Page 73 of Keran's Dawn

He shook his head again. “No, they are purebloods who came here directly from Braxia. I don’t know their names. We merely label things Patient A or B,” he added sheepishly. “I’m also not their physician. I only do the lab work.”

“I see,” I repeated, trying to hide my disappointment. “And how is it administered?”

“Orally or by injection,” Jaek replied matter-of-factly. “Orally is best. You simply dilute the dose in water or juice.”

“Is this it, the cure you’re working on?” I asked, pointing at the vials he was placing in the tray with my chin.

Jaek glanced at them before giving me a strange look then nodding. “Yes, it is. Apparently, the patients are responding well to the treatment,” Jaek continued as he carried the tray of labeled vials to one of the cooling units. “Deimos really wants me to get it all done by next week so that we can start mass production.”

I frowned. “Why the rush?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure, to be honest. He mentioned an outbreak of the illness in certain compounds on Braxia. But I think it’s more because he wants to leave Haven in the next couple of weeks, when all of those also leaving will be making their move.”

He wants it ready to be able to enthrall the Braxian population before the coronation.

I stared at the cooling units as he was finishing placing the tray of vials inside one of them.

He hesitated for a second, as if debating whether he should continue. “As you can see, it’s very sensitive to temperature. It must remain cold until it is administered. If it was to get above thirty-six degrees Celsius for even just thirty seconds, it would be ruined and lose all its properties.”

“Thirty-six degrees?!” I exclaimed, stunned by this revelation. “I drink my coffee twice as hot!”

“Coffee?” he asked, confused.

“The human version of gwar,” I corrected sheepishly. “Melinda finds our version too bitter. She always drowns it with cream then add sugar.”

Although I laughed at the disgusted expression Jaek made, my mind was firing on all cylinders. This information felt too specific to just be randomly volunteered. He’d effectively told me how to neutralize the serum. But how could I leverage that knowledge? Deimos usually stayed in the room to watch me drink the damn juice, although he rarely issued new compulsions. The juice merely ensured the previous ones remained in effect.

“Does that mean that it wouldn’t work on a feverish patient?” I asked, struck by a sudden idea.

The oddest glimmer flashed through his eyes. It could have been admiration or approval, but it vanished too quickly for me to be certain.

“It would still work,” Jaek said a bit hesitantly. “But it would affect the rate of breakdown of the drug. We call it half life, where a percentage of the medication is lost. Most drugs account for such things. But when that really can’t be helped, knowing a patient might be dealing with these kinds of factors, the healer would adjust the dose accordingly to compensate such losses based on the percentage of breakdown per unit time.”

Jaek burst out laughing when my eyes glazed over. I could handle many things, but science and I didn’t mix too well.

“To put it simply, you would want to increase the dose of this specific drug if the patient suffered from high fever or was in a very warm environment. But the intense heat would only have an impact if applied immediately after the injection or consumption, like with a very hot heating blanket. That would nullify the effects of the drug, or significantly reduce its duration.”

“That’s fascinating. You’re truly brilliant, you know that?” I said in all sincerity.

The shy expression that settled on his face made me want to hug him. Jaek was such a sweet and lovely man.

“Thank you,” he said timidly.

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before looking at something above my head. A frown creased his strong brow, prompting me to look over my shoulder at what could have caused that reaction. I noticed the clock and realized our thirty minutes were likely almost up.

My heart sank. While I wanted to believe Jaek had tried to communicate to me how to free myself of the compulsion, I couldn’t swear to it. I still didn’t know for sure where he stood and if he would help me find Keran and the others to free them.

“Any chance we could hang out again tomorrow?” I asked nervously.

“I was just thinking we could have breakfast,” Jaek suggested promptly.

My heart soared. “I would love that! However, Deimos usually brings my breakfast to my quarters—”

“I don’t mind coming to your quarters, if you’re okay with it,” Jaek interrupted.

“I don’t mind, but I’m not sure Deimos will agree,” I replied cautiously.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll handle Deimos,” Jaek said with an enigmatic smile that threw me for a loop.

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