Chapter 64
"You... you got a hold of our research," I say, my voice trembling just enough to give away the panic rising in my chest. I try to steady myself, to think of a way out of this, but the shock is too raw, too fresh.
Lily lifts an eyebrow, her lips twisting into a smirk. "Our research, is it?" she says, mocking me. "It looks like you and dear Peter have been quite busy, haven't you?"
She stands, circling me like a predator, her presence heavy, suffocating. I feel like a caged rat under her gaze, each step she takes pushing me deeper into a corner. My mind races, scrambling for an angle, for anything that could get me ahead of this.
"Fortunately," Lily continues, her voice smooth and icy, "it’s my genetic mapping machine, my laboratory… my scientists, and ultimately, my findings. Fortunately for you, we make a hell of a team."
I swallow hard, trying to keep my composure. "We always intended to loop you in," I say, my words coming out quickly, almost too quickly. "Once we were further along... we just needed more time."
Lily stops pacing, turning to stare at me as though she’s weighing my every word, deciding whether or not to accept my pathetic peace offering. After a long, agonizing pause, she smiles—though it doesn’t reach her eyes. "I’m sure you were," she says. "And I’m glad of it. What you’ve found... well, it isn’t exactly what I asked for, but the potential of it could be so much more."
"Potential?" I ask, my stomach knotting. "What do you mean?"
Lily’s expression shifts, flippant disappointment playing across her features. "Let’s not pretend, Phoebe. You’re a lot of things—stubborn, manipulative, opportunistic." Her words cut like knives, each one sharper than the last. "But one thing you’re not, is stupid. I know you’ve calculated every outcome I have, and I know you want them just as badly."
I shake my head, pushing back the tears burning behind my eyes. "We may be more alike than I’d like," I admit, my voice growing stronger, "but our motivations are not the same."
Lily cocks her head, amused. "Oh, aren’t they?"
"All you care about is profit," I snap, my frustration boiling over.
Lily throws back her head and laughs, a cold, hollow sound that makes my skin crawl. "Profit? You think all of this—living on an island in the middle of nowhere, dedicating my life to finding and creating things that shouldn’t exist—is about money?"
I shrug, “What else is there?”
She holds up the pages of code, “You tell me."
I stare at her, suddenly feeling out of my depth, but I can’t back down now. "That could tell me who I am."
Lily nods, flipping casually through the pages of my genetic code as if it’s nothing more than a puzzle to be solved. "In a sense. It could tell us a lot of things. Things captives don’t typically share."
Captives. The word hangs in the air, and I can feel the weight of it pressing down on me. What could she mean? Enigma has been siphoning information from Marina for years, and now they’ve had Wake for weeks. What more could Lily possibly want?
And then it hits me like a punch to the gut.
"You... you want to find them," I whisper, horrified. "I suppose that can’t be any more objectionable than breeding your own."
Lily rolls her eyes, as if my outrage is merely an inconvenience. "You’re so dramatic, Phoebe. Not everything has to be doom, gloom, and evil schemes."
"Then what is it?" I demand, taking a step toward her. "Why are you really doing all of this? Why you?"
Lily's expression hardens. "Why you?" she snaps back, her voice laced with venom. "Why us? Why here, why now? Why your siren, when I’ve had one on ice for decades, at my disposal?"
I flinch, but she presses on, relentless. "Have you stopped for one moment to consider that maybe—just maybe—you’re not the only one with a calling?"
"A calling?" I repeat, my voice barely above a whisper. The word sounds foreign in my mouth.
Lily gestures around her, her eyes gleaming with something almost... fanatical. "To the sea, to them. I am here because I have to be. Because I’ve never wanted anything else. You wait for destiny to catch up with you. I prefer to make my own."
Her words send a chill down my spine.
"You don’t have a clue what you’re messing with," I warn, my voice shaking. "None of us do, the sirens included."
Lily’s eyes narrow, catching on my slip. "Sirens?"
I fumble, trying to recover. "Wake, I mean. And before you ask, he doesn't confide in me. He doesn’t trust me. He never will, as long as I work for his captors."
The lingering truth of those words made me feel sick.
Lily steps closer, shoving the papers against my chest, forcing me to take them. "Then find the answers for yourself," she says, her voice low, dangerous. "You’re most likely the only human alive who can."
"By repairing and activating the siren sequence in my genes?" I ask, the weight of what she’s suggesting settling over me like a shroud.
Lily grins, and it’s the kind of smile that makes my stomach twist. "The siren sequence. I like the sound of that."
I shake my head, my hands trembling as I clutch the papers to my chest. "It’s dangerous. None of the methods we have can handle something like this—molecular evolution on this scale, it’s not even conceptually possible."
Peter’s voice echoes in my mind, the words molecular breakdown whispering like a death sentence. Suddenly, the risks I’ve been so willing to ignore feel all too real.
"None of the methods available to you," Lily corrects, her tone smug. "I, however, am a different story altogether."
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