“No. But he’s the king. The figurehead of the entire monarchy. That means something.” Kane shook his head. “The king needs to be protected. At almost all cost.”
“Almost?”
Kane grinned. “After the queen, of course.”
The idea of her being an actual queen made her want to laugh out loud. Emma rolled her eyes just as Janie and Cara strolled in.
Emma hugged her niece, letting the familiar scent of powder center her for a moment. “Why aren’t you two resting?” Dark circles marred the too pale skin under Cara’s bloodshot eyes. They had to fix this.
Cara sat wearily in a thick chair with a soft sigh. “Janie wouldn’t take her nap until she talked to you.” The bones in her neck protruded too much. While it was too early to show, Cara shouldn’t be losing weight to this degree. To any degree, actually.
Emma knelt down and smoothed rioting brown curls off Janie’s forehead. “What is it, sweetheart?” Oh please not the prelude to another painful vision. Not already.
Janie gulped in air. “You need to call Mowra. Right now. Call Mowra.” She clutched Mr. Mullet with white hands. Emma had given the girl the bear with its odd blue mullet nearly two years ago. When life seemed normal. “Mowra can help fix my brother. Call Mowra.”
Kane frowned and dropped to his haunches so he and Janie faced eye-to-eye. “How can Moira help, Janie?”
Blue eyes widened. “I dunno. But you need to call Mowra.”
“Kane? Who’s Moira?” Emma stood, her knees popping. Man, she needed to get back on a treadmill.
“Conn’s mate. She’s the seventh sister of the seventh sister.” Kane picked Janie up to sit on a table.
Emma glanced at Cara, who gave a shrug. “Does that mean something?”
“Oh. Yes. Powerful witch. Very.” Kane dug in a drawer for a lollipop, which he handed to Janie with flourish.
“Science is going to fix this, not magic.” Emma peeked around Kane. How long had there been candy in the drawer?
Janie grabbed her hand, and Emma swung around to focus on her niece. The little girl scrunched her face in a tiny frown. “You said to trust what my head said. To trust what I hear and see.”
Emma slowly nodded. “I did.” Nobody would teach this little girl that her gifts were bad or something she shouldn’t embrace. She’d made that vow the first day she’d discovered Janie had talent.
Wisdom swirled in those sapphire eyes. “So you trust me, Auntie Emma. Call Mowra.”
The child was right. “Okay. Uncle Kane and I will call Mowra.” Now she was agreeing to consult with witches. What was next?
“Moira,” Kane corrected, tossing her a miniature candy bar. He reached out and assisted Cara to her feet. “You go take naps and we’ll contact Conn’s mate. I’m sure she’d love to hear from us.” Teeth sparkled in a wise ass grin.
Emma held up a hand. “Um, just give us a second, okay?” She took Cara’s arm and tugged her into the hall.
Cara leaned against the papered wall, an eyebrow raised. “What’s up, Em?”
All right. What were the proper words here? “It’s just, that ... Well. I wanted you to fully understand you’re no longer mated.”
A frown settled between Cara’s arched brows. “Yeah. I got that.” She cocked her head to the side.
“It’s just, well, I am going to destroy this virus. And you have choices.”
A ghost of a smile played on Cara’s lips. “Choices?”
Emma cleared her throat. “Yes.” She sighed. Imaginary eggshells crunched under her feet. “I feel like fate didn’t give you a chance. Or Talen didn’t.” Her brother-in-law seemed a force beyond nature. “You don’t have to be mated to him.”
A soft laugh breathed out of Cara. “I love you, Em.”
What did that mean? “I love you, too.”
Cara moistened her lips, pure delight shining in her eyes. “So please understand. That man is going to remate me if I have to stake him to the ground and land on his palm.”
Relief made Emma’s smile wide. “So you love him, huh?”
“With everything I am.” Cara smiled. “I’m a big girl now, Emma. I know what I’m doing.”
“Okay. I’m happy for you.” Something warm settled around Emma’s heart.
Cara grabbed her by the upper arms. “Time for you to fight for what you want.”
Understanding and acceptance slid through Emma. “Dage.”
“Yes. Dage.”
“Yes. I am.” She smiled at her sister. Death didn’t stand a chance against the Paulsen women.
“Good.” Cara leaned around the doorframe and called Janie, who hopped forward and took her hand. “We’ll see you genetic geniuses later tonight.” The two swept down the hall.
Emma crossed back into the lab, and Kane gave her a lopsided smile. The guy probably had super vampire hearing or something. She sighed. “We need to find an obstetrician and get an ultrasound machine.”
He cleared his throat. “Talen has already contacted two obstetricians who will be here next week. But ultrasounds don’t work on vampire babies.”
“What? Why?”
Kane shrugged. “Let’s just say the waves can’t penetrate to see the baby—too much natural protection.”
That might be good. Maybe the baby had some innate protection against the virus as well. Unlike Cara. “I’d like to study up on what to expect from a vampire birth.” Emma had some work to do.
Kane nodded. “Of course.” He tossed down his files. “I need to head into town for a few more supplies and we’ll call Moira when I return. Want to come?”
“No thanks.” Emma shifted back to her printouts. “I have a couple more thoughts with the AC21 sample I want to try while they’re still fresh in my head.”
“Okay.” Kane left her to her work.
She studied the colorful chart. They’d combined the cancer treatment with a werewolf’s blood—from the werewolf contained two floors down. And nothing. An idea began to tingle at the base of her neck. What if she combined the treatment with werewolf and vampire blood?
Excitement rushed through her. The protein would cling to the chromosome and perhaps antibodies from both werewolf and vampire would then attack.
A sudden, blaring alarm cut through the silence. She punched in keys on the nearest laptop, brought up the fourth clean lab, and gasped. Devon Jones lay on the floor surrounded by broken vials. What the heck had happened? And what the hell was he doing in Lab Four? Only she and Kane had access.
With her heart beating against her ribs, she ran down the hall and punched the code into the wall pad, leaning forward for the iris scan and giving her code. The door opened and she hustled inside, following the same procedure in both the ultraviolet room and the showers—overriding the computer’s warnings that she hadn’t followed the guidelines. Visions of Devon’s goofy jokes and blushing face as he talked about Sandy Newcomb ran through her mind. She had to help him.
Finally she dashed into the lab, throwing the door closed behind her, only to slide across liquid and fall to her knees next to Devon. “Ouch.” Her breath caught in her throat as she leaned over to peer at a piece of glass stuck in her knee. With a groan, she ripped it out and blood welled. She felt for Devon’s neck.
His pulse was weak, and his eyes fluttered open. “Weird lasers. Get out. Get out right now.”
Lasers? She looked around the room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. “What are you talking about?”
The color returned to his face and he weakly pushed himself to a seated position. He pushed curly hair back from his forehead, his blue eyes bloodshot and a rueful smile sliding across his face. “Some weird red beam came from the camera and zapped me.” He pointed to a camera in the far corner.
A laser in the camera? She frowned. They should probably get the heck out of the lab until she could figure out what happened. Blood, chemicals and broken vials littered the floor and caught Emma’s gaze. Her knee already throbbed. “What in the hell are you doing in here?”