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“I knew something about the infection looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure it out until Ashleigh said that Myka and Bell are the same, that their blood shares unique markers. The ones that identify them as fae descendants.”

“Wait… what?!” Peter said, shocked by her words.

“I can explain that,” Bell quickly said, looking at Peter, then turned back to Alice, “but first, let Alice finish. Why would giving my blood to Myka kill us both?”

Alice shook her head.

“It’s not giving him the blood that would kill you. The infection would,” she said. “It’s not an infection exactly. It’s like a hunter.”

Peter furrowed his brows and shook his head.

“What does that even mean?” he asked with frustration.

“Remember how we were looking at the slides and found it strange that it wasn’t changing? It was just holding, not attacking or shrinking?”

Peter nodded.

“That’s because it had already found the designated target,” Alice continued. “When Ashleigh mentioned Bell shared similar blood to Myka… I remembered why the slides looked so familiar, not because of the infection itself but because of the pattern it made. The pieces of Myka it was holding to. It was laid out just like the markers in Bell’s blood.”

“So… it was seeking out the fae in him?” Bell said.

Alice nodded.

“I think so.”

“So… if I gave him my blood… we would be feeding it…” she whispered.

“Yes,” Alice nodded, “but that’s not all.”

“What do you mean?” Peter asked.

“I hadn’t considered the fae as a factor when looking through the Spring research for a solution,” Alice began. “But, now, it changes things. Spring had a lot of projects relating to fae genetics. But there was one in particular that Holden tried for years to get going. Fortunately, he never managed to get it working while he was alive.”

“What was it?” Bell asked.

“It was a mutation,” Alice sighed. “The idea was to be able to infuse the patient with fae genetic material and then let loose a mutation in their system. Something that would hunt down the fae in them and make it grow until it changed them.”

Peter’s eyes widened. He remembered the leaf he had pulled from Myka’s hair.

He quickly moved to inspect Myka’s hair. He felt a moment of relief when he did not find another leaf. But it was short-lived as his fingers grazed the skin behind his ear.

It should have been soft. Instead, it was rough and cracked.

Peter took a deep breath and swallowed down his nerves as he leaned close to examine the patch of skin. His heart sank as he saw the brown discoloration.

“Bark…” he whispered with a crack in his voice.

“What?” Bell asked as Alice rushed over to see what Peter had found.

Alice clenched her jaw and took tiny breaths through her nose as she saw it.

“There is bark…. behind his ear,” Peter repeated quietly. “In his hair… there was a leaf… earlier.”

“Signs of mutation,” Alice said in a sorrowful tone. “He’s changing already.”

Peter slumped down on the small stool that sat beside the bed. Then, taking his head in his hands, he sobbed.

“There has to be a way to stop it,” Alice said. “To change him back. I’ll get the files.”

Alice hurried to the door.

“He’s already changing,” Peter said quietly. “We have given him the strongest treatments we can think of, and all we have done is slow the process, not stop it.”

Alice stopped and looked back at Peter.

“Yea, but we didn’t know what we were looking for or what was happening to him before,” Bell replied.

“And we do now?” he growled.

Bell looked away.

“No,” Alice said from the door, staring intently at Peter. “You can’t.”

Peter took a deep breath and let out another sob.

“See, even Alice admits it.”

“No,” Alice growled. “YOU can’t.”

Peter furrowed his brows; he looked up at her with his tear-stained face.

Alice stared back at him, her jaw was set, and her eyes bore into his soul with the cold gaze they held.

He swallowed.

“What?” Peter asked.

Alice took two slow steps toward Peter. Bell took small, soft breaths as she felt a thick tension growing in the air. She looked between the two of them.

“Leave,” Alice spat.

“What?!” Peter cried out, standing from the stool and staring back at her. “I’m not going anywhere!”

“I told you, Peter, not to give up on him. Yet here you are….”

“That’s not really fair, Alice,” Bell attempted to interject.

“Life’s not fair,” Alice growled, taking another two steps forward, her gaze becoming dangerous.

