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"At least you’re i to be helpful, I could tell, and in a way, he was: the beads of sweat on Dr Banks’s temples doubled in size, now accompanied by a red flush around the base of his jaw

"Hands, yes," said Dr Cale "I ers"

"This isn’t you, Surrey," said Dr Banks quietly He didn’t turn back toward us Maybe he was afraid to

"You’re right," said Dr Cale She leaned back in her chair, getting co her valued friend, Steven Banks, the s to worry about How she was going to fund her research, for exa to pack in her son’s lunches for the week She had a life to plan Surrey would find what I’ abhorrent, on all sorts of levels, because Surrey worked very hard to keep herself tied to hu Surrey would never have wanted her son to look at her the way Nathan is looking attoward Nathan He looked almost as unsettled as Dr Banks did Thea sainst his skin I reached for his hand He ju his fingers throughon for dear life

Dr Cale continued: "But here’s the thing, Steven Surrey Kiet to have an opinion here Surrey wouldn’t have done these things to you I can Do you knohy?"

Dr Banks didn’t say anything I think he knew that there was nothing he could say at this point He had dug his own grave, and he had dug it very well indeed

"Surrey Ki the exhu an active inal identity’s death was years behind her, taking e They were two different beasts, close enough to seeh that one could endure without the other Her anger had faded as her old life becae at thehad she been waiting for this veryof the day when Steven Banks would be captive before her, stripped of power and position, unable to stop her fro she wanted?

I suspected that it was far, far too many, and I was afraid

"Dr Banks, why did you come here?" My voice sounded thin and unsure, even toHe had alanted to be a father figure to irls often sounded unsure when they spoke to their fathers I sed and pressed on: "You knew this would happen You had to know this would happen So why did you do it?"

"I didn’t know everything that would happen," he said, and finally turned, his eyes focusing on ure out where I got the irl She took a lot of work, you know You should be iave a lurch Nathan squeezed th he could I took a deep breath to stop , and said, "I a like that" Sherman and his army of chimera; Dr Cale and her assistants I kneay too many people who could do exactly what he’d done "That still doesn’t explain why you cahed It was a brief, sharp sound, and it hter was dangerous with Dr Cale sitting right there, doing a slow burn as she watched the conversation slip away fro she shared the pheromone connection I had with Adam He would have understood, somehow He would have picked up on my silent, primitive prayers He’ll tellparts of him away Dr Banks was the monster, and would remain the monster noe needed to know

Maybe Dr Cale had soh our shared DNA--orto trustat Dr Banks, willing hi him to believe that I was still the innocent, sheltered creature he’d worked so hard to create

"It’s dangerous to be anywhere right now, honeybunch," he said finally "There’s sleepwalkers all over the Bay Area, all over the state, all over the country We’re losing ground faster than we can take it back Pleasant Hill is completely deserted, except for a nest of sleepwalkers that we can’t quite seem to nail down USAMRIID’s had to completely close off the city You’re lucky you’re on the other side of the water I ht not have been able to reach you if you’d been near the compromised area"

Pleasant Hill must have been the location of Sherman’s , "It doesn’t see next to a wo to take my limbs off with a hacksaw," said Dr Banks "I think your definition of ‘dangerous’ may need to be reconsidered"