“No,” Faith said, fine lines spreading out from her pretty eyes. “The cells died. Which means—”
“I’d be in a coma for a while and then I’d die.” Grace drew air in through her nose. She had to appear brave for Faith. “No matter what, you gave me five more years of living, Faithie. Never forget that. I enjoyed these years.” She’d learned of people she’d never imagined, and she’d gotten so see her sister happy and mated to a great male. “This has been good.” She swallowed several times, her body heating. “I’m sure you also combined my cells with more of Adare’s. As if he mated me for real this time.”
Emma nodded. “Yes. Your other doctors misinterpreted the tests because they didn’t know about you being a Key. I do and set the parameters for the tests accordingly. Um, your cells, the antibodies you’ve developed, destroyed his. Completely. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Not what she’d been expecting. Grace stiffened. How was that even possible? “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I ran the test three times,” Emma said.
Grace deflated, sitting back on the bed, her mind spinning. Her antibodies were that strong? What the hell was it with being a Key? “I thought, deep down, that maybe—”
“Mating him, full on frontal nudity, would be the only answer to saving you?” Faith murmured, her gaze understanding. “I know. I’ve seen how you look at him.”
Grace sputtered. “Look at him? What are you talking about? I can’t stand him.”
Emma snorted. “Right. Ha. The same way you can’t stand an ice cream sundae with extra sprinkles. I may be lost in my own world a lot, working on these experiments, but even I can see that. You want that badass. Like bad.”
Grace frowned, lowering her chin. “You really don’t sound like a queen.”
Emma grinned. “Like I haven’t heard that before.” Her blue eyes sparkled. Once again, her mass of dark hair was piled high on her head, escaping in tendrils in every direction. “We also combined your cells with genes from a couple of unmated males, and the allergy sprang forth fast and bright. No option there.”
“Wow,” Grace said slowly. “My options are death, death, or…death.” She breathed out. Well, it was nice to have answers, right? No. Not right. “This sucks.”
Faith clasped her hands together. “Well, not death. Whatever is in your blood, in your cells from the Key marking, ensures you’ll live for a while. Maybe not consciously, but that would give us time to find a cure? Maybe?”
Emma shuffled her feet. “I really want to agree with you.”
But she didn’t. The most knowledgeable geneticist in the entire world, human or immortal, thought Grace was going to drop back into her coma and then die. Grace pressed her fingers against her eyebrows to try to stall the oncoming headache. “Okay. What I learned from the science class I took in college was basically how to listen to music and balance a checkbook at the same time. But if I’ve developed antibodies to Adare, can’t we get rid of those somehow?”
“No,” Faith said slowly. “There’s no way to get rid of antibodies. I mean, they can diminish over time, but you don’t have time.” She winced on the last. “Your only option is to mate Adare, Gracie. After your antibodies destroy his, you may recover.”
Grace let the words sink in. “You just said my cells destroyed his. If we mate, and I’m saved, what happens to Adare?”
Neither woman answered.
Grace shook her head. “We know that mated couples both change, or there wouldn’t be a mating allergy for both. There must be something about being a Key that takes over.” It was getting more difficult to deny the supernatural element of fate in her life, but she’d figure that out later. “And whatever that is, it’s gotten stronger in the last five years, developing antibodies to Adare. I can’t save myself and kill him.”
“The hell you can’t,” came a low voice from the hallway.
Grace sighed and turned to see Adare taking up all the available space in the doorway. “You saved me once, and now I’m going to save you.” It totally sucked, but maybe somehow Faith or Emma would find a cure before the coma killed her. “If I do die, then you could eventually take the virus and mate again.” It was the least she could do for him. Plus, Jacqueline was free now, and she had to admit, the shifter wasn’t so bad.
Adare looked at Emma. “You said my cells were demolished when mine and Grace’s combine, but in the other tests, Grace’s cells were just changed.”
Emma nodded.
“Perhaps mine changed as well and combined with hers, thus appearing demolished,” Adare said quietly. “You don’t know that mating would kill me.”
Faith stepped forward, her eyes earnest. “That’s true. We truly don’t know. Mating would change your genetics, too. Her cells are stronger than yours right now, and you could very well die.”
Emma cleared her throat. “You haven’t been feeling well, have you? And you’ve told no one, just like a typical male. Why didn’t you call me?”
Adare’s frown darkened. “I’m fine. We’ve been on mission after mission, many bloody, and I figured I just needed a break. My cells are perfect.”
“Your cells are deteriorating,” Emma countered. “The mating mark has faded, and your blood is changing. You’ll survive if the mating completely disengages, but if you mate Grace again, you might not. You probably wouldn’t, actually. We’ve never seen anything like this. You do understand that, right?”
“I do,” Adare said, focusing on Emma. “Mercy is a Key, and she and Logan successfully mated. Have you tested their blood?”
Emma nodded. “Of course, but after they mated. Their results were like those of every other mated pair.”
