Adam steps around me and grabs the door handle. Opening a door, he gestures for me to go inside. I stare at him for a couple seconds, before heading toward the door. As I walk past him, he whispers. “When you told me you weren’t afraid of death.”
I stop and stare up at him. That happened a while ago…before I healed Colton. Now that I think about it, all the confrontations after that moment with him seemed strange. He didn’t seem to fight back outside of Jane’s house—not enough to cause any damage. I didn’t hear him when I was pulled into the dream world either. I knew he was there, but wasn’t as involved as he was prior to that incident. “Well come in. Don’t just stand in the doorway,” Dravin says. I look away from Adam toward him. He’s sitting behind a desk, watching me.
“What’s going on?” I ask him. Without saying anything to either of us, Adam turns around and leaves me alone with Dravin.
“So impatient. Sit.”
I heed his command. Even though I know that Dravin’s not the one in charge, I know that I’m still in trouble here. There’s two mages against a whole compound of Gadramicks. I can only push my luck so far. “What’s this about?” I ask.
“I need to take another blood sample from you. I’d rather you cooperate with me so I don’t have to give you more dormirako.”
“You want me to give you permission to take my blood to see if you can extract my magic?” I ask. “Are you crazy?”
“I don’t think it’s possible for your magic to be extracted anymore, but we have to run one last test. Since we were able to find you, your enchantment is no longer up. For some reason, Zahtri wants you alive. Now, I’m not one to listen to authority, but he’s one that even I don’t want to go against.”
“What if I say no?”
“Then we’ll have to get creative, now won’t we?”
I stare at Dravin. I don’t really see a way around this. Giving them some of my blood will give me a little time to come up with a plan on how to get out of here. “Fine.”
“Really? Just like that? No arguing?”
“I may be stubborn, Dravin, but I’m not stupid.” Dravin watches me for a moment, before calling for Adam.
When Adam walks into the room, Dravin tells him to take me to Dr. Arden. When I don’t move, Adam grabs my elbow and pulls me out of the room. I yank my arm away the second we get out of Dravin’s office.
“I can walk on my own. Everyone is always dragging me places when I’m fully capable of walking myself. I’m not some helpless weak girl, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” he says as he leads me down the halls again. I jog to keep up with him. I try to read his mind again, but he’s repeating the chant again.
“I think I liked the jerky, aggressive, and overly cocky Adam better than this silent, brooding one.”
“Believe me, I liked him better too.”
“Why are you working for the Gadramicks, Adam? Honestly.” Adam stops outside of two glass doors. On the other side, people wearing white labs coats are rushing around. Everyone is holding something: a syringe, needle, stethoscope, etc. It’s obvious that they are testing something.
Adam chooses to ignore my question. He opens the door to the lab and ushers me inside. I instantly recognize Dr. Arden in the crowd. He’s flipping through some papers attached to a clipboard. His dark curly hair is falling in his face. Adam places a hand on the small of my back and pushes me further into the room. When he clears his throat, Dr. Arden looks up from his clipboard and looks directly at Adam. His eyes quickly move from Adam and land on me.
“She’s agreed to give you another blood sample,” Adam states.
“You agreed?”
“Yep. So let’s stab my arm and get this over with. I have a lovely concrete cell calling my name.”
“You have your mother’s attitude,” Dr. Arden says while trying to hide a small smile.
“Don’t talk about my mom. You abandoned us, doctor.” I enunciate the doctor at the end of the sentence. This man means nothing to me. I grew up without a father and there’s no way in hell I’m going to start believing that he’s it.
Dr. Arden walks over to me, grabs my arm and gently guides me to a chair. “Always dragging me somewhere,” I mumble as I sit down. Dr. Arden lifts my shirt sleeve up and wipes some disinfectant on my arm. I grimace and focus on the wall to my left.
“You’re squeamish at the sight of blood?” Adam asks me.
I wince as I feel the needle pierce my skin. “The needle. Blood. The whole thing. It’s not my cup of tea.” I look at my arm and squeak when I see the blood coming out of it.