LAILAH
SEVEN
As we all walked down the hall following Hudson, Parker refused to let go of my hand.
One side of the hall was full of glass walls showing clean rooms, and the other side had labs filled with equipment that I had no idea what they did.
It reminded me of the days I’d worked with Hudson at school for extra credit, only far more high tech.
At the end of the hall, a large wooden door with a nameplate on it told me we had arrived at his father’s office.
Without knocking, Hudson walked in, holding the door open for us.
It was an interesting combination of workspace—with microscopes, sample trays, veils, and other lab paraphernalia—and a typical office with a large desk.
Mr. Lacy was seated at said desk, the blue glow of his computer reflecting off his glasses.
He didn’t even look up when we entered the room, just kept typing away at whatever he was working on.
Papers were strewn across his desk, and some even fell onto the floor.
From the little I knew of the man, I hazarded a guess that this was very uncharacteristic of him.
“Father,” Hudson called out, causing his father’s head to shoot over to our direction.
His immediate frown relaxed once he saw who it was that had interrupted him. “Ah, you’ve all made it.”
Pushing away from his desk, he walked over to us, gesturing for us to take a seat on the leather couch he had in the office. From the looks of it, I could tell he’d spent a few nights sleeping on it.
“You didn’t have any trouble getting your security passes, did you?” he asked, combing his fingers through his hair.
Seeing Hudson’s dad this ruffled told me that this was turning into a bigger deal than we originally thought.
“No problem, Sophie was very helpful,” I answered, unable to keep the bite out of my voice.
Mr. Lacy nodded his head as he leaned against the front of his desk, rubbing his chin, lost in thought.
“Father, why don’t you tell us what you’ve found out so far,” Hudson directed, seeing that we wouldn’t get anywhere fast.
This seemed to perk Mr. Lacy up, as he started digging through the files and papers, grabbing a few and muttering to himself. “Where did that report go? Ah! Here it is,” he exclaimed, swooping down to grab a few sheets off the floor.
“Lailah, since you asked me about the properties of demon venom, I have my specialty Elementi section running tests. We don’t have a ton of new information, but we have more than we did this morning.
As things progress, I will have them combine what we know with the Day-Brite serum so we will have a better clue as to what the effects will be,” he said, handing over all the findings to me.
With a quick glance at the information before me, I knew there was no way I would be able to tell what it said. I passed it to Hudson, hoping he could make heads or tails out of it.
“The first thing we discovered is that demon venom is able to change its makeup so that the body won’t reject it.
It shifts itself into something that resembles your DNA.
If you know to look for it, you can see the small differences, but it’s close enough that if you went to the doctor and got a blood draw, no one would see anything wrong,” Mr. Lacy continued.
“So, the blood test we do at the school will be useless,” Brayden said, his face showing his shock.
I frowned, not understanding. “What does that have to do with anything? I thought it was a way to search for Synergy?”
“No, originally we did it so that if a demon-possessed person tried to enroll in the school, we would know. As we have experienced, the wards are great when they work, but it’s always wise to have a backup system,” Brayden explained.
“That’s not even the worst of it,” Mr. Lacy announced.
“Sure, why not, because that wasn’t a big enough problem to deal with,” Parker muttered.
Micah reached over and slapped him upside the head, glaring at him.
“Lailah, you said that you are demon-tainted, correct? What are the side effects you have experienced?” Mr. Lacy asked, his eyes softening as he looked at me.
My stomach dropped as I remembered what the Dark Lord said to me about it spreading in me. “Please just tell me what you found out,” I whispered, dropping my gaze to my hands.
“Know that this is only a preliminary finding; it’s not to say that this happens every time and in all situations.
This sample was not treated like yours was, it was left in its pure form.
” Hearing that didn’t make me feel better.
“We are finding that the venom can change existing cells of the body as well. It slowly alters your essence into something else.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to keep tears from falling as I absorbed the news. It seemed that the Dark Lord wasn’t lying about everything. Makes sense, though. It was an easy way for me to feel defeated and to believe that giving into him was the only way to survive.
Well, I would rather kill myself than end up as a weapon used to destroy everything around me.
Clearing my throat, I looked up, meeting Chadwick’s gaze and seeing the pity there.
Parker wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and Hudson placed a hand on my knee, giving me a reassuring squeeze.
“Thank you for letting me know the possibility of what might happen, but let’s not let it distract us from dealing with the reason we are here. ”
Something akin to admiration now showed in his eyes, and with a nod of his head, he shifted to grab another file off his desk.
