Page 102 of Heart of Dawn
“‘Blending any of the deity essences is an exercise in chaos,’” Cate added, quoting another sentence.
“Any of them?” I asked. “There’s more godly blood?”
“Apparently so.” Cate read on a bit more. “Here we go. Says here that Dawn is now ready after the sleeper blood. It was designed to be a tool of great destruction and great healing. They were convinced it could also eradicate death, even bring the dead back to life.”
“Just like Dawn told me,” I said.
“But this person says they’re still concerned.” She checked the front cover. “There’s no name on the file.”
Paige sighed. “What a nasty twist. Thought they were so clever, literally played God with a goddess, and it ended up destroying human life. That’s insanity.” She shook her head.
Why did those in positions of power pull this crap? Why did they have to dominate, to come up with a weapon to control the world with cures and threats? I failed to comprehend such crazy notions. Did they wake up one morning and decide there wasn’t enough drama in the world already, or that they needed a bigger piece of some pie? I’d never know. And I didn’t want to. The cleanup began now, the genie about to be shoved back in the bottle.
“‘Maybe it’s time to shut this project down and start again,’” Cate said, reading from the book. “There’s nothing else after that.”
After a brief silence, Miko ordered us to the elevator and stairs. A sign indicated twenty floors, counting up in numerical order as it moved down the floors.
This place certainly went deep.
Level twenty: Labs. It was the only part of this list of black lettering colored red. Being the lowest level, the heart of Dawn must be there.
Stars. My nerves were barbed wire.
Miko checked the stairs, opening the door a tiny crack. More heat wafted through the gap. He pressed a finger to his lips, sticking his head in deeper.
A replica brushed against me, paying me no mind, his studious gaze on his amazing leader.
Thatnaughty idea flared again.
For goodness’ sake!
Slowly, my mate pulled back, closing the door gently. “Shit load of biters in there.”
“Elevator it is,” James said.
The beta pressed the fob to a panel on the right side of the elevator doors.
That same robot voice spoke again. “Hello, Henry Hayes. Please re-confirm your password within the next five seconds.”
“My answer is Hayes, Henry,” James said quickly and clearly.
The elevator doors slid open with a ping.
Two speedies launched themselves at James. He roared, uppercutting the first one. The dead man flew back into the elevator.
Cate drove her dagger into the eye socket of the other.
“Bloody hell!” James seethed, finishing off his attacker. “Poxy biters.”
I rubbed my chest, the surprise throwing me off guard.
Miko kissed my cheek. “Alright?”
“Jumpy.” I kissed him back, claiming some sweetness in this hard, horrible place.
He touched the back of my neck again, stirring every hair. “Shall we?”
Without being asked, one of the replicas dragged the speedie from the elevator, standing aside for us to enter.
