He stepped beside her and looked down.
Pointing at the black marks on the back of the dead Nymar’s neck, she said, “Just so you know, you can always get an idea of what you’re dealing with by looking at these marks. The older or stronger the Nymar is, the blacker the marks are.”
“Wow. All this carnage and a lesson too. Lucky me.”
“This is the job, Cole. I didn’t plan on this, but here we are. You might as well learn something before we burn this place down.”
Rather than air out the questions that reflexively popped into his mind, Cole set them aside and reminded himself he’d rather set fire to the place than allow anyone else to eat there. “All right. What next?” he asked.
“You got a camera on that phone of yours?”
“Not just a camera, but a four megapix—”
“That’s a yes,” Paige cut in. “Take pictures of everything you can and follow me.” Without waiting for an okay from him, she walked over to another one of the human bodies. “This,” she said as she pointed down to the corpse’s decimated throat, “came from a Nymar feeding. And not one of those sexy, moaning ones you see in the movies. This was quick, violent, messy, and not at all voluntary. If the throat’s torn up like this, that means the Nymar clamped down with those thick bottom fangs. When Nymar use those fangs, they’re out for a lot of blood in a short amount of time. Whoever’s on the receiving end of that won’t be able to get away, and it’s a miracle if they survive.”
While snapping a few pictures, Cole asked, “So the Nymar came here and started feeding before these people could get away?”
“If that was the case, they wouldn’t have missed Jen. This is more of a panic feeding. When Nymar are caught by surprise, feel threatened, or just in a hurry, they feed on whoever is nearby to make sure they’ve got all the strength they can to fight or do what they need to do. This is why we avoid fights in public. If you charge in without picking your spot and setting things up, innocents get slaughtered. Remember that, Cole.”
He shook his head solemnly. “There’s no way I’m forgetting this.”
Paige reached into the gaping hole in the Nymar’s back. After feeling around a bit, she withdrew her hand and wiped it clean on the Nymar’s sleeve. “Henry went straight for the spore, just like everyone’s been saying.”
“I know it’s on their heart, but…what is it?”
“Once it attaches, it spreads itself throughout their whole body. See this?” She rolled the corpse so Cole could get a good look into the hole.
He almost spilled his breakfast onto the floor, but he did notice something. “I’m no doctor, but it all just looks like mush in there. I don’t even see any organs.”
“That’s right,” Paige replied. “Once the Nymar attaches, it converts everything inside the person into one big organ. It’s like a bug that’s filled with one kind of juice. That’s why, if someone might be infected, you treat them quickly. Once they turn, there’s no way to turn them back. Not unless you can hollow them out and replace everything.”
“Gotchya. Are we done? Jen’s still out there.”
After taking a look through the front window, Paige said, “She’s still crying. She could use a little more time on her own.” Squinting at the window, she reached out to swipe something that looked like yellow milk that had been spilled upon the glass. She rubbed it between her fingers, sniffed it, then said, “See this stuff here? This is the venom I was telling you about. It can paralyze anyone within a normal person’s size. Even if it just gets on you, it can make you dizzy. If it gets in your eyes, that’s really bad news. Smell it.”
Cole sniffed at it and his stomach turned at the bitter smell. “What happens if I get that in my eye?” he asked.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“When?” Paige snapped. “How much?”
“During the fight. It was—”
But Paige had already rushed to her medical kit and retrieved another syringe. She removed the cover, slammed it into Cole’s neck and pressed the plunger. She then used the same syringe to roughly extract some of his blood.
“Is that sterile?” he snapped.
Paige held the syringe up to the light and examined it. She let out a breath and asked, “Did Misonyk spit this stuff on you?”
Even though he feared another needle in the neck, Cole replied, “Yeah.”
“Hopefully I got to you quick enough, but you should steer clear of him for a while.”
“You think?”
Paige nodded and stomped toward the kitchen. “Just go out front and check on Jen. Get her to the car and ready to go. I’ll be out soon. With all the grease that’s in this kitchen, torching it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”
“You said getting that stuff in my eye was bad,” Cole said. “What’s that mean?”
“Well, some Nymar can control someone for a few hours after they do that. It’s only simple stuff like making them obey easy commands, but the Nymar’s got to be close.”
“You’ve researched this?”
“No,” Paige replied, “but another Skinner has. There are nerves that run from the eye straight into the brain. I guess the venom works along those lines.”
“Did this other Skinner figure out a way to counteract it?” he asked hopefully.
“He’s still working on it, but it’s been rough since he blinded himself.”
“That’s just…that’s…that’s really great.”
“Go help Jen,” Paige said. “She’s about to wander away.”
With his stomach still on spin cycle, Cole jogged out of the building and to the woman with the bandaged hand. Jen was leaning against the car and facing the highway. He approached her slowly and announced his presence by clearing his throat.
She jumped, but relaxed when she saw him. “Are you all right?” she asked.
Cole nodded and told her, “More or less. I was more concerned about how you’d answer that same question.”
“I’m…well…I guess I’ll be fine. Sooner or later.”
Cole leaned against the car next to her and crossed his arms. “I know just how you feel.”
“I saw how you fought those things. I was too frightened to move and you two came in to chase them off. I doubt you’re afraid of much of anything.”
“You wouldn’t be so impressed if you saw the mess I left in there.”
For a second Jen just stared blankly at him. Once she allowed herself to laugh, the tired woman quickly dissolved into a mix of trembling giggles and choking sobs. Cole eased his arm around her but didn’t know what else to do. Judging by the way Jen turned and pressed against him, he was doing more than enough.
“Don’t worry about any of it now,” he said. “Just try to breathe.”
Jen nodded and pulled in a few measured breaths. She held the air in her lungs and let it out as she forced herself to look back toward the diner. “Thank you so much. I wish I could find a way to thank both of you.”
“And I wish we could have gotten here a little earlier.”
Jen wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him so tightly that he began to see stars. The anaconda grip didn’t let up until the crunch of boots against gravel approached the car.
“We need to get going,” Paige said. Before she could say another word, she was nearly knocked off her feet by a hug from Jen that was equally as enthusiastic as the one she’d given to him. Paige smiled and rubbed Jen’s back as the scent of burning grease drifted through the air.
“Good Lord,” Cole said, catching sight of flames through the diner’s front window. “We really do need to get going.”
All three of them piled into the car and sped back to the highway.
“Why don’t you call 911 before that fire gets too big?” Paige asked.
Cole took out his personal phone, flipped it open and then swore loudly. “No coverage. Freakin’ Wisconsin!”
“Freakin’ bad phone is more like it.” Leaning to look at Jen in the backseat, Paige added, “So far, that phone of his makes a better camera than anything else.”