by C J Singh
It reminded me of when I was infected with the Fever the first time, only he seemed much worse. The pain and heaviness were so intense I thought I would be pushed flat into my cot. I shook away a shiver from the memory and returned my focus to Tristan. He was alone now in his room, the peaceful look on his sleeping face was nothing but a mask. I knew what kind of pain he was feeling and my stomach knotted. I needed to help him.
I ran to my door and started smacking the glass, but stopped when LaRae clicked the lock open. “Is it the virus?”
“Yes.” She stepped into my cage, shutting the door. “Eden, did you see who brought Tristan breakfast?”
I searched my memory; guilt hit me when I realized I hadn’t paid much attention to him at all this morning. Not even a glance. I shook my head.
“Darn. All right. I need to make some calls.”
“But—”
She put her hands on my shoulders, stopping my push for the door. “We are doing everything we can.”
“No offense, LaRae, but your best hasn’t done much.” Her cheeks reddened at my stab of truth. “If he dies, I will let loose, and no one will be spared... not even you.” My eyes met hers and I saw them fill with fear. I curled my hands, readying my claws to cut, and let out a quiet growl.
Dropping her hands, she swallowed. “I’m doing the best I can. Just... let me make some calls, all right?” She quickly retreated from my cage and I resumed my watch.
***
My eyes stayed fixed on Tristan, but I could hear and feel LaRae and Scott running around in a tizzy, trying to figure out what had happened. I finally tipped my eyes from him when Scott started yelling into the phone.
“You have no authority to do that! He’s my patient!” He pushed one hand into his brown hair as he listened. “What? Why?” His face dropped and color left his cheeks. “Fine.” He slammed the phone down. Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What? What happened?” LaRae asked.
“Apparently, it was an order from above.”
“What? Why?”
Scott didn’t respond, but when his eyes meet mine, I know who “above” meant. Zane. Since threatening Jace didn’t work, he decided to use Tristan. My fist hit the glass so hard it shook my whole cage. I panted through clenched teeth, walking slowly to the door.
“Get me, Zane,” I growled through the door. They both watched in fear. “Get. Me. ZANE!”
Scott nodded and he picked up the phone. I didn’t wait to listen to his words because I went back to guarding Tristan.
Zane didn’t take long to come, and the triumphant smile on his face as he entered into the lab tightened every muscle in my back. I would take this glass wall down, just as Jace had, if things went south. He wouldn’t feel so triumphant then.
“Eden! I’m sorry to hear about your friend.”
“Why? I told you what you wanted. It’s not my fault, or his, that you don’t want to listen.”
“Don’t want to listen? No, no, Eden. The problem is, we have been doing what you say you did, but it doesn’t work.”
“Of course, it works!” I slammed my fist into the glass again and Zane jumped back, the smile dropping from his face.
“Careful, Eden. I still have Jace I can use when this one... expires.”
The word hit me like a brick. I thought I lost him before and knew how it felt. I can’t lose him for real again. “He won’t expire!”
“No? What are you going to do?”
I looked back to Tristan. He was watching us with glossy eyes, but I could see the faintest shake of his head. I knew he couldn’t hear us, but he knows. He knows what we are discussing and he doesn’t want it.
“Let me talk to him.” I met Zane’s hollow grey eyes and he nodded. Without a second to wait, I rushed to the door. LaRae unlocked it, and I pushed past her, rushing to Tristan’s cage where Scott was about to unlock it.
“Does she need a suit?” he asked.
“I’m immune, you dingbat. Open the door!”
He didn’t wait for Zane’s approval but quickly unlocked and opened the door. Before I took my next breath, I was kneeling beside Tristan, the door clicking behind me.
“Tristan?” I took his hand, careful not to scratch him with a claw, seeing his cheek twitch with an attempt to smile. “It’s all right. I know it’s hard for you to speak.” I remembered my blinking conversations I had with Jace in the camp. “I’m going to ask you a yes or no question. You blink once for yes and twice for no. All right?”
