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The College of Kimiyagari’s lights burned a warm greeting, and a group of its inhabitants, including Dr. Dwivedi, welcomed us at the main entrance before ushering us into the safety of the lobby.
“The corporal has already explained what happened.” Dr. Dwivedi jutted his chin toward Shep, who was standing among the college’s residents as though he belonged there. “You were wise to bring Ms. Grimes here.”
Dwivedi instructed the soldiers to relinquish Moll’s body into his care and return to Mini City, but they balked. The wizened scientist raised a hand, silencing their objections. “I will not allow so many outsiders into my home at once. If you care for your leader, then you will leave her and let me tend to her. There is no time to waste.”
“Do it,” John Brown said, his voice tight and hoarse with desperation.
The soldiers deposited Moll’s body in the arms of several people in white lab coats, who took her and disappeared into an awaiting elevator. Dwivedi searched the crowd until he found the person he wanted. “Cy, I will require another donation from you. I am afraid I will not have enough to treat her through a full recovery otherwise.”
With puckered brow and lips pressed in a thin, dour frown, Erik turned to me. I understood his reluctance. While I didn’t want Grimes to suffer, I also couldn’t ask Erik to give more than he was willing. If he said no, I’d support him.
After several grim and silent moments, he exhaled and gave a slight nod. “The bare minimum, Dr. Dwivedi. I’m tired of needles.”
Dwivedi clapped his hands together. “Of course you are. But for now, we must move quickly. Too much time may have already passed.”
We started forward after Dwivedi, but Bloom grasped my shoulder and pulled me back. “One second, Sera.”
I shook my head. “If it’s more bad news, I don’t want to hear it.”
Her mouth screwed into a sympathetic grimace. “I’m going back to Mini City with the soldiers. The others will want a report, and someone has to keep the place running.”
I blinked at her. “That someone is you?”
She shrugged and glanced away.
“What about John Brown?” I threw a dirty look at the subject of my question.
“He won’t leave Moll, and he’s no leader.”
“He’s like a devoted dog.”
“That’s not always a bad quality,” she said in a way that made me wonder if she were referring to me instead of John.
Ignoring her potentially backhanded compliment, I took a step away from her, moving to Erik’s side. “You might be too good for that place and those people, you know.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
***
BY THE TIME ERIK AND I had descended into the laboratory, among the potions, experiments, and scientific clutter, Dr. Dwivedi’s assistants had already chained Moll to an examination table and administered the first dose of curative. John waited in the corner, so meek and defeated he reminded me of a lost child. Moll didn’t scream or flail. She merely stared, her dark eyes flickering over us with hunger and resentment.
It roused something dark and familiar within me.
If we had been in a Shakespeare play, that might have been the moment I lost it, when I fell to the floor, overcome with madness, tearing at my skin while shouting things like, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” Instead, I pretended to have all my demons safely stowed away as I continued my examination of Moll. My approach must have worked, though, because the stirrings of old nightmares never became more than bad memories. The monster inside me remained buried.
After leading Erik to a stool, Dwivedi prepped his arm, tying a rubber tube around his biceps and thumping a vein. I climbed onto a stool beside him while Dr. Dwivedi drew yet another vial of blood from Erik’s weary body. Instead of sickening me as it had before, I found the scent of Erik’s blood oddly soothing. Better not think about that fact too much.
“Did I look this bad?” I motioned toward Moll.
Erik turned a dark, troubled gaze on me. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines as I had, worried I was about to go all Lady Macbeth. “Are you sure you want to stick around for this?”
I waved away his concern and nodded at Moll. “Did I look as hateful as she does?”
He grimaced. “You slept a lot.”
“But when I was awake, did I look at you the way she’s looking at me?”
I watched as multiple unspoken answers passed over his face until he settled on which one to tell me. “You weren’t hurt as badly as she is.”
“That’s not what I want to know.”
“You don’t want to know.” He took my hand and grasped it to his chest. “Please don’t make me tell you about it. It was horrible, and it’s over. Let’s not try to remember it.”
Agreeing with the wisdom in his words, I dropped the subject.
When Dwivedi had finished his ministrations, he cleaned and covered Erik’s arm. “I know you two are exhausted. Parvati has already prepared a room for you in the same apartment you stayed in before. Can you find your way?”
With a tired nod, Erik and I shuffled to the elevator.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Erik said as we waited for the doors to open. He looked sallow rather than simply pale, and his hair hung dark and limp. “I don’t want to help that woman.”
Wincing, I squeezed his free hand. “I know.”
“I very possibly hate her.” His whole body seemed to sag with fatigue. “Why am I giving my blood for her?”
I stroked his hair back from his brow. “Because you’re a good person?”
“No, not that good.”
“You did it for me.” I rubbed his back as the elevator creaked and whined, announcing its approach. “Because I asked you.”
“You didn’t ask me.” He flexed his elbow and rubbed the area where Dwivedi’s needle had poked him.
“You knew it was what I wanted.”
He lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “Maybe.”
The elevator door opened, but as we stepped through, a thought flickered in my tired brain. I pulled Erik to a stop before he stepped inside. “Dr. Dwivedi?”
The scientist had returned to Moll’s side and was pressing his fingers over her wrist, counting her heartbeats. He answered me without looking up. “Yes, Miss Blite?”
“How is Amity?”
His fuzzy brows drew together. “Who?”
“The girl we brought to you. The one in the cage.” I tilted my head toward the silent, covered crate in the corner of the lab.
Dwivedi lowered Moll’s wrist and gazed at me with big guileless eyes. “Oh, my dear. I sincerely regret to tell you she passed away several nights ago. There was no way to let you know. I am quite sorry.”
The news hit like a punch. But why? I’d already accepted that she would never fully recover. “H-how?” I pressed my hand over my heart as Erik gathered me against his side.
Leaving Moll’s examination table, Dwivedi approached, his hands open, arms spread in a posture of apology. “It had been several weeks since I gave her treatment. She lived for a while in peace. She never regressed, never turned into the monstrous creature she had been, but she never recovered her humanity. She died in her sleep without complaint.”
“Where is she now?” She deserved mourning and tears, but I’d fought ghouls, I’d escaped Mini City, I’d given succor to my enemy, and I had nothing left for dealing with another emotional blow. Instead, I pushed my feelings aside. Perhaps, after a night of sleep, I could better deal with the grief of losing Amity.
“She has undergone an autopsy. I hope to study her further and maybe glean some knowledge from her death.” Dr. Dwivedi, scientist through and through.
“I’d like to say goodbye to her.”
Dwivedi thought about my request for a moment then nodded curtly. “I think that can be arranged if you will give me a little time.”