“One spontaneous kiss, to take place between the hours of 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.” I swallow hard. “Once again, sorry I didn’t schedule it on our shared calendar.”
His teeth sink into his lower lip. “And I told you about what Cooper did. But you—you really weren’t using me. You were…celebrating. God, I’m such a dick. I’m sorry, Rune.”
“Apology accepted,” I say, sitting back, away from him. I can’t afford to get all emotional, not now. “Anyway, that’s who he is. But it doesn’t explain why he’s in here. And see, there’s ‘WDCC7’ next to Julia’s name, but nothing next to his.”
“Hang on.” Donovan’s eyes flick to the screen again. “Maybe there’s a pattern to those codes. Let’s take a look at the people both of us know.”
His fingers fly over the keys again, and then I’m looking at Charlotte’s name. Ethan’s, Rosa’s, and all of Smashbox’s employees’. Donovan’s and Cooper’s. But not mine. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen mine at all.
Next to Charlotte’s is that familiar ‘WDCC7.’ The Smashbox employees are a mixed bag: Ethan is coded ‘BDCC8,’ as is everyone else on the retreat with us, including Rosa. Many of the rest, though, have blank fields next to their names. Cooper is marked ‘WDCC7,’ with a note that simply reads ‘special circumstances. Half-brother: Donovan Frost,’ with a link to their shared family tree. And next to Donovan’s name, most puzzling of all, are both codes.
“I don’t get it,” Donovan says. “What do those codes mean? Why would he be tracking us like this? And what the hell is he doing with this information, anyway?” His fingers drum the surface of the desk. “Whatever he’s after, we could sue the shit out of him, provided that we can prove this is linked to protected medical data. Of course, then I’d have to find a way of getting access to this that isn’t illegal as fuck…”
“Where’s my name?” I interrupt him.
Donovan shrugs. “I included you in the search parameters. You’re not in here, Rune.”
That makes no sense. Why everyone else, and not me? “I have to be. Try again.”
He does, typing my name in so I can see. Sure enough, the search yields nothing.
I lift my head, gaze fixed on the scroll-and-dagger that shimmers in the air above the kitchen counter, thinking hard. I must be missing something. The premonitions came to me. Ethan paired me with Donovan. The Blood Witches murderedmy parents and stole me from them. Why would I possibly not be in this database, when everyone else is?
And then it comes to me. “Search for Iris Duval.”
“What? Who is that?”
I think of what Mrs. Hernandez told me.David and Lorelai Duval died when their house burned to the ground. They had a young daughter, Iris.“Me,” I say, my voice a whisper. “It’s my birth name.”
One of Donovan’s hands squeezes mine. With the other, he does as I asked. And a moment later, there it is.Iris Duval. WDCC7.
“Click on the family tree,” I tell Donovan, my mouth impossibly dry.
He does. Up it pops, linked to two other names in the database: David and Lorelai. When Donovan clicks on their records, both of them show the same code: WDCC7.
There are more names on the tree. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins. A whole family, just waiting for me to find them. The whole time, when I was abused and alone, mocked and bullied, all these people were out there, thinking I was dead.
Caught between fury and devastation, I watch as Donovan pulls up one name in my family tree after another. ‘WDCC7’ appears next to all of them.
“They’re genetic markers of some kind,” I tell him, wiping away the tears that have flooded my eyes. “They have to be.”
“Okay,” he says, “but then Cooper and I?—”
“You have different fathers. It stands to reason you wouldn’t be an exact match.”
“But then…” His lips purse, and he types something again, then sits back. “Shit. If you’re right, I’m the only one in the database that has both markers, Rune. Out of thousands of people, only me.”
It’s my turn to bite my lip. “Who was your father, Donovan?”
“Jonathan Frost. He was a mechanical engineer. Why?”
“Look him up,” I say, a terrible suspicion taking root inside me.
“He never lived in Sapphire?—”
“Look him up anyway.”
Brow knitted, Donovan does as I ask. Sure enough, Jonathan’s name pops up, linked to Donovan’s family tree. And next to it: BDCC8.
