Page 107 of Sin

Keith’s shoulders stiffened, his shackles rising under her disdain. “I agree that things were taken too far, and I’ll live with that regret for the rest of my life. But it wasn’t always like that. At least, not in the beginning. And I was never part of the actual testing. My job was to keep up the wards which contained him. I was an engineer. I wasn’t like the others who carved him up like Frankenstein's monster.” He was breathing harder now. “I never hurt him. He was… I didn’t hurt him.”

“But you stood by as he was literally tortured, and yet you sit here and expect us to believe you feel bad about it?”

“Mare,” London hissed, but she ignored him, continuing to pin Keith under her withering stare.

His eyes hardened at her accusation. “I don’t think you’re the right person to be casting stones, wouldn’t you agree?”

Mare bared her teeth at him. “I’m aware of my past. And I’ve vowed to live every day making up for the part I’ve played in people’s pain. Can you say the same?” She shook her head in disgust. “No, I don’t think you can. Instead of working to fix the damage you’ve done, you’ve what? Taken up taxidermy?”

Lurching to his feet, Keith seethed at her, fists tensing at his sides. “I was the only one who tried to help Lucas,” he said in a low, harsh tone. “I snuck him food and water. I was the one who slipped him extra pain medicine when the others weren’t around. I changed his bandages when the others forgot. I washed the blood from his skin when everyone else seemed like they didn’t care if he was caked in filth.” His face looked dangerously red now. “It wasn’t a lot, but it was all I could afford to do at the time. Though I don’t expect you to believe it, I helped Lucas in whatever ways I could. I didn’t enjoy seeing him hurt, but my hands were tied.”

She snorted. “Doing the bare minimum doesn’t make everything else okay. You helped contain an innocent man so that he could be dissected and tortured. Just because you weren’t the one holding the knife, doesn’t mean you aren’t just as equally at fault.”

Keith’s face turned a worrisome shade of purple, but before things got any more out of hand, London interjected. “Can you tell us more about the drug trials and Lucas’s involvement with them?”

Keith didn’t speak for a moment, simply standing there and glowering at Mare. Mare didn’t seem to care one bit as she glared right back. Finally, after a tense moment, Keith sat back in his seat. His face still burned with anger, but his breathing had started to stabilize.

“The trial was supposed to last a few weeks for a drug called C9. It was a stabilizing and mood enhancing drug, meant more for those with health problems struggling to control their powers,” Keith said, finally tearing his angry gaze from Mare and forcing his hands to relax. “Lucas was one of the fifty test subjects who signed up for the first round of trials.”

“Did he have problems controlling his gifts back then?” Jinx asked, shifting his legs and accidentally bumping the glass coffee table.

A couple books, a small squirrel, and some other items toppled over, causing Keith to squawk. Quickly, he surged forward to place them back in their designated spots, looking more than a little irritated.

“Not really,” Keith muttered, shifting one of the books two centimeters to the left, then a little bit to the right. His concentration stayed on the book, squinting at it while he tried to make sure it was where he wanted it. He was still studying its placement as he continued. “Most of the subjects were able to control their powers just fine. But he did suffer from some severe depression, which made him a candidate.”

“Why do you think he was depressed?” Blade asked, pulling out a throwing star to mess with and studying a couple pieces of art on the wall. Keith eyed the weapons in distress, his gaze measuring the distance between the throwing stars and art.

“Because each test subject was evaluated before they were accepted into the study. And his results indicated he suffered from severe depression and anxiety.”

“You don’t by chance have a record of those results?” London asked, but Keith shook his head.

“No, as you’re aware, that information was lost when the labs were destroyed.”

“Did he get along with the other participants?” I asked as Mare continued her walk around the room, padding closer to me with each step.

“Lucas wasn’t overly social, so he didn’t make many friends with the others since he kept to himself most of the time,” Keith admitted, his gaze distant. “From day one, he stood out, his power unmatched by all the others combined. When the first rounds of the drug were administered, half of the subjects had fatal side effects.” He grinned, his eyes bright. “But not him. Never him.”

“Wait, half the participants died?” Jinx asked in surprise. He sat forward, a harsh line appearing between his brows. “Please tell me you didn’t continue your testing?”

“Of course we continued,” Keith said, like Jinx was ridiculous. “The participants knew there could be consequences from testing a new drug, and they signed up for the study anyway.”

Blade nose scrunched in disgust and shot him a dirty look over her shoulder. “Sounds like you took advantage of people desperate for money.”

Keith leveled her with a scowl. “Oh, come off your high horse, princess. We didn’t force them to sign up. Their reasons for signing weren’t our fault or business. We warned them there were risks, had them read all the potential side effects, including death, and they agreed anyway.”

London raised a hand in a placating move. “And the ones who survived the first round of doses? What happened then?”

Taking a calming breath, Keith turned his attention to London. “They got another round.”

“And?” London prompted.

“And,” Keith said, dragging the word out, looking a little reluctant to answer, “Only two participants survived the second testing.”

“Holy shit,” I said, trying to fathom his words. “You’re saying you guys started off with fifty test subjects, but after the first round of testing, only twenty-five survived? Then, after seeing such a high fatality rate, you decided to administer a second round?” My stomach revolted, and I had to swallow back the bile in the back of my throat. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

London cut in before Keith could give into his indignation and answer. “The two who survived. Lucas and someone else?”

With one last disapproving look, Keith focused in on London. “Yes, Micah. Like I said, Lucas didn’t make many friends, but Micah was the exception. The two of them bonded the first day and that bond only strengthened after the second round of tests.”

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