Daughter of Zeus ✔

19.4

Ada ignored him and strode to the guest bedroom. She closed the door, considered locking it, then sat on the bed.

He called out, "It's been a few minutes." When she didn't respond, he followed with, "How long can you keep lying to yourself?"

She debated on whether to answer. She debated on hiding hereself away for longer. She owed no one an explanation. Several painful minutes later, she stood, opened the door, and emerged from her hiding spot.

"Lying about what?"

She spoke from halfway behind the bedroom door. It made for a good shield.

"So many people have tried to tell you, and you wouldn't listen."

What the hell do you know about it? But she left that unsaid. It would have been a defensive question, and she was done playing defense on the issue of her dead husband. She had just admitted to herself August's death was accidental, but if hearing it from someone else brought some closure, then hallelujah.

"Tell. Me. What."

Shylar exhaled noisily. "You didn't kill your husband. He's still alive."

"I don't believe you."

"He is still alive," he repeated. "Kressick tried telling you, several times. Each time, you nodded and accepted the words, but a second later, you carried on as if the conversation never happened. Telling you now seems the right time. You're more lucid than I've ever seen you."

And she was. Lucid. Completely aware. Tears fell fast and free from her eyes, though her calm demeanor did not completely crumble.

"What happened to him then?"

Finally, she left her safe space behind the door and joined him in the dining room. They sat a table, across from one another, just as she had with Kressick so many times before.

"He was seriously wounded," Shylar said, "but physically capable of recovering. It's his...mental status that's holding him back."

She frowned. "Huh?"

He continued on with his explanation in a measured tone, as he would to a child. "You fried his neurological pathways, at least that's what Kressick surmised about the state of his brain. He's like a toy without batteries."

Her tears stopped. All of the details made her feel too shocked to cry. "Where is he?"

Shylar took a long breath. "Kressick had him moved, here to Atlanta, a few days ago."

"How?"

It was a valid question. If interstate travel was difficult, interstate re-location was near impossible. The fees alone kept most citizens in their native states for all of their lives.

"A sizeable donation to the Prominents allowed him certain freedoms."

Ada barely heard the answer. Her question of how had been automatic. Now, her head was spinning, and she was thinking of one last mission.

"I want to see him, today."

Shylar shook his head. "That's possible, but..."

"But?"

"Don't expect to fix him."

Heat flooded her face. He seemed to know everything she was thinking, as if Kressick had linked their minds in some way. Nosy old bastard. If that was true, the connection went one way, because she felt little for Shylar except annoyance.

Liar.

"You've been really nice, saving my life and shit, but I can't let that bury the truth." She put up her chin to look down at him. "Stop acting like you know me. Wanna keep playing sidekick? Fine, but don't advise me on anything. Tell me where to find my husband."

"The address uploaded to your interface two minutes ago, under the name 'August'."

There was no evidence of sadness in Shylar's demeanor. Ada hoped her words would hurt him, but the man was a robot. She wondered what it would take to see some emotion from him. It was a fleeting concern, overshadowed by her worry for August.

She told Shylar to wait for Darcy, instructing him like the faithful dog he was. She wanted to see her husband alone.

"Be back in a few hours," she said.