“All done!”

I flexed my hand as the chipper Dr. Fearson rolled away with another batch of my blood.

At this rate, there wouldn’t be anything left to tap into in just a few days.

I was really starting to question the doctor’s expertise in the area.

Maybe it was because she just didn’t care, despite Eli’s admonishment to keep me breathing for now.

As usual, the doctor simply turned her attention away from me when she had what she wanted. Not that I wanted to spend any more time around the relentlessly cheerful doctor than I had to. Her demeanor only made the whole process creepier. She definitely had more than one screw missing.

As soon as she rolled her cart away, Kal and Pele immediately came over and escorted me right of the lab.

I took a deep breath and fought of the wooziness that threatened to descend as soon as I stood. Every time I felt a little better, they just took more of my blood and I felt like shit again almost immediately.

This was what they wanted. A blood factory. I had no idea what they were doing with all of it.

Back in the room, Siro rushed over to help me over to the bed.

“How much blood do they think you have in you?” she asked, her face pinched with worry. “They aren’t even letting you fully recover before they take more.”

“Enough to fuel a jet, apparently,” I said, taking a deep breath. I smiled at her. “I’m fine. Just a little light headed.”

Truthfully, I didn’t know how long I could take this for.

The door opened again and Pele brought in a tray of food. I hadn’t eaten that long ago, but they seemed to be trying to avoid a repeat of what happened before by just feeding me more. I guess it was nominally successful, though taking less of my blood in the first place would have been better.

If I’d been human, I wouldn’t have lasted this long. Phoenixes were made of sterner stuff.

“If you took less of her blood, you wouldn’t have to keep shoveling food down her throat,” Siro pointed out angrily as he neared.

I would have told her to watch what she was saying, to not draw attention to herself.

But Pele diverted his attention to her as he set the tray down on the table he’d shoved in front of me with his foot, the light apparatus on wheels to make it more mobile.

This was exactly the opportunity I’d been waiting for.

When my grandparents passed, I’d partially fallen into the trap that many hurt teenagers fell into. I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. Nothing too bad, just some underage drinking and hanging out in questionable places, with a side of occasional shoplifting and pick-pocketing on the busy streets of the city. I’d had naturally light and quick fingers, meaning I’d never been caught at it, even when my friends had gotten in trouble.

I hadn’t used that particular skill in quite some time, but I found it was like riding a bike.

“Watch your mouth, little girl,” Pele warned as he straightened, turning back to the door.

Lighter one watch.

I gave Siro a look now that I had what I wanted and she shut her mouth instead of saying whatever ill-timed remark she’d been about to throw out this time.

Pele stepped out and closed the door a little more firmly than usual.

I waited about thirty seconds to make sure he wasn’t coming back in, then pulled the watch out from where I’d hidden it under the table.

Siro’s eyes widened as she saw me access the messaging option. “Adara!” she whispered, glancing at the door with an uneasy expression. “Where did you get that?”

“From our friend Pele,” I murmured as I typed in Sven’s contact.

Getting another look outside the dome had helped me narrow down which dome I was likely to be at, judging by the terrain. I couldn’t cut it down to one, but I was pretty sure it was one of two.

I kept the message short. I didn’t have much time before the guard realized his watch was gone. We were all too used to checking our messages for him to miss it.

Sven,

It’s Adara—I hate polyester with a passion. Eli and his people have Siro and me in one of the city domes near Ashur’s territory.

We’re fine.

I heard a mutter outside the door and quickly hit send before deleting the outgoing message from the log and going back to the home screen. I’d wanted to write so much more, but I needed to make sure he got it—

The door burst open and Pele stormed in with a snarl.

“Bitch!” he growled, not even pausing before he backhanded me hard enough that I fell back against the bed, the watch falling out of my hand.

There went his concern for my health, I guessed.

“What the hell did you think you were doing?” he demanded, checking the screen on the watch quickly. He shook his head. “Weren’t even able to do anything,” he said in a disgusted voice, looking up at me. “Pull something like that again and you aren’t going to get just a love tap,” he snarled. “That goes for both of you,” he added, shooting a look at a white faced Siro.

He stepped back out of the room and slammed the door shut.

“Psycho,” Siro muttered shakily, her hand touching my shoulder gently. “Are you okay, Adara?”

I sat up, flexing my jaw, wincing as I touched the already throbbing side of my face. That was going to leave a mark.

“I’m fine,” I reassured her. “Got a message out to Sven, hopefully,” I said in a low voice.

She pumped her hand up into the air in silent celebration, her eyes lighting up.

I really hoped it went through. And that he saw it. I’d added the bit about the polyester so he would know it actually was me. “Come on, Sven,” I whispered under my breath so Siro wouldn’t hear.

She needed the hope, not my doubt.

I just hoped I could deliver on it.