I swallow and then ask the question percolating through my mind, the question that has been haunting me since I first entered the lab and was barraged by flashbacks. The building may have been different, but what I went through…
“Was my sister injected?" It takes considerable effort to change “I” to “my sister.”
My heart pounds against my rib cage like a striking fist.
Stefan hesitates, and I wonder if the possibility of trust will evaporate before we build a single block.
But then he sighs and nods. "I'm sorry. We thought…it would motivate the queen to find a cure. Then we could steal it."
A derisive snort escapes before I can stop it. "You overestimate her maternal instincts."
Stefan seems to process that information as I follow up his confession with another question, an entire plethora of corrosive emotions barraging me simultaneously.
"What will it do to her?"
I think of those alphas emerging from the lab…
He shakes his head. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Apparently, it doesn't work on omegas the way it does on alphas. We suspected as much since it didn’t harm any of our omegas, but our scientists hoped if they tweak it slightly, it would infect her.”
He says all this candidly, not bothering to sugarcoat the truth. I don’t know if I’m grateful or horrified.
“Obviously, we would’ve preferred to experiment onyou, but the crown prince is much more difficult to get our hands on.”
"She won't turn into…" My mind goes back to those wild, rampaging alphas.
Those poor men who looked like little more than zombies.
"No."
I try not to allow my shoulders to sag in relief, but there's a definite lightness in my chest that wasn't there before. My lungs can fill with more air, and I blink away a sudden sting at the backs of my eyes.
Hold in the breakdown just a little bit longer, Bry,I coach myself.Just a few more minutes.
“Your country is so advanced. I’d have thought you'd have found yourself a cure.”
“Well, apparently not when the most brilliant scientist you have is kidnapped. Genius doesn’t grow on trees,” he retorts drily.
My fingers start to tingle, and the sensation spreads slowly up my body. I inhale and try to exhale slowly, but my heart is already beating a mile per minute.
They want a cure.
I want a cure.
Both of usneedcures.
We can’t let this continue.
"I'd like to propose a ceasefire," I say, trying not to rush. Not to sound too eager. Not to overplay my hand when this is the only hand I've fucking got, and if I fail, my brother dies.
I pause, overcome.
The hand in my pocket clenches down on my suppressant in an effort to stop a full-body tremble because everything is on the line. Absolutely everything.
"We might be able to assist with that," Stefan says slowly.
"Good.” I pause. “We've had an outbreak of karkinos. I hear you have a cure for it. We’ve only been able to get medicine to slow it down. I want your cure as a show of good faith.”
His head tilts in acknowledgment.
