12

B elinda and I were finishing our morning coffee in the staff lounge when Axel walked in. His face lit up with enthusiasm when he spotted me.

“I’ll leave you youngsters to catch up,” Belinda murmured, offering Axel a kind smile as she stood. “I’ll see you in Janice’s office?”

I checked my watch. “Five minutes.”

Axel swooped into the chair across from me. “So, what’s with your chief taking all the face time?”

I was growing accustomed to Axel’s odd word choices. That didn’t mean I understood half of it. He and some of his nurse friends had found old world tech in a medical storage facility and listened to thousands of hours of something called podcasts…that’s where they’d picked up their so-called pod slang. The tech was forbidden, naturally, but that’s exactly why they spoke the slang. It was their little rebellion of words, which I could totally relate to.

I assumed my ‘chief’ was Geneva. “Face time?”

He rolled a finger around his face. “You know, screen time. She’s up there with something new every day, but we’re seeing less and less of you and it’s just the same old, same old.”

Geneva was weaning the public off me. I couldn’t say it was a surprise. “I’m not a prominent member of the Sisterhood, and I guess I’ve said all I’ve got to say.”

“We haven’t heard all we’ve got to hear,” Axel said. “You’re like, legend. You should be up on the bandstand.” His eyes lit up. “Hell, yeah, let’s do that.”

I was almost afraid to ask. “Do what?”

“Saturday, you on the bandstand,” he stamped out. “I’ll bring the crowd. It’ll be epic.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“You don’t get it.” He threw his hands out. “You’re a hot commodity, Georga. People can’t get enough of you and they want to, like, hear it direct from you to—” he jabbed his thumbs at his chest. “Come on, we’ll fill the square.”

That was never going to happen, so any protest was redundant.

I pushed to my feet, aware of my five minutes ticking down. “Maybe, let me think about it, okay?”

Axel fist-pumped the air. “Sweet.”

I was almost out the door when he said, “Oh, yeah, did you hear? The heirs came into Ward X.”

My heartbeat stuttered and my entire body snapped to attention. I kept my expression neutral as I slowly turned to him. “Are you sure?”

“They were admitted overnight.” His usual exuberance dampened. “I hope they don’t land up in Ward Red. That would be messed up.”

“Okay,” I said stupidly.

My head was spinning.

I whipped myself about and out of the lounge. Once in the corridor, I slammed my back against the wall and breathed, slow and steady. My feet itched to carry me straight to Ward X. But I couldn’t do that. Belinda and I had our usual morning meeting with Janice.

Don’t raise any more suspicions than absolutely necessary.

The check-in with Janice never took more than ten minutes. This morning was no different. She was pleased with our progress, and she didn’t breathe a word about the heirs being admitted. Had Axel heard wrong? I didn’t dare ask Janice. Last night she’d made it clear that the heirs were none of my business.

So I didn’t ask Janice anything. I didn’t say much at all, just murmured now and then while I let Janice and Belinda do all the talking. My head had stopped spinning. My thoughts were tunneled into the end game.

The countdown had begun. Two days. That’s what Axel had said. It took two days to map the brain for the procedure. I didn’t know for sure that that’s what was in store for Daniel.

I try my best to be pragmatic, Georga, never cruel. Maybe Geneva would assess the heirs individually, maybe Daniel would be deemed a lesser threat, but I wasn’t prepared to leave Daniel’s life up to chance or Geneva’s grace.

When we stepped out of Janice’s office, my gaze landed on the door to Ward Red. From here, it didn’t look any different to the other wards. The metal plate engraved with ‘Ward Z’. The scanner on the wall beside the swing doors. That was the difference, of course. I couldn’t just swipe my security card to gain access, as I could for Ward X and Ward Y.

Ward Red complicated our plan.

Getting Julian out of there tripled our risk.

Just another thing to resent Julian Edgar for.

“Is everything okay with you, my dear?” Belinda asked. “You were quiet in there.”

