Chapter 9 #2
“What rumors?” he asked coolly.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Not important.”
Istvan’s focus did not relent. I knew this trick. He wanted to make me squirm and blurt out whatever I was hiding. But the ploy he used on me as a girl no longer worked on the woman before him now. I held my ground, staring back.
“Where were you hiding for the last month?” He finally broke, shifting his shoulders.
The question weighed on me since I didn’t really know how much to tell him.
“Uh . . . the Savage Lands.” Part truth.
“So close.” Istvan perched down on his chair.
“Curiously, only thirty minutes before you miraculously returned to us, there were reports of several explosions coming from across the river near the fae palace, and a chase with a man and woman on the bridge. There are reports they even put up a blockade to try to stop this pair. Happened right before you arrived.”
“I don’t know. I came from the side where Caden and the rest found me.” If they knew it was me, coming from the fae side with a man, there would be too many questions, opening a flood of interrogation, all pointing back to Warwick and Killian.
Something kept me silent about both.
If they knew I had been with the fae lord. Been with the enemy . . . been his captive, his experiment, and his . . .
I wagged my head, pushing out the memories of us, the way I actually looked forward to him coming to my cell in the morning to get me, the intimacy of the few days we spent together. Was it all to twist me around? Play his fae tricks on me?
Was there anyone I could trust?
“Good timing then.” Istvan tilted his head, his fingers pushing into his desktop.
“Yes, it was.” I nodded, rubbing my head.
Istvan opened his mouth to speak as a knock on the door sounded.
“Sir?” Dr. Karl poked his head in. “I have the results back.”
“Yes, please come in.” Istvan gestured him to advance. Standing back up, he moved around his desk, meeting the doctor.
My attention went to the folder in the doctor’s hands, my stomach twisting.
They should be normal. Nothing different, but I couldn’t fight the fear twinging in my gut, recalling the oddity Killian’s people found about me.
It wasn’t something I could push away because fae and humans were different. I wasn’t fae, but . . .
Would Dr. Karl’s results say anything about me? Be abnormal?
Dr. Karl handed Istvan the folder, his brows furrowing.
“It’s the oddest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Fuck.
“What?” Istvan opened the file, staring down at the results.
“Ms. Kovacs has extraordinary levels of what is called Immunoglobulin M.”
“What does that mean?”
“There are antibodies that protect us from what the body would consider foreign bodies, like a virus, infection, or a disease. Though when they get too high, your organs usually begin to struggle to function. Ms. Kovacs’ levels .
. .” Dr. Karl’s glower hit me like an accusation.
The pause dangling me in the room like a noose.
“Are off the charts—so extremely elevated—her organs should have completely shut down. She should be dead.” The doctor peered over his half-moon glasses, scrutinizing me.
“However, every test shows they are as healthy as can be. It is beyond explanation, sir. Absolutely astonishing. Her body is using these antibodies instead of fighting them.”
Every muscle locked in place as all eyes landed on me. Killian’s words came back to me.
“For two weeks you have been taking the pills, crushed into your meals. While nothing happened to you, the other subjects would become more fae-like before they started to falter and die. Organs failed. Some faster, some slower, but in the end, all their minds would bend, taking orders before succumbing.”
The intensity of their eyes, their confusion, and speculation strangled me like a rope. Humans disliked difference. If there was something unusual about you, something that did not meet the norm, you were treated with suspicion. Mistrusted.
The knot in my throat expanded, not letting a word slip out.
“Maybe the test is wrong.” Caden spoke first, easing the tension asphyxiating the room. “Happens all the time. Contamination.”
Dr. Karl’s shoulders shot back, insulted. “They were not contaminated or done wrong. I tested her blood three times to make sure.”
“Do it again,” Istvan ordered.
Dr. Karl puffed, his face turning red.
“Then she is to come to my labs downstairs.” He turned to me, glaring as if it was my fault. “Even though I know nothing was wrong with the lab tests, if it’s to be insisted on, she comes to a sterile environment this time.”
“She will be there first thing tomorrow,” Istvan replied, his gaze going back over the file. “Other than that, she is fine?”
“Yes.” Dr. Karl dipped his head. “No signs of sexual assault. Only slightly dehydrated and malnourished with obvious scarring over her back and stomach. But shockingly, she’s in excellent health. Though I had to go back over my records . . .”
“For what?” Istvan asked.
“Her gunshot wounds. I don’t remember ever seeing Brexley for a gunshot in her leg or back.”
“Why would you?” Istvan looked to me, then to Caden as if we had hidden some secret from him.
“Well, because the healing around them appears to be at least three years old. Much longer than she has been away.”
Istvan’s blue eyes met mine again briefly, making me feel more like a specimen than a person.
“Thank you, Doctor.” Istvan dismissed him.
He bowed to his general, exiting the room.
Istvan strolled back to his desk, tossing the file down. “Caden said when you were caught you were shot in the back.”
“Yes, sir.”
“A wound you sustained about five months ago.” His lips pinched. “The way Caden described it . . . it should have been fatal.”
Silence.
I understood his meaning. An average person would have died; an extremely lucky person would at least still be recovering.
“Who knows what those fae bastards gave her?” Caden folded his arms. “They probably loved healing humans with their voodoo magic shit so they could tear them apart again.”
“Is that what happened there?”
“Yes.” Again, not a total lie. That bitchy healer injected me with something before I went to prison. Though, Halálház didn’t put any resources into healing you before they came for you again.
Istvan looked only at me, but his head eventually dipped in acceptance. “Did you have any contact with the fae lord or any of his top people?”
“No.” The lie slid off my tongue like butter. Why didn’t I tell him? Divulge every detail of Killian’s palace, every secret I could. “I only dealt with the fae soldiers at Halálház. None of them seemed high enough to be anything but guards.”
“No one knew your true identity?”
“No.” Like Jenga pieces, the lies stacked up.
“Anyone help you escape?”
“No.” I rubbed my forehead.
“Father . . .” Caden sighed. “Come on. She’s exhausted.”
“Is there anything else you can tell me, Brexley?” Istvan ignored his son. “Anything at all. You know how important any detail can be.”
“No, sir,” I replied. “Surviving Halálház was my only focus.”
He tilted his head. “It’s a miracle you escaped. No one ever has.”
“I would have died there. Only the bombing saved my life.”
Istvan sighed. “We will pick this up again tomorrow after you see Dr. Karl.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Come on.” Caden grabbed my arm, tugging me up. “Better go before he changes his mind.”
“Brexley?” Istvan’s voice stopped us at the door. I turned my head. “I am glad you are back. What you have been through . . . your father would be so proud of you.”
Stab. Twist. “Thank you, sir,” I croaked, tears skimming my eyes.
“Same time tomorrow, Brexley.”
I dipped my head in response, letting Caden pull me out of the door, away from his father’s prying questions and severe gaze.
“I’m sure you want nothing but to crawl into your bed and feel warm and safe again.” Caden’s arm went around me. “You’re home now.”
Home.
These walls, which used to be so comforting and familiar, brought me no sense of safety now.
If anything, I could feel them thrumming with warning, telling me life inside would never be the same.
That I no longer belonged here.