Damselfly (22 page)

Don’t trust anyone.

I lick my lips to force some life into them. My blood’s run cold.

Row sees my terrified face and gently takes the postcard out of my hands. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I think it’s…a stupid prank.”

He flips the card over, and his jaw tightens as he reads the inscription. “That’s a bit creepy.” He takes my hand. “Lina, I’m sure it will be fine. No one can get into this place—it’s got better security than a prison.”

Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.

I grab the card, kneel down, and stuff it into the bag.

“What are you doing?”

“Protecting the few freedoms we have left,” I whisper.

“We should tell someone.”

“Over my dead body. I do not want to be locked in that room again just because Dr. Christiansen is paranoid.”

He clamps his mouth shut, but the frown remains. He won’t tell. I’m counting on his silence.

We sit in silence as the other guys tear through the letters. Row doesn’t open a single one of the cards addressed to him. When Shrike tries to pressure him into reading them, he only shrugs and says he doesn’t care. Blue seems to have the same level of interest.

I can’t stop thinking about George. Clearly he was the one who turned in Dr. Christiansen, and no one wants me to know why. And now Mr. Coxworth… Why does he have to be involved in this? Why is he trying to turn me against George? I spent hours playing in his cottage, making friends with his mice and the cutout paper dolls of the pop-up books. He paid me in illegal tobacco for my help in his research. How could he possibly be on Dr. Christiansen’s side?

Is anyone who I think they are? I poke at my kneecap. Am I still my old self or have I changed beyond recognition since I’ve started this show? I thought I was doing this to ensure Jack’s safety, but I’m not sure anymore. Is it right to trade my own free will for the safety of someone else if it allows a perpetrator to keep on victimizing even more people?

I don’t know. I have no idea what I can be sure of anymore.

A hand on my shoulder. “Lina? Are you listening?”

“What?”

“She’s asking what you want for dinner,” says Blue.

“She” is a young woman in catering get-up, holding a tablet at the ready. I would much rather eat food cooked in my own kitchen, but I imagine I don’t have much of a choice here.

“What are my options?”

“Vegetarian or vegan?”

I should have guessed. “Vegetarian.”

“Thank you. And what will you have?” She collects the Toms’ preferences before heading off to the kitchen.

“What was that for anyway?” I ask.

“She said something about a banquet.”

Huh. Banquets are infrequent around here. Yet again, nothing is normal lately. I shrug it off and excuse myself to get ready. I need a long, hot bath and some room to think.

With both hands, I crank the wheel above my tub that opens the faucet. Hot water pours down, filling the bath almost instantly. I turn the wheel back to “off” and slip out of my clothes before sinking into the tub. I didn’t bother to light the votive stub in the corner. Instead, all of the lights are off. The last of the sunlight leaks through the crack in the curtains and spills onto the floor in a weak line of orange.

I slide down until my wing joints hit the top of the tub. I wish I could go all the way down until my chin touches the water like I’ve seen women do in movies, but that’s a physical impossibility. I lean forward and submerge my face and head instead. The heat eddies across my skin in delicious little currents. When my skin feels as though it will start melting off, I pull my head out of the water and breathe deep.

I hold up my hand and count the things I’ve discovered on my fingers.

I know Dr. Christiansen has a court appearance in just under a month.

I know she had something to do with the deaths of six girls.

I know George turned her in and Mr. Coxworth is trying to keep me from finding out any more information about the case.

And I know Dr. Christiansen is working on something else, something new, and she needs money. Is it another sort of human mutant? Maybe something with accelerated growth so the other Toms can have girlfriends their own size.

I shake my head. That can’t be it. She wouldn’t put so much time and energy into something so six teenaged guys won’t be lonely. That’s not who she is.

My arms and legs are starting to look pruney, so I hop out of the tub with questions still on my mind. Where is George now? And what exactly did he mean by not trusting anyone? Is there
no one
at all in the entire compound who is honest?

Row’s face pops out of the background of my confused thoughts, and the relief is instant. Blue is another possibility, but he’s always so cryptic and distant. I’d hardly think of him as reliable. But Row I can trust.

