Page 161 of Shattered Omega: Part Two

“I was there when it changed. It was beautiful… But then… she didn’t die.”

“You meant to kill her?”

A low, wounded sound rose in his throat, catching on the way up like a dry, broken sob. He looked back to me, “I never wanted her to, but I knew if she did then so many more would be saved. But number One survived, and so did the experiments, and I was brought here…” He frowned. “How long has it been?”

He looked around the cell, at the cracked walls and bare room. I didn’t answer, knowing if I told him that, we might lose him.

Instead, I digested what he’d said, sickness turning my stomach. And yet, I couldn’t find hatred.

“She fought the poison just like you did,” he whispered. “A survivor. One worth a thousand of me.”

“What does that mean?”

“Do you know why they gave us that poison? The Atropa abomination?”

“Why?”

He stared down at his fist, where he held Shatter’s scent. “Strength testing.”

“What?”

“The kind of bond that remains if a pack survives that—well, they needed that strength. Not something I survived.”

“Needed it for what?” I asked.

Vandle’s fist closed around the iron bar of the cage, his expression turning into something so hollow that I feared I was truly about to lose him.

“You didn’t survive?” I asked instead, trying to understand that.

“I… I killed them all.”

Ah.

I swallowed, remembering the way the poison had felt the first time I’d been exposed to it. The primal fear it had instilled, telling me to kill—that I had to kill, or I would die.

“Your… own pack?” I asked.

“OfcourseI did.” Vandle’s lips drew thin in a snarl. “And then I was useless to them. If Dr. Wren hadn’t taken pity on me, I would be dead too. Not because of them. No one… no one survives once the poison gets them. Kill them… then kill me…” His breath caught. “Dr. Wren wouldn’t let me end it though… He put me to use…” He frowned. “But now…look.” He took a step closer, examining me properly. “You survived—” He laughed. “—and you’re free. You aren’t supposed to be, you know?”

“Why?”

“You weredesignedfor a cage. They would never have paid so much if they thought you would one day escape… If they thought you might find them.”

“They?”

“Your better half. You’re alive, aren’t you—so you must have one.”

“What does that mean?”

“You don’t know?” A bark of an insane laugh slipped out. “Walking around with half a body and never even noticed?”

The words struck too close to the lurking shadow in the back of my mind.“Tell me what that means.”

“You never figured out what they were doing with all of the tests?”

“They covered it up.”

He grinned. “Well, it would have made locating sponsors too easy. It would have put their whole illegal operation at risk.”

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