My gaze jerked from the swing doors to her. I shrugged and clasped today’s set of yellow binders to my chest. “I’m starting on two new patients this morning, and I was just thinking about them. The women in Ward Y are a lot harder to figure out than Ward X.”

“They’ve been through a lot worse,” Belinda said agreeably.

We shared a sympathetic smile, and then turned in the direction of Ward Y. We’d just passed the internal reception door when activity pulled our attention back to Janice’s end of the corridor.

My footsteps stalled when I saw a small huddle of people exiting Ward Red. A doctor in a white coat. A nurse in blue scrubs. And Julian Edgar, feet shuffling between them, his gaze lowered, not quite on the floor, but somewhere around level with my knees as the group steadily advanced.

I wasn’t the only one rooted to the spot.

Belinda patted my arm, her voice low, “You’re acquainted with the former councilman, aren’t you, my dear? It can be rather disturbing to see them like that, but I think it must be the drugs. My sister improved after the first few days.”

My hands curled into fists at my side.

I wasn’t disturbed.

I was fighting the red mist clawing up my throat.

This man had taken too much from me. Roman liked to talk about the council, the system, but for me, Julian Edgar was the council and he was the system. I blamed them all, but I hated Julian Edgar with a particular passion.

It felt more personal with him. He’d invited me into his home with his smiling blue eyes and kindness. He’d seduced me into the bosom of his family with his enigmatic charisma and warmth.

It was Julian who’d sat across the supper table from me, laughing and joking with Daniel about their fishing trip, full of adoration and praise for his son, his own flesh and blood, while I reeled from the impact of what I would never have, while my insides hurt as if an unborn babe had been ripped from my womb, and while his wife, Miriam, ate placidly and stared vacantly, no longer knowing how to love or even engage with her son.

They were almost upon us now.

The nurse opened the door to reception and, before the doctor ushered him through the doorway, Julian’s gaze lifted.

“Morning, ladies,” he said. “Georga, how are you?”

He knew who I was, but there was no spark of recognition. His eyes weren’t cold and flat with ruthless intent or blazing with anger or filled with humor that creased into the corners. His voice was familiar, but his tone didn’t prick and his words didn’t cut.

The usual injection of Julian was missing.

He was a shell of what he’d once been.

“Are you being released?” I asked.

Julian looked to the doctor for confirmation, who gave a shallow nod. “We should be going, Mr. Edgar. The car is waiting.”

“Yes, we should be going,” Julian said to me and, with a polite smile, he allowed the doctor to usher him through the doorway.

Did he know that he no longer lived in Parklands?

Would he even care?

I stared after him, walking at that slow shuffle, allowing himself to be led, until the door swung shut in my face.

“She was never her old self again, but it does improve,” Belinda said, her voice soft and comforting.

I didn’t need to be comforted.

Whatever they’d done to Julian—the procedure, the laser lobotomy—was no more or less than what he’d subjected his own wife to. Julian Edgar had been erased. It was justice. Exactly what he deserved.

So why did I feel sick to my stomach?

Belinda started walking again and I followed, but stopped when we reached the staff lounge.

“I’ll see you in the ward,” I told her. “I’m just going to get a glass of water. And take a minute to myself, if you don’t mind.”

She paused to look at me, then just squeezed my arm and continued on.

I stood in the doorway of the lounge, watching until she disappeared between the swing doors of Ward Y. Then I bounced out and swiped my card through the scanner on the opposite wall to Ward X.

There were two nurses on each ward during the day. Marlowe had only rotated onto the day shift yesterday, but I’d gotten to know Kyle a bit from my time on Ward X. He was a generation older than me and not really chatty, but I could handle him.

When I swept inside, I was disappointed to see Marlowe behind the nurse’s station. Still, I smiled brightly. “Hi, Marlowe. Is Kyle around?”

Marlowe jabbed a finger at the door beside him. “He’s doing the morning medicine round.”

Every patient had been on some cocktail of drugs in this place and, while that had mostly stopped, Kyle had explained why they had to be weaned off certain medications. The heirs weren’t like the women we’d transitioned out of this ward, though. They were getting the full treatment, and that put the fear of God into me.

