Page 13 of Bonded Ever After

Gritting my teeth, I think of the two people I suspect actually know something and hide the journal and map back into the bottom of my Neverwood bag. I know it’s a longshot, but I hurry out of the house and head back to the woods, to the place I’d seen Ari and Veric. People wave to me as I pass, grinning. They try to rope me into conversations, but I politely tell them, “Another time.”

Fewer people are on the streets as I get to the edge of town. Then I slow my walking and sneak around, looking for any sign of Security. When I see no one, I slip into the trees and trace my way back to where I saw Ari and Veric.

There’s no sign of them, but I keep searching, aware of where I’m going, in case I get lost. I’m about to give up and accept that this whole thing is a big mistake when I see a flash of red between the trees. Rushing over to it, I stumble across both Veric and Ari. They have identical looks of shock on their faces as we stare back at one another.

“What are you doing here?” Ari asks, her voice filled with surprise.

“What do you know about the fire that killed our parents?”

Ari stiffens. “Nothing.”

“You knowsomething,” I accuse.

“You’re wrong.”

I glare. “Do you really think the fire was an accident?”

She curses, grabs my arm, and starts hauling me into the woods.

I allow it, mostly because these two couldn’t possibly be dangerous to me. Any chance that they have information that would be helpful to me far outweighs the risk of going with them. Still, I don’t like how far we trek through the woods before she finally stops. Veric stops silently behind her.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to say things like that?” she hisses at me.

“Why?” I challenge.

“It could get us killed,” she snaps.

“Why?” I ask again.

She glares.

“Do you think the fire was an accident?”

Her gaze slips to Veric’s, but his face is a mask of nothingness. “No. No, we don’t think the fire was an accident, okay? Is that everything?”

“Why were our parents killed? I mean, out of everyone, why them?”

She looks uneasy, glancing around the silent woods again. “Our parents were killed to keep a secret.”

A secret?“What secret?”

She doesn’t answer.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask.

She snaps, “You do realize that you’re the only one in this little group who can’t be killed for asking dangerous questions, right?”

I hadn’t thought of that. “I just need to know.”

“Questions are dangerous.” Veric’s low voice comes out low and husky from lack of use.

Ari’s gaze flies to him in shock.

He continues, “My father was a scientist working on genetic research at one of the labs. Just before the grand opening of the new science center, he was switched over to that new building. From that day on, he changed as a person. I remember him being stressed and upset. My mom would try to talk to him, but he seemed afraid to tell her whatever it was. I remember her telling him that they’d never had secrets between them, and he told her that these were the kids of secrets people died over. She begged him to leave the project, but he said this was not a project he could walk away from.” His gaze is distant. “I remember it all. Everything from those days before he died and she disappeared.”

The way he says “disappeared” sounds angry, like she hadn’t disappeared at all, and I wonder if that means she’s dead. Probably. My heart aches for him. To lose both your parents in such a short time… I can’t even imagine.

Ari twists her hands together nervously. “My mom and your mom met for days leading up to the opening of the building. Days where they would have us play together, while they talked in another room. But I would sneak over to their door to listen in on their conversation. They were talking about how to destroy that building. It seemed very important to them.”

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