Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
—The Book of Soal 2.4.16.33
I didn’t see Cyrus for the remainder of the week, but we did message via my special reader.
Cyrus: Mykal and another patient escaped the base. I’ve got trusted scouts searching.
He meant Victors. Were the “trusted scouts” CURED soldiers as well as Soalians? I certainly hoped so. My friends needed help only we could give them.
I knew better than to ask follow-up questions, even in a roundabout way. Or to inquire if Cyrus had remembered what had occurred in Theirland with his grandfather. Something we absolutely needed to dissect sooner rather than later.
Arden: Thank you for letting me know. PS: I miss you.
Every day, in every way, and I didn’t care who knew.
My heart leaped when his response came seconds later.
Cyrus: Prepare yourself. Soon I won’t settle for another rushed peck.
Anticipation prickled my skin. I craved his kiss more than my next breath. It was necessary, and the longer I went without it, the more I ached for it. For him. My brightest light in a world of darkness.
I still hadn’t tended to the Problems for Later section of my memory garden, but I hadn’t had time. If I wasn’t updating Cyrus, I was training. If I wasn’t training, I was studying or observing my teammates, searching for my fellow Soalian.
Yes, Cyrus warned me not to trust anyone else, even another Soalian, and I understood his reasons. But this was a mystery I must solve. This particular Soalian had kept the secret for years. A skill I wished to acquire. Plus, I really needed a friend right now. A mentor. I wouldn’t admit what I was.
Mr. Vyle had made sure of that. He did indeed punish a trainee for the treatment facility incident. The culprit was hung in the courtyard and left to rot for days. I hadn’t known the chosen soldier, but the loss stayed with me.
Though I’d “summoned” Domino, he hadn’t visited me, proving Cyrus’s assertion that my piece of the Rock was meant to provide a burst of strength after ingestion, nothing more. And yet, I sometimes thought I detected a low hum of the librarian’s relentless intensity. But if he was nearby, why not appear? I didn’t expect to have a long, drawn-out back-and-forth with the guy, but come on. At least let me lie down, close my eyes, and pretend to sleep while he explained more about Soal, the Rock, and the books.
When my day off finally dawned, I was beyond ready.
The morning began as any other, a bell buzzing and cell doors opening. The only difference? Trainees cheered. As I sat up in bed, I noticed my guards no longer stood at the entrance. Guaranteed, they lurked somewhere in the shadows, intending to follow me as I made my way through Bala City.
I hadn’t forgotten Cyrus’s request that I remain at the base. While his happiness mattered, I ached to be inside the Rock. I couldn’t stay here. I just couldn’t. Answers awaited me, the tug stronger by the second. No way I could pass up this opportunity.
After a beat of hesitation, I freed my seed from the safe and stuffed it in my pocket. Just in case I needed a boost . . . or didn’t return. Like my team, I hustled into the hall and made my way to the locker rooms. While others chatted about their plans, jubilant, I did my best to hide my nervousness. Today I was going to break countless CURED laws. If caught, I’d lose everything I valued, perhaps even my life.
I hurried through a shower and changed into regular clothes. The infamous pink tank and shorts I’d worn my first day on the base. The very reason Cyrus called me Lady Pink. I relocated my Rock to my shorts pocket.
My stomach churned as I speed-walked toward the underground train station on the other side of this building.
Halfway there, a trainee named Winslet caught up and draped her arm over my shoulders. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I echoed, confused. This was the first time she’d approached me. “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s great.” She had spiky hair, multiple piercings, and strength many envied. And she was funny. A trash-talker who let nothing intimidate her. If she was the Soalian I sought, even better.
“Let’s hang today,” she suggested with a bright smile.
I almost blurted out, “No, I’m meeting someone.” Such a rejection opened the door for more questions. “Maybe next time.”
“I don’t mind tagging along, whatever you’ve got planned.” She hit me with a sad expression. “I could really use the company right now.”
Hmm. Was she too eager to stick with someone she’d never interacted with? Perhaps she was assigned the duty of spying on me up close and personal. With CURED, the possibility always existed.
I made a noncommittal noise to buy myself a little time to cobble together an appropriate but firm response. We reached the steps leading to the underground station, where hundreds of soldiers congregated. A cornucopia of conversations filled the air.