them back to where they floated in my blurry vision as if they were waiting now, to see what I’d do next.
I struggled to think, to reason. To see clearly beyond the haze, the shadowy edges of my vision, the sloshing room, and the energy shrieking through me. I fought the nectar pulsing my veins, beating at me, and thumping with every beat of my heart, pounding around and around my body. The green lighting came back into focus. So did the door.
If I could get to it, maybe everything would stop. Maybe I’d be okay.
In and out of view, the room around me blurred and cleared, showered in light and dark and shadows everywhere. I forced my legs to move, lurching across the floor, footsteps compacting the ground, jarring deep into my bones.
The trolley with the scalpels and syringes was in my path and I heaved it aside. It bounced against the wall and rebounded, spraying instruments around me, cutting my face and arms. I flinched, trying to stay focused on the silhouette of the door handle.
Someone grabbed at me and I shoved him, both hands connecting with Reid’s torso. He crashed backward, rammed into the wall. I stared at his crumpled body while I swayed on the spot, nausea bearing up through me. I didn’t know how I’d pushed him so hard. All I knew was I had to get to the door. I took a step, jerked at the cold steel of a knife under my foot, biting me. I jumped, stumbled. Slipped on another instrument.
The floor came up at me, pebbled with sharp knives and cutting things—things that would slice me in a thousand places. I tried to regain my balance, reaching out into the air with nothing to stop my fall.
There was a shout. A struggle somewhere beyond me.
Suddenly Michael was there, an outline stretching toward me. I crashed into his arms, and he punched us backward and away from danger. We landed in the corner of the room where it was quiet.
His body cushioned the impact, his arms tightened around me, smothering the roaring and crashing, pulling me in to the shadows where I was safe. Where I could breathe again for the first time.
I tried to see his face. I started to speak even though I didn’t know what I was going to say, but someone else lifted me up and wrenched me away from him and I started screaming.
“Tie her down. Do it fast. Don’t let her get you.”
There was a flurry of movement. My back hit the chair. Black-clad figures rushed around me, tugging my arms and legs as I tried to fight them, kick them, scratch them. Scissors flashed, ripping through my clothes, material falling away and air rushing in. I searched for Michael, but he was gone. It wasn’t really him, just somebody trying to grab me and stop me getting to the door.
“Get off me!” I yanked at the new holds they’d tied to my wrists and ankles, pulling and shoving, jerking upward as hard as I could.
Reid’s voice was close by, and I craned to see him, imagining that he rubbed his chest where I’d shoved him, that there was a wince in his voice. “Sir?” he asked. “What should we do now?”
“Give her another dose of immortality.” This was a new voice, combined with a person-shaped shadow across the floor.
There was a pause, and the surprise radiating off Reid hit me. “I don’t think we should, sir. Her reaction already—it’s incredible. She’s amazingly strong. We don’t know what another dose will do to her.”
“Reid. That’s an order. Give her another dose. We’re breaking new ground here. I want to see what she does.”
Reid slammed a syringe into my arm. The nectar burned under my skin.
No rose this time. No honeyed sugar warming me.
The wall blistered, red paint rising in welts. The wall in my head blistered too, burnished iron glowing hot. I sensed a prickle against my legs and looked down just in time to see my bare calf glowing.
I turned my hands over, palms up, and puddles of heat shimmered in them. It couldn’t be real. The volcano trapped inside me. Even if the leather restraints around
I struggled to think, to reason. To see clearly beyond the haze, the shadowy edges of my vision, the sloshing room, and the energy shrieking through me. I fought the nectar pulsing my veins, beating at me, and thumping with every beat of my heart, pounding around and around my body. The green lighting came back into focus. So did the door.
If I could get to it, maybe everything would stop. Maybe I’d be okay.
In and out of view, the room around me blurred and cleared, showered in light and dark and shadows everywhere. I forced my legs to move, lurching across the floor, footsteps compacting the ground, jarring deep into my bones.
The trolley with the scalpels and syringes was in my path and I heaved it aside. It bounced against the wall and rebounded, spraying instruments around me, cutting my face and arms. I flinched, trying to stay focused on the silhouette of the door handle.
Someone grabbed at me and I shoved him, both hands connecting with Reid’s torso. He crashed backward, rammed into the wall. I stared at his crumpled body while I swayed on the spot, nausea bearing up through me. I didn’t know how I’d pushed him so hard. All I knew was I had to get to the door. I took a step, jerked at the cold steel of a knife under my foot, biting me. I jumped, stumbled. Slipped on another instrument.
The floor came up at me, pebbled with sharp knives and cutting things—things that would slice me in a thousand places. I tried to regain my balance, reaching out into the air with nothing to stop my fall.
There was a shout. A struggle somewhere beyond me.
Suddenly Michael was there, an outline stretching toward me. I crashed into his arms, and he punched us backward and away from danger. We landed in the corner of the room where it was quiet.
His body cushioned the impact, his arms tightened around me, smothering the roaring and crashing, pulling me in to the shadows where I was safe. Where I could breathe again for the first time.
I tried to see his face. I started to speak even though I didn’t know what I was going to say, but someone else lifted me up and wrenched me away from him and I started screaming.
“Tie her down. Do it fast. Don’t let her get you.”
There was a flurry of movement. My back hit the chair. Black-clad figures rushed around me, tugging my arms and legs as I tried to fight them, kick them, scratch them. Scissors flashed, ripping through my clothes, material falling away and air rushing in. I searched for Michael, but he was gone. It wasn’t really him, just somebody trying to grab me and stop me getting to the door.
“Get off me!” I yanked at the new holds they’d tied to my wrists and ankles, pulling and shoving, jerking upward as hard as I could.
Reid’s voice was close by, and I craned to see him, imagining that he rubbed his chest where I’d shoved him, that there was a wince in his voice. “Sir?” he asked. “What should we do now?”
“Give her another dose of immortality.” This was a new voice, combined with a person-shaped shadow across the floor.
There was a pause, and the surprise radiating off Reid hit me. “I don’t think we should, sir. Her reaction already—it’s incredible. She’s amazingly strong. We don’t know what another dose will do to her.”
“Reid. That’s an order. Give her another dose. We’re breaking new ground here. I want to see what she does.”
Reid slammed a syringe into my arm. The nectar burned under my skin.
No rose this time. No honeyed sugar warming me.
The wall blistered, red paint rising in welts. The wall in my head blistered too, burnished iron glowing hot. I sensed a prickle against my legs and looked down just in time to see my bare calf glowing.
I turned my hands over, palms up, and puddles of heat shimmered in them. It couldn’t be real. The volcano trapped inside me. Even if the leather restraints around
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