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“So people don’t know…”

That I have the apparent cure in my body.

That I might be able to save the lives that others deemed as lost.

“The last thing we want to do is cause a panic. Mass hysteria. As I said before, anyone could be bought. And you, my dear Adelaide, are in high demand.”

I hated that he talked about me like a fucking dog toy in a shop, something available for purchase. And maybe that was Lucian’s problem; he didn’t see me as a human, only as someone who could potentially save the world.

Would I behave any differently if I was in his shoes?

He saw me as a commodity. Valuable, yes, but only for the supposed blood that ran through my veins. He would not hesitate to kill me if it was my life versus the world.

Not that I blamed him.

Choosing to live would be utterly selfish and repulsive.

“Your father kept you from me for a long time. Hell, we didn’t even know the cure was in his own daughter. He made sure to kill everyone on the team. The doctors, the scientists, the poor middle men who happened to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He claimed he had never found a cure...until he came crawling to me a few months ago with news about you. News and proof. But then the asshole lost you.” Lucian tsked his tongue. “The man could run an empire, but couldn’t keep track of one rowdy young girl? Imagine my surprise when I heard you were with my nephew.”

He paused in front of another wooden door, immaculate craftings adorning the frame. Without pause, he pushed it open, and I was forced to peel my eyes away from the beautiful woodwork.

Down numerous twining hallways we went, one stride of Lucian’s equaling two of my own. Deth remained silently at my back, a harbinger of death.

Finally, we stopped in front of an elevator.

“Get in,” Lucian demanded, nodding towards the silver box. Memories of my father assaulted me. Was he still here? Waiting for me?

Holding my breath, I pressed my nails into my palms and stepped into the tiny enclosure. The doors slid shut silently, and elevator music drifted from the speakers. It was a surprisingly peaceful song, a direct contrast to my storming emotions.

When it pinged, we moved as one down another hallway and into what appeared to be a torture chamber. I had never seen one outside of movies, but it was exactly how I would picture it.

A simple wooden table was in the center of the room holding an assortment of tools. Clamps, chains, and what appeared to be whips. Iron manacles hung from the ceiling, connecting themselves to a young man.

No, not a man.

A Rager.

“Yes, a Rager,” Lucian whispered, hinting that I may have spoken that thought out loud. Hearing a man as put together and sophisticated as Lucian use my crass nickname for the infected made me feel oddly validated.

The Rager was thrashing against his chains. The red irises had expanded completely, swallowing the pupils until they were twin chips of garnet. The familiar black veins protruded from his translucent skin, withering and twitching. Alive.

He lunged for us, head canting precariously to the side, but the chains kept him restrained. Thank God.

The last thing I wanted to be was Rager kibble. I was sure I tasted horribly. Well, maybe not my lady bits. I heard that those were quite tasty, actually. But the rest of me? Nasty.

“Begin the demonstration, please,” Lucian instructed to the three people who had entered the room behind us. They all wore similar biohazard suits and masks, faces obscured.

With practiced movements, they circled the snarling Rager. The monster’s head whipped from one person to the next, unable to keep his attention on any one individual. When he was distracted, white foam exploding from his mouth, one of the scientists lunged forward with a syringe of red liquid.

My blood.

The Rager released a roar of agony, head tilting back as he cried to the heavens. As one, the three scientists stepped back and behind Lucian. I wanted to look at them, to question how they were okay with all this, but the Rager held my entire attention.

He was twitching, jerking, convulsing. Spit flew from his mouth, and his red eyes rolled back in his head. Pitiful moan after moan left his lips, the sound gurgled from the white foam still erupting from his mouth.

Instinctively, I took a step back.

This wasn’t experimentation.