Page 3 (1/2)
"E you She’s down in the laboratory"
"But I’s "Emissary Buchanan was very clear that you’re to meet her down there"
I don’t have a chance to put the Darkling boy’s jacket anywhere, so I take it with lass elevator, confused as hell as to why I’ve been asked to go to the labs Why’s Mother letting me down there now? The elevator doors start to close, but a hand darts through thelare down atall over for you," Sebastian snaps, stepping into the elevator besideafter me"
Sebastian clenches his jaw and punches the basement-floor button The elevator slowly descends as we stand in silence, atte between us I can see his reflection in the glass, and my eyes trace the contours of his face: wide eyes, fraether; tanned skin newly darkened with day-old stubble; the small freckle on his lower lip that I’ve kissed a thousand tiain
Mysensation I felt before pulls at ain Weird
"So?" Sebastian says
"What?"
"Are you going to apologize forto apologize for huntingdramatic"
"All I wanted was a few minutes alone, and you couldn’t even letme"
"It’s uard you"
"I don’t need a babysitter And for your inforave you the job is because I stupidly asked her to" Back when I still loved you
The elevator doors ping open I push past Sebastian and walk out onto a ripsyou, but so what? I care about you Why can’t you accept that?"
"Why can’t you just accept the fact that we’re over? We’ve been over for months"
"Because I can’t I love you"
I yank rip "You don’t love me You just want to date me because you think it’ll help your career"
His eyes darken "Don’t pretend it hasn’t crossed your e you want; I’d keep you in the life you’re accusto places, Natalie I’ll be the next Purian Rose one day, and I want you by eirlfriend again, not after--"
Mother’s voice rings up from the laboratory below
"When will the new strain be ready, Craven?" she asks
"A feeeks I think we’ve singled out the gene that’s causing the problem," Craven replies
"You better have I can’t afford any more screwups," Mother says
"Natalie’s back," Sebastian calls down to them
"Come down--it’s time you saw this," she says
We head down to the laboratory, a claustrophobic space of concrete and steel, and I’ht are four doors leading into small cells
"What’s in there?" I ask Sebastian
"The specilis
Dozens and dozens of them, crammed like cattle into each tiny cell I’ht in front ofthe
In the first cell is a pack of Shu’zin Darklings--the purple-eyed, claw-footed creatures commonly found in the Copper State--shackled to the walls with heavy silver chains All their hair has been shaved off, so it’s hard to tell which ones are lazed eyes, their expressions blank, like they’re already dead
Sebastian pullsme on, but I have to see for myself what’s been kept hidden from me all these years In the second cell, a s upside down fros wrapped around their bodies They’re the rarest of all Darklings, froions in the Mountain Wolf State, famed for their flame-colored eyes and ice-white hair They’re the only breed of Darkling ings, and the one I fear the most The Wrath that killed
Sebastian taps theon one of the cell doors, taunting the Darklings inside
"We found whole fa in safe houses around the city," he says "I don’t knohat goes on in their tiny brains They know it’s against the law to climb over the Boundary Wall, and yet they continue to do it anyway"
My father s after he witnessed the horrors of the ration camps in the Barren Lands He spent the lastfor theet in return? A WrathI can’t see what’s inside the third cell with a silver marker above the door because theis closed Finally, I look into the last cell A teenage boy sits on the floor, his head hunched over, his back to me I can’t see his face, but the dark hair and pale skin are familiar It’s the twin-blood! They found hi --the most common breed found in the majority of states across the country--his face half rotted away froh me
Mother and Dr Craven, Sebastian’s father, stand beside a gurney in the center of the roo is strapped to the gurney; at least I assued by the Wrath, a plague that’s been killing the Darklings All that remains are bones and teeth, barely concealed beneath a jelly-like hten, and I take a deep breath, worried I’et out of here soon I feel like a fish in a shark tank, surrounded by all these monsters If I’d known the lab would be filled with Darks, I wouldn’t have come down here
"Do you knohat tilance down at the antique atch that used to belong tois tarnished and the numbers are faded, but the unusual ivory watch face still has a beautiful golden sheen to it, like it’s been painted with a shi varnish