Peter growled.

“He is mutating before our eyes!” he shouted. “We know nothing of this process, how it works, or how long it takes. For all we know, he will be fully converted into one of those creatures within the hour!”

“I will not give up on him!” Alice snarled. “I will look through every document, every lab test, every disturbing experiment until I find anything that might help him!”

“We’ll help you,” Bell said, turning to Peter, “right?”

Peter clenched his jaw. He had spent every moment since he watched the light fading from Myka’s eyes, hoping, praying, and searching for a way to save him. But everything he found, everything they tried, had not been enough.

And now, they found out that they were facing off against the twisted science of Spring. The same people that had already made Myka’s childhood a nightmare. That had turned Alice into a doll for most of her life.

How could he hope to win against such an enemy?

“If you turn your back on him now,” Alice said in a low growl, “do not expect to be a part of his life when he recovers.”

Peter felt a firm and painful grip on his heart.

“If you would give up on him before his last breath, you do not deserve to be in his life, however long that may be.”

Peter looked away. He closed his eyes, and the tears wouldn’t stop.

He wanted to believe, and he wanted to have faith that they would be together again.

“Don’t make me choose between my sister and the man I love…” a soft, weak voice called to them all from the bed.

Peter gasped and looked down at Myka. His eyes were still closed but moving, fighting to open.

“Myka?” Peter asked, grabbing his hand gently.

Myka gave him a soft squeeze and opened his eyes just enough to see each other. He smiled.

“You crying for me?” Myka whispered playfully. “I’m honored.”

“Myka…” Alice called, approaching the bed and taking his other hand.

“Hey, big sister…” he smiled. “Do me a favor….”

“What is it?” she asked.

“Be honest, is this….” He began, licking his lips as he paused. “Have I begun my twilight journey?”

His voice cracked, and Alice clenched her jaw as she worked to hold back her emotions.

Alice smiled and leaned forward. She pet his hair gently and looked into his eyes.

“I’m not going to lie,” she whispered. “It’s not looking great right now. But I’m not ready to say we’re there yet.”

Myka smiled weakly.

“Would you ever be?” he asked.

Alice laughed and shook her head as a tear left her eye.

“No,” she whispered.

Myka nodded and looked back at Peter, who could not keep his expression from revealing exactly how frightened he was to lose Myka.

Myka smiled and squeezed Peter’s hand.

“I don’t want to miss out on a life with you,” he began. “But, if this is the end, I’m glad we got one night.”

Peter let out a sob as he sat down on the stool and moved closer to Myka. He nodded.

“Me too,” he whispered.

Myka closed his eyes for a moment, clenching his jaw and squeezing them tight, suppressing the pain he felt in his physical state and his heart.

“The truth is if this is the end for me… I have made my journey,” he smiled, opening his eyes and looking at Peter. “I was never going back to Spring. It wasn’t where I began.”

Myka’s entire focus was on Peter, and Peter felt it. He leaned closer, reaching out and moving a strand of blue hair from Myka’s eye.

“It was you, Peter,” Myka smiled brightly. “Meeting you was the beginning of real life for me. Before that, I was just…. Walking through this world, aimless and alone.”

Peter let out a heavy sob.

“Coming back to you now,” Myka continued. “It feels… right….”

Peter nodded.

“It is…” he whispered. “It is.”

Myka smiled weakly.

“Then can I… make a selfish request?”

His voice was getting wheezy and quiet. Peter felt the panic begin to settle over him again.

“Myka?” Alice called him. “Maybe you should rest…. you can talk to Peter later.”

“Please….” Myka whispered, his eyelids beginning to flutter.

“Myka…” Peter breathed with concern.

“Don’t give up on me yet….”

Myka’s voice fell away in a whisper as his eyes rolled back into his head, and his body went limp.

“Myka!” Peter shouted, grabbing his face between his hands. He jumped up from the stool.

The monitors around them began to cry out his distress as Myka went into convulsions.