Page 101 of A Violet Obsession

“Maybe if I decide to put your amazing computer skills to use, we’ll find out my birth family were actually a famous group of fortune tellers.” She exhales a sound that’s almost a laugh.

“Do you want to find your birth family?” She hadn’t mentioned that before. “I’ll do my best to find them, if that’s what you want.”

She snuggles into my chest. “I’ll think about it. Go to sleep.”

Surprisingly, a few minutes later her breath has already evened out.

I don’t sleep for a long time, too conscious of the door with no lock.

36

FINN

I hate everything about this.

The dim, windowless room is lit only by a single standing lamp, and the chair they’ve put Lily in is reclined back like she’s at the dentist. I don’t like the way the Transcendent’s expert Lorelei speaks in a weird, floaty voice that reminds me of running water or the way she keeps stroking Lily’s hand.

And I especially hate that I agreed to this. That I’m standing against the wall with my arms crossed and my jaw welded shut, waiting for a stranger to take Lily some place I can’t follow.

“I’m staying,” I announce when Lorelei tells me to leave.

Lorelei smiles at me patiently. “It’s not advised. It’s best if it’s just the subject and myself. Mr. Tate will observe through a monitor as well. Perhaps you could sit with him.”

I stare at her, not moving.

“I want Finn to stay,” Lily says firmly.

Lorelei opens her mouth but snaps it shut again when Tate adds. “I’ll stay, too.”

It takes a few minutes for two more chairs to be located and placed in the far corner of the room, as Lorelei insists we not be in Lily’s direct sightline.

“Can you make sure she remembers what she says?” I ask.

Lily nods. “I want to know what happens.”

“We’ll be taping the entire session, but of course, I can implant a posthypnotic command so that you remember. Now…” Lorelei lifts an eyebrow at me, the first sign that she’s not as sanguine as she’d like us all to believe. “If you take a seat, we can get started.”

Lily’s body is tense, and I want to grab her by the hand and take her out of here. But I know she wants the answers as much as Tate does.

“Are you ready?” Lorelei asks her.

“Yes.”

“She’s been put under regularly before,” the woman explains. “And if what you suspect was done to her has actually happened, this should go quicker than usual.”

Lorelei walks through the steps to take Lily into a deep hypnotic state, the whole time I grip the seat under me.

“Deeper now,” Lorelei murmurs. “There’s nothing here that can hurt you.”

Lily’s face has gone slack, her breathing slow. Her hands rest open on her thighs. She looks younger like this. Undefended. It makes something in my chest pull so hard I have to look away, and when I do, I catch Tate watching her with an expression I really hate.

He leans forward in his chair, the oxygen line looped under his nose. His eyes are bright and fixed on Lily.

“I’m going to ask you some things,” Lorelei says. “Don’t reach for the answers. Let them come. How do you feel right now, Lily?”

“Good,”

“Do you feel safe here?”