I love him and hate him for that.
He keeps his hand on the small of my back as he guides me to the front door. Like a lovesick fool, my attention is totally on Arsen so I don’t notice who he asks for the keys to the Porche. A key fob passes from hand to hand, and we step into the fading light of the afternoon. He hits a button and the top rolls down. He opens my door for me, and I step inside the gleaming vehicle.
The ride is a blur because he does not obey traffic laws or even the laws of good sense, and we weave in and out of traffic without regard to the yellow lines on the road. He is mad, this vampire, drunk on lust, and perhaps even a small measure of joy. He laughs at the cars honking at him, and the wind whips through our hair as we barely escape one vehicular disaster after another. I am glad my heart no longer beats as a human’s does because if it did, it would surely leap out of my chest. As my mind cycles on Hollywoodesque visions of my heart bursting out of my chest like an infant alien, he pulls up to the Baetal compound abruptly.
“Thank you,” he says with the most sincerity I’ve ever heard in his voice.
I frown at him. “For what?”
“For caring about my sister, despite what’s happened between us. A lot of people have given up hope for a cure for their loved ones.”
I suck on my lip because I don’t know if I can find the cure in time to save Annabelle. In truth, I’m secretly worried she’s too far gone. “I wish I could figure it out. I’m trying my best. Despite what Claudette thinks, I’m not working with vampire hunters to destroy all the vampires.” I use air quotes around vampire hunters, pretending like I still don’t believe what she said.
“I know you’re not. And I apologize for her behavior. I’ll make sure I impress on her the consequences of her actions.”
“Oh, dear Lord, no. It will only make her hate me more.” Which I’m not entirely sure is possible.
“She’s jealous of you.” Arsen rubs at his stubbled jaw. “What we had together has been over for centuries.”
Way to carry a torch. Or an obsession. It’s gotta suck to want someone so much and for centuries, when they don’t return the feelings.
I facehim. “How could you ever feel anything for her? She’s vengeful and vicious and not a nice person in general.” And she’s clearly out to get me.
“She was different back then. I’m not sure she’s out to get you.” He answers my unspoken statement without pause. “Claudette has always placed the safety of the coven first. I’m sure she means well.”
“She’s desperate enough to steal my phone and try to say I’m allied with vampire hunters, so I can only imagine what else she’ll do to get you back.”
“Ssh,” he says, leaning over and gently kissing my neck. “She can’t ever get me back. Since the moment I looked into your eyes, I knew you were the only one for me.”
I want to say something snarky, to break up the sweet moment I’m not sure I’m ready for, but he takes my chin with his strong hand and kisses me, overwhelming me with his charisma, and my stomach swirls with desire once more. He pulls away.
“Damn,” I whisper the words against his lips.
“Damnation is the sinner’s reward for a life well lived,” he says with a wink.
Cocky bastard.
“Well, don’t live life too well while I’m gone.”
“I promise. It’s not even half as fun when you aren’t with me.”
“I’m sure,” I say as I climb out of the car. “I’ll call you.”
He huffs a half laugh and speeds off in a rush of wheels and a total disregard of traffic safety.
Despite everything, I can’t imagine my life without him in it in some way. Even as I fight against our bond, I’m not sure what the hell I would do without him.
To add a cherry to my day, creepy Demetri is already in the lab. He’s standing at the refrigerator doing god only knows what.
“Hey,” I say, as I slide my backpack under my workstation.
“Hello, Sasha,” he rumbles.
“What’s up?”
“Not much,” he says. “You were gone for the rest of yesterday. Do I need to remind you of the seriousness of this?”
Oh, hell no. Not today, Satan. I’m not going to let him yank my chain. “Did you prepare that slide I asked you to?”
“Yes,” he says with a growl. “I have it right here.”
“Then bring it to the electron microscope and let’s have a look.”
“I do not know what you will find. You’ve done this already. And the slide is too old.”
