HAVEN ✓

Forty-Three

"No!" I cry, flailing in my attempt to scurry in front of Luke. Flinging my arms wide, I plant my feet between Luke and Miles. "He's with us."

Luke instantly lowers his bow from me, but doesn't relax a bit. "That's a soldier's uniform. How did you get it?" he demands.

"They issue them to all the soldiers in Herald," Miles replies nonchalantly, as if he wasn't just about to get an arrow to the face. "One-hundred percent cotton my ass."

Luke blinks, unamused, and I move toward him, lifting my hands to rest on his forearms. "Please, Luke. He's my friend, and he's not going to turn me in."

Luke's lips turn down, and I swear his eyes narrow, but he relents nonetheless. Tucking his weapon away, he stalks right up to Miles. Stranding before him, Miles wipes his hands on his pants before offering Luke a hand. I bite my lip.

"I'm Miles, the friend she mentioned? Don't let the outfit fool you, I'm on your side." After a heavy moment, Luke grabs his hand and gives it a firm shake.

"Good," Luke replies, not a trace of warmth in his words. "If you change your mind, I know a few hungry flesh-eaters who would love nothing more than to use your femur as a toothpick."

Miles' face lights with a smile. "That sounds like a not fun time."

Sliding between them, I press my hand to Luke's chest. "Thank you for not injuring one of my best friends since grade school, but we need to work together if we want to make this cure."

"It's actually more of an anti-vaccine," Rhett says, digging through the upturned contents of a supply cabinet. Pulling out a paper-packaged syringe and needle, he turns to me. "The antibodies already existing in your DNA from the original mutation is what we're working with."

Taking a seat on one of the benches, I roll up my sleeve. I try to take calming breaths, and this time it's easier as Rhett draws up two full vials of my blood. Luke bandages me up this time, and I luxuriate in the touch of his warm fingers.

"So what now?" I ask, watching over Rhett's shoulder as he sets the vials in a circular machine, setting them to spin.

Miles joins us at my other side. "What can I do to help?" he asks, and I grin. He's never been able to sit still.

"Since we have to start from scratch, I'll need someone to take notes for me. You'll need to record exact measurements and temperatures." Rhett rifles through another cabinet, probably in search of more equipment as he continues. "I want others to be able to create this if they have to. After we separate the plasma, we'll have to record the sequence in it, that way the anti-vaccine can be re-created, even without a blood sample from you."

I nod, imagining the power we could hold over the Skinwalkers. And if everyone had this tool? I am giddy with the implications. No more gaunt faces and worn, tired eyes. Game would no longer be over-hunted, and entire villages would be spared. My heart swells with hope. We are so close.

"How will it be administered?" Luke questions, standing behind us. His arms are folded across his broad chest.

"Due to the unlikelihood of you getting close enough to a Skinwalker to inject it via syringe, I found a way to aerosolize it. We just have to get close enough to release it. Though I haven't yet perfected the dispersal rate," Rhett replies, mouth twisting up in thought. "While I am confident I can recreate it, I will have to work out some kinks in the administration aspect of it before testing."

A feeling within me crescendos, and a familiar tingle envelops my chest. "Mom would be so proud of you right now."

Mom. Council-appointed scientist and patient tutor.

Rhett meets my eye, a twin of his own, and smiles softly. "I think she would be proud of both of us."

Tears well up in my eyes, but I blink them away. Soon, this will all be over. Rhett and I will re-create the anti-vaccine and Luke will have a way to save their people. Summus Aspen will have to release Markee and then we can all go home. Back to Herald, to our parents and our lives. We only have to make it through these next crucial hours. I yawn, big and stretching.

"You should rest. Miles will stay here and help," Rhett says to me, but he's looking at Luke. "You'll make sure she gets some sleep, right?"

Luke nods and takes my hand, leading me toward the door. On the way out, I hear Miles ask, "Who is that guy, exactly?" But then we are outside the lab and out of earshot.

"I'm not tired," I bargain, stifling another yawn. "What if Rhett needs me? Or—"

Luke pulls me to him and the words die on my lips. His eyes are vibrant as ever, but the dark circles beneath them are unmistakable. His voice is soft when he speaks my name. "Stay with me. Please."

Heart stammering, I step onto my tip toes and kiss the stubble on his jaw. "I will."

Once we arrive at the dormitory, Luke stops before my door. "Goodnight," I bid, reaching for the bronze doorknob.

"Wait," he says. The tone of his words give me pause, and I turn, only he's reaching to pull me behind him. It's then when I realize that the door jam is busted.

My fingers spread over my mouth, not daring to make a sound. Luke slowly unsheathes his dagger and nudges open the door to my room.

Sunlight fills the room, as much as the silence does. Luke's footsteps are unheard as he creeps through the suite, inspecting it from top to bottom. I hold my breath when he enters the bathroom and out of eyesight.

"There's no one here," he calls, striding back out with something glittering between his fingers.

I let out a breath, only to suck it back in as I cross the threshold into an altered version of my room. The bed posts have been snapped, wood splintered and jagged across the ripped mattress. The curtains lay torn, draped across the desk which now leans on its side. All the drawers have been pulled out of the dresser and thrown about the small space, clothes crumpled and stomped on. Finally, my eyes land on Luke and the shard of mirror in his hand.

"The soldiers?" My voice cracks. If Dr. Tabb wanted to bring me back with them to Herald, she would need me unharmed. This destruction seems violent, angry. I shudder.

"I don't know," comes his response, but it sounds a thousand miles away. My hand finds the leather pack at my side, my only true possession. Thankfulness courses through me that it hadn't been left in the room to be destroyed.

My eyes scan the sad little room before picking through the debris and salvaging a clean set of clothes. Leaving Luke behind, I venture into the small bathroom where the shower curtain has been ripped off the rod.

Discarding the curtain, I fill the bathtub until steam fills the room and sink into it. The hot water on my skin instantly eases my tense muscles, and after half an hour of soaking, I almost fall asleep right there.

I step out and dry myself, careful of the glass sprinkled on the tile floor before slipping into the plain tunic. The cream fabric brushes my bare knees as I pad over to what's left of the mirror. My fingers comb through my wet, tangled hair but after a few painful tugs, I give up.

When I enter the remnants of my bedroom, Luke is gone.