Fates Divided: Halven Rising

The moment Derek stepped outside the physics building, a sense of panic filled him. His heart sprinted and he searched the windows of the brown building, as if he could see through to the Fae realm. Which was ridiculous. He might be able to merge with walls, but he couldn’t see through them.

He pulled his shoulders back and took a deep breath. Leaving Elena alone with the Fae was better than the alternative of taking her with him to Marlon’s lab. If Marlon was responsible for the Fae virus and he discovered Elena’s involvement, who knew what his mentor would do? A man capable of mass genocide was capable of murdering one innocent girl.

Derek needed the truth about Marlon without putting Elena in harm’s way. Leaving her with the Fae was a necessary risk. Keen was an ass, but the combat training he’d inflicted on them proved him a capable ass. He’d take care of Elena while Derek was away. He’d better.

Derek walked on. Just a couple of hours to check out Marlon’s lab, then he’d be back with her. Not with her with her, but to protect her. Course, that wasn’t what he’d done last night. He’d almost lost his head and kissed her. And for a stupid moment he’d thought she wanted him to.

Elena had always been a distraction, and it had nothing to do with her elemental abilities. He’d only learned about her powers when he followed her into Emain. But he had known who she was before she approached his doorstep.

Derek had scoped out his neighborhood regularly while Blended. It was possible he paid special attention to his beautiful, dark-haired neighbor.

Whatever. Getting involved with her was a bad idea. He couldn’t protect her while she worked on a cure if he was distracted by the idea of kissing her.

He trudged across campus to the building that housed Marlon’s lab, determined to keep his head in the game. Entering the building, he climbed the stairs to the second floor, which was deserted, as usual. Few people frequented this part of campus, composed of private labs and offices for esteemed faculty.

Derek didn’t bother with the key to the lab like a normal person. He tucked his backpack into an alcove and let frustration and anger over everything he’d witnessed these last few days build inside him.

Adrenaline crashed through his ribs, down his arms, his heartbeat thudding in his ears. The adrenaline and rapid tempo of his pulse pushed the transition along faster. He could stop the process by clearing his mind and relaxing, but he let the visceral response to his anger course through him, speeding his ability to Blend.

Bit by bit, down to the molecule, his body changed until it merged with the surrounding air, the structure of his body visible like a shadow when he looked down.

No matter how many times he’d gone out in public—first at night, later during the day—no one saw him once he had Blended.

Derek entered the laboratory by stepping through the door, registering the light zap of contact with a solid surface. Keeping the lights off, he studied the surroundings to make sure no one was there. Satisfied the room was empty, he made himself solid and flipped on the light switches, going back out to grab his bulky backpack and bring it inside.

He knew every inch of Marlon’s lab, save the jars Marlon kept in the corner. Marlon hadn’t gotten around to explaining what they were for before he’d disappeared a few weeks ago. After visiting Emain and seeing similar bottles in the Fae lab, Derek now wondered about their contents.

His first priority, however, was to search the locked cabinet next to Marlon’s desk. A cabinet Marlon kept off-limits, and that Derek suspected held secrets.

Only problem? Derek didn’t have the key.

He could bust through the cabinet and take a look at what was inside, but that wasn’t discreet. Marlon would know someone had gone through his things. He didn’t know how powerful his mentor was, but he didn’t want to risk discovery.

With all the elemental training Leo had put Elena through, which was having a surprisingly positive effect on her abilities, Derek wondered about his own powers. Instead of breaking the cabinet door, he thought he’d try something else—honing his own abilities.

He could get through the cabinet while Blended, but he wouldn’t be able to take anything out without going solid, grabbing the object, then Blending it. And part of him would still be halfway outside the cabinet because he was so large. Which meant he had to Blend part of himself while making part of himself solid. Something he’d never tried before.

He spent several minutes attempting to remain solid while turning his arm invisible. It was about as much fun as patting his head and rubbing his stomach in a circle at the same time, but he finally got it to work. He’d managed to bisect himself so that a part of his body was invisible while the rest remained whole.

Going entirely Blended, Derek slid his arm and head through the cabinet and made his hand solid. He began feeling around, since he couldn’t see anything in the dark.

