92. Sloan
NINETY-TWO
SLOAN
“Get her on the table.” Edison’s voice brought Sloan out of her haze-like state. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Pia’s voice was on the verge of panic. “She stumbled up to the back gate. She said she only wanted to see you.”
“I’m a gifted albeit award-winning and humble inventor-slash-scientist, not a doctor.” Edison looked at the wound with a grimace. “That looks painful.”
Sitting up on the steel table where she had been placed was out of the question. Instead, Sloan gathered herself. She opened her eyes, taking in the scene around her. On her left, Pia and Sergeant Harrison looked on, worried. On her right, Edison and Elwood did the same.
“Sloan, are you awake?” Edison leaned toward her. “Are you alive, Sloan?”
Sloan grabbed Edison by his shirt collar and drew him in close.
“The Phoenix Serum … I’m past anything a doctor can do.” Sloan’s words were broken and twisted. Her heart rate slowed to a dangerous pace. “Vampires. The Vampire Project.”
Sloan’s grip on Edison released.
“She’s dying!” Pia yelled. “You have to do something!”
“Okay, all right, okay.” Edison ran to a worktable, one of many in the massive warehouse-like room. “I have an idea, but it hasn’t been tested. I can’t promise anything, Sloan. I’ll need your consent.”
Edison ran back to her side with two long needles. One was filled with amber liquid, the other with blue. Edison jumped on top of the table, looking down at Sloan. He shook his head, wearing a grimace.
“Sloan, I’m going to inject you with Phoenix Serum and the elixir we used to create the vampires.” Edison swallowed hard. “It’s the only thing I can think of. We have a chance, if the healing properties of both liquids act together to repair your body.”
“Do it,” Sloan managed.
“I should warn you that I, in no way, can be held responsible for the outcome.” Edison shook his head again. “This is beyond my?—”
Elwood barked something in high-pitched gibberish.
“There’s no need for that kind of language, Elwood.” Edison took a deep breath. “My God, man! Do you kiss your gnome mother with that mouth?”
Edison leaned over Sloan. Both needles hovered over her still frame.
“Okay. One, two…” Edison paused.
“She’s dying!” Sergeant Harrison’s panicked voice filled the room. “She doesn’t need a countdown.”
“I was doing it for me.” Edison plunged both needles into Sloan’s heart. Without hesitation, he pushed the plungers down with his thumbs.
It felt like being stricken by lightning and having her blood replaced by liquid caffeine. Her past flashed through her mind in the blink of an eye. Sloan saw herself as a small, sickly, lonely girl, to her time in the Queen’s army and now as the wounded dying warrior.
A fire burned deep inside of her chest that told her this wasn’t the end. Like a phoenix rising from the freaking ashes, Sloan roared in a voice that boomed through the armory.
“Ahhhh!” Sloan sat bolt upright on the table, throwing Edison from his squatting position above her.
Every part of Sloan’s body vibrated with energy. She now knew how her mage sword must feel as it hummed with power. Breathing that had once come in short, painful gasps was now easy, quick, plentiful. The searing agony that had coursed over her head and torso was replaced with a sense of calm.
Elwood was the first to break the spell of silence. He pointed a chubby finger at Sloan’s side, and something unintelligible came from his mouth.
Sloan followed his gaze to the slash in her uniform. The black fabric was soaked in with her blood. Without hesitation, Sloan removed her top. Somehow, she already knew what she would find.
The white tank top she wore under her uniform was painted in crimson red. A section of cloth that had been sliced open by Scar’s knife showed new pale, pinking skin underneath.
Sloan looked up into the wide eyes of Private Pia and Sergeant Harrison. Edison picked himself up from the spot where he had landed.
“Well, no one rush to see if I’m all right. I’m fine.” Edison dusted himself off and walked over to Sloan. “We definitely need to do some tests to see how the Phoenix Serum in combination with our vampire super-soldier elixir is going to affect your body.”
A howl echoed through the room from somewhere outside. Edison and Sloan exchanged a quick look.
“You know?” Edison cocked his head to the side. “Because I know. But I was the one who ran the test. How do you know? Is it … is it Aareth?”
Thus far, Sloan hadn’t said a word. Her mind had been racing to keep up with the changes her body had undergone. Hearing Aareth’s name wrestled her into action.
