“Because of him, then?” He spits the ‘him’ derisively, clearly not able or not willing to voice his father’s name.
“Because of who he was soul bonded to, maybe.”
“So I’m just supposed to believe you, come with you?”
“You have lots of choices, Cal. You can —”
“I don’t,” he says stubbornly. “I don’t have choices.”
The server appears at our table, laden with food. She sets the drinks down first — two chocolate shakes. Then she puts a huge burger in front of Cal, and the salad and fries in front of me.
“Thank you,” I murmur.
“Thanks,” Cal says, already stuffing a handful of fries into his mouth. He hisses a bit, burning himself on the obviously very recently cooked food.
“Pepper?” the server asks me.
I gesture toward the lemon wedge set next to the small bowl of dressing. “I’m fine with lemon. Thank you.”
She finally looks at me, noting my eyes and taking an involuntary step back. She checks her reaction, plastering on a smile. “I’ll bring malt vinegar. The ketchup is on the table.”
Cal dives for the ketchup as if he hadn’t noticed it set against the window with the salt and pepper. The server steps away from the table, practically running.
I take a long, slow sip of the milkshake. It fills all the empty spaces within me. A temporary but much-needed fix.
“Why do they treat you like that?” Cal asks, posing the question so casually that he almost fools me into believing he doesn’t much care.
“Why do people react to my eyes?”
“Yeah.” He takes a large bite of the burger, melted cheese and juice spilling out over his plate. It’s almost too large for his hands.
“Conditioning,” I say. Then I add truthfully, “And reality. The awry are dangerous. Powerful, unpredictable. To be feared or coveted.”
“What’s coveted?”
“Perfect for keeping in cages and trying to harness their power.”
Cal wipes his mouth on his arm. “That’s what he did to you, right? I already heard Jewels and Lou talking about it, so you can’t deny it.”
“I wasn’t going to.” I pull some napkins from the stainless-steel holder on the table and pass them to him.
Cal crumples the napkins in his dripping hand. “So … you aren’t all-powerful, then.”
“I’m not all-powerful.” Then. That thought whispers through my mind. I wasn’t all powerful then. Because the vessel of the previous Conduit still existed in the now.
Bellamy and I are due a little chat about that. A much, much clearer warning that my aunt still existed in some form would have been nice.
“He’s going to come for you again,” Cal says, thoughtful. “If you were important enough to cage before.”
“He is.”
“So … I’ll go with Lou.”
“Because you think I can’t protect you?”
Cal shifts slightly in his seat, thinking. Then he takes a sip of his shake to think a little more. “No.”
I didn’t think so.
