It was hard to hear much through the thick walls of the urn, but I covered my mouth with my hands as the door gave a squeak and a pair of footsteps entered, evidently coming to investigate the scream.
“I told them it’s just the doping serum wearing off,” a voice murmured, though the urn wall distorted it. “I’ve got enough to deal with, having to concoct another energy elixir for that ambaka. Anyone could hose down the harvest. Why’d it have to be me?”
I let out a sigh of relief as I heard the footsteps fade away, though it was short-lived. A moment later, the steps were replaced by a funny thrumming sound—a familiar noise, almost like something flapping, which I couldn’t place until it was too late.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” Through the open lid of the urn, Lazar was watching us with his solitary eye, his wings flapping as he peered down.
“Lazar, keep moving—pretend you haven’t seen us,” Navan urged him, his voice dripping with hatred.
His uncle shook his head sadly. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
“If you turn us in, they’ll kill us, and I know that isn’t what you want. You aren’t like the other rebels,” Navan whispered. “Don’t stand in the way of our mission, when it can serve us both.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you go.” With a sigh, Lazar looked away. “I must take you to Orion.”
Chapter Six
“How can you still be on their side?” Navan barked as Lazar called for backup on his comms device. “After everything, how can you still be doing this? Don’t you care about what they have planned with that stupid elixir? Don’t you understand what they’ll do with it? They don’t want to share anything or make anything better—they just want to seize complete power for themselves, Orion and Ezra, both.”
“I have my reasons,” Lazar replied calmly.
“I should’ve guessed you’d keep siding with them. After all, you seem to have betrayal in your blood. You left that tracking chip in Riley and lied straight to my face. You were Orion’s lapdog even then!” Navan’s face was a mask of terrifying fury. His eyes had darkened to black, his fangs protruding, his claws extending. He was preparing for a fight.
Lazar leveled his gaze at Navan. “If I hadn’t left that chip in Riley, Orion would’ve known something was going on. He would’ve blamed me and punished me, if not outright executed me for treason. You might not believe me, but I had your best interests at heart. I was doing my best to protect you both, from afar. How could I do that if I didn’t know where you were?” He paused. “Anyway, that thing isn’t working anymore, so you can get down off your self-righteous pedestal. It stopped working a while back, as these things tend to do—they are only temporary, with short lifespans.”
“And we’re supposed to take your word for that?”
Lazar shrugged. “I can show you if you don’t believe me.” He lifted out a small device that showed blinking lights close by, where the human cages were. However, where Navan and I were standing, there was nothing. I felt a wash of relief. It seemed he was telling the truth.
“That doesn’t change the fact that you put it in there in the first place,” Navan muttered.
I watched as a strange expression passed across Lazar’s face. He was still gazing down at us as he put the device away, but a look of conflict drifted across his features, as though he wasn’t convinced he was doing the right thing. He hadn’t told the other guards why he needed them here—he’d just asked for support beside the conveyor belt in the extraction chamber. As far as those soldiers knew, there were a few escaped humans or something.
“Just let us go, Lazar. We can make an actual difference here, if you just let us go,” I said softly, realizing he might be persuaded. It was obvious he was of two minds, his decision teetering on a knife edge.
He shook his head slowly. “I can’t let you go. You must face Orion now. You shouldn’t have come here.”
“How could we stay away?” Navan growled. “We’ve heard things—disturbing things—about what’s going on here, and how far you’ve come with the elixir. Did you expect us to give up?”
Lazar sighed heavily. “I know you’re hot-headed, but, just this once, I confess I hoped you’d stay away.”
“Then you’re more of a fool than I thought,” Navan spat back.
I rested a hand on his arm, trying to calm him down. If we were going to convince Lazar to let us go, this wasn’t the way to go about it.
“I thought you didn’t agree with violence and intimidation,” I told Lazar sternly. “Wasn’t that the reason you joined the rebels in the first place? Didn’t they promise a different way—something different than what the queens were offering?”
Lazar shot me a hard look. “You don’t understand, Riley. Orion is offering an alternative. I might not agree with the way he is currently going about things, but I’m not naïve enough to believe that peace can be achieved without bloodshed.” He paused, his brow furrowed. “Even if Orion’s view is somewhat narrow-minded at the moment, with Ezra whispering in his ear all the time, he will come to see what I see.”
“And what is that?” I asked.
“Creating a functional immortality elixir will cure all the pain and suffering that Vysanthe has endured. It will provide a future of peace, where everyone is on a level playing field—it will be as close to utopia as it is possible to be.”
I gaped at him in disbelief. “You can’t believe that. After everything you’ve seen, you can’t.”
“I wouldn’t still be here if I didn’t,” he shot back. “I’ve even devised a method that will help me speed up the elixir’s production, once we’ve made the final adjustments to the formula. After it is fully functional and we can offer it to our people, there will no longer be death from senseless disease or cruelty. Vysantheans will be kinder to one another once they understand that violence is, quite literally, pointless. If nobody can die, then peace is the only viable outcome.”