He’s right. I needed to look at that wet slide yesterday, but I’m not going to let him intimidate me.
I snap on some gloves. “Like I said, it doesn’t make a difference to me who does the research.”
His upper lip curls into a sneer as he hands me the slide with Annabelle’s blood on it. I blink and the big oaf stumbles, the slide on his stainless-steel tray flying into the air. I don’t have a chance to think. My hand snakes out and grabs the flying glass, and it breaks as my palm connects with it. What the hell? There’s no way that slide should have broken like that when I caught it. I open my hand to discard it, when shards stab through the neoprene of my gloves, scraping my palm and fingers. I stare at horror as the infected blood sample from the slide mingles with my own.
Fuck.
“Get out! Get the fuck out of my lab!” I scream, as I head to the decontamination sink.
“I’m sorry,” he offers quietly as he follows me.
“Sorry?” I say incredulously. “Since day one you’ve been the most incompetent assistant I’ve ever seen, and you supposedly have your doctorate. Where did you get your degree? The Donald Duck school of quackery?”
“Don’t worry,” he says. “You should be fine. Your blood is the cure and you should be immune.”
“Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve.” I rage, grabbing a paper towel from the holder so forcefully the entire thing flies off the wall. “There is no taking this back. Get out and don’t let me see your face in my lab again.”
His eyes narrow, but he leaves the room while I grab a pair of tweezers and pull the offending pieces of glass from my hand. As I do, the little cuts seal, and there’s no chance to disinfect the wounds. I am beyond livid. Demetri’s assurances do nothing to comfort me, while I stare down at my palm.
When Niko first drained me, I was totally human and whatever was part of that elixir in my blood is probably long gone now. Now that I’m a vampire, I can’t be sure that I won’t contract this damned thing, or if a mutation wouldn’t happen and take me out of the game. I could be just as damned as Annabelle.
My stomach churns and I desperately think of who I can contact to help me with this impossible situation. I cannot trust Niko. He’d drain me of all my blood to get what cure he can before I’m totally and irretrievably fucked. And I can’t call Arsen, who’s answer would probably be to kill Demetri and keep working on the cure in earnest now that I could be infected.
Think, Sasha, think. I squeeze my eyes shut, praying for a course of action to come to me.
I look around the lab, trying to think of who else I could trust to do the research with me. There is only one person.
Jackson.
Neither Niko or Arsen will be okay with me contacting him about this, but I really don’t give a fuck at the moment. I pull out my phone and text him.
I think I’m in serious trouble. I need your help.
Chapter 13
Jackson texts me back almost immediately.
Everything okay? How can I help?
Meet me at the lab at school. I’m heading there now. Please hurry.
I sink against the ledge of my workstation, grateful for this small measure of contact with humanity. I call for help and a friend answers, ready and willing to do what he can for me.
I’m not sure what Jackson can do, but he’s my one link to humanity now, and I need that to keep a grip on my sanity. I should be able to continue working for the first few
days at least if I’ve contracted the virus. I’d just had some of Arsen’s blood, and his strength is still pulsing through me.
There are interminably long microseconds where I wait for his confirmation that he’ll come to the lab. God, what is holding him up?
Hang tight. I’ll be right there.
Instantly some of the tension leaves my body. Jackson will be there to help me. It’s going to be all right. I grab the shards of the slide that had cut me, store them in a container, and shove all my notes and research into my backpack before heading out.
When I get to the lab, no one’s there. I look around, curious as to why it’s so dead, and then I realize it’s a weekend. At least we won’t have to worry about anyone asking any uncomfortable questions about what we’re working on. I spread out my research, trying to organize it so I can catch Jackson up quickly when he gets here.
The door to the lab kicks open with a bang and Jackson leaps in, wooden stake drawn. Startled, I can’t do anything but burst out laughing at his action figure pose. In this utter shit-show of my life, Jackson provides comic relief.
His eyes scan the room wildly, looking for danger. “What?” He drops his arm. “Why are you laughing? You said it was an emergency. Where’s the fire?”
