The Dysasters (The Dysasters #1)(20)

“Father, I wouldn’t think of—”

“Do not lie to me!” Stewart’s voice had Eve cringing, and she was glad his back was to her and he didn’t notice. “I said I see you. Do you think I don’t know you better than you know yourself? I created you. I raised you. I am your family. And still you dream of walking away from me—from your brothers—from your sister—from your family.” Stewart shook his head in disgust. “Answer my question. What would happen to you if you went out on your own?”

Eve watched emotions flicker over Mark’s handsome, expressive face. She saw anger and fear, guilt and love battle just behind his eyes. Then his broad shoulders slumped and his gaze dropped to the floor.

“I would lose control. People would see what I can do—that I can control water, which means I can control the rain, the tides, lakes, rivers, and all the rest. When they realized what I could do, they would take me. Capture me. Treat me like a science experiment.” Mark’s voice was filled with resignation.

“They would dissect you.” Stewart spoke the words in a calm, rational voice that made them all the more horrible. “But you probably wouldn’t even be aware of what they were doing because the Frill would have devoured your mind by then.”

“I—I know.”

“Then you also know why it is so important that we find Foster and Tate now that their eighteenth birthday has passed and their powers have manifested, don’t you?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Say it!” Stewart demanded.

“We have to find them so that people don’t discover what they can do—that they can control air. Because if we don’t find them what would happen to me will happen to them. They’ll be studied and dissected and driven mad.”

“Yes. And the rest of it? Perhaps the most important part?” Stewart prodded.

Mark deflated even more. “You can use the new kids to figure out how to save us from the madness that comes with our hallucinations.”

Mark wiped a trembling hand across his face. Eve couldn’t stand it for one more moment. Pushing aside her own fear, she went to him and slid her arm around his waist, putting on a brave smile, which she beamed at Stewart.

“But no one is going to go mad because we are going to find the teenagers and bring them here and protect them. That’s why Father created them in pairs—so that they can share the element—share the power—and avoid the madness that threatens the four of us. And while we’re teaching them to understand their connections to the elements, Father is going to study them and find a way to save us as well.” She tiptoed and kissed the man she called brother on the cheek. “Don’t worry. Father has it all figured out, and we’ll bring Foster and Tate here—just like we’ll bring the other three pairs here.”

“But only if they manifest their element. You see, Son, why we must wait until each pair turns eighteen and is drawn together, don’t you? No matter what you and your brothers think, I am no monster. I wouldn’t tear children from their families and their lives unless it was completely necessary. So, perhaps you were right after all. What happened at the stadium was my fault.”

“The boys would never call you monster, Father!” Eve exclaimed. “And they do understand. We all understand.”

She unwrapped her arm from around Mark and gave him an almost imperceptible push toward the half-opened door, speaking under her breath quickly as she turned her body so that Stewart would have a hard time overhearing.

“Open the files on Cora and Foster. Go over everywhere they were before they disappeared last year. Get our P.I.s in those regions on the phone. Tell them whoever finds the kids will get a one-hundred-thousand-dollar bonus. Make Luke activate that program he created to track credit card uses. Cora’s dead. Foster might slip and use a card. We need to find them before the water kids turn eighteen next month.”

“Yes, Eve,” Mark murmured.

As her brother slipped from the room, Eve went to Stewart. She held her head high, knowing how much he appreciated her strength. Don’t let him guess. Don’t let him see how tired I am—how I wish we could rewind the clock eighteen years and be a real family again.

“I know Cora’s death hurts you. It hurts me, too. Let me grieve with you.” She stopped before him and gently touched his arm.

His hand covered hers. “My little Nubian princess. You know me so much better than your brothers do.”

“Well, as you’ve been saying for years—one woman is worth three men.”

“Actually, Cora said that,” her father corrected.

His smile made his lined face look much younger than his seventy-two years, and Eve was hit by a wave of nostalgia as Cora’s big, happy voice lifted from the deep memories of her past. Rick Stewart, I do declare you are taller and more handsome than Laurence Fishburne.

“I know. I remember,” Eve said softly. “Even though she didn’t know it, I loved her. Even though she didn’t know it, she was my mother.”

Stewart’s dark eyes flashed dangerously. “I told you never to speak of that!”

Eve recoiled. “I-I’m sorry, Father. It’s just the two of us.”

Stewart sighed and patted her shoulder gently. “No, I’m sorry. It’s just that the truth of your parentage must be our secret. Think of how wounded your brothers would be if they discovered you are my biological child—the only true child of my love with Cora. I believe it would wound them. They already claim that you are my favorite.”