“…heard bits of conversation down there,” her dad is telling Sky, his voice labored and sandpapery. “Knew they were going to invade but had no way to warn you. Just glad something worse didn’t happen.”
He looks better than when we rescued him, but not by much. His trimmed beard reveals how gaunt his face is, his cheekbones sharp enough to cast shadows. He’s more covered in scars than I thought, jagged white lines stretching like webs over every inch of visible skin. But there’s still life in his eyes after all those months, a spark of defiance that the Madsens couldn’t extinguish. An IV drips into one arm while the other rests atop the blanket, curled into a loose fist.
“Hey, Dad,” Natalie says, pulling up chairs for us. “How’re you holding up?”
He lifts one skeletal hand and drops it with a hollowthwap. “Wondering if I’ll ever regain the use of these things.”
“You will,” Sky says fiercely. “Don’t say that.”
His mouth forms a grim line as he meets his younger daughter’s gaze.
As I sit, he turns to me, his dark brown eyes so much like Natalie’s. “Nat tells me you—have an ability,” he says between breaths.
I dip my chin. “We’re hoping it helps us track down all the loose bio magic.”
“It just might.” His gaze is assessing, like he’s trying to see through me to whatever makes me different. It’s the same look Natalie gave me when she first realized I could sense curses.
I fight the urge to perch forward and ask him to spill everything he knows. Every second counts if I want to avoid ending up in my own cell, but the man clearly needs rest more than he needs my interrogation.
“It’s been fun watching the Madsens—get twisted about catching it.” He shifts with a wince. “They haven’t caught a single one, and not for lack of trying.”
Natalie, Sky, and I exhale in relief. More proof that setting the chimeras free was right, even if the coven doesn’t see it that way.
And now you have to catch them all again,my inner voice taunts—but I tamp it down. There’ll be plenty of time to be anxious about that in a minute.
“Did they want you to tell them how to harness it?” Sky asks tightly, like she’s not sure if she wants the answer.
“I damn near did, hoping they’d let me out.” He laughs bitterly, which turns into a coughing fit.
Sky offers him water, but he jerks his chin.
“They’d promised that before.” He frowns, gazing blankly at the far wall. “But when you’re at rock bottom…with nothing to gain by telling them how to end the world… Figured if I was going to die, might as well die keeping one last secret from them.”
Sky swipes at her eyes and squeezes her dad’s arm.
A chill slides down my spine as I think of what I once witnessed—Millie raising her bloody palms toward a chimera, symbols etched into them. The final step to embodying bio magic that the Madsens would kill for.
“Mr. Zacharias?” My voice comes out small as all eyes turn to me.
“Call me Troy,” he says, those familiar dark eyes studying me.
“Troy.” I lean forward, my heart pounding. “What are the chances they could find out through some other means? Are the steps recorded anywhere?”
He shakes his head, then winces at the movement. “We never write down instructions that could be so apocalyptic if leaked. It’s all passed verbally…and only to those who need to know.”
I nod. For once, the coven’sneed-to-knowrules are working with me instead of against me. At least, I think they are. Will he share information with me?
Time to cut to the chase. Every word seems to drain more of his strength.
“Can you tell me how—”
The door swings open, and Fiona appears. “Troy. Can I borrow your daughters?”
Natalie and Sky exchange a look but don’t budge.
My shoulders tense. What could she want so desperately that she would interrupt a hospital visit with their father?
Troy dips his chin.
