A couple of Elites catch up to us, so I finish my thought internally.
—I’m not giving up on him—ever—
—Good. He’s…he’s special. He’s the best of us—
Special, yes, of course, but not just Wes.
—So is Donovan—
We enter the Restricted Studies block, and Cosmo suddenly yanks me to one side, dragging me into an empty classroom.
“No, Theodora. Wes is everything. Have the twins ever told you about their childhood? Our childhood?”
“No, not really. Just bits and pieces about lots of nannies, and very little parenting.”
Cosmo lets out an age-old breath. “If only it were that simple.”
He pauses.
A shudder runs through my spine, wondering what I’m about to hear.
“Their story, our story is filled with more than neglect and disinterest.” He takes a strand of my hair between his fingers.
I flinch and he drops his hand. “Sorry.”
I narrow my eyes. What’s he playing at? “So talk, Cosmo. Tell me what I need to know—aboutmytwins.”
His ice-blue gaze burns into me. “I’ll tell you, so you know how much of the darkness has already claimed my soul. I’ll tell you, so you understand why Wes is too good to be corrupted as well.”
“I don’t need convincing to save Wes, but tell meanythingthat can help me reach him.”
Cosmo swallows and looks at the floor.
“Drakeward?”
He raises his face again, eyes meeting mine. “I guess you already look at me like I’m the devil, so I’ve nothing to lose.”
Clearing his throat, Cosmo speaks quietly. “I think the Harts and my father have been trying to find a way to harness dark energy all of my life. Wes, Dono and I were homeschooled together for a lot of our young childhood.”
His face is bleak.
“Father, Janine and Jonquil were rarely there,” Cosmo tells me. “My mother would stay home, but that meant just getting high on pills and ignoring us. Those days were the best of our childhood, when it was just us and the tutors. But then…” A wintery expression takes over his features. “But then I got old enough for Father to introduce me to business lessons. He killed my friend, Ramon. Ramon was one of the groundskeepers' sons. I can’t…can’t tell you…”
I put out a hand. “You don’t need to. I know it was awful. Go on.”
“You…” He shakes his head, like he’s trying to clear the images inside it. “OK, well, later, the twins and I would be driven to the Harts lab. We’d be made to watch their ‘experiments’. Brain destroying spells, pain producing casts. They’d perform then onhumans dragged off the streets. Homeless people nobody would miss. It was torture, hideous. Donovan would retreat into his imagination, it was like he wasn’t even in the room. I would spend my time thinking up all the ways I’d get revenge on my father and the Harts one day. And Wes? Wes would beg his parents to stop. He’d beg to take the place of the homeless and prostitutes strapped to the tables.”
My gentle Wes.
“Did..did that happen?”
“The rest is not my story to tell, but you need to know—Wes has been broken once before. It took a long time to get him back. I beg of you, Theodora, save him now. I deserve any pain and agony that comes my way, but Wes? All he deserves is peace and love for the rest of his life.”
Cosmo spins on his heel and marches away from me.
As the door swings shut, I blink and find my face is wet with tears.
I quickly scrub at my cheeks then follow the man who used to be my nemesis (and now I don’t know what he is) into Professor Gimble’s classroom.
