Seraphina's Revenge: A Rebirth In The Apocalypse Novel

Chapter 407: Finish What You Started

Sera didn’t reply, she simply offered up her arm without being told.

Except it wasn’t offering, Elias knew that well. He knew what her offering looked like, and it wasn’t this. This was nothing more than her tolerating him.

Elias cleaned the crook of her elbow and inserted the needle. Her skin didn’t tense. Her pulse didn’t jump. It was like drawing blood from stone that simply chose to flow.

He transferred the sample to the tube. Labeled it.

The creature hovered at the edges of his thoughts. You handle her like she is fragile. That is good. She might not be, but that doesn’t mean she needs to be treated badly. She is not that fragile. But you are.

Elias capped the tube as Sera’s voice broke the silence. "Does it bother you?" she asked.

Elias’s breath caught. "Does what bother me?"

"That you’re standing there," she said, "instead of in the cage with the rest of them."

The creature snarled approval. Good. Tear him open. Dig the shame out with your teeth.

Elias tried to speak and failed, but Mercer, however, answered for him. "He chose correctly," the Director said, raising his eyebrow.

Sera ignored him completely; her eyes stayed on Elias. "You didn’t choose him," she said. "You chose fear."

Elias stiffened, hating the fact that she saw him as less because he wasn’t trapped in a cage. "I chose strategy," he answered, his voice impassive.

Her lips curved—barely. "That’s what humans call fear when they want to feel smarter."

The words hit harder because she wasn’t angry. She wasn’t intentionally mocking him. She was simply stating the truth.

Mercer’s brows lifted faintly, the way a scientist takes note of a variable becoming interesting.

Elias set the syringe down a little too hard.

The creature groaned like disappointed thunder. She sees through you like light through glass. And you still cling to your pride. Pathetic.

Another soldier stepped closer, waiting for instruction.

Mercer gestured. "Begin the neurological assessment."

Elias froze. "That wasn’t part of the first phase."

"It is now," Mercer replied. "She’s compliant. We use the window."

The creature’s voice sharpened to a blade’s edge. If you put anything near her skull that harms her, I will split your mind down the center.

Elias turned toward the Director, shaking his head. "No."

Mercer’s eyes narrowed. "No?"

"You push her too fast," Elias said, forcing control into his tone. "If she interprets the neural probes as threat—"

"She won’t," Mercer cut in.

"You don’t know that."

Sera’s gaze flicked between them, studying, waiting.

Mercer stepped closer to Elias. "Doctor Korkmaz. The point of you is to obey instruction and get what we need to proceed to the next step."

"No," Elias said softly. "The point of me is to prevent you from provoking the only thing keeping this facility from being a charnel pit."

The air went still.

A guard gripped his rifle tighter.

Mercer watched Elias with renewed interest. "You refuse."

Elias lifted his chin. "Call it professional judgment."

Sera’s eyes warmed by one fraction of a degree as the creature inside of him purred with violent approval. Good. Stand between him and her. Even if your bones snap doing it.

Mercer studied him another second, then...to Elias’s shock...nodded.

"Very well," Mercer decided. "We postpone the neural probe."

He turned to the guards. "Record that. Shift the sequence. Move to phase two instead."

Elias exhaled slowly.

Sera’s eyelids lowered again—satisfaction, not gratitude. The kind predators felt when prey realized the correct direction to run.

The creature lounged smugly. Congratulations, you learned. Barely. Let’s hope you didn’t learn too late.

Mercer moved to the far counter to retrieve something sealed in a chrome case and Elias’s stomach dropped.

He recognized the label instantly.

"Tissue micro-biopsy extraction," he whispered. "Already?"

Mercer didn’t look up. "She tolerated the blood. Tissue is next."

Elias stepped forward. "Director—"

Mercer opened the case.

Sera didn’t move.

Didn’t tense.

Didn’t blink.

But the air pressure changed again.

The soldiers felt it.

Elias felt it.

The creature inside him felt it hardest of all. If you let him cut her...The voice was pure death.

...I will peel you open like fruit.

Elias’s hands shook.

