Chapter 14 The Decision #2
“Several days at least,” Cassandra answered, her expression carefully neutral. “Her resilience is remarkable, but we can’t take any chances. And the only real solution is claiming her for real. But right now…”
She trailed off, as if hesitant to say what we were all thinking. As if speaking the words out loud would make the horror more real.
Damon grimaced and ran a hand over his face. “I know. I wouldn’t push her again. It’d just make things worse.”
My throat was desert-dry. There were so many things I wanted to say, to ask. Where did this leave us? What were we going to do now?
Before I could speak, Helena reached into her pocket and produced a small crystal device. It was so much like the one she’d first shown me in Damon’s study that my heart immediately started to race.
“I shouldn’t be showing you this, not after yesterday,” she said, her voice deliberately low. “But if I don’t… I fear things would only get worse. For Cora.”
The crystal projected a series of documents, the blue light illuminating the grim set of his face. “Alexander filed these with the Council yesterday. Statements from the lab personnel. They all claim they witnessed you behaving abusively toward Dr. Ellis.”
Damon bristled, anger radiating off him in waves. “Those claims are—”
“Not wrong, Damon,” Cassandra cut him off. “And the Council asked me about my assessment, you know what I’d have to say.”
Of course. Like any doctor, she’d have to testify about what Damon had done. This wasn’t good.
I pushed myself up slightly. Dizziness spiraled through me, black spots dancing at the edges of my vision. But anger burned hotter than the physical discomfort.
“Cassandra’s right.” Helena tapped the crystal, changing the displayed document. “They’re already considering it, even without us saying a word. And Alexander is requesting emergency custody transfer of Cora to House Zeus.”
The words hit me harder than the Shadow Realm had. Alexander wanted custody of me. After I had nearly died because of their fight, a fight I tried to lead away from innocent people, he was using my condition to get control of me.
“Absolutely not,” Damon hissed like a snake. “I won’t allow it.”
“You might not have a choice, Damon,” Helena answered. “The hearing is scheduled for three days from now. And not even you can ignore the Olympian Council.”
Three days before the Council might hand me over to Alexander, they discussed it like I wasn’t even there. Making decisions, forming plans, determining my fate without acknowledging my existence beyond a medical problem to solve.
The injustice crashed through what little emotional control I had left. Something snapped inside me. Sobs tore through my body, and I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to contain the emotional storm. It didn’t work.
Around the room, plants erupted into chaotic growth. Furious vegetation broke free from decorative pots, stretching across the floor. Roots cracked through the floor tiles. Thorns emerged from previously harmless flowers, wickedly sharp and defensive.
Cassandra’s head snapped toward me, her eyes wide with panic. “Cora! Oh, gods, I didn’t realize you were awake.”
Helena tried to do the same, but surging plant life blocked her path. “Cora, calm down, please. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
Maybe she was right, but I didn’t care about that anymore. “I’m already fucking hurt. And you’re all standing there, deciding my life for me?”
Helena opened her mouth to answer, but a thorny vine swept toward her. Damon stepped in front of her before she could be hit. The plant caught him right over the chest, shredding his expensive shirt, drawing blood.
He didn’t even flinch. Instead, he caught the vine in his fist. “Cora. No one will take anything from you. I promise.”
I shouldn’t have believed him. After everything that had happened, I had no reason to. But he was standing there, bleeding, meeting my eyes with an uncharacteristic solemnity.
The vine in his hand went limp. The storm inside me receded, leaving behind a hollow, aching void. “Damon, you have to see… This is ridiculous. I refuse to believe this is just about a simple omega suppressant.”
Damon took a careful step closer. “What is it about, then?” he asked, his voice uncharacteristically quiet.
“I don’t know.” A fresh sob hitched in my throat. “But I have to find out. I need my research. I need all of it.”
Damon knelt by the bed, giving me space but holding my gaze. The shadows around him were perfectly still. “You need to rest.”
“I need to understand what I’ve made,” I insisted. “You know that as well as I do.”
Helena stepped forward, her expression resolute. “She’s right, Damon. We have to figure out why this is so important to Alexander. There is no other way.”
He stared at me for a long moment, then gave a single, sharp nod. “You’ll have your files.” He stood and walked out of the room without another word.
I watched him leave, my heart heavy. There were still many things that had been left unsaid between us. I knew that now. It was possible that either he or Alexander would kill me.
But this wasn’t about me or Damon. Perhaps it never had been. It was about Alexander, and all the harm he could do with my work. I refused to let that happen, no matter the cost.