I nod my head emphatically at no one in particular and then laugh at my own antics. I towel myself off and throw on a bathrobe.

Someone knocks on the front door and nearly knocks it in.

“Lina?” asks a muffled voice. I open it slowly in case it’s a man, but it’s Susanna. “I’m supposed to get you for hair and makeup. Oh good, you had a chance to take a bath and relax. I was worried you might not.”

“Yeah, I’m all clean now and sort of relaxed. What time is it?”

“5:30. The banquet is in an hour, so we need to hurry.”

“All right, I’ll be out in a minute.” To myself, I grumble,
Geez, what’s the rush? Couldn’t they have waited until everyone’s not so jet-lagged and exhausted?
I comb my hair and throw on a button-up dress. I’m still damp and sweaty from my bath and my hair is soaked, but I’m ready.

Back in my former cell, Susanna, Tina, and the rest of the fashion minions transform me into a painted doll. As Susanna puts the final touches on my makeup, I glance up through her looking glass at her distorted face.

“What’s this banquet for anyway?”

“I heard it’s for some employee’s anniversary.”

I frown. “Who?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t really care enough to pay attention. Everybody blends together after a while here.” She flicks her brush across the apples of my cheeks and smiles. “Everyone except you and a few other people.”

“Why thanks. It’s so comforting to know I stand out from boring people.”

She purses her lips but says nothing. Her brusque brush movements are enough to clue me in that something is wrong.

“What?”

She raises an eyebrow as if to ask me “what?” right back.

“You look upset.”

A muscle twitches near her mouth, but she stays quiet for an uncomfortable minute.

“You don’t know how to take a compliment, Lina. You’re so…prickly sometimes.”

I’m taken aback, but her words ring true. “I’m sorry.”

She shrugs and says it’s okay, but she still looks annoyed. Susanna holds a mirror so I can inspect my makeup. “You look beautiful.”

My heart feels too heavy now to accept I am attractive as a human being, but keeping her comment in mind, I say nothing except, “Thank you. You did a great job.”

She smiles in reply, but her eyes remain flat and listless. “Off you go. Get some clothes on.”

My stylist takes over and dresses me in a light blue wrap dress with silver accents. I swivel side to side, and the skirt swishes along with me.

“I like it,” I say, pleasantly surprised. As I twirl around, I catch Susanna watching me with serious eyes.

“You look nice,” she says with little enthusiasm. “You’d better get going. Eat lots of good food for me.”

I hesitate, but after searching her tanned face for some sign that the tension has dissipated and finding nothing, I head off for the banquet. Tonight, the door to my old bedroom is wide open. The hallway is fully illuminated, and I fly out of the building without the slightest trouble.

I rub my arms to chase away the chill from the autumn night. It’s not even 6:30, but darkness has already fallen and the road to the dining hall is far too quiet. One lonely lamppost illuminates my frosty breaths. Winter will be here soon.

The warmth and light of the dining hall draws me closer, breaking through the barren trees and falling full on my face as I approach. A banner hangs above the front doors, proclaiming, “Congratulations, Dr. Coxworth!”

So that’s who this is all for.

Wait a minute.
Doctor?
Since when?!

A couple of waiting photographers see me and start snapping pictures. I wave and pose, then they open the doors for me and I find my place next to the Toms at the head table. Row’s saved a seat for me, and I slide in next to him. He’s looking dapper in a dark green button-up shirt and khaki pants. Blue, as usual, keeps his title of “Sexiest Tom” with a wide-cuffed cerulean blue shirt. He’s got one extra button unbuttoned, and his hair is a tousled mop of bluish black. Al’s dark skin looks even richer against his bright white shirt. The other guys are looking pretty standard, but handsome.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Row says, draping his arm around my shoulders.

I exhale for what seems like the first time today. He seems to carry a bubble of “safe” around him wherever he goes, and it would be nice to stay inside it for a while.

Shrike clears his throat and glares into his water glass, but I ignore him.

“You’re looking great,” I say to Row. “Everyone does.” He gives me a squeeze, and I melt against him.

“Are you feeling better?”

