“What did you expect?” I exclaimed. “Everyone treats me like I’m a leper! Of course, I’ll keep it a secret! Do you realise how this looks for me?”
“After all we’ve been through, you could have come to me.”
I bristled, barely holding onto my frustrated tears. “I couldn’t and you know it. I tried to convince him to come, but he wouldn’t step foot inside Camelot. You know why? Because he knew he’d be carved open and studied. People like us will always be outside the Light, no matter how much we want to be a part of it. Human Convergence stole my life and it stole Elijah’s.”
“It’s not that simple, Madeleine,” Ramona argued. “The Dark is all-consuming.”
“He saved my life,” I said, seething. “What was I supposed to do? Leave him to die? He was attacked because he helped me escape from Ben Nevis.”
Ramona sighed. “Ethically, maybe you were right. But you conspired with the enemy, Madeleine. The Codex is clear about our stance towards the Dark.”
“He’s a victim, Ramona, just like I was. You can’t tell me you didn’t feel it when you touched him. The line isn’t as clear cut as it used to be.”
She lowered her gaze and studied Elijah. “What’s the end game here, Madeleine? What does he want?”
“A cure.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes!” I threw my hands into the air. “Are you going to help him or not? While we argue about stupid ethics, the infection is killing him.” Unbidden tears welled in my eyes. “Ramona, please.”
She stared at me open-mouthed. “You care for him. A demon?”
“Crucify me later,” I pleaded. “Please, help him.”
Scowling, she pushed me aside and began to inspect Elijah’s wounds. Without a word, she began to administer her Light, searching out the limits of the infection.
“It’s not good,” she told me. “But I don’t think it’s too late.”
I sighed in relief and sank onto the neighbouring bed. Exhaustion was tugging at me beyond the reaches of my Light and I was long past caring what Ramona thought of me. Admitting I felt empathy for a demon was one of the worst things I could admit to, but it wasn’t all of Elijah. She’d see.
“I can do some non-invasive preliminary tests,” Ramona told me as she prepared to treat Elijah’s infection, “but I can’t hide you both for long.”
“Do what you can.”
I watched Ramona’s every move as she administered antibiotics to combat the poison that was leeching into Elijah’s body.
She conducted her tests while we waited for the medicine to do its work. She took some of his blood and peered at it under a microscope, then used her Light to manipulate the cells before looking again.
She returned to him several times, checking on his infection and to take scans and make other assessments. I did not understand what half of them were, even though I’d likely gone through the same process as a teenager.
“Can you help him?” I asked when I couldn’t take it anymore.
Ramona shook her head. “I’ve tried multiple simulations, but I’m afraid the mutation has taken over.”
“It can’t have,” I argued. “I could see him switch between two different halves…” I looked up at her, pleading. “I saw it, Ramona.”
She turned back to the tablet, but it was only a tactic to stall so she could gather her thoughts.
“It must be a different strain,” she mused, flicking her finger across the tablet screen. Numbers and diagrams flashed past, but they meant nothing to me. “But I can’t see where it differentiates between what he once was and what he is now in the results. This thing has completely taken over. That’s the only conclusion I can come to, or—”
“Or what?”
“Or he wasn’t human to begin with.”
A lump formed in my throat and I swallowed hard. “If he wasn’t human, then what was he?”
Her gaze met mine, troubled. “I don’t know.”
If she was right, then that’s why he wasn’t cured when Mordred died. It just didn’t add up. Our world was comprised of Naturals, demons, and humans. Nothing else remained after the cataclysm.
“I think it’s time you told me everything, Madeleine,” Ramona said, setting down the tablet. “And leave nothing out this time, because I know you’re still not revealing everything.”
I gritted my teeth. She was right, but a small part of me hoped that when the Regula was called to haul my arse to prison, they wouldn’t detect my mutation.
“Will he live?” I asked, lifting my gaze.
She nodded. “Yes, but I cannot guarantee his ongoing safety.”
“I understand.”
I watched the rise and fall of Elijah’s chest as he slept. His wounds looked better already. He’d bear the scars for the rest of his existence, but I hoped he’d agree it was a small price to pay.
Ramona sat beside me and placed her hand on my shoulder, her Light rippling through me. “Oh, Madeleine…”
And with that simple touch, she knew the truth about me.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I wish I could help you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my brow creasing.
“I know your mutation,” she murmured. “We spent all that time together, working to stop it from spreading. I studied it for a year trying to find a cure. I synthesised every scenario I could before Mordred’s death.”
I sucked in a shaky breath. “There was never going to be a cure for Human Convergence, was there?”
“No, but…”
“But what?”
“I don’t need to do a test to know your mutation has changed.” She turned so she faced me. “Madeleine, your mutation has fused with your soul.”
I jerked to my feet and shook my head. “You’re lying.”
“Thirty years of studying soul medicine has taught me how to diagnose with a simple brush of Light. I can feel it in you.”
“No.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her eyes misting with tears. “Madeleine…there is nothing that can cure this.”
I collapsed next to Elijah and took his hand in mine. He was completely out to it and not even my touch stirred him.
“What about him?” I demanded.
“Perhaps, in time, he can return
