Page 106 of Born for Lace

“That is…” I try so hard to absorb this information. I turn my face, peering up at him. “You’re incredible.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “No, little flower.Youare incredible.I’man abomination.”

My heart drops, so I return my gaze to the tiled wall. I peer down at Spero. In his light slumber, he is making shapes with his mouth. Speroisincredible.

They are remarkable. Lagos is literally a force, pulsing energy, rippling muscles, powerful, stunning, but I can feel his self-hate, so I don’t say that aloud. I will tell Spero what I think, though. I will tell him every day about how miraculous he is. And when he has questions about his kind, I will have the answers. So, for him, I have to keep pressing Lagos for information.

I need to know more.

“Willing?” I say, pushing on. “You said, if you’re willing? So you have a choice… in a way?”

“You don’t need to know?—”

“I do!” I cut him off, desperate to keep the conversation going. I think it has to be now. If I stand, leave the tub… I might not get another opportunity. “If not to know you, then to understand Spero,” I add. “I need to know. You are the only one who can tell me. If you care about me at all, about Spero, then you will tell me everything.Please… Do you have a choice?”

As a weighty pause circles me, I lean back into his big hands, seeking the soft, gentle version of Lagos the Rogue.

“We can move from it, but it is... unpleasant.” His hands move around my neck and crown again, through my wet hair. “If it’s too powerful, it’s like pushing through a physical wall.”

“Is that the pain Tomar spoke of?”

“There is more pain inmakingthe Shadow,” he says, voice detached.

A tear slides from my eye. “How do I protect Spero from the magnetic pull?”

“Tomar has told me that there is a doctor at the Common Community.” His tone becomes flat, factual. “He knows you’re coming. He knows about the infant. If the Shadow baby wants to leave the community one day, when he is a man, he risks coming into contact with a field or beacon, and if he’s at full strength that will tear him in two.”

“Oh.” My breath hitches.

“The doctor will drain his blood if he wants to leave. The iron regenerates after several weeks, but it will help.”

“Wh- what?” My eyes widen, but I don’t dare turn around and display my horror.

“It’s been a practice since the old-world, little flower. It will lower his sensitivities, but not eliminate them.”

“How do you…” I falter. “How do you drain blood?”

“Through the vein,” he says. “When needed. It’ll help him later in life. We move around a lot. Doing this lowers my sensitivities to The Trade’s tech.”

“Will it…” I close my eyes. “Hurt? Wait—” My eyes snap open again. “Youdrain your blood, too?” I twist slightly, gaze hitting him over my shoulder.

“I just sit back and pump my fist. Tomar does the actual procedure,” he states. “It’s only necessary when we are on the move. He drains about a quarter of my blood and gives me some of his, which leaves him feeling shit, but I recover faster. I’mhisburden.”

“And then you protect him. You’re co-dependent.” I look at the ceramic lip beaded with water. Exhausted by concepts I cannot grip. They areco-dependent.Just another reason why he will leave me. Leave with Tomar. “Is that how he… How Tomarsavedyou?”

“And this.”

I look up to find Lagos has his finger on the metal plate above his ear, shiny silver peeking out from between his sandy-brown hair.

“What’s that?” I ask.

His eyes drop to the sleeping infant at my chest. “What we are trying to save the baby from. They implanted a coil in my brain to interfere with my thoughts, infiltrate them. If they get their hands on the infant, this is the first thing they will do to him.”

The first thing…

“Lagos…” Tears stream down my face, and the sight of them causes his jaw to clench and unclench.

He wipes a salty bead from my lip with his thumb. “Don’t feel sorry for me, little flower. I’ve done unimaginable things to sweet, innocent girls like you. I’ve crushed Trade flowers with my hands.”

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