Zane stepped out of the way and turned toward Nick. “Do witches just faint?”
“No.” Nick watched the vampires disappear with their sister-in-law. “Witches rarely become ill, as far as I know. This can’t be good.”
Zane shared a look with Sam. He might not understand what was going on, but every battle instinct he owned all but screamed to get ready for hell to descend.
It always did.
Janie finished examining the little girl’s ears and handed her a lollipop. “Your ear infection is all gone, Sasha,” she said, winking at the girl’s mother. “But no swimming for another week.”
Sad brown eyes twinkled up from a pretty heart-shaped face. “A whole week?” Sasha asked, her bottom lip pouting.
Janie pretended to consider the question. Feline shifters sure knew how to pout, now didn’t they? “Well, how about two days?”
“Yay!” Sasha jumped up and hugged Janie. “You’re the best.” She turned and ran from the room, her pink tennis shoes squeaking.
Her mother sighed and pushed away unruly blond hair from her face. “That girl.” She hugged Janie as well. “Thanks for taking such good care of her. She’ll only come and see you, and she usually listens to you. Bye.” Moments later, she’d hurried after her daughter.
Janie smiled. “I love that kid,” she said to her aunt across the empty examination tables in the lab.
Emma kept her eyes nearly attached to a microscope at the far end. “Uh huh.”
Janie tossed the rags in the garbage and inhaled the scent of lemon bleach. “And, as I was saying, there’s a new vampire law being discussed that will prohibit the queen of the Realm from working in a lab coat.”
“Definitely,” Emma said, leaning over to scribble on a note chart.
“But your mate, the king extraordinaire, has decreed that the queen can work nude. You like being naked, right?” Janie turned and leaned back against the counter, arms crossed.
“Sure.” Emma jotted something else down and then stiffened, standing to turn. “What?”
Janie chuckled. “Nothing. Just making sure you were paying attention.”
Emma rolled deep blue eyes. “Very funny.” She glanced around as if surprised to find the lab empty. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”
Janie had wondered how long it would take the woman who’d known her since birth to make sure all was well. “I figured.”
Emma nodded. “How are you doing with finally having met and mated Zane?”
Talk about a loaded question. Janie shrugged, more than willing to share with her aunt. “I’m overwhelmed and happy and kind of worried.”
Emma smiled. “Sounds like you just mated a vampire.”
“A demon vampire blend, actually.” Janie studied her aunt with new eyes. The adults in her life had always seemed so sure of themselves and so happy, but now that she was an adult, she wondered. “I bet mating Uncle Dage wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.”
“More like a stroll through a hurricane.” Emma rolled her neck. “Vampires are overbearing, overprotective, and waaaay over possessive, and it takes a while to mellow them out.”
Janie snorted. “You’re saying you’ve mellowed Uncle Dage?”
Emma coughed. “Not exactly, but once he figured out I can take care of myself, he backed off a little.” She rubbed her eye. “Is Zane giving you the caveman act?”
“Oh yeah.” But the sex was a nice side effect of his intensity, now wasn’t it?
Emma nodded. “He’ll come around. Do you love him? It’s so much easier if you love the dimwits.”
Janie swallowed. “Yes. I’ve loved him for so long, but the reality is more intense, you know?”
“I do know, and if you ever need to talk, I’m still your favorite aunt.” Emma sighed and rubbed her shoulder, glancing back at her notes.
“Always,” Janie said softly. “How often do you call the king a dimwit?”
Emma chuckled. “He needs to be kept humble, you know. So every time I want to get tossed into the pool, I make sure to call him a name. My favorites are dimwit, dipshit, and asshat.”
Janie laughed. Her aunt was a brave woman, to be sure. She nodded to the papers. “What are you so preoccupied with?”
“I was just examining your latest blood tests and can’t believe how quickly your chromosomal pairs are multiplying. This speed is unheard of.”
“So I’m immortal?” Pleasure caught on Janie’s breath.
“Not yet, but soon.” Emma blinked and wiped off her forehead. “I have had the worst headache all day.”