“A little. Thanks. I think I could sleep forever.”

He laughs. “You and me both.”

He rubs my shoulder with his thumb, and I’m momentarily tongue-tied. I scan the room to see who is here, but I only see Lilliput employees and a couple of people from the film crew. It’s a small gathering. I catch Dr. Christiansen’s eye. She’s watching me with a smug expression on her face. I whip my head away and lean forward so I’m no longer in her line of sight.

Dinner is served. As the last bits of food are scraped from our plates and napkins are folded, Dr. Christiansen takes the stage.

“Welcome and thank you for being here to honor an employee who has outlasted all of the others. Dr. Coxworth has graciously lent us his mind and scientific prowess for these past twenty years. He was one of Lilliput’s first researchers, and it was his breakthrough findings that allowed us to create Lina and the Toms. We hope to have him with us for many more years. Please welcome Dr. Coxworth.”

I’m frozen in my seat, a boa constrictor of panic wrapping around my throat. Twenty years?

I started working here when you were three years old…

He lied to me. He’s been lying all along.

Chapter 28

Dr. Coxworth takes the stage, thanks Dr. Christiansen for her kind introduction, and begins his speech, but I can’t focus on anything he is saying. How could I believe a word of it anyway?

Shrike leans across the table with a devilish grin. “I’ve heard he’s a real crackpot. Is it true?”

“Shut up, Shrike,” Crane whispers.

Shame seeps through my heart. A crackpot? I’ve never thought of him that way before. He was always just eccentric old Mr. Coxworth to me—someone I loved and respected. I already knew he was lying about George, but some part of me still wanted to believe he was doing it out of a desire to protect me. Now I know he’s been deliberately deceiving me.

Tears prickle at the corners of my eyes, and I angrily wipe them away. I have never experienced humiliation and betrayal on this level before. I want to stand and scream “I
trusted
you!” Instead, I fumble around under the table for Row’s hand and grasp it like a drowning woman would a life preserver.

“I need to talk to you,” I whisper into his ear.

He frowns. “Now?”

“After the speeches are done.”

“Okay. Is everything all right?”

My breaths are coming so fast I feel as if I’m going to have an asthma attack. “No,” I croak.

His green eyes are full of questions, but he says nothing more. He squeezes my hand and turns his gaze to the stage.

The rest of the speech goes by in a whirl. I don’t hear anything Dr. Coxworth says, and he never once makes eye contact with me. I’m holding Row’s hand so tight my grip is getting slippery from sweat.

When the applause has faded and Dr. Coxworth has stepped down with his framed certificate, I give Row’s hand a tug.

“Let’s wait until a few others get up,” he whispers.

An eternity passes, but eventually some of the staff scoot their chairs back from the tables and begin to mingle. Row stands and, still holding my hand, leads me outside.

“Over here,” I say and fly around the corner of the building and onto the roof where we can’t be seen. The musty stench of damp, rotten leaves floats up from the gutter, but we sit down anyway on the tiles. The cold penetrates my skirt, and I shift around, trying to get comfortable.

“What’s all this about?” Row asks.

“I need to tell somebody,” I begin. So I spill everything, from the deformed cat to the threats against Jack if I don’t cooperate. I tell him how Dr. Coxworth deceived me into believing he was on my side and the court case against Dr. Christiansen. His brows furrowed, Row listens without interrupting. When I’m finished, I exhale in relief and laugh.

“What are you laughing at?”

“It just feels so good to tell someone. It’s like a huge weight has been pulled off of me.”

He smiles, but his eyes look troubled.

“You don’t believe me?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s a lot to, you know, absorb all at once. I need a minute.” He falls into silence, and I pick at my fingernails as I wait for him to finish thinking.

“Lina, did you ever find out what they were doing to that cat?”

“No. I couldn’t find any clues.”

He nods. His whole body looks stiff and uneasy. “Where was it?”

“In the research building. We could try to sneak in later.”

“No, I don’t want to do that,” he says hastily.

“Why not? Maybe we could get some answers, and it would be easier with two people. One of us could keep watch and—”

“I just don’t want to.”

“Seriously? That’s it?”