Chapter 8: Adults Who Lie
THE following day, Mia and Henrik both went out separately to do some research.
The rabbit hadn’t simply gotten lost, and it sure as heck wasn’t anyone’s pet. The most likely scenario was that it was a medical or pharmacological test subject that had escaped.
Mia didn’t know about the medical side of things, but in pharmacology, animal trials were a given in order to test medicines for effectiveness. Rodents and rabbits were easy to care for, so they tended to be used the most.
“Henrik, was it a medical department rabbit?”
“No. All of them were present and accounted for. What did you find out on your end?”
“All present on the pharma side, too.”
Rueger was in charge of pharmacology. When Mia had asked him about any missing bunnies, he’d grown very solemn-faced and serious. Bralle would be the one to answer to if such a thing occurred, and he was apparently a real stickler for the rules. Realizing that Rueger also found Bralle a pain in the backside made Mia feel an increased sense of camaraderie with her professor.
“So, where did that rabbit spring from then?” Henrik was muttering, a deep frown on his face.
The Academy girls had a nickname for him—the Ice-Cold Aristocrat. Mia could see it. Henrik could cut sharper than any blade made of ice. Mia knew the harsh side of his tongue all too well.
“Seriously. It’s not a med or pharma department bunny, so where the heck is it from? If it was a pet, someone would be looking for it… And I can’t imagine it wandering inside the campus.”
Mia clenched her hands tightly together, picturing the bunny owner’s hypothetical plight. Henrik rolled his eyes.
“We’re not looking for the bunny’s owner. There clearly is no owner. Why are you getting so sentimental?”
Mia shrugged, smiling wryly back at Henrik. He was right. But Mia did feel bad for Mathias. She wanted to help him out as much as she could, since he seemed so awkward with his role of bunny-sitting.
Mia thought back on what happened after their little convocation the other day.
“Henrik, what did you mean when you said you’d found an ‘avenue to pursue?’”
Yes, those had been Henrik’s exact words, just before Mathias showed up with the rabbit and distracted everyone. Henrik had a plan, it seemed.
Mia had gone through the same past papers as Henrik, but there was nothing there on any treatments that weren’t just palliative ones. Mia had been seriously disappointed.
Henrik pressed his lips together in a tight line before letting out a little sigh.
“It’s Chris.”
Mia blinked. Every time she heard that name, it resonated in her heart. Chris…the cause of so much pain, the dark cloud over the sunbeam that was Felix. The name that was etched eternally on his heart.
Mia was frowning. Watching her, Henrik raised one eyebrow.
“Chris was an Angel Tears patient. There’s a huge lead for us to pursue right there.”
“Yes, but…”
Mia chewed her lip, recalling Felix’s panic attacks. Chris was one of his biggest triggers.
“That’s why I didn’t say anything in front of him. I decided to ask someone else who would know about Chris…besides Felix.”
“So you asked Mathias?”
Mia screwed up her face. It seemed to her that Mathias was dealing with a megadose of trauma from what happened to Chris, as well.
“Yes, I asked him about it. It seems like he doesn’t know any details, though. But he’s blinded by pain. There’s probably a lot more that he knows but simply doesn’t have mental access to.”
Henrik looked grave. Like Mia, it was clear he’d noted Mathias’s trauma. Mia pictured Mathias, his face contorted with pain. She really didn’t want to probe either Felix or Mathias for info, no matter what they might know.
“So, what do we do?”
“I have another option in mind.”
“Another option… What—who do you mean?”
If there was someone else involved, who wasn’t quite so emotionally invested, then that would be the perfect person to talk to. Mia gazed expectantly at Henrik, who frowned.
“The Chairman of the Board.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“SORRY, I don’t really know much about that.”
Randolph Meyer, the chairman of the school board, sucked his teeth as he reclined on a splendid leather sofa.
Ugh! What a blatant liar!
It was clear from his smug, smile-suppressing expression. Mia felt like she was surrounded by adults with such odd idiosyncrasies about them. Although that wasn’t limited only to the adults she knew…
“You’re lying. You’re the one who arranged for Felix to repeat the first year. So you must know all about the circumstances related to that.”
Henrik had ignored the chairman’s response completely and just bulldozed right past it. Mia was equal parts impressed and intimidated by Henrik’s moxie.
Just cool it, Henrik! This guy’s part of the royal family! He’s an elite!
Felix had treated Meyer with a familiar, casually disrespectful air that made sense, considering their connection. But surely Henrik had no right to mimic that kind of attitude towards him?
Mia began to panic. What if Henrik’s insubordination angered Meyer? But oddly, Meyer seemed unconcerned.
“All I know is that the kid came down sick.”
“But how did Chris contract Angel Tears?”
“I just told you, I don’t know… You’re an obstinate one, aren’t you?”
“We’re conducting research on Angel Tears. We need a breakthrough. Can you just cooperate with us?”
Meyer sighed, a sour look on his face.
“A breakthrough, eh… About Chris, all I can say is that I can’t say anything. However…”
Mia frowned. What did he mean? But Henrik was nodding shrewdly.
“However…?”
“Vigant. Have you talked to your father yet?”
“…What?”
Henrik looked lost for a moment. Then his eyes brightened with understanding. Immediately he whirled around and took off. Mia blinked, watching him go in astonishment. Then she turned back to Meyer, the chairman of the school board. Her eyes entreated him to give her another clue, anything at all. But he simply grinned back at her.
“Angel Tears patients always seem to end up at the army hospital, but one wonders where they go at the first onset of symptoms…”
Mia gasped. Right. Except for serious illnesses, most patients don’t go straight to a major hospital when they get sick. Usually, they go to their local clinic’s doctor first.
“Thank you, Sir!”
Mia yelped with gratitude as she turned and dashed off after Henrik.