33. Lab Results
Chapter thirty-three
Lab Results
Nicolette
H uddled in my office late Friday afternoon, I stared at the PDF on my screen—a final analysis of every test I’d run over the last several days on Delia’s, Julian’s, and my blood.
Staring back at me were reaction rates, stability graphs, kinetic values, protein expression levels, and even some of my mother’s old analyses.
I had to blink several times to digest what I was actually seeing.
My eyes were tired from a week of reading my mother’s notes and sleeping only a few hours a night.
I was doing everything I could to unravel the mysteries she’d left behind—to understand why she was murdered and what went wrong with her cure.
The data before me held the answer. It was simple and . . . tragically sweet.
When my mother discovered the “Hart Factor” in my blood, she searched for others who had the same protein. It took her a year to find two other samples. It was like she knew how dangerous it would be for me if I alone had the protein.
But what she didn’t know blazed brightly on my screen.
It wasn’t just the protein.
My blood carried a unique enzyme signature—one I had never seen before.
That in itself was frightening.
More frightening was Cyrus barging into my office and slamming the door.
I startled properly, clicking out of my screen as fast as I could.
I wanted no one but Julian to see these results.
It had been nothing short of a miracle that we’d managed to run the tests at all under Cyrus’s watchful eye.
He thought I was only analyzing Delia’s blood, trying to uncover why the plasma treatment no longer worked for her, while he attempted his reverse bioengineering to resurrect the cure.
He didn’t know about my mother’s laptop. Or that I had her research at my disposal. She had formulas and compounds listed in her notes that I had never seen before in my life. And who Patient B was and what he was being treated for, I had no idea.
“What the hell have you done to my brother?” he hissed. The softness of it made the threat ten times more menacing. He stared me down, daring me with those cold-as-steel blue eyes to lie. To give him a reason to tear my head off—and not figuratively.
I should have expected this. Julian was changing.
His basal temperature was two degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal.
His heart beat three times more per minute than when we’d begun.
I’d told him he should stop taking my blood until we knew for sure what the test results meant.
And I’d been terrified someone in his family would notice.
They could smell sex, for crying out loud.
Of course they could detect temperature shifts.
They were walking physiological-change barometers.
But Julian said he hadn’t felt this alive in years. This human. He was reluctant to stop taking my blood. And like any treatment, stopping abruptly could have consequences. Irreversible ones. What if his altered pathways mutated to resist my blood? What if he lost his chance at humanity?
Every day felt like a tug-of-war between the ethics of science and the ethics of love. Was I helping him or hurting him? What happened to Julian wasn’t fair, but vampirism was nature made. Nature didn’t make mistakes. It created what it needed. There was a yin and yang to it all.
Yet, nature had a way of neutralizing threats.
And there was a predator threatening me.
That predator had killed my mother.
But was I trying to cure something that didn’t need a cure?
What would the consequences be? Look what happened to Delia.
There were ramifications I hadn’t considered. This had all started as a way to buy my freedom, but much more was at stake now.
“What do you mean?” I did my best to hold the tremor in my voice.
“My brother handed you a weapon, and you’re using it against him. I can see it in him. Feel it.”
“You’re wrong. I would never hurt Julian.” At least not on purpose.
Cyrus stepped closer and pressed his hands against my desk. “I won’t ask again. What are you doing to him?”
I swallowed hard. I wouldn’t—couldn’t—tell him about my blood. “Only what he asked me to do.”
“And what is that?”
I couldn’t lie. Julian’s physiology was broadcasting the truth. “Giving him his humanity.”
Cyrus gripped the desk so hard it creaked, threatening to snap. “I knew to be wary of your relationship. You knew about your mother’s cure all along. Didn’t you?”
I stood and slammed the lid of my laptop down. “Of course not. And even if I did, why would I give it to Julian knowing it doesn’t work?”
“Then what are you giving him?”
The only thing I could think to say was, “Something that works.” I hoped. “Now, excuse me—Julian and I have an appointment to look at a house.”
Julian wanted us to start building our lives as a couple.
Strangely, I wanted that too. More than anything.
With the future so uncertain, it didn’t seem like the best time, but then Julian said he found the perfect house, and he wanted me to see it.
He was so cute about it that I agreed, even though I was exhausted.
Uncovering your mother’s secrets and curing an age-old mutation does that to a girl.
Cyrus tilted his head. The fire in his eyes hadn’t dimmed, but now it was edged with curiosity.
“What do you mean something that works? What have you discovered?”
“Nothing I’m willing to share with you.” I held my ground.
He shook his head in disgust. “I will find out, and then I will bury you for the danger you are placing my brother in. You have to know that whoever’s after you, whoever killed your mother, it could very well be because of her cure. And you don’t think they will see what you’ve done to Julian?”
Tears welled in my eyes. I knew very well that could be the case, and it terrified me. “I know,” I choked out. “But this is Julian’s choice. And before you lecture me, why don’t you take a look at your own poor choices.”
“What are those?” He sneered, so high and mighty.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “As a vampire,” I whispered, “one who has supposedly been searching for his humanity, why would you turn anyone? Amos? Simone? Who knows who else?”
Cyrus’s stance relaxed, if only just slightly, yet his eyes still bored into me. I don’t think he was used to being contradicted and didn’t care for it.
“Have you ever looked into someone’s dying eyes while they begged you to help them?”
I nodded slowly. “Once during my clinical rotations.” I would never forget the young mother bleeding out from a horrific car accident.
“And would you have done anything in your power to save that person?” Cyrus clipped.
“Medically, of course. But I don’t know if I could doom someone to an un-life.
A life where they must feed on another human.
A life that makes them a threat to humans.
How is that healing? I’ve heard Julian speak about the days after he was turned.
How he just wanted to die. How life lost meaning for him. Tell me, how is that saving someone?”
Cyrus let out a long, gruff breath. “If you don’t think I’ve grappled with my choices, you are mistaken. But there are some people who were so terrified that I couldn’t help but give them the option. And yes, it was an option. One they agreed to. Did you give my brother the option?” he spat.
“As if I could force your brother to do anything.” The thought was laughable.
“He’s so besotted with you, I think it might surprise you what he would do for you.”
“I think it would surprise you what I would do for him. What I will continue to do for him. Do you think living in this world of yours is easy for me? I choose to stay in it because of Julian.” Never had I thought I would say those words. But it was true.
Somehow, in all of this, he’d become my person.
“Why are you smiling?” Cyrus snapped.
“Because Julian makes me smile. So excuse me—I have a date with my husband.” I shoved my laptop and several files into my backpack, acting much braver than I felt.
“You’re playing a dangerous game here.”
Oh, believe me, I knew.
“Didn’t you and your parents say you would protect Julian if he chose life instead of being undead?”
“Without a doubt.” Cyrus didn’t hesitate for even one moment.
“Good. Because he’s going to need it.” I slung my backpack over my shoulder. “And if you can keep him safe, then maybe I will trust you with my secrets. And . . . if you’re lucky, I just might give you back your humanity.”
I marched past him. The adrenaline coursing through me was the only thing keeping me steady. It probably wasn’t a good idea to tick off an apex predator. I felt like a Microraptor taking on a T. rex.
Cyrus grabbed my arm before I reached for the door. His grip was gentle enough that I only half-panicked.
“Let me help you. Tell me what you’ve discovered.”
“Trust first.” Blood second.