“Thank you.” I beamed a smile at him and crossed toward the door with conviction.

Marlowe stepped out from behind the counter to block me. He was a larger man with thinning hair and a wide girth. If he didn’t want to move, there was no way I could make him.

He folded his arms, barricading the door from me. “Now there, I’m not sure you’re cleared for the new intake.”

“The council heirs, right?” I tried to look both confident and confused at the same time. “I was told they’re in Ward X. Has there been a change?”

He rolled his lips, looking at me, undecided. “You’re working with the new patients?”

“Not on the interviews or assessments. Janice asked me to cross-reference some facts and make sure their admission forms are complete,” I said, name-dropping our boss. “You can check with her, if it’s a problem.”

If he took me up on that offer, I’d have to admit to Janice that I’d just wanted to see how Daniel was doing. It wouldn’t look great for me, but it wasn’t a disaster.

Marlowe finally shifted to the side. “They shouldn’t give you any trouble, but shout if there’s a problem. Kyle should be almost done, so they’ll be sedated.”

“Sedated?” Irritation stabbed at me. “How am I supposed to do my job if they’re fast asleep?”

Marlowe snorted and went back behind the desk, elbows on the counter. “The dosage just keeps them calm, it doesn’t knock them out.”

Thank goodness for that. I pushed through the door and immediately spotted Kyle pushing his cart out of one of the rooms. He did a double-take when he saw me. I waved my yellow binders at him, letting him know I was here in an official capacity.

He turned a shoulder on me to open the next door, leaving me alone in the short passage with rooms on either side. Twelve cubicles, two bathrooms that only allowed one patient at a time and, at the end, the emergency exit.

I peered inside the viewing window on the door to my left. Empty. The opposite room was also empty.

At the next door down, the cubicle was occupied. The man lay on top of the narrow hospital cot, dressed in dark gray pants and a shirt, socks but no shoes. His head was flat on the pillow, his eyes open, staring up at the ceiling. I recognized him from Daniel’s cell at the Guard Station. He was one of the older men who’d teamed up with Otter.

He didn’t move, just lay there, staring, and my blood ran cold…until I remembered what Marlowe had said. He was sedated, not erased. That’s when I saw the cuffs, a pair around each wrist, locking him to the metal rails on the side of his cot.

That could be a problem.

Moving on quickly, I found Daniel and swiped my card to enter. He was in the same position, cuffed to the cot, although he rolled his head toward the sound of the door opening. His gaze pinned me. “What are you doing here?”

His words were sluggish, but not slurred. As I drew closer, I saw the life in his blue, blue eyes. Tired, clouded, but also filling with relief as he looked at me.

I put a finger to my mouth and whispered, “I shouldn’t really be here. How are you?”

He made a noise deep in his throat, but I could see my answer. He was okay. His blond hair was greasy and plastered to his forehead. He smelled of sweat and damp. But he was still my Daniel.

“Listen, I don’t have long.” Every minute was another minute for Marlowe or Kyle to second-guess whether I should be here or not. “How many of you are here? Geneva said she released some of the heirs.”

“She released the four younger boys,” he said. “And Carl, too, a day later. When they came for us last night, I thought we were being released. What is going on? They haven’t said a word to us. We’ve been in that cell for days.”

I covered his hand with mine, my thumb resting on the cold iron band circling his wrist. “Why have they cuffed you?”

“Why do they do anything they’ve done?” he returned wearily.

“They’re afraid,” I told him. “Geneva believes the heirs are a threat, that you’ll go underground and cause an uprising against the Sisterhood.”

His mouth twisted into a cynical smirk. “She’s worried we’ll lower ourselves to her standards.”

Some protective instinct surged within me. “It’s not like we had many options, Daniel. If we’d taken to the streets, we would have been hunted, plucked from our homes and removed, or just erased. It’s happened before. We call it The Scraping. ”

Daniel’s face registered no shock. He must have heard about the original protests on the streets back then.

