but then I connected what she’d said.
Find a new doctor.
She’d killed Teplova. And D.J. had mentioned Oscar Lee being a medical school dropout. Oscar, who’d been willing to do anything for Fifer.
We’d assumed Teplova had given Oscar and Fifer their new features, and we’d probably been correct about that part. But we’d also assumed Teplova had been the one who’d created the dogs, and been forced to operate on Coach, and that, I suddenly realized, meant it would not have made a lick of sense for Fifer to kill her.
“Oscar learned Teplova’s techniques,” I said. “He was becoming your surgeon. You’re planning to make…”
Oh God.
Fifer had an arm around Tabitha’s throat now. “Yeah. You see now, don’t you? I’m going to take this cute little girl and make her into a monster. She’s so adorable, isn’t she? And I’m going to cut her open and make her seem so vicious, her own family will scream at the sight. That is, if they don’t try to kill her first.” Her face bent back into a grin. “Or maybe you’ll be the one to kill her. That would endear you to Daddy, now, wouldn’t it?”
Fifer had already started experimenting on humans. She’d started with Coach, but he’d only been the first.
She wanted to make a lot more people into creatures everyone would hate and fear and tear apart. And she wanted to start with Tabitha.
Probably the only reason Tabitha hadn’t already been sliced and diced was Oscar’s death. But Fifer had all the files of Dr. Teplova’s data, all the math of her techniques. As soon as she could find a new doctor to bribe, blackmail, or threaten into doing the surgeries …
“This was going to be step two,” Fifer sneered at me. “But I had to move it all up, because of you.”
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “I’m irritating that way.” The game pieces were rearranging themselves in my head. “You know, I could still force you to kill us all. Right here.”
“You won’t. You wouldn’t sacrifice the girl. Besides, you always think you can win.”
Not always. But I did now, considering Simon’s magic.
Fifer glanced down at her bomb, which was counting down through four minutes.
“I’ve decided,” she declared. “I’m not going to kill you—yet. I’m just going to leave, and you’re going to let me, because you still think you can save her later. I bet you’d even let me carve her up, thinking there’s still time. We have a compromise!” She started dragging Tabitha backward, toward the other end of the basement. I’d blinked away enough dust and grime now that I could see the stone steps at the other end.
“You’re wrong.” If she took Tabitha out of here, we’d never find her again. Or, if we found her, we’d be just as likely to kill her. I wasn’t going to let her become Coach—Coach who I hadn’t been able to rescue, who’d been so permanently warped … who’d died by my own hand.
Fifer was wrong. I didn’t think I could save Tabitha later. I didn’t think so at all.
“This ends here, today,” I said. “I’ll shoot you first.”
“You’re bluffing,” Fifer spat past Tabitha’s shoulder, not stopping.
“Maybe,” I called back, pivoting to keep her in my sights. “But you want a compromise? I’ve got one.”
That piqued her interest. She paused.
When I had her attention, I lowered the Glock and then slowly crouched to place it on the floor before straightening, hands raised. Her bomb readout flashed 3:19. If I could run it out … force her to stop it … change one variable …
“I’ll give you a trade,” I said. “Take me in her place.”
“Cas!” gasped Pilar from behind me. I ignored her.
“Take me,” I said again. “I’m a much better monster. I’m very hard to kill.”
“I could take you anyway,” Fifer said. “I could take you both.”
“No, you couldn’t.”
Fifer paused, then broke into her biggest grin yet, her beautiful face in a beautiful grin. “I would get more mileage out of you. But what if you’re just trying to get close to me to kill me?”
“Oh, I am,” I said. “But there’s always the chance I’ll fail.”
If I did fail …
It should have scared me, to think about being twisted into a creature who would drive everyone away from me, who would inspire only panic or hatred, fleeing or bullets. The connections I’d been chasing so hard, all burned like flash paper as if they’d never been. Trapped alone in a skin no human should ever have, one that