He blinked once. Yes.
I let out a long sigh. I know that it’s a silly question I am asking, but it will change his whole life. He has a right to make his choice. “If I know how to cure you, do you want me to?”
He watched me a moment, his ice-blue eyes faded before he blinked once. Yes. I let out a long sigh, squeezing his hand.
“Good, good.” I felt the slightest twitch of his hand in mine, and I looked up at him. He was moving his mouth, trying to speak.
“If... I”—he swallowed—“die—”
“No, no. That won’t happen.” I leaned in and smiled at him, but the wheels in my head turned.
“No... Eden... don’t let... me... suffer. Kill... me,” he finished, ignoring my words.
My mouth dried. “What? No. I can’t.” He didn’t speak, but the look in his eyes meant everything. He doesn’t want to live in pain or worse, and I understand, but how could I kill him? I let out all the air from my lungs. “All right.” I could barely hear my own words. Resting my forehead on his chest, I breathed in his scent. Home. He smelled like home. The firelight on stormy nights, berry picking on cool mornings, card games, and laughter with Old Bob, Tate, and Ellie. If I had never left that day, would we be here?
I sat up, fighting the tears that threatened to spill out, and smiled. His eyes were closed and his breath steady. I stroked a claw along his sleeping face when the door clicked open. Giving his hand a quick squeeze, I stood and left his cage.
I waited to speak until I was in my own cage. Facing Zane with nothing between us, I imagined again what it would feel like to sink my fangs into his neck. Narrowing my eyes on his, I spoke with the strongest voice I could muster. “Get the blood.”
“Good!” He clapped. I turned quickly before I lunged out and slashed him with a claw. That would have to wait.
Slowly walking to my window, I crouched and watched Tristan sleep. For the first time since I had changed to my new self, I was scared. Scared I was wrong and would have to kill my best friend, my brother.
Chapter 63
Jace
I haven’t stopped smiling since I woke from my drug-induced slumber. Seeing Eden was a weight lifted off me. She was different, but I didn’t care. Her changes didn’t affect me the way they may have anyone else. They fit her.
“Oh no, no, no, no.” Dr. Hahn shuffled into the room. His brow creased and his hair was more messy than usual. “Not good, not good.”
I sat up, watching him wring his hands together. “What’s up?”
“Something bad has happened. Very, very bad.”
I walked to the bars of my cell. “What?” My body tightened in preparation for what he may say.
He looked at me. “Tristan has the virus. Oh, this is bad. Very, very bad. Bad. Bad.”
I gripped the bar. How could that happen? “Does Eden know?”
“She’s the one who noticed!” He paced. “Bad, bad. Very, very bad.”
My heart sank. I saw how it affected her when she thought Tristan was dead, so I can only imagine what she’s going through now. I should be there to help her through this. My grip tightened on the bars. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Well, they are going to try the procedure.”
My heart sank. “You have to tell her! Tell her what has happened!” If Tristan turns into a s
courge, it will break her.
“I c... can’t!” His voice cracked.
“What? Why?”
He stopped pacing. “If I say anything, then Zane will learn that I didn’t dispose of all those people. He will know that you know what’s happened.”
I clenched my teeth. “This is not a time for you to be egotistical. If Tristan becomes a scourge, it will break Eden. Break her!” I pulled on the bars, stupidly thinking I could move them apart.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Dr. Hahn avoided my eyes and hurried out of the room, leaving me with only the sound of the dripping walls to accompany my thoughts.
Chapter 64
Eden
I didn’t take my eyes off Tristan the rest of the day yesterday. I watched as Scott went in, wearing his suit to inject him with the animal blood. When my eyes drooped, I slapped my cheeks to wake up. LaRae must have put something in my food because I woke this morning on the tiled floor, groggy. Lifting myself onto my hands, I shook my head trying to clear the fog.
