The Girl in the Steel Corset - By Kady Cross Page 0,39

manifest until she entered puberty. I’ve been around for a short time and now I’m changing, too. Lad, I think this has to do with you—rather than something we’ve been exposed to in this house.”

The answer smacked Griffin hard, like a slap to the face. “The Organites. Finley’s father was experimenting with them. Sam and I grew up around them, and you’ve been exposed to them since you first came here.” The answer he’d been searching for finally came. “My father said they were the wellspring of life, and that Sam and I had ‘evolved natural abilities.’ Finley’s father didn’t make himself a monster, the Organites simply evolved aspects of his nature to the highest degree.”

Emily’s eyes were wide with excitement. Griff could almost see the gears of her mind working. “We should test blood from all of us, not just Finley. I can compare it to samples I’ve taken in the past. If the Organites have changed us on a cellular level, I’ll find it.”

Griffin had no doubt that she would. Never had he been so glad that he had chosen her over one of her brothers to work for him as he was right then. Sometimes Emily’s intelligence scared him, while his own lack of perspective was sometimes so narrow he wanted to slap himself. “We’ll start tonight. I’ll send for Finley and you can take a sample from her, as well.”

“She’s not here,” Emily informed him, looking a little uneasy. “I saw her leave about an hour ago.”

“Leave?” She hadn’t said a word. He hadn’t even heard her. That could mean only one thing. Her dark side had taken over. He should have known this might happen given the stress of the day. How could he have been so careless?

“You want me to go look for her?” Emily asked.

Griff shook his head. He wouldn’t dream of letting Emily roam around at this time of night by herself. “You won’t find her if she doesn’t want to be found. No, get what you need to take my blood and your own. I’ll worry about Finley.”

And worry he would. The last time she’d gone out, she’d visited Jack Dandy, according to the quick glimpse Cordelia had seen into Finley’s mind. God only knew what kind of trouble she’d be getting up to tonight. Right now he had more important things to do than chase after her. Too many people were depending upon him.

He just hoped Finley didn’t get hurt. More importantly, he hoped she didn’t hurt anyone else.

Chapter 8

Finley woke the next morning still in her clothes. What had she done the night before? Where had she gone? No memory came to her as she sat up, mind blank.

She looked down at her boots—no dirt. At her hands—no blood. Surely that was a good sign? Her knuckles were tender and slightly bruised, but that didn’t mean she’d hurt anyone. She could have hit anything. That didn’t stop dread from pooling in her stomach.

This had to stop. She couldn’t go on like this, turning into her own version of Mr. Hyde. Her darker self had taken over completely—something that had never happened before.

Griffin had offered to help her, but in the few days she’d been in this house nothing had happened that made her think there was any cure for this madness. In fact, the “switches” between her two sides seemed to have worsened. What if Griffin couldn’t help her? Was she doomed to lose herself as Jekyll had and end up a monster?

The thought made her stomach roll and tears burn the back of her eyes. Had her father felt this way, helpless and sick?

Well, she wasn’t helpless, not completely. It was obvious that Griffin had some kind of sway over her darker half. Twice now he had calmed her as that chaos had tried to take her. If anyone could figure out how to make this all stop, it was him.

Feeling slightly less sorry for herself and a tad bit optimistic, Finley swung her legs over the side of the bed. She rose and removed her slept-in clothes, bathed and slipped into fresh black-and-white-striped stockings, black skirt, white shirt and a pretty pink corset with black velvet trim. Everything was brand-new, part of the new wardrobe Griffin had bought her.

His generosity still made her uneasy. She wasn’t accustomed to people, especially young men, being nice just to be nice. That was one thing she and her dark nature had in common—there was always a price. Still, she was