Mimic (Wardens Legacies - Ancient Blood III)

30 - THE ENERGY PATCH

I raced down the passage between the cells until I found Dawn. She was sitting on one of the many couches in the lobby. Her eyes caught mine and she jumped to her feet. I knew she had no idea the power that was inside my son. There was no way to know, not unless he shifted in front of her.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a worried tone.

"He's starving," I answered, the fear clear in my voice.

"Prisoners are fed three times a day." She was obviously confused.

"The food here will not sustain him." I hated to be the bearer of bad news.

"I feared this," She said as she grabbed my arm and we both took off at a sprint up the stairs, down the corridor, and out the front door. We did not stop running until we were near the hospital. Her speed was almost too much to keep up with. I thanked my stars that I was able to keep up.

Prudence met us at the front door and hustled us both down the hall and into a laboratory. Maybe she had known all along what monsters were hiding inside of Alec. Perhaps that was why Freia and Holden both insisted that I go and see him. He was sick and most likely it was the sickness that was drawing him into madness. He blamed me for the genes within his body, and I could not fault him for that. I spent many years of my lifetime hating parents that I was not sure I ever had.

"Since Alec's arrival, we have been working nonstop on a cure for his soul famine. At first, we thought that an elixir of borrowed energy would be enough, but we had no idea where the energy would come from. Then we realized that there is an overwhelming amount of supernatural energy in the air. Especially with the large numbers of beings currently here. If we could trap that energy, it would be beneficial to you and others like you." She pulled out a plastic square similar to that of a nicotine patch. I looked at her dumbfounded. What made her think that a tiny patch could keep the hunger at bay, while maintaining energy levels within the being?

"What are you telling me?" I asked. All I wanted to do was help my son.

"It is just a prototype, but it could be beneficial to the two of you." Prudence tried another, shorter approach to get me to understand. Trust me I knew what she was saying, I just could not see how this tiny patch would be able to do what she claimed it would.

"There is an incredibly short supply of negative energy in this place. Aside from letting you go door to door and sucking out invading spirits of those that we are treating we figured this was a safer bet. You need energy to remain coherent right?" Dawn asked her red eyes dancing. I knew she was trying to help, but I did not think their new prototype would be helpful to me in the least.

"We live off the energy of others. It doesn't matter if it is good or bad, as long as it is energy." I tried to control my voice, but it still held that urgency.

"I understand your skepticism in this, but would you please be willing to give it a shot? If it works, you can remain fully charged, and nobody has to get hurt." Dawn pleaded.

"Fine, if it works, how quickly can you get it to Alec?" I asked as Prudence began to place the patch on my left arm.

"If it works we can have him fashioned with one this afternoon," Prudence promised as she pressed the patch into place.

At first, there was nothing. Then gradually I began to feel the power seeping into my bloodstream. I looked at the two of them, and they smiled in unison. Little by little I felt increasingly rejuvenated. I looked at my arm as tiny blue sparks flew around the patch. Well, it was not one that could be worn in public, unless you put on a very thick shirt that would hide the blue sparks from human view, but it would work for now.