Quinn
We sprinted down the halls side by side.
Our urgency pulsed between us, an anxious thrum that grew louder the closer we got to the lab.
The halls were mostly empty with our late start, though a few heads turned as we rushed past. I fleetingly wondered how quickly it would get back to Queen Sariyah that the visitors from Soleara were armed and running through her research wing.
Dolion had assured me he was keeping her updated on our progress, so hopefully we weren’t about to cause a diplomatic incident. If so, the formal apology would have to wait until my friends were safe and healthy.
I skidded to a halt in front of the laboratory’s iron door, pressing my hand against the access pad. A skitter of apprehension crossed our bond before Tobias reached past me, yanking the iron door open.
“I’m sorry we’re late—”
Tobias threw me behind him, raising his dagger in the same movement.
The once-sterile environment had been reduced to ruin.
Shards of glass glittered everywhere: the remnants of precision instruments broken beyond recognition.
The cold storage that held the cure we had worked so hard for now hung wide open, its contents gone.
Taken, considering the carrying cases Dolion had stacked next to them to prepare for today were missing as well.
Blood streaked across the floor like a body had been dragged across the lab. Dolion’s familiar pack was strewn around in its wake, his notebooks torn or damaged by seeping reagents.
They had him. And they had the cure.
My shock and fury echoed right back to me. Everything we had worked for had been stolen from us on the cusp of success. The cure we had fought for—bled for, suffered for—was undoubtably on its way to Silvius. And Dolion, my friend who made it possible, was likely fighting for his life.
Glass crunched underfoot as Tobias stepped forward, his gaze sweeping across the empty lab for threats. “This just happened.” He knelt by the blood on the ground then looked back at me. “This is fresh. Besides, nothing can survive the overnight sterilization, and we’re barely late. Which means—”
“They haven’t gone far.” I shoved my panic aside, focusing on what little we knew. “How did they even get in?” I glanced behind me. “The door was locked. Unless they made Dolion open it for them when he arrived?”
“The real question is how they got out,” Tobias said thoughtfully.
“Either they dragged a bleeding Dolion through the research ward during the busiest time of the day…” Tobias ran a hand along the wall as he slowly walked along the edge of the room, avoiding a dark stain. “Or there’s another way out of here.”
There wasn’t any blood in the hallway. I glanced around the lab, desperately searching for anything we had missed in our long hours here. “Surely Dolion would’ve noticed a glamour in here.”
Tobias paced around the perimeter of the room. I could feel his steady determination, his confidence that there was something hidden in plain sight.
I scanned the debris, looking for the vital information from our research in the pages littering the ground. From what I could see, anything I could use to recreate the cure had been stolen, the pages left behind filled with our failed efforts.
“We need to tell someone,” I murmured into the quiet.
I knew better than to call for help, especially after double agents had infected Pari. There was too great a chance any nearby guards could be compromised. Alerting someone we didn’t trust was worse than telling no one at all.
Dolion’s desk had been torn apart, more papers littering the floor around it.
I carefully walked over, avoiding the trail of blood as I leaned over to grab a pen off the floor along with a torn notebook.
“I’ll let Rivan and Yael know what happened, and Queen Sariyah too.
If you’re wrong, they could still be somewhere in the Enclave. ”
As I straightened, I did a double take. The storage room. The one that I had never seen unlocked let alone open…
Its door was ajar.
Tobias noticed in the next second, likely from the shock sparking down our bond like a livewire. I found myself holding my breath as he ran over, then threw the door wide open.
It was empty. Completely empty. None of the dangerous substances I had expected after Dolion’s explanation about why it was locked. Not even storage.
Nothing but empty shelves.
Suspicion spread across our bond, the sensation curdling in my gut. Tobias reached his hand forward, and I stared in shock as it vanished.
Tobias swore, yanking his hand back. “Another glamour. Add it to the notes.” He gestured at the pen and paper still in my hands, his voice tight. “We can’t wait for them to get here.”
He paced as I did so, sending each missive off in a flare of blue magic.
“Let’s go then,” I said grimly. “If there’s any chance of finding Dolion alive, and retrieving the cure, we don’t have time to waste.”
