Page 30 of The Flame

“I don’t have clearance for Ward Red.” He shrugged, making me wait while he popped the last of his sandwich into his mouth and swallowed. “But what I do know is, patients never go straight there. They’re usually only sent there after they fail to respond to treatment in Ward Y.”

“How bad is it?”

“Depends,” he said. “The real sick shit is the experiments, like shock and torture therapy. But that’s just what I’ve heard. Not sure it’s true.”

I thought of Bev, who hadn’t spoken since her six-year stint in rehab. Geneva had called her a hard-crack case. My mouth turned sour.

“But mostly it’s the laser operations,” Axel went on. “When nothing else works, they zap parts of the brain to cut off certain stimuli.”

I thought of Miriam Edgar, and if I’d had any sympathy for her husband, Julian, which I didn’t, it would have evaporated on the spot. “How does that work?”

“Hell if I know,” Axel said. “But usually they take at least two days to map the brain before they operate, and they do it while the patient is still in Ward Y. I’ve never heard of anyone being admitted straight off the bat to Ward Red.”

I didn’t have any answers for him, but thank goodness Daniel and the heirs were being transferred to Ward X.

Geneva had confirmed it.

But for how long? Two days? Just long enough to map their brains before Ward Red erased their souls?

9

“I’m scared,” I admitted to Roman that evening.

We were sitting on a blanket in front of the fire he’d built. Outside, the wind howled and a branch or something kept knocking against the cabin roof. It wasn’t a storm, not yet, but a bitterly cold wind had started blowing in during the afternoon with gale force strength.

We’d spoken at length over dinner and I’d told him about Axel and everything I’d learned. I’d always known the Rehab Center was a place of nightmares, but now I knew exactly why.

My gaze met Roman’s in the crackling firelight. “What if we fail? What if we don’t get Daniel out in time?”

His jaw squared. “That’s not an option.”

“That’s what I keep telling myself. We can’t fail. That is not an option. That is not going to be Daniel’s fate. I won’t allow it.” I drew in a shaky breath. “But I’m not the bigger-than-life hero everyone keeps making me out to be.”

Roman’s jaw cracked into the semblance of a grin. “Not everyone, only this Axel guy. Should I be worried?”

I slapped his arm. “Roman, I’m serious.”

“You’re stubborn.”

My chin went up. “Are we trading insults now?”

He shifted closer and kissed me on the mouth, a slow, tantalizing kiss that stroked me with desire. “You’re determined to feel solely responsible for Daniel’s situation, and his fate, and it’s not on you. Not even a little.”

“You’re not helping,” I murmured against his bristled jaw.

“I would be, if you weren’t too stubborn to hear me.”

I pulled back to look at him. The look in his eye was heated from our kiss, from the promise of the night, but there was also grit and steel there. He wasn’t teasing.

“I feel responsible.”

“You didn’t lock him up. You’re not sending him to rehab.” He brushed his knuckles across my cheek, his gaze washing me in warmth. “You didn’t even spearhead this rebellion. You spoke your truth, and you wanted change. That doesn’t make you guilty for everything these Sisters of Capra do.”

He wasn’t enamored with the Sisterhood. He was a warden, unaffected by Capra politics, and he’d never brought the council rules into our home or marriage. But he’d developed a personal dislike for the Sisters of Capra, and Geneva. I was in no position to try and change his mind. I had my own doubts, no matter how hard I tried to balance the bad with the good.

“I am responsible,” I said softly. “It’s not about feeling guilty, Roman. I’m responsible for Daniel’s fate because I’m the only person in a position to help him.”

Roman and I exchanged a look of frustration. The wardens weren’t prepared to help. Roman had said as much over dinner, but now he elaborated. “I knew it was a slim chance, anyway. So long as Capra operates efficiently and keeps delivering the goods, they refuse to get involved.”

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