“You think Anna is an immune too?”
“Don’t you think it’s possible?”
The witch’s eyes lit up. “It does seem like a possibility. It could even explain why she went crazy. If you’re right about Sofia exhibiting the signs of LLI because of the fact that she wasn’t turned, perhaps Anna’s brain wasn’t able to handle it the way Sofia was able to. Still, the only person who could really verify that is Felix.” Corrine shrugged. “He would be the only one who would know if he had ever tried to turn her. Heaven knows we can’t get any trustworthy information from Anna.”
I grimaced, remembering why I was so distraught in the first place. Right before I found myself meandering toward The Sanctuary, I was to meet with Felix and his men for negotiations with the humans. I had no idea how Eli and Yuri managed to find Felix—much less convince the man to have a talk with me, but they had somehow managed to do it and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the meeting—one that, for some reason, they had decided to hold at the port—apparently Felix’s “neutral ground.”
“Wish me luck,” I told Corrine before leaving for the port. A couple minutes later, I was fighting to hold myself back from ripping several hearts out. All of them. They’re going to drive me insane. I was summoning every ounce of self-control I still had left in me to not lash out at the people surrounding me, but I kept my anger in—mostly by letting everything they were saying go in one ear and out the other.
“I’m not going to work with the humans,” Felix repeated, shaking his head adamantly.
“It’s not like we want to work with you,” Ian shot back.
“You’re here to work for me, boy, not with me.” Felix then glared at me. “See what you’ve done? You’ve let these weaklings entertain the delusion that they are somehow our equals.”
“This island will crumble without us.” Ian was now on his feet, his nostrils flaring as he boldly stood up against a creature that could easily break his neck in two.
My jaw tightened as I tried to reel in my frustration. It seemed Felix and his men had no idea what the word ‘negotiation’ meant when they had agreed to the meeting. They had it in their heads that they were there to make demands. I was trying to drive the point that if we didn’t come together, the other covens were going to annihilate everything we worked to establish over the past years. None of this common sense information seemed to faze Felix, who was adamant that he would never lower himself to the level of working hand-in-hand with humans. They were supposed to be his slaves.
At some point, Ian must’ve already had enough of the endless banter with Felix, because he ignored the man and set his attention on me. “You know I’m with you in this, Derek, but not all the humans are willing to fight in this battle. Most of the humans are willing to just sit this whole thing out and wait for the battle to finish. Others are hoping to escape during the heat of the battle.”
I knew that what he was saying was a sure possibility. I couldn’t blame the humans for saving themselves or even grabbing a chance for freedom. The other covens had their sights set on The Shade, but it seemed it was going to implode before they even stepped ashore.
I was hoping that this meeting could somehow help us arrive at some sort of compromise before Sofia, Aiden and the hunters they brought with them were to arrive. Of course, it seemed the negotiations weren’t going to take us anywhere that would lead to an actual resolution.
“Who cares about the humans we already have here? They’re easy to replace.” Felix brushed Ian’s announcement off.
“You mean the same way you brushed Anna off?” Ian hissed.
Felix responded with a wide grin. “Ahhh…Anna…word is you have an eye for my little pet. How is she, that lovely one?”
Ian was obviously using his own self-control not to attack. I, on the other hand, found a way to voice out my own thoughts about Anna. “You were in love with Anna once, were you not?”
Felix raised a brow at me. “Perhaps. What’s that to you?”
“She was human.”
“She was a freak.”
“A freak?” I sat up straight, suddenly finding myself engrossed in conversing with one of the men I detested most. “How so?”
Felix’ lips twitched as he sealed his mouth shut, refusing to answer my question.
“Rumors were you wanted to turn her into one of us so that you could be with her forever. You used to worship the ground she walked on, then suddenly, you just didn’t want her anymore?”
Felix gulped. His jaw tightened.
“What did you do to her?” Ian hissed, blaming Felix for her mental condition.
The tone of accusation made Felix’s temper flare. “I did nothing to her. She was supposed to be mine. We were supposed to be together, but no matter what I did, she wouldn’t turn into one of us. She remained human until I lost her. Until she just went insane… Happy now? Is that what you wanted to hear?”
I tried to hide the smile. My suspicions are correct. Anna is immune. “I know why she didn’t turn. It’s the same reason Sofia didn’t. They’re both immune.”
Felix narrowed his eyes at me. “What does that even mean?”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not why we’re here. Bottom line, Felix, is whether or not you will work with us.”
Stubborn as a mule, the man shook his head. “You’re going to run this kingdom to the ground, Derek. With rumors going on that you’re about to allow hunters into The Shade…”
“That’s none of your business,” was all I told him. The thought of the cure once again made my heart leap. Sofia is coming with a cure. It seemed too good to be true, but it was the one thing that I was hinging all my hopes on at that moment.
I knew as I sat there that we weren’t going to accomplish anything that day. Felix was too obstinate and Ian was just a boy who didn’t hold any sway when it came to the majority of the masses occupying The Catacombs.
The reality that we were about to go to war while still fighting amongst ourselves was sinking in and I was beginning to accept that it was a reality I couldn’t escape from. Unless Sofia’s cure actually works… I knew that a cure would change life as I knew it. It would change everything.
“Are you even listening to what we’re saying?” Felix slammed a fist over the table between us.