“I didn’t want to overwhelm you,” he adds quickly, “but I didn’t want to keep it from you either. A shell company owns most of the buildings. I’m not sure who it’s connected to, but I’m digging into it. I hacked the records, and I think this could be connected to Robyn’s disappearance.”
I gasp, not meaning to, Atlas’s hand tightening around mine. The emotion hits sharp and sudden as I press my free hand to my chest, trying to slow my breathing. I count to ten, willing myself not to cry, but a tear slips free anyway. Atlas swipes it away and gives me a sympathetic smile.
“Why?”
“Want to know what I found weird?” he says; I nod. “Every scholarship student goes missing. Some turn up dead. Most are labelled as too stressed and drop out. I don’t believe that, Fae. Not after Robyn.”
“What aren’t you saying?”
“I asked Victor to get some of Robyn’s DNA from her room. We uploaded it under an alias to test it. I had a hunch. I… Fae, there’s no easy way to tell you this, but I knew what Dr. Fisher did to you before yesterday.”
My body jolts as I look up into his sad blue eyes.
“I wanted to make sure The Company couldn’t blackmail any of us, so I hacked the system. I promise you, Fae, I didn’t read most of it once I realised what it was. But I read enough. I’ve been working on this for years. For you, for Riggs’ sister, for all the people who come to this university and never leave. I should have protected Robyn.”
His voice cracks. I don’t think, I just move. I step around the island, climb onto the counter so we’re level, and pull him into me.
“It wasn’t your job,” I say softly, squeezing him like it might be enough to take away his pain.
“I…” Atlas clears his throat. “I think it’s bigger than all of us even realise, Fairy.”
I nod. There are too many inconsistencies, too many things that don’t add up, all of it linking back to The Company.
“What does this have to do with Robyn’s DNA? You said you tested it.” I lean back so I can look at him properly. He takes a breath before pulling away from me.
“Robyn isn’t just a care kid, Fae. She’s Dr. Fisher’s daughter.”
The words don’t land all at once but fracture. My brain refuses to line them up into anything that makes sense, so instead they ricochet violently around my skull.
Dr. Fisher’s daughter.
My stomach drops so hard I think I might be sick. My pulse roars in my ears, drowning out the quiet of the kitchen, the warmth of Atlas, the safety I thought I had. Robyn’s face flashes behind my eyes, her laugh, the way she used to braid my hair when we couldn’t sleep, the nights I woke to her holding me after nightmares, all of it feels suddenly contaminated.
Did she know? Was she placed next to me on purpose? A spy? A plant? A sick fucking joke? If she knew and said nothing, I don’t know how I survive that. And if she didn’t? If she’s just another pawn, another girl born to rot? That’s worse, because it means The Company has been playing a game so big, so calculated, that even love can be manufactured.
I press a shaking hand to my mouth. Either option rips something vital out of me. My best friend is tied by blood to the man who broke me, and I suddenly don’t know if Robyn was ever mine, or if I was always being watched through her eyes.
“Fuck,” I whisper, looking back at Atlas.
“Fuck indeed.”
“What… what do we do with that?” I mumble, more to myself than him. Atlas grabs my cheeks, holding my face steady.
“We find out the truth, Fairy. We play their game. We follow the lead. She might not even be his first. His evil has no bounds. Maybe all the scholarship kids are Company blood. Why else would they accept them? Maybe the warehouse will give us answers. Once we investigate that, we’ll know what we’re dealing with, okay?”
“Okay,” I choke out. “I will?—”
“No.” Atlas shakes his head. “I’ll keep digging into the system, find out who owns the shell company. And we go to the warehouses together. We see what’s there, okay?”
“Okay.” I nod again, grateful I don’t have to make the decisions. Take choice away from someone for long enough and they stop wanting it.
The kitchen door swings open and I jolt away from Atlas, not out of guilt, just because the noise makes me jump. Felix walks in, frowning at both of us.
“Please tell me it wasn’t you fucking my sister last night?” Felix scrunches his face in disgust as I groan and cover mine. “It was bad enough coming to terms with it being Roman.”
“We aren’t fucking,” I snap.
“Who’s not fucking?” Riggs calls from the hallway.