Case 0

by May Freighter

  “Why not? It was mine to begin with. I want it back.”

  “Is it because you are attracted to your beast?” He asked the question as if he was inquiring about the weather and not the taboo subject others edged around.

  She opened her mouth, but the suitable words never came to her rescue. Deep down, she had already come to terms with the fact that Mavel meant to her a lot more than anyone else in her life. She loved him, and it tore her apart to be away from him all those days. She missed his smile, his mesmerising silver eyes that made her stomach twist and turn with happiness. She missed his witty comments, his ability to make her eat, and the warming sensation of freshly made coffee that only tasted perfect if prepared by his hand. It was as if a part of her was gone—the better part of her. The emptiness in her soul was indescribable. Devlin’s words only made her feel more hollow as her lip quivered, and she fought to control her emotions.

  Devlin must have noticed the change. He pressed the pad of his thumb against her lower lip and trapped her against the door with his solid body. His burning eyes bore into hers with silent determination. “Accept our engagement, and I will let you see him again.”

  His closeness annoyed her. He wasn’t who she was missing. He could be gorgeous, but he was not Mavel. Besides, she didn’t like to be cornered and manipulated. Her resolution broke when his fingers caressed her cheek and a tingling sensation spread to her shoulders and down her body as a wave of calmness made her languid and boneless.

  Focusing on his eyes, she whispered, “Do you mean that?”

  Devlin ran his thumb along her lip and used his fingers to lift her chin. “If it will help me claim your defiant heart, I’ll help. You have until tomorrow night to decide.”

  He moved her aside and left the room.

  Staring at the door, her mind came to a complete stop. Was she willing to accept Devlin for a chance to get Mavel out of there? The question was a no-brainer. She would do whatever it took to save him, even if it meant giving up her freedom.

  22

  Left Behind

  Annalise had changed back into her comfortable clothes in the bedroom. Her mother and father sat at the dining table, talking about something in hushed tones. She took this chance to scan for Devlin. “Where did he go?”

  William didn’t seem amused. His scowl worked its way up to a new degree of purple-faced anger. “Your vulgar behaviour must have scared him off.”

  Her mother turned in her seat. “He left. You should have, at least, brought him to your place for a glass of wine.”

  “Whether I accept this engagement or not has nothing to do with you. This choice will be made by me alone.”

  “Leave. Now, Annalise, before I kick you out of this Tower and send you to live in Bronze,” William threatened.

  “A little distance may not be so bad for our already diminishing relationship,” she huffed and marched out of their home.

  It wasn’t the idea of living in Bronze that frightened her. If she couldn’t get Mavel out of the Falcon’s hold, all she would have left would be the memories they had created in her apartment. The mornings they had breakfast together around the kitchen island, the days when she drank the coffee he made for her on the balcony while he tended to his plants.

  Annalise held back a sob and made her way to her apartment. Her wrist comms activated with an incoming call from Jamen—a call she was waiting for all day. She glanced at the time. It was almost 8 p.m.

  “Jamen, I hope you have some good news. Please tell me it’s good…”

  Silence came from the other end of the line.

  “Jamen? Hello?”

  A digitally modified snicker came through her comms’ speaker. “Do you know what happens when you don’t do as you are told?”

  “Who is this?”

  “We will see each other soon enough, Detective Storm. Don’t you worry about that.”

  The call ended. She pressed her back to her door, allowing her eyes to scan the hallway and the lifts. As the next second ticked by, the door to her apartment opened, and she fell backwards. She grabbed for the doorframe but missed it, and her back came in contact with the ground, knocking the air out of her. She didn’t get a chance to see her attacker as he sprayed her face with an unidentified gas. Her body reacted to the chemical almost immediately. Her vision blurred, her jaw slackened, and everything went dark.

  Opening her eyes was difficult. The bright light around her forced her to close them again. A dull headache made her head feel heavy. Her throat was dry and scratchy. This time, when she lifted her eyelids, she was able to study the room she was in.

  The walls were clinically white and the floor beneath her restrained feet was some kind of green synthesised linoleum. Large medical machines and chemical equipment were spread out all around her. She was pretty sure one of them was the new MRI developed by the ETek Corporation, next to a state-of-the-art Cell-Regen machine only available in the hospitals in the Golden District. Chemical compounds were neatly labelled and arranged on the tables and cupboards opposite her.

  In turn, Annalise was sitting on a chair with her wrists tied together with something cold and heavy behind her back. Shifting her arms, she heard a jingle of metal before it bit into her skin.

  “Great,” she grumbled and assessed the handcuffs around her ankles. They looked like the titanium-steel alloy the CSU drones found in Macabre. These had to be the same cuffs used on Leila, and, if a beast couldn’t find her way out of them, as a pureblood she had no chance. Restless, she tugged relentlessly at the restraints anyway. The metal cut off the blood flow to her feet when she attempted spreading her legs.

  Tired and out of breath, she calmed enough to locate the sole entry point of the room. There were no windows, only the sickening walls around her that hurt her eyes along with a small break in the perfection of the smooth wall, telling her where the entrance was.

