House of Silence by Lyn Forester

Author:Lyn Forester [Forester, Lyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stacks Create
Published: 2019-06-11T05:00:00+00:00

Secrets Told

Connor straightens away from the Year Three building, relief washing over his face. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.”

“Sorry, I was held up.” Without waiting for permission, I step into his personal space, wrapping my arms around his trim waist.

I need Connor’s calm right now, need it to ease the anger that still pushes me to return to Archie’s room, to remove any chance Archie’s concerns reach Felix and damage any shred of confidence he’s gained.

It scares me, the ease with which I slipped into cold calculation, how swiftly I took control and put Archie in his place. The expression on his face when I left makes me sick to my stomach. And I used the same chilly aloofness with Felix just moments before when I sent him away.

What if pushing my emotions down turns me into the robot my father wants me to become? What if this is the beginning?

I tremble at the idea and hug Connor closer.

“Hey.” His arms delicately wind around me, as if afraid I’ll break, and maybe I will. “Is everything okay?”

“No.” I exhale against his chest, a shudder rolling through me, then drag in a breath of his clean smelling cologne. “No, everything is not okay.”

His cheek rubs against the top of my head. “Will you tell me about it?”

My arms tighten around him. “Will you tell me what happened to Felix when he disappeared?”

Breath catching, he freezes.

“I can search for the information myself,” I whisper into his chest, unable to look up at him. “I can tell Nikola to delve into the House Williams data banks. If there’s any record, I can uncover it. I considered doing it already. To find out what happened to know how to approach Felix better. But I’m asking instead. I don’t want to go behind your backs. If it’s a secret I can’t know, then tell me now, and I won’t bring it up again.”

A long sigh escapes, and Connor’s arms drop back to his sides. “There’s no record. Not at our House. Not anywhere. Our parents made everything disappear. For a while, I thought—” His breath catches again. “I thought they’d make Felix disappear, too.”

Fear turns my blood to ice. Make Felix disappear? The idea I never would have met him, that he could have vanished from this world without me ever knowing his fire and passion, terrifies me. Panic creeps back in, my mind spiraling into all the what-if scenarios, but I force them down with even breaths, in and out. Felix isn’t gone. He’s here in this school. Safe, if not entirely whole.

Connor grips my shoulders, moving me back a step. From behind his glasses, his grass-green eyes search mine. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“No.” I lick my dry lips. “But I need to. I need to understand why he clings to the people close to him, why he gets agitated the way he does, why he sleeps better when he’s not alone. I need to know all of it, or we’re going to break.

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