“It is,” I say. “Just not the kind that can be solved with a stake . . . yet.”
“Yet?” He studies me with suspicion.
“Maybe later,” I say. Jackson might be my last hope to avoid an existence as one of the mad undead. “That thing might have a good use yet.” I hold up my vampirically healed hand. “I’m infected.”
“What?”
“A slide with infected blood broke and cut my hand.”
“It doesn’t look cut.”
“Vampire, remember?”
“And what do you mean, infected blood? You’re a vampire. You can’t get sick.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” I drop down onto the nearby stool, “Let me catch you up. There’s a virus going around that makes vampires completely mental. My blood seems to be the cure. Or it was . . . it is. I don’t know, but it cured Niko when he attacked me, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to isolate whatever it is in my blood to use it as a vaccine.”
“Okay . . .” Jackson scratches his head. “So how did you get infected?”
“Today in my lab, the scientist Niko brought in to help me fucked up, which brings us to now. Me, unsure if I’m infected. The virus could have mutated, or whatever was in my blood that cured Niko could have changed with my vampirism, or any of the thousands of ways that biology can screw you up.”
Jackson evaluates me, probably gauging how much danger I represent. I don’t blame him. He’s doing his job, protecting humanity. “What do you want me to do?”
“Help me figure out what it is that heals the sick vampires. And promise me that if we can’t find a cure in time, you won’t let me hurt anyone.”
“I won’t kill you, Sasha . . . I’m not strong enough to survive that,” he says.
“I’m not asking for you to kill me. Just keep me contained. Or bring me to Arsen. He’ll make sure I’m taken care of until a cure can be found.”
“Maybe this virus is a blessing in disguise,” he says. “They should all die.”
I sag against my desk heavily and brace myself with my arms as Jackson’s hatred hits me like a Mack truck. “Stop,” I say weakly. “Just stop the hatred. God, you know that most vampires don’t get to choose what they are.”
“That doesn’t stop them from acting like rabid animals.”
“No, it doesn’t. But if I can find a cure for this thing and stop the vampires from fighting amongst themselves, maybe I’ll get a chance to figure out how to cure vampirism, too. Then those that choose to be human again, can be, and you can go on killing those who refuse to leave innocent humans alone.”
My plea is insane. Who would think to cure vampirism? Has anyone tried before? And if they did, did they fail? Or did the succeed only to be silenced?
But then again, there are advances in medical science every day. New processes are created, new equipment built. Both Niko and Arsen have deep pockets and can more than afford all the latest and greatest gadgets.
“What’s wrong with you?” he says. His hatred morphs into concern and the weight on my chest lessens. Fucking A. I hate being the vampire equivalent of a mood ring.
“Little known fact about vampires. We pick up every emotion and feel it.”
Jackson’s mouth gapes open. “They what?”
“Yes. Well, at least I do. Far from being an uncaring creature, I pick up emotion from others in full force. There are no barriers, no filters, no rationalizations.”
“Wow,” he says slowly, taking it all in. “That’s got to be hell.”
“Mostly, it is. Not always.”
“What am I feeling now?”
“Mostly you hate my guts, but I’m trying not to take it personally.”
“I don’t—” he stops and recognition flashes. “You know it’s because, oh hell, Sasha.” Love and loss tumble through his emotions, and I raise my hand stop him.
“Look, I understand.”
“No, you don’t,” he says. A tortured expression washes over his face. “It’s my fault this happened to you.”
“No, it isn’t.” How can he possibly think that?
“Yes. It is. I didn’t listen to my family. I made a nonhunter friend, and I put you at risk. Hell, I knew that those vamps were watching me, watching all of us. I just didn’t count on them trying to punish me by attacking you.”
It’s my turn to be amazed. “They attacked the lab because of you?”
“I think so. I can’t be sure, but it’s the only thing that make sense to me.”