Janie peered closer. “Your brow is damp.” Her aunt never perspired, and the lab was kept cool. She hustled across the room to feel Emma’s forehead. “You’re all clammy.”
Emma blinked. “Now that’s odd.”
Immortals so rarely became ill that Janie felt for her aunt’s pulse. “Your heartbeat is sluggish. What is going on?”
Heavy footsteps echoed outside the doorway, and Janie’s dad rushed inside with Moira in his arms. “She passed out,” Talen said, laying her down on an examination table.
Moira? Janie ran toward the table. Moira was one of the most powerful people Janie had ever met. She didn’t just pass out. “Was there any warning?” Janie asked, feeling for a pulse.
“No,” Talen said.
The door banged open again and Conn Kayrs ran inside, his gaze immediately landing on his mate. “What the hell happened?” His green eyes flashed a deadly threat, but when he reached out to hold Moira’s hand, his movements remained gentle.
Janie frowned at the slow pulse. “How long has she been out?”
“Not even a minute,” Talen said, staying close to the table.
“Excuse me?” said a quiet voice from the doorway.
Janie turned to see her aunt, Amber Kayrs, leaning heavily against the door frame. “Amber?” she asked, just as the woman started falling.
Talen pivoted and caught her before she could hit the floor. “What in holy hell?” he muttered, turning and carefully placing her on another examination table. “Somebody call Kane.”
Janie nodded. Kane was not only Amber’s mate but the smartest vampire on the planet. If something was going on, they needed him in the lab. Now. “Emma is near the phone.” Janie turned and gasped.
Emma sagged against the counter as if the granite could hold her up. All color had deserted her face, leaving even her lips nearly white. Her eyes fluttered closed.
“Emma!” Janie cried out, just as her aunt pitched forward.
Chapter 22
Janie retrieved data spit out by the nearest printer, her heart aching. Nearly her entire family had converged in the lab, heating the oxygen, but at least now everyone had regained consciousness.
Emma pushed off from a table, and Dage slipped an arm under her shoulder to half-carry her toward Kane. “What do you see?” Emma asked.
Kane turned around, his violet eyes nearly as dark as the natural cotton shirt he wore. It looked like silk, but with a vegan as a mate, he’d quickly discarded all silk in favor of plant-based materials. “You all are infected with a mutated Virus-27.”
The room roared into silence. Deadly, stunned silence.
“How?” Talen growled.
Cara hustled inside the room. “What’s going on? I’m getting reports from all over the world about an illness. Witches, mates, and even a few shifters who haven’t been inoculated.”
“Oh God.” Janie sagged back against the counter. “The virus has gone airborne. It’s the only explanation.”
Emma finally reached the row of microscopes. “How did we get infected? We triple-check all food brought in, and the air vents prohibit any addition of contaminants.”
Janie’s mind ran through the last week, and she gasped. “The peace talks.” Janie rubbed absently at her aching temple as she flashed back to her last interaction with Kalin. He’d pretty much admitted the truth without giving her any details. “We warded against chemical and physical weapons. It would’ve been easy
“Coward,” Talen hissed. “Going after mates and witches. Have the balls to come after us.”
But Kalin had struck and well. Vampires loved completely, and killing their mates would destroy them. Their extra chromosomal pairs protected the vampires, so they’d have to live on alone. The witch species as a whole might be wiped out.
Zane loped inside the room. “I’m getting calls from vampire allies around the world that their mates are dropping like flies from Virus-27. As are demon mates who’d once been a different species. What’s going on?” He directed the question toward Dage but kept his focus on Janie.
Dage stilled. “You have vampire allies.”
“Of course. Not everyone is aligned with you, King,” Zane said.
Dage scrubbed both hands down his face. “Purebred demon females are safe, but mates must not be. We need the data on how many chromosomal pairs a demon mate who was formerly human now has.”
“Same as a vampire mate,” Zane said slowly. “Twenty-seven pairs.” Then he frowned. “Belle? You look pale.”
Cara gasped and rushed for her daughter. “You’re a mate now. You’re susceptible.”
