章 168: Chapter 168: The Most Powerful Weapons

"ZANDER," SHE SAID. "THIS must be painful for you to hear."

"I-I know," he said haltingly. "I know my father has done some ..." He trailed off. "For the record, I'm not like him."

"Yes, I can tell," she said thoughtfully, giving him a gentle smile. "Still, it's a bit much to take in, isn't it?"

Even though we'd formed a team, the others were looking at Zander like he was an outsider, like they hadn't totally believed his assurances. Zander seemed miserable and it tore at my heart. After the way Luke and Isaac had treated him earlier, I felt obligated to stand up for him. I jumped in before thinking about how it might sound.

"He only recently found out about his father, I mean about him kidnapping idimmu, and ..." I trailed off lamely, realizing that naming Gerard's crimes out loud wasn't helping. How could I say that Zander's father had tortured and experimented on Caroline and the Efotis? It was too horrible.