“Yes, your twin. What did you think we all were? Clones?” He shook his head and looked at her as if she’d suggested he was an alien.
“I don’t trust you,” she whispered, her gaze caught in his as if hypnotized. He was close enough to kiss. He could dominate a room and make her head spin, and his sudden vulnerability confused her. I barely know this boy. She had to remind herself of that when he ran his fingers down her arms, leaving goose bumps in his wake.
“But I’m trusting you,” he said softly, as serious as she’d ever seen him. “Your mother did this to me, Sophie. Made me what I am, trapped me on this island, stole every chance I might have had at a normal life. She took the world from me. Will you give it back? You have a chance to make things right. To stand where she fell and atone for her mistake. Please.” His voice broke suddenly, and he looked down, drawing a deep, trembling breath. “Please help me, Sophie. I need you.” He brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek, and as much as she wanted to pull away, she froze. Guilt crept over her like a shadow, laying its heavy cloak around her shoulders.
“Jim has to come too,” she said. “I won’t leave him behind.”
He sighed and dropped his hand. “Fine. Your stupid pilot can come too.”
“What do we do first?”
“I’ll go lift the chopper keys off the Corpus pilot, then find Jim and Lux. Meet me out front. And stay low.”
She didn’t like it, but she had to consider that this might be her only chance to escape. If Jim hadn’t been able to fix the plane, and if Corpus really was as dangerous as everyone seemed to think they were, she might regret not taking this opportunity.
“This better work,” she warned.
“Sophie, Sophie.” He grinned. “It couldn’t possibly go wrong.”
Nicholas left first, telling her to wait an hour before meeting him so that he’d have a chance to get the helicopter key, as well as Lux and Jim. She waited in a state of nerves, pacing the room, wondering if she should have insisted on going with him. When a knock sounded on the door, she jumped nearly out of her skin, then froze and stared at the door as if it had grown teeth. Then, tentatively, she crossed the room and cracked it open.
“Sophie, it’s me,” whispered her mother, and Sophie let her in, her pulse hammering.
“I can’t find Lux anywhere. You’re going to have to keep acting the part,” said Moira. Her face was damp with perspiration, making a few curls cling to her forehead and neck. She looked as stressed as Sophie felt. “I can’t keep making excuses, and Strauss is eager for you to spend more time with Andreyev.”
“But . . . but I don’t know enough. I was lucky to make this far.”
“I’ll be right beside you. I’ll distract them as much as I can.”
Sophie grappled for a way to get out of this. If she was stuck in a room with Strauss and Andreyev all day, there was no way she could meet Nicholas, Jim, and Lux at the helicopter.
She ground her teeth together. Should I tell her? Her mind raced. Would Moira help them escape? She seemed to want Sophie off the island—but would she let her take Lux? A day ago, Sophie would have thought that surely Moira would help her, but after what she had seen, she no longer knew what to expect from her mother. If she told her where Lux was, maybe her mom would be distracted enough in going after her that Sophie could slip away . . . or maybe, just maybe, she would help them. How can I know if she’s still trustworthy if I don’t have at least a little faith in her? she thought, trying to swallow her rising panic. This isn’t a plan—it’s a swan dive into shallow water. “I know where she is,” she said, watching Moira closely, trying to gauge from her reaction whether or not she could trust her with their plan.
“What?” Moira’s eyes shot wide. “Where?”
“She’s with Jim.”
“Jim?”
Sophie sighed, letting this truth slip through her fingers. “Jim Julien. Remember him?”
Moira’s brow crinkled. “Steve and Elaina’s boy?” “He’s the pilot who brought me here.”
“Little James Julien . . .” Her mother’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You told me he dropped you off and then left.”
Sophie grimaced. She had mentioned that, because she’d thought it was true. “Well . . . he didn’t. He’s still here. Nicholas saw him with Lux.”
“Nicky’s a part of all this?” Moira pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. “Not good. Not good at all.”
“I told you I’d met him.”
“Yes, well, I’ve been looking for him too, but it’s impossible to find that boy when he doesn’t want to be found. Where is the Julien boy? And how in God’s name did he come to acquire Lux? Oh.” The blood drained from her face. “Did she wake up? Sophie, did she imprint?” Her nails dug into Sophie’s shoulders.
“Ow! Mom! I don’t know—I guess so!”
Moira dropped her hands. “I have to find her. But still, we can fix this.” She pounded a fist into her open palm repeatedly, as if trying to drum an idea out of her skin. “I can use one of the other unwoken Vitros to imprint on Andreyev after you’re safely out of the way. And Jim! We can blame all of this on Jim, say he landed here accidentally and wandered into the building . . . yes. He woke Lux and tried to leave, but she followed him. You never need come into this. Of course, if Jim’s brought into this he’ll tell them about you, so it’s better if he’s . . . ah,” she glanced at Sophie, “not in a position to tell them.”
“You’d kill him,” Sophie said disbelievingly, “to keep his mouth shut.”
Her mother squared her shoulders defiantly. “I’m trying to protect you.”
“Well, screw that. Maybe I don’t want your kind of protection.” So much for trust. Even if Moira did agree to help her and Lux escape, she wasn’t sure she could even accept her help. Kill Jim to protect me? Hell no.
“Sophie! I’m your mother.”
Sophie hesitated, held in place by her mother’s fierce protective look. For a moment, she wanted nothing more than to give in and let her mom take care of it, to have her mom hold her and tell her everything would be fine and that she’d fix everything. But I can’t. I’ve seen the kind of world she creates, and I can’t be a part of it. And besides, I could never let her hurt Jim.
“At any rate, you have to make an appearance to Strauss and Andreyev, at least for a little while. Come on. I’ll try to get away to find Lux, but really, at this point I’m more worried about keeping you safe and getting you off this island. The best way to do that is to keep Strauss mollified for a few more hours to give me time to sort this mess out.”
Because she could think of no other way to avoid it, Sophie acceded. She followed Moira through the building, her eyes watching every exit wistfully as she contemplating simply making a run for it. But unless Nicholas, Jim, and Lux were waiting at the helicopter and ready to go, her dash would be in vain. Her mother might let her go, but she doubted Strauss would simply stand by and wave them off.
They found Strauss in some kind of break room with a counter cluttered with coffee makers and packets of sugar and upholstered chairs arranged around a central table. One wall was comprised of a mural depicting a mosaic sunset, and Strauss sat framed by red and orange rays of asymmetrical tiles, like a model in a Mucha painting. Dr. Michalski and Dr. Rogers sat on either side of her, both of them leaning toward her; from the look of things, the three of them had been in conversation. Dr. Hashimoto was cleaning the coffee pot in a sink, and when she saw Moira and Sophie in the doorway her cheeks turned red.
“Victoria,” said Moira evenly, “I brought her, as you asked. Where is Andreyev?”
“I sent him outside to play for a bit,” Strauss replied, her voice oil over glass.
Moira’s gaze flickered to the doctors on either side of Strauss; Dr. Michalski was looking away, his lips pursed, while Dr. Rogers returned her gaze challengingly. “What’s going on here?” she asked.