  Her heart jolted into action when the door opened and a man strode inside. The grey clothes under his navy lab coat were loose on his willowy frame. A mask covered most of his face and jet-black hair fell over his thin eyebrows. He nestled a tray on the counter and placed a syringe in his pocket.

  Annalise swallowed. Her nerves were taking over her body and her attention darted to the door as it slowly closed.

  “We meet again, Detective,” he said, and she frowned.

  He peeled the mask off his face.

  “You!”

  Todd, the basilisk who bit Mavel, watched her with interest. What is he doing here in such a get-up? More importantly, where is here?

  His thin lips stretched into a lopsided smile. “I see you’re pleased to see me.”

  She glared at him. “Where are we? Why am I here? And how did you get Jamen’s comms frequency?”

  “This reminds me of the first time we met. You wanted answers to too many questions—always the inquisitive Princess of the Towers. But, you are getting too close, Detective. I can’t let you ruin my project.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Todd lifted her chin, forcing her to look into the depths of his emotionless eyes. “Even Lloyd wanted to let your inquisitiveness slide, and he is more ruthless than I. But, I can’t let you leave. You see…” He used his free hand to retrieve a small syringe filled with a red see-through liquid out of his pocket. “This is my life’s work. This”—Todd waved the syringe in front of her face—“is something that will make us come out on top.”

  She tore her chin out of his grasp and reclined as far as the chair would allow her. “And what exactly is that?”

  “I will be more than happy to show you.” Todd removed the plastic lid off the tiny needle. He grabbed her by the throat, and she coughed when he squeezed it. Grinning, he jabbed the syringe into her stomach and released the liquid with the press of a button on top. He let go of her and took a step back, a pleased grin on his face revealed his pointed canines.

  “Now you will know exactly what it i
s…” He lifted his sleeve and studied his comms. “…in ten minutes, the apoptosis of the localised cells will begin. Why not immediately you ask?”

  She clamped her mouth shut and swallowed to stop the unsettled acid in her stomach from rising. Her palms perspired and cooled. Whatever he had injected her with was reacting fast.

  He put the cap back on the syringe and returned it to his pocket. “Because this serum is derived from my venom. Perfect and undetectable in every way. It will spread to the local cells. How does it know which cells to attack, you ask?”

  “I didn’t ask, asshole!” she snarled. “What the hell did you inject me with?”

  Todd’s smile slipped. “It’s not nice to interrupt a man in the middle of his speech. You never do that to your father when all he talks about is stomping on the rights of the modded.”

  “Then take it up with him,” she yelled. “What did you drag me here for?”

  He grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head upwards. The sudden movement caused her to cry out in pain.

  Droplets of sweat beaded on top of her brow, and she took in a calming breath. She needed to keep her heart rate low.

  “Falcon wishes for your father’s career to remain intact. They protect him, keeping him in the seat of power while he is useful. He needs to be because the defiant few are killed off.” He licked his lips. “It’s ironic that I was forced to make this serum to kill my own kind. Too bad they don’t realise that it will only work on the purebloods’ genetic markers.”

  “You killed those people?” she asked, growing pale.

  “Indirectly, yes. Lloyd had his men test my serum on the Sentinel members to start a media shitstorm. Looks like Falcon couldn’t let fate decide if the modded were ready to have a vote in Divinity.” He shook his head. “The next step was to test it on a beast. But, they are gravely mistaken. I didn’t join Falcon out of fear. I did it to start a revolution where the modded take a stand for the rights that were taken from us by your fathers and their fathers!”

  A droplet of sweat rolled down the side of her face. “Then, why attack Terry? She didn’t do anything to you.”

  “Attack Terry? I didn’t do that. When Robert showed me her picture, I wanted to spend a night with his wife, yes, but I would never hurt her. I even offered to help him get Leila out of the Macabre if he would let me fuck his wife. Too bad he declined.”

  “You’re sick.”

  “Maybe a little. Look on the bright side, Detective. After tonight, you won’t be working any more cases.”

  Her stomach lurched and acid scaled her oesophagus, burning the sides of her throat. She barely had enough time to shift her head to one side when she heaved the contents of her empty stomach onto the floor.

  Todd jumped back. “It is working quicker than I predicted. Must be because you are smaller than a man. I will have to take that into the account for the next experiment.”

  The intercom in the room buzzed with static, and a man she didn’t recognise said, “Lloyd wants to see you in his office.”

  Todd planted a hand on her shoulder. She studied it with her blurry vision. To try and clear it, she blinked a few more times until his fingers were no longer doubled.

  “I’ll be back, hopefully, in time to see you die.”

  Annalise grunted a response, and her stomach churned again. With a pained expression, she watched him leaving the room.

  Should I shout for help? Would anyone here care if I did? The second she opened her mouth to speak, Todd fell back like a log onto the floor.

  Devlin climbed over his unconscious body and rushed to her side. He placed his cold hands on her cheeks. “What did he do to you?”

  His touch felt good, and she smiled.

  “You’re burning up!” he said, letting go of her face. Devlin searched Todd’s unconscious body before he undid her restraints. “We need to get you to a hospital.”

