Cantrel hadn't done the poofing trick gods were known for. It made me believe that he was a very minor god. Chance was of the first tier of minor gods being the son of one of the main twelve and was worshiped in his own right. He had temples, though calling them temples was generous as most of them were gambling dens. Whatever Cantrel was, he wasn't as powerful as Chance when it came to godly mojo. Still, Chance was trapped here.

It finally hit home that Chance's life really was in jeopardy. I had no doubt that if Cantrel caught Chance he would kill him. Only gods can kill gods. Cantrel may not be as strong as Chance, but there were two others on The Island. At least that's what Chance said. If it was a true three against one scenario then Chance really could die.

Why would they go through the trouble of killing a god? Chance had alluded that there was something going on here that I didn't know about. It was my job to find out what it was. Well, mine and Maize's job. He was hoping we'd dig up something that would help him escape.

First I needed to heal my arm. Even if it wasn't dislocated there was some damage. Aggie should be able to fix me. I'd tell her the truth about being accosted by Cantrel. As of right now, I didn't think he'd realized I'd noticed he was a god. If he was still trying to play the role of human it would be prudent to treat him as if I still thought he was human. That would mean telling on him.

The next thing I needed was to meet up with Maize. Though it might be more prudent to wait a little bit before meeting so that there'd be no suspicion. If I went to meet Maize directly after meeting Chance then Cantrel would find out and would try and question me more. No, it would be better to wait.

Chance had mentioned underground caves. I knew about the caves but hadn't really explored them. That was more Adam's thing. It would have to become my thing soon.

I rolled into the water and slowly worked my way back to the chair lift. Having to hold my arm pinned to my side meant I was having issues going in a straight line.

The lift attendant was different today. It wasn't the same guy who'd hurt himself yesterday. He had to get into the water and help get me positioned onto the lift. Without the use of my dominant arm, I couldn't manage to hold myself in place.

Once out of the water he had to help drag me into my chair. He pushed me back to the facility. Hopefully, Aggie was available. I'd take any healer at this point but I honestly wanted Aggie.

The lift attendant started to get chewed out by one of the other regular watchers. She was just gearing up to go into a rant about how my tank wasn't ready and he needed to put me back in the lake when he broke into her tirade telling her I was hurt. She looked at me and went a little green. Then she turned without another word and stormed down the corridor.

"Sorry, the two of us had a little thing a bit ago and she's not over it. I'll get you to Aggie straight away." He pushed me along the hall and asked a few people if they knew where Aggie was.

Apparently, she was having a late breakfast in the second-floor cafeteria. I was sorry to interrupt her meal but I was hurt.

We found a room that looked like an employee lounge. The lift attendant left me there and went to get Aggie.

Aggie arrived with a napkin still tucked into her neck. There was a little bit of egg yolk on the napkin. I hadn't known Aggie was a messy eater but at least she knew to take precautions against food spillage.

"Oh, honey! What have you done to yourself!" Aggie rushed up and began to assess my arm.

I explained what had happened with Cantrel in detail. I knew that the story would get around and I wanted to make sure that they thought I was a good little girl. I even told Aggie the same story I'd told Cantrel about Chance. The truth, but with a lot of details missing.

Aggie fixed my arm and had me wait a bit.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Then I got to tell my story to a prim looking woman who assured me that the matter would be brought up with Mr. Rience. Mr. Cantrel was one of Mr. Rience's research partners. Even if he was a higher up it wouldn't do to have him injuring the patients due to over excitement. That's what the woman told me. Cantrel had just been over-excited at the prospect that an actual god was on The Island.

I didn't bother mentioning to the woman that Cantrel was a god. I doubted that was common knowledge among the staff. Heck, I hadn't realized it in all the time he'd been visiting my mother. I couldn't really blame the workers for not noticing either.

It was only because I happened to see him right after I'd met Chance that I'd been able to put it together. Chance had an atmosphere about him that practically screamed GOD. I would be hard-pressed to say it was an aura or a density of magic. It was something I couldn't really define but it was there.

Cantrel had that same aura. It was more subtle. It didn't scream god, it was more like a whisper. There was no doubt in my mind that Cantrel was a god. Now that I knew the feeling of being around a god I was kicking myself for having missed it before.

Why though, had a god, even a very minor one, want to socialize with my mother? To my knowledge, there wasn't anything special about her. Well, she had Chance's gift of Luck Leech, but that wouldn't be enough to attract a god would it?

My mother had sacrificed me, or rather my overall luck. Why me? I could understand my father if he really had been as abusive as Chance hinted. I wouldn't put up with someone abusing me either. But why hadn't she just poisoned him in his sleep like any other abused wife? Why did she have to involve me?

I tried to look at the situation from her point of view and just couldn't come up with a good reason to sacrifice her own child.

Father had died after being hit by a boat. A very unlucky set of circumstances. Now that I knew that Mom had been leeching away his luck it made the unlikely scenario more sinister. In a way, I had rather she'd just poisoned him. She hadn't actually murdered him, but she was still to blame. Though if he hadn't been abusing her she never would have sacrificed him to begin with.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left.

No, that wasn't right. I was confusing myself. I'd just come to terms that I'd have to accept my mother's death. There was this pit inside me that screamed whenever I thought about it, but there was no changing reality. . . Or was there?

Why didn't she ask Chance to change her back to human? Gods could do that right? If it wasn't one of Chance's powers he most likely knew which god could. The idea spread through me like fire.

What if there was a way to fix this? We couldn't bring back the dead, but maybe we could change the future? If there was a chance to save my mother I had to take it. No, not just for my mother but for everyone else too. Those potato babies, Janette and Gregory, for everyone. A god could fix this. Surely a god could fix this.

The barrier. If Chance could get back through the barrier and tell the other gods maybe one of them could help us. Why was the barrier there to begin with?

It wasn't as if the plague were a huge secret from the gods. Chance had said they knew about the plague but hadn't known about the survivors, but hadn't that been in the paper? That the survivors were being sent to The Island? No, that wasn't right. It was those who were infected that were sent to The Island. It was just because all the infected were here that there were survivors here.

The question was how long had the barrier been in place? Was it in place before or after the plague victims came here? Then you have to ask what was the purpose of the barrier. Was is to contain the plague? Or was there another reason.

What other reasons could there be for a barrier on an entire Island? The research labs were the first on the list. Then there was the possibility of protection. The Island was supposed to be a vacation destination. Perhaps the barrier was in place to protect the ultra-wealthy in society from attack? A defensive measure against an enemy nation trying to wipe out all of the Amber Kingdoms wealthy in one blow? It was possible.

Chance had said that the barrier needed to come down, but he hadn't specifically said that it was Maize and I that needed to do it. He just wanted Maize to get to the underground caves. Presumably, what information we needed was down there.

He'd said that Maize was more than what she seemed. Well, that was obvious. She'd been Janette's bodyguard had foiled plots of kidnapping. She certainly had more unique skills than the average adventuress.

My job was to get Maize to the underground caves. There was a series of caves near the northern end of the lake. Adam had said as much. I just needed to find one that connected to the underground complex.

Hadn't the attendant yesterday mentioned that they had boats hidden in caves in case evacuation was necessary? It would stand to reason that the people in the underground cave network would also need access to those boats. It wouldn't make sense if the only ones with access were those in the above laboratories.

So I should find the boats? Finding the boats. That was my mission. Find the boats.

If we could get Chance off The Island in time, then maybe one of the gods could come in and save us. It was a slim hope, but I held on to it. It was the only chance we had.