Over the next few years, the board of healers brought the case to the council many times, citing public safety and other bullshit as to why they should keep playing with me. No one wanted to incur the wrath of my foster parents, and for a “dangerous individual,” I proved to be remarkably dull, so they had to let it go.
Not happily.
I was reminiscing of the days when having two famous sort-of-parents could solve all my problems when the door openedbefore one of my least favorite people in the entire vale, which was saying a lot.
“Edith,” she stated.
I didn’t bother to look up to the matronly woman dressed in pink. She and I had grown accustomed to each other’s presence since Cas’s arrival, but that didn’t make us friends. Far from it.
I still remembered her taking a little hammer to a thick needle in order to attempt to make it go past my skin. And sure, it hurt as much as I imagined a mosquito bite would affect anyone else. It was the principle of the thing. She saw me as something she could do whatever she wanted to because I wasn’t like her.
"Don’t you have a ceremony to attend today?”
I gritted my teeth, irritated by her familiar tone as much as the fact that she apparently kept tabs on me. Why in all the hells was she even talking to me?
She was right, however; I had a ceremony—but not for another three hours.
Today, I was becoming a full-fledged protector. Not even a novice, under the supervision of a more experienced guide. I’dhave my own missions, lead my own team if my work required more than a duo.
I was still a little shaken at that.
“I hear you’re the best trainee they’ve had in a hundred years,” the healer yapped as she moved around the bed, updating my chart.
I sighed. “Is there a point to this attempt at conversation?”
She bristled, annoyed her flattery was getting her nowhere. “I’m simply saying that you might have somewhere else to be.”
I managed not to roll my eyes. Of course I fully intended to attend my own advancement ceremony. One out of five trainees quit—or died—before making it to member of the Guard, and most were simply promoted to runners. I was the first to go straight to protector in ages. Even Gideon, the Head Guard’s own son, did a yearlong stint as a novice first.
I knew that the main reason for my promotion was that many protectors died last week, when Highvale was invaded by its eminent founders, but it was still an achievement. Not to mention, a reason to wear a pretty dress. One of my favorite pieces was waiting for me in my locker right now.
But the fact that Healer Faust wanted me out of this room made me suspicious as hell. I knew this woman.
Standing, I narrowed my eyes at her, not missing the sudden tension in her jaw. “What are you going to do to him?”
She dropped all pretense of friendliness. “That’s my business. I’m the healer here. Don’t make me kick you out, Edith.”
Given our history, I didn’t like that one bit. Cas was unconscious, unable to consent to any procedure. They shouldn’t treat him like a test subject. Because it was morally reprehensible, first, but also because the last thing anyone with half a brain would want was to piss off the likes of him.
Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I said, “You’re right, Healer Faust. Iama protector, as of yesterday. The ceremony’s just a formality. So, you’ll find that asking for details on our uninvited guest’s treatmentiswithin my jurisdiction.”
I was lying. I would only be a protector after being awarded my badge in a few hours, but Gideon would back me up if push came to shove.
The stout woman huffed in annoyance before primly stating, “As the subject has not been responsive, the board has decided to start testing him. We can’t understand what he needs to get better if we don’t understand what he is to begin with.”
I almost laughed. Wasn’t that the exact reasoning as to why she and her peers had tested me for seven years? And they only had a big fat nothing to show for it.
Taking that risk with Cas? It was point-blank the stupidest thing I heard all year.
“You want to treat a bloody god like a lab rat?” I said slowly.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, but even I couldn’t have guessed the board of healers would be that moronic.
“What about when he wakes up, pissed?”
“Well, it doesn’t look like he’s going to wake up, now, does it?” she retorted with an indifferent shrug.
I was nearly rendered entirely speechless by the depth of the idiocy of what I just heard, but I had to articulate just how fucking insane she sounded. “He’s agod. It could take a year or a hundred years, but hewillwake up, and treat those around him in direct relation to how he was treated while vulnerable.”
