Page 20 of The Mech Who Loved Me
"Mr. Thomas had nothing to do with the riot," she protested, stroking a gloved finger gently over the deceased man's face. Black veins traced their way through his skin, making him look half-mottled and violent. That was unusual, and clearly where the “disease” had gotten its name. "There was obviously malcontent in this borough with blue bloods, and when he died—revealing his true nature—it set off hisneighbors."
They'd heard it all as they entered through the throng of neighbors:such a nice man; never knew he was one ofthem; a craver living right here on the doorstep; where was he getting his blood from, I demandtoknow....
Unusual that nobody had ever suspected him. Mr. Thomas's pale skin and preference for night should have given it away, though perhaps—with the response his death and subsequent coming out had achieved—there'd been good reason to keep his true nature underwraps.
It had been a long time since she'd felt uncomfortable with what she was. Or more to the point, uncomfortably aware other people thought her ilk monsters. London had been at peace for three years,damnit.
Ava sighed, and slid her magnifying goggles up on top of her head. "I've taken samples of Mr. Thomas's blood and the froth at his mouth to make sure there's no sign of chemical interference." Not that poison had much of an effect on a blue blood, despite the fact hemlock paralyzed them for several minutes until the virus burned through it. "But something tells me I won't find anything. Gibson would have tested the other victims’ blood work. He wouldn't miss something like poison. This fellow appears to have suffered some sort of apoplectic fit, and bitten half his tongue off. The veins disturb me, however, and I think this needs further investigation." What had made them stand out like that? They looked black, and his irises were violently dark, as though the darker side of the craving virus had roused in him beforehedied.
Blue bloods had darker blood than humans—an almost bluish-red which gave them their name—but that didn't account for theblackness.
There was limited sign of livor mortis too, as though barely any blood had pooled in the corpse's backandlegs.
Internalbleeding?
The only time she'd seen something similar was when Malloryn found Zero's body slumped in the cells last month, with no sign of a break-in. Malloryn had intended to question Zero about the whereabouts of her fellowdhampir, and just precisely what they were up to, but she'dbeendead.
Anddhampirwere just one step along in the evolution chain for a blue blood. Ava paused. The black veins looked very similar, though Zero's capillaries had all burst, and she'd bled internally. Though the craving virus should have healed her, especially with the CV levels Zero had, for some odd reason ithadn't.
Something stopped her body from healing, even as it caused her tobleed.
Was this the same? Was it some sort of disease? A malady that killed only blue bloods and their evolved brethren, thedhampir?
Orsomethingelse?
"You think there's more to the death than there seems?" Kincaidasked.
"I'm just wondering.... Zero had black veins just like this when she died," she replied vaguely, peeling the blue blood's lip up to see if there was anything in his mouth that might havecausedthis.
"If Malloryn thought this had anything to do with Zero's death then he wouldn't have sentus.He'd have been here himself, probably with Byrnes and Ingrid, despite theirwedding."
"You think I'm conjuring a link between the twodeaths?"
"Six deaths," he pointed out. "There's been five blue bloods go down with whateverthisis."
Ava quietly gathered her skirts around her and stood, fussing with her gloves as she pried them off. "But you think Iwantthis to beconnected?"
Kincaid's mercurial gaze settled upon her, and he crossed his arms. "I know you wantacase—"
She threw her gloves on the floor. "That is not true, damn it. Or yes, it's true—I want a case. But I'm not simply trying to conjure a link because I want this to connect back to the missingdhampir, or even Ulbricht. I've been taught to assess facts, not find a conspiracy. And the facts state this man died in mysterious circumstances, and his symptoms are familiar in some ways—though not all—with the mysterious death of ourdhampircaptive. Even you have to admit the black veins are conspicuouslysimilar."
His gaze remained flat. "If this does lead back to thedhampir, then perhaps it would be best to bring in theothers."
"What are yousaying?"
"That neither of us is equipped to deal with those monsters. I'm human, and you're...." He suddenly seemed to realize she was glaringathim.
"I'mwhat?" Ava practically dared him tosayit.
After all, she'd heard it all before. She had hysterical attacks at times; she'd panicked the one time she'd tried to shoot a pistol at a man who'd tried to kill her; and she felt both a little ill and excited at the sight of blood, which was ironic in itself considering the craving virus. What sort of blue blood disliked the idea of drinkingblood?
She was not Gemma, femme fatale anddangerousspy.
She was not Ingrid, whose Amazonian build and verwulfen temper frightened even the boldestofmen.
She was Ava. Quiet conqueror of the laboratory, the woman most men overlooked in favor of others, and awkward enough in company she generally sought to avoid itthesedays.
A muscle in Kincaid's jaw ticked. "You... are no match for adhampir."
