Chapter 1217
[ 570 words ]
“What’s wrong? Are you jealous? Envious?” Theia tilted her chin up slightly. Her dark eyes were perfectly calm, utterly devoid of fear, but her soft words drove into Corvus’s chest like jagged glass.
She always knew exactly how to twist the knife.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll break my promise and keep the cure?” Corvus sneered.
“I am,” Theia answered evenly. “But if Silas dies, I won’t survive him. If you want a corpse, go ahead. Let’s see how long a dead woman keeps you company.”
Corvus’s jaw clenched tight. He had no counter to that. His face darkened with impotent rage.
“Give me the antidote,” Theia demanded, her voice dropping to a glacial pitch. Corvus didn’t move, just glaring at her.
“I said, give me the antidote!” Losing her patience, Theia pulled a paring knife from her sleeve and pressed it directly against her own throat. She pushed hard enough that a thin bead of crimson swelled against her pale skin.
“Fine!” Corvus panicked, instantly tossing the formula’s data drive onto the table.
“But I’m going with you to drop it off,” Corvus said, snatching the drive back up and pressing a gun hard against Theia’s ribs. “Don’t try anything clever, Theia. Or all three of us die today.”
Her darling daughter was a terrifying genius. In half a month, Juniper had dismantled decades of his empire, forcing him into hiding like a rat.
Without his research, without Theia, he had no reason left to live anyway.
“Fine,” Theia agreed, confirming the drive was authentic.
After driving for over an hour, they arrived at a rundown convenience store on the remote edge of Eclara City.
“Excuse me, could you please call this number in exactly thirty minutes?” Theia placed a thick stack of cash on the counter, looking pleadingly at the shop owner. “This is life-saving medicine. Please, make sure they know to come pick it up.”
“Life-saving medicine?” The middle-aged woman behind the register immediately shook her head. “I can’t take your money førs that, but I’ll make the call.”
She glanced from Theia’s pale face to the terrifying man standing right behind her. He was dressed in all black the brim of his baseball cap pulled low “Are you alright, honey? Do you need me to…”
“Mind your own business,” Corvus hissed, his hand tightening inside his coat pocket, his eyes flashing with murderous intent.
“I’m fine, really. Thank you,” Theia said quickly, terrified of dragging an innocent bystander into this. She turned and walked out.
After they disappeared down the road, the owner stared at the vial of medicine and the cash, completely torn.
What the hell just happened? Was that a kidnapping?
Should she call the cops? But if it was a hostage situation, calling the cops might get the poor woman killed.
After agonizing over it, she picked up her phone and dialed the number Theia had left.
Thirty minutes later, Juniper and Shanley landed outside the shop in a helicopter.
“They left a while ago.” The owner pointed down the branching dirt roads. There are a dozen, different trails out there. I don’t know which
one they took.”
“Thank you.” Juniper carefully took the vial, her voice raw. “Send men down every path.”
Even though… the chances of finding them now were virtually zero.
“Done.” Shanley nodded. After barking orders into his phone, he gently took her hand. “Let’s get this back to the lab first.”
Theia had literally traded her life for this cure. They couldn’t let anything happen to
it.
“Also… Jimmie just texted. Silas knows about your mom.”
Juniper froze.
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