Page 52 of Barbarian Daddies

“How could nature have created something so accurate?” Kingo wonders aloud as he stares at the data ribbons. “It doesn’t really make sense. All the plagues and infections from before targeted all members of the Sunnaite species. Male and female alike. The children and the elderly had it the worst each time, since their organisms are more fragile and susceptible to infection, but this particular virus… Cynthia, I have to admit, I’m baffled.”

“Me, too,” I agree. “And you know what? We wouldn’t have figured this out if I hadn’t had a peek at General Sharuk’s secret medical files.”

“Do you think she was hiding this information on purpose?”

I shrug slightly, trying to wrap my head around the possibility. “Maybe. But why? I thought she kept it a secret because she didn’t want to be stigmatized or deemed useless by the men in this society. I thought it was a cultural issue, so to speak.”

“I don’t think so,” Kingo replies, shaking his head. “If anything, the military would’ve welcomed her with arms wide open. She could’ve had any job in any rank. The Sky Tribe would’ve used her to bait other Sunnaite women out of hiding or away from the Fire Tribe, yet she chose to keep her condition a secret and struggled to build her career in the military.”

“Could she have known about this particular aspect of the plague?”

He gives me a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Could General Sharuk have known that the virus targets Sunnaite women who are able to bear children, specifically?”

“Only if she was there when the virus was engineered. If we assume it was engineered and not a natural occurrence.” Kingo pauses and gasps sharply. “Oh, Cynthia, don’t tell me… Do you think it was engineered?”

“I can’t exactly exclude the possibility at this point, now, can I?”

Boots rumble through a nearby hallway, cutting our conversation short. Kingo and I jump from our seats and gather all our notes and data ribbons, shoving them in bags before we head for the door. We have to get out of here before the guards reach us. My heart is the size of a flea, a scared little flea who wants to survive.

If the virus was engineered, then we’re dealing with a hidden enemy.

“Hold on,” Kingo whispers just as he’s about to open the door. “We need to make sure they don’t see us.”

“It’s still early for another round,” I hiss.

“I know. Hold on.”

We both wait by the door, holding our breaths and listening to our blood pulsating, hearts drumming in our ears as we wait for the footsteps to recede. A sudden silence follows, and I watch Kingo’s nostrils flare in an attempt to capture any hostile scents. My human nose is nowhere near as capable, so I rely on the kid to help us out of here.

But even Kingo’s nose cannot predict the unexpected.

The door is smashed open. I hear myself scream as I jump back. Kingo is blown away by the sheer force of the explosion. He’s thrown against one of the lab tables, then rolls over and falls flat on the ground. I don’t see him move, and there’s blood quickly pooling around his head. I’m terrified as I watch Selina stride into the room, laughing as she throws a small remote away.

“I love my tech engineers. They come up with the coolest stuff sometimes,” she says, admiring her handiwork with a broad smile.

The hallway is flooded with mercenaries, but none of them come through the door. I suppose this was always meant to be between Selina and me. My heart is racing, beads of sweat blooming all over my face as I try to release some of the tension gathered in my ears. I wasn’t close enough to the door when it blew, but the bang did quite the number on my eardrums. My head hurts. And Kingo still isn’t moving.

“How’d you know I’d be here?” I ask, out of breath as I clutch the research bag close to my chest and take a couple more steps to widen the distance between us.

“Oh, one of my drones spotted you hours ago sneaking into the city. I’ve been watching and waiting since,” she says, visibly amused. “I figured I’d let you get comfortable enough to forget about where you are before I came to get you. A scientist like you, Cynthia, is quite predictable in the right environment. I knew you were headed for the lab. You just had to scratch that itch, didn’t you?”

“I scratched it, alright. And you wouldn’t believe what I’ve found,” I reply, unwilling to let her get to me. I’m getting dragged out of here, kicking and screaming regardless. I might as well buy myself some time and yank the truth from her mouth, one way or another. “What I’ve found about you, specifically, General Selina Sharuk.”

“Let me guess, you found my medical files. The classified stuff.” She doesn’t seem all that scared or impressed.

“You were born without a womb,” I announce. “It’s why you never caught the virus even though you were repeatedly exposed to it as a Sunnaite woman.”

“And?”

“What will the people of Sapphire City say when I tell them?”

Selina shrugs and crosses her arms. “Do you have any proof?” she asks, and I’m starting to think she already knows the answer for that question. “Because last I heard, my troops bombed your puny village and burned everything to the ground, including your little lab with all your research.”

Everything Dahlen said to me is starting to make more sense. “You targeted my lab on purpose. Dahlen pointed you straight to it.”

“And seeing he’s not here, I’m guessing you lost him along the way and came to surrender willingly?” Selina laughs quietly.

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