Chapter 12
Ben
"Five hours?" I didn't believe it. "We were only gone for five hours?"
"Relax, Ben." Tory placed her hand on my shoulder. "We're okay. That's what matters."
As much as I liked times like this, I needed to ask her something. "Tory? What happened in the van?"
She took a moment to process her thoughts. "My flare just came. Without warning. I didn't even try to flare. And then it suddenly went whacko." She rubbed her head. "It hurt. Real bad."
"You're okay now?"
Tory nodded. "It hasn't flared up since." She smirked at her own choice of words. "But I keep thinking about it. Why didn't it happen to you guys? Why just me?"
I couldn't answer that right away. But then I thought about the Institute for Advanced Genetics. How the Erasers had attacked mercilessly. And how they'd taken Tory.
"Tory." I hoped I was wrong. "Do you remember anything about what they did to you at the Institute? When they took you away?"
"I—" she faltered. "I can't remember. It's really weird, like I should know, but I can't."
That confirmed it. "They did something to you," I growled. "They're behind this."
"Ben! We can't jump to conclusions. It could be my flare adjusting or something." I could tell she didn't believe her own words. "But I'm not going to let it slow me down. I'd be stupid to allow it."
I grinned. "That's the Tory I know!"