Page 72 of Wolf Bane
The bite on his leg wasn’t healing like mine had.Whatever amount of were he carried, it wasn’t enough to speed the process.Eliza joined me, keeping out of arm’s reach to stand at the foot of her father’s bed.
“Why did you bring him here?Why didn’t you leave him in the clinic?”
“They were warehousing him.Letting him die.And as much anger as I have over his lies, he’s still… he’s still my dad.”Her voice broke on the last word, piercing me straight through my chest.“Surely you know what that’s like, Doctor Babin.I’ve read the records Garrow kept about your intake and family history.”
“What I know about my family history is very different from what’s true, I’m starting to learn.But… I do understand.My aunt raised me.Loved me, I thought.And she died horribly.I’m angry at her lies, at what she enabled.But I can’t shake the part of me that remembers sitting in her lap, helping her decorate for Christmas.Laughing at stupid sitcoms together.”How she’d comfort me when I was ill.How she’d tell me about my parents, my grandparents, these wonderful stories that let me absolve them of the awfulness I’d been taught had led me to live with her.
Or maybe that was all a lie too.And Cleverly had been telling the truth, at least as far as my parents were concerned.
God, I had a bastard of a headache.
“Eliza, do you believe Garrow will help your father?What he did to me, to the others… It was torture.It was abuse.I was phenomenally lucky to survive.Most of the others didn’t.And we werechildren.Justin is the only adult to have survived the experiments.We were young and relatively healthy.Your father’s unlikely to make it through a regiment of anything experimental.Even with were DNA in the mix.”
Eliza sniffed, her expression slipping back into cool indifference.A mask she wore easily.“It’s better he die with honor restored than as a stain on our name.”
“Do you even hear yourself?”I hissed.“With honor?Hon, he’s dying from an infection!He’s dying because his body can’t handle these rapid changes!It wasn’t made for this!Whatever the Clemenses gave him?—”
“Was a happy accident,” she snapped.“They weren’t meant to, but Celestine thought she could take my spot.She’s had athingfor Garrow for years.Sick old woman.Letting her crotch lead the way.”
Well, ew.Not that old people have sexual desire was gross but just that mental image of leading the way with… well.Yeah.Ew.
“Eliza.What’s in the Wolf Bane?”
She chuckled softly.“The name was my idea.Garrow thought it was ridiculous.”
I waited, biting my tongue.It is.
“It’s based on the formula he used with your cohort.It was the most successful?—”
“With two survivors.”
“Hm.We made some changes to accelerate the process.The strong survive.The weak ones, the ones poisoning our lines…” She spread her hands, letting the invisible bodies slip through her fingers.
Vomiting was definitely a possibility.“So, you get to play God over weres and shifters?You get to decide who lives and dies based on your own personal metrics.”
“Come now, Doctor Babin.You know it’s not like that.You know how risk assessment works medically.”
“This isn’t the same thing as someone with myocardial damage,” I shot back.“This is genocide.”
The word was heavy, damning.She jerked back, horror dancing over her expression.“No, it’spreservation.”
“Fucking hell, tell fascist Barbie to shut up,” Tyler muttered.“What are we doing here, Lan?We need to make tracks one way or another.”
Eliza was already backing away when I turned to face her again.“No.No, no, no.You need to help me.Youoweit to Garrow!He made you nearly perfect!”She clawed at the collar around her neck, yelping when Justin pressed the button again.“Stop it!”
“Tyler, get that out of his hand,” I snapped.“Eliza, we’re not going anywhere, okay?We’re not.Show me what you want my help with.Show me.”I glanced back at Tyler, who grimaced but nodded brusquely.“Is there drinking water here?Something for Justin?He needs water, Eliza.He’s been sick.”
“I know,” she whispered, eyeing him over my shoulder.“He survived the cull.Maybe he’s stronger than we thought.”She silently pointed to a small, silver fridge at the end of one of the lab tables.“There’s water in there.”
“No.Tap,” Justin said sharply.“I don’t trust anything she could’ve added shit to.”
She rolled her eyes but shifted her pointing finger towards a low counter along the back wall.Tyler led Justin over, cupping his own hands so Justin could drink without spilling everything from his own shaking hands.
“If I’m not back here in an hour,” I said to Tyler, who nodded again.
“We’ll burn this shit to the ground.”
ChapterEighteen
