“We think she was taken by another vampire,” Dr. Reynolds said. “But I don’t think anyone should give up hope yet.”
Lawrence took a shaky breath and nodded. “I’m trying.”
“I know.”
“We should have been told about this up front.” Declan’s voice didn’t hold a whole lot of empathy. He held on to me so tight I thought my arm might bruise—sometimes Declan didn’t know his own dhampyr strength. But I didn’t try to pull away. “You having a vampire assistant, no matter what the story is behind it, doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy about being here. It’s fucked up.”
“If I had told you, you might not have returned.” Dr. Reynolds adjusted his glasses. The stiffness in his expression made me think he was having trouble speaking cordially to Declan. With his prejudices against dhampyrs, the two would never become best friends. “You might think I had ulterior motives in bringing you here, but you’re not the only ones who were kept in the dark.”
I watched him warily. “What are you talking about?”
“You, Jillian.” Dr. Reynolds turned to look at me directly, his gaze sweeping over me from head to foot. “When I heard about the Nightshade formula, I had assumed it was a slow-moving poison that would weaken its victim over time, something that would lead eventually to death. But it’s not like that at all, is it?”
I let out a shaky laugh. “No, it’s a bit more immediate than that.”
“It’s amazing, is what it is.”
I grimaced. “I have other words to describe it. Amazing isn’t one of them.”
“When a vampire bites you, only seconds need to pass before it dies.”
“Pretty much. But it’s still enough time for them to kill me if they want to.”
His jaw tightened. “It’s such a waste.”
“Why?”
“I can’t re-create it.” His expression reflected his deep disappointment. “The original composition has changed too much since bonding with your blood. However, I discovered something I’d like to show you.” He nodded at Lawrence. “Go get him.”
Lawrence left the room without a word.
Declan finally tucked his stake away and let go of my arm. “We didn’t come here for any more fucking experiments. We came here because we thought you had a solution for us. Do you or don’t you?”
“Patience,” Dr. Reynolds snapped, casting a fiery glare at him. But then he cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “I apologize for my rudeness. But as a hunter, you, I think, will appreciate how important this discovery is. Will you just give me a couple minutes to show you what I’ve found?”
Declan was silent for a moment but then nodded. “A couple minutes. That’s it.”
“Thank you.”
Lawrence returned with another man whose gray eyes were glazed. With a push, he stumbled forward into the room.
“Sit,” Dr. Reynolds said, and the man sat down heavily in the chair without being asked again.
Uneasiness moved through me. “What’s wrong with him?”
Dr. Reynolds went over to the chair and walked a slow circle around it. “He’s been chemically subdued so he won’t cause us any problems.”
A breath caught in my chest. “He’s a vampire?”
“Yes.” The doctor grasped the vampire’s chin in his hands and squeezed. “Last week he killed a family whose car had broken down at the side of the road. Three children and two adults died to feed his hungers.”
“I needed to feed.” The vampire’s voice was weak. “I couldn’t stop myself.”
“You’re a murderer who killed five innocent humans. You’ll get no sympathy from me.” Dr. Reynolds let him go, and the vampire’s chin dropped to his chest. The doctor wiped his hand on the front of his lab coat.
My stomach churned at the thought of it. At the moment he didn’t look that dangerous. “You have him on drugs?”
“Yes. We have very powerful tranquilizers on hand here, but they still don’t last long when it comes to monsters like this.”
I eyed the other vampire in the room, the helpful one. If he didn’t show his fangs, he looked as human as anyone else, apart from his pale gray eyes. He stayed on the other side of the room, a good twelve feet away from me. Most vampires didn’t have a problem with the scent of the Nightshade as long as they kept their distance. I’d really rather not have any more problems today.
I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “Look, I’m not letting him bite me, if that’s what you want me to do.”
“I don’t want that.”
“Then what sort of experiment is this?”
“It’s to show you how your blood can be used when it’s outside of your body.”
I shook my head. “I suggested that to someone else, but if it hits oxygen, it’s useless as a poison. Something about the air keeps it from working properly.”
“Then it shouldn’t come in contact with oxygen.” Dr. Reynolds opened a case on the table to our left and removed what looked like a gun. It was small and silver, with a short, thick needle protruding from the end of it. “Inside this is a vial of your blood.” He held the device in his right hand, just as he might a gun. He approached the vampire.
I tensed. “What are you going to—”
I didn’t have the chance to finish my sentence. Dr. Reynolds pressed the device to the vampire’s throat, jabbing the needle into his flesh, and squeezed the trigger.
FIVE
The vampire gasped as he was injected. He looked around as if seeing us for the first time.
“What did you—” He drew in a shaky breath, and his face began to show strain. “Please, no—I need to—”
His words broke off, followed by a chilling moment of silence. Then he screamed, raising himself up off the chair. Before he could get fully to his feet, fire poured out of his mouth and quickly consumed his entire body. A moment later, just after the stench of burnt flesh filled my nostrils, he exploded in a scattering of fiery ash. It was the usual death of a vampire—one I’d seen several times before this. Quick. Efficient. Scary as hell.
I stood frozen in place, my hand against my mouth, my eyes wide with shock. I’d known what was coming, but that hadn’t made it any easier to see. It was exactly the same as what happened when a vampire bit me. It was my poisonous blood—the take-out version.
“Holy shit,” I managed to say.
Dr. Reynolds smiled widely. “It’s amazing. This is the third vampire we’ve tried it on.”
Lawrence nodded. Considering he, too, was a vampire, I was surprised he didn’t look more disturbed. “It’s worked perfectly every time.”
Declan stood stoically beside me as he watched the proceedings. “The Nightshade formula alone was useless. It had to be bonded to a human’s blood to work.”
Dr. Reynolds’s smile faded as if he’d forgotten the dhampyr was still in the room. “That’s right.”
“Then it’s too bad you can’t replicate it and find another volunteer to take Jill’s place.”
The doctor looked down at the silver gun. “That would make everything much simpler. The source is Jill’s blood itself—and any new blood her body creates is immediately infused with the poison. Jill’s blood is the beginning and the end of the Nightshade program.”
This was one situation where it wasn’t that great to be popular. It was too bad that the very thing that was killing me could be a huge help to others. Talk about a lose-lose situation.
A million possibilities sped through my mind. “Why don’t we take a couple of days and you take all the blood samples you can from me before we start getting the Nightshade out of my system?”
Dr. Reynolds’s expression held relief. “I’m glad you’re willing to help.”