Imitation (21 page)

For their sakes, I want so badly to
say it is Daniel who Titus wants. Daniel who works with him. Daniel
who comes to dinner and hangs on his every word. Daniel who will
someday run the empire he is secretly already trying to take over.
Or crush.

But I don’t. Because six words repeat
over and over in my head.

…
Or the others we’ve got
stashed.

And I know if Imitations are in
danger, there is absolutely no one else in the entire world who can
help them—except maybe me.

I close the book I’m holding and
return it to the shelf with the others that contain essays on
subterranean particles. It is a dusty shelf tucked away in the
corner of the parlor. There is nothing helpful here, but I’ve been
through everything else.

“
What are you looking
for?”

I spin and find Linc standing just
inside the open door. His expression is one of open curiosity but I
know it’s more than that. For the past two days, he’s kept his
distance, watching with sharp eyes as I search through the tomes
for answers. Now that I’ve come up empty, I realize I never
expected much to begin with.

“
I don’t know,” I answer
honestly. And because I’ve never come right out and asked, I add,
“How much do you know about the work done by RogenCorp?”

“
They conduct scientific
research for private companies through grants and donations,” he
says, eyeing me as if he thinks it’s a trick question.
“Why?”

“
Just trying to understand
more about what they do.”

“
Why don’t you ask your
father?”

I stare at him pointedly.

“
Yeah, okay,” he says.
“But why the sudden interest?”

I shrug. “Nothing better to do, I
guess.”

He folds his arms across his chest in
challenge. “You’re lying.”

“
All right. I think the
people after me have some connection to RogenCorp.”

He straightens, instantly alert. “What
makes you think that?”

I return his gaze without a word. I
can see the frustration set in. I hurry to speak again before he
can accuse me of another lie. “Do you know a girl named Annalyn
Benner?”

His brow crinkles as he tries to place
it. “Benner … a statesman’s daughter, right? Why do I remember that
name?” Recognition dawns and he looks back at me. It is a regretful
sort of expression. “It was on the security reports yesterday. She
was killed in a carjacking a couple of days ago. Why? Did you know
her?”

Killed. In a carjacking? I
try to piece it together but nothing makes sense.
My role is a lie.
Which
part had she meant? The fact that she’s supposed to be dead? How is
she still free? Attending parties? Free of the device that I’d give
my right arm to lose?

“
Raven?”

“
Yes, I knew her,” I say
distractedly.

I replay the conversation in the
restroom. She is working with Melanie. There is no other
explanation. But why? And how is she alive when her Authentic is
dead? She should be terminated.

“
What’s the matter? Did
she mean something to you?” Linc asks. He walks toward me slowly,
obviously concerned by whatever he sees in my expression. I
struggle to smooth it over.

I need to think. I need to understand.
I contemplate calling Daniel and confronting him. But I know that
would be foolish. Maybe it’s time to talk to Gus.

“
Raven, talk to me,” Linc
says. His frustration is mounting. I can hear it in his voice. His
hands grasp my shoulders and he shakes me gently. It snaps me out
of my thoughts.

“
I’m sorry, I just—yes,
she means something to me. It’s a shock.”

“
It’s more than that. What
are you thinking? What does that girl have to do with all this?” He
gestures to the empty room but we both know he means the big
picture. Me. This place. Rogen Tower.

Here is my moment. I should tell him
about Daniel. About Titus. What I am. For the first time, I want
him to know everything. But Rogen Tower has too many ears to say
anything in this room. I look away.

“
You still don’t trust
me,” he says quietly.

“
It’s not that.
I—”

His hands drop from my shoulders. They
hang limply at his sides in a gesture of defeat. “Dinner’s ready.”
He stalks out, leaving me trailing behind him in a silence threaded
with half-truths and fear.

***

There are two people already seated at
the dining table when I arrive. One is Titus. The other is
Daniel.

My heart seizes and I have to force
air into and out of my lungs. For once, I welcome my role as
Authentic Raven. It allows me to shove the fear aside and smile as
if nothing else matters but pleasing these men.

“
Good evening, Raven,”
Titus says as I take my seat.

I nod at them both. “Good evening,
Father. Daniel.”

“
You look beautiful, as
always,” Daniel says, his eyes roaming over me in a way that means
more than just appreciating my appearance. I wonder if he’s looking
for damage—evidence of my run-in with Melanie. When it’s obvious
there is none, he turns his attention back to Titus.

The meal is served. Conversation flows
and topics are brought forth and overturned at a rate faster than
my mind can keep up. I force aside everything but the automatic
motion of feeding myself and nodding at the appropriate
places.

I don’t allow myself to think past
this moment and whatever Authentic Raven would say. I eat. I smile.
I answer flippantly when they ask a question. The entire time I am
in awed disgust that I am capable. Even Titus looks
pleased.

When the meal ends, Titus leaves us
alone—something about a speech to write for some benefit for
orphans who will never see a dime of the charity money given—and I
am swept away to the small parlor that I have come to think of as
Daniel’s room. I have not been in there since the first time we
were alone together. Did he know what I was then? The thought of
being in there with him now has me swallowing back a brick-sized
lump. I can sense one of the security team shadowing us. Another
no-name.

Linc wasn’t at dinner. I thought I saw
him halfway through the appetizers, but it was only a flash of a
face before he disappeared back into the kitchen. I have no doubt
he’s still angry with me.