Most of what he felt were file folders and paper, but soon he came across an item the size of his thumb that was cool to the touch and rectangular in shape. He could Blend items close to his person, like his clothes or the keys in his pocket, so he fit the object inside his palm and Blended it along with his hand, drawing both out.

A thumb drive.

With the lab and hallways deserted, and seemingly safe from anyone barging in, Derek fired up his laptop and plugged in the drive.

His hand shook as he scrolled through the files, opening them one at a time. The drive appeared to be some sort of backup for Marlon. Which made sense. Marlon probably didn’t want this information floating around on a cloud somewhere, because, based on the documents Derek read, what Marlon was doing was dangerous, illegal, and highly unethical.

Not to mention paranormal.

In some ways, Marlon hadn’t lied. He had studied a flu strain for decades. His life’s work. It was his purpose for studying the virus that came into question.

Typically, a single influenza virus dominates during the flu season and doctors provide an immunization for common strains. The problem that occurs is that some people get sick even if they’ve been vaccinated because they catch a different, less active strain of the virus.

The virus Marlon created, which contained elements of every flu strain in existence, was meant to curb the flu vaccine problem. In theory, by providing a vaccination with this supervirus, a person’s body could fight every influenza strain.

Marlon had fed his objective to Derek and the funding agencies for years. But the documents on the hard drive proved that this was not what Marlon had intended at all.

Before he disappeared, Marlon had merged a mysterious ingredient labeled F-18 with the supervirus Derek had worked on. F-18 reacted to Fae tissue Marlon had acquired from somewhere, circumventing Fae healing and causing cells to die within minutes. Marlon didn’t call the tissue Fae tissue. He’d labeled it Tirnan, the name of the Fae realm.

Derek slammed his fist onto the desk. He’d been so careful. Changed his life to avoid suspicion by his family, by other students—everyone. And here he was in the heart of a catastrophe, and partially responsible. Elena had said it wasn’t his fault, but he’d trusted Marlon. Had helped Marlon.

F-18 was the ingredient that changed the virus and made it dangerous to Fae. Derek had to find F-18. But Elena should be done with the library soon and he didn’t want her in Emain by herself any longer than necessary. He’d return to Marlon’s lab once he got Elena home safely.

He downloaded the information he’d found on the drive onto his computer as a precaution—he’d already memorized most of it—and returned the drive to the cabinet.

Leaving the building, he hurried back to the physics auditorium, and found Keen in front of the portal door to Emain, zoning out.

What the hell?

The panic Derek had pushed aside when he left the building to go to Marlon’s lab came crashing back. “Where is she?” he yelled at the Fae.

That got Keen’s attention. He glanced around, as if just now realizing where he was.

Without a word, Keen tore through the portal door to Emain, winding quickly through the hallways, while Derek hauled ass beside him.

They passed a few other Fae—some of the first Derek had seen besides the ones he and Elena had been introduced to—and it made Derek realize how dangerous this place could be. These men were giants. All of them as tall and muscular as Keen.

“You’re supposed to be guarding her! Why would you leave her alone in this place?” Derek growled as they sped through the corridors.

“Silence, human, I know where she is.” Keen slowed to a stop in the middle of one of the hallways near a door. A small smile appeared on his face. “She’s attempting to create a crowbar from paper clips.”

Derek glared. “What are you talking about? Find her.”

Keen stepped forward and swung open the door.

Derek stepped inside the darkened room. He reached along the wall for the light switch and flicked it on.

Elena was huddled on the floor, a wad of paper clips in her hands, inches from her face, her eyes closed in concentration.

She squinted up, blinking as if she’d been sitting in the dark for a long time. “Derek?” A wash of relief crossed her face. She stood and lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pressed her face to his throat, brushing her lips and nose over his skin, sending a spark of heat to his lower back. “You came.” Her voice was faint, fractured.

The fear he’d felt when he thought something had happened to her, the way she smelled, her soft lips on his skin—he wanted to press her closer and never let her go.

He grabbed her arms and eased her away. “What happened?”

“I called out. No one came. Didn’t have my cell phone…” Her broken voice suggested she’d been yelling for a good long while. “Derek.” Her gaze tangled with his. “Beatrice trapped me in here.”