The Initiative (A Sleeping Beauty Remix)

Thirty-Five

Thirty-Five

"Having a mate means you'll always have someone there for you. Even when all your friends disappear."

-Marlee Jacobs

"When she wakes, she'll have a decision to make," Leonger said.

Wes rubbed a hand over the stubble along his jaw. He knew what she would choose. He could clue Leonger in, however, if there was one thing he'd learned over the last 16 years, it was that Aria Lewis deserved to make her own decisions. Despite what he wanted her to pick, this one was her choice and hers alone. "Dr. Freed better be right about this one."

"Without a long-term study, we have no way to officially determine its accuracy or permanency, however, the biochemists are confident the antidote will serve its purpose and, in higher doses, prove to suppress an ability."

He still didn't like it. They'd had Aria in a medically induced coma for just over a week and a half while they worked on an antidote. A week and a half was such a short time to be able to come up with an antidote. Despite trusting Leonger's doctors and biochemists, he thought the timing was short. Leonger employed the best of the best—but would that be enough?

Either way, this decision was not one he would make on his mate's behalf. He'd made the mistake of stealing her decisions in the past. He would never do that again.

Wes' gaze scanned over Aria's prone figure and traced the deep blue cast over her arm. "Daniels?"

Leonger shifted his weight, "Good. One dose was sufficient. He's one test away from clearing for the field again."

The relief should have spread like a cool balm over his chest. Instead, his gut tightened. "She won't be happy when she wakes."

"I wouldn't either," His boss admitted, "but you knew the risks."

He knew the risks all too well. Leonger's decision to put Aria under still made him want to snap something in half. He'd been a hair away from storming Leonger's office at the palace and ripping him a new one. It was a wave of anger unlike any he'd ever had before--the type of anger that boiled like lava under his skin.

Only when he thought of Aria did he finally calm down. Leonger was not 100% sure The Circle's serum wouldn't have an effect on Aria's abilities. They had no way to determine if she still had Eva's electricity ability or Brayden's pyrokinesis. With the serum exposure, they couldn't risk her losing control again. Her ability being the first of it's kind ever recorded meant the government was flying blind. They had no way to officially determine she would not be a risk.

Aria would be absolutely devastated if she lost control again. She'd agree to be put under, or worse if she risked becoming a danger again. That made him finally calm.

But he still didn't like it.

"When?" Wes asked.

"Approximately 9:00 am tomorrow morning. The second Daniels receives a full clear."

"And her decision?"

Silence. Then, "A week at most."

☙♡❧

Waking up was like moving through a long tunnel. First there was nothing. Absolute nothingness that suffocated me with it's dark, heavyweight. Then, softly, there was noise in the distance. A whisper of an echo, a single beep, barely reaching my ears. And then another, this time a murmur. The light was next, starting as a soft introduction of white color.