Chapter 13 - What Mom RememberedI caught her before she hit the floor.

Blood spread across her shoulder.

"Mom!"

She gasped.

"I'm okay."

"You've been shot."

"Not fatally."

Dad rushed forward.

Maya pushed him back.

"Don't touch her."

Mom looked at Dad.

"She's right."

"I can help."

"You already did enough."

I stared at them.

"Please stop."

Mom reached for my hand.

"Evan, listen."

"I've waited ten years."

"I know."

"Why did you let me think you were dead?"

"Because it kept you alive."

"Jake knew."

"Yes."

"Dad knew."

"Yes."

"Maya knew."

"Eventually."

I looked at her.

"Why didn't anyone trust me?"

She smiled sadly.

"Because you were eighteen."

I laughed through tears.

"I'm not eighteen anymore."

"No."

She touched my cheek.

"Now you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"The truth."

She looked at Dad.

He lowered his head.

"Your father didn't abandon you."

Mom's voice weakened.

"He saved you."

I stared at him.

"For ten years, he allowed everyone to believe you were worthless."

"Because Halcyon only protected what they considered valuable."

"They believed Jake was the strong son."

"And you were disposable."

I hated hearing it.

"But that was the point."

Dad spoke softly.

"They stopped watching you."

Mom nodded.

"And that gave you freedom."

She took a breath.

"Then you built something beautiful."

I looked at her.

"My studio."

"Your life."

She smiled.

"Your makeup."

Tears filled my eyes.

"You saw it?"

"I've seen everything."

She reached into her jacket.

She pulled out a small mirror.

It was cracked.

Old.

Familiar.

My childhood mirror.

"I carried this for ten years."

I took it.

Then my memory exploded.

A hallway.

A fire.

Mom screaming.

Jake holding my hand.

Dad fighting someone.

Maya's father.

Dr. Vale.

And a woman with a silver triangle.

I remembered.

Everything.

The night Mom disappeared.

She hadn't been taken.

She had gone willingly.

She had traded herself for us.

And Dad had agreed to help.

But there was another part.

A man had stood in the doorway.

Not Vale.

Someone else.

Someone I knew.

The man who had been watching our house.

The man who had visited my studio.

I whispered his name.

"Uncle Peter."

Dad went pale.

Mom closed her eyes.

"You remembered."

Jake entered the room.

"What?"

I turned.

"Our uncle."

He stared at me.

"What about him?"

"He runs Halcyon."

The lights went out.

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Mom whispered:

"Run."