Imitation Read Online Free PDF Page B

be
afraid of Titus this morning. I am prepared this time. I tell
myself that makes a difference.
    I follow Gus down the circular hallway
and find myself once more in the plush room with the fireplace.
Someone has lit a fire and it roars and crackles, giving a sharp
cheerfulness to the place that feels forced. Titus stands off to
the side so I don’t see him until I’m almost in front of him. I
feel the same jolt and then crawling of my skin as I did the night
before.
    “ Raven,” Titus says and
gives me a look that demands response.
    “ Father.” I shove the word
out of my mouth. I feel funny for saying it, not just to him, but
to anyone. Imitations don’t have mothers and fathers. We don’t have
family. We just are.
    Until we’re not.
    “ How did you sleep?” he
asks.
    “ Very well,” I
say.
    “ Good. We need to discuss
this arrangement if it’s to work out. Sit.”
    I lower myself to a leather couch that
seems miniature compared to the ones at home. Home. My chest hurts
because this is my home now. With this man.
    “ First, Rogen Tower is
your home now,” he says.
    The words, an echo of my own thoughts,
jar me so that I jerk my eyes up to his. His are sparkling with
something—laughter? No. Challenge.
    He continues. “You can go anywhere you
like except my private offices. Those are off limits even to my
daughter.”
    “ Where is she? Your
daughter?” I ask before I can stop the words from leaving my mouth.
That is not a question a trained Imitation should ask.
    His cheeks harden. “You do not get to
ask me questions,” he snaps. Then his features smooth out and he is
the charming viper once again. “I would like this arrangement to be
mutually beneficial. For that to happen, there are certain rules
that must be followed. Boundaries, if you will.”
    “ Mutually beneficial?” I
echo. I am thoroughly confused as to how I can benefit from dying
for someone I’ve never met.
    “ I get to end the threat
against my daughter and you get to experience life as it exists in
the outside world. All of the luxury and extravagance your genetic
makeup craves. For however long your experience lasts,” he
adds.
    I can only stare at him. Did he really
just say that my payment for dying is to sleep in a nice
bed?
    In that moment I hate him. And her.
The girl I’m supposed to be. The girl I’m supposed to die for. I
would give all of the pecan ice cream in the world to be back in
Twig City, playing tennis with Ida and Lonnie. In that moment I
decide that no matter what happens, I will hate Titus and Raven
Rogen. Until the day I die.
    ***
    My lunch in Rogen Tower is served in a
dining hall so ornate and hollow, I think my voice will echo if I
so much as whisper. The food set in front of me by a silent maid
with white streaks in her brown hair is succulent. I know this by
the smell alone. Even before I bite into the chicken breast covered
in cream, I know it will be the most delicious chicken I have ever
tasted. I am not wrong.
    The food makes me think of the
vitamin-infused fruits and green vegetables Lonnie and Ida are
eating without me. In Twig City, there is no higher priority than
maintaining one’s health and fitness. Meals are no
exception.
    I eat alone and am full long before
the food is gone. Before I’ve finished wiping my mouth with the
linen napkin, the maid retrieves my plate and Gus reappears in the
doorway. I think he’s been waiting outside, not wanting the
pressure of making conversation if he stayed in sight.
    After lunch, I am led to a room Gus
calls the parlor. Heavy curtains obscure the sunlight that presses
against the glass behind them. I imagine warmth in the light. It
feels cold in the shadows and deep cushions inside this room. There
is a bookcase on one wall, laden with large albums. Gus retrieves a
stack and sets them on the floor next to me.
    “ What are these?” I
ask.
    “ Your history,” he
says.
    “ What are they
for?”
    “ They will show you the
names and faces of the