Chapter 1
ONE
SLOAN
“She’s not human.” Edison rubbed at tired eyes. “Seriously, I slept here last night, so I know. She didn’t sleep a wink.”
Sloan and Aareth looked over at Croft, who was frowning over a notepad. She had traded in her normal black cloak and boots for a white lab coat and walking shoes. Her red hair remained at bay, pinned behind her head. Outside of her intense stare, she almost looked normal.
“Well, I’m not sleeping much these days, either.” Sloan shrugged. She scrunched her brow, cocking her head to the side. “What’s that noise?”
Everyone, even Croft, paused for a moment. The steady cadence of a tiny snore drifted into the room from somewhere close by.
Aareth looked around, sniffing the air. He made his way over to one of the many tables in the laboratory.
A wooden box was upside down on one of the steel tables.
Aareth lifted the box to reveal a slumbering Elwood.
The tiny gnome had tailored a paper gown meant to fit a full-grown human, to fit his small frame.
Elwood’s button nose and full lips made him look more like a baby in that moment than a full-grown gnome. His snores were steady. He was smiling in his sleep, mumbling something incoherent.
“Ahhh, he’s so cute when he sleeps.” Edison leaned in to admire the tiny gnome. “I keep on telling him the paper gowns are for examinations, but he still insists they’re pajamas.”
“Yes, well, once we’re all done gawking, we can report our findings to each of you.” Croft pursed her lips. “We’ve found something that should be helpful.”
Aareth gently placed the box back over the gnome.
“Croft is being polite.” Edison shrugged. “She actually discovered this.”
“What is it?” Sloan raised an eyebrow, bracing herself for what the witch was about to say. “What have you found? A cure?”
“To be blunt and honest with you”—Croft placed the notepad down—“I don’t think a cure will ever be fashioned for either one of you.
What I have found is that a bite from either one of you should be enough to turn a victim into a member of your species.
That was how Aareth was initially turned, and I see no reason why the same wouldn’t be possible for you, Sloan. All the data points to that.”
Sloan’s heart dropped. She hadn’t even realized it, but she’d been hoping for a cure of some kind from all the testing. Her eyes gravitated to Edison. She had just met Croft and wasn’t ready to take everything the woman said on faith alone.
“She’s right.” Edison shook his head. “I’m sorry if you were hoping for something else. Of course, the only way to know for sure is to test the bite on a subject.”
“I won’t just bite anyone.” Sloan shook her own head.
“They have to understand what they’re signing up for.
They have to know about the curse this thing is.
There’s more to it than healing quickly, being super strong and fast. There’s the side that yearns for blood and the fact that we’ll age so slowly. ”
“How do you know for certain that you’ll age slower?” Croft asked with a tilt of her head. “That’s something that’s impossible to tell, since all of this is so new.”
“I can answer that.” Edison looked over at Sloan for permission to continue.
Sloan nodded.
“In the initial testing with the Vampire Project, Doctor Livingston and I found an extremely slow aging process was one of the side effects of administering the serum.” Edison shook his head. “We had no idea what we were doing back then.”
“Yes.” Croft didn’t seem disturbed by Sloan’s outburst. “Theo and I have already prescreened a list of names we think will be to your liking for volunteers willing to undergo the bite. These people understand the sacrifice it will entail. They are willing to do what it takes to protect their family and homes.”
There was Theo’s name again. Sloan had to figure out what it was she didn’t trust about the man. Thus far, it seemed he had done nothing but uphold his word and be honest with them. But looks could be deceiving.
“Where do I know you from?” Aareth squinted at Croft. “I swear you look like someone else I know.”
Croft exchanged quick looks with Sloan.
Sloan shrugged.
“She wouldn’t tell me when I asked.” Aareth sized up Croft again. “But I swear I know you from somewhere.”
“The cat’s out of the bag, and it wasn’t really a secret to begin with.
” Croft was already heading to the door.
“You think you’ve seen me before because you know my daughters, Abigail and Elizabeth Ahab.
I’m going to get Theo now so we can have you interview this afternoon those volunteering to undergo the bite.
