balance of the formula right, there is still much perfecting to be done in regards to administering it.”
“What other components are in the drug?” I asked.
“Ah,” she said. “I’m afraid that is classified information. Not allowed to talk to anybody about it. Ask your father.”
Yeah, right.
“So, are you planning to take it?” I asked.
“Who, me personally?”
“Yes. You personally.”
“Yes. I will,” she replied without missing a beat.
“And once you have perfected the process and diminished the risks—is this drug something that you plan to make more widely available?”
She hesitated this time. “I’m not sure. That is not exactly a decision I’m involved with. Again, ask your father.”
She was showing definite signs of impatience now. She probably had a lot of work to finish before the end of the day, but I couldn’t let her go now. Not yet.
“I get that you’re busy,” I said. “I know you don’t have a lot of time. But neither does my father. I honestly don’t get a chance to ask him much…” Since by now, we had crossed the subject of immunity to the Bloodless virus more than once, posing the possibility of a cure felt like a more natural place to lead the conversation. Even if I knew nothing about FOEBA, I was sure that it was a question that would be running through my mind now as I sat here in this lab of mysteries. And after she had explained to me that I had Bloodless DNA running through my veins, if I didn’t have a right to be curious about the subject, nobody did.
I feigned a shudder. “It’s a good thing that I did undertake that procedure. Imagine if I was just a regular human. I would have arrived at the gates, yelling for help and… what? There would have been nothing you could do for me? You would have just watched helplessly while I turned?”
Dr. Finnegan’s jaw tensed before, to my deepest dismay, she merely nodded. “Yup. Nothing we could have done. We might have developed preventative measures for the Bloodless virus, but no way to cure it…”
I held her gaze, wondering what she must be feeling inside as she lied to me so boldly. She glanced away, breathing out, apparently uncomfortable beneath my perusal.
“Well,” she said, standing up and yawning—a yawn that looked a little too artificial to me. “I need to get back to work… How did you get here in the first place?”
“Uh, a mutant,” I muttered, my voice thick with disappointment. “In case you didn’t hear my explanation, I came out to practice my shooting.”
“Right, well, your father will be wanting you back at headquarters. I’ll arrange for a driver to take you back in one of the tanks. Your mutant can ride along in that, too. Your father would not be amused if we let you return by yourself after the trauma you’ve just been through. Wait here and I’ll arrange it.”
She left me and crossed to the other side of the lab, where she drew open a back door and slipped through it. I gazed around again at the lab, wishing that I could read these people’s minds.
Then I spotted something that made me freeze. My mouth slackened as I caught sight of a man with salt-and-pepper hair appearing behind the doors of an elevator—the man whom I had caused to be bitten just a few hours ago. Albeit assisted by another hunter, he was standing, walking, as they moved out of the elevator and entered the room.
I cursed beneath my breath as Dr. Finnegan returned barely a few seconds later, accompanied by a tall, unshaven man in a navy-blue janitor’s suit. She had been quick. She obviously wanted to get me out of here soon as possible—probably because she thought that was what my father would have wanted.
“This is Kell,” she said as they approached me. “He’ll take you directly back to headquarters. Take care of yourself.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked away.
I had no choice but to leave with Kell and tear my eyes away from the miraculously cured man as he
“What other components are in the drug?” I asked.
“Ah,” she said. “I’m afraid that is classified information. Not allowed to talk to anybody about it. Ask your father.”
Yeah, right.
“So, are you planning to take it?” I asked.
“Who, me personally?”
“Yes. You personally.”
“Yes. I will,” she replied without missing a beat.
“And once you have perfected the process and diminished the risks—is this drug something that you plan to make more widely available?”
She hesitated this time. “I’m not sure. That is not exactly a decision I’m involved with. Again, ask your father.”
She was showing definite signs of impatience now. She probably had a lot of work to finish before the end of the day, but I couldn’t let her go now. Not yet.
“I get that you’re busy,” I said. “I know you don’t have a lot of time. But neither does my father. I honestly don’t get a chance to ask him much…” Since by now, we had crossed the subject of immunity to the Bloodless virus more than once, posing the possibility of a cure felt like a more natural place to lead the conversation. Even if I knew nothing about FOEBA, I was sure that it was a question that would be running through my mind now as I sat here in this lab of mysteries. And after she had explained to me that I had Bloodless DNA running through my veins, if I didn’t have a right to be curious about the subject, nobody did.
I feigned a shudder. “It’s a good thing that I did undertake that procedure. Imagine if I was just a regular human. I would have arrived at the gates, yelling for help and… what? There would have been nothing you could do for me? You would have just watched helplessly while I turned?”
Dr. Finnegan’s jaw tensed before, to my deepest dismay, she merely nodded. “Yup. Nothing we could have done. We might have developed preventative measures for the Bloodless virus, but no way to cure it…”
I held her gaze, wondering what she must be feeling inside as she lied to me so boldly. She glanced away, breathing out, apparently uncomfortable beneath my perusal.
“Well,” she said, standing up and yawning—a yawn that looked a little too artificial to me. “I need to get back to work… How did you get here in the first place?”
“Uh, a mutant,” I muttered, my voice thick with disappointment. “In case you didn’t hear my explanation, I came out to practice my shooting.”
“Right, well, your father will be wanting you back at headquarters. I’ll arrange for a driver to take you back in one of the tanks. Your mutant can ride along in that, too. Your father would not be amused if we let you return by yourself after the trauma you’ve just been through. Wait here and I’ll arrange it.”
She left me and crossed to the other side of the lab, where she drew open a back door and slipped through it. I gazed around again at the lab, wishing that I could read these people’s minds.
Then I spotted something that made me freeze. My mouth slackened as I caught sight of a man with salt-and-pepper hair appearing behind the doors of an elevator—the man whom I had caused to be bitten just a few hours ago. Albeit assisted by another hunter, he was standing, walking, as they moved out of the elevator and entered the room.
I cursed beneath my breath as Dr. Finnegan returned barely a few seconds later, accompanied by a tall, unshaven man in a navy-blue janitor’s suit. She had been quick. She obviously wanted to get me out of here soon as possible—probably because she thought that was what my father would have wanted.
“This is Kell,” she said as they approached me. “He’ll take you directly back to headquarters. Take care of yourself.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked away.
I had no choice but to leave with Kell and tear my eyes away from the miraculously cured man as he
Similar Books
