Sam finally entered carrying a bag full of supplies. He pulled out vials—two with blood in them and three without—a microscope, syringes, and other lab equipment.
“Have you figured out a cure yet?” I demanded, because Aspen seemed only capable of joking and touching the damned bite mark.
“We’ll see.”
“We’ll see, Sam? That’s your answer?”
He put on gloves and readied his syringe. “Better than no.”
Well, he fucking got me there.
First, Sam healed Aspen’s wounds, then he took his blood. He analyzed it beneath the microscope, keeping us in suspense.
“You are infected.”
“Thanks for the confirmation, Sam,” Aspen commented, like he’d just been handed a basket of fruit.
I squeezed my fists—hard.
Sam lifted his head, eyes eager. “But your blood is fighting it, as my studies suggested.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means out of all the samples and studies I’ve done with everyone’s blood, his is the only one that fights the infection and wins. For a time. Then the power in his blood weakens, and the infection would take over again.”
“So what? He has weeks instead of days?”
Sam nodded. “Most likely.”
I didn’t like it, but I’d take it.
“So it gives you more time to figure out a cure.”
He made a noncommittal noise, picking up glass plates, dripping different blood samples onto them, and sliding them under the microscope to study.
I looked at Aspen, and he just shrugged.
Shrugged.
It had to be shock. We both knew this was bad.
“For the longest time, I couldn’t understand why Aspen’s blood only partially eradicated the demon corruption,” Sam said, eye pressed to the microscope. “It disrupted the infection, but it never fully displaced it. Then Oliver told me about the Severance Rune.”
“Severance Rune?”
“You’ll have to get the full story from Lucille. But it seems she learned Aspen’s mother placed a Severance Rune on him along with the guardian bond. She mentioned the rune would be on your neck, Aspen.”
“What?” we chorused.
When did she figure that out?
Last night after our?—
I gritted my teeth against the throb in my chest.
Must’ve been.
Seven Hells, the resilience of my hellion astounded me.
