Prologue - Raegan

Six Years Ago…

“Raegan, come with me, please.”

Chairs screech against the tile floor in unison when Aiden and Kellan stand in protest.

I glance up from my doodling to the classroom door to see what the big deal is. Gordon stands in his white lab coat, clipboard held against his chest. Having one of the scientists call us away during class isn’t completely unorthodox, though, it is uncommon. But it’s the menacing stare aimed at me that sends a spike of fear into my chest.

Miss Farley looks away from her laptop that’s projecting today’s lesson on the wall to my friends. “Sit down. Both of you. He only asked for Raegan,” she chides them, then addresses Gordon, “How long will she be out for?”

“The rest of the day.”

My blood chills, dread wrapping my body with invisible chains. I grip my hand holding the pencil to keep it from shaking.

Two to three hours was the norm. But the entire day?

I check in with my boys. They’re my only source of comfort, and I seek my strength in them.

Aiden’s eyes narrow on Gordon, but he sits as Miss Farley requested and then gives me a questioning look. I shake my head and turn to Kellan on the other side of me, who’s still refusing to sit. His arm muscles jump when he fists his hands.

“Now, Kellan. Or I’ll send you to solitary to think over this behavior.”

Gordon’s eyes are narrowed on him, his lips pursed with annoyance.

“It’s fine, Kell.” I can’t let him read the fear in me or I know he’ll go after Gordon. He may wind up in solitary for it, but he’d argue he got what he wanted so long as Gordon is too injured to do whatever he’d planned for me. “I’m sure it’s something stupid,” I add, trying to dismiss this as anything more than a random training session for my gift.

He clenches his jaw, and I worry he might react anyway, but he nods and drops into the chair.

From the desk behind Aiden’s, Jackson is boring holes into Gordon while looking him up and down for clues of what he’s up to. Then, as if he feels me looking his way, he brings his gaze to mine. I can feel this repressed buzzing energy from him. Just like Kellan, he’d take on everyone on this island if I asked him to.

I could never do that.

They may let us get away with disobedience here and there by taking things away, or solitary for violence, but I’m sure there’s a limit. If one of them were to ever go too far, I don’t know what they might do. Which is why I’m determined to never let that happen.

“I don’t have all day,” Gordon whines in a condescending tone.

I collect my things and shove them in my bag. Dane is at his weekly health check, so he won’t know I’m gone until he’s released back to class. Whatever it is, I’ll just fill them in at dinner or in their room later tonight.

We leave the wing of the manor that holds all the classrooms and enter the science wing. This is where we have health checks, our training, and other tests to learn the extent of each of our gifts. Usually, these are one-on-one sessions since every student’s gift is so unique to one another.

We turn toward a staff-only door next to the health room, and Gordon spins to face me so suddenly that I almost bump into him. Frowning, he assesses me from head to toe. Is this because I learned about him and Vera the other night? Am I going to be bullied into staying quiet?

“I’m going to let you in on some of the inner workings of what we’re doing here. Vera already told you an oversimplified explanation of our goals, but it is far more than that. Since you did well in keeping your mouth shut these last few days, I’m going to reward you with more knowledge. I think you could be a great asset to GE once you’ve mastered your gift. This is your chance to show me your commitment.”

He looks at me expectantly, and I go with what’s safest and nod.

He twists the knob, then pauses to look over his shoulder at me. “ I want to make sure you understood what I said. This is a test for you, and failure is not an option. Don’t disappoint me.”

My stomach churns. What the hell does that mean?!

Opening the door, he waits for me to enter first. It’s a simple room with white walls and a black tile floor. One wall has an enormous window to the next room, from my chest up to the ceiling and the entire length of the wall. There are scientific instruments lining the counter along the back wall and a bed with some other health or science-related tools on wheels next to it.

Vera stands in the corner of the room at a computer and a spinning machine on the counter while she stares through the window. She pivots to face us, beaming excitedly until she sees me. “Rae? Gordon, what the hell is she doing here?”

“Watch your tone, pet ,” Gordon chastises. He moves further into the room and sits in one of the office chairs, leaning back and then smiling while peering through the glass to the next room. “She’s here to observe only. To see what miracles we’re designing. How are you progressing?”

Her lips press into a flat line, but as soon as he asks her about whatever she’s working on, her face lights up again. “I’m so close. I know if I can keep at it, I’ll get there. How much longer do we have?”

