Daughter of Zeus ✔

18.4

Ada calmed at the sight of Darcy in the backseat of the car. There were no hugs or tears when the sisters greeted each other. When she was dressed with a spare pair of clothes from the trunk, Ada got into the driver's seat and programmed the car to return to Kressick's.

The tears and hugs came later, but only after Darcy showed Ada Kressick's body in the master bathroom. Shylar commanded the dissipating door of the bedroom to appear, to allow the two women to grieve privately.

In the morning, he reversed his ideas about their privacy. Shylar instructed the door to open, and the barrier disappeared. The sisters were asleep on Kressick's bed. Their hands were intertwined, puffy eyes and swollen cheeks indicators of a shared misery.

He carried Kressick's body to the guest bathroom. Being a State fugitive, he could not have a traditional funeral. He had briefed Shylar on what to do with his body in the event of his death. Shylar vividly recalled the orders, and after waking, he prepared the bathroom accordingly. Yards of plastic sheeting covered the tub and floor. A roll of black plastic bags and a laser cutter completed the necessities for the job.

He forgot his gloves and stepped out to the kitchen to find them. When he got back to the bathroom, Ada was at work dismembering her grandfather. She was using concentrated energy from her fingertips in lieu of the laser cutter.

Slightly taken aback but greatly impressed, Shylar grabbed the cutter from the bathroom counter. He knelt next to her. "Not everyone would be able to do a task like this."

"I'm not everyone." She paused. "And, I've been through worse."

He held quiet, and his patience paid off when she elaborated. She told him what she remembered about the man with clammy hands, and what they'd done to her. Then, she admitted that the man from her memories had to be Moretz.

Her tone and the words intuited to Shylar that she hadn't told anyone the particulars of Moretz's abuse until now. Not even her husband, August. Shylar should've felt special, but didn't. Instead, he experienced Ada's pain and wanted to make it end. She released silent tears and hugged herself, not looking at him once. Comfort wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to confess her deepest, darkest experience to someone. In confessing, she wanted to let it go, and she had.

Composing herself somewhat, Ada said, "You know, all the men in my life, including you, have tried to control me."

Her tone wasn't accusatory, just reflective.

"I'm sorry." Hearing how lame that sounded, he added, "Can you re-wire me to be better?"

She started to speak, then stopped. Her eyes searched his face, concern writing over her misery. Then, realization washed over her. "You were joking."

"Half-joking."

They both smiled.

After her smile faded, dark thoughts invaded his mind. He wanted to end Moretz for what he'd done to Ada. If the bastard hadn't turned himself over to Sammies, Shylar was certain he would've used the laser cutter a second time.

Wordlessly, they finished the grisly task together. After their charge was bagged, they burned the body parts in the kitchen incinerator. Shylar collected the ashes into an urn Kressick purchased for that specific purpose. He set the poly-carbonate urn on the kitchen counter, sliding it over to Ada.

She gave him a look which, for the first time, was devoid of disgust. "Thank you for listening, for not judging me, and thank you for saving my life. There's really not enough in the words 'thank you' for all you've done for me."

Anything for you, he thought, but he knew better than to spew niceties to Ada out loud. Shylar's mind had been conditioned to protect her. His love for her existed beyond the parameters of Kressick's programming.

Darcy's screams interrupted their peaceful moment. She had seen the inside of the guest bathroom, and they hadn't yet finished cleaning it up.