Page 100 of Training Flame

Zolkos led me into the lab and opened one of the refrigeration units. He withdrew a small vial filled with a deep violet liquid and held it up to the light.

“That’s it?” I demanded.

“Yes,” he said calmly. “This is what we have been trying to produce for decades. I only collected enough heat phase slick for one human trial until we retrieve the omega and collect additional samples.”

I rolled up my sleeve and held out my arm.

“Sir?” Zolkos hesitated.

“Give it to me,” I snapped. “Get a syringe. That’s an order.”

“Sir, we do not know what the outcome will be. You know previous alpha trials resulted in fatalities.”

“You said this one would work,” I growled. “Do you believe that or not?”

“Yes,” he said after a beat. “I do.”

“Then I will be the first,” I said. “The first alpha turned shifter. I have waited over twenty-five years for this. I will not wait any longer. Get the syringe!”

Zolkos moved quickly then, laying out sterile instruments on a tray. He drew the liquid into the syringe, inspecting it once more before stepping closer.

“This may be uncomfortable,” he warned.

I bared my teeth. “Do it.”

The needle pierced my skin.

The serum burned as it entered my bloodstream, a sharp heat spreading outward from the injection site. Zolkos withdrew the syringe and stepped back, watching me closely.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Fine,” I snapped.

The word had barely left my mouth when irritation surged through me, sudden and irrational. My skin prickled. The lights overhead seemed too bright.

“I thought this was supposed to turn me into a shifter,” I snarled. “I don’t feel any—”

Pain exploded through me, so white hot and overwhelming, it ripped through my body, stealing my breath. My vision fractured, doubling, then splitting again. The room swam, colors bleeding into harsh light and shadow.

I staggered, clutching at the edge of the table as nausea and fury collided. Every movement sent spikes of agony through my skull.

“Sir,” Zolkos said sharply. “General?”

The lights burned my eyes. My head felt like it was tearing itself apart.

Then everything went black.