When Zeke takes the three of us to the Nest again, I make him take me right to Elekai. So, they sedate Dylan and lock Arlo in a cell, and he takes me to see Elekai.
Zeke leaves me with Elekai.
I walk into the study, her office is immaculate and made of iron and wood. She looks up at me as I enter the room and she smiles.
"Ligiture marks on your neck are always good," she says.
"You're a sadistic bitch, aren't you," I say.
"Thanks for noticing."
I hiss and shake my head, and she laughs.
"Now which one of you was infected?" When she sees the look on my face, she smiles. "He infected the boy, didn't he?"
"His name is Dylan," I snap.
She smiles. "Excellent."
"What?"
She hands me two vials. One is blue, one is yellow. I look at her.
"One will help him," she says. "And one will make things worse. You have to get him to ingest this, or stab him with some weapon coated with it. Either way, get in his body. I won't tell you which is which. He can't tell you either. You have choices here, Autumn."
"No I don't," I say.
"You could leave. You could abandon him, and without the antidote, he will lose his humanity and become a monster. But if you decide to heal him, what will those side effects be? And if he attacks you again while you're in there with him? Will you put him in pain too?"
"I would never hurt him."
"And under different circumstances, I'd assume he'd never harm you, either. You two love each other like Arlo and Emma loved each other. Arlo can't save Emma. But you have the power to save Dylan."
I nod. "I will save him. And then, I'm going to make sure you can never hurt anyone ever again."
She smiles. "Good luck."