“I pulled all the reports we have on tests conducted on the Day-Brite serum to see if I could find anything new now that I’m looking at it from a different perspective.
It seems that in allowing the brain to be open to more information, it also has made it more susceptible to persuasion.
Not only in thinking, but personality as well.
When memory loss happens, it can make the person more irritable, short-tempered, and mean.
That was one area we wanted to help improve by boosting the limbic system. ”
“Sorry sir, but not all of us are science nerds and understand what you’re saying,” Micah interjected.
“Oh, thank god someone said it. I thought I was gonna need the dummy’s book version there for a second,” Parker muttered under his breath.
Mr. Lacy smiled. “Sorry, I forget that I’m not talking to colleagues. The drug by itself is meant to help the brain still retain information while keeping the mood stable. If it was tampered with, it could make the brain more suggestible or even alter emotions—positively or negatively.”
“Okay, let me see if I understand,” I ventured, leaning forward, elbows on my knees. “In an average human, it would help to prevent them from becoming so volatile, but if it was used on someone who might be mentally ill or unstable for another reason, it could amplify those emotions.”
“Yes. When you look at it as a weapon and not as a drug to help someone, it opens up a whole realm of possibilities. Add in the demon venom, and we have people who could have their whole personality rewritten into the perfect soldier that is extremely hard to detect. What really worries me is that even if we have all this information, we don’t know where or why he is building this army now.
” Mr. Lacy sighed as he rubbed his forehead.
I stood up and gently placed my hand on his arm.
“We will take this one step at a time. You didn’t sleep very well last night, and you were up before the sun today.
My guess is that you haven’t taken a break or really eaten anything with the amount you’ve gotten done.
Go home. We will be back tomorrow, and we can look at this with fresh eyes.
We are here to help in any way we can, starting with the personnel. ”
Mr. Lacy covered my hand with his and gave me a soft smile.
“I think you’re right. A tired brain is a careless brain, and we need to be sharp.
Our enemy is sly, so we must be up to the task of searching it out wherever it might be hiding.
Come, I’ll walk you out since you will need to leave your security passes here.
Last thing we need is for one of those to fall into the wrong hands. ”
Taking off our passes, we left them on his desk as he grabbed his suit jacket and briefcase. As we headed out of the office, Hudson stopped me and pulled me into a hug.
“Thank you, Sunshine. He wouldn’t have listened to me if I’d asked,” Hudson said into my hair.
Wrapping my arms around him, I held onto him tightly. “He’s your family, Hudson. Therefore, he’s family to me, too.”
As I snuggled into bed, I stared out the glass French doors at the sea alight with the moon’s glow.
Even though it had only been a little over a month since Brayden and I bonded, it was hard to sleep by myself.
It didn’t help that my brain wanted to go over every detail that Mr. Lacy told us about the demon venom and the serum.
Synergy. The fabled sixth element that was supposed to be the change in the tide.
What good was I to anyone if I turned out to destroy the world instead of save it, all because of demon venom?
Could I actually be changed into something else?
Was the Dark Lord right? Seriously, what could a bunch of kids do against the darkest evil that roamed the world?
In our conversation tonight, we’d just touched the tip of the iceberg of what could happen with the serum, let alone what the serum mixed with demon venom could do. Was it really that easy to infect someone with demon venom and let it run its course? How many people had they turned this way?
In the quiet of the night, alone in this room, I let myself break down.
I’d tried so hard not to let what the Dark Lord said get to me, but it’s harder when you have the facts laid out in front of you.
These were the top researchers and scientific minds the Elementi had working on this; I couldn’t just dismiss what they found… could I?
I felt my tears roll down my cheeks onto the pillow, trying to keep my sobs quiet.
I didn’t know anyone was in my room until I felt the mattress sink under their weight.
I lifted my head and found Jay looking down at me, his brow creased with concern.
The moment he saw my tears, he lifted the blankets and crawled into the bed, pulling me against his bare chest. Wrapped up in his strong hold, I felt shielded from the world and all the darkness I knew was lurking out there.
My sobs shook my body as I gripped his shoulders, my face buried in his neck.
Gently, he combed his fingers through my hair, helping me to calm and soothing my gasping breaths.
When I was finally all cried out, he pulled me away from him and wiped the tears off my face with the sheet.
He searched my face, and I felt like I was laid bare to him, my emotions raw.
Still silent, he pulled me back to him, kissing my forehead, and tucked me under his chin as he wrapped us both up in the blanket, letting out a heavy sigh that caused me to do the same.
Listening to the steady beat of his heart and the even breaths he took, I was finally able to drift off to sleep, knowing I was completely safe.