Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 2

More documents

Recommendations

Info

“You’re supposed to be his”—I nodded at Carter—”grandfather. Or that’s what you were pretendingto be at the mall.”“I am.”“Okay.”Silence. He kept studying me, like he was waiting for more.“You know what I am, though, don’t you?”“A werewolf. Like him.” Another nod at Carter.“Anything else?”I shook my head. He looked disappointed.“My name is Theodore. Theo.”“Okay.”“Theo Cain.”I stiffened. I didn’t mean to, but I remembered the other werewolves—Liam and Ramon—talkingabout me.He’s a Cain.“You know that name, don’t you, Derek?” The old man’s rough voice had softened. “Cain?”“Someone told me . . .”I swallowed and took another look at Theo. When I’d first seen him, I’d thought he looked familiar,but I couldn’t remember ever seeing him before. Then I thought Carter’s scent was familiar, but Ifigured it was just the werewolf smell. It wasn’t. I looked at Theo Cain—his dark hair, his square face,his big build—and I knew why I’d recognized him. Because he looked like someone I saw in themirror every day.“I heard . . .” I began. “I met two werewolves. Liam and Ramon. They said I’m a Cain and I’mguessing they told you. They must have thought I was related to you because I kind of look like you.But I’m not.”“Did those scientists say your daddy was someone else?”“No. I . . . They never mentioned my parents.”“Then how do you know my boy, Zack, wasn’t your daddy?”Because I don’t want him to be. Because I look at you and I look at Carter over there and I don’twant you to be my family. I don’t want anyone to be my family except my family. Dad and Simon.“It wasn’t those two who told me,” Theo said. “I know who Liam and Ramon are, but I haven’t runinto them in years. Someone else who knows those scientists said they tricked Zack. Or had some girltrick him. She got pregnant and he never knew it, because if he did, he wouldn’t have left you there.He would have come for you. We all would have come for you.”I knew those words were supposed to mean something. That I was supposed to feel something. Thelittle boy, locked up in a lab, dreaming of his family coming to his rescue and giving him a normal lifeshould have felt something.But I hadn’t known enough about normal life to even understand the concept of family. Or that Ishould or could be rescued from that life. Then I had been rescued. By my dad. Even if we didn’t sharea strand of DNA, Kit Bae was my father. He’d saved me and he’d given me a family and the closestthing to a normal life as possible.If these Cains were my biological family, then maybe I should feel something. A few months ago, Iwould have been happy for the chance to speak to another werewolf, but Dad had already foundsomeone I could talk to—a guy who knew a lot about them. So now all I thought was that they couldsupply me with a family medical history, which could be useful. And probably not the response theyhoped for.“Okay,” I said after a moment.
Theo watched me, then said, “Okay what?”I shrugged. “If you say I’m Zack Cain’s son, then I guess I am.”“I’m your grandpa, Derek.”“Okay.”I felt bad then, seeing his disappointment. There wasn’t anything more I could say, though. Icouldn’t pretend I was thrilled to have a “real” family. The best I could do was nod at Carter and say,“And he’s my . . .”“Cousin. First cousin. So is Nate. You’ll meet him soon.”“He was the other wolf that attacked me.”Theo winced. “We didn’t mean—”“Whatever. And Zach. Your son. The one you think is my father. He’s dead, right? Killed by the<strong>Pack</strong>?”Grief flashed across the old man’s face. I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying another casual,“Okay.” I tried to look like I was sad about Zack being dead, but the truth is that I didn’t feel much ofanything, except maybe a little sorry for this stranger’s loss. I hadn’t known my father.“So now what?” I asked.Theo looked confused. “Now what?”“What happens now?” I looked around. “You kidnapped me and brought me here to tell me this. Sonow what?”The confusion deepened. “You’ll come with us. You’re a Cain.”“No,” I said slowly. “I mean, biologically, I am, but . . .” I wanted to say I already had a family, butmy gut warned me it might not be in my best interests to bring that up. I shrugged. “I don’t knowyou.”“You will. You’ll come and live with us. We’ll take care of you. You’ll stay with me.” He movedcloser. “Don’t worry, Derek. We’re going to make this real easy. You can even go to school.”“College?”He gave the same confused look as when I’d asked for water. “No. High school. Cain boys arehome-schooled, because we move around a lot. But we know an education is important to you, so I’llmake sure you go to a real school as often as you can. You don’t need to worry about college. Youwon’t need that. You’re already smart.” He smiled. “Don’t need a piece of paper to prove it.”I wanted to say, “Are you sure we’re related? Really sure?” but again, it didn’t seem wise. Iremembered what else those werewolves said about the Cains.Three things every Cain has in common. Big as a house. Ugly as a mud fence. Dumb as a brick.I didn’t much appreciate the second part, but I knew I wouldn’t be trying out for a modeling jobanytime soon. As for the last, I knew that was wrong. At least for me. But if “not too bright” was thehallmark of a Cain, and these guys were Cains . . .I evaluated the situation as I pretended to consider Theo’s words. I was trapped in a windowlessbedroom. Guarded by one werewolf who could take me out and another who probably had a syringe ofsedative in his back pocket. Then there was a third one—bigger than Carter and younger than Theo—who’d be back any moment.I wasn’t getting out of here by brute force.I reached for the Coke, twisted off the top and gulped it. Then I looked at Theo. “You said burgers?”He smiled and relaxed. “Yep. Burgers, fries, even onion rings if Nate can find them. We’ll keep youwell fed, son. You don’t need to worry about that.”I finished the bottle, set it aside and stared at it, again feigning deep contemplation.“It would be nice to be with my own kind,” I said finally.“Course it would.”
Page 2 and 3: Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 2Facing F
Page 4 and 5: FACING FACTSOriginally published in
Page 6 and 7: family, with Kit and Aunt Lauren as
Page 8 and 9: I really needed more exercise in my
Page 10 and 11: Derek’s arms. He grumbled that hi
Page 12 and 13: I kicked free and glared over my sh
Page 14 and 15: “I didn’t say a word.” I let
Page 16 and 17: “Stay with Tori,” I said. “Pl
Page 18 and 19: BELONGING
Page 20 and 21: who couldn’t walk and chew gum at
Page 22 and 23: OneI swiped aside threads of spider
Page 24 and 25: “Anything?” Simon said after a
Page 26 and 27: “I think Chloe wanted to be alone
Page 28 and 29: ThreeSimon grabbed the back of my s
Page 30 and 31: His gaze hardened, but he kept smil
Page 32 and 33: Project Genesis was about removing
Page 34 and 35: FiveIt seemed simple enough. We wer
Page 36 and 37: I could say we’d skip it tonight.
Page 38 and 39: She found me easily, sighing, “Yo
Page 40 and 41: was safe, I had to take Carter down
Page 44 and 45: “Mr. Bae is a nice guy and all, b
Page 46 and 47: “What the—?”The pencil was pl
Page 48 and 49: TenI took my time washing my hands.
Page 50 and 51: “Liz says they’re close by, but
Page 52 and 53: sure I’d never be spending Thanks
Page 54 and 55: “No, I like this kind. You know I

Darkest Powers Bonus Pack 2

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?