The faster we’re able to create our own warriors, the faster we can go to open war with New Hope. ”
“Wait a minute.” Edison stopped Croft in her tracks. “Not so fast. You can’t drop a bomb on us like that, then just walk away.”
“What do you want to know?” Croft stood in the doorway with a look of annoyance.
“I had to leave my daughters to prepare for this event that I foresaw. I didn’t want them to get dragged into this, but it seems like they have already.
My dead husband wasn’t the madman you encountered when I left him.
I know it’s hard to believe, but he was once a good man. ”
“Why didn’t you go back?” Aareth picked up the line of questioning. “You had to know your daughters needed you. You had to know your husband was turning into a raving lunatic.”
“Do not think my choice was easy!” Croft had practically screamed the words.
“But I had a decision to make, a responsibility to the magic order to be ready when the darkness decided to flow from New Hope. I could stay with my daughters and fight it alone one day once it reached Burrow Den, or I could help a city prepare for the war. Maybe I chose wrong, but it was my choice to make.”
The room was quiet. Sloan, Aareth, and Edison were all asking themselves the same question. Would they, could they, leave everything they knew and loved in order to protect it?
Croft was apparently done with the conversation. She turned on a heel and was out the door.
“Great, even the person who’s supposed to be giving us answers is a broken mess of baggage.” Aareth huffed. “I guess we’re all damaged goods.”
“I feel fine.” Edison shrugged. “I mean I’m tired from working most of the night, but other than that, I feel pretty good about myself.”
“Edison.” Aareth leaned up against a table, folding his arms across his chest. “You helped create a super soldier serum that led to this whole mess.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know what they were going to use it for at the time.” Edison ran a hand through his black hair. “I was just doing my job. Don’t you put that on me. My conscience is clean.”
“I’ll be right back, guys.” Sloan decided to take the opportunity to get some answers of her own. “I have to use the little girl’s room.”
“Just say you have to pee. That sounds weird when you say it like that.” Aareth turned back to Edison to try to convince his friend he should feel guilty. “You really have no remorse over this?”
Sloan exited the same door Croft had taken. It was a long shot, but if Croft was going to talk to Theo alone, maybe she could pick up something from their conversation that would aid in her investigation.
Sloan caught sight of the sorceress’ back as she turned a corner and walked into the capitol building. Sloan speed walked to follow her, nodding to guards as she passed. As far as they knew, she was on her way to an appointment with Theo or some other official in the building.
Sloan stayed just far enough back from Croft so as not to be noticed if the woman turned around. She never did. The witch was intent on where she was going. Her thoughts were probably already on the conversation she was going to have with the city’s governor.
Sloan followed Croft into the capitol building and down a long hall. The witch made one more right turn, then chose a white door on her left. Sloan peeked over the corner to be sure she was alone. Croft had already disappeared into the room.
Sloan tiptoed to the closed door and gently pressed her right ear to the cool wood. Inside, she could hear Theo’s and Croft’s voices.
“There you are, governess,” Theo’s gruff voice drifted to Sloan’s ears. “How have the tests been faring?”
“Everything’s on track,” Croft said. “The real test will be if Sloan and Aareth approve of our volunteers. By the looks of it, Sloan doesn’t trust anyone. It wouldn’t surprise me if she denies them all. Aareth, on the other hand, will be easier to convince.”
“And what about your actual identity? Do they realize who you are?”
“I don’t think so. They seem to have accepted that you’re the governor of Azra.” There was a pause in the conversation for a moment, where Croft took a deep breath. “I don’t know how they would react if they found out that the queen and Leah were my sisters.”
A wave of numbness washed over Sloan as she listened to the words on the other side of the door.
Her mouth dropped open like it had a mind of its own and realized that falling open was the most appropriate action for the moment.
Croft, Leah, and Eleanor were all sisters?
How could Sloan not have realized that before?
It was all there. Sloan had been too preoccupied on Croft being Abigail and Elizabeth’s mother that she missed the truth staring her right in the face.
“Hey, you! What are you doing over there?”