Page 44 of The Black Rider
Valentina just grinned.
“We don’t have to. We have satellite labs all over the world. They destroyed some of them, but a lot of them are still up and running. They just need the formula. How close is he?”
“We just figured out the vaccine and kill serum earlier this morning, and I swear to god, if you lady scientist me, I’ll punch you in the face.”
Valentina cocked an eyebrow at me.
“I’m a lady scientist. What the fuck are you talking about.”
“One man at the border said I didn’t look like a lady scientist. I’m not a scientist. My blood is important to end this. Leif will get you the formula when he has it figured out.”
Valentina looked amused.
“What is a lady scientist supposed to look like?”
I threw up my hands.
“Exactly!”
Valentina winked at me. She lifted her shirt and showed me where her belly button was pierced, and a butterfly was peeking out the waistband of her scrubs.
“Fuck him,” she said. “Get your ass back to the lab and help him. I need that formula.”
No pressure. I was only there to provide blood, moral support, and to read through emails. Aeron grabbed my hand.
“Thanks, Valentina. Leif will send it over when he has it.”
Aeron pulled me out of the lab, and I felt so much better when I was out of that confining suit. We strolled back through town, holding hands. I’d been spending all my time in the lab, I hadn’t really noticed how beautiful it was here—especially seeing children running and playing in the street. Some of them were on bikes, and some were playing street games, but it was nice to see them alive and playing.
Speaking of which, I was told I could get a birth control implant here because a factory survived. If I would continue getting laid by angels, I should probably get that done. I couldn’t bash my father’s brains in with a baby in my belly. And who knew what kind of baby I would have if I were a little more angel than the average Nephilim and Aeron and Leif were full angel? I pictured that scene in the lastTwilightbook, but with a little baby angel’s wings bursting out my stomach like those face-huggers in thoseAlienmovies.
Yeah, before we went allyay, we can kill zombies,I needed to get some birth control.
Chapter 30
L
eif was right where I left him—huddled over a microscope and muttering to his samples. At least I always knew where to find Leif. Aeron was still going off and killing things. Would be offended if I stuck a GPS tracker on him? It’s not like I could put some stalker app on a cell phone since those didn’t exist anymore. I’d seen a lot of satellite phones, but no one had offered me one, and apparently, angels had some built-in cellular connection where they could talk over distances with their minds. It was a little unfair I got stuck foretelling doom and gloom and didn’t even get the angel pockets.
Leif didn’t hear us come in. He jumped and nearly ruined his desk when I walked up behind him to wrap my arms around his waist and kiss his neck.
“Your stealth skills are lacking, Pestilence. What if I came here to kill you?”
“You would have been shot before you even got close, and I would have been alerted the combination on the keypad was entered wrong if you managed to get past all the armed guards.”
“Leif doesn’t enjoy killing things. He prefers other people do that for him while he nerds out over bacteria,” Aeron said.
I swatted at Aeron.
“Be nice. Leif, how do I get that birth control you were telling me about?”
Leif broke into this enormous grin.
“Big plans for our celebration?”
“I have ideas that will probably end up killing me.”
Aeron perked right the fuck up.
