“I secretly drugged him last night and taped images of everyone he lost in Bluehaven to the wall. And I orchestrated a run-in with you while he was reeling.” Dr. Cooper eyed her. “I let you see all the scars he likes to keep hidden. That might sound excessive, but it takes that much to break his guard.”
His nonchalance about tormenting Zayne after the loss of his squad destroyed the polite veneer masking the cruelty of this clinic. This doctor. She knew something was wrong with last night.
“He should have done more than shove you,” Kira said, battered by fury she didn't know how to expel.
He smirked. “I've been helping Zayne for a long time. I know what he needs.” The hand on her back locked on her shoulder. “And that's you.”
Her eyes shot to Dr. Cooper.
“You'll be the final treatment to purge any weakness from his heart.” The doctor laughed as if this were hilarious.
Fear prickled her skin. “What are you going to make him do to me?”
“That part depends on you, my dear. Show him some mercy and be good so he doesn't have to hurt you.”
Her breath quickened into shallow spurts. Why was this happening?
“I'm doing this out of love to save you from your rebellion.” Without looking away, he pointed at the tank. “Now lie down in there.”
Horror squeezed her lungs at the locks on the outside of the metal frame. She ripped free of him, but he caught both her wrists.
“I prefer to do this without your security team intervening. They're not as gentle.” He wrestled her closer to the tank and pressed a button that opened the lid. “Let's get this over with so you can enjoy your night.”
Kira wanted to save her dignity by fighting and refusing to give in, but there was no escaping this. She should save her strength for whatever horror Dr. Cooper had in store. Tears filled her eyes as she looked down at the hard metal interior and climbed inside, accepting her fate without trembling.
Until the metal lid closed over her, reality settled in, and she beat the glass window above her.
What was this thing? Kira couldn't do this. She made a mistake. She needed out of here.
Dr. Cooper pointed to the screen overhead, hanging from the ceiling. “I brought home movies. You can get to know Zayne better and understand what a gift he gave you, opening up about his reprogramming.”
She saw his familiar eyes first, wide and belonging to a boy. In the video, a strobe light flashed while images played on the dome surrounding him. Blood stained his white shirt over his shoulder and chest. A voice played on repeat.
Kira covered her mouth with her hand.
“We thank the grace of the Old Ones for the gifts they left our world. We thank all the Phaedras for serving as the guardians of those gifts.”Zayne's lips twitched silently with the words.“We thank…”
“He was very brave,” Dr. Cooper said. “Always has been.”
“How could you do that to a child?” She slammed her fist against the window. The video switched to this tank, and she thought she looked into a mirror, until she saw the young form shaking inside. Water lapped against the window, drowning him.
A freezing stream gushed against her ankles, and she screamed. Kira kicked at the coldness, crying out from the stabbing pain.
“Stay calm,” Dr. Cooper cautioned. “You'll run out of oxygen if you panic.”
Water continued to flood the small tank. She couldn't see it, but she felt it rushing around her, surging higher and higher. Her body trembled from thefrigid cold as the water enveloped her chest and lapped at her chin. Like a mirror above her, Zayne struggled in the same way.
“Wait,” she cried, smashing her face into the glass to breathe. Even straining like that, the water climbed up to her chin.
Finally, it stopped. The cold drilled pain into every pore, cutting through her to the marrow of her bones. She shivered so violently her body knocked against the glass.
“You said you'd rather die, and you meant it when you said it,” Dr. Cooper said. “I'd like to run an experiment.”
Pain ripped her lungs to shreds. She fought for each breath, writhing from the shock of the cold. What if she used up the oxygen? He'd open the tank, right?
“I wonder if your biosignature will be the same after a near-death experience.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Kira screamed against the window.
