AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shake my head and try to focus. I can’t give in to despair. “What do they need you for so badly?” I ask. “What is all of that?” I point a finger toward the room beyond, even though we can’t see it with the doors of the elevator closed.
“Demon blood is extremely valuable on the black market,” Tamsin says. “And a hybrid blend of demon and some other supernatural creature? A hundred times more. A small vial goes for about ten thousand.”
My eyebrows shoot to my hairline. “So, they’re using drix to make a blood farm?”
“Exactly. Except it’s not going as planned. Some of the hosts aren’t accepting it as well as others. Dozens have died. Others keep waking up from their induced comas, like the one you encountered.”
“And you’re supposed to figure out why,” I say, my tone flat. I was scared at first. But now anger has taken over, and I’m getting more furious by the moment. Who are these Night Guild people? Do they have no morals whatsoever?
Tamsin’s lips tremble, but she nods. “From what I can tell so far, the ones who’ve died had a bad reaction to the drix paired with the drugs they use to induce the coma. I’ve changed the neutralizer compound on Luciana and the others that have come in since I got here. But most were already here. And they’re either completely brain dead, or prone to violent fits if they don’t receive the neutralizer periodically.”
“Why can’t they get an IV drip of it?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know, honestly. I’m still trying to figure it out. If they get it regularly, they lose all brain function. Basically just vegetables. Those are the ones who usually end up dying. I think they’ve just been here too long to convert them back. I’ve been hoping to save them, but—”
My pulse spikes. “Wait, you think you can cure them? Cure Luciana?”
“It’s only a breath of a hope. The slimmest of slim.” She shakes her head. The weariness in her mind and body are evident all over her face. “But it seems that small, regular doses of the neutralizer I developed could be having a positive effect.”
“How many are responding well, other than Luciana?”
“Only three others,” she says with a frown. “The ones that came in prior to my arrival can’t be saved. They’re already too far gone.”
I nod, my resolve hardening. “We’re going to get out of here.”
Tamsin’s eyes widen. “What?”
“My friend Ryder will be back any moment. We came here to save Luciana. With you helping us, we can bring the other three, too. Then, after we escape, we’ll figure out how to bring this whole place down. Get some justice for these poor people.”
The momentary brightness in Tamsin’s eyes dims and her shoulders slump. “I’m afraid I won’t be of much help to you.”
She reaches up and pulls down the excess fabric of her suit from around her shoulders. There, encircling her neck, is a thin silver collar. A roil of dark magic spins off of it.
“I can’t leave,” she whispers.
