dead by—” The way the light hit Nick’s face stopped me.
His brows were crinkled, the right one higher than the other. “Gia, I said I was teasing.”
Conemar’s eyebrow had done the same thing when he attacked my globe. Nick’s eyes were the same deep brown and shape as Conemar’s eyes. Same thick eyelids. Same dimple on their left cheeks. If Nick were thicker and had graying hair, he would be the exact copy of Conemar. My breath hitched. All noise in the room vanished behind the blood rushing in my ears. I had to get out of here. I couldn’t let him see my fear. Arik. I had to find Arik.
Bastien captured my elbow. “What’s the matter?”
I cleared my throat. “Um. Nothing. I’ll be right back.”
“After what you’ve been through, I want you to rest,” he said.
“You want me to rest?” Again with the arrogance. Someone else telling me what to do. I slipped from his grasp. “I’m not one of your subjects or whatever you call them.” I had more important things to worry about. Like what I’d just noticed about Nick.
I kept my breath even and slowed my anxious steps as I crossed the room. It can’t be. I’ve just been through too much. I’m seeing things.
Carrig was sitting beside Arik, recapping our escape. “Her instincts are amazing,” Carrig said. “She just broke the hinges on the cell without thinking.”
“Excuse me,” I interrupted. “Arik, can I have a word with you—alone, please?”
As I turned to go, I was barely aware of Arik’s hand brushing mine lightly. He gave me a curious look as he walked with me out into the hall.
Arik turned to face me. “What’s the matter?”
I rubbed over my scar. “I’m not sure. It’s kind of crazy, but I think I just discovered something. It has to do with Jacalyn Roux.”
It startled me when his hands came down on my shoulders. “Easy there. You’re nervous. Take a breath and tell—”
Carrig came into the hall. “Is there some’ting wrong?”
“I believe this is a private meeting,” Arik said.
“No, it’s okay. He can stay.”
I inhaled and released the breath. “We found letters in Jacalyn’s room. She had a baby. My mom helped her hide out in Boston until the baby was born.”
“I did na know she had a baby,” Carrig said.
“Well, she did. Her baby—” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. If I did, what would happen to him?
“It’s all right,” Arik said. “Go on.”
My heart was hammering so hard it surprised me that neither of them could hear it. On the one hand, I couldn’t believe it could possibly be true, but on the other, it made so much sense. So much horrible sense. I gulped, then said in a rush, “When Conemar had a grip on my throat, something familiar struck me about his face, his mannerisms. Just now, in that room”—I pointed to the den for effect—“I saw his face again. The eyes, the nose, the hair, and the jawline are all the same.”
“Who is it?” Arik said.
I had to force out the words. “I think Nick is Jacalyn’s son, and Conemar is his father.”
“He has parents. I’ve seen them,” Arik protested.
“Nick’s mother is always telling a story about how she couldn’t get pregnant for several years,” I said, my mind racing to put it all together. “They had tried everything, but nothing worked until they had Nick. One day, Nick’s mother said it a little differently than her normal way. She said, until Nick was given to them. I remember it clearly because she corrected herself right away, making sure I understood that she had indeed had him.
“Before my mother died, she and Nick’s mother were best friends. I think Jacalyn wanted to hide Conemar’s son from him, and my mother helped her. Don’t you see? It all fits. We were raised together, sort of what my mom said in the letter. We had classes together. Even took Italian lessons together. Who does that?”
“The only way to know for certain is for you to perform a truth globe on him,” Arik said.
Although that’s what I should do, the idea churned my stomach. “I can’t. What if I’m wrong? And if I’m right—well, it will devastate him.”
“Why don’t you ask him?” Nick leaned against the doorframe.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I’m pissed, Gia. We’ve been best friends since diapers, and you couldn’t come to me about this before them.” Nick unhitched himself from the doorframe and stalked over to me. “Don’t you know me by now? I’ve always wondered