“That I’m Belinda White.”
Nate sagged. He felt a turbulent mix of guilt, regret, frustration, and disbelief. He wiped his tired eyes with his hands. Weren’t things bad enough? How could everything keep getting worse?
“Who told you?”
“Who do you think, Nate?”
Nate sat down on the floor. How was he supposed to handle this? “What now?”
“Jonas wants me to spy on you,” Lindy said. “I told him that I would.”
“Isn’t the first rule of spying to keep it a secret?”
“Only if you’re actually going to do it.”
“Right,” Nate said sheepishly. “So you’re not here to kill me?”
“Nate!”
“What? Belinda wasn’t very nice. We tried not to mention her too much when you were around. It seemed wrong to talk about you behind your back right in front of you.”
“Thanks for being so considerate,” Lindy said with an edge to her voice.
Nate studied her. She didn’t look any more evil than before. “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know. Angry. Confused. Ashamed. It’s a pretty big list. At first I was really mad at you guys for hiding who I am. Then I cooled down and started thinking more clearly. Now I can’t understand why you guys have been so nice to me. Didn’t I almost wreck your lives?”
“In a way, it wasn’t you,” Nate said. “You don’t act like her. You seem like an entirely different person.”
“Really?” she asked eagerly, as if she desperately wanted to believe his words.
“How much did he tell you?” Nate wondered.
“You used a Clean Slate to wipe my mind. I created it and entrusted it to you. Then you used it against me. Is that true?”
Nate nodded. “Do you know who you wanted me to use it on?”
She shook her head.
“Mr. Stott.”
“Dad?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?” Lindy whispered.
“He was competition,” Nate said. “You wanted the Fountain of Youth. Magic works better on the young. You would have become very powerful. You were trying to take over the town.”
“I wanted Uweya,” Lindy murmured numbly. “Jonas told me that was my ultimate goal.”
“We never knew about that,” Nate said. “We knew we had to stop you. Putting the Clean Slate into the water from the Fountain of Youth seemed like the only way. You became young, but you also lost your identity. I gave you some of your own medicine.”
Tears glistened in her eyes, even the false one. “You did the right thing.”
Nate got to his feet. “Lindy—”
“No. I’m not looking for sympathy. You did what you had to do. I’m glad you did it. Jonas told me that you stole my life. He promised to help me finish what I started. He said he would help me regain what I lost. But I see it a different way. You gave me a second chance, Nate. A chance to change. A chance to be better.” Her brow furrowed. “Or maybe I’m kidding myself. Maybe it’s just a matter of time.”
“Before you become evil again?”
She let out a nervous laugh. “I guess. I don’t feel any wicked urges. I don’t want to become whoever I was. I like who I am now. Everyone has been lying to me, but they had a good reason. They were kind lies. Protective lies. It’s hard to know the truth, but I’m glad I do. Everything fits now. Why dad was so worried about Arcadeland. Why you guys were so evasive about my past. I knew you guys cared about me. I knew you were my friends. But I also felt sure you were hiding something. All the little inconsistencies that nagged at me have fallen into place. At least it all makes sense now.”
Nate could not keep eye contact with her. “Sorry you found out from him.”
“He did me a favor,” Lindy said. “It probably had to be him. You guys cared about me too much. You were trying to protect me from my past. But I’m glad I know. I’m relieved the truth came out. It’s hard to face, but I needed to hear it.”
Nate felt relieved by her reaction. He wanted to give her a hug. She seemed to need one. He approached where she sat on his bed and placed a hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”
Her chin quivered. “Not really. How would you feel if you found out you used to be somebody horrible? I was afraid it would be something like this. I was afraid maybe my parents had been bad people. But the truth of it tops all of my worst fears.”
“You don’t have to go down the same path,” Nate said. “You don’t have to become who you used to be.”
Standing, Lindy threw her arms around him. Tears flowed freely. “I hope not! I hate Jonas! I hate Belinda! I don’t want to be like them!”
Nate hugged her back. “It’s okay. It’s all right.”
Lindy sniffed and ran her sleeve across her eyes. “I’m supposed to tempt you. My assignment is to test your loyalty to Jonas. I’m supposed to tell you that I learned how we can take him down. I’m supposed to lead you into a trap tonight.”
“You agreed to it?” Nate asked.
She nodded. “I agreed so I could misinform him. I acted angry that you guys had hidden my past from me. I explained that I had felt something was wrong, that you were all lying to me, that I couldn’t trust any of you. I told him I wanted to learn about my real past. He promised to help me. He promised that after obtaining Uweya he would raise me like a father.”
“What now?” Nate asked.
Lindy backed away from the embrace. “I’ll tell him that you wouldn’t take the bait. That you passed the test. I’ll tell him you decided the best way to help your friends would be to make sure you were on the winning side. I’ll tell him you warned me that we can’t beat him. I’ll tell him you want to go after Uweya.”
“Will he believe you?”
She shrugged. “I think so. We’ll see. We’re supposed to meet to go after Uweya in the morning. What do we do, Nate? I’m honestly not sure we can stop him. Did you know the others tried some sort of jailbreak tonight?”
“Yeah, I found out from Mr. Stott.”
“How is he doing?” Lindy asked.
“He’s fine. He’s worried. Jonas added Trevor and Victor to his other prisoners. He’s all geared up to repel another assault.”
“He’s definitely paying more attention to security.”