I said. “She was chosen, and helping you. How can you treat her like this?”
“Whatever she was before, she isn’t now. She’s an elite. She needs blood to survive, lots of it. Let’s just say that nobody down here is volunteering for the job.”
“It kind of goes against everything we stand for,” Trevor added. “If we ask for blood donors, to keep alive an elite, there’d be a riot. Honestly if the people even knew she was down here, it would be a major thing. They’d want her head.”
“The only thing that can save her now is the antidote,” curate Marcus said. “If we find it, and Dr. Liu can make it work, we can make her human again – then she’ll be safe here.”
I frowned, biting my lip.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Trevor asked. “Something you didn’t tell us before.”
“It might be nothing.”
“Do you know where it is?” Marcus asked, holding my shoulders.
“Yes,” I said. “I think so.” It was only a guess, but the vision I’d seen had been of a cemetery, like the one in Algrave but heavily overgrown. There was only one abandoned compound that I knew of.
“Then let’s go get it,” Trevor said, holding my gaze.
“When do we leave?” I asked.
“Nobody is leaving,” Jacob said, sweeping into the room with half a dozen armed guards behind him.
“It’s too dangerous,” he added. “At least right now. I have no doubt the woods are thick with king’s guards, searching for you. If it’s been buried for decades, whatever it is, it can wait until things have died down.”
“Quandom is abandoned,” I said. “I don’t think they’ll look for us there.”
“Where did you hear that name?” Jacob asked, his eyes widening. His stride faltered and he leaned to the side.
“I’ve been there,” I said. “Damien took me. I’m sure that’s the vision I saw. If the antidote exists, it’s in Quandom.” I sounded more confident than I felt, but I had to do something. The longer I stayed at Havoc, the less comfortable I felt; and now that I knew they were holding Penelope captive, like some kind of rabid animal, I wouldn’t be able to sit around and wait for something to happen.
“You’re trusting that your elite husband isn’t luring you back to him. He planted that scene your mind; it could be fake, or a trap. Maybe he let you leave, just so you could lure the rebel forces into an ambush.”
“Fiancé,” I corrected, “and I don’t think that’s going to happen,” I said. But how did I really know. Why did Damien bring me to Quandom the first time. Was it all an elaborate ploy to earn my trust – was I bait to foil the rebel uprising?
I didn’t think so. He said he cared about me. The passion we’d shared, when he kissed me in the rain and ash, it felt genuine. But what did I know of love?
“We have to try,” Marcus prompted. “We’ve been here before; the elite are too fast, too strong. But if we could weaken them, if we could make them human again, we’d have a chance. John Patton started this rebellion in Quandom, let’s finish it there.”
“We don’t need help,” Trevor said. “Just a few men.”
“And women,” Jazmine said stepping forward. I hadn’t even seen her arrive, she must have followed the others.
“Do you really think you can find Quandom again?” Jacob asked. “You’ve only been there once, after all.”
“Yes,” I said, though I wasn’t too sure actually.
“She can’t just leave,” Steve cut in. “She knows our location.”
“You still don’t trust me?”
“Not even a little, bloodwhore.”
Trevor’s hands tightened into fists but Jacob raised his hands quickly to stop more violence.
“Fine,” Jacob said finally, clenching his jaw. “But one condition. You bring the chest back here. Everything you find. Hopefully it will be enough for Dr. Liu to start working on the antidote, and we’ll take things from there.”
In the end it was decided, Jazmine and I, Trevor and Luke would go alone. We could see if the trunk even existed. I knew Camina would want to join us, but she was still recovering from the fight and needed rest.
“One more thing,” Frank added, as the crowd dispersed. “This time, you’ll be better equipped.”
He jerked his head and we followed him to an armory, filled with clothing, weapons and equipment.
Frank gave each of us a small vial of elixir, around 10 drops, which would have cost nearly a fortune in the compounds, if it wasn’t so forbidden. The penalty