“The two sons that settled into Dementia were Abraham Demechnef and Orin Blackforth.” He points to their pictures, one with a bowler hat and black hair, and the other with dark-red hair and bifocals resting on the bridge of his nose. They look off into the distance with their chins raised in front of a large fireplace.
“Their roles in Alkadon were upholding societal and architectural appearances. Unfortunately for them, Alkadon did not see their vision for flawless women with the highest standards for society as a whole. After gaining followers on this topic and causing internal feuds, the rulers of Alkadon had to banish them along with those who sided with them.
“The other two exiled were brothers, Malcolm and Maxwell Mazonist.” He flips a page to reveal two grinning twin brothers, arm in arm, standing on a cliff overlooking the sea. “Their discretions were the most offensive. Alkadon is known for having the largest navy and military force in the world. The Mazonist brothers were in charge of that. Trained generals. But because they were so young, early twenty’s, they were overly ambitious for growing and strengthening that force. They abducted children to train into even greater warriors than they already had, ran experiments on the human mind, and eventually were caught. To this day, they are still alive in Vexamen, doing far worse than training children.”
I shudder and don’t dare ask what is worse than training children.
“Why’re you looking into all of this?” I ask between yawns.
He closes the book and smirks. “Am I boring you with my research?”
“Not at all. I never learned any of this growing up.” Truthfully, my father never saw world history as a useful parenting tool.
“Well, most people don’t like talking about it. We are a disgraced nation in many eyes around the world.” Aurick gives me a once-over, drums his fingers on the desk. “How did today go?”
Today, oryesterday, as it is now past midnight, I finally made it into that room.
“Intense.” I shrug. “This patient that I got to meet—everyone’s afraid of him. At least, everyone that knows of him.”
Aurick tilts his head. “Why?”
“A number of reasons. They think he’s a geniusanda murderer. But truthfully, I don’t think there’s a word yet for what he really is.” I trace my index finger over the map between us. Aurick watches, waiting for me to continue. “And I wasn’t even afraid… isn’t that strange? I was more fascinated than anything else.”
“How did he react to meeting you?”
That wise, all-knowing face. That look, like he waswaitingfor me.
“Calm. And he knew things—” But a ward goes up in my mind. A metal wall that secures my thoughts from forming on my tongue. I can’t reveal anything about this man. For whatever reason, I know he must be protective of all information about himself. Why else would he have checked himself in?
“What kind of things?” Aurick inquires.
I shake my head. “I have to be up in just a few hours. Promise you’ll get to bed soon?”
He sighs, smiling up at me with a reassuring nod.
I pat his shoulder before walking back to my room, only to sit on my windowsill, watching the trees rustle in the wind, and waiting for the sun to rise so I can see him again.
18. The Secrets Game
It’s like the first time,all over again.
I walk into his room, overly aware of the sound my shoes make when they crack against the concrete floor and of the length each leg stretches in front of the other. But overall, I’m quite conscious of my breath spewing from my lips and my heart gushing fresh beats of blood into my ears.
He sits in the same chair, back facing me. I’ve spent hours creating possible conversations we might have in my mind. I’ve predicted thousands of outcomes—all disappearing like rainwater in the soil.
“I have a question.” Dessin’s voice snatches my focusinto a snare.
“Okay.”
“Does anyone know why you really worked this hard to make it to my room?”
Are these just mind games, or does he really know this much? I only ever voiced my curiosities to Suseas. Would she have told him that?
“I don’t even thinkIknow why I worked so hard to get into this room.”
He blinks slowly.“I’m sure you probably believe that too.” His eyes are like magnets to mine. Even when my gaze falls, they manage to return to base.
“Either way… I’m happy to be here.”
