Genesis Girl (Blank Slate #1) - Jennifer Bardsley Page 0,11
go of his grasp, but I can’t. “Fine. I’m due at McNeal Manor anyway. Cal will miss me.”
I rap on the divider with my free hand, but Seth stops me. Muscles rope through his neck, and he takes deep breaths through his nose.
“Who’s Cal?” he asks, his voice rising.
“My purchaser, Calum McNeal. What’s the matter, Rex?” I’ve been very careful to call him “Rex” and not “Seth.”
He doesn’t say anything for a minute. Seth stares at me, examining my every inch, right down to the yellow specs in my green eyes. I fight the urge to grab my scarf, to wrap myself up in fabric so I can’t be seen anymore.
“You were bought by Calum McNeal?”
“Harvested,” I correct. We’re still holding hands. I wish I could let go, but Seth’s grip is strong.
“And you’re happy?”
“Happier than I ever thought possible.” I smile knowingly.
Seth slumps back in his seat. His shaking has stopped, but I can feel his pulse pound through his fingertips.
Now’s the perfect time to turn the screw.
“Cal is wonderful,” I say. “He’s so kind and generous and attentive. He makes me feel like a princess.” I lean in close to Seth and whisper in his ear. “Thanks to you, I’m a happy woman.”
When the car stops at a random corner downtown, Seth is still. He turns and looks at me with eyes filled with so much kindness that I can almost overlook the ugly snake inked across his face. “Be careful,” Seth says. “The world isn’t made for Vestals.”
“I don’t want to be part of the world. Cal provides everything I need.”
Seth swallows hard. “Like I said, be careful.” He holds my hand for several moments too long before finally letting it go.
“Thank you,” Cal says to me when I tell him the whole story. “I know that must have been difficult.” We’re in the dining room, eating a cozy dinner for two.
“I’ve never been so close to tech-addicts before,” I say. “Seth and that precinct officer could barely function without their finger-chips.”
Cal laughs. “It’s how the world works. Everyone’s a tech-addict.”
“You’re not!”
“Of course I am. I’m just not as bad off as a Virus.”
“That’s not true. You don’t have finger-chips anymore.”
“But I’m totally reliant on my chip-watch. Without the Internet, my entire company would go under.”
I take a knife to my lamb. The mint sauce is disgusting.
“You’re nothing like Seth at all,” I say, “despite your chip-watch. He destroys people’s lives for a living. He digs up dirt. He publishes secrets. Veritas Rex is the dirtiest virtual tabloid I’ve ever seen.”
“And how many online tabloids have you seen?”
I stab more veggies. “Only this one. But I’ve read all about them in my textbooks.”
Cal smiles, and the corner of his mouth twitches. “Textbooks? Printed pages are yesterday’s news. That’s why Viruses like Seth are so successful. They’re on the front lines of stories. Yes, sometimes they go too far and sometimes they break the law, but they share information that people care about.”
“More like steal information that’s none of their business.”
“Sometimes, yes.”
“Viruses hurt people,” I say. “Some of them are violent!”
“Seth’s not. He’d never assault anyone to get a story.”
“Physical violence isn’t the only way to cause harm.” I think about the Tabula Rasa parking garage and the instant when Seth ripped all my future plans away. “Viruses hurt people. I can’t believe you’re defending them.”
“I’m not defending them, I’m illustrating a point. What Viruses do isn’t black and white. In many cases, they’re public workers. They bring knowledge out into the open. And even if they were entirely in the wrong, Seth is still my son. Virus or no, he’ll always be my flesh and blood.”
I take a deep breath. I hope I haven’t offended Cal. I know better than to have argued with my purchaser. Thankfully Headmaster Russell isn’t here to witness my infraction. I shiver, remembering my training.
I have to be sure. Can I trust Cal? Can I trust him to know what he wants?
“You want to be a father again,” I say. “But just to Seth, right? You’re not looking to start over?” It never hurts to clarify.
Cal’s eyebrows shoot up and then furrow. “No,” he says quickly. “I want a second chance with Seth, that’s it. One kid who hates me is enough.”
Okay then. Now’s the time to make Cal feel important. That’s what Barbelo Nemo would say. If you want to control somebody instead of be controlled, tell that person what they want to hear.