“Eden?” LaRae’s voice was distant, even though she stood just five feet from me. “We need to go.”
“Tristan?” I stood, rolling my head in circles, stretching my arms. I looked over to his cage, but he wasn’t there. I dug my claws into the tile before jumping to my feet.
“Just come.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s in the gym.”
“The gym?” If he was there, then maybe it worked. She didn’t bother cuffing me, knowing my eagerness to see Tristan was strong.
I followed her down the long hall, ignoring all the probing eyes. My focus was purely on getting to Tristan. Making sure he was all right. I bit my tongue and fisted my hands to stay in pace with LaRae and not bolt ahead. She walked much too slowly for my liking.
The first face I met when entering the gym was Jace. He lit up when he saw me and put his hands on my cheeks, keeping my eyes on him. I felt him sending me every ounce of patience he could give.
“Eden.” Jace’s voice was soft and I didn’t have to look because I could smell him. The faintest scent of Tristan mixed with death. I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep ragged breath. “Eden, just breathe.” Jace moved to be a barrier between me and the rest of the room. When I opened my eyes, I didn’t stop the tears from slipping. “I’m sorry.”
I failed Tristan. Just like I failed Ellie and led her to her death. They were both dead because of me.
When he stepped to the side, my eyes met Tristan’s grey, vacant face in the middle of the mat, cuffed and tied to ropes held by two guards. One of his beautiful blue eyes had changed to gold, and he hissed at me. He was a scourge. With no air left in my lungs, I choked as I worked to suck in more, but the sound was like a sob. My hands shook, but Jace squeezed tighter to keep me from coming apart.
“Like I said before, we tried what you said you did, but it hasn’t worked.” Zane slowly walked toward us. “Will you now tell me what you did to Jace?”
I clenched Jace’s hand, and I’m sure my claws ripped into his palm, but he didn’t flinch. Moving my gaze to Zane, I narrowed my eyes. “I’m telling you the truth.” I dropped my eyes to his throat, imagining sinking my fangs into it.
No. Not now.
Jace had seen it. He didn’t say never, just not now. I licked my lips in anticipation before looking back into his hollow grey eyes.
“Pity. Take him away!” Zane motioned to the guards holding Tristan.
“Wait!” My voice echoed and I’m sure everyone heard the desperation in it. Zane looked at me quizzically. “Let me... let me say goodbye.” I closed my eyes and dropped my hand from Jace’s.
“Very well.”
“Are you sure?” Jace asked.
I gave him a sad smile. “Yeah. There is something I have to do.” He nodded and stepped back, trusting me. He always trusted me.
I fixated my eyes on Tristan’s hunched and growling body. He watched me take my first step toward him and flashes of our life together hit me so fast I could barely breathe. We were laughing as we ran through the cabin’s yard together playing tag.
Step two.
I was in the water of the nearby lake and Tristan jumped off the tire swing into the water.
Step three.
I huddled with him and Tate under a blanket as a storm raged over the cabin. They told me jokes to keep me from being too scared of the thunder.
Step four.
Our family sang me happy birthday in front of a plate of berries. Tristan was singing the loudest.
Step five. My last step.
Tristan lying on the cot, sick with the Fever, and making me promise to kill him if he suffered. Kill me.
I stopped. The only sounds in the gym were Tristan’s rasping breaths and the guards’ grunts as they kept the ropes taut. I fisted and relaxed my hands and met Tristan’s eyes. Even though he was a scourge, there was a tiny bit of him left and that tiny bit spoke to me.
Kill me.
Pulling in a breath, I moved so quickly no one had time to react. The crack of his neck echoed, then the thud of his body hitting the mat, then nothing. The silence was so deafening I brought my hands to my ears and dropped to my knees. His eyes, smile, golden curls all rushed through me in a wash of fire. My body tightened and my head throbbed from the strain of keeping my feral side from letting loose. I let out the loudest scream I could manage.
