by S. J. West
When we came to the end of the corridor, Paul opened a door that led into the Queen’s laboratory.
When my father and I stepped inside, my eyes were immediately drawn to the large iron tube standing in the middle of the room.
I felt my eyes water at the sight of it. I knew what we would find floating within its interior.
My mother.
Emma Blackwell.
CHAPTER TEN
“Paul,” I said, “would you mind leaving us alone for a while please?”
Paul looked to my father as if to confirm he should comply with my request. My father nodded to him, and Paul left the room, closing the door behind him.
“Is something wrong?” my father asked, seeming to know I wouldn’t have made such a request for no reason.
I looked at him, not sure how to tell him about the nightmare he was about to have to face.
“Do you remember me telling you the Queen had mom’s body? That she was using her organs for her own transplants when she needed them?”
My father slowly nodded. “Yes, I remember that.”
I let my eyes drift back to the tall cylindrical tube in the room.
“Mom’s body is inside that thing,” I told him before looking back at him.
My father stood stock-still. I wasn’t sure if my words had registered with him or not until he finally turned his head to look at the iron cylinder.
“You’re sure?” he asked in a whisper, as if his voice might wake the dead. “Emma’s inside that thing?”
“I think so,” I replied. “It looks like the same one that was at the Biltmore Estate the first time I found her. There’s really only one way to know for sure, though. I would have to open it.”
My father looked back at me, his eyes haunted with pent up grief.
“Open it,” he said. “I have to know. I need to see for myself.”
Blue stayed by my side as I made my way across the black and white tiled floor in the room. He whined as we came to a stop in front of the living tomb of my mother. It was almost like Blue could sense the sinking of my heart, knowing what I would find past the iron sheath shielding my mother from view.
I placed my hand in the indentation on the surface. Steel bars from either side slid out to keep it immobilized. The hand-shaped indentation illuminated blue, and a white light scanned my palm.
“Welcome, Skye,” a soft disembodied female voice said to me.
The bars slid back into the iron column, releasing me.
The click of locks being released echoed in the room. I heard my father walk up behind me, but I didn’t turn around. I simply reached back with my left hand and felt him grasp it tightly, needing my strength to face what was coming just as much as I needed his.
The iron column slid down into the floor, revealing my mother to our eyes. I swallowed hard, trying not to cry at the sight of her floating naked within the light blue liquid inside her glass coffin. Her long brown hair floated around her body, giving her form a ghostly visage.
I felt my father’s grip tighten around my hand. When I dared to look back at him, I saw a twin trail of tears slide down his cheeks as he took in a ragged breath. My own grief overcame me at the sight of his pain. I turned and wrapped my arms around him, each of us holding the other fiercely as we wept.
Once we were able to control our mutual pain, we talked about what needed to be done next. My father asked Paul to bring in Doc Riley, Jace, and Lux. I didn’t want many people to see my mother in the state she was in, but I needed help to finally give her the rest she deserved.
Jace handed Rose to Lux when they entered the room. He came to me, without me having to say anything, and simply took me into his arms. He knew me well enough to know I would need to lean on his strength in my time of sorrow. Doc Riley set right to work as soon as my father told her what we wanted to do. Lux went to sit in a chair in a corner of the room with Rose, sensing this was a family matter that needed to be dealt with privately.
“Hmm,” Doc Riley said, looking through some files on a computer built into the control panel in the room. “I see the Queen has been using your mother’s organs for herself.”
“Yes,” I verified, “she said organs from a sibling or child lasted longer than any other.”
“It makes sense,” Doc Riley said. “You know Lucena tried to clone organ replacements when she discovered the Harvester nanites needed to use organs for their raw materials. Unfortunately, the cloned versions only lasted a month at most. They were simply weak copies of the real thing. The fact that Lucena used your mother’s organs is quite interesting to me.” Doc Riley sat back in her chair with a contemplative look on her face. “It makes me wonder …”
I waited for Doc Riley to finish her thought, but she didn’t.
“Makes you wonder what?” I finally asked, needing to know what she was thinking.
Doc Riley looked up at me. “There was a theory once called cellular memory. Ever heard of it?”
I shook my head. “No, I’ve never heard of it.”
Doc Riley took in a deep breath and stood from her chair. She walked around the control panel for a closer examination of my mother’s body.
“The theory,” she began, “stated that people who received transplants, especially hearts from another person, were able to gain characteristics from their donor through the transferred tissue. Some transplant patients would develop traits like craving certain foods that they might have disliked before the surgery, walking a different way, developing habits like smoking and even dreaming about their donor. One young lady who received the heart of a murder victim actually had dreams about the murderer, which eventually led to an arrest.”
“But how?” I asked, believing Doc Riley’s story sounded more like science fiction than science.
“There were different theories at the time. One biochemist discovered that neuropeptides, which were thought to exclusively remain in the brain, were actually present in other organs, especially the heart,” she said, looking closely at my mother’s chest area. “Another scientist discovered that the heart has its own intrinsic nervous system, making it possible for it to almost act like a second brain, in a sense, but neuroradiology was just in its infancy when the war broke out. Nothing had been confirmed with hard data.”
