“You have accepted it, haven’t you? That you were raised, until the age of three, on my island? And your mental agility…” The smile slips from his face, and even though it’s made entirely of light, something about the way his expression changes feels entirely real—and troubling. “I suspected last year,” he goes on. “When you were able to exit my virtual reality portal so quickly. I’d never seen anything like it. Tell me, Eden. How have your capabilities progressed? Have you mastered the brain-to-brain communication skills that were programmed into your genes before you were even born?”

So he knows. I stand up abruptly, positioning myself in front of my closed door. I know he’s only a hologram and he can’t hurt me, and yet, my instinct is to prepare myself to flee.

“Perhaps it all still seems a little surreal?” Gravelle prods. “I thought you might feel that way. I suppose a little context might help you, Eden. Your father may never have felt the need to tell you the truth, but I do. He endured great pain at Emma’s death. But you—you were always meant to be his salvation. Another chance at being a parent. This news shouldn’t distress you, Eden. It should bring you joy, to know how wanted you were. How needed. I provided that, for my oldest friend. It was the least I could do for the roommate who was kind to me from the first day I ever set foot on Darkwood’s campus.”

I’ve had enough of this emotional manipulation. “What do you want?” I snap. “To torture me, like you’re doing to the others? To remind me you can terminate me with your stealth virus, at any moment? I already know all that.”

“It’s important to me that you fully accept who you are,” Gravelle purrs.

“Do I have a choice?”

“We all have choices, Eden. We make them every single day of our lives. I hope you choose to appreciate all I’ve done for you. Sending you Levi. Returning both my sons to your life—”

I can’t take this any longer. This man is so sick. So twisted.

I end the call. I don’t care if that means I’ve angered him. He may control my fate from afar with that virus, but I won’t let him get the last word.

I collapse onto my bed, shaking in spite of myself. I bundle my covers around me, trying to tame my wildly beating heart.

You hung up on Gravelle.

What if he takes it out on me? Or worse—on my friends?

All I want to do is talk to Levi. He would understand. He would make this okay.

And yet, he all but said he didn’t want to be with me.