my mum.
It’s a lie.
This is just another trick.
Incendia wants to tear me apart.
“You’re fucking unhinged!” I scream at Lazlo, whirling around in fury. “My mother is dead. She died! Crashed our car on purpose, nearly killing me in the process. She’s been gone for twelve years!”
“Do you still dream about her? I’m sure you do. Does she speak to you too, Brooklyn? I wonder, is her voice whispering in your ear right now?”
“Don’t listen to him,” Seven barks at me.
Faintly, I can hear Hunter shouting through the earpiece. His voice disappears as I drop it to the ground. In the blessed silence that brings, I stare at Lazlo. He isn’t smiling anymore.
“I rewrote the very fabric of her consciousness,” Lazlo boasts. “Years of experimentation and research. It was easy enough to issue the right command to harness those threads again, all these years later. I’m certain Bancroft punished her for helping me.”
“She’s dead,” I insist again. “I don’t know how you escaped, but my mother is dead.”
“Her hair fell out many years ago,” Lazlo reveals conversationally. “The body suffers irreparable damage after enough rounds of electroconvulsive therapy. Tissues shrivel and die, brain cells degenerate. Memory slips away. It’s difficult to imagine the person she used to be. So full of life.”
“You took that from her!”
“Science took it. Can you see her now? Is Mummy going to come back and save you this time? I doubt she remembers she ever had children.”
The distance between us melts away. Before I know what I’m doing, Lazlo is trapped beneath me as my fists sail into his face. Blood hits the gravel, teeth shatter and bones break beneath the weight of my fury. When Seven drags me up, Lazlo is covered in blood and cackling like a hyena.
“She was more scar tissue than human when they pulled her from that car wreck,” he coughs out. “The trauma of it broke what remained of her mind. It was easy to recreate Patient Delta from the remains.”
“No! Let me have him!”
“We can’t do this…” Seven says uncertainly.
