Page 129 of Love, Nemesis
The deeper she walked, the more grotesque the experiments became. Animals in dark tubes; samples of The Eating Ocean and then barrels of it; memories contained to fragile glass; cursed items locked behind cases; books with the symbols of the war; extracted minds, hearts, and what Ana could only imagine were souls.
Her feet moved silently along the floor, and she held her breath, wading deeper inward, past larger samples of black human organs, and then monsters and parts she didn’t recognize at all. There were two hallways. She and Lethe nodded toward each other before they went separate ways to explore.
Ana went down her hallway, which opened into a small room. At the end of the room, there was a clear container, something small with a subtle blue hue inside of it.
Her eyes were drawn to it as she approached, and she discovered the blue shell, cushioned there behind the glass.
She reached for it, pausing when she noticed something ripple subtly behind the glass. She jolted back, realizing quickly it had been the wall—something she only just realized was a dark, black curtain. Her eyes narrowed on it as she leaned back over the shell, fingers grazing the cloth. She slipped her fingers behind it, tugging it back.
Eyes widening, Ana dropped the curtain.
She hesitated, questioning for a moment what she’d seen.
She leaned forward, pulling it all the way back.
She walked through, now between rows upon rows of shells, each one identical to the first, all with the same fine carvings inscribed into the surface.
She didn’t want to know what it meant.
She moved past them, noting how the room appeared to be designed specifically for the shells.
A sound made her stop. Her head perked up as she noticed another door, left ajar at the end of the enclosure.
She kept walking, glancing back at the shells as she neared the door. She opened it to find another hallway, more doors, and very dark, cold, stone walls. It was as if the lab went on forever.She was tempted to call for Lethe but didn’t want to alert anyone she was here.
She waded into the hallway, back against the wall as she walked sideways down it.
Dead silence.
Her heart pounded in her chest. She neared a turn in the hallway, glancing back to the lab door she’d left and the light filtering in from it.
A wet hand slammed across her mouth. Ana resisted the urge to gasp as someone collapsed against her and dragged her down onto the ground. The stone wall was damp against her back.
“Shh—shh—don’t,” she heard, the person shaking over her before stifling a cough. The voice was familiar. Ana sat up as she moved out from under the stranger.
He collapsed against the wall beside her, gasping in pain.
She saw the faint hue of blood, wiping it off her face as she saw it pooling on the ground.
The figure heaved toward her, snatching her hand before shoving a fistful of crushed shells, clumped together by blood, into her palm. “W—wrong,” he said.
“Ares,” Ana said in alarm. “Ares?” she said, louder.
Ares held her hands, pushing the shells harder. “We were wrong,” he said. “About ev—everything. I couldn’t—”
“Ares. Hold on,” Ana said, trying to hoist him up. He was soaked, slipping through her fingers. “Hold on,” she repeated, pulling him out of the hallway. They stumbled back into the lab, Ares falling back onto the slick floor.
Ana held her breath at the damage as Ares was laid out in the light.
There was so much blood. So many wounds she could hardly tell where the worst of it was coming from.
His body trembled, breathing sharp. He stared up at the ceiling, gritting red teeth as he coughed.
“I have to freeze you,” Ana said, reaching for the trigger on Chronos.
Ares grabbed her hand, and for the first time, she noticed a bronze ring around his wrist, broken glass inside of it.
He let her pull it off.
