B. Donna - Blood Pool

“Luke used to be a chef,” Mick said with a smile. “You wouldn’t want to eat if I had to cook.”

“Hmm, I’m not the greatest cook either,” she answered, not even hearing the other remarks made. Her thoughts filled with images of Bo. She’d saved him. It was all that mattered to her. The icy fingers of death that had clawed their way around her heart were gone. She could breathe easier knowing the only man she’d ever loved was safe.

Raven attempted to concentrate on the work in front of her. She buried her head in the notes scattered on the table as she jotted ideas and reworked formulas. Thank goodness Laroque’s penmanship is legible, she thought. The pieces of this very odd puzzle were fitting together. This was more than likely the reason Laroque chose Derrick. His background with the CDC and working with hot agents, no doubt, was something that had to interest Laroque. He’d told Raven he experimented with creating vaccines. Poor Derrick .

Leaning over the work area where she was attempting to produce the vaccine for humans, Raven added vectors to the growth medium in the petri dish. Vectors were important agents that entered the DNA. To construct a vaccine, she had to duplicate them. She added bacteria and waited.

The final process of creating a vaccine involved harvesting pure vectors only. Taking a biofilter and detergent, she was able to access the DNA. When she inoculated Laroque, billions of copies of the altered vectors would enter his body. She knew that only about one percent would work their way into the nuclei of the cells.

Hopefully, Laroque’s immune system would respond to these proteins once they left the cells. The altered vectors would react to the proteins incorporated into the cells’ walls. In this way, the vaccine would act like a live vaccine. The risk of the live pathogen would be eliminated, avoiding the possibility of spreading the virus further. It was time-consuming work and something Raven was not very familiar with, so it took even longer.

After a few hours, Raven took a syringe and filled it. Mick gave his approval with a nod and moved to the opposite side of Laroque’s bed.

“Philippe,” Raven said, holding the syringe. She could end it all at that moment, just let him watch her dispose of the vaccine and let nature take its course.

A big part of her wanted to, deep down. A very big part of her.

She wanted to torture him.

For everything. For putting Bo through all that physical torment and the pain Laroque caused her.

Just for knowing her mother, she wanted to torment him.

Because he fell in love with her…made Nicolette want him, and because that wanting made her mother have sex with him.

And that broke her father’s heart, and, in spite of everything, she loved her father fiercely.

Inside she knew that no one had made Nicolette do anything. Well, with exception of perhaps the fae’s magick, but Raven wasn’t certain the fae was that powerful. Rumors floated around that the fae had been punished for not producing the desired results. She also wasn’t ready to blame her mother. Not yet.

But most of all, she wanted him to suffer because he’d almost killed Bo.

She wanted to destroy him.

Because in order to save the man she loved, she had to sacrifice everything they had together. Their life as a couple would never be the same. Her life would never be the same. The characteristic that made Raven who she was, was gone. Forever.

She wanted revenge.

He looked up at her with a weak smile. “I knew you could do it…” He groaned. “I knew you would…”

She averted her eyes, not wanting him to be able to read the truth they betrayed. She wanted him dead. “I hope we got it in time. You’re only starting to show symptoms, so I’m hopeful.” She tried to manage a smile, but couldn’t. Raven was tired down to her soul.

In one swift motion, she plunged the needle into his muscle and released the vaccine into his system. It was all up to his body now. She hoped his immune system wasn’t too badly compromised.

“I need some sleep,” Raven said as she sat on the couch opposite the bed. She leaned back.

“You want to eat first?” Mick asked, but when he looked over at her, she had already passed out on the sofa. He went to the couch, covered her with a throw blanket, then tended to the extra vaccine, storing it properly.

All they could do was wait.

Tobias misted back on Mirabelle Cove after the dust settled from Solaris’s visit with the Empusas. The Empusas were an intimidating bunch and, in their natural state, they were rather hideous. The original Nosferatu, with his buck-toothed fangs and long, spindly fingers, would be considered handsome compared to the Empusas. Luckily, they showed themselves as the beautiful creatures used to seduce their prey-handsome GQ men and Playboy bunny-ish women.

He went directly to Blood Pool, where he found Solaris in the basement going over inventory with Vinny, her right-hand Lamai.

Solaris appeared under the spotlight of one of the high-hats tucked into the low ceiling. “Welcome home. I hope it was a satisfactory meeting.”

The air was cool. The walls of stone housed a corner fireplace that contained a small but warm fire. She scarcely utilized this hearth, due to the ambient temperature needed to preserve the rare wines, but this day was bitterly cold.

Vinny nodded to Tobias and left the two alone.

Tobias leaned against the wall, rubbing his eyes. “Not really. It seems the location of my daughter is being held secret from Queen Rhia as well as the rest of us. And how was your meeting?”

Solaris stifled a yawn. “I managed to get them to hold back from retaliating when I explained this was not our doing, and that a madman was killing all magickal creatures on the island. We made a trip to the morgue where they viewed not only their own dead, but the dead sirens, Lamai and shifters. I think this proved my point. I…uh…I also had to extend an invitation to them to the celebration this Friday for Samhain.”

“You what?” Tobias took a bottle of Pinot Noir from the rack and opened the bottle. He took long, deep gulps.

Solaris eyed him suspiciously. “I had to. They were pissed. It was the only way, and I promised their dead would be remembered in our ritual.” Solaris handed a paper cup to Tobias and motioned for him to pour her some wine. “I’m not happy about this, either, believe me.”

“You did what you had to do. I’m just glad I’m not leading the ritual.” Tobias used the back of his hand to wipe the residual wine from his lips. Solaris’s eyes bore into his soul, right through to his broken heart.

“What’s really wrong?” Sol asked as she put down her clipboard and sat on a box of Glenfiddich whiskey.

“I…forget it. We have more important things to attend to. Where’s Bo?” Tobias had already downed half the bottle. Not that it would impair him in anyway. What he needed was a bottle of absinthe. Still, the taste pleased him.

Solaris prodded him. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk? It has to do with Nicki, doesn’t it?”

He looked hard at her, her eyes reflecting the firelight that washed shadows across the walls. “It always has something to do with Nicki. Please, Sol, don’t read me.”

“You can be very transparent sometimes, my friend.” Solaris smiled. “You having second thoughts about marrying Emerald?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. I thought it was the right thing to do. I know Em loves me very much. It seems everything always keeps coming back to Nicki.”

“And it always will.”

“I do care a great deal for Emmie, but somehow, I feel I’m betraying my wife. I cannot become distracted, though. Right now, I have to find Raven.”