Oh God. Janie swayed. “I hadn’t thought of it.” She automatically held out her arm for Kane to quickly take blood. “I do have a headache.”
Zane paled and crossed the room. “You’re fine. We’ve only been mated a short time, and there hasn’t been enough time to contract the virus. You’re fine.” Desperation lifted his eyebrows. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into heat and safety.
Kane used a dropper to place her blood on a slide to slip under the specially modified machinery before turning around, his gaze sober. “You have the virus.”
Cara gasped, her face paling as she stared at her daughter. “Oh.” Then she took several deep breaths. “Okay. This is going to be okay. I’ve had the virus for decades, and I’m still standing. The first year sucks, and you’ll feel horrible, but it gets better after that. And the attack on the chromosomes slows down. We have time to fix this.”
Emma and Kane exchanged a look.
“What?” Cara asked, clasping her hands together.
“The mutation,” Emma said, brushing a limp piece of hair from her forehead. “The virus attacks much more quickly now. It might unravel chromosomes at a faster rate. We need to do testing.” She hummed and then coughed. “We haven’t even found where the damn thing gets in. If only vampires had studied genetics instead of weaponry the last few centuries.” She shot a hard glare at Kane.
He shrugged. “Why? We’re immortal. Until this virus, we didn’t give a hoot about chromosomes.”
“I know,” Emma nearly spat. She frowned and focused on Janie. “Did you know that before your mother and I started working on this virus issue that the vampires didn’t even map their chromosomes? They thought they had either an XV or a ZV setup. Morons.”
Janie bit her lip. “You’re kidding me.”
Kane shuffled his feet. “Like I said, we didn’t really care. Nothing hurts us but beheading, so we concentrated on protecting our damn necks.” He shook his head. “Now, thanks to your cranky aunt, we know that vampires have a combination of a V and a Y chromosome. Period.”
“So no girls. Ever.” Emma nodded. Janie stayed within the circle of Zane’s strong arms, her mind spinning. “Maybe now the virus has been weakened by the mutation. Maybe we can finally cure it.”
Kane nodded. “Here’s the plan. I need a full workup from every mate as well as every vampire. We’ll compare to old samples.” He nodded at Dage. “Get on the horn and have studies conducted all around the world with our associated medical facilities. Tell them to concentrate on the differences between the old version of the virus and the new . . . and not to waste a bunch of time tracking back the infection. At this point, we don’t care about carriers. Everyone susceptible to infection will get it.”
Dage nodded, his gaze concerned on his mate. “Love? Why don’t you come with me?”
Emma smiled, her lips trembling. “I need to work in the lab, sweetheart. I promise I’ll rest.”
The king brushed her lips with his. “I’ll be back.” Turning, he strode out of the room, the weight of rule darkening his features.
Kane immediately set everybody present to the task of collecting, analyzing, or retrieving samples. The group worked tirelessly and silently, each caught in their own thoughts.
Hours upon hours later, Janie, Kane, and Emma sat on examination tables, tense and tired.
Everyone else had been dispatched to other areas of the compound on jobs.
“I’m exhausted,” Emma said, stretching her arms. “This virus sucks.”
“I’m tired without the virus,” Kane said, tapping his foot on the tile floor even while sitting.
Janie swung her legs, nowhere near reaching the floor. “It was a productive day.” Though a pretty shitty one. “The virus is speeding up, is easier to contract, and so far doesn’t respond to any medication in the petri dishes. Even my mom is infected with the new version of the damn thing.” Her shoulders slumped. “We need a cure.”
Kane nodded and slid from the table. “I’ll go and update Dage. You two, ah, have a nice talk.” He patted Janie’s shoulder as he walked by, grooves cutting into the sides of his mouth.
Janie stilled and frowned. “What was that about? Am I different because Zane is a demon?” God, was she going to unravel into a vegetative state overnight? Panic roared the blood through her head, echoing in her ears. “Emma—”
“No. You’re not different—at least not yet.” Emma cleared her throat, having the same expression on her face as when she’d told Janie her pet turtle had died twenty years ago. “Kane left because he thought you and I should talk alone. I mean, it’s girl talk, and I’m your aunt and have been in your life forever. I love you.”