Navan shook his head vehemently. “You think coldbloods will just ‘get along’ once they’re immortal?”
Lazar frowned at his nephew. “I’d expected you, of all people, to understand… given what happened to Naya.”
“Don’t you dare bring her into this!”
“If we’d had the elixir back then, she wouldn’t have died. Once we’re able to dispense it to the rest of Vysanthe, that sort of tragedy will never happen again. Surely, you can see my way of thinking? Surely, you can see the good in this?” Lazar looked utterly stumped by Navan’s anger. I, on the other hand, couldn’t understand how Lazar could be so stubborn in his refusal to see what else might happen—even if it brought peace to Vysanthe itself, it definitely wasn’t going to bring peace to the rest of the universe. It didn’t matter what Lazar’s personal beliefs about violence and intimidation were; they weren’t shared by his superiors and weren’t shared by a majority of the coldblood population, either.
“No, Lazar. If my father hadn’t let his bigotry get the better of him, Naya would still be alive. An elixir won’t miraculously fix the inherent problems on our planet.”
“Not to mention the fact that, if all coldbloods become immortal, it won’t be long before Vysanthe becomes overpopulated,” I chimed in. “You can’t play God, Lazar. There needs to be a balance in life and death. It’s a hard truth, but it’s the law of nature.”
He smiled coldly. “All laws can be bent and broken, Riley, even natural ones. You are correct in your assumptions, but that’s what other galaxies are for,” he explained, his tone unnervingly casual. “With our bodies unable to wither and die, there’ll be no need for Vysantheans to confine themselves to one planet. We can find new planets. We’ll have a peaceful empire, all our own.”
I didn’t want to correct him by saying there was no such thing as a peaceful empire. Even though his heart seemed to be in the right place, his thoughts were completely flawed. He couldn’t see the negative potential in what he was suggesting—he likely thought the Vysantheans would seek out uninhab
ited planets to call their own, or planets with a fledgling species that wouldn’t even notice a new colony of coldbloods, but even I knew that wasn’t likely to be the case. They wouldn’t integrate. They’d conquer.
I had no idea when these backup guards were going to arrive, but if we were going to get him to let us go, I needed to change tactics. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t just point out the flawed logic in his thinking. If we did that, he’d get on the defensive, and then we’d never change his mind.
A thought came to me. “Well, you must be nearing completion on the formula, right? I mean, I’m guessing you know how to solve the elixir puzzle, now that you’ve got the notebook.” I wanted to know how far along they were so I could gauge how much time we had before the grim prospect of immortal coldbloods became a reality.
Lazar frowned. “I don’t know of any notebook.” He looked surprised, a curious expression shifting across his features. He wasn’t the only one.
“Why would Ezra and Orion have kept something so valuable secret from their own alchemists?” I wondered aloud, turning to Navan and casting him a pointed look.
“Maybe they didn’t trust them enough to hand it over,” he suggested. “They might have thought one of their alchemists would run off and sell it to the highest bidder. After all, Queen Gianne would be sure to pardon anyone who had the means to make a fully functioning elixir.”
“What is this notebook?” Lazar interrupted in desperation.
“It belonged to one of Queen Brisha’s alchemists, a man named Yorrek. It’s said to have the secret to the elixir inside it, which is why everyone has been scrambling to get it,” I replied, twisting the facts a little. “The last person to have it was Ezra, which means it’s on this base somewhere. I can’t believe Orion didn’t let you in on the secret.”
Lazar’s eyes took on a faraway look. “I know of Yorrek. He’s a very reputable alchemist, once known for delving into places other alchemists feared to go. I imagine it was this ingenuity that led to his discovery of the elixir’s secret, although it may only be a hypothesis,” he mused. “Regardless, whatever this valuable information might be, it is far more than we have at the moment.”
“So, you really haven’t seen it?” Navan pressed.
“I haven’t. Perhaps Orion and Ezra have kept it secret as a means of weeding out the untrustworthy.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “If I prove my loyalty by bringing the two of you to them, they can’t fail to offer me a look at that book.”
This was all heading south a bit too fast for my liking. I wasn’t going to let him take us up to Orion, not without setting out some terms first.
“It doesn’t have to be that way, Lazar. You don’t have to take us up there as prisoners,” I explained. “What if you could kill two birds with one stone, bringing you one step closer to that utopia you spoke of?”
Lazar arched an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
“Well, we know you don’t agree with Orion’s way of doing things, so why not take better steps toward that future instead—steps that run in line with your personal beliefs?” I suggested, my heart pounding. “As far as I can tell, you have two choices here: either you deliver us to Orion, ensuring our deaths, or you choose differently and help the people of Vysanthe while you’re at it.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow, Riley.”
“If your loyalty is truly to the health and peace of your nation, and not to its dictators—both rebel and royal—then you’ll help us capture Orion, so you can find out where he’s hidden the notebook,” I said firmly. “You could deliver us to him and hope he gives up the hiding place, but what if he thinks it’s a ruse? What if he doubts you, and thinks you’re in cahoots with us? If you just hand us to him, you’re giving him all the power. If you help us capture him, you take that power back into the hands of the people.”