  With difficulty, she shook her head. “Too late for a hospital. I can…” She heaved again. Pain exploded in her stomach. Annalise cried out in agony, and her eyes widened when her red sweater grew darker. Her blood seeped into the cotton material.

  Devlin positioned her weakened body on the floor. With steady hands, he lifted her sweater and, by the roundness of his eyes, she knew her skin was tearing itself apart. He rolled up her sweater further, not touching her burning flesh, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. “I’m sorry, Annalise. I should have stayed with you tonight.”

  She winced as he pulled away from her. “The antidote.”

  Helpless, she watched him checking all the beakers and phials in the room. When he didn’t find anything there, he knelt over Todd, searching the basilisk once more.

  “This bastard always keeps things close,” Devlin snapped. “Where is it?”

  His words made her remember the night Mavel was dying in her arms. He must be feeling the same helplessness and panic she felt. She smiled at the bitter memory. Does he care for me this much? They had only known each other for a short time, yet he was trying to shake Todd awake in an attempt to find an antidote to save her.

  A memory of Todd slicing open his wrist to feed his blood to Mavel surfaced, and she couldn’t help but wonder if that was the antidote to this concoction, too.

  “His…blood,” she whispered. She could no longer feel the pain or the unpleasant burn riding her body. Instead, the cold from the ground felt like bliss.

  “You’re right. He’s crazy enough to do that.” Devlin laid Todd back on the ground and cut the basilisk’s wrist. He dripped the blood into a beaker he found on a table and brought the liquid to her mouth.

  Kneeling at her side, he said, “Drink.”

  When she didn’t move, Devlin opened her mouth with this thumb and poured the contents of the beaker down her throat.

  Choking on the blood, she coughed, causing the liquid to splatter all over her face and sweater.

  Devlin repeated the process and did two more trips for Todd’s blood. Thankfully, she managed to swallow some of it.

  “Mavel,” she whispered, “is he here?”

  Devlin brushed the stray lock of hair away from her sweaty forehead. “He’s on the containment level below us. Why?”

  “Save him…please.”

  He looked away, his expression unreadable. When his blue eyes found hers, he sighed. “Let’s get you out of here first…”

  She rolled her head from side to side. “No. Mavel first.”

  Devlin lifted her up. He effortlessly carried her over to the Cell-Regen unit and placed her on the cushioned bed below the scanner. She heard him typing in the key sequence on the control panel. Then, he positioned the scanner until it was directly above her stomach.

  “This will heal some damage or keep more at bay until I return,” he said.

  The scanner glowed with neon-blue lights, and a laser scan of her torso commenced. The laser divided into two semi-circles that trapped her body. After it finished shifting, warm beams of light started regenerating her skin.

  She turned her head. Devlin was already securing Todd to the chair. He ran his hand through his hair and rushed out of the room.

  Two minutes passed, five, ten, and nothing happened. Her body was beginning to react to her commands and her strength slowly returned, as did the pain. She lifted her head enough to see the damage, and, to her surprise, it wasn’t as bad as she had imagined. There was a large purple bruise on her stomach and a long thin tear that stretched across her waist as if someone tried to cut her in half. Blood trickled along the sides of her waist. She focused on slowing her breathing to allow the lasers to stitch her skin back together.

  “Anna?” Mavel called from the door.

  Her head snapped in his direction as her eyes welcomed the sight of him. She struggled to remain still. “Mavel, is that really you?”

  Panting and clinging to the doorframe, he took a menacing step towards the basilisk. His hands balled at his sides and his body rad
iated fury.

  “Mavel, stop,” she begged.

  “He did this to you, didn’t he?”

  “He’s knocked out cold, and we have to get out of here.”

  “But, he should pay!”

  “He will but, first, help me get out of this machine.” She paused and searched the room for Devlin. “Where is Devlin?”

  Mavel spared a glance at the door. “The guy who let me out? He said he’ll hold them back until we can both escape.” He rushed to her side and winced at the sight of her stomach. “We need to get you to a hospital.”

  “But Devlin—”

  He turned off the machine, and the scanner returned to its original position above her head.

  “He’ll have to look after himself,” he said, lifting her into his arms.

  Although most of her skin was stitched back together, a fine line left behind still threatened to split open. She carefully rolled her sweater to cover the sight of it.

  Mavel crossed the room with long strides. He stepped over the threshold, and Devlin ran to them with his gun facing downwards.

  “How is she?” Devlin asked.

  Mavel’s chest vibrated with a growl. “She’ll be better once she’s in a hospital. Lead the way.”

  Devlin smiled at her, revealing a set of dimples she liked. He motioned for Mavel to follow, and they ran the length of a long, winding corridor until they arrived at an emergency stairwell.

  Voices came from up ahead, and Devlin lifted his comms to the scanner above the handle which opened the emergency exit for them. “Go. Get her out of here.”

  “Devlin, what are you doing?” she demanded, reaching for him.

  He stepped away and prepared to aim his gun, his finger hovering over the trigger. A second later, he shot Mavel a look she couldn’t decipher, causing Mavel to become tense.

  “He’ll keep them off us,” Mavel said, pushing through the door.

  The emergency door closed behind them. Gunshots echoed above, and she cried out Devlin’s name.