Alek
Val had had enough of my long pauses and blank stares. She shook my shoulders. "There's something wrong with you. If I had my medical bag on me, I'd shine a light in your eyes to see how your pupils respond. Be honest with me: are you on drugs?"
Having just promised Verity a rescue was imminent, I snapped myself back to the present, where I gave a not entirely convincing response. "Huh?"
"Drugs!" She looked to her daughter for confirmation. Flora shook her head no. "Fine then, let's make sure you're not having a stroke. Raise your arms for me please."
I pushed her to the side and headed for the door. "I'm not having a stroke. Verity's wolf connection is back. Time to get her out of here."
Rushing ahead of me, Val blocked my path. "How do you know that?"
"Well..." My stupid mouth had gotten the best of me yet again. "Verity and I can communicate telepathically."
Val's features melded into the face of someone witnessing a gruesome murder. Her eyes bulged like balloons until I feared they'd burst. "That means... that makes you... a werewolf!" She shot out an arm in front of Flora, as though that would protect her from a carnivorous shifter beast.
"Fortunately, it does not," I said. "Although I have to admit, transforming into a wolf would have it's benefits at the moment."
"He's right, mom," Flora said. "I've never seen him transform into or manifest a wolf. He never does anything even remotely that cool."
"That doesn't mean he can't, Flora." Val seemed frantic now. She continued to use herself as a human shield in front of her daughter. "This is why Norvin did it! This is exactly what he was afraid would happen!"
"What did Norvin do?" I felt just about angry enough now that if I was a werewolf, I would have breached the point of self-control.
Val hesitated, her breath coming in shallow gasps. "He..."
"Tell me," I hissed, "or I swear to God, I will grow fangs and tear both of your necks open!"
Behind her mom, Flora gave me the briefest of smiles. "He means it mom, you have to tell him or there's no telling what he'll do to us!"
"He did it to spare you!" Val sputtered, her eyes watering. "It was... the right thing to do at the time. That's what I thought, at least."
The room stilled. Her next words were certain. I braced myself for their impact. "What was the right thing to do?"
Val swallowed. "He killed your parents, Alek."
"No." Flora backed away from her mother and sank onto the couch. "Norvin killed them, and then blamed it on Verity's mother?"
Val nodded. "We'd already decided the gene therapy trials had to end. Including children like they did... I could understand it with Verity and Edward and the others because they all carried the genetic marker for werewolfism. It seemed an honest attempt at helping them. But, experimenting on you, Alek. Their own son. Someone who would never have gone on to become a werewolf by natural means... it was unconscionable."
How was I still standing? I'd been hit by a reality truck. It would be so easy to lay down, curl up, give up. "So, Norvin thought the best way to handle the situation was to make me an orphan, make me believe Verity's mom was their murderer, and lie to me my whole life."
"They were never going to stop what they were doing to you, Alek. You need to understand, they may have been your parents, but they were not good people."
"So, that makes you and Norvin the good guys then?" I curled my hands into fists. "What morally upstanding people you are. Real fucking heroes."
"I said I didn't agree with everything Norvin chose to do."
"Don't try to whitewash your crimes." Flora let out a sob. "You're unbelievable."
"All this time," I said, "for as long as I can remember, I've channeled my hate in the direction of an innocent woman, and it nearly led to me betraying the person I love most in this world."
Flora gasped and brought a hand to her heart. Even in the darkest moments, she remained a true romantic. "You would never betray Verity. Deep down, I always knew that!"
She did not always know that, but I let the discrepancy slide. It was nice to have validation, even if the historical underpinnings were a bit fantastical. "You're right, Flora. I did come here determined to betray someone, however. It was just never going to be her."
I leaned over Val, going for an imposing stance.
"What are you going to do to me?" she asked.
"Let you go live your life," I replied. "All you have to do for that to happen is get us downstairs. I'm assuming there's a biometric lock involved?"
She nodded. "You'll need my hand."
"What are you waiting for then?" I asked. "Unless you'd prefer I sever it from the rest of your body."
Val yelped. I felt ashamed scaring her like that, despite everything she'd done, but she hadn't responded to common sense or decency.
Taking the fallen picture, Flora threw it onto the floor and stepped on it. The sound of breaking glass grated on my already frazzled nerves.
"What are you doing," I asked her. "We have to go!"
"There might be guards around," Flora said. Taking off her scarf, she wrapped it around a jagged piece of glass from the frame and held it out to me. "Val's our hostage now."
"What?" Val squirmed, but I grabbed her wrist and spun her around so she was in front of my chest, then took the makeshift shiv from Flora.
"Lead the way," I said to Val, pressing the glass close to her neck for inspiration.
Beyond the office was a short hallway leading to what looked like a spacious living room. From my angle, I could make out a sitting area with an overstuffed couch and a recliner, in which sat an Aurum Venari guard. The guard stared at his phone, oblivious to our emergence.
Val opened her mouth, and I waved the glass shard up and down her neck.
She paused, then pointed to the right, away from the living room and towards another short hallway. At the end of it, an elevator door awaited us.
"Open it," I hissed at her.
Val looked forlornly at her daughter, who gave her a stony response. "Do what he says."
Sighing, she stuck out her hand and placed it against an imaging panel. It lit up green and the elevator door slid opened.
"Norvin, Chip, and the others will already be down there," Val said once we were inside. "Do you think they'll let Verity go without a fight? She's much too valuable."
It dawned on me then, something I should have realized a long time ago. "I'm such an idiot."
"Now's not a great time to finally come to terms with that," Flora said.
"They're going to sell her, Flora." I tried to make eye contact with Val to confirm my theory, but she turned away. "Verity is a weapon. They haven't brought her here to keep the world safe from her, they're holding her until they can determine the highest bidder."
Flora pounded a fist into the wall of the elevator. "Is this true?" She asked her mom, who shrugged and gave her an apologetic smile.
"It's not not true."
"Oh my God, we have to stop this, Alek!"
That's exactly what I intended to do. Every lie I had ever been told had led me to this moment, where the truth could be revealed in all its ugly, resplendent glory. "Get ready."
_____
Author's Note: This is a long chapter, so I've divided it up. Expect part 2 soon.
So, Norvin killed Alek's parents... what??? Did you guess that? Do you think his motivation for doing so was sound? He's a complicated character. In my opinion, he probably did think he was doing the right thing at the time, but his moral compass is severely out of whack.
The elevator door is about to open... what will they find? Stay tuned!