“Yeah. That conference in New York wasn’t his only attempt at getting the word out. He tried multiple times to tell his boss at Pfizer with the usual minor disasters: flu bug, electrical outage, lost data. Then he printed everything on paper, called a meeting of all the higher-ups, and got hit by a car on the way to the meeting.”
Hank winced even though he knew all this information already. Still, it sucked to know the truth and despite every attempt to get the information out, magic made sure he was treated as a fool.
“He ended up fired when he distributed copies of his paper anyway. From there, he tried teaching high school science, but he kept trying to talk to the kids about werewolves.”
Now Cecilia was cringing. “That couldn’t have gone well.”
“It didn’t. He was fired, which is when Emory Wolf got his paws into him. He had his sister’s notes by then and was getting ready to present his paper at the big conference in New York.”
“Where he got food poisoning.”
“And his wife left him. That was when he went completely bonkers.”
Double whammy. Lost his career and his family in the same week.
“So he decided to infect the entire city?” Cecilia asked. “Why?”
“Near as we can tell, he hoped to make enough shifters that it couldn’t be kept secret anymore.”
Then Simon pressed the point. “It destroyed him, killed a ton of people, and all because he thought he was smarter than magic.” He stopped speaking then, but his gaze was heavy on Cecilia.
Hank wanted to cross to her, to wrap his arm around her in support. He wanted her to know that he would care for her no matter what, but she had to see the example in Dr. Oltheten. He didn’t want to distract her from the lesson. Brainiacs always thought they could outsmart everything. People, acts of nature, and magic. It had destroyed the Oltheten siblings, and he desperately hoped she would learn from their disaster.
He watched her closely, hoping for a clue as to which way she would jump. And in the end, she set down her tablet.
“This goes against everything I’ve ever believed. You know that, right?”
Simon nodded. “We know.”
Cecilia didn’t answer, and as the seconds ticked away, Hank felt his gut clench and his blood pressure rise. She was playing with her life. Dr. Oltheten had ultimately died from a heart attack because he couldn’t live with the world’s blindness. He didn’t want that for her. He needed her to be alive and safe. So when the silence stretched too long, he stepped forward.
At first, he didn’t think she’d accept his touch, but she didn’t draw away. Their fingers entwined, and she gripped him with bruising force, but she kept her eyes and her body away from him.
“Dr. Lu…” Simon began, a warning in his voice.
“I won’t publish, but I don’t have to like it.”
Hank spoke for the first time. “What if you could publish? To a shifter journal. I know it won’t win you the Nobel prize—”
“Or any career recognition,” Alyssa added.
“But it would get the information out to shifters everywhere. And they’re the ones who need it.”
Cecilia didn’t answer, but she did lift her head. In that moment, Simon pushed the advantage. “I’ve been thinking about that exact thing, Dr. Lu. Shifters need a clearinghouse for scientific information. Dr. Sherilyn does what she can, but she’s only one person and she has responsibilities to the university. But what about you?”
Cecilia frowned. “What about me?”
“Would you like a job running a shifter CDC? All the clans would pay to cover your costs. You could sort through the data we gather, pick projects to fund or even research yourself. You want to dig into our biology, don’t you? And we need someone to help with shifter specific problems. You might not win a Nobel prize, but you would—”
“Save all of us,” Hank said, when he really meant, save him. Because the idea that she might live and work here gave him hope that they could build a great life together. Here in Detroit.
He searched her face, praying that she was reaching for the same solution he saw. The exact job Simon was offering. He could see that she was thinking about it. She got a softness in her mouth as her brows narrowed over her eyes. But just when he thought she’d say yes, she pulled her fingers away from his.
“Two job offers in one day,” she said. “I don’t know what to think.”
The first job offer hadn’t been an offer at all, but a kidnapping by the wolves. That she equated the two set Hank’s teeth on edge. Simon’s, too, but neither pressed it. It was nearly dawn and they’d all been running full tilt for much too long.
“Well,” Simon finally said, “let us know—”