“What are you looking for?” I asked her, noticing her eyes traveling from each of the scars on my mother’s torso.
“From the files I found in the computer, it looks like the first organ the Queen took from your mother was her heart.” Doc Riley looked over at me. “From what you told us about her reaction to you—this love she seems to have for you—I’m wondering if the fact that she has your mother’s heart beating inside her chest is part of the reason. If the theory of cellular memory can be believed, perhaps it’s your mother’s love for you that Lucena is actually feeling.”
“Even before she became a Harvester, Lucena had a soft spot for Skye,” my father said. “But I can easily believe Emma’s love for you somehow transferred over to Lucena. She loved you more than any person in the world, enough to die in the hope of giving you a chance at a better life.”
“The Queen told me that the night Ash and I escaped was the night before she was supposed to come and get me. Is that true?”
“Yes,” my father answered. “We knew if she got her hands on you, she would eventually turn you into a Harvester. Neither of us could bear to think of you living a half-life like that. I’m just sorry I couldn’t stop her from doing it to you anyway.”
“I still don’t know exactly how I was able to regain my humanity.” I looked at Doc Riley. “Do you think you could run some tests on me to see if you can figure out what triggered it?”
Doc Riley nodded. “Yes, I’ve already thought about doing that. Who knows? Maybe it will help us figure out a way to defeat the Harvesters once and for all. The Cain virus certainly helped, but we need more.”
“Helped in what way?” I asked.
Doc Riley’s eyes lit up. “Oh
! I completely forgot to tell you earlier. I was able to mechanize the virus.”
“How?”
“I developed a special coating for the bullets we use. It administers a high dose of the Cain virus, which acts almost instantaneously on their system. It’s been quite useful in killing them.”
“I wish there was a way we could save them instead,” I said. “After being one, I kind of understand the way they think. Her programming makes you believe the Queen is the center of your world. It makes you want to please her so badly that you’ll do anything she wants you to do.”
“After she’s dead,” Jace said, “maybe it will be enough to break the programming in the Harvesters. Maybe her death can lead to their rebirth.”
“It is a possibility,” Doc Riley agreed.
“Doc,” my father said, “how do we get Emma out of this thing?”
Doc Riley looked back at my mother trapped inside the glass tube.
“Are you sure you’re both ready for that?” Doc Riley asked us, looking to me and then my father. “Once I start the program to flush out the system, she will, in effect, die.”
“I’m ready,” I said before looking at my dad. “She’s suffered enough. We need to let her go.”
My father nodded. “I agree. Emma wouldn’t want to be kept alive like this.”
“All right then, children,” Doc Riley said with a sad, yet understanding, look on her face. “Give me a few minutes to set things up.”
Doc Riley went back to sit in front of the computer at the control panel. My father’s eyes seemed fixated on my mother, and he simply stood motionless in front of her.
Rose began to cry.
“Go rescue Lux from Rose,” I urged Jace. “I need to ask Doc Riley something.”
Jace seemed reluctant to leave my side.
“All right,” he said, bending down and giving me a quick kiss before walking to the corner where Lux still sat with Rose.
I walked over to the control panel and bent down to whisper in Doc Riley’s ear.
“I have a big favor to ask of you. I need you to try and figure out a way to remove my Harvester chip.”
Doc Riley looked at me, her eyes wide with shock at my making such a request.
“It can’t be done,” she whispered back. “It would most certainly kill you.”
“There has to be a way,” I said, not bothering to hide my desperation. “I can’t keep living every day wondering if I’ll turn back into a Harvester. I need to get it out.”
Doc Riley sighed heavily. “Let me see what I can do,” she finally relented. “I can’t make you any promises, and if I don’t find a way that is safe, I refuse to do anything at all. Is that understood?”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“I suppose you don’t want Jace or your father to know about this since we’re whispering.”
“No,” I told her. “I don’t want to give them false hope or worry them about it until there’s something to worry about. The less control the Queen has over me the better. I can’t take the risk of her doing something that might change me back into a Harvester she can control. I would rather be dead.”
“Well, it won’t come to that. I can promise you that much.”
I smiled wanly at Doc Riley. I knew her heart was in the right place, but we both knew she might not be able to keep a promise like that.
It took about thirty minutes for Doc Riley to find the program that would finally release my mother from her half-life. I stood with my father with one of my arms wrapped around his waist, staring at the woman who taught me how a real mother was supposed to be: loving, patient, kind, and above all, self-sacrificing.
“I remember the day you were born,” my father said, a far off quality to his voice as he traveled back through time using only his memories. “Your mother wouldn’t stop smiling, even through all the pain. When she first held you in her arms, she cried and laughed at the same time. I’d never seen anyone so happy before. After we brought you home, she wouldn’t leave your side for one second. She wouldn’t even let you sleep in your crib.” My father laughed at the memory. “She read something about sudden death syndrome and became paranoid. We had to buy another bed to keep in the nursery, so she could sleep with you lying beside her. I’m not sure how she got any rest that first year. I know for a fact she would just lie there some nights and watch you dream. To her, you were a miracle sent straight from God. She loved you so much, Skye. I hope you remember that. Remember her how she was, not like she is now.”
