Chapter 9 - The Mother in the DarkLuca woke beneath white lights.
His hands were strapped down.
His heart monitor beeped beside him.
Mara was nowhere to be seen.
Marco was gone.
Emma was gone.
A woman stood by the window.
Back turned.
Luca recognized her silhouette immediately.
“Mother?”
She slowly turned.
She was older.
Older than the photograph.
But unmistakable.
His mother.
Alive.
Luca stared.
“You're dead.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked at him.
“Because your father wanted you to believe I was dead.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
His mother walked closer.
“You have no idea what your father became.”
“My father died protecting me.”
“He died protecting his empire.”
“He loved me.”
“He loved power.”
Luca's eyes hardened.
“Why did you disappear?”
She sat.
“Because I discovered the Valtieri were experimenting on children.”
Luca froze.
“Children with the mutation.”
“Yes.”
“Emma?”
“Your father knew about the project.”
Luca stared.
“No.”
“He funded it.”
The words punched the air from his lungs.
“Why?”
“To find a treatment.”
“And when that failed?”
“He continued.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
Luca's hands tightened.
“And Adrian?”
“He was one of the children.”
Everything suddenly made sense.
The sickness.
The secret.
The clinic.
The hatred.
“Why did you leave him?”
“Because I tried to destroy the laboratory.”
She looked away.
“They caught me.”
“Who?”
“The man running it.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
Then said:
“Your father.”
Luca went silent.
His father hadn't been a prisoner.
He had been the architect.
His mother continued.
“Adrian escaped.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“And Emma?”
“Your father planned to use her.”
Luca stood despite the restraints.
“What did he want from her?”
“To perfect the procedure.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to make himself immortal.”
Luca stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“He believed the mutation could be rewritten.”
She looked at his chest.
“He believed he could transfer damaged tissue into younger bodies.”
Luca felt sick.
“You mean…”
“Yes.”
“He experimented on his own children.”
His mother nodded.
“And now the Valtieri want the same thing.”
Luca looked toward the door.
“Where is Emma?”
His mother didn't answer.
“Where?”
“She is with someone who believes he can save her.”
“Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Is he trustworthy?”
His mother looked at Luca.
“No.”
A gunshot rang outside.
Then another.
The door burst open.
Marco rushed in.
“Luca!”
“Where's Emma?”
“Taken again.”
“By who?”
Marco looked behind him.
“Adrian.”
Luca's face darkened.
His mother stood.
“No.”
“What?”
“He's going to the vault.”
“What vault?”
The room went silent.
She looked directly at Luca.
“The vault your father hid beneath the hospital where you were born.”
Luca stared.
“What's inside?”
His mother whispered:
“Your father's final experiment.”
A loud explosion shook the building.
The lights flickered.
Then emergency red lights came on.
Marco looked at his phone.
“News alert.”
He turned the screen toward Luca.
A hospital across Manhattan was on fire.
The headline read:
UNKNOWN MEN SEIZE PRIVATE MEDICAL FACILITY
Luca saw the location.
The hospital where he was born.
His mother whispered:
“They found it.”
Luca stared at the burning building.
“And Emma?”
May you like
Marco looked at him.
“She's inside.”
