“The disease was never supposed to get out,” Constance said, raising her head to peer up at us. A hint of defiance shone in her eyes. “It was created as collateral. When Initiative Industries first brokered the negotiations between Ouroboros and your Senate, your people would only agree to support our longevity research with funding and”—she glanced away, clearing her throat—“resources if we helped them develop the disease.” By resources, I had no doubt that she meant living test subjects. People, human and Nejeret alike. “It was their way of ensuring we didn’t go back on our word and tell the whole world about them.” She looked at me. “About you.”

I scoffed. “What does this have to do with Mari?”

“She and I oversaw the development of the project, but Scott and Gregory handled the day-to-day while Mari and I worked on something that wasn’t strictly on the books.”

“The ba transfer,” I guessed.

She nodded. “The technology to remove a Nejeret’s ba already existed—all we had to do was figure out a way to transport fragments of ba into a human subject. Mari theorized that even the smallest, microscopic amount would spark the transformation . . .” Constance shook her head. “But every single time we tried the procedure, the second the balance between human soul and Nejeret ba shifted in favor of the immortal side, the anti-At we’d used to transport the ba fragment would eat away at the newly forming ba like acid through flesh, and the subject would die.”

Constance looked at Nik. “You’re the one she told me about, aren’t you—the one who can make the transfer work?” There was a flicker of hope in her eyes, even after everything.

Nik didn’t respond, didn’t even nod. Instead, he looked at me. “Even with Mari’s help, there’s no guarantee that this’ll work. It’s still just theoretical. And assuming the procedure is successful, there’s no way of knowing how much of Garth will be left once his soul is transformed by the ba. He might not even be Garth anymore.”

“But it’s all we’ve got. Even if there’s only a one percent chance that this’ll work, the odds are still better than if we let the disease run its course,” I said, sounding a little lost, even to myself. I was grasping, and I didn’t care. “He’ll die, Nik. We have to try.” Gods, I sounded like a broken record.

It took Nik a long time to answer, but finally, he nodded.

I exhaled heavily, relieved to still have him not just on my side, but at my side. I looked at Constance. “You know exactly where Mari is? You can take us to her?”

With a hand on the corner of the table, Constance climbed up onto shaky legs. “Yes. Yes, I can, but . . .” She licked her lips, wringing her hands. “I want something in return.”

I felt the corner of my mouth twitch, and a quick glance at Nik showed the hint of a smirk curving his lips, as well. “What do you want?” I asked her.