Ascended (War of the Covens 3)

The meeting, however, had done nothing to soothe Marion’s fears. Although there was discontent, primarily among Caia’s friends within the Travelers and lykans, Marita had managed to contain the threat of riot by announcing her plans to create a new Council—assuring everyone she had no intention of turning the Daylight Coven into an autocracy. Moreover, some seemed willing to accept her claims that Caia was working for the Midnights and that she had convinced the Council, with her supreme powers, to work against the Daylights.

Why wouldn’t they believe her? Marita was part of a noble family and had been their faithful leader for years. And more importantly, it was becoming apparent there were still a great many Daylights who were just as ruthless in their beliefs as she was. They would do anything to win the war, to destroy Midnights, and it was only now Marion was realizing that meant sacrificing their own. How could Marion possibly stand against her sister and such odds?

But this … if Lucien was speaking the truth about the children? Oh goddess. Who was she to trust? Her sister was clearly maniacal at this point, and Caia had been lying to her for weeks.

You have to look. You have to know for yourself.

Heaving the weightiest of sighs, Marion stood. Her legs trembled so badly, she had to grasp the pew behind her. She took a moment to bolster her courage, to remind herself of who she was, how strong she’d always been. She couldn’t let her strength desert her now … now when she needed it most.

With tentative steps, she stood above the marble slab. Very slowly and gently, she pressed her finger on the near-invisible stud.

Whoosh!

She watched, silently horrified, as it opened, a blast of cool air whipping across her skin. Peering down into the subbasement, dread settled in her stomach. Quietly she made her way down the ladder attached to the wall and found herself standing in what looked like a hospital corridor. Like a surreal nightmare, it felt as if she wandered forever through white hallways, garishly lit with fluorescent lighting, her heeled boots echoing ominously as she approached what was sure to be an unwanted reality.

The next corridor she turned down was different from the others—wider. A door sat adjacent to a large viewing window.

Another door farther up the corridor on the opposite side, another window.

Her chest reverberated with the pounding of her heart, and she clutched her stomach at the welling of nausea and fear. Her heart raced out of control and then stopped as the words on the door shot through her with the impact of a shotgun blast.

Laboratory 1: Lykanthrope.

Oh Gaia, no. No. She squeezed her eyes shut. No, her sister couldn’t be capable of this.

Anger, unlike anything she’d felt, mixed with the cruelest of disappointment, surged through her. She took the doorknob in hand and thrust it open.

“Hey! You can’t be—” A magik in a lab coat rushed at her, only to be cut off as she blasted him against the far wall with enough force to render him unconscious. He slumped helplessly to the ground, papers flying up and then fluttering slowly to the floor around him. Tears filled her eyes at the sight before her. Seven frightened children stared back, wide-eyed and pale, from within cages.

“Marion?” a child whispered, and she stumbled in recognition. It was Seana Trey, and in the cage next to her was Joaquin Barton. They were Pack Errante kids. Oh Gaia. Oh Hades …

“I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

Marion whirled to face her sister whose eyes seemed to plead with her.

“This isn’t what it looks like.”

“Where are the others?” Marion asked numbly. “Where are the other pack children?”

“They’re safe … in another lab farther down.”

“Safe? How so? They’re being experimented upon! This is completely immoral, not to mention illegal!”

Marita sighed. “Illegal to whom? There is no longer a Council, Marion. I am the law now.”

“What are you doing?” Marion cried. “This isn’t you. You wouldn’t do this. You wouldn’t torture and experiment upon innocent children!”

Marita flinched. “I’m not torturing them.”

Marion gazed at her, aghast. Had her sister gone completely mad? “What do you call putting them in cages?”

Her sister’s shoulders slumped, her marble poise deserting her under some invisible crushing weight. “Certain sacrifices have to be made, sister. Don’t you see? Before Caia, the Midnights were winning.”

“Oh goddess, Marita, if Father knew who he had left to the run the coven—”

“Father!” Marita spat. “He was the one who told me things needed to change. He was the one who told me we needed to be more ruthless in our dealings.” She smirked as if enjoying her latest revelation. “Father was the one who left the plans for the laboratories. He believed that experimenting with genetics was the only way to win the war. And he was right. If the Midnights were winning before Caia, with her … we will be destroyed. But these children are the key.”