Maybe his grandmother had been right. Maybe the key to surviving was finding something worth surviving for.
Now he just had to figure out how to get them both off this island.
The compulsion pressed against his thoughts, a familiar weight that he had learned to work around. It was still difficult to think directly about escape, to plan for it or discuss it. He could barely acknowledge that he wanted it. The mental barriers that Dave had installed were too strong.
But he could think about Mattie. Could think about her smile, her laugh, the way she'd felt in his arms.
The compulsion didn't care about his romantic fantasies. It only cared about his work and his compliance. As long as he kept producing results, kept improving the enhancement drugs, kept being a good little scientist, it left the rest of his mind alone.
He could use that to his advantage, cloaking his plans for freedom in his yearning for love. He could work toward his escape by working toward hers.
For the first time since Mila's betrayal, since his arrest, since his world had collapsed around him, Dimitri felt hopeful.
He closed his journal and tucked it back into its hiding place.
Tomorrow, he would continue his work on the anti-compulsion formula.
Tomorrow, he would begin researching regenerative compounds.
Tomorrow, he would see Mattie again, hold her again, kiss her again.
Tomorrow was full of possibilities.
It couldn't come soon enough.
14
TAMIRA
"Time for cappuccinos," Syssi announced as the butler began clearing dishes from the table. "Let's move to the family room."
Eluheed offered Tamira a hand up, and as she got to her feet, they followed their hosts to the other room. As they sat on the couch, she took Eluheed's hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.
The lunch had gone well, in her opinion, and Syssi seemed eager to help, but whether her vision would provide the answers Eluheed was looking for still remained to be seen.
Their hostess walked over to the coffee station, and soon the hiss and gurgle of the espresso machine was followed by the rich aroma of brewing coffee. Tamira closed her eyes and breathed it in.
"Daddy!"
The high-pitched voice preceded the small blond tornado that came toddling into the family room, clutching a piece of paper inher chubby fist. "I made a picture!" she announced, weaving her way toward the coffee table.
Kian's entire demeanor softened as he looked at his daughter. "What do you have for me, sweetheart?"
"Not for you, Daddy." Allegra cast her father a haughty look and then turned to Eluheed. "For you." She thrust her crumpled creation toward him.
Eluheed accepted the piece of paper with appropriate solemnity and a dip of his head. "Thank you."
Tamira leaned over to look at the drawing. Five shapes dominated the center of the page, rendered in yellow crayon with surprising definition for a child not yet two. They were stars, five-pointed and clustered together. Blue squiggles surrounded them, covering the rest of the paper in energetic swirls.
"It's beautiful," Eluheed said. "Can you tell me what it is?"
Allegra gave him a look that suggested she was questioning his intelligence and pointed at the yellow shapes. "Stars." Her small finger tapped each one in turn. "One, two, fee, for, five."
"And the blue?" Eluheed asked.
"Sky." She said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course." Eluheed studied the drawing. "My people consider the number five lucky." He turned to Kian. "Much in the same way as your people consider the number seven."
