Wild Lands (Savage Lands #2) - Stacey Marie Brown Page 0,51

bend to no man again.

Strolling past the guard on duty, I held my shoulders back and head high, trying to disguise the terror surging through me. Confidence was necessary in the art of deception. If you acted as if you belonged, no one questioned your intentions.

And I belonged here.

At least to them.

“Good evening, Ms. Kovacs.” The guard bowed his head.

“Good evening.” I kept my chin up, traveling down the hallway, casually peering over my shoulder when I got to Istvan’s door. The sentinel looked forward, shoulders relaxed. His job was boring and tedious, probably one of the easiest here, keeping guests from wandering places they shouldn’t.

My fingers tapped over the hidden lockbox behind a painting next to Istvan’s door, popping the lock open.

One thing with Istvan, he might have been an extremely good general, paranoid when it came to the outside world, always noting every detail, but he had grown lazy and arrogant inside his domain. He had not bothered to change the code for the hidden key in years.

As gently as I could, I twisted the key in the lock, holding my dress around the knob to muffle the sound.

Click.

My head swung again down to the guard, my heart throbbing in my ears.

He didn’t move.

With care, I opened the door wide enough to slip in, closing and locking it softly behind me.

I exhaled, feeling my pulse beat wildly against my flimsy dress.

You should not be in here, Brexley. My conscience stomped its foot like an uptight preteen. You’re going to get in trouble. Why are you doubting Istvan? What are you even looking for anyway? All these thoughts tumbled around in my head, racking up my pulse until it pounded in my ears, almost convincing me to slip back out and return to the event pretending this lapse in judgment never happened. You can no longer pretend you don’t know anything. You know something is off. Feel it in your gut. Istvan is lying. You’ve seen the pills. What they can do. The notes from that Rapava. The opposing voice slid into my head.

My tongue slid over my dry lips, tilting my ear toward the closed door. I listened for any activity before moving to a shelf with books, which held no interest for anyone, especially an enemy. Books on literature, art, languages. Old and antiquated in times like these. Tugging on the one I knew, feeling for the hook, the hollowed-out design pulled away in a grouping. Fake. Concealing the safe built into the wall.

Caden implied Istvan had more hiding places, but this was the only one I knew about. I had watched him open it from behind a curtain when I wasn’t supposed to be using his office in a game of hide-and-seek.

Like the code outside, I hoped Istvan hadn’t decided to suddenly change it.

Sucking through my nose, my hands shook, feeling the weight of my conduct. I was purposely breaking in and spying on someone I had thought of as a father figure for years. Someone I had believed and trusted. I could walk out now, step back into my role, become the obedient daughter and soldier.

Perspiration dampened the back of my neck, sliding down my spine, while moisture evaporated from my mouth. I typed in the code, my throat tightening, part of me hoping it wouldn’t work, giving me an easy out, an excuse to walk away.

Click.

The lock snapped free, icy weight dropping into the pit of my stomach as the door of the safe swung open. I froze, trying to listen for any sound outside my thumping heart, waiting for Istvan to barrel in and catch me.

Panic lodged in my throat, and fear scraped up my spine as my trembling hands reached for the stack of documents inside. Flipping through them, I knew the third file was the one I had seen the other day. I reached for it, my heart stumbling in my chest, alarm shrilling through my veins like a scream.

A note on the second folder was scribbled in Dr. Karl’s handwriting.

Results on Brexley Kovacs. I tested all these three times. We need to talk.

With shaky fingers, I flipped open the file. Most of it was medical lingo I didn’t really understand, though I figured out he highlighted things that were not normal. My regard tracked down to a footnote.

Since the first test, her Immunoglobulin M level has tripled the normal rate. The more I tested, the higher her results were, as if each time her body was trying to defend against