Page 23 of Revenant

“What are morphs?” Rue asks, purposely not looking at me, and I hate it.

In the past, I’ve done my best to disappear into the background, and I clench my hands into fists to keep from reaching for her and demanding her full attention.

Emotions suck.

As much as I hate that she’s avoiding me, I spin toward the table, then shovel the cardboard-tasting food into my mouth and chew. I’ve slimmed down and lost too much weight over the last few months. If I want to keep her safe, I need the fuel.

I survey the room with new eyes, keeping Rue in my gaze the whole time as I search for threats. Now that I’ve found her, I’m determined no one will ever take her from me again, even if I have to paint the halls red with the blood of our enemies to do it.

If she never forgives me, I’ll spend the rest of my life protecting her from the shadows.

Even if it’s the last thing I do.

Chapter Seven

RUE

I’m barely able to concentrate with Jaceson sitting so close. After being without the guys for so long, I thought I built them up in my mind. If anything, it’s the opposite—they’re even bigger and more handsome than I remember.

I want to fling myself into his arms, still able to taste him on my lips—sunshine and outdoors—and it’s all I can do to stay seated. The last thing I want to do is draw a target on his back.

Although, that ship might have sailed with his confession of love.

I want to smack him for revealing such a weakness out loud. Something tells me that they won’t hesitate to use it against the both of us. And yet, despite the danger, his admission is on repeat in my head.

Jaceson loves me.

My heart flutters like a hummingbird trapped behind my ribs, his words imprinting on my soul. I’ve dreamed of someone saying those words to me since I was a little girl, but I never expected to hear them for the first time in an insane asylum.

It’s almost ironic that I had to be committed to finally find what I’ve been looking for all my life. While I’m not sure what his relationship is with Crystal, just seeing the two of them together turns my stomach like I swallowed razor blades.

My stay in the asylum has altered me on a fundamental level, my instincts more ruthless, and I struggle to control my rage. Frost decorates the tips of my fingers, the need to remove her from the face of the earth for daring to touch what is mine nearly impossible to resist.

If there weren’t so many eyes watching, I wouldn’t even hesitate.

Unfortunately, it’s imperative I don’t lose control.

I refuse to become a lab rat because of that bitch.

If my emotions bleed into the spirit realm, Crystal might very well find herself torn into tiny, itty-bitty pieces by vengeful ghosts. Not that I would mind, but the need to protect the guys overrules my bloodthirsty thoughts.

To keep them safe, I need to keep my abilities a secret. The first order of business is to figure out how this place runs.

“What are morphs?” I ask again, focusing on the other three sitting at the table.

Sue snorts, a hardness entering her expression. “You really are naïve, aren’t you?”

“That won’t last long here,” DJ mutters, not looking up from his plate as he scrapes it clean.

“Only two types of people ever enter the dungeons—special snowflakes like you, or the rejects like us. We don’t have mental abilities like your kind. Our abilities are more physical. We’re faster. Stronger. More primal. Like they turned back the evolutionary clock.

“Doctor Frankenstein injects us with his unholy serum. It’s not long before the few of us who survive the transition wish wehad died with the others.” Bitterness twists her expression, her smile all teeth. “We’re expendable.”

“Or maybe we were the first species to roam the earth, hunted to near extinction by humans, and you’re the next step in the evolutionary ladder?” I relish the thought of getting justice for all the wrongs done to me, but I doubt that will happen in my lifetime. As much as I want to sympathize with her situation, we are both in the same boat—stuck in the dungeon. “What is he trying to achieve?”

Sue looks at me, raising an imperious eyebrow in my direction, and her tone turns dark. “Isn’t it obvious? He wants the abilities people like you possess. We’re all his test monkeys. Some of us are just more expendable than others.”

Without saying anything else, the three of them stand in unison and abandon the table, leaving me alone with Jaceson.

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