“What did I do to you?” Reyna repeated. She grinned devilishly. “I cured you.”
“Cured me,” he spat out.
“Oh, not of whatever has been ailing you for hundreds of years. Just of the virus you’ve been carrying around to keep yourself alive through it,” Reyna said. “A cure for vampirism.”
Harrington screamed as the Golden Blood whisked through his system, eating away at the virus that had infected him for centuries.
“Impossible,” Reyna heard Roland mutter behind her. He tensed, and it seemed as if he wanted to move against her, but stayed back, clearly not certain of the new abilities she’d demonstrated.
“Oh, it’s possible,” she said to Roland with a glare. Then she turned back to Harrington. “Washington finally perfected it and we tested it. And you just got a dose.”
Suddenly he began to convulse rapidly. The seizures hit him fresh, rocking through his mangled body. Reyna adjusted him onto his side the way that she’d seen Washington do for Brian.
“Uh-uh, we’re not ready for you to die yet,” Reyna said.
“How can this be?” Roland asked. He sounded disgusted and terrified. He was the last person alive to want to take such measures.
Reyna ignored him. She stood and wiped her hands off on her pants. She sent a signal to Beckham that all had gone as plannedand he could come upstairs when he was ready. She was anxious to find out what had happened with Bronwyn and hoped that her using her abilities hadn’t weakened him too much before it was resolved. She’d delayed and stalled and made Harrington talk out of his ass for as long as she could stomach it.
Now that Harrington was officially going through the transformation, she tipped her head at Jodie. “Katarina, you can release Jodie now.”
Roland scoffed as the pair pulled apart, moving into a defense stance. Katarina tugged off her hat, revealing her freshly dyed black hair. The disguise had been good enough to fool the guard Katarina had traded places with in the hallway. Neither Harrington nor Roland had recognized her, as she kept her hat low and hid her face.
“That hurt,” Jodie accused, holding her hand to her mouth.
Katarina laughed and smacked Jodie’s butt. “Good acting though, babe.”
“Acting,” Roland said in monotone.
A choked sob came from Harrington, still rolling around on the floor. It would take a couple more minutes before the cure went through him. Though it was a guess. They hadn’t tested it on someone as old as Harrington. The virus had its claws in him. It could take longer presumably.
“Roland, why don’t you move away from the desk?” Katarina said in a low, dangerous tone.
“Ah Katarina, don’t use that tone with me.” His eyes flicked to Jodie and back. “I see you’re slumming now.”
Katarina bared her fangs in anger. “Watch what you say and step back against the wall.”
Roland laughed. “You’re no match for me.”
Then he was gone. His movements so blurred, so quick that Reyna had no time to react. She couldn’t even reach for Beckham’s powers to try to get away from him. And having seenBeckham and Roland fight, she would need his powers for a lot longer than she could hold on to them. She’d need them as a surprise, and she’d used that surprise on Harrington.
Fuck.
In a blink, Roland had his arm around her neck with her back pressed against his chest. His mouth dangerously close to her ear.
“You double-crossing bastard,” Reyna spat at him.
Roland laughed in her ear. “Tell me, Reyna, how did you move that fast?”
“Trick of the trade.”
“You’ve turned?” Roland guessed.
“Do I look like I’ve turned?”
He pressed himself further against her and then sniffed his way from her neck up into her hair. She shuddered at the forced touch.
“I can still smell you. I can still hear your pattering heartbeat. I don’t understand.”
