A Dawn of Strength

There was a banging at the door before he could answer.

“Are you finished in there?” Corrine called.

“Yes,” Derek said, his voice still hoarse. “You can come in.”

Corrine and Ibrahim reentered the room. Corrine walked up to my husband and circled him, examining his skin closely.

“Good,” she muttered. “I’m sorry it was painful. The potion had to be hot to stimulate your body’s natural healing capabilities into high gear.”

“That’s all right,” he said, stretching out his arms and eyeing them. “I’m just thankful you were able to sort me out… But why didn’t the cure work?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” she replied, shrugging.

“That immune blood in your drawer, it’s not diluted or anything?”

“Oh, no,” she said. “If anything, it’s a higher potency than the blood in the cooling chambers.”

“Then how could this have happened? The cure’s worked on me before.”

“Maybe that’s the reason,” Ibrahim said.

“What?” Derek asked.

“This was the second time you took the cure,” Ibrahim said. “It could be that you’ve developed a slight immunity to it. Perhaps a higher dosage of immune blood was required.”

We all stared at Ibrahim as we took in his words. Although I was curious, asking these questions was wasting time. We’d attempted the cure and it hadn’t worked. We couldn’t afford to waste more time. Our people needed us in the Armory.

“Then let’s try that,” Derek said, just as I was about to suggest we leave. “I’ll take ten times the dosage this time and see if that works.”

I gaped at my husband. “Are you insane?”

“Yes,” he said impatiently, “but that’s beside the point. If there’s a chance more immune blood will bring back my powers, this is a risk we should take.”

“Forget it,” I said, stamping my foot on the ground. I gripped his arms and glared daggers at him. “You are not putting yourself—or me—through all that again.”

“I could go in with Derek,” Ibrahim said.

I whirled around to face the warlock.

“I’d wait with him and watch closely to see if it’s working,” he continued. “If he starts showing signs of burning, I’ll assume the experiment failed and I’ll drag him straight out before he gets too damaged.”

“It will be okay, Sofia,” Derek said.

I looked reluctantly at my husband.

“Okay,” I scoffed.

After the state I’d just seen him in, even with Ibrahim with him, I didn’t want Derek going within two miles of that damn pit again.

Still, I trusted Ibrahim, and there wasn’t much of an argument against it.

“Okay.” I heaved a sigh. I looked down at my watch. “Then we need to hurry. We’re running out of time.”

Chapter 19: Rose

As I sat with Vivienne, Anna and Ariana in one of the small private rooms, I tried to lose myself in conversation. We all tried. But every word we spoke was just an attempt to distract ourselves. Every sentence sounded forced. None of us could stop thinking about what might be going on outside the Black Heights as we sat here in the quiet of the mountains’ chambers.

I managed to remain seated for a few hours in their company until finally I could bear it no longer. I stood up and stretched my legs, feigning a yawn. I looked down at my aunt leaning back in her chair.

“I’m sure I won’t be able to, but I’m going to try to sleep,” I said. “It will be less painful… and I do still feel pretty sleep-deprived.”

Vivienne looked at me doubtfully. “Where are you going to sleep?”

“I spotted a spare room on the level above us. There might even be a spare mattress up there.”

To my dismay, she stood up and held my hand. “We’ll go together. I’d also like to try and sleep.”

“O-okay,” I said, fighting to hide the disappointment in my voice. Clearly my aunt was already suspicious of my intentions—not that I had any right to blame her for it—so now I had no choice but to play along. I forced a smile. “That will be nice, actually, to have someone else for company.”

We said goodbye to Anna and Ariana before leaving the room. Walking along the corridor toward the flight of stairs that led up to the next floor, I hoped that there was indeed a spare room up there somewhere.

Vivienne slipped an arm around my waist as we climbed the staircase. “I’m proud of you, Rose.”

I winced internally. I wished she would have saved that statement for a later time.

“I’m not sure why,” I muttered.

She raised a brow. “I’m sure most young women your age wouldn’t have managed to survive what you have… at least, not with their mental faculties intact.”

I gave her a funny look. You don’t know they’re still intact, was what I wanted to say. But now wasn't the right time for this joke considering what I was planning.

We reached the upper floor and began to walk along the corridor. We passed locked door after locked door. What was I thinking? Every human on this island was locked within these mountains now. It was unlikely we’d find a spare room without venturing further up. I was about to suggest we keep climbing to the next level when Vivienne pointed to a door at the end of the hallway. It was ajar. We walked up to it and Vivienne knocked. When nobody answered, she cautiously pushed it open.