“We ran every possible panel for common contagious diseases. There wasn’t anything matching. And based on the blood work we performed on you and her brother, it appears to be non-transmissible.”
I keep silent while he continues, carefully choosing every word before speaking it out loud.
“They must’ve injected her with some genetic or…” he shakes his head, “or biochemical marker beforehand to latch itself onto her specifically. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
A muscle tightens in my jaw, wrath scorching through me like a blazing wind.
Two nights ago, after bringing Dove home, I called Matthew in to check her and see why she was so weak when we found her. I lied to myself—andto her—that it was nothing. But her facewas so pale… so gaunt with the early signs of an illness that I couldn’t make myself believe it. Matthew implanted the tracker I asked for under her earlobe, then drew her blood and tested everything. Now the test results are back. And I’ve never felt more helpless in my entire fucking life.
My words are a low growl as I force them past the lump in my throat. “What is it doing to her?”
Matthew hesitates, then scans the papers that had been dangling from his folded hand against his ribcage. When he glances up, my heart sinks at the look on his face.
“Right now, it’s attacking her cardiovascular system. That explains the lightheadedness, the excessive fatigue. But the effects are progressive. If it follows the pattern that I suspect, it will start destroying her organs one by one until…”
My eyes snap to his, and he presses his lips into a thin line, silencing himself. He shifts uncomfortably under my gaze, and I grit my teeth, my heart slamming against my ribs. I want to tell him to get the fuck out, but his words pin me in place.
“It’s impossible to predict the symptoms knowing nothing more about this virus. We can manage them for a while, but…” He sighs. “There isn’t much time. Whoever made this, they designed it to kill. And if we don’t find the antidote soon, I’m afraid it will do exactly that.”
A wave of nausea churns my insides. I fall back into the armchair behind me, propping my elbows on my parted thighs as I bury my head in my palms. Getting her out of that fucking town was too easy.
Too easy.
Too easy.
I should’ve seen this coming.
Why didn’t I?
A knock at the door of my office gets my attention. I straighten up, thinking it might be Dove. I don’t want her to know aboutany of this until I fix it. Fuck, if one more ounce of worry shows up on her pretty face, I’m going to fucking lose it.
The door opens and Cole steps inside, hair in disarray, and eyes still exhausted from the fight. I drag a hand down my face and pull myself together. He and I need to sit down and talk—he might even know where they keep the fucking cure. Maybe this isn’t as bad as I’m making myself believe.
I look at Matthew. “Do whatever you need to do to buy us time. I’ll take care of the rest.”
He nods, adjusting his eyeglasses before leaving us alone. The silence is long and tense, and I’m the first one to break it.
“How could you let this happen?”
His eyes burn through mine. “I tried, Rowan…”
His voice is exactly the same articulated, careful voice it’s always been. The kind that made our superiors in the army think he was defying them because he was always a solid, impenetrable rock others could rely on. For a moment, it transports me there, into the cold barracks where we lived. Back when things were so simple. Easy.
“She was right fucking there, under your eyes. If you couldn’t get her out, you could’ve reached out to me. Could’ve told me where she was before they put that thing inside her. I wasted so much time trying to figure out where she was—”
He shakes his head, and it makes me want to punch the nearest wall.
I’m sick of hearing it can’t be done.
I’m sick of hearing they’re winning and we’re losing.
I’m so fucking sick of all of this, and no matter what we do, it’s never enough.
He says, “I know what it looks like, but I… You don’t know the full story. You don’t know about how they silenced me. They had me trapped, just like they’re trying to trap you right now. But I had no one, Rowan. No one.” His lips stretch into a bittersweetsmile. “Everyone I loved thought I was dead. No one was looking for me, so I had to do what I could to survive and protect you all from the inside.”
I scoff, but instantly regret it. He’s been through more shit than any of us can handle. Throwing my rage at him isn’t just unfair, but it also isn’t going to help us. I take a second to reel back my control, but all I can think of is Dove’s frail body and her dying in my arms. The image makes my blood boil and my desperation return.
“The break-in at Dove’s apartment… was that you? I saw the orange.”
