Page 12 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives
The man frowns, his electronic clipboard tight in his grasp. “This is not a request. It is a requirement. If you do not comply—”
“Leave us.” Major Tomlin’s tone leaves no room for argument, although the lab-coated man looks severely outraged.
Everyone files out the door, save a couple of soldiers who remain just inside the facility guarding the doorway. My heart rate spikes as the major approaches me, his expression neutral.
There’s no telling what he wants. Betas can’t be trusted, especially those in the GBE.
His next words surprise me.
“I’m an animal lover myself.” He looks over at the cage and the snowy white hare within, a small frown playing on his otherwise stoic face. “I told them not to do this, but I find that scientists care very little for life.” His stony eyes land on me, and my heart skips with fear. “Regardless of predator or prey, animals are innocent by nature. People are not.”
He stands before me now, leaning in just enough for me to hear his whispered words. “There’s something I must tell you, Miranda. About your father.”
My body goes rigid at the mention of my dad, fear washing over my senses. What’s happened to him?
“He fought hard. So hard that a call was made I don’t see often.”
I look him square in his eyes, my brow drawn tight in question.
His voice becomes softer, quieter. “They didn’t send him to Korezak. They sent him to Tenebrosa.”
As the room spins, I go deaf, and then a distant, high-pitched whine pierces my eardrums.
I’m going to faint right in front of these monsters.
Tenebrosa...the facility they send Cursed to who are never heard from again. The facility where the Cursed are experimented on in an attempt to figure out why we are the way we are. A place, rumor claims, that Cursed are tortured in ways unimaginable.
Major Tomlin’s airy voice breaks through the whine in my ears. “The Beta who made that call is here.”
Everything stops at his words. I look back at him now with a bubbling rage. “You?” I whisper-spit.
His head shakes in a negative response. “The one who just commanded you to kill this innocent creature. I will bring him back in here. To you.”
“For what?”
A fierce anger flashes across his gaze. “The Council has given him far too much power. He lives in lawlessness.” His words are spat like quiet bullets. “I loathe the man. He doesn’t deserve the authority he’s been given.” Tomlin’s eyes narrow on me. “He came here only because you are your father’s offspring.”
A jolt passes through my bones. “Why—?”
“He wants to know if you’re as powerful as he is, of course.” He lets that sink in a moment before continuing. “If he wants you in his facility, Miranda, I cannot stop it from happening.”
Fear blazes in my soul. “How would bringing him here—?”
“One touch from you,” he cuts me off, “I get what I want, and you get revenge while proving your power to the faculty.”
“They’ll kill me.”
Hetsksand shoots me a dubious look. “Have you ever killed before the solider who captured you?”
I don’t answer, but he knows the truth. I must give it away with some facial twitch.
“On purpose?”
My head shakes no without me meaning to.
“You will be forced into battle soon enough, Mira. Your abilities mean you’ll be a melee combatant, looking your enemies in the eye as you take their lives. And you will do it. If you don’t, it will be your life that’s forfeit.”
Acid forms in the back of my throat, scratching and irritating the flesh.
