Page 93 of After Darkness Falls

She rolled her eyes. "I'm a woman. I bleed every month. Come on. Let's go."

The galleries underneath the Institute were more dungeon than lab, but they'd been fitted with the latest technology. Chloe didn't need to go anywhere near the crazed vampires. Levi took vials of her blood to his office and distributed it to the cells remotely.

The creatures devoured it gruesomely.

All but a little boy quietly sitting on his bed, sipping at the vial, and commenting, "It tastes better than usual. Seasoning?"

"That's Steven. He's been here for months. He's my unexplainable factor. He was infected—we have records and video showing it. But by the time he came to me, he was…like this. Fine. His blood tests still show signs of infection, but it's not affecting him."

Suddenly taken by an idea, Chloe pressed the intercom Levi had used earlier to greet the subjects.

"Hey. Steven, right?"

"That's my name. I don't know your name. I don't know you at all."

He sounded a little off, but so would anyone after spending so long in a cage.

"I'm Chloe. Can I ask you a question, Steven?"

"You just did. Feel free to ask a second. I'm bored."

"Where are you from?" she asked.

He blinked, as if trying to remember.

"New Jersey."

So much for that.

Understanding her train of thoughts, Levi pressed the button again. "Where were you when you started feeling better, Steven? Do you remember?"

He tilted his head.

"I was…somewhere in Colorado. Can't remember where. I'd just drunk from a man. Human, I think. He tasted good, too. Seasoned."

Chloe gasped. "That's where I'm from," she told Levi. "I bet that was my brother, or father, or, I don't know, one of our ancestors."

Levi was frantically taking notes, grinning all the way.

Then they waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Hours passed, then days.

On Tuesday morning, Chloe left for a few hours to attend Reiss’s funeral in the meadow behind the Institute. All of Coscnoc was gathered in reverential silence. Then, when the witches began to sing, all joined in. Chloe didn’t know the lyrics, but she sang anyway, humming along to the ageless tune of farewell.

For the first time since Sunday night, as the wind picked up and she felt her friends shiver around her, she realized something.

She wasn’t cold.

Gwen and Blair accompanied her back to the dorms and helped her pack her bags.

“Are you sure this is necessary?” Gwen asked.

Blair nodded. “Newborns are volatile. And besides, it’s the same house.”

She was moving to the right-hand side of the dorm, with the rest of the dangerous students.

Including Tris and Jack.

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