“But they didn’t attack?”
I shook my head. “No. They just stood there. The portal closed and they all fell dead. Maybe they were going to attack me, butthe portal closing stopped them.” I knew that was a damn lie—it was too convenient for me to believe it.
“Whatreallyhappened? Why didn’t they attack?”
“Becausehewould never hurt me.” The words left my lips so fast I didn’t recognize I’d even said them at first.
“Who ishe?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“What do you know?”
There seemed this disconnect between my brain and my mouth, as though no matter what I told myself to say, it blurted out the truth. Worse, my mind scrambled, making it difficult for me to work out why that was bad.
“Heis a corrupted I guided.” I gripped the ring and tore it from my head, throwing it across the room. A snap through my mind, like a rubber band breaking, caused me to hiss and grasp my skull tightly. “What the fuck was that?” I asked, breathing hard.
“The fact you even noticed you were answering is astounding. You truly are an interesting case. So, you are like this due to a corrupted? Strange. I have seen those who guide a corrupted and none ever have shown the powers you have…”
I turned toward him, grabbing his wrist, not caring how tight my grip was or how stupid the choice was. “I asked what that was,” I repeated, shoving the words through my gritted teeth.
“It is what I claimed—it detects and records brain waves. In addition, a lovely side effect is that it lowers inhibitions and causes a disconnect between the brain’s higher functions and speech. In short? It encourages people to speak their thoughts without hindrance.”
I’d never heard of anything like that, wouldn’t have believed it was real, not if I hadn’t just experienced it.
Then the rest of his statement came to me. “You’re saying you’ve forced guides with corrupted before?”
“Of course. Officially, no. It is rather dangerous and often drives the guide mad or ends with the corrupted killing them. It means while that might have played a part in your skills, it can’t explain it all. Still, it is a start, I supposed. Go on, you’re dismissed. I have enough to pore over. I suspect I will not see you until after The Pitt opens. You may not believe me, but I truly do hope you survive it.” With that, he turned away from me as though I held no use anymore, like I didn’t matter a bit.
It left me shaky as I left the exam room, unsure where exactly I fit in a world that seemed determined to kill me.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Shear
I hadn’t told Yun what we were doing, at least not all of it. Telling her would have caused her more anxiety, because I would have had to explain my suspicions.
Instead, I’d only said that with The Pitt opening soon, she needed a good night’s sleep, so I would remain with her to help prevent nightmares. She’d jumped at the chance, which went to show how unnerved she was.
Her brain waves were all over the place, but that was easy to blame on the attack and all the other stress facing us all.
She wore a pair of her pajamas and was curled up in bed. It was strange to think this was the same woman who had flinched away from me every chance she’d gotten before, who wouldn’t even so much as let me brush against her. Now she had no reaction when I curled up behind her, when I wrapped my arm around her. If anything, she scooted back to gain as much contact as possible.
“Close your eyes,” I told her. “You’ll feel me in your head, but I’m not reading your thoughts.”
“Good,” she muttered, sleep already heavy in her voice. “My thoughts are private.”
“Oh are they? Well, now I find myself curious.”
“Liar. You aren’t curious about anything, and certainly not anyone.”
“And yet here I am, always fascinated by what you are thinking and doing and plotting.”
“Plotting? That sounds rude.”
“Would you prefer scheming?”
She huffed, pulling my arm tighter around her, but she didn’t argue anymore. Instead, she slipped into sleep so easily, it made me wonder if perhaps just my being next to her helped.
