Page 33 of Cup of Lies

“I’m sorry, baby. I know how much you adore him.” She sighs heavily. “He’s just like Gideon. Honestly, he’s even more calculating. They did this to you together. Just like all those years ago.”

I know she’s referring to how they got me into the treatment facility to begin with.

My brain feels as if it’s pulsating. I keep unlocking memories and it’s painting an ugly picture. The lab Seth kept taking me to when I’d been “defective” and would wake up against his best brainwashing efforts was the same facility Dad took me to as a child.

“I’ve been in connection with someone,” Eva says, looking down at her clasped hands in her lap. “I’m hesitant to even tell you because I don’t want to hurt you.”

The baby moves and I rub my stomach to calm her. I wonder if she can feel the anxiety running rampant through my every nerve ending. Maybe she just likes the coffee. I take another sip, trying not to freak out at Eva’s ominous words.

“I had help in locating you,” Eva says finally.

I meet her gaze. “I reached out to you. Told you who I was with.”

“Yes,” she agrees, “but Seth’s name didn’t yield any results. Sure, his name is all over those medical journal pieces and articles with Doc Junior, however, I couldn’t find a location of his work or home.”

“Okay,” I say slowly. “Who was it?”

Eva grimaces. I’m not going to like this answer. Fear trickles through my veins.

“I—” Her phone buzzes and she looks down at it. Quickly, she texts something to the person before looking at me.

“I don’t want to know,” I murmur in a small voice. “Can we just focus on getting Kaitlyn?”

Her eyes shimmer with tears. The dread consuming me is clearly eating her alive too. There’s an unspoken understanding between us. Whatever this news is, she is going to hate delivering it to me as much as I’ll hate hearing it.

I want Kaitlyn here with me, safe in my arms. I want Caius too. Unfortunately, getting both of those isn’t going to be easy. Seth and Doc Junior aren’t going to allow me and Eva to waltz into that facility and take her without a fight.

Am I willing to do whatever it takes to get them back?

Fight my demons and face monsters?

A full-bodied shudder ripples through me.

I don’t want to. My survival instincts scream at me to run to the closet and hide. Terror claws its way up inside me, one red fingernail at a time.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to force away horrible thoughts. My closet back at home comes to view in my mind, except instead of me hiding within the stuffies and dolls in the shadows, I see Kaitlyn’s face.

She doesn’t hide like I do.

I can see her plain as day.

The monster will find her.

No. No. No. No.

Eva sits beside me, wrapping an arm around me. Though her hug is warm and comforting, it can’t save me from the awfulness shredding me from the inside out. Fear twists from something uncontrollable and overwhelming into a sharp blade meant to slay my enemies.

Fear turns into ferocity.

I’m no longer protecting myself.

I’m protecting Kaitlyn.

She needs me.

I have to face all the scary, terrible things because it’s the only way to get to her. I know this because Eva wouldn’t lie to me. If she says there’s no other way, then I trust her.

Doesn’t mean it won’t hurt.

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