Page 59 of A Brighter Yellow
Charlie had taken a leave of absence from work to recover and stayed holed up at Diana’s farm working out her cure. It had taken her a month, and Diana’s barn was now half science lab, but the vaccine was ready. Diana’s only complaint about the situation was having the Source sample turn up in the mail. They had all forgotten about it, and Diana strenuously objected to having such things arrive without warning. Charlie had promptly burned half of it and isolated the rest. She and Azure were running various tests. They got very excited about the whole thing, but Anna didn’t really want to know any specifics.
“I don’t understand,” said Azure, sounding annoyed. “I know I need him already. I always need him.” She turned to face her mate. “Can you—” She stopped, staring at Rafe open-mouthed. “Oh, fuck. That’s weird. That’s like…” She scratched behind her ear in a strangely wolf-like gesture. “That got turned up to eleven.”
Rafe’s head rocked back, his tongue lolling out in silent wolf laughter.
“You’re feeling the effects?” asked Charlie, clicking the cooler shut on the vaccines. She looked at Azure eagerly. “Can I take some readings?” she asked, taking a dowsing pendulum of carved labradorite out of her pocket.
“I told you,” said Ochre. “There’s a solid thirty-minute delay.”
Azure was still staring at Rafe. “It’s a good thing this wasn’t how it was at the beginning, or we would be banned from multiple motels by now.”
“You’re banned from motels?” asked Ochre, picking his head up and looking at his sister.
“Just the one,” said Azure. “It was a shitty motel. It is not our fault that their walls weren’t properly sound insulated.”
Ochre laughed, tossing his head back on the straw. Charlie walked around Azure, swinging her pendulum and making her thoughtful face. Rafe crunched through a transition. He was amazingly fast at transforming—Anna was impressed every time she saw him do it. She wondered if she would be that smooth when she was his age. Rafe grabbed up his jeans from the hay bale beside Ochre.
“Sweetheart,” he said, “no walls arethatsound insulated.” Azure pulled a disapproving face.
“Well, this is fascinating,” said Charlie. “After Ochre and Anna’s experience, I have been debating whether or not I should recommend all Supernaturals get the vaccine, not just shifters. From anecdotal evidence, it seems like shifters aren’t the only ones infected. But if you’re feeling it, then it’s possible that we don’t need to.”
“I think the Fae are less infected to begin with,” said Anna.
“Ooh! Interesting theory,” said Charlie. “Why?”
“Their mom gets sick just from being here. I don’t think they get infected like the others. I think it acts more like poison to them. And as a result, all three of them do a lot of cleansing spells.”
“That is true,” said Azure, looking thoughtful.
“I think,” said Anna, “that all three of them felt some of the mating pull to begin with. Once the shifters are clear, I think they connect without any trouble. That’s how it worked for Ochre and me. And now Azure.”
“Well, now I want Scarlet and Liam to hurry up and get here!” exclaimed Charlie. “This is fascinating! I need more data points!”
“Yeah, you need to not say that kind of thing to any wolves you meet,” said Rafe. “There are reasons we don’t trust scientists, and ending up as one of their lab rats is at the top of the list.”
Charlie sighed. “I don’t want to use you as lab rats. I’m trying to help. But I can’t do much without data. With the inherent mistrust of scientists, I’m already worried that I won’t be able to distribute the vaccines we have, and even if we do, I’m worried we won’t see results right away. I mean, from Anna’s journals, we know that finding a mate could be pretty haphazard.”
“I called Dad,” said Rafe with a shrug. “He put the word out. We’ll see who we get for volunteers. I’m just saying… try not to tell people they’re data points to their faces.”
Charlie looked at Anna. Anna nodded her agreement.
“I’ll remember that when we get to Portland,” said Charlie. “Although, the thing I really wish I had more data on is whether or not it would affect the ability to make werewolves.”
“Wait, what?” Rafe paused mid-way through, pulling on his shirt, and then pawed rapidly at the fabric, trying to get his head through the hole.
“I thought there weren’t any werewolves anymore?” asked Ochre, sitting up.
“Yeah,” agreed Charlie. “But it’s probably caused by the same spell or something similar anyway. We now have evidence on the mating success.” She gestured at all of them. “But I mean, who is going to volunteer to be bitten by a shifter?”
“It’s more complicated than that,” said Anna, feeling annoyed. Charlie’s way of putting it made it sound so B-Movie. “I’m pretty sure there are spells. It’s not just biting random humans.”
Rafe let out a low whistle. “That would be a game-changer. But yeah. It’s going to be a little tough finding a volunteer for that. You’d have to have a human who was fully in our world, and no one has humans in their packs anymore.”
“We can wait,” said Ochre. “We don’t have to rush.”
Charlie looked around the room. “I’m not sure we can,” she said. “We need more Supernaturals. Fast.”
“Why?” asked Anna.
