What the hell was Keleon thinking?

Why had he shifted to look like me, instead of one of the G.I.A personnel? Why wasn't he making them believe they'd made a mistake and cuffed one of their own? Was he trying to get captured?

Of course, I partly knew the answer. Keleon wasn't thinking. And that was part of the problem with this entire situation. Whether or not he looked like my identical twin wasn't within his control.

"It's Damon," the female said, talking about Keleon and assuming it was me.

"It certainly looks that way," agreed the male. "But we need to be sure. Until we have proof, we need to stop the others leaving. Get a blood test done on him. Right now. Everyone else needs to prioritise detaining the others until we're certain it's him."

I went rigid and a cold shiver ran through my core. Didn't they know that forcibly removing part of him while he was still touching the gold would kill him? Perhaps that part wasn't common knowledge?

I stared at him intractably through the darkness.

Tell them Keleon.

He was being patted down, presumably to see whether he had weapons on his person. They took the remaining smoke grenades.

Why wasn't he telling them that he wasn't really me?

The G.I.A. lady started guiding him towards the northern entrance. Helplessly, I watched the events unfold, powerless to stop them.

No, no, no! Don't let them do this. Just tell them the truth!

But Keleon wasn't speaking as they marched him across the lab. Three silhouettes aimed for the southern entrance, presumably aiming to block us off if we tried to leave.

A dozen thoughts flashed through my mind in a single instant. Nobody was supposed to get seriously hurt. On either side. Now Keleon's life was in danger. Because of me. He didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve this either. I'd already lost three years of my life to these people under false pretences, and I didn't want to lose anything else to them. Especially not Keleon.

I silently begged them to stop.

They didn't.

Shock and helplessness started turning to anger. They'd stolen three years of my life, and now they were stealing my boyfriend.

A low, now familiar, rumble could be heard through the building. Some of the G.I.A. personnel looked around, confused and concerned.

These same people had invaded my body, taken my blood, and not told me the truth about why. Anger turned to fury. They'd lied to me, tricked me.

Rage bubbled just beneath the surface of my skin. Loose items around the lab started shaking. Glass smashing against the floor caused some of the figures to look in the direction of the sound. Some were still looking warily around the room.

They'd lied to my family. They'd circumvented the legal system.

My jaw clenched, and I removed my hand from Mum's as I could feel them both turning to fists. Dust fell as plaster cracked the ceiling, followed by larger pieces of gypsum as the rumble deepened in line with my mood. Walls shook and fractured, and one of the windows cracked. People were starting to look a little scared.

They'd confined me. They'd used me for their own benefit. It was all so unfair. And now these same people had Keleon, and whether they knew it or not, they were planning to do something that could result in his death.

Heat coursed through me. I needed to stop them. I couldn't stay under this bench any longer and I erupted like a volcano.

"NO!" I exploded as I flew upright.

"Damon," I felt Mum's hand on my arm, trying to pull me back, but I shook her off.

Another window cracked, and more glass smashed. One of the lamps on a nearby table was rattling as the ceiling continued to fall apart. My vision was filled with a red haze. I could feel the gravitational pull in everything around me. And I could feel it was emanating from me, but I couldn't stop it now, even if I wanted to.

"Let him go," I growled aggressively.

Nobody moved. They were looking between the two of us, probably trying to work out which was the 'real' Damon, but also looking around at the gradually disintegrating laboratory.

Their lack of action fuelled my wrath. Any rational thoughts turned to smoke, swirling around me, and dissipating before I could grasp them. I was wrapped in a cloud of emotion. Voices became distant.

The low rumble was getting louder. The rattling and shaking intensified until it was raining plaster and gypsum. The lamp that had been rattling previously exploded, and someone screamed. That got everyone's attention.

One voice broke through the haze.

"Damon." My mother's voice was gentle and full of concern. "You have to calm down sweetheart. If anyone gets hurt, they'll argue you're dangerous and will have a legitimate reason to detain you."

Her hand touched my arm. I didn't shake it off this time, but I couldn't think straight while they were holding Keleon.

"Let. Him. Go." I growled.

Mum must have recognised then why I was unable to calm down.

"All this energy you're feeling," she said calmly. "Can you focus it on freeing your friend? Can you concentrate on breaking the cuffs?"

My gaze moved to the cuffs. Could I do that? I didn't know. I couldn't think properly. I could feel though. I tried what Mum suggested. I may not be able to control the intensity of the gravitational distortions but perhaps I could control which objects they affected. I focussed my attention on the molecules inside the gold cuffs and found that Mum was right. I could feel inside them – the molecular bonds. The room stopped shaking while I found that I could use the gravity around me ...

That was when the cuffs exploded, and the gold shattered to the floor.

Without something tangible to focus on, my energy shook the room again. The walls groaned under the stress of the ceiling, and one of the far windows smashed.

Keleon was free to shift again, but he didn't. Instead, my lookalike used his freed hands to help him leap over the lab bench that was separating us to come and join me.

Nobody stopped him. The G.I.A. personnel were too busy running to the nearest exit, presumably now realising that any attempt to detain us was futile.

But I was rooted to the floor, rage still consuming me. One of the ceiling lights exploded, but now only Mum and Keleon were in the room with me as the building continued to slowly crumble around us.

"Damon, they've gone, honey," Mum's voice was sounding desperate. "Please sweetheart, we need to get you out of here before the building collapses."

Still, I couldn't move. I recognised that Keleon was safe from G.I.A. but I was still angry. What they did to me, what they did to us, was unacceptable. Three years' worth of hurt had been unleashed and was still pouring out of me.

I recognised the face that entered my vision. It was mine. The other Damon cupped my cheeks and, as I watched, Keleon's familiar face replaced it.

"Hey, hey," he said gently. "It's over." Keleon wrapped his arms round me tightly and pulled me into an embrace, with my face resting on his shoulder. The rage started to dissipate as he continued his gentle reassurances and stroked the back of my head.

"We're safe," he reminded me, keeping me tight in his arms. As the anger continued to dissolve, gravity reverted to normal levels and the room stopped reacting to me.

"It's OK, we're safe." Keleon's voice was like silk as his hand continued to work through my hair. 

I felt drained, like all my energy had been depleted. Shame and remorse took over and a silent sob racked my body. My legs refused to hold me up any longer, and Keleon supported my weight as I sunk to the floor with him in tow. He held me into his chest as I released my tears into his T-shirt, curling myself into a foetal position in his arms.

"I'm so sorry," I managed, voice cracking.

"It's OK. We're safe," he repeated, as he kissed my forehead. I felt Mum's arm on my back, rubbing, soothing as the tears kept coming.

A short time later, the undamaged lights came on, and some of the damaged ones flickered. I guess this meant that the disrupter had done its job and our hour was up. Still I blubbered into Keleon's T-shirt as he rocked me gently.

It felt like an eternity before my legs had regained enough energy to stand and walk again. Keleon supported my weight as we found the exit and crossed the moon's surface to the Pavo. I was vaguely aware of passing some G.I.A. personnel en route, but nobody approached us, and I didn't pay them much attention. Even with Keleon's help I needed all my concentration to focus on walking.

Keleon helped me through the door to the Pavo. He took me straight to the bed once we boarded the ship, where I collapsed and passed out from exhaustion.