“Maybe times have moved on,” was all he said. “Maybe there was another way.”

I wasn’t going to stand here and argue politics. It was all moot, anyway. “What’s the story with the cuffs? I mean, if you need to sit up to eat or drink, or use the bathroom.”

“The nurses have the keys.”

That’s all I needed to know.

“Roman and I have a plan. We’re getting you out. I promise.” I gripped the side railing on his cot and leaned in closer. “You can’t stay in Capra. We’re taking you to The Smoke.”

His gaze shadowed as he processed that, accepted it. “What about my father? Is he here? They haven’t let me see him.”

I didn’t want to get into this with him now. He was in no condition to hear it. But I couldn’t hide the truth, either. “He was here, but he was released this morning.”

Surprise and confusion tugged at his brows.

“It’s not good news,” I said, my throat thickening. Because whatever Julian Edgar deserved, Daniel had already lost the essence of his mother, and now he’d lost his father. “Daniel, I’m so sorry. They performed some procedure on him.”

“No.” He strangled that one, tiny word. The dread in his expression told me he knew exactly what that meant.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and I truly meant it. “I don’t know for certain, but Geneva wouldn’t have released him unless she’d…” neutralized the threat. “I just saw him, Daniel, and he’s…whatever they’ve done, he’s like your mother now.”

“No!” He yanked at his cuffs, struggling to sit up, fighting the effects of the sedative, his eyes suddenly alight with cold fire. “No.”

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” Except, it wasn’t. I grabbed his cuffed hand, trying to calm him. “I’m so sorry.”

His wrist twisted within my grasp, his eyes wild. “I have to see him.”

“You can’t.” I looked into his eyes, pleading with him to understand. “We have to get you away from Capra. That’s the only way to keep you safe.”

He stopped struggling, a curse dragging on his ragged breath. “They didn’t have to do that to him. My father is a good man. A good man.”

No, he isn’t . The agony in Daniel’s eyes undid me and I very nearly told him exactly what kind of man his father really was. Julian Edgar was the reason Daniel had grown up without his mother’s love. Julian Edgar had committed his own wife to rehab.

That might dull his pain now, but he would soon be filled by another, far worse pain.

I couldn’t do it.

“There’ll be a time to do whatever you need to do, I promise.” I brought my other hand up to Daniel, brushed the hair from his forehead and cupped his jaw. “But you can’t do anything, you can’t help anyone, if you end up like your parents.”

He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Is that what they have planned for us?”

“I don’t know , Daniel.” My voice sounded raw, as raw as the nerve endings scraping my skin. I’d wanted Julian Edgar to hurt. I’d wanted to destroy him. But I hadn’t wanted this , not for Daniel. “I don’t know, but I do know this. Geneva sees you and the other heirs as just as much of a threat as the councilmen. She’s never going to just let you walk out of here.”

His chest caved and he went still.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “We’re getting you out.”

“You’re not.” His gaze pierced mine. “I’m not letting you risk your life for mine. Don’t ask that of me.”

“I’m not asking.”

He shook his head, a sad, exhausted smile sliding into his expression. “I don’t need saving. I need you to be safe.”

“I told you, Roman and I have a plan, and it’s solid.” Especially now that it didn’t include Ward Red. “We’ll be gone before anyone knows what’s happened. Trust me.”

“Maybe, but what comes after?” He blinked, long and slow, shaking his head again. “You’ll be their number one suspect. You’ll just be trading places with me.”

“You’re right, we’ve realized that I can’t cover my tracks. That’s why Roman and I are escaping to The Smoke with you. We’re done with Capra. No turning back.” Somehow, I managed a small smile. “And I’m good with that.”

Daniel’s mouth opened, then closed.

I had him.

“When?” he said.

I made a snap decision. There was no other choice. Not after seeing Julian Edgar. Two days to map the brain, but what if they moved Daniel into Ward Red for that phase? That part of our plan had always been murky, pretty much designed to fail.

“Tonight,” I said. “It’s happening tonight.”