"Mercer," he forced out, "you skip biopsy until we know baseline cell response. You don’t cut into something you don’t understand."

Mercer lifted the scalpel-like device. "We understand enough."

"No," Elias said.

The lab went silent.

"No?" Mercer repeated.

Elias stepped between the platform and the Director. The guards raised their rifles automatically.

Sera remained motionless—watching.

Waiting.

Elias said it again. "No."

"You’re obstructing procedure," Mercer said.

"Then fire me," Elias snapped. "But you won’t, because I’m the only one who understands what you’ll lose if you make that cut."

Mercer’s jaw flexed.

The creature pressed against Elias’s skull, thrilled. Good. Fight. When she breaks out of these chains, I want her to see you on the correct side of the table.

Mercer lowered the scalpel by one inch.

Enough to show he was listening.

Not enough to show he was convinced.

"Explain," the Director said.

Elias took a breath.

"She breaks machines," he said. "She breaks protocols. She breaks—everything. But she does not break without reason. If you take tissue before she trusts the room, you won’t get data. You’ll get blood and bodies."

Mercer’s eyes flicked to Sera.

She smiled.

Just a little.

Not sweet.

Not cruel.

Certain.

Mercer exhaled through his nose then placed the micro-biopsy tool back into the case.

"Phase two postponed," he grunted, clearly not happy with that decision.

The guards lowered their rifles—tense, reluctant.

Sera rolled her head on the platform slightly to look at Elias more fully.

"You did better than I thought," she murmured.

Elias’s chest tightened. "Don’t thank me."

"I wasn’t going to."

The creature laughed with savage pleasure. She approves. And you? You almost cried. Try to retain some dignity.

Mercer addressed the guards. "Prepare the secondary restraints. If she remains stable for thirty minutes, we move to controlled stimulation."

Elias stiffened. "Stimulation of what parameters?"

Mercer didn’t answer, he simply left the lab. The soldiers followed him, closing the door with a final shut, sealing everything inside.

Elias and Sera were alone. For the first time since the border wall, silence existed between them. Real silence.

Elias stepped closer. "Sera..."

Her eyes opened again—focus sharp, curious, assessing him the way one might examine a puzzle with jagged, missing pieces.

"You made yourself useful today," she said.

"That wasn’t—"

"Elias."

Her voice slid over him like a scalpel. "Lachlan is furious with you. Alexei is waiting. Zubair is planning. And you walked out."

"I had to," he muttered.

"Not for them," she said. "For me." It wasn’t a statement so much as her testing the waters.

The creature swelled with pride. Yes. Say it. Say you did it for her.

Elias looked away. "It isn’t that simple."

"It is," Sera replied.

She pulled slightly on her wrist restraints—testing them. Not to escape. Just to feel them.

Her creature—the one Elias could sense but not hear—responded like a low growl beneath her skin.

Then she looked at him again. "You can open these," she said.

His heart slammed into his ribs. "Absolutely not."

"They won’t hold if I want out."

"Exactly why I’m not opening them."

The faintest smile ghosted her mouth. "You’re learning."

The creature purred. Praise. You pathetic, needy organism. Try not to melt.

Elias swallowed. "I’m not your enemy."

"Good," Sera said. "Because if you were..." Her eyes sharpened as she narrowed them on him. "...you wouldn’t be breathing."

The lab hummed softly.

Elias’s fingers twitched at his sides.

Sera’s stare held him in place—not controlling him, not hypnotizing him, not manipulating him.

Recognizing him.

Evaluating him.

She finally closed her eyes and rested her head against the platform.

"Sit," she said.

Elias blinked. "What?"

"Sit," she repeated. "Your creature wants you closer."

His blood iced.

"You can—"

"Yes."

"How long—"

"Long enough."

The creature exploded with triumph. Sit. Now. Do not make her wait.

Elias sank onto the stool beside her and her voice dropped to a low murmur.

"You walked out of your cage, Elias. Now we see if you can survive the door you opened."

His pulse hammered as the creature whispered like a knife against bone. And if you fail, little idiot...

Sera’s eyes opened just enough to look at him.

...I will finish what you started.