I swallowed hard and wiped the spill of tears from my cheeks, determined to get through this and not completely break down. I would try to save that for later.
“All right,” Doc Riley said. “I think I have everything prepared. I will flush the liquid oxygen out first, then lower the glass tube to release her. Are you ready?”
My father tightened his hold around my shoulders, and I tightened mine around his waist.
“Yes,” my father said for the both of us. “We’re ready.”
“Here we go,” Doc Riley said, typing something in on the computer keyboard.
I felt Jace come stand behind me, but he didn’t attempt to touch me. I think he understood this moment was meant for my father and me to share. We were losing a mother, a wife, and a best friend all over again. The nightmare of the situation hit me with a wave of overwhelming grief as I watched my mother’s body sink to the floor of the tube as the liquid was slowly siphoned out. She lay there motionless, helpless. I waited patiently for the glass tube to lower so we could get her out, but it never did.
“I’m sorry,” Doc Riley said, hitting keys on the keyboard in frustration. “Something must be jammed or broken because the program says the glass has been lowered.”
I looked down at my mother’s body slumped over against the glass, so alone and vulnerable. I heard movement behind me and turned to see Jace pick up one of the small, black leather office chairs in the room.
“Be ready to catch her,” Jace said to me, and I instantly knew what he meant to do.
I walked over to the side of the tube my mother was leaning against and knelt down so she would fall into my arms once released.
With one swing of the chair, Jace broke the glass tube. It shattered into a million little pieces, shining like small diamonds against the light in the room as they flew through the air. My mother fell into my arms, and I caught her wet, cold body, holding her like she had held me so many times as a child, close to my heart.
My father came to kneel on the other side of her. With a trembling hand, he gently pulled the wet strands of hair away from her face, allowing us to gaze upon my mother’s beauty one last time. Her body convulsed violently as her lungs expelled the last of the liquid oxygen they contained. One last whisper of breath slipped between her lips as her body went completely limp in my arms.
That’s when I saw it.
Her soul left her body like a white wisp of light floating in the air. I watched as she floated first toward my father, then slowly made her way to me, hovering right in front of my eyes as if she knew I could see her.
My mother’s soul floated so close to me I could physically feel the purity of her love for me. The love only a mother can have for her child. My heart swelled with the love she shared—her last gift to me.
“I love you too,” I said to her. “Be free.”
Slowly, her soul ascended into the air, as if reluctant to leave me.
“Go,” I begged her.
Her soul shot up through the ceiling and disappeared.
I broke from the loss, unable to hold back the pain and began to sob.
I laid my mother’s body down on the floor, knowing she wasn’t truly there anymore. I felt Jace kneel behind me, encircling me in the safe comfort of his arms and holding me as my heart released its unbearable grief. I thought I had made my peace with my mother’s death years ago when Ash and I escaped the breeding camp. But seeing her trapped as a helpless pawn in the Queen’s quest for immortalit
y was more than I could bear. I wept uncontrollably as the pain of her loss seemed to consume every fiber of my being.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I was faintly aware of Jace lifting me up and cradling me in his arms. I cried against his shoulder, not completely aware of where he was taking me and not really caring where we ended up. He laid me down on the softness of a bed and continued to hold me as my heart wept. I’m not sure how long I lay there crying against his chest, but eventually I had no more tears left to shed. My eyes felt puffy and red, and all I could concentrate on was simply trying to breathe.
Eventually, I fell asleep, a dreamless sleep where the nightmare of my mother’s death couldn’t touch me.
When I woke up, Jace wasn’t in the bed anymore. I heard the gurgle of a baby and immediately sat up.
Jace was sitting in a chair beside the bed, letting Rose play with his little finger. He looked up at me, concern over my welfare written on his face.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Horrible,” I confessed. “I feel like someone rubbed my eyes down with sandpaper.”
“You needed that cry,” he told me. “I think you’ve been holding it in for a while now. It was time you let it out.”
Jace stood and brought Rose over to me. I held out my arms to take her and felt complete as I cradled her in my arms. Her bright blue eyes found me, and she smiled.
“She knows who we are, you know,” I told Jace. “She was the one who time jumped us back to you. I told her to take us to Daddy, and she teleported us straight to you.”
Jace sat down on the side of the bed, a look of pride on his face.
“I guess I’m doing something right then,” he said, gazing down at our daughter.
“I’ll do better,” I promised Rose. “I’ll be the mother you deserve. The one Zoe wanted you to have.” I looked up at Jace. “We need to go get our son.”
“Your father sent a helicopter to my father’s camp. I hope he has some idea of where Lucena would try to hide out. As soon as we know where she is, we’ll go get Simon.”