I stand awkwardly beside the small
couch. Daniel goes directly to it and sinks down, either ignoring
my hesitation or oblivious to it. “Sit,” he says with a smile that
doesn’t reach past his lips. It makes me nervous, that smile. I
don’t trust it. But I sit.

He leans closer and brushes his hand
along my hairline. I am a statue as his fingertips trace a trail
down to my shoulder. My face heats under his touch—anger, boiling
hot, bubbles to the surface.

“
How’s your father?” I
ask, just centimeters from our lips meeting.

He sits back abruptly and the frown
that deepens the lines around his mouth is every bit as potent as
the smile he wore just seconds ago. “He’s well. Why do you
ask?”

“
He hasn’t seemed like
himself lately.”

“
I wasn’t aware you’d
spent time with him lately,” he says. His tone is a
warning.

I am on dangerous ground and I know
it, but I can’t stop the words now. I am in too far. Backpedaling
would be fatal. So I forge ahead—with no real plan except to
survive the encounter.

“
I haven’t. Not really.
I’m just concerned. I know how much he means to you.”

“
Yes. He’s all I have
now.”

“
Your mother …?” I stop
myself before I can fully ask the question. I remember Linc and the
pictures he showed me that first day. There was a smiling woman
with an arm around Daniel. I remember Linc telling me she died last
year. I don’t know how.

“
Well. She’s gone, isn’t
she?” There is a dull pain in his eyes as he says it, but it is
fleeting. I wonder if he ever felt the loss of his mother or if
he’s found a way to turn it off. Anger doesn’t seem like the most
logical emotion to me, but then I have nothing to compare it to.
I’ve never had a mother.

I don’t feel sorry for him, exactly,
but at least he’s stopped trying to kiss me. “Do you want to talk
about what happened?” I ask.

“
What’s to talk about?” he
shoots back. “The cancer took her faster than we could fight it.
Faster than we could grow a cure.”

I nod like I understand but cancer is
a foreign concept to me. No Imitation has ever had anything so
deadly. “If that’s the case, there’s nothing anyone could’ve done.
Including you.”

“
Least of all me,” he
agrees. “But they could’ve worked faster. Expedited the growth of
the cure.”

I open my mouth to murmur
reassurances but the words don’t make it out. Something he said has
my attention. “What do you mean
growth
of the
cure
?” I ask.

His expression clears, his shoulders
deliberately relaxing as he studies me. “Nothing, kitten, just me
ranting, as usual.” He pats my knee like one would a small child
who doesn’t understand a simple concept. “Don’t pay me any mind. Do
you want some tea? I can ring the maid.”

“
No, thank you. I think
I’m going to call it a night,” I say, rising. I’m not sure what to
make of the turn in our conversation but I want to sit and process
it alone. There is something there, something important—I just
don’t know what.

“
Call it a night? But we
haven’t even started yet.” And just like that, the smile is back
and he is leaning in again.

“
I have no intention
of
starting
tonight. I am here for you about your mother but—”

“
Do not pretend to
understand about my mother. You couldn’t possibly understand
anything so complex.”

I rise and make a show of smoothing my
dress. “I don’t like your tone. I’m saying good night.”

I have taken two steps when his hand
grabs mine and he spins me around. “You will say good night when I
tell you.”

“
You don’t get to order me
around like you own me,” I say, packing so much venom in those
words my gut aches.

“
No, of course not. Titus
owns you. I just get to play with you.”

I slap him. He winces and when he
looks back at me, his pupils are dilated, his mouth set.

The door opens and I realize the sound
of my hitting him must’ve been loud enough to alert the sentry in
the hall. He steps into the room and watches us curiously. He
doesn’t move toward us and I can see him trying to assess the
situation, to determine the threat.

“
Leave us,” Daniel snaps
at him.

The guard hesitates.

“
I said, leave
us!”

The man shuffles out and the door
clicks shut behind him. Something that feels an awful lot like hope
drains out of me. I feel empty.

“
That was a mistake,”
Daniel says in a low voice. He takes a step toward me. I take one
back.

“
The mistake is yours,” I
say, “to think I would just roll over and give up so
easily.”

“
Easy or hard, it will
happen.”

“
Why? I’ve done nothing to
you.”

“
Don’t flatter yourself.
This isn’t about you.”

“
Her, then. The
redhead.”

Daniel registers surprise but it
doesn’t last. “I’ve underestimated you, product.”

I ignore the sting left by his words
and press on, determined to return the focus where it belongs. “I
saw the two of you kissing. Is this for her?”

“
Melanie?” He waves a
hand. “Please. She is not important.”

He laughs and it sounds like a short
bark. I know then that he does not love Melanie. That he is using
her just like he’s trying to use me. But there is
another.

“
Not Melanie, then.
Raven.”

In an instant, his expression is
deadly serious. I’ve hit a nerve. “I should’ve known the moment he
switched her for you. I … I would never hurt Raven. Her own father,
on the other hand, would ship her off while he waits around for her
product to bite it just so he can neutralize a threat to his
precious company. His products are all that matter to him. Ironic
if you think about it, considering how choosy he is with which ones
he decides to grow.”

He takes another step toward me. I
take another one back. “You don’t have to do this.”

“
You have no idea what I
have to do.”

My back bumps the bookshelf on the far
wall. I’ve gone as far as I can. The minute it happens, he is on
me.

For a panic-filled moment I think he
is going to kiss me, to force himself on me. But then his hands
close over my throat and he squeezes and I am relieved to realize
no, he means only to kill me.

Despite the relief, I
fight.