“Eden.” Jace’s hand squeezed my shoulder and I turned into him, hiding my face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me in a tight squeeze. Tristan was gone. Really gone, and I had killed him. I had to kill him because Zane didn’t believe me. I squeezed my eyes tighter, trying to void Tristan’s face from my mind. I didn’t want to give Zane the satisfaction of knowing my full pain. Without making a sound, I composed myself, keeping my face hidden in Jace’s chest until my heartbeat evened out. When I finally moved back, I met Jace’s sad eyes.
You all right?
No. But I will be.
“I should probably thank you, Eden. You just rid me of a messy problem.” Zane’s voice dripped with condescendence. “But now... now I don’t have much leverage.”
I growled and Jace’s hands tightened on my shoulders.
Not now, Eden.
He killed Tristan, and he will probably try and kill you.
Not. Now.
My eyes pinned to Jace’s as we had our silent conversation, but I couldn’t let Zane get away with this. “I’m sorry.” I pushed Jace to the side and he flew across the mat. Turning to Zane, I grinned as his face lost all color and he took a step back. “You’re a bastard. You killed my brother all because you are too arrogant to believe me, but I will not let you threaten anyone else I care about.”
“Eden!” Jace called.
“Eden, please.” Zane’s voice held fear. It was the first time I had ever seen him scared since I arrived in the city, and it excited the predator within me.
I charged and a snarl ripped from my throat. Curling my claws, I was ready to slash him. I was just a few feet away when I was hit from the side. The force was so powerful we slid across the mat hitting Tristan’s limp body.
I’m sorry, but now isn’t the time.
Jace sat on my back, pinning me to the ground. I fought him, but my grief and position put me at a disadvantage.
“Why?” I rasped out.
“I’m sorry.” I felt the regret and sorrow in his voice.
Please, just relax.
Jace let up just a touch to give me a chance to calm on my own, so I didn’t fight. My face was level with Tristan’s. His vacant eyes still open, watching me. I didn’t want him to see me like this, even if he was dead.
“Well... Thank you, Jace,” Zane said. I could hear him brushing off his jacket and the click of his shoes as they left the mat. “Guards. Drug her.”
“Zane. She will—”
“Drug them both!”
The sting of the needle hit my arm. I reached out and took Tristan’s still hand. He was still warm.
Go to her, Tristan. Go to Ellie. Find her and be happy.
Jace rolled to my side. We lay in a tangle of sedated and dead limbs on the middle of the mat. The last image I saw before I blacked out was Tristan smiling at me before he walked into the light.
Chapter 65
Jace
Even through my drug-induced sleep, guilt raged through me. The sound of her voice and the look on her face when I kept her from vengeance. She had to understand that I know this place better than her and I know Zane. There wasn’t any way she was going to be able to attack him and come out alive. Even if she killed him.
I opened my eyes to the familiar crisp white ceiling. I was in my original cage across from Eden. Before turning to look, I closed my eyes and searched for her. I could feel her there and her walls were down. I gave her a small nudge.
Eden?
She didn’t respond, but I felt her alert and listening. She had heard me.
I’m sorry.
After a thick moment of silence, her voice whispered through to me and the lump in my throat grew. I had hurt her, and I prayed she would forgive me.
Why?
I was protecting you.
Her edginess grew. She didn’t want to be protected.
I don’t—
Need my protection? I know, but I can’t just let you commit suicide.
I finally turned to look into her cage, seeing nothing but her gold eye glowing within the darkness of her den. She was watching me, so I gave her a small smile.
I can’t lose you, Eden.
She emerged from her den, slowly crawling to the window; her eyes stayed fixed to mine.
I can’t lose you either.
I’m sorry.
I sat up and set my feet on the floor. Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees and watched her. Her long apricot hair fell in thick waves past her shoulders, framing her high peach cheekbones and beautiful sparkly eyes.