Eversummer: The Forerunner Archives Book 1 Page 31

  28.

  "I'm sorry... My fault... Mutations... Pilcrow? No! Juno... Last human? No!"

  "Pilcrow?" I repeat, face scrunched. "What does that mean?"

  Ursa shakes her head, staring at Altair's unconscious form. "He's been spouting this nonsense since I found him." The woman's eyes find mine. "He seems to be dreaming about you a lot though." She smirks.

  I roll my eyes. "It's probably the concussion." I turn to Tien, who's just finished putting a fresh dressing on Altair's head. "It is a concussion, right?"

  Tien shrugs. "I can't say for sure but... Yeah, probably."

  We're back in Tien's room in the Manse. Me, Traylor, Ursa, Tien, and Altair. When Ursa showed up in front of the Manse, hysterical, Tien had immediately rounded up a few of his brothers and retrieved Altair from the grasslands according to Ursa's directions. Ursa had seemed nervous–even for her–upon seeing the mutant boys from Everwinter, but she seems calmer now. Luckily, Altair's only major wound is on the head, and that not so severe. He will recover.

  Ursa sobs a little, and I move to where she sits at the side of the bed to comfort her. "Why don't you take a walk?" I suggest. "You've done all you can for Altair. Take a break, get some air. The boys here won't bother you." I think.

  Ursa shakes her head vehemently. "No... I... I can't. I feel responsible for him now. I want to be here when he wakes up. You go, Juno. Get some air. I don't imagine he'll be waking for a while yet."

  I very much want to argue the point, but the look on Ursa's face stops me. She's traumatized. I nod. "Sure," I say. "Come on, Traylor. Let's go get something to eat with Tien." Traylor doesn't argue for once, heading for the door, Tien beside him.

  "Juno?" Ursa calls, timidly. "A moment, please."

  I nod at Tien and Traylor and they leave the room.

  "What is it?" I ask, coming next to the woman again.

  Ursa's face becomes graver than it already is.

  "It isn't safe here," she urges.

  I sigh. "Look, I know some of these boys seem a little rough around the edges, but I don't think they'll hurt us. Not with Tien around anyway."

  Ursa shakes her head. "It's not that," she says. "I know what this place once was."

  I smirk. "Yeah, so do I."

  "You do?"

  "Yeah. They used to experiment on the boys here. They were stolen from Everwinter as infants and brought here." Ursa's jaw is almost on the floor. "Tien told me," I explain.

  Ursa nods. "Well, thank the gods for him," she says. "But that's not what has me worried."

  I roll my eyes, getting annoyed. "What is it, Ursa?"

  She lowers her voice, conspiratorially. "I used to work here," she says.

  My eyes pop wide. "What?" I say, hoping I'd misheard her.

  "It was brief, and a long time ago," Ursa explains. "I don't think any of these boys will remember me but..."

  I nod, understanding the woman's fear now. "Do you remember any of them?" I ask.

  Ursa shakes her head. "It was so long ago, and they were just infants at the time... Juno, you don't know what we did here. It wasn't pleasant. It happened during a more desperate time in my life, and I was willing to compromise my scruples to achieve my goals."

  I pause, staring. "You mean curing mutations, don't you? You did some of your experiments here..." To help cure my Mother, I think but don't say.

  Ursa nods, touching the tumors on her face. "I didn't look like this back then," she says. "There's that at least. They haven't recognized me so far."

  I study her face, the human she’d once been barely recognizable. I smile. "There's nothing to worry about then," I say. "You look nothing like those old fotos in your lab." I smirk sheepishly. "That's not meant to be an insult, by the way."

  Ursa laughs and Altair groans at the sound, struggling a little on the bed. "No offense taken," she finally says. "I suppose you are right." She smiles at me. "Go. Take a walk with Tien. I'll send someone when Altair wakes up. Then we can get the hells out of here."

  I get up, putting a hand on the mutant woman's shoulder. "Take it easy," I say. "You deserve it."

  And with that, I leave the room.