He nodded, a muscle in his jaw flexing.
“But . . . but what about sixth period?” I stammered nonsensically.
Mrs. Girard returned to her desk and reached for the phone. “Fencing, correct?” When I nodded, she continued on. “I’ll call Coach Gibson and let him know that you’re excused. Luc, can you escort them?”
“Of course, madam,” he answered. His voice was deep, heavily accented.
He strode over to Aidan and looped an arm under his right shoulder, offering himself as a crutch as Aidan struggled awkwardly to his feet. If not for Luc, I’m pretty sure Aidan would have collapsed to the floor.
Oh my God. My stomach plummeted. Whatever they’d done to him, it’d been bad. Really, really bad.
I hurried to Aidan’s side, wrapping an arm around his waist. Together we moved toward the door, Luc and me supporting Aidan as he shuffled toward it.
“Where are we going?” Luc asked, and I looked to Aidan for the answer, realizing I had no idea.
My room, he answered inside my head.
“I’ll show you,” I said to Luc.
As soon as we stepped out into the hallway, Matthew’s head snapped up, his eyes wide with surprise. “What the hell?” he whispered harshly as we passed. “Is he okay?”
“I have no idea,” I answered without turning around. There was no way I could stop and explain what was going on, not with Mrs. Girard there on the other side of the door. He would just have to trust that I was safe, that I could take care of myself for the time being.
We set off at a lumbering pace. Luckily, it was still sixth period, so the halls were empty. I was moving on autopilot, trying to wrap my brain around everything I’d just learned—and wondering what exactly I was up against in convincing Aidan to go along with Mrs. Girard’s plan.
“This way,” I said, tipping my head toward the stairwell on our right. “Down the stairs and to the right.”
In Aidan’s absence, I had memorized the route to his underground room. It had taken me several tries to find it without him. But still, I found some comfort in retracing my steps there and back. Now I felt only fear.
As if sensing it, Luc turned toward me, meeting my gaze over Aidan’s bowed head. “She’s not likely to force you to destroy him,” he said. “A bluff, I think. Despite what she says, I don’t think she could bear it. She’ll simply lock him back in the dungeon, hoping that he’ll eventually change his mind.”
I just nodded, swallowing hard. I hoped he was right, though it didn’t matter, not really. As far as I was concerned, neither was acceptable.
We walked on in silence. Another flight of stairs and two turns later, we finally reached the nondescript door, locked tight.
“Can you . . . ?” I tilted my head toward the door.
“Of course,” Luc said. There was an audible click, and the door swung open.
Moving in tandem, we led Aidan to the daybed against the wall and helped him to sit on the edge of the mattress.
“I’ll be just outside,” Luc said, hooking a thumb toward the hallway. “Take all the time you need.”
And then he was gone. Even though I knew it was pointless, I turned the lock anyway.
“Violet,” Aidan whispered, his voice a gravelly rasp. It was the first word he’d spoken aloud, I realized with a start.
“Oh my God, Aidan.” I rushed back to his side and knelt on the ground before him. “What did they do to you?” I gathered his cold hands in mine as I peered up at him, trying not to wince at the sight of his red-rimmed eyes, his hollow, gaunt cheeks. “Have they . . . did you feed before you came here?”
He nodded, bowing his head and pressing his lips against my knuckles. “This isn’t real—it can’t be. It’s an illusion, like all the others.”
I slipped one hand from his grasp and reached up to run it through his hair. “It’s real, Aidan. I’m here. See? And I’m not leaving—not till they drag me out.”
He reached for my hand and drew it down against his cheek. We sat like that for several minutes, the room entirely silent but for the beating of our hearts. “It’s really you,” he said at last. “Not a trick.”
I shook my head. “Nope, not a trick.”
“Can you . . . will you just . . . hold me?”
I sat beside him, drawing him down till we lay side by side. “God, I’ve missed you,” I said, breathing in his familiar scent as he wrapped one arm around me, my head resting on his shoulder now.
“I’ve thought of you every minute of every day,” he answered. As we lay there, he combed his fingers through my hair, our hearts beating in perfect unison. Fifteen minutes passed. A half hour, maybe more. Eventually his fingers stilled in my hair, and I wondered if he’d fallen asleep. But then he shifted, drawing me closer.
I scooted down, moving my cheek to his chest. “Please tell me you’re going to be okay.”
“I’m not the same, Vi,” he said, his voice catching. “I’ll never be the same. Not after what I did.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You know that. You heard what Mrs. Girard said. It was Jack—she made him tamper with the serum. She threatened his brother,” I added, hoping to lessen the sting of betrayal.
“That doesn’t mean I didn’t do it. That I’m not capable of doing it again.”
I took a deep breath. “What did they do to you, Aidan? I felt . . . heat. Burning heat. And my shoulders—there was this awful, tearing pain. Like my skin was being ripped open.” Absently, I rubbed a hand over my shoulder, remembering the horrific sensations.
“You felt that?” he asked, his voice laced with incredulity. “But . . . how?”
“I don’t know. It’s like I somehow got inside your head. At least, I assume it was your head. And that I was feeling some of what you were feeling.”
He closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling with a ragged breath. “I am so very sorry, Violet.”
I rose up on one elbow, gazing down at him with a scowl. “Why are you apologizing to me? You’re the one they were torturing. God, how could Mrs. Girard allow them to do that to you? When she knew what happened—knew it was her fault!”
“She never should have let me out.”
“What are you talking about? You didn’t deserve to be in there in the first place!”
“—and now to drag you into this, into her plot. It’s unconscionable.”
I sat up sharply. “You’ve got to snap out of this, Aidan. I mean it. You’ve got to get yourself together and do what she’s asking. Become her Dauphin, or however the hell you say it. It’s the only way she’s going to let you go free. Besides, it sounds like it’s the right thing to do.”
“I’d rather be destroyed.”
My face blanched. “How can you say that?”
“You don’t realize what you’re asking of me. To join them, to lead their war . . .” He shook his head. “It’s not what I want, Violet. I’m done. Finished. I’ve made peace with that.”
“Done? What do you mean, done? You’ve got a second chance now. We’ve got a second chance.” Now that I had him back, there was no way I was letting him go, not like this.
“I’ve brought enough trouble into your life already, don’t you think? Besides, what chance do we have if I agree to their plan? I won’t have my cure. If I accept this role, it’s a lifetime sentence. In my case, that’s an eternity. I can’t be destroyed, remember? Except by you.”
“I’m not destroying you.”
“We’re at a stalemate, then, aren’t we?”
“If you just do what they’re asking, you’ll stay alive. Don’t you get that?” My voice rose a pitch, my breath coming faster now. “Whatever the cost, it’s worth it.”