Cara hustled inside the room. “What’s going on? I’m getting reports from all over the world about an illness. Witches, mates, and even a few shifters who haven’t been inoculated.”
“Oh God.” Janie sagged back against the counter. “The virus has gone airborne. It’s the only explanation.”
Emma finally reached the row of microscopes. “How did we get infected? We triple-check all food brought in, and the air vents prohibit any addition of contaminants.”
Janie’s mind ran through the last week, and she gasped. “The peace talks.” Janie rubbed absently at her aching temple as she flashed back to her last interaction with Kalin. He’d pretty much admitted the truth without giving her any details. “We warded against chemical and physical weapons. It would’ve been easy for Kalin to bring in a biological sample and infect Moira and Vivienne. The rest dominoed from there.” So that’s what Kalin had been talking about in the dream world. Bastard.
“Coward,” Talen hissed. “Going after mates and witches. Have the balls to come after us.”
But Kalin had struck and well. Vampires loved completely, and killing their mates would destroy them. Their extra chromosomal pairs protected the vampires, so they’d have to live on alone. The witch species as a whole might be wiped out.
Zane loped inside the room. “I’m getting calls from vampire allies around the world that their mates are dropping like flies from Virus-27. As are demon mates who’d once been a different species. What’s going on?” He directed the question toward Dage but kept his focus on Janie.
Dage stilled. “You have vampire allies.”
“Of course. Not everyone is aligned with you, King,” Zane said.
Dage scrubbed both hands down his face. “Purebred demon females are safe, but mates must not be. We need the data on how many chromosomal pairs a demon mate who was formerly human now has.”
“Same as a vampire mate,” Zane said slowly. “Twenty-seven pairs.” Then he frowned. “Belle? You look pale.”
Cara gasped and rushed for her daughter. “You’re a mate now. You’re susceptible.”
Oh God. Janie swayed. “I hadn’t thought of it.” She automatically held out her arm for Kane to quickly take blood. “I do have a headache.”
Zane paled and crossed the room. “You’re fine. We’ve only been mated a short time, and there hasn’t been enough time to contract the virus. You’re fine.” Desperation lifted his eyebrows. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into heat and safety.
Kane used a dropper to place her blood on a slide to slip under the specially modified machinery before turning around, his gaze sober. “You have the virus.”
Cara gasped, her face paling as she stared at her daughter. “Oh.” Then she took several deep breaths. “Okay. This is going to be okay. I’ve had the virus for decades, and I’m still standing. The first year sucks, and you’ll feel horrible, but it gets better after that. And the attack on the chromosomes slows down. We have time to fix this.”
Emma and Kane exchanged a look.
“What?” Cara asked, clasping her hands together.
“The mutation,” Emma said, brushing a limp piece of hair from her forehead. “The virus attacks much more quickly now. It might unravel chromosomes at a faster rate. We need to do testing.” She hummed and then coughed. “We haven’t even found where the damn thing gets in. If only vampires had studied genetics instead of weaponry the last few centuries.” She shot a hard glare at Kane.
He shrugged. “Why? We’re immortal. Until this virus, we didn’t give a hoot about chromosomes.”
“I know,” Emma nearly spat. She frowned and focused on Janie. “Did you know that before your mother and I started working on this virus issue that the vampires didn’t even map their chromosomes? They thought they had either an XV or a ZV setup. Morons.”
Janie bit her lip. “You’re kidding me.”
Kane shuffled his feet. “Like I said, we didn’t really care. Nothing hurts us but beheading, so we concentrated on protecting our damn necks.” He shook his head. “Now, thanks to your cranky aunt, we know that vampires have a combination of a V and a Y chromosome. Period.”
“So no girls. Ever.” Emma nodded. Janie stayed within the circle of Zane’s strong arms, her mind spinning. “Maybe now the virus has been weakened by the mutation. Maybe we can finally cure it.”
Kane nodded. “Here’s the plan. I need a full workup from every mate as well as every vampire. We’ll compare to old samples.” He nodded at Dage. “Get on the horn and have studies conducted all around the world with our associated medical facilities. Tell them to concentrate on the differences between the old version of the virus and the new . . . and not to waste a bunch of time tracking back the infection. At this point, we don’t care about carriers. Everyone susceptible to infection will get it.”
Dage nodded, his gaze concerned on his mate. “Love? Why don’t you come with me?”
Emma smiled, her lips trembling. “I need to work in the lab, sweetheart. I promise I’ll rest.”
The king brushed her lips with his. “I’ll be back.” Turning, he strode out of the room, the weight of rule darkening his features.
Kane immediately set everybody present to the task of collecting, analyzing, or retrieving samples. The group worked tirelessly and silently, each caught in their own thoughts.
Hours upon hours later, Janie, Kane, and Emma sat on examination tables, tense and tired.