Gordon turns his smile on me. “Why don’t you have a seat, Raegan? You’ll get a better view from over here.”

Vera glares at me. If she thinks I’m going to make a move on him, then she may have lost her mind. They say people in love sometimes lose all reason. Is this what they meant? “Um, okay,” I acquiesce. I’m too aware of anything I say or do at this point with his threat still lingering at the forefront of my mind to respond otherwise.

“You have plenty to work with still. Don’t stop unless I tell you to,” Gordon instructs Vera, and she nods. Her hands are pressed against both the computer and the machine, likely directing them with her gift.

I sit in an office chair and finally look through the window.

Wait…

Dane?

“Are we almost done yet?” Dane’s voice appears out of a speaker in the corner of this office.

“Almost, dear,” the nurse with him replies, patting his shoulder. “The machine will turn off when the doctor has what he needs.”

He frowns and watches the blood from the tube in his arm flow to a machine, then from the machine into the wall. The tube runs through a hole to this side that then connects to the machine Vera is standing in front of.

“What’s going on?” I ask Gordon, fighting to keep the panic out of my voice.

“Just a normal health check. We pull blood every week to study it, just as we do you and everyone else.”

But that’s seconds of a blood draw. A minute or two at most.

Dane’s skin pales, and he slumps in his chair. “Stop it!” I jump up and run to the glass. My fists bang against it to get his attention. “Take it out! That’s enough!” Only, the glass isn’t glass. It’s solid and firm beneath my fists.

“That’s one-sided and soundproof, so please desist,” Gordon speaks calmly when neither of them notices my panic.

I whirl on Vera. Her eyes are closed in focus as her body trembles from the strain of using her gift.

“Vera, stop! You’re hurting Dane. Turn the machine off!”

Gordon sighs. “You’re failing the test, Raegan. Remember what I said.”

“I don’t care about your stupid test!” I cry when Dane pitches forward in his chair. There’s a beep from the machine, and it stops. The nurse pulls him back upright, and the machine begins to whir and hum again.

He’s whiter than a ghost, his lips colorless, and I can’t tell if he’s breathing anymore. All the monitors he’s hooked up to in the room are beeping nonstop.

He’s dying .

I grab Vera, trying to pull her from the machine and find a button to reverse the blood transfer. “Give it all back! Give his blood back or he’s going to die , Vera!”

She grunts and throws me off her. “He’s fine. I’m almost there and then he’ll be back. Just sit down.”

How can she say that?!

“No!” I launch myself at her again.

Vera grabs one of the other machines, and a robotic arm on the counter squeezes me in its grasp.

The beeping stops and changes to a single, low tone.

NO!

My gift bursts free, spreading through my limbs without my control. I grab the robotic arm, and it instantly turns into dust. My hands shake to clear my gift away, then throw Vera away from the computer. I search the machine and the computer for a back arrow or anything that looks like it’ll return his blood to him. There’s a switch on the machine pressed toward me, and I flip it. The machine beeps, then vibrates as the blood it has collected reverts back through the tubes. I rush to the window and see the nurse performing a defibrillation on Dane to restart his heart.

“What have you done?” Gordon’s voice is filled with horror, and I prepare to accept whatever failure means because there is no test I would pass if it means watching Dane or anyone else die for their ridiculous experiments.

He isn’t looking at me, though. He’s staring at the ground. I follow his gaze, and my hearts stops.

No. No, no, no, no!

I drop to my knees and crawl to Vera. Her eyes are open wide, blood cascading down her cheeks like thick tears. Her skin is split from the corner of one eye to her lips, colored in deadly crimson. I can't even bear to look at the rest of her.

“No, no, please no,” I whimper, tears streaming down my face. “I didn’t mean to. I turned it off!” Releasing a choked cry, I touch her face, her neck, her hand. Searching for some sign that she’s still alive. That I can fix this. But I know I can’t. My gift destroys. That’s all it does.

I can barely hear Gordon in the background calling for backup.

I collapse on top of her, uncontrollable sobs pouring out of me as I cling to her body. I want to fix it! This wasn’t what I wanted. I just wanted to make it stop .

“Vera!” I’m yanked away from her by strong arms. “No! Let me go!” I fight them, desperate to get back to her. To somehow make this right.

“Careful,” Gordon warns. “She’s dangerous. Put her in solitary until we figure out what to do with her.”

A sharp jab hits me in the neck. My muscles relax immediately, the fight and strength leaving me before my vision fades to black.

I’m dangerous .