Page 58 of Dark Rebel's Reckoning

Kyra put her hand on the handle. "Is this door ever locked?"

"There is no need." He motioned with his chin toward the camera above the door. "No one who doesn't belong here can get in. In fact, the elevator won't go up to the penthouse without at least one of the passengers appearing on the list of approved guests."

"Good." She let out a breath as she opened the door. "The more safety features the better."

The scene that greeted them in the living room looked deceptively domestic. The four girls were clustered on one of the sofas, while Jasmine and Ell-rom shared an oversized armchair. Fenella had claimed the other one, her legs tucked under her.

They all turned to look at Max and Kyra as they entered.

"Well?" Fenella asked, not bothering with pleasantries. "What did you learn from the bastard fake doctor?"

Max glanced at Kyra, noting how she'd tensed at the question. She needed a moment to collect herself, so he led her to the other couch and they both sat down.

"We learned quite a bit." He took Kyra's hand, noting how the girls caught the gesture and exchanged knowing looks. "Turns out that he didn't operate on behalf of the Brotherhood or the Revolutionary Guard. He was working independently on his own twisted side project."

Jasmine cast a quick glance at the girls, who were listening intently. Max wished they didn't have the translating earpieces so he could tell Jasmine what they had learned before telling the girls so they could figure out together the best way to do that, but perhaps it was better this way. They just had to get it out.

"We can tell the girls everything," he said. "Kian approved it."

Jasmine's eyebrows shot up. "So, they are Dormants? He found a way to identify them?"

"Yes to the first one and no to the second," Max said.

"What do you mean by Dormants?" Arezoo asked. "We are not hibernating animals."

The earpieces could only do literal translation, which left a lot to be desired, but he admired the girl for speaking up and asking, especially after all she'd been through. Now that he knew the familial connection, he could see the physical resemblance as well as the spunk that Arezoo shared with her aunt and cousin. The way she carried herself, the tilt of her chin, the intelligence in her eyes.

Max held up a hand. "I know that you have questions, and you will get answers, but I ask you to be patient so we can explain everything properly." He turned back to Jasmine. "The Doomer didn't discover anything new. He just suspected and teased out what we already knew. It's hereditary, so when you find one female who has transitioned, others in her family might too. The dude is evil but he's not stupid."

Understanding dawned in Jasmine's eyes as she looked at the four girls with new awareness. "That explains the connection I felt. We also look a little alike, but I thought it was because of our shared ancestry. But it's clearly more than that. We are family."

The girls exchanged confused looks. Laleh, the youngest, pressed closer to her oldest sister. "What does that all mean?"

Kyra squared her shoulders the way she did before facing a challenge, but before she could speak, Fenella lifted a hand.

"Hold on," she said, uncurling from her chair. "Are you saying these girls can become like us? Like Kyra and me?"

Kyra nodded.

"What do you mean?" Donya asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Become like what?"

"That's where the lengthy explanation comes in." Kyra motioned for Jasmine to come over and join her on the couch. "Jasmine can do a much better job of it than me because she's more knowledgeable, but Max knows the most out of all of us." She shifted her gaze to him. "Would you like to explain?"

He shook his head. "I'm a terrible storyteller. I'll jump in if you two get something wrong or need clarification."

She gave him a small nod and reached for Jasmine's hand, drawing support from her daughter or lending Jasmine hers.

The air in the room felt charged with anticipation, the four young women sitting on the edge of their seats, about to have their world turned upside down. But they came from warrior stock, even if they didn't know it yet. They would handle the truth with the same grit and courage as their aunt and cousin had.

38

KYRA

Kyra's fingers closed around her pendant as she watched her nieces.

Her nieces!

Sitting closer to each other on the plush sofa, looking uncertain and vulnerable, yet there was steel in their spines. They had survived horrors that would have broken adults, and here they sat, wary but undefeated.

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