Page 43 of The Infinite Glade
Alexandra decided she needed to put Sadina’s girlfriend into another room, keep her busy while the women tested on Sadina. Inside. Outside. In the basement. Somewhere the Goddess wouldn’t be hammered by her incessant questions.
As always, Alexandra tried to hide her annoyance at their ignorance and lack of faith. “These women worked hard to make sure the Cure would come to be.” She turned to Sadina and placed her hand against her cheek. “The Evolution was always meant to be, we just needed you for the ultimate and final phase.” She squeezed her face gently and smiled. “And here you are.”
“Hello?” Alexandra led Sadina down a hall and up a stairway to the lab where Mannus practically got them all killed. Last time, the women greeted her with weapons as soon as her foot reached their soil, and today . . . they weren’t anywhere to be found.
“What will they do to her?” Trish asked loudly right on Alexandra’s heels. The girl was practically stepping on her cloak.
Alexandra had to force a smile this time. “It’s not what they will do to her, it’s what they’ll be able to dowith her.” There.That should reassure her.It didn’t matter what they needed to do to Sadina to get the Cure. If the scientists had to break every bone in the girl’s body and suck the marrow out with a straw to get what they needed, Alexandra would allow it. Hell, she’d encourage it.
“Hello . . . ?” She called again, stepping foot in the lab.
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s here.” Minho had returned to the group, lowering his weapon.
“Nonsense.” Alexandra shook her head. What did a lowly soldier know? “They have to be here.”
“Every room’s clear,” Orange said.
All the younger ones and Roxy filled the room. Alexandra scanned the entire place and her vision went static when she realized nothing had changed since their last visit. “We were just here . . .” She swept the items off the table with one swift motion of her arm. Mannus. He must have scared them so completely that they left.
Mannus be damned.
That idiotic horned-freak.
Alexandra needed a new plan, and quickly. The orange-haired soldier set up guard in the window. “You can see the war fires from here. They probably heard the bombs, panicked, and?—”
“Scientistsdon’tpanic,” Alexandra snapped, but it only made her head pound harder. It felt a thousand pounds on top of her shoulders. She recited the digits to herself and started pulling vials out of the cabinets.
“So, what do we do now?” Sadina asked, practically on top of the Goddess.
Alexandra moved around Sadina and looked through the cabinets. She would figure something out—she had Newt’s bloodline and that was the most important thing. She’d go mad and jump off a cliff before she wasted this opportunity for the final, ultimate Cure. She looked for needles. “I’ll just . . . do it myself . . . 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 . . .” she mumbled to herself, not caring. She said things that hardly needed repeating. Madness. Madness. Madness! But she kept searching, digging, thinking. Talking.
“The Cure. The Evolution will ignite. The code will be complete.”
She tore the place apart.
Orphans have no history, know nothing about where they came from.
And the Orphan named Minho only knew where he was headed.
“Hey, can you take it easy on the Goddess?” Sadina asked softly. That was the problem—Sadina was too soft for her own good. She cared too much about things that didn’t matter. Especially people she hardly knew.
Minho leaned in close. “Don’t you remember what Frypan said?”
Her face scrunched up. “What are you talking about? When?”
“Back along the coast, when you two would have your late-night fireside talks. He saidDon’t trust the trustless.”
“Exactly, and you don’t trusther, so maybe I shouldn’t trustyou.” She straightened up as if making herself taller would make herself right, but she couldn’t be more wrong. Frypan wasted every breath he had left on this girl who didn’t understand the simplest thing.
“No, that’s not it. He said to trustyourselfthe most.” Orange said over the railing of the balcony, on watch.
“Do all orphans eavesdrop on private conversations?” Sadina snapped.
“We can’t help that we were trained to have sniper hearing.” Orange shrugged before going back to her lookout post. “You two were loud and woke me up.”
“Most nights I didn’t sleep but laid there on watch, protecting everyone from danger.” Minho wasn’t just annoyed that Sadina forgot everything Old Man Frypan had taught her, but her weaknesses made it easier for the Godhead to manipulate her. She wouldn’t have survived an hour in the Remnant Nation. None of these islanders would have. Weak and malleable, all of them.
Sadina didn’t act intimidated. “Well, whatever Frypan told me, I’m sure he didn’t mean for you to throw it in my face later.”
