Page 41 of The Flame

That was never going to happen, so any protest was redundant.

I pushed to my feet, aware of my five minutes ticking down. “Maybe, let me think about it, okay?”

Axel fist-pumped the air. “Sweet.”

I was almost out the door when he said, “Oh, yeah, did you hear? The heirs came into Ward X.”

My heartbeat stuttered and my entire body snapped to attention. I kept my expression neutral as I slowly turned to him. “Are you sure?”

“They were admitted overnight.” His usual exuberance dampened. “I hope they don’t land up in Ward Red. That would be messed up.”

“Okay,” I said stupidly.

My head was spinning.

I whipped myself about and out of the lounge. Once in the corridor, I slammed my back against the wall and breathed, slow and steady. My feet itched to carry me straight to Ward X. But Icouldn’t do that. Belinda and I had our usual morning meeting with Janice.

Don’t raise any more suspicions than absolutely necessary.

The check-in with Janice never took more than ten minutes. This morning was no different. She was pleased with our progress, and she didn’t breathe a word about the heirs being admitted. Had Axel heard wrong? I didn’t dare ask Janice. Last night she’d made it clear that the heirs were none of my business.

So I didn’t ask Janice anything. I didn’t say much at all, just murmured now and then while I let Janice and Belinda do all the talking. My head had stopped spinning. My thoughts were tunneled into the end game.

The countdown had begun. Two days. That’s what Axel had said. It took two days to map the brain for theprocedure.I didn’t know for sure that that’s what was in store for Daniel.

I try my best to be pragmatic, Georga, never cruel.Maybe Geneva would assess the heirs individually, maybe Daniel would be deemed a lesser threat, but I wasn’t prepared to leave Daniel’s life up to chance or Geneva’s grace.

When we stepped out of Janice’s office, my gaze landed on the door to Ward Red. From here, it didn’t look any different to the other wards. The metal plate engraved with ‘Ward Z’. The scanner on the wall beside the swing doors. That was the difference, of course. I couldn’t just swipe my security card to gain access, as I could for Ward X and Ward Y.

Ward Red complicated our plan.

Getting Julian out of there tripled our risk.

Just another thing to resent Julian Edgar for.

“Is everything okay with you, my dear?” Belinda asked. “You were quiet in there.”

My gaze jerked from the swing doors to her. I shrugged and clasped today’s set of yellow binders to my chest. “I’m startingon two new patients this morning, and I was just thinking about them. The women in Ward Y are a lot harder to figure out than Ward X.”

“They’ve been through a lot worse,” Belinda said agreeably.

We shared a sympathetic smile, and then turned in the direction of Ward Y. We’d just passed the internal reception door when activity pulled our attention back to Janice’s end of the corridor.

My footsteps stalled when I saw a small huddle of people exiting Ward Red. A doctor in a white coat. A nurse in blue scrubs. And Julian Edgar, feet shuffling between them, his gaze lowered, not quite on the floor, but somewhere around level with my knees as the group steadily advanced.

I wasn’t the only one rooted to the spot.

Belinda patted my arm, her voice low, “You’re acquainted with the former councilman, aren’t you, my dear? It can be rather disturbing to see them like that, but I think it must be the drugs. My sister improved after the first few days.”

My hands curled into fists at my side.

I wasn’t disturbed.

I was fighting the red mist clawing up my throat.

This man had taken too much from me. Roman liked to talk about the council, the system, but for me, Julian Edgar was the council and he was the system. I blamed them all, but I hated Julian Edgar with a particular passion.

It felt more personal with him. He’d invited me into his home with his smiling blue eyes and kindness. He’d seduced me into the bosom of his family with his enigmatic charisma and warmth.

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