As soon as they got off the elevator, four people in hazmat suits got on, carrying the gear to lock down the next floor. Given that it couldn’t have been more than three hours since the first person had exploded, Nick was impressed at their efficiency.
“Detectives?” Someone to their right spoke, their voice muffled through their respirator and face guard. Level C suit, Nick judged. A respirator, goggles, and a bodysuit that prevented accidental skin contact with anything hazardous.
So, the CDC was taking it seriously, but not so seriously that they’d broken out the Level A suits that had complete coverage and an independent air supply.
“I’m Detective King. These are Detectives Avila and Zahide, and Parker Ferro, a consultant of ours,” Nick introduced.
“Dr. Vanora Lawless,” she said. “Before we start, we want to make sure everyone is being safe.”
She held out a box with respirators and goggles, and they all took one. Lawless checked them once they were on and gave them the thumbs-up. It was impossible to see anything other than her eyes with all her gear on, but she seemed friendly enough.
“I’m lead on the scene, at least until my boss gets here. We’ve been using the spells that Detective Zahide provided, but unfortunately, we don’t have enough registered alchemists on staff to check everyone in the building.” She let out a softbreath that might have been a chuckle of frustration. “You might not believe this, but we’ve never dealt with an alchemy disease before. We requested help from the local FBI office. They’ll have more alchemists available, but it will take some time for them to get here.”
“You found someone else?” Nick asked.
“Yeah, we wanted you to wait in the room and just explain how you got rid of it, but Detective Avila said that it was specific to Mr. Ferro?” Lawless turned to Parker expectantly. “Was there a reason you couldn’t just describe how you did it?”
Nick’s stomach didn’t drop out, his blood didn’t freeze, nothing so dramatic. He’d seen Parker tap-dance his way out of more specific, pointed questions. But still, this was the sort of questioning that made Nick review every backup plan he had.
He and Parker could flee to his parents’ compound up north. Parker could go to the Far Realm immediately, vanishing from any human’s ability to recapture him. They could hold a press conference and make it very public who and what Parker was so that it would be impossible to disappear him.
Or they could rely on the expensive defense attorney to keep them safe.
“I’m a witch, not an alchemist, so I see things differently. The circle didn’t look complete, so when I went to probe it, I accidentally drained it.” Parker was smiling that charminggosh-so-sorry-I-didn’t-mean-tosmile under his respirator. Nick could tell from the crinkle in his eyes.
“You drained it?” Lawless said, frowning. But she didn’t say it with the hysteria that Nick and Zahide had felt, the panic born from seeing training videos of what happened when you drained a circle. (The joke among young, talented alchemists was that you knew who was the best by what age their teachers showed them the old video, traumatizing them for life.)
“Yes. By accident.” Parker was still grinning brightly, even if she couldn’t see his mouth. “I could?—”
“He can’t repeat it,” Nick jumped in. “It might have been an accident, but Zahide and I both agree it’s too dangerous to replicate.”
The training video was a recorded experiment from World War II. A military alchemist, acting against council guidelines, put his hands on an existing circle and attempted to drain it. The end was, even in black and white, very gruesome.
“Well, huh.” Lawless frowned. “I don’t know that that helps us, then.”
“Could I see whoever was infected?” Nick asked. “I’m a good alchemist, and we don’t understand a lot of how this works.”
“King. Your captain said you and Zahide were the best he had. It can’t hurt. If this spreads as quickly as we think, we need to know how for certain.” She gestured to the respirator she wore. “And find out who else is infected.”
Lawless led them to a small room, the door covered with a portable clean room. Lawless went in first, followed by Zahide, who didn’t even hesitate. Nick moved to follow, and he could feel Parker right behind him.
Firmly, he turned. “No.”
Parker’s eyes went wide. “Nick?—”
“No, Parker, I mean it.” Nick kept his eyes locked on his husband’s. “This is alchemy. You need to stay out here where it’s safe. I’ll let you know whatever Zahide and I find, but I’mreallygood at this. Let me do this.”
Because he was asking, not telling. Parker had never done anything but what Parker wanted, even when it was dangerous or even suicidal. Parker was the strongest, most creative, and tenacious person Nick knew, but right now, this was Nick’s strength.
“Just… be careful. Don’t do anything I would do,” Parker said, and his eyes were wide and panicked, but his voice was calm through the thick respirator. “You hear me? If it gets into your head,hey, this is something Parker would do, I want you to stop and just… do the absolute opposite thing. Except for basic things, obviously, like breathing. Do lots of breathing. But not if it’s airborne. Then don’t breathe… I mean, don’t breathe in the disease. Like,Iwouldn’t breathe in disease, so don’t do theoppositeof what I would do either. Just be careful.”
“I’ll be careful,” Nick said.
“Good.” Parker nodded and reached out, squeezing Nick’s arm. Then he let go and stepped back, standing next to Avila, his panic only visible in his sky-blue eyes.
“You coming, King?” Zahide prompted.
“Yeah, right here,” Nick said. Then he did the thing that always felt impossible, and he turned around to walk away from Parker.
