Page 55 of Veradel
“We won’t know for a while,” I grunt, already pissed off just at the sight of him.
“That’s convenient,” Gabriel scoffs. “She could just be tricking all of us. Especially you and Taika. Maybe it’s a ruseto—”
This time, it’s not me who pummels him. A tiny brunette blur whizzes across the lawn and slams into Gabriel, tackling him to the ground. He grunts out in pain when his body pounds into the dirt.
After the initial shock wears off, Gabriel swings a fist into Vivian’s side. She returns one to his temple before they’re a rolling heap of groans and curses.
Much to my delight, Vivian eventually gets a knee into Gabriel’s balls, and she uses the moment to pin him down.
“I’m tired of your inflated ego,” she spits. “Saskia is the first real hope we’ve had in centuries. Don’t you want to have hope?”
“Of course I do,” Gabriel splutters. “I just—”
“Then pull it out!” she screams.
“Pullwhatout, you crazy bitch?”
“That stick you have shoved so far up your ass that it’s choking you.”
Vivian doesn’t wait for his reply. She knees him in the gut and stands up, leaving Gabriel to curl into the fetal position in pain.
“Anyone else got anything to say about Saskia?” she asks, dusting herself off.
I fold my arms, beaming. Not a single pack member dares to annoy Vivian any further. A few shake their heads, one slow claps, another few smirk at Gabriel, and I try to swallow my laugh as he spits out a mouthful of dirt.
Merrick, however, stalks up to Gabriel and presses his boot into his cheek, grinding his face against the dirt once more. “Call her a bitch again,” he says, his voice as calm and quiet as ever, “and I’ll rip out your tongue just to shove it back down your throat.”
Understanding settles in my chest—that protectiveness and possessiveness over the one person who means most to you. Honestly, I’d do worse if anyone called Saskia anything I didn’t like. But all this rage of ours has nowhere to go. No real outlet for centuries, forcing us to turn on each other, again and again and again.
So when Gabriel scrambles to a stand, puffing his chest out at Merrick, I use my alpha tone of command to halt him.
“Save it, Gabriel. Save it, Merrick.”
Both of them turn their glares upon me.
“For what?” Merrick demands.
“For them.”
Once again, I point toward the Wall, toward our real enemies and all the people within that cage that need to be freed.
Because even if Saskia’s plan works and we get inside…
We’ll still have twelve vampires to slay.
Taika and I work through the day, isolating the active ingredients in Lucan’s blood and adjusting the pH of his resulting plasma. I’m in awe over the process, at how carefully Taika describes every step, showing me and then allowing me to try.
“And now to add the pepsin solution,” he practically hums, snatching up the little glass bottle. “I’m glad you managed to get the liquid kind rather than the powder, since we don’t exactly have distilled water anywhere nearby. Here.” He hands me a small, clear pipette before I can respond. “We only have ten milliliters of plasma to work with right now, so let’s dissolve one ounce of pepsin in it.”
I close an eye, sucking up the appropriate amount of liquid. “How do you know what the right amount is?” I ask, eager for more information. In our schooling phase, they skimmed over the processes of… well, everything. There was no point in going into detail when the Guardians would ultimately choose our careers.
“I don’t know,” Taika admits. “A long time ago, I developed some snake antivenom for the kingdom using sheep blood, butvampireantivenom usingwerewolfblood… it’s an entirely new process. An experiment, if you will.”
My heart drops, even as I squeeze beads of pepsin into Lucan’s plasma and watch it dissolve among the thick, yellowish substance. An experiment? We don’t havetimefor an experiment. But I suppose testing it out on a Wall is better than testing it out on a human.
Still, my mind wanders to the possibilities…
If we can get this right, could we inject it into those stone statues in Arad’s garden?
