Page 84 of Witch Untold
Mel beamed and nodded, dark hair bobbing. “It was a pleasure.” She dimpled at Wren. “If you change your mind about the medicine, then let me know, okay?”
Wren pouted. “Wren not take nasty medicine that stop Wren protecting Cora.”
I looked down at him. “You don’t have to protect me, buddy. If you want the meds, you should have them.”
He shook his head firmly. “Wren don’t want meds. Wren want to be strong and protect Cora.”
The stubborn jut of his bottom lip told me there would be no arguing with him.
“Okay, okay, if that’s what you want.” I settled him on my hip. “Okay, we’ll be off, then.” I made ready to jump back to Grimswood.
“Wait.” Mel held out her hand. “We need to talk.”
* * *
I’d cometo pick up Wren, but it seemed I’d be taking Sloane home with me too. I should be happy about that, but what Mel told me left a cloud over my head.
Wren clung to my back as we entered Sloane’s room, similar to Wren’s but slightly larger. The Elite dozed, wreathed in sunlight streaming through the window. She’d woken earlier, her stats were good, and Mel had filled her in on what had happened, but not on the results of their efforts to save her.
She looked so normal, lying there with color in her cheeks, silver hair mussed from sleep, making me want to run my fingers through it to fix it. Instead, I lightly touched her hand.
Her eyelids fluttered open and her gaze zeroed in on me. “Hey, Cupcake, you come to take me home?” She gave a dry chuckle and winked at Mel. “The food here is terrible.”
Yeah, I’d be taking Sloane home, all right, because there was nothing more to be done here. My throat pinched and my chest ached.
The news wasn’t great.
She must have read my shitty poker face because her brow furrowed in a frown. She closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly. “Fuck. I knew it was too good to be true. Just tell me.”
Mel had waited for me to get here to deliver the news. Probably wanting to make sure Sloane had some moral support from someone who knew her.
She smiled briefly now, the I’m-about-to-deliver-shitty-news-but-we-must-look-on-the-bright-side smile. “Sloane, we succeeded in eliminating the strain of virus that creates ice walkers but were unable to completely eliminate the base virus that causes vampirism.” She paused for a moment to let that sink in, and from the look on Sloane’s face, it had. “The strain that infected you was too strong for our antiviral to eradicate completely.”
Sloane opened her eyes and fixed her attention on Mel. “Just spell it out, Doc.”
“You have the vamp virus, Sloane.”
Sloane sucked in a sharp breath, pushing herself into a sitting position. She stared at the light streaming in from the windows that kissed her skin.
“I’m sitting in sunlight. I can’t be a vamp. I don’t feel…different.”
“Pire X works in two ways,” Mel explained. “Depending on the outlier it’s administered to, it either eliminates the virus or neuters it, and it doesn’t work on humans at all. In your case, the virus has been neutered. You won’tturnfully into a vamp, but your physiology has changed, and you will need to ingest blood a few times a month.”
Sloane’s chest heaved. “Will I have fangs?”
“Regular vamps are able to eject their fangs at will, but in your case, they’ll only appear when you need to feed.”
“I’m not doing that.”
“You won’t have a choice,” Mel said softly. “You feed or you die. But you’ll only need to feed twice a month as long as you avoid excesses of emotion such as rage or desire. We’ve found that those can bring on bloodlust, which is different from regular hunger.”
Sloane’s gaze flicked my way, then back to Mel. “I’m not feeding off anyone.”
Mel smiled kindly. “I understand. We can arrange bagged blood. We’ve done that for other outliers in the same situation as you.”
I studied Sloane, no idea how she’d take this. Would she rage, cry, fall apart? She’d been changed against her will.
She ran a hand over her face and let out a weak laugh. “Fuck it, at least I’m alive. At least I’m not one of those fucking ice walkers.”
