Free Jekyll, an Urban Fantasy by Lauren Stewart

tried the knob of the door across the hallway. Locked. Not knowing which way led outside, it didn’t matter which way she went. Every door she came to, she tried to open. All locked. She needed one of those damn keycards. Without one of those, of course they’d let her wander. As if the hallway was so interesting, it would keep her occupied until she collapsed of boredom and begged them to start poking her with needles or something.
    They’d given her freedom to roam around a box. That wasn’t freedom. That was manipulation. A look-how-generous-we’re-being scenario while not actually giving her anything .
    When she came to a corner, she put her back against the wall and peered around carefully to check for guards. Hopefully with their backs turned and their keycards sticking out of their pockets. Sure, because that was definitely the kind of high-quality-henchmen The Clinic employed.
    “Wanna see something?” Carter was twenty feet away, limping as he took a few slow steps towards her.
    She flinched, but didn’t bother trying to hide. He’d already seen her. So spy skills weren’t in Chastity’s repertoire. Or maybe Eden just couldn’t access the knowledge. She was determined to focus on the good changes, the perks of being who she was now. Or she’d never get through this. Then later, once she was free, she’d figure out a way to get rid of Chastity.
    “How did you know I was there?” she asked, coming around the wall she’d unsuccessfully been hiding behind.
    He was pale, his blue eyes looking black next to his skin. “I heard you yelling at Fields. Then the door opened, and you stopped screaming. I figured, if he was with you, you’d still be yelling.”
    “You would’ve made a good police officer.” His dream-job, or so he’d said. She looked at the man she’d known so well. No, the man she’d thought she’d known so well. How much of who he showed her didn’t exist? How much of him was real?
    “Yeah, I would’ve,” he said sadly. “I would’ve made a good husba—” He shook his head, as if it would shake the thought out of both their minds.
    “You were drugging me, Carter. That’s hardly a great way to start a relationship.”
    “I was doing it so you would be safe. Jolie lied about a lot of things, but not that. I know all about Turner, about you. They don’t want to hurt you.”
    “Oh, Carter,” she said on a sigh. “When you don’t give someone the choice, don’t let them know who they really are…it hurts. Believe me, it hurts.”
    He stared at the ground for a long time. Enough time for her to understand something. He still believed he was doing the right thing. That what he did, what he was doing, was for her. Because, regardless of what had happened, he still loved her. And that stung. Love that wasn’t deserved, that was warped and ugly, was worse than indifference or hate.
    “Would you have taken the drug if you’d known about it?” he asked, not lifting his head.
    She pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing her headache would go away. “I don’t know. I’ll never know. But everything would’ve been different if I’d known what I am.” All that fear, paranoia, and confusion. Her chest tightened, her head only hurting more.
    Would she have met Mitch? Would Chastity have brought them together again and again until neither of them could avoid their connection? Eden would’ve missed the most amazing four days of her life, wrapped in his arms, having him inside of her. Was all of the joy Mitch had given her worth the pain and uncertainty Carter had caused? If she could go back and do it all again, knowing what she knew now, what would she have chosen?
    “Are you going to leave?” he asked quietly.
    “Yes,” she said instantly.
    “Before you know everything? Before you know how you could help the other people? That’s not the Eden I know. The Eden I know would do whatever she could to help someone else.”
    Sadly, that was probably true. Even if it killed