Page 48 of Tears of Tungsten
She sounded smug, almost predatory, and that gave me more confidence than a simple reassurance ever could. Scylla trusted about as many people as I did, and Penelope wasn’t one of them.
I didn’t receive the actual explanation until we got to the showers. There were cameras here, but August could deactivate them remotely without anyone feeling suspicious. Such equipment always tended to glitch in shower areas, and we’d often taken advantage of this to steal a few moments together.
As soon as we were behind closed doors, I turned toward Brendan and asked, “Penelope? Really?”
“I’m just as surprised as you are and honestly, I’m not sure I trust her. But I don’t think we can afford to be picky and I doubt she’d joke around with stuff like this.”
August sighed and plopped down on a bench, in front of the lockers. “Pollux, she… She mentioned Stella.”
Ice flooded my veins all over again. Spots started dancing in front of my eyes. Selene’s burning figure and accusing eyes flashed through my mind, and in those beautiful, dark depths, I saw hatred, pain, and rejection.
It was only for a moment, and then, with Scylla’s aid, I recovered. I couldn’t afford to fall apart now. I’d do it later, once Selene was safe and no longer at risk of being raped, tortured, and murdered by aliens.
“And you expect me to believe that she wants to help just because she felt bad for my dead sister?” I asked, proud when my voice only trembled a little. “She has no reason to care.”
“Not necessarily, no,” August agreed, “but it appears that, because of what she saw, she fears The Grand Judiciary will do the same thing to her.”
“She’s not wrong,” Brendan mused. “They might not normally do so, but if they find out she stuck her nose where she wasn’t supposed to, they’ll get rid of her and use her for their experiments.”
No matter how many issues I had with Penelope Welton, I didn’t wish that fate on anyone. I could see why Scylla would believe Penelope, based on that little tidbit.
“There’s more,” August continued. “According to the files she found, I’m part-apsid.”
“Part apsid?” Knox repeated in disbelief. “You’re joking.”
August let out a sharp, lost laugh. He was obviously struggling with these new revelations as much as I was, but was trying to keep it together for Selene’s sake. “I wouldn’t joke with something like this, Knox. It looks like The Grand Judiciary’s experiments are older than we thought and some of them were successful. I’m among the few children born out of an apsid-human union.”
I believed him. I remembered the way the doctors had crowded around August when they’d thought he’d died at Hyperion Base 35. Everything that had happened then made so much sense now, as did August’s previous particularities, his stronger affinity for fire, and his increased resilience to tachyon overload. And really, it made sense that there had been some successes in the countless trials The Grand Judiciary had organized. Otherwise, they would’ve never taken my sister—a noble—to act as their guinea pig.
“I’m sorry, Pollux,” August whispered. “I think that maybe… Maybe my closeness to you might have influenced their decision to pick Stella for the next trials. They might have thought she and I had a relationship and she’d survive the experiments because of that.”
At this point, anything was possible. I couldn’t exclude it, because it was the exact type of twisted logic The Grand Judiciary would use. But that didn’t mean I’d blame August for this. “Stella’s death wasn’t your fault. My parents could have protected her. They didn’t. That’s on them. And anyway, we can’t focus on that right now. We have other priorities. Would this information really make Penelope Welton give us reliable aid?”
“She might help us, but it’s just as likely that she’ll turn on us,” Brendan replied with a sigh. “If she’s in this mess, it’s because of me, because I rejected her. She doubtlessly blames me for it. I wouldn’t exclude the possibility of her trying to get even with us like this. But on the other hand…”
“On the other hand, what?” August prodded.
“We need all the help we can get. Tartarus only knows how much time Selene has already spent with the apsids. If we don’t hurry, there might not be anything left to save. So… Is it too risky to rely on my ex-fiancée, or is it worth taking the chance?”
I thought about Selene’s smile and everything she’d said the day I’d confronted my sister’s shade. She’d confessed that she loved us, even if she didn’t always understand us. She’d already given us so much, and we’d betrayed and lied to her.
“Selene is worth everything,” I replied. “Let’s go for it. But we have to make sure Penelope doesn’t stab us in the back.”
“I’m with Pollux,” Knox agreed. “It’s dangerous, but it might work, if we put some pressure on her.”
August got up from the bench and straightened his back. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Very well,” Brendan said. He retrieved his tablet from his uniform and tapped a few buttons on the display. “Let’s pray this works, because if we mess up, it might get us all killed.”
“Even if it does, it will still be worth it,” Knox replied. “We have to try.”
I shook my head, determination surging through me, more powerful than ever before. I didn’t care if I died, but a mere attempt to save Selene didn’t satisfy me. “Trying isn’t enough. We have to succeed.”
Any other option was unacceptable. Selene’s story couldn’t end this way. I refused to accept it. No matter what happened, we’d make sure Selene’s light was never extinguished by the fire of the apsids.
* * *
Brendan
