I nodded. Despite the fact he could go kung-fu warrior, like in the culling, deep down Jayden was a lover not a fighter. Plus I desperately needed to not think about it either.
“You think Sam and Becca are sleeping together?” I blurted out and Jayden squealed.
“I know, right? I wonder … I mean she’s nerdy, but hot. Her eyebrows though…” He shuddered. “Girl needs help.”
I snort laughed. “They have to be doing it. How could you spend decades out here and not get some action?”
Jayden shrugged. “Vibrator?”
My mouth dropped open and I smacked his arm.
“Ewww, I do not want that mental picture next time I see her.”
Jayden grinned. Asshole.
Our conversation died off then, and despite our need to wipe those last few moments from our minds, it was too big to suppress. Our idle chatter was a Band-Aid over a severed arm.
“We’re going to fight those bastards, right?” Jayden was now channeling his badass side. He wanted the vampires to go down as much as I did.
I was suddenly on my feet, moving out of the room. “Yes we are,” I said, as Jayden caught up to me and we both charged out the door. “We’re going to take them down so hard they won’t know what hit them, and for that we need Becca.”
It took me a few tries to remember the way back to her lab. Jayden was of course no help; his sense of direction might actually be worse than mine.
Finally, though, the bright, overly fake fluorescent lighting came into sight and I knew we were in the right place. Sure enough, as I rounded the corner I zeroed straight in on Becca, who was crouched over a microscope.
She never even looked up as we crossed the cleaned-within-an-inch-of-its-life lab; everything was white, stainless steel, and top of the line. She had tech here which labs across the world would kill for. Which would hopefully mean this was our best chance of creating the perfect weapon to use against the vampires.
“This place gives me the creeps,” Jayden whispered as he followed right behind me. “As my BAFF, it’s your job to make sure that if I die, no mutha-effer donates my body to science. I will come back and haunt the hell out of you.”
I snorted, reaching out and taking his hand. “You’re not allowed to die. That’s a freaking order.” He squeezed my hand tightly then, but any further conversation was cut off as Becca finally lifted her head.
She looked completely stunned to see us there – and we hadn’t been quiet – especially for someone with ash senses. Her eyes roamed across our faces, and she must have seen some of the devastation from the Portland Hive video on our features.
“Has something happened?” Her glasses fell forward along her narrow nose as she straightened and automatically reached up to push them back into place. I found it hilarious, and sort of endearing that she continued to hold so tightly to that part of her old life, because she obviously didn’t need glasses. Ash had perfect sight, but old habits die hard, and I understood her need. She had lost everything else she loved that day at the zoo.
She was still waiting for us to answer her, so I quickly explained about the enforcers and what we saw. Somehow I got the words out. Jayden and I were both shiny-eyed again as the pain and disbelief hit hard. The images from the computer screen continued to flash across my mind, and I wished I hadn’t seen them at all. My heart hurt so hard for Ryder and the other sexy six. But mostly Ryder. He was the leader, and he took his responsibility very seriously. There was no doubt he believed the blood of those ash was on his hands. Which was not the case. The Quorum would have killed us whether we ran or not. And then killed the enforcers. But still, we all knew Ryder was a bad one for holding on to guilt.
Becca was silent then, her eyes darting between me and Jayden. She had not flinched at our news, and something told me that this wasn’t the worst thing she’d seen happen in the Hives. She focused all of her attention on me.
“I’m guessing you’re here because you want to know if I can turn your blood into a weapon to use against them?” Smart people were the best. No need to explain shit, they already knew.
I nodded and waited for her to continue.
A smile spread across her surprisingly full lips. Girl was actually quite stunning, she just needed a little help with showcasing herself. And judging by the look on Jayden’s face, he was already mentally tweezing her brows and changing her lab coats out for an outfit that probably required Spanx and nipple pasties. Poor girl. I should probably warn her, but it was fun to not be his only ash girlie to play designer on.
I forced myself to focus as she started rattling off the science stuff again. “I haven’t had much time with your blood yet, Charlie, but I can already tell that it’s fascinatingly different to mine. You seem to have a special type of white blood cell, one which is more elongated than any I’ve ever seen before. It is dominating your blood, and the other cells seem to use it to move rapidly through the body. They’re working as a team to fight off any antigens.”
So she was saying … English please.
Instead of acting like I was an idiot, Becca’s eyes lit up. I could tell she loved science and teaching. She crossed over to a white board and started to draw and write across it.
“Okay, so in blood you have a whole bunch of components. The red blood cells or platelets binds to oxygen and transports it around the body.” She drew a bunch of little concave looking discs and wrote 45% beside it. “This is where vampires and ash need some help. Our cells regenerate far quicker than humans, and our platelets require some help with the level of oxygen needed in our bodies. Therefore, we need to feed. The faster you regenerate, the more blood you require. Which is why vampires need more than us, and are stronger.”
Jayden and I exchanged a look, before crossing to take a seat close to her whiteboard. Something told me this was going to be a long lecture, and despite the fact that I wasn’t the best at school, this was one subject I wanted to know everything about.
Becca didn’t even seem to notice; she was in her element as she continued. “The other 55% of your blood is plasma, and it is here which your blood is unique. Plasma is generally made up of mostly water, proteins, hormones, and antibodies. There are other vitamins and minerals, but we don’t need to worry about that right now. The part which is the most fascinating in your blood are the antibodies.”
“Yours are unlike any I’ve ever seen before. I introduced some of the virus to them and they attacked in a way which I could only liken to sharks in a feeding frenzy. They obliterated the foreign vampire blood in seconds.”