From the tremble of worry across our bond, I knew Tobias had reached the same conclusion. “If something happens to you…”
“We don’t have time to argue,” I said firmly. “Pari doesn’t have time for us to argue. And if you think I’m staying behind, you don’t know me at all.”
“You’re right, I just…” Tobias stopped pacing.
“Bringing you to him is my worst nightmare come to life, and I’m having a hard time coming to terms with it.
” His eyes met mine, the outright fear in them making my heart clench.
But at least he was facing it, and talking to me, rather than pushing it away.
“But that’s my problem, not yours. Just promise me…
Promise me that if it comes down to a choice between saving me and saving yourself, you’ll put yourself first for once. ”
“I’m not making that choice, Maris.” I reached out, and he took my hand automatically. “I’m choosing us, every time. We’re getting through this together.” I squeezed his hand reassuringly. “Besides, you’ll have to try harder than that to get rid of me.”
His jaw flexed, but he nodded. Drawing in a deep breath, we raised our blades in unison as we walked through the wall together.
?
The winding stairway was so narrow we were forced to take it one at a time. Tobias insisted on going first, ignoring my grumblings.
“This isn’t about whether you can take care of yourself.” I could practically hear his eyeroll. “You need to conserve your magic for once we get the cure back.”
The limestone walls matched the stairs, the steps blurring together as we hurried downward. Fresh blood smeared across the middle of each one in a macabre marker we were on the right path.
Was Dolion injured? Or had they infected him with the virus, and its first symptom had left this trail.
“We need Silvius alive,” I reminded him threateningly. “We have to question him on this new version of the virus. And we need to see if he has his own antidote on hand in case he already destroyed ours.”
Though something told me he hadn’t—not when he could use our research to help inform his own. He hadn’t gotten this far by being rash, and he certainly wasn’t stupid.
“We also need to figure out what part Dolion plays in this,” Tobias said hesitantly. My surprise must have traveled across our bond because he added, “This tunnel went directly to his private laboratory, and you think he’s innocent?”
There had to be an explanation, and one that didn’t mean my friend was in league with Silvius. If there was one, though, I couldn’t think of it.
“He’s been helping us,” I protested weakly. “They attacked him…”
Tobias ran a hand through his hair, agitation written in every line of his body. “Just because they turned on him, doesn’t mean he’s innocent.”
“He…”
There had been something off since we arrived in Mayim.
A disconnect from our time in person that felt different than the easy tone of our letters.
I assumed that Dolion was simply more comfortable writing his thoughts down, as could be the case with scientists prone to spending their days shut in their laboratories instead of socializing. But what if there was more to it?
There was that note naming Seawater on his desk. Maybe he hadn’t written it down because he heard about our surveillance there, but because he had also been given a place to meet, just like the others who sought to support Silvius.
What if his sudden standoffishness since our arrival reflected his shift in allegiance or an attempt to play both sides?
What if in trusting him, I led us to this moment?
“He’s my friend,” I said quietly. “Even if you’re right, we still need to try to save him.”
Tobias nodded. “As long as you go in there with a seed of doubt.” His features tightened. “Don’t let your guard down. We don’t even know if that blood is his.”
I bristled though I was forced to acknowledge his point. Even if I didn’t want it to be true, that doubt was there—and it was enough to make me wary.
As we walked further down the stairs, Tobias’s light swirled around me almost playfully, in sharp contrast to their master’s stern expression. A few twirled around my ankles, one winding down the curl that had fallen in my face, its light touch warming my cheeks.
The question left my lips before I could stop it. “Why doesn’t your light burn?”
Tobias stumbled, nearly missing the next step. His shoulders drew together, his entire body stiffening like he was bracing for a blow. “Why would it?”
His emotions felt muted like he had tamped down on them instinctually—not blocking our bond, but his own reaction.
“Because when Aviel stole your magic, it did.” I wished I had stayed quiet. This wasn’t the right time for this conversation. “And I thought…”
“Aviel had no interest in the nuances of my power,” Tobias said disdainfully. “He stole it to trick the realm and to hurt those who stood between him and the crown he wanted to steal.”
The stairwell widened slightly, enough that I could stand beside him. We had to be getting close.