sunk inside of my chest as I realized that there was no way that I would be able to escape now. Not without killing everyone in my path, which, knowing Bentley, was presumptively what he wanted me to do. And I couldn’t give him that satisfaction.
“You’re just like your mother.” Bentley’s body shook in a fit of laughter. “You know, she was just as stubborn when we came for her.”
My hands shook at my sides as anger surged through my body. “Don’t you dare bring her into this,” I howled. “She has absolutely nothing to do with this, Bentley.”
He shook his head. “She never told you, did she?”
I didn’t answer.
“How do you think I knew about you, Parker?” His lips rose up in a tight smile. “We make it a point of tracking down Rares, yes, but Covera Corporations only came to know of your existence through me. Now ask yourself, how would I know about you and what you were capable of?”
I thought back to what my mother told me. How Covera Corporations had come for her as a teenager, and how they’d forced her into complying for years, before a young guard helped her to escape. She didn’t tell me what happened, or why he helped her, only that he couldn’t allow a child to be born into that life. That was when it dawned on me. “You’re him,” I stated, shocked. “You helped my mother escape.”
“That I did.” Bentley smiled, pleased with himself. “But do you know why I helped her?”
“It’s obviously not because you’re a good person.” I wrapped my arms around my chest and lowered myself onto the ground. “That much I’m sure of.”
Bentley let out a high pitched laugh. “Ah, that mouth of yours will only get you in trouble.” He stooped down in front of me. “I helped your mother because I didn’t want my child to grow up in this world,” he pointed towards Covera Corporations, “I didn’t want my child to have the same upbringing that I had.”
“Excuse me, what?” I laughed.
“I was born at Covera Corporations.” Bentley reached for my hands, but I pulled back. I hated the man, but I couldn’t kill him. The last thing I wanted was a body count attached to my name. “Your power? It comes from me. It won’t hurt me.”
“Shucks,” I muttered. “That’s too bad, isn’t it?”
He glared at me. “You may feel that running away, that trying to live a normal life, is the right thing to do, but it isn’t. You were born with a gift for a reason, and now that you’re coming of age, and your power will only become stronger, now is the time for you to join us, Parker.”
Bentley Wilson was clearly nuts. I was seventeen years old. I still had my life in front of me. For him to think that I would willingly sacrifice that, that I would sacrifice everything that I cared about to work for Covera Corporations? It was utterly ludicrous. “No thanks.” I smiled. “But thanks for the offer.”
“Bentley, you’re obviously not getting anywhere with the girl.” A woman emerged from the shadows, dressed in a black leather get-up. “Let me try talking to her.”
Her face was hidden beneath the shadows, but I recognized her voice. I knew that voice as if it were my own. Except there was a certain dominance to her voice now. Even still, I knew who it was, and it scared me, because I knew that she wouldn’t do this to me. She couldn’t.
“Felicia, let me handle this, please.”
I shook my head, trying to convince myself that this was all just a terrible dream. That I was still at home, that I was sound asleep in bed. But when the moon illuminated her face and her bright green eyes met mine, I knew that there was no denying the truth. “Mom,” I whispered. “What did they do to you?”
“She volunteered to take your place,” Bentley scoffed. “We agreed, as we could always use another Morphling. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as willing to adhere to our commands once she’d learned that we hadn’t released you.”
“What did you do to her?” I screamed.
“I told you, Parker, we have a way of forcing Rares into submission.” He waved his hand at her. “She kept resisting, so we had to send in our strongest compulsion Rare to have a bit of a chat with her.”
“I was wrong,” my mother stated. “I was wrong to fight what I was meant to do.”
Meant to do? She was spewing crazy talk now.
Although gifted, Rares were no different from the people Covera Corporations wanted us to fight. We were still human. Blood still pumped through our veins. Our hearts were still capable of being broken. We were still capable of dying. We were just as fragile as the people Covera Corporations set out to harm.
“Mom,” I cried out. “Do you remember when you told me that no matter what we do, we always have a choice? How every decision that we make impacts not just you, but those around you?” She didn’t answer. “Remember how you told me that, in the end, it all comes down to knowing you did everything you could to make the world a better place? I need you to remember, mom.”
She seemed to consider what I’d said. But the compulsion was too strong. “Parker, dear, it’s time to right my wrongs. It is time for you to use your gift to help others.”
Bentley chuckled. “Now that you’re coming of age, Parker, this is where you should be. This is your home.”
“Let her go,” I whispered. Bentley shook his head. “Please, I’ll do whatever you want, just please, let her go.”
“Will you agree to join us?” he asked, arching a brow.
“Only if you let her go.” Bentley seemed to consider it for a moment. “If you agree to let her go, Bentley, I’ll join you, I promise.”
“Very well.” He snapped his fingers. “Marshall, erase the compulsion, please.”
He pressed his palms against my mother’s cheek and stared into her eyes. A soft hum filled the air, penetrating the silence. She gasped as Marshall’s hands fell back to his sides. “Parker!” She cried out. “Parker, run!”
Tears pooled at the corner of my eyes as I took in the panic that covered my mother’s face. “I’m sorry, mom. I had to. It was the only way.”
Bentley pulled me to my feet. He placed my hands behind my back and cuffed my wrists, again. “You made the right choice,” he whispered. His cool breath sent a chill down my spine. “You did what you needed to do.”
Underneath the night sky, surrounded by Bentley and his men, I’d succumbed to my greatest fear.
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