Chapter 44 · That's my brother

"That's my brother."

"No, it isn't."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

The boy smiled. "He knows because he was there when they took you both."

Kade went still.

I stared at the side of his face. "Were you?"

"No."

The copy boy laughed. "He stood behind the glass. He watched. He signed the transfer order."

Kade's fingers closed around his weapon.

"Say it isn't true," I said.

"It isn't true."

"Look at me and say it."

He turned his head. His eyes met mine, and the bond slammed a burst of pain through my chest.

Not his pain.

A memory.

A white room. A child's hand against glass. Kade standing on the other side in a Crown uniform, younger and clean-faced. A signature appearing on a tablet.

My brother screaming.

I tore away from Kade and hit the wall.

"You signed it."

"Evelyn, that wasn't—"

"You signed my brother away."

"I didn't know who he was."

"You knew he was a kid!"

The hallway shook. Plaster peeled from the ceiling in long strips. The copied faces leaned closer.

Kade stepped toward me. "Listen to me. The memory is edited."

"How would you know?"

"Because I can feel the break."