Salvage: Book 3 of the Magic Mutations Series

38: Lukas

June, 2019

The last time we walked into this place together, Olivia gripped my shirt from behind. This time, she stormed ahead of me despite my protests, all the while her heart pounded in her chest like she knew it wasn't the smartest move.

After flinging the door to the facility open, she came to a halt, the distance between us closing as I almost ran into her.

Extending my hand, I reached out to touch her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her, but the moment my palm collided with her skin, the electrical current had me flinching away. Olivia's eyes widened as she took me in, rubbing my hand, but then she took a sizable step away from me, like I was the threat here.

Odd, I couldn't help but think as I narrowed my eyes. Though before I could assess her state further, she beelined towards the reception area, as if she were determined to get this over with so we could be out of here. Which, I couldn't blame her for.

"We're here to see Christina Fuller," Olivia informed Katharine, the receptionist, as if we were expected, welcomed guests.

And we clearly weren't judging by Katharine's widening eyes and hastily dialling of the phone. She muttered a few things over the line and then instructed us to wait here.

Though I couldn't help myself. While Olivia waited by the front desk, I took a short stroll over to the door to the labs, peering through the small window in the hopes to get a glimpse of something, all the while a plan began to brew.

We need the cure... and it exists somewhere here in this facility.

I doubt my parents will just hand it to us.

In fact, I don't think we would be welcomed here if they knew that's what we're here for. So one of us needs to distract them while the other breaks away to search the place...

Fuck. If only Olivia and I spoke about this before and we could have come up with our cover more clearly. But I spent too long avoiding her instead.

Maybe she will clue in though. We seem to still think on a similar wave—

"Lukas! Olivia!" my mum exclaimed as she bounded out of the hallway that leads to the offices, cutting my thoughts and gander of the labs short. She forced a smile onto her face as she feigned cordiality, though it was hard to not miss her breathless state. Like our presence was a state of emergency that she had to run to. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" she went on, even though it clearly was not a pleasure we were here.

Stephen's warning began to ring in my mind.

The king—my uncle—is gone... So are the knights or bishops who have taken over my parents? Is that what Stephen meant? Surely they weren't planning anything as sinister as Rüdiger though. They may have done bad things in the past, but that was all because my uncle threatened them... right?

Before I could get a word out, though, Olivia said with narrowed eyes, "I want to have a chat about something."

"My dear, of course. But surely it can wait until tonight?" My mother turned to me. "Come around for dinner, the both of you, and we can—"

"It won't take too much of your time," Olivia sidestepped the conversation, clearly wanting us to stay in the place that potentially held the cure. As if she too was planning something similar.

Good. We're already thinking the same. One of us just needs to distract my mother while the other sneaks off and—

"Well... that's good," my mum went on, "But right now is... We're really busy, so tonight—"