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CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

KARLIN

K arlin felt a held breath escape between her lips as she watched the patients tip back their cups.

She hated this part. Even though she knew it was illogical, she always had a nagging fear that somehow, despite all of her research to the contrary, someone was going to ingest the green liquid and die on the spot.

Of course, no one did, but everyone looked relieved once their cup was empty.

“This tastes way better than it looks,” Cora said, poking at the rim of the cup with her finger and licking off the final drops.

“Right?” Axel chimed in. “It’s not bad. I was expecting it to be disgusting.”

“Let’s be quiet now and let the DX8 work,” Bajwa said calmly. He stole a glance at Karlin, the relief evident on his face. He hadn’t been afraid everyone would suddenly drop dead, of course, but he was always wary that someone would need the bucket left sitting beside their mat.

Despite the spiritual trappings, DX8 was a modern, chemically synthesized drug. Unlike traditional plant-based psychedelics such as ayahuasca, it was unlikely to cause severe nausea or vomiting–though that particular symptom had shown up more often with earlier formulations.

An unwanted memory stirred in Karlin’s conscience as she walked around the hut, glancing at each of her patients in turn.

There had been one woman a decade ago who had violently vomited with every single dose she took. Karlin remembered that her name was Dana and that she’d been pleasant enough. The woman’s personality hadn’t stuck out very much.

But she did remember that she had been in the same retreat group with Amira.

And not long after, Amira had died.

Karlin felt nausea of her own rushing through her as she tried to push the terrible thoughts back down. She couldn’t let herself get lost right now.

She was already doing everything she could to bring Amira the justice that she deserved, and in this moment, the other patients needed her even more.

“Karlin, if you could grab a few blankets, please?”

Bajwa was giving her a quizzical look.

“Oh, yes, sorry,” she answered in a whisper, gathering up the cotton blankets they’d brought along and passing them out to the others one by one.

Only Lily, Paul, and Axel bothered to use them, despite the growing chill of the night.

She grabbed one for herself and wrapped it around her shoulders, watching as Bajwa lit several candles and pressed play on a portable CD player they’d brought.

As the room filled with the relaxing sound of rainfall, Lily jolted to her feet, grabbing her bucket and running out into the night.

“Don’t worry, everyone,” Bajwa said, lifting his voice to a normal volume. “She’ll be fine momentarily. No drug is perfect.”

Karlin forced a smile, but inside, she couldn’t shake the shiver of fear that was coursing through her.

Logically, she knew it was a coincidence.

But it still felt like an omen.

ASHER

It was official.

Asher had never been so bored in his entire life.

At least he’d gotten to read a book when he was stuck listening to Tourmaline the Yoga Lady earlier. This was pure torture.

All he could do was pray, focus on his breathing, or watch the others, the latter being an extremely boring option when all anyone else was doing was sitting there breathing like he was.

He did find a slight hint of gratitude, however, for the fact that he was able to keep his eyes open.

He’d half expected everyone else to have theirs pressed shut, but instead, Paul was staring at nothing, Cora was holding her hand up in front of her face, and Destiny was looking at the ceiling.

Only Lily’s eyes were closed, her expression serene.

Bajwa was fiddling with the CD player, his back to Asher.

Karlin was making the rounds slowly, stopping for a few moments behind each person as she passed. She was definitely the most interesting person to look at, and not simply because of how pretty she was, even wrapped in a blanket with her hair tumbling halfway out of its bun.

Asher could see the genuine care on her face as she monitored her patients, took short notes, and occasionally conferred with Bajwa in a whisper. She was good at her job. And not just the part of it that involved hiding in a lab mixing chemicals.

Despite the generally prickly attitude that she gave off and her obvious preference for solitude, she was unable to hide her underlying kindness. Even in the short time he’d known her, it was clear to Asher that she was a woman who cared deeply for other people. It impressed him.

Bajwa stepped back from the CD player and glanced around the room as the sound of slow drumbeats began to fill the hut.

His eyes lingered for several seconds on Asher.

It wasn't the first time, but he couldn’tbe sure if it was because he stood out or because Bajwa was analyzing everyone and he was just being paranoid.

Asher used the edge of his blanket to dab at his forehead, and Bajwa looked away at last.

Though everyone looked normal for the most part, there were little things that Asher couldn’t easily fake, the profuse sweating being one of them. Hopefully, it wasn’t enough of a clue for his deception to be found out.

As Bajwa wandered toward Karlin on the other side of the hut, Asher noticed the sound of the drumbeats was getting much louder and more intense.

He adjusted his position on the mat, closed his eyes, and let himself drown in the music.

It wasn’t exactly Neil Peart, but he was still thankful to have something a little more interesting to listen to than the dulcet birdsong of a fake jungle.

After a few minutes, however, he changed his mind.

The drumbeats had not remained as they were. Instead, they had grown even faster, and they were now interspersed with a discordant ringing noise every few seconds. It was an actively unpleasant sound, and it was all he could do not to press his hands over his ears to try and dampen it.

He opened his eyes again and glanced around the room, a chill creeping up his spine even as he pulled the blanket in more tightly around his shoulders.

Everyone else was sitting just as they had been a few moments before, except Cora had gone from carefully examining her hand to staring in fascination at a piece of fiber she’d pulled from her mat.

Asher caught Karlin’s eye as she strode by his mat, and to his surprise, she stopped instead of instantly looking away. She knelt down in front of him, notebook at the ready, and looked him over slowly, writing down some scribble he couldn’t read.

Her hands still looked a little bit shaky, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before.

Asher found himself thanking God for the same boredom he’d been lamenting moments before.

It may have sucked for him, but the uneventfulness of the night was better for Karlin, and that was all that he actually needed.

He peered over her shoulder and, finding Bajwa was still looking in the opposite direction, reached out and touched the edge of her forearm. “You’re doing an amazing job,” he said in a whisper.

She gave him a small smile, and he was pretty sure she actually blushed.

He let his fingertips fall away from her pale skin, but to his surprise, she leaned in closer. He felt a shiver as her breath touched his ear. “Bajwa doesn’t suspect a thing. We’ll talk later.”

The moment passed all too quickly before she was on her feet again.

She walked over to Paul and, to Asher’s dismay, whispered in his ear as well. Apparently, their little moment was nothing more than her standard observation procedure.

He watched as she spoke quietly to Lily and Cora in turn, writing down more scribbles on her notepad. Finally, she approached Destiny, whose eyes were pressed firmly shut.

Asher watched as Karlin drew out a hand and gently patted Destiny’s shoulder and announced her presence aloud.

Without warning, Destiny let out a guttural, terrified scream.