“Our worlds are similar. Why is it absent from you and no one else I’ve studied? We’re speaking of hundreds of thousands of test subjects from different species.”
“What does this have to do with our timelines?”
“Exactly.” Benic pointed at her, excitement flashing in his expression.
“I’m not following you.”
“You mentioned that something big had to have happened to have no humans here and only humans on Earth. It left me thinking.” He gestured to his lab. “And studying your blood gave me an idea. A virus made the difference.”
She chewed her bottom lip while staring at the vampire, but not really seeing him. Was it possible? His theory was the best thing she had at the moment. “I’m listening, go on.”
“Something happened six hundred years ago.” He spoke quietly. “A plague. There’s no written record of it, but spoken history lasts long among immortal vampires. We’ve found old ruins of cities in Europa and in the Middle East but no evidence of who built them.” He shook his head. “It’s like another civilization existed here then vanished overnight.” He fell silent and stared at her with an expectant expression.
She scratched her chin. People lived here before the monsters. Her eyes grew wide as she gasped.
Benic nodded and finished his wine.
“Humans?”
“Very possibly What leads me to this idea were your charming myths about humans being bitten—”
“And turning into—vampires or werewolves…” She slapped her hands on the table.
“Yes, that’s what I’m thinking. A great disease fell upon this world. Few know of it but we vampires call it the Black Plague. From the bones we’ve found, buried in mass graves, we speculate that many, many died.”
Susan grabbed her wine glass and drained it. Wiping her hand across her lips, she focused on what Benic hinted at. Had a virus wiped out the human population? Then where had all these species of creatures—people—evolved from. She rubbed her temples. “Get to the point, Benic.”
“You don’t have the virus because the disease never existed on your world. It’s a bloodborne pathogen transmitted via mother to child, which is why everyone has it here.”
She slapped her forehead. “You think the virus changed the humans into other species.”
“Yes, some of them. It seems most died. You, my dear, are a blank slate waiting to contract the virus and change.”
The world dropped out from under her and spun. She couldn’t catch her breath for a moment and clutched the table for balance. “You think I’m going to catch the virus?” Oh shit, she’d had unprotected sex with Sorin.
“I know you will.” His secret smile made her queasy.
The empty wine glass next to her hand caught her attention.
“My blood was mixed into the wine. It should be enough to trigger a reaction if my hypothesis is correct.”
She jumped to her feet and pitched the glass at him. “I’m not a fucking lab rat. You said most of those people who originally went through the change died from the virus.” Her voice cracked with strain. “You’ve killed me.” She pointed to the window. “Sorin is out there and he loves me. Don’t think this is over so easily.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Somebody retched next to Sorin. He rolled on his side, blinking away his blurred vision.
Ahote, in feral form, dry heaved. The contents of his stomach were already on the forest floor. His back muscles bunched with another wave. The hunter wasn’t much of a threat at the moment.
Sorin scratched his head and glanced at his surroundings. Did the oversized pup knock him out? His head didn’t hurt, only felt groggy, like he drank too much the night before. “What happened?”
Peder popped up out of the underbrush in his civil form. He blinked, his eyes wide as he stared with a dazed look. “The vampires.” He swallowed and cleared his throat. “They attacked us.”
Shock kicked him low and hard. Sorin sprang, using his feral strength, and landed on his paws. Claws dug into the moist soil as he scanned the area. “Susan!”
Her name echoed among the towering trees. No one answered him. His heart beat so fast it skipped. “Susan?” He shoved ferns aside, praying to glimpse her sleeping form among the plants.
Ahote finally straightened. He rolled something tiny between his claws. “Some kind of small arrow.” He glanced at Sorin. “Poisoned?”
A growl built in his chest. Raw and jagged, it vibrated, cutting up his insides. They’d taken her. That creature had taken his Susan.
“Kele?” Peder climbed the steps to the Temple and returned immediately, shaking his head. “Why would they take them?” His soft voice sounded loud in the hush that fell among them.
Ahote gestured to his pack mates, the hunters who had accompanied them, and tossed the dart aside. “Doesn’t matter. They have the females.” He turned to the groggy Payami males. “Report back to the alpha what has transpired here, especially Benic’s traitorous actions.”
The males took off without comment. Sorin didn’t envy their duty. Kele was Inali’s only child.
Ahote stomped past Sorin, knocking against his shoulder.
Primal instinct took over, flashing through his thoughts. Sorin grabbed Ahote’s arm. “Where are you going?”
“To the castle. That’s where Benic would take them. I can’t return to my den without Kele.” He glared, challenging Sorin’s dominance.
He didn’t have time for this nonsense. Turning on each other wouldn’t rescue Susan any quicker. The vampires knew how to divide shifters, and Benic had done an excellent job with him and Ahote. Sorin shoved his claws into the other shifter’s flesh, drawing blood. “Brother, I’m not the one who stole her away.”
The Payami hunter’s eyes flashed before he stepped into Sorin’s personal space, butting chests. The odor of his breath coated Sorin’s tongue. “Yes, you are.” Ahote punctuated each word with a thrust of his shoulders. “And I’m not your brother, dog.”
They weren’t speaking about the same female. Technically, Sorin had stolen Susan from the Payami while she wore Ahote’s mark. “If she was so important, then you shouldn’t have failed in your job to protect her. Susan gave herself freely to me.” With a move his father taught him, Sorin tossed the other hunter on the ground, his teeth around his throat the moment he landed. Sorin might not be Ahote’s alpha but he needed to understand Sorin deserved the title. The Apisi had a terrible reputation because of his father but Sorin had earned the position. He shook Ahote by the throat until he went limp in submission.
The dark shifter took a shaky breath.
Sorin dropped him onto the ground and pinned his chest with his hand. “Don’t forget this.” By the setting sun, they’d been asleep for hours. Storming the castle was suicidal. Yet what choice did he have?
The Apisi were weak, still recovering from illness. Sorin couldn’t remove the healthy hunters guarding them for his selfish desires. Also, his territory lay in the opposite direction from the castle. He didn’t have the time to return to the den and come back.
With aching lungs, he took a deep breath. Who knew what the vampire was doing to his newfound love? Glancing at Peder, he couldn’t ask such a sacrifice from the smaller omega either. “Peder, I need you to return to the den with a message.”
The young shifter changed into his feral form and approached him on his stomach. “Don’t send me away. You need help.”
Pride swelled in Sorin’s chest. He cleared his throat. His omega would risk life and limb for his happiness…
Ahote pushed Sorin off his chest. “Let him come. We don’t have time to waste.
The metal bracelet around Kele’s wrist chafed her skin. A thick chain linked it to one of the solid wooden posts of the bed. She yanked at the restraint again. It didn’t even creak. The metal was vampire-made, which meant shifter-proof, and definitely Kele-proof.