“No. It doesn’t. Niko was out of his mind with the virus. On a rampage. It’s not like he came here specifically looking for you. I think it was just the first place he stumbled upon with multiple people to snack on.”
Even if Niko was after Jackson, what difference does it make? Things are what they are. I’m a vampire and infected with a frightening virus. This situation calls for clearheaded thinking, not a burst of unproductive emotions.
“You’re not upset with me?”
“Maybe later, when I have all the time in the world. Right now, I have to find a solution to my problem and fast. And you, buddy, are tapped as my wing man.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best. What’s up first?”
“I need to get inside another lab on campus. The one they keep all the donated blood in. There should be some untainted blood of mine stored in there. It would help me tremendously to have that to run tests. Up until now, I’d completely forgotten about it.”
“And you want me to do what? Charm my way inside of the secured lab?”
“Could you use your badge to get us in? Convince the professor you need to examine his lab because there might be leads there from the murders, and I’ll handle the rest.”
“You’re asking a lot. I’m not supposed to use my authority while I’m off duty unless it’s an emergency situation.”
I scowl at him because right now he owes a lot more than some sanctimonious excuses. Jackson’s mouth twists.
“What if I can get us in without using my badge?”
“Yeah, whatever it takes, so long as we get my blood.”
“Anything else you need from me?”
“Just be here with me, Jackson. This the probably the toughest thing I’ll ever do, and I don’t have many friends in my corner right now.”
“I thought you had plenty of vampire friends now.”
I hiss, pure and primal. “They aren’t my friends and will never be my friends. Covens are for protection from people like you, who want to kill without understanding, take lives without knowing. I get some vamps are ruthless. They aren’t human. Not anymore. They are different and the changes that occur when you’re turned are something you can’t comprehend unless you’ve gone through it. So don’t you dare lay
your pre-conceived judgments of what is and isn’t true on me.”
It takes all my strength not to advance on him and haul him off the floor with my hand at his throat. His jugular pulses and his heart quickens and for a moment I see him as prey, as something to sate the thirst within me.
“Okay, okay. Got it, sorry. No more lumping you in with the rest of the vamps. What lab has your blood?” I tell him and he nods. “Wait here. I’ll get it.”
“You don’t want me to help you?”
Grim-faced, he shakes his head and leaves the lab. I think about what he’d said earlier about how he knew that the vampires were watching him. Watching us. It doesn’t matter that he thinks he’s responsible for my change. Maybe he is, or maybe Niko really do go on a bender after contracting the virus and the lab and I were unlucky targets. I doubt Niko was in any condition to make distinctions about who I was then. But the results are the same, and now I have to pull a big fat rabbit out of my tiny vampire ass to save not just myself but the race of which I am now a member.
While waiting for Jackson, I clean up the broken slide I brought along, swabbing it for any residual blood. There is a good portion of it that remains unbroken, and I notice one side of the slide is scored as if with a glass cutter. That’s . . .odd. I take the box of slides I’d brought with me from my backpack and look through them. Each one is clear and perfect. Curiouser and curiouser.
I pull on some gloves and carefully pull apart the two halves of the broken slide. The blood has dried but if I rehydrate it, I should be able to confirm if it was indeed Anabelle’s blood on the slide or if Dr. Idiot had gotten that wrong when he’d prepared the faulty slide. I scrape the blood off of the glass, setting it aside before I drip a couple of drops of methanol on the slide. While I let the liquid dry, I set up a stain bath that I can immerse the slide in. I don’t know what I’m hoping to find with this test, but any information is of value.
It takes thirty minutes for the stain to take so I pull out my notebook from my desk to analyze the photographs of different results while I wait. Nothing. It is frustrating. The genetic tests show no markers for any known viruses of any kind. The majority of viruses are so tiny you need an electron microscope to see them. Bacteria are much larger and can be viewed in a compound microscope. But I haven’t seen a single bacterium in the slides Demetri had prepared, but he’s such a doofus, he probably made a mistake.
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