“Yeah, a reason, and maybe since you infected my ass with it, you can tell us what the hell it is that they, and now you, are poisoning vampires with.”
Doc snorted. “Let’s head back in. I’ll explain everything, and then you can tell me why your asses are here. It should be safe based on my research. Once infected, we should be immune.”
“Are you sure?” Foxx asked, his brow raised.
Doc glanced at the lab door and ground out, “Based on the fact your dhampir dented my fucking door, and likely destroyed my tightly sealed room, yes!” The man’s Scottish accent was in full swing now.
Harlow smiled. “Oops.”
“Oops, my ass.” Doc hmphed. Straightening up, the man shoved them back to open the door, and stormed away.
“Prickly as always, I see,” Harlow snorted.
Foxx sighed. “Let’s…follow, I guess.” He eyed the vial Harlow still held. “But…keep that handy, just in case.”
Harlow grunted in response.
Foxx went inside the lab. Pulling out a chair from under the counter, he sat down, watching as Doc cleaned up the broken vial on the ground. Grimacing, he wrapped his arms around himself at the slight chill in the air. Not even slight…it was bloody cold in there.
Eyeing the ground, and the lack of anything being there besides the broken glass the vampire was cleaning up, Foxx pointed out, “There’s nothing there… What exactly was in the vial?”
Doc straightened, dumping the dust pan over a bin markedhazardous materials. The man then hit a big red button, and the sound of fans began, as air started to circulate.
“It was a liquid, but—” The vampire yawned, shaking his head as he walked unsteadily over, pulled out a chair and took a seat. Clearing his throat, he asked, “What do you notice about the room?”
“It’s cold?” Foxx drawled.
“Is it?” Harlow frowned. “I suppose…it’s a little colder than normal.”
Doc scoffed. “Ignore him. Dhampirs run hotter than werewolves. But yes, it’s cold. Even a human would find this temperature unpleasant enough to at least warrant long sleeves. You asked me what it is, and the answer is…it’s a poison, yet also…a virus.”
“Real…clear, Doc,” Harlow snorted.
“It’s because what it is…is slightly unclear. I’ve recreated it, but the fact is, once introduced into the body, while it does spread through the bloodstream…it also multiplies like a virus would.”
“But we can’t be infected by viruses.” Foxx frowned. “We can’t get sick like that.”
“It’s too complicated, and frankly, a waste of my time to explain fully what’s in it. Just know that it is a mix of holy water, ashes from a bible, aconitum phoria, a rather nasty viral concoction that should never have worked on us, but...yet does, and some other chemicals. Along with one random chemical that I’m positive is only there to help bind everything together, yet is likely the sole reason why those infected suffer from extreme light sensitivity.”
“Heaven’s Wolfsbane?” Harlow asked.
Doc’s eyes flicked to Harlow. “Yes?”
“Foxx, what are the odds that we just happened to run across a group of werewolves that were growing that exact plant in a swamp?”
Foxx frowned. “Would Maverick use werewolves as a means to an end?”
Harlow chuckled. “In a fucking heartbeat.”
“Then…the odds are questionable. It was a large amount…” Foxx frowned.
A very large amount. Even with how much it sells for on the black market…to be honest… “As much as it sells for, the demand isn’t that high. Mainly as the customer base is constantly dying. It would take years to sell just one season’s worth of growth, given what was there. And each year they’d just have more and more… It would be an endless supply that would never sell. I wouldn’t imagine they’d even be able to handle storing it.”
“How much are we talking about?” Doc asked with a frown.
“Maybe a little under a football field’s worth,” Harlow drawled.
Doc tsked. “How high?”
