I continue farther into the palace, until I reach a steel door. The tumblers click as I turn the key in the lock. When I enter the lab, a fine mist bathes me, washing away any outside contamination. The white walls, floor tiles, and countertops appear orange under the lantern light in the sterile room. Cabinets line the walls, their glass doors revealing bottles of medicine and other medical supplies. A single hospital bed sits against the wall. The stainless steel sink reflects the twinkle of lamp fire.
The Professor doesn’t flinch as I step inside the room. She doesn’t startle like she did during the early days of her imprisonment. Instead, she simply refuses to acknowledge my presence and studies her notes in a spiral binder, her auburn hair pulled back from her face. I often wonder if she’s become comfortable with my company, or if she’s so engrossed in her studies that she doesn’t hear me enter. Either way, I can’t help but find myself staring at her, infuriated by her lack of interest in my presence.
She is the same age as my mother, but other than that the Professor is nothing like her. As dark as my mother’s hair, eyes, and heart are, the Professor is equally the opposite. She possesses wild hair, bright eyes, and a nurturing demeanor with the kids my men bring to her. Her kindness to the children both maddens and intrigues me.
“Pack the lab up. We’re leaving Everland for good,” I say.
The Professor’s gaze flicks toward me and she does a double take, suddenly noticing me. Her eyes become wide and glassy.
“Leaving?” she asks.
“I’ve done what I came here to do. We will return to the Bloodred Queen tonight!”
She shakes her head and presses her lips together. “I am not going anywhere with you.”
“Trust me, I’d leave you here in a heartbeat. You’ve accomplished nothing close to finding a cure. Consider it an act of mercy that I don’t abandon you in Everland,” I say, tamping down a burst of fury. I head to the door, afraid to turn back. Afraid she’ll call my bluff. Even after all her failures, she’s still the best chance at finding a cure.
She follows behind, grips my arm, and spins me toward her. “We can’t leave yet. Your soldiers are dying, along with the remaining children of Everland. This virus is bound to kill all of us unless I find a cure. I have to stay!”
Her defiance stirs a burning ember within me, threatening to erupt into an infernal rage. No one challenges me and lives to tell about it. I slam my hand onto the counter. She takes several steps back.
“You’ve had months to figure it out. The best you’ve come up with is a means to treat the symptoms. All this time you’ve searched for immunity in the kids and you’ve come up with nothing! I’m tired of this forsaken city. We go home now!”
She glances down at her scarred and scabbed hands, evidence of her own infection, which she’s managed to keep at bay. For how much longer, I am not sure. I start again for the door.
“Wait!” she says, her voice hitching. “If we leave today, there will be no hope for any of us, not without a cure. I know how to develop it, but what I need is here … in Everland.”
“Why?” I ask, meeting her gaze. “What’s here that you so desperately need?”
The Professor bites her bottom lip.
Fury explodes within me and before I know it, I have stormed toward the Professor, peering down at her. My hands grip her shoulders and she whimpers. “Tell me!”
She hesitates. I dig my fingers into her flesh. “Now!” I shout.
“If we leave, we will all die. But there is one person, one child, who can save us all.”
Rage due to her months of lying boils over, and I shout, “Who? Who is it?”
Her eyes search mine and reluctance gives way. “Immunity lies in a single girl, the only one who was vaccinated for the virus.”
“A girl? And you can’t create a cure without her?” I ask, releasing the Professor.
She straightens her lab coat. Her eyes meet mine and the fear is gone. She takes a breath before she speaks.
“I’ve tried. Without her, we’re all as good as dead.”
I gently set Mikey down and slip my rucksack off my shoulders. Despite the chill of the early morning air, beads of sweat trickle down my face. I wipe them away with the back of my hand, trying to hide the mounting alarm racing through me.
“What are we going to do?” Mikey says. He rubs his nose on the sleeve of his threadbare blue pajamas.
“Don’t worry. We’re going to go find her,” I say, hearing the apprehension in my voice.
“How?” Mikey asks. “There must be a bazillion pirates out there.”
“I don’t know. We’ll figure it out,” I say, attempting to reassure him. Frantically, I untie the top of my rucksack and empty its contents onto the floor to make room for only the essential supplies. Mikey pushes the umbrella aside and picks up the dusty old teddy bear, snuggling it to his chest.