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Back The Scattering Save as PDF
Chapters (36)
  1. DEDICATION
  2. EPIGRAPH
  3. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  32. BACK AD
  33. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  34. BOOKS BY KIMBERLY McCREIGHT
  35. CREDITS
  36. ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

I manage to tuck the paper into the band of my underwear just as the guards pull me away from Kendall. He gets to his feet calmly and smooths out his clothes.

“Let go!” I shout, kicking at them, which only makes them tighten their grip. There is no point in fighting, but I can’t stop myself. “You’re hurting me!”

When the Wolf appears over me he is all squinted eyes and gritted teeth.

“Wylie!” It’s Dr. Haddox, his face suddenly there, too. He has a needle in his hand. “We need for you to calm down.”

And I feel his regret then. Different from Kendall’s, which is about the past. Haddox’s is about now. About this. It’s not what he signed up for. Not at all what he wanted to do.

12

I OPEN MY EYES TO DARKNESS. WHEN I TRY TO MOVE, MY FACE ACHES. KENDALL’S shoulder, the officers wrestling me to the ground—there are many possible explanations. The drugs have blotted them out.

Get out now. That’s what Kendall said, and he’d meant it. He was worried for me, too. He’s lied about so much. But in that one moment in the hall, he was telling the truth. I have no doubt about that.

When I lift my arms, I brace for them to be strapped down once more. But they are not.

I get out of bed slowly in the dark, a hand on the wall as I feel my way toward the light switch by the door. The fluorescent bulb overhead flickers before it finally catches. I’m in a small room with a bed like the one I first woke up in, but I don’t think it’s the same one. This one smells like fresh paint. It makes me woozy all over again.

When I turn back toward the bed, something sharp pokes into the skin above my hip bone. It isn’t until I’ve dug it out of the waistband of my underwear that I remember Kendall’s note. I can’t believe it’s still tucked in there.

My hands shake as I unfold it. I don’t know what I expect. Some terrible explanation? Some new detail that makes everything worse. But there is only an address and some instructions: 323 Gullbright Lane, press buzzer in this order: 1.5.3.4.2. Ask for Joseph Conrad.

I don’t know what is more insane, the fact that Kendall thinks I might go where his note says, or the fact that I am actually considering it. But my gut is telling me I should. Trust my instincts. That’s all I can do.