For a sickeningly long time, Lazar said nothing, his face registering every emotion on the spectrum. And then, without warning, he clicked the button on his comms device.
“Just a few strays. I managed to clear them up myself—nothing to worry about,” he said.
“No problem,” a voice echoed back. “We couldn’t spare the soldiers at the moment, anyway, with all this mayhem going on. Let us know if you need any more of those bleeders cleared up, and we’ll see what we can do.”
“Will do.” As Lazar turned the comms device off, he turned back to us, a wave of relief washing over his face. “Looks like you’ve got yourselves an agreement.”
Chapter Seven
“Really?” Navan narrowed his eyes. There was still bad blood between nephew and uncle, and I doubted Navan would ever truly believe a word Lazar said.
I was the one who wasn’t being entirely honest. True, I wanted to capture Orion and hold him hostage, but not purely for the sake of the notebook. Yes, it would be a relief to have it back in our hands, but I wanted to use Orion as a bargaining chip. Once we had him in our grasp, we could exchange him for Stone. There was no way Ezra and the rest of the rebels would refuse. Their fearless leader was their figurehead—without him, they had nobody to guide them through this war.
Plus, if we reached Orion and outright killed him for all the terrible things he’d done, I had a feeling that the rebels would simply kill Stone in retribution, no matter how useful he was. Then, there was always the possibility that we’d end up making a martyr out of Orion, which would put us in a far worse position than we were already in. It would only spur the rebels on, perhaps making them reckless. At least, right now, they were sticking to some sort of plan, but all of that would go out of the window if we executed Orion.
“I know you doubt me, Nephew, but I really mean it,” Lazar said. “Riley makes a great deal of sense. Now, if you’ll wait a moment, I’ll get something to pull you out. Your wings will never be able to open in there.”
“Where else are we supposed to go?” Navan muttered sarcastically. Lazar rolled his eyes before flying away with a thrum of his leathery wings, offering me the opportunity I needed.
“Once we have Orion, we need to exchange him for Stone. We have to get the notebook, too, but freeing Stone is our priority right now. He’s the only thing that gives us any advantage over these guys,” I whispered, listening for Lazar’s return.
Navan raised a dubious eyebrow. “You really think they’ll swap Orion for Stone?”
“I think so. He’ll be expecting his rebels to free him, and they won’t want to let him down, no matter what the cost is,” I explained, trying to stir up a sense of optimism in my heart.
“I hope you’re right.”
“You don’t think it’ll work?”
“I think it’s our best shot,” he replied, his tone encouraging. “We’re not exactly swimming in options right now.”
“That’s what I thought. I’m just glad we’ve got Lazar to lead us into the lion’s den. Otherwise, we’d never get close enough to Orion to make a move.” I flashed Navan a wry smile to cover the inner terror I felt.
“I’m still going to keep a close eye on that traitorous bastard. Just in case he decides to double-cross us.”
“No matter what happens, we have to stick to the plan, okay?” I told him. “No matter what threats get made, and what Orion does to manipulate us, we have to stay silent and keep ourselves together.” I knew Navan’s emotions could get the better of him, but this was one moment when we couldn’t risk an outburst.
He cast me a firm look. “I promise to stick to the plan. No matter what. It’ll kill me inside, but I’ll do it.”
“Then we’re already one step ahead of Orion.”
A few minutes later, Lazar returned with a rope, which he dangled into the open lid of the urn. I gripped it, and he pulled me out, dumping me unceremoniously on the ground beside the container. Navan followed shortly afterward, looking a little irked that he couldn’t use his wings.
“I suggest you prepare yourselves before we move on,” Lazar said, gesturing at our weapons. I realized we’d have
to get rid of the more obvious items, but if I did that I wouldn’t have anything left.
“Can I borrow your jacket?” I asked, glancing at Lazar. Navan could flatten his blade to his back and fit the hilt between his shoulder blades, but I definitely couldn’t hide a gun anywhere in my Fed suit… not without causing some curious looks, anyway.
Reluctantly, he passed me the blue jacket of his uniform, which I draped over my shoulders before strapping the gun beneath my armpit. “Can you see it?”
Navan shook his head. “Not at all. How about mine?”
I peered around at his back, but all I could see was the protrusion of his artificial wing tip sticking out from under his shoulder blade. “Nope, all good.”
“Come this way,” Lazar instructed, leading us through the door ahead. I tried to keep myself from staring at the horrific sights all around as we pressed on through the alchemy lab, but it was far harder to block out the rancid scents that drifted through every room.
We passed through four more chambers: two appeared to be preparation rooms, where the human bodies were cleansed and injected with something, while the other two looked to be rooms where actual alchemy took place. There were vials and centrifuges and beakers of all shapes and sizes, and black-coated workers were moving about the place, handling various substances with tentative care. They all stared at us as we walked down the central aisles, but Lazar had done a good job of making us look like prisoners. Our hands were bound, but our bonds were loose, and our weapons were securely hidden away.