Emma was babbling. Janie stiffened. “What is going on?”
Emma swallowed. “We did a full blood makeup on everybody.”
“I know.” Janie leaned forward. “Did you find something odd in mine?”
“Not odd.” Emma exhaled slowly. “You’re pregnant, Janie.”
Zane stopped himself from knocking on Janie’s front door and instead smoothly slid the heavy oak open. She’d said to make himself at home, and now they’d mated.
He had a mate.
Truth be told, any time in his life he’d ever considered a mate, he’d always seen Janie’s face, but he’d never really believed he’d live long enough to mark her. Suri had been threatening to kill him for so long, he’d figured his fate had been set.
For the first time in so long, he wanted to kick the ass out of fate. The only way to do so was to take out Suri. But surviving his uncle’s death would definitely be a long shot.
Zane stepped inside and closed the door, immediately scenting a delicious aroma. Long strides ate up the distance to the kitchen, where he stopped short.
Janie stirred something in a Crock-Pot, her butt wiggling as she danced to some tune she hummed.
His lips twitched as he recognized the song as “Baby Got Back.”
She stiffened as if sensing him and slowly turned. Still pale, her skin nearly glowed, while those blue eyes that had haunted his dreams for decades shimmered with wisdom. “Hi.”
“Hi.” A quick glance at the table revealed she’d set places for two. He removed the gun at his waistband. Where should he put it? With a shrug, he placed the weapon on top of the fridge. The gun in his boot and the blades hidden along his body would remain in place. “Smells delicious.” He had to stop talking in incomplete sentences, but he wasn’t sure what to say. They’d only been mated a short time and were still actually getting to know each other.
“Thanks.” She smoothed her hands down worn jeans that hugged her delicious hips. “Um, have a seat.” Turning, she dished out two large bowls of what looked like stew.
“Let me help.” He grabbed a platter of biscuits from the counter as well as a bowl of rice. The woman didn’t need to serve him. “It was nice of you to make dinner.” Could he sound any more damn polite?
She grinned and led the way to the table near a wide expanse of windows. “This is awkward.”
Relief brushed through him. “I know. We’ve been friends for years, and I’ve never had trouble talking to you.” He thought she muttered “just wait” under her breath, but when she sat down, her face remained calm.
She’d placed a beer at his place. “It’s Guinness, but I have other kinds.”
“This is great.” He’d rather have a Scotch, but it was nice of her to get him a drink. “Aren’t you having any?” He nodded at her water glass.
“Ah, no.” She took a bite of stew. “I’m fine with water.”
“Okay.” He took a bite of the stew and nearly moaned out loud. The flavors exploded on his tongue. He was starving. Several moments later, he smiled. “You are an amazing cook.”
A smile lit her pretty face. “It’s just stew, but thanks.” Her fingers drummed on the table. “So, I figured we should talk.”
He nodded. “How are you feeling, anyway?”
Her shoulders slumped. “Tired and kind of achy. Virus-27 is like the flu but tunnels deeper.”
His chest tightened. “I’ve had all medical facilities I know of report to Kane and Emma.”
“Even the demon facilities?” Janie asked, her eyebrows rising.
“No. Suri won’t allow that.” Zane rubbed the rigid muscles at the base of his neck. “But I still have some allies in vampire and shifter nations that aren’t aligned with the Realm. Maybe through this, they will.”
Janie’s smile wavered. “Is there any way to reach peace with Suri? Now that we’ve mated, and your family is safe, maybe Suri will move on.”
Zane rolled his shoulders. “That’s a nice thought, but Suri’s not a man who’d take my betrayal well.”
“But couldn’t you try?” Janie grasped his hand on the table. “Since the virus has gone airborne, even demon mates are susceptible. The Kurjan-Demon alliance is dead in the water because you and I mated. At least give peace a chance with Suri.”
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