“I don’t have time to explain any of this.
” Sloan jumped off the table. She caught sight of her sword in Sergeant Harrison’s meaty hand.
“Edison, you have to destroy the rest of the vampire elixir. When you’re done, get Doctor Livingston and Commander Brookhaven.
Meet me in three days, in Term. If I’m not there by then, disappear. ”
“What are you talking about?” Edison’s eyebrows shot up. “It’s possible the combination of serum and elixir could have caused you to hallucinate. Are you high?”
“I’m fine, just trust me.” Sloan accepted her sword from Sergeant Harrison. “I need you two to find Jack and the Ahab sisters. Tell them the same thing—Term, three days.”
The massive armory doors opened in tandem. The Queen walked in, followed by Scar and his remaining four vampire super soldiers.
The room fell quiet. Everyone except Sloan kneeled in the Queen’s presence. It was so ingrained in her nature to show respect to her Queen, Sloan nearly knelt as well.
The Queen wore a simple white dress, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her face was as Sloan remembered: kind, sincere, and above all, trustworthy.
“You may all rise,” the Queen began. Although she spoke to everyone else, her eyes never left Sloan’s. “Captain, I understand you’re confused right now. When you didn’t return after your meeting with Doctor Livingston, I feared he had twisted your mind.”
“Tell me it’s not true.” Sloan found a part of herself hoping the Queen could somehow make sense of everything for her. She wanted her to say that Doctor Livingston was a liar. “Tell me it’s a lie, and then tell me why you’re working with an assassin who tried to kill me.”
“I never told them to kill you, Sloan. I only told them to bring back Aareth.” The Queen gave Scar a hard stare. “Killing you was an order they decided on their own. Trust me, there will be brutal consequences.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty.” Scar finally met the Queen’s stare. “But as you can see, your captain is resilient. I would be interested in finding out exactly how she survived.”
“Doctor Livingston told me Leah Noble is your sister.” Sloan ignored Scar and instead flipped the switch on her weapon. “He told me how you’d used magic to bring Aareth’s wife back from the dead.”
“Well, the good doctor has told you a lot, hasn’t he?
” The Queen pursed her lips, deep in concentration.
“Okay, Sloan, I’ll tell you everything. Leah Noble is my sister.
For decades, we’ve worked to clean up the streets of New Hope.
Now, it’s time to do the same for the rest of the Outland.
Under our rule, we’ll prosper, we’ll have order, and we’ll thrive together as one people. ”
“You mean you’ll conquer the Outland and they’ll live under your rule.”
“If you choose to see it that way, then yes. My sister and I understand the manpower it would take to convince the Outland to join us. Where our army isn’t large enough to wage a campaign, enhanced soldiers could fill that gap.
” The Queen motioned to the armory. “Edison, along with Doctor Livingston, has done an outstanding job. Of course, I always knew the good doctor was working against me. I didn’t know until now that Commander Brookhaven was our escaped Ashley. ”
“You knew Doctor Livingston was heading up The Order, and you didn’t do anything?”
“One thing you realize when you get to be Queen is that it’s more beneficial to keep one’s enemies close. At any given time, you know exactly what they’re doing, as opposed to leaving them to their own devices.”
“I don’t know how I’ve been so stupid.” Sloan spat the words as if they’d come with a vile taste. “You’ve only ever had your eyes set on conquest. Everything that’s come up to this point is only a means furthering this end.”
“Don’t do this, Sloan.” The Queen opened her arms. “I love you like a daughter. I know I should have told you that sooner, but I’ve failed you in that way. Join me as the leader of my army. Together we can usher in an era full of peace and prosperity for the entire known world.”
Sloan said a silent prayer that those who had helped her so far were still on her side. If they weren’t, then her plan had already failed.
“Edison, Elwood, you know what to do.” Sloan took a step forward, positioning herself between the vampires and her friends. “Pia, Harrison, I can buy you a few minutes.”
“What makes you think you can even compete with us, after what we’d done to you in the alley?” laughed one of the vampires Sloan didn’t recognize. “You’re out of your league.”
“You!” Sloan roared, pointing her sword at the vampire super soldier. “You die first.”