Page 36 of The Hollowed
“You know exactly who I mean,” Myra snapped. “His nurse just told me he’s been taken off the list and I need to know why that is. Luci assured me you wouldn’t let that happen.”
Silence pressed down between them. Doc dropped the pen and folded his hands on the desk. “Ms. Lopez…” His tone had softened but his eyes betrayed him, clearly displaying his unease. “Jace’s case has…shifted in priority.”
“Shifted in priority?” Myra repeated. “He’s twelve. He needs a new kidney. That’s not something that changes overnight.”
Doc removed his glasses and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, as though the truth itself was painful to speak. “There are consequences for certain actions. Dr. Castillo interfered with the registry. She forced a hand that was not hers to force, and though I did my best to protect her, there are others far above me who believe punishment is in order.”
Myra’s hands curled into fists in her lap until her nails bit into her palms. “So they’re taking it out on a kid?”
His eyes finally lifted to meet hers, and she noted how they were filled with such weary resignation. “They want to make an example, and considering that Luci is already under scrutiny — ”
Myra jumped to her feet, her chair screeching against the floor, “Scrutiny for what? Did she not just spend years of her life slaving away in the lab to find a cure for all of us? I mean after everything she’s done, can’t they just let this go?”
Doc didn’t flinch. “It’s not that simple. If I push harder they won’t just come for her. They’ll come for me too, and then no one will be left to help either of them.”
Her chest rose with fury, but beneath it clarity began to take shape. If Luci couldn’t protect Jace and Doc was toocompromised to fight back, then the only person left standing between them and Prometheus was her.
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” she said as she leaned forward and pressed her palms into the desk. Her eyes locked on his, demanding answers. She wasn’t going to yield, not yet.
Doc held her gaze as though he were searching for something within her, until finally, his voice broke the silence. “How long have you been with Prometheus?”
Myra blinked, taken aback. “Why does that matter?” she shot back.
“Just answer the question.”
She exhaled sharply. “Since I was fifteen.”
Doc gave a slow nod. “Almost a decade then. After all that time, you should know Prometheus doesn’t operate on morals. They thrive on control and manipulation.”
Myra’s brows furrowed as her frustration twisted into confusion. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Leaning across the desk, Doc’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Think about it, Myra. With all the resources Prometheus has at its disposal, doesn’t it strike you as strange that Dr. Castillo was sent out there with nearly nothing. Almost as if…” He paused. His gaze shifted toward the closed door before finding hers again. “As if theydon’twant her to make it to Arizona at all.”
Myra’s eyes widened as the words hit her.
Holy fuck.
“That doesn’t make any sense. Are you saying they sent her out there to die?” she asked, trying to force all the pieces together. Still, in the back of her mind she knew that if Doc’s words held even a shred of truth, it wouldn’t be the worst atrocity she’d seen Prometheus commit.
“The vaccine gives people hope,” Doc said, still in a whisper. “And hope is a dangerous thing.”
Myra recoiled slightly, her brows knit together. “How the hell can hope be dangerous?”
Doc leaned back. “Because hope inspires courage where there should be submission. Hope makes people question, resist, and rebel. And for a regime like Prometheus, that’s dangerous.”
Myra’s chest tightened. “And the vaccine gives everyone hope?” she said, her question turning slowly into realization.
“Precisely.”
Myra sank back into her chair, stunned and struggling to process the enormity of what she was hearing. “Why are you telling me this?”
For the first time, Doc’s composure wavered. He rubbed a hand across his withered face and his tone broke into something that almost sounded like regret. “If I were twenty years younger, maybe I’d still have the fire to do something myself, but I’m not. I’m an old man, Myra. Old enough to know when to swallow my pride and ask for help. Old enough to know when the truth has to survive me.”
Myra’s stomach twisted as the pieces clicked together. Luci and Alex hadn’t just been sent on an assignment. They’d been sent on a mission designed to fail. All the danger, all the impossible odds — it wasn’t just bad luck. It was intent. Prometheus never wanted the vaccine to succeed. They wanted Luci silenced before she ever reached AZ-7.
Her fists clenched against the arms of the chair. “So that’s it? You’re telling me they were sent out there just to die? And Alex…he went with her because he actually believed in her.” She shook her head in disbelief as her voice trembled with anger. “If all of that’s true, then we have to do something. There’s strength in numbers, and surely if we told the others — ”
“No,” Doc interrupted. “Prometheus has mastered the ability to manipulate the populace. You’ll find that it’s difficult to change the opinion of people who believe they owe Prometheus gratitude and loyalty. The numbers will always be against us.”