Page 11 of Dark Princess: Shadows

"I just hope this works," Aru said. "If not, our trackers are staying in our bodies, and we will be packing and getting ready to go."

"It will work." Negal leaned back in his chair. "We need to start looking for humans to carry our trackers and figure out how to compensate them for their efforts."

"That's the easy part," Kian said. "We will also need to implant them with an additional tracker that we can monitor so we can make sure they are doing what they are supposed to."

"Good thinking." Aru cast him an appreciative look. "Also, compulsion will have to be used to ensure that they don't try to remove the trackers and disappear."

Kian nodded. "Talk about a morally gray area. I would have suggested using captured traffickers for that, but I don't want to let those monsters loose."

When the door opened again, Julian emerged, pushing the gurney and motioning for the Guardian to take over. "You can put him back in his cell. When he wakes up, he won't know that anything was done to him."

The Guardian nodded and took over, pushing the gurney out of the clinic.

"Shouldn't Dagor be out of there by now?" Aru asked.

"He's probably waiting for one of us to tell him that he can go." Merlin opened the door to the back of the clinic.

Negal lifted his hand. "Why is my finger still numb?"

Merlin frowned. "It shouldn't be. Let me take a look at it."

Aru left them in the waiting room and headed over to the surgery room to check on his friend.

8

ELL-ROM

As the minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness, Ell-rom became acutely aware of the silence pressing in around him. No one had come to check on him and Jasmine or to offer words of comfort and reassurance.

He understood why, of course.

Kian was at the keep, overseeing the tracker removal experiment. Annani was occupied with her daughters. But the knowledge did little to ease the ache of loneliness that settled in his chest.

He held on to Jasmine's hand as if, through sheer force of will, he could tether her to the world of the living. The steady beep of the heart monitor provided a rhythmic backdrop to his silent prayers, a desperate litany to the Mother of All Life to keep Jasmine in this world and not take her away from him.

"Great Mother, creator of life, please guide Jasmine safely through her transition. She is everything to me."

The words felt strange on his tongue, a mixture of a familiar ritual and raw emotion. Ell-rom loved Jasmine with every beatof his heart, but he hadn't realized the depth of his attachment to her.

He could barely breathe without her.

She looked so peaceful, as if she was only sleeping, but she was unresponsive, unconscious. He longed to see her eyes open, to hear her voice, to feel the warmth of her smile that somehow made everything seem brighter, more vibrant. Without her animated presence, the world around him felt dull, devoid of color, and unwelcoming.

"I miss you." Ell-rom gently squeezed Jasmine's hand. "I never realized how much I've come to rely on you. You are like a bright light in a dark room. You make my life worth living, my Jasmine."

The moment the words left his lips, Ell-rom felt a jolt of awareness.

This was a novel feeling, wasn't it? This sense of purpose and the joy in simply existing.

He frowned as he delved into the murky waters of his fragmented memories. Had life on Anumati truly been so bleak? So devoid of hope?

Images flashed through his mind: dark corridors, whispered conversations, the constant weight of secrecy and fear. The isolation had been all-encompassing, suffocating. He and Morelle had been two anomalies in a world that had no place for them.

Morelle. The thought of his twin sent another pang through Ell-rom's heart, and guilt gnawed at him.

Here he was, upset because no one was visiting him and Jasmine, while she had been all alone in her room for days on end.

"Jasmine, my love," he said softly, leaning in close, "I'm going to step out for a few minutes to check on Morelle. I'll be right back, I promise." He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, lingering for a moment before reluctantly releasing her hand.

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