by Alanea Alder
Kendrick chuckled. "I did say it was a hypothesis Meryn. It does make sense he would use that opportunity to reach as many people as possible, the timing is right as well."
Meryn kicked out her foot halting her spinning. "That's not what I meant. DeLaDouchebag would poke people and they would get sick right? It's how Magnus got it."
Kendrick nodded. "Exactly. He used his cuff after dinner to infect Magnus."
Meryn tilted her head. "Then why isn't Aiden sick? He got nicked too."
Kendrick froze before turning to Ellie, who looked Law who nodded. "She's right."
Vivi stood her hands shaking. "I need his blood!" she bolted from the room.
Meryn sighed, picked up her walkie-talkie and unclipped it from her backpack. "Work smarter not harder people." She pressed the button. "BooBear, come in BooBear"
"Are you okay?" Aiden came back immediately.
"Yup I'm good. But can you meet Vivi in the lab she needs you."
"Sure thing. Love you."
"I lurves you too, catch ya later." She clipped her walkie-talkie back on her bag.
"I am really loving my call sign right now Meryn," Micah said grinning. Serenity raised an eyebrow. "Casanova," he replied.
"Of course, it is," Radclyffe said rolling his eyes.
"Serenity needs one," Meryn said tapping the table. She grinned at her. "You have the same name as my car."
Serenity eyed the small human. "Firefly or Sailor Moon?"
"Firefly," Meryn admitted. "Though, thanks to Anne I have a whole new appreciation for anime. One of the furries in my cult suggested something called hentai, I can't wait to Google it."
Ryuu stepped forward looking concerned. "I would not suggest that denka."
Meryn eyed her squire. "Why?"
"It's a lot of tentacle porn," Anne explained. When all eyes swung her way, she blushed and ducked her face into Kendrick's chest.
"Well, well, well," Kendrick murmured.
Anne popped up and flicked his ear. "Whatever you're thinking, just no." He continued to grin as he rubbed his ear.
Serenity turned back to Meryn. "Wait. Furries? Cult?"
Rheia put her pen down and leaned back in her chair. "She means her shifter friends on Facebook and her Facebook group." She stood. "Okay, let's work under the assumption that Aiden was infected, what could be possible reasons why he's not sick?"
"Grant isn't sick either and he has every reason to be. He's been around the kids from day one and has been coated in just about every substance you can think of. He's fine," Ellie volunteered.
"Could it be because they're both Alpha Born?" Kendrick asked. "I haven't studied how their physiology differs from regular shifters."
Serenity spoke up. "I have. There were multiple volumes dedicated to Alpha Borns in the Water Temple. From what I've read, they are stronger and faster, but they are physiologically the same as any other shifter. Most changes seem to be metaphysical rather than scientific."
Rheia pursed her lips. "There goes that theory. We also have to keep in mind that none of the witches or fae are sick either."
Serenity shook her head. "Witches are more susceptible to sickness than the fae."
Meryn kicked off the table and started spinning again. "What if it isn't a race thing?" she asked.
Serenity just rolled with it. So far, this brilliant human gave the scientists the first break they had in weeks. "Keep going," she encouraged.
Meryn stopped. "This is Noctem Falls right?" Everyone nodded. "The home of the vampires and mostly vampires. Like they are nowhere near as diverse as Lycaonia right?" Again, everyone nodded. "Aiden, the witches and the fae have another thing in common." She smiled at them. "In a city of vampires anyone who is fae or a witch is a unit warrior. None of the warriors are sick either and they've been helping from day one too."
Rheia gasped. "Oh my god! The reports! Adam's reports!" she screeched and ran from the room.
Meryn sighed. "I hate it when they do that. I wish they would share with the class before running out like a manic."
Marjoram exchanged excited looks with Ellie. "We'll head back up to Level Six and work on keeping the children calm and comfortable. Let's leave the geniuses to work."
Anne, Laelia and Radclyffe stood. Laelia nodded to Marjoram. "We'll come with you. We couldn't help in a lab anyway." She turned to Serenity. "You go check up on Vivi and Rheia and keep us updated."
Meryn yawned the stood. "I'm heading back to my bat cave. I am introducing Pip to Magic Pudding and Doctor Who."
"If anyone deserves a reward today it's you Meryn," Marjoram praised. "Extra cookies for you later."
"Yes!" Meryn pumped her arm in the air.
"Come along denka, you can be amazing in your bat cave," Ryuu said steering his charge out the door.
Ellie and her helpers withdrew after Meryn leaving Serenity, Micah, Kendrick and Law in the meeting room.
Serenity shook her head. "She really is brilliant. How does she see things so simply?"
Kendrick frowned. "She said her grandmother used to tell her that her broken brain focused on the wrong things." He growled. "That hateful woman has had me seriously contemplating raising the dead, just so I could smack the shit out of her."
Serenity rolled her eyes. "You're always so dramatic."
Law watched their interaction with wide eyes. "She's not awed by your powers at all," he said sounding impressed.
Kendrick just grunted, and she beamed at him. "I love annoying him too much to be in awe of him," she admitted.
"Between you and the twins it's a miracle I got anything accomplished in the past hundred years," Kendrick said grumpily.
"Come on librarian, let's head to the lab to see what your elemental plates tell us about what type of magic is in the virus. The results should be in today," Law said standing.
"Archivist," Kendrick corrected.
"Why would you need..." Serenity started and saw the way Kendrick's eyes cut to her. "You know what, never mind. I'm more curious to discover what had Rheia running out of here like that."
Kendrick stood and bowed. "After you my lady."
"Thank you, kind sir," she said, walking past him.
Later she would ask why he was running tests to figure out which element was in the virus, because it had nothing to do with curing it, that could be accomplished regardless. She was still wondering what the grouchy witch was up to when Micah wrapped his arm around her waist. "We need to get you a call sign."
She smiled up at him sweetly. "How about CasanovaKiller?"
"Serenity, one. Micah, zero." Kendrick said behind them.
Micah heaved a great sigh. "I am so abused," he said dramatically, placing the back of his hand to his forehead.
"You like it," she teased under her breath.
He opened his eyes and winked. "You'll find out later."
*****
When they walked into the lab Vivi and Rheia were talking a mile a minute and Aiden's eyes looked glazed over.
Feeling sorry for the bear-shifter, Serenity caught Vivi's attention. "Do you need him anymore?" she asked pointing to the Unit Commander.
Vivi shook her head. "Nope, I already have his blood."
Serenity turned to Aiden. "You're free to go."
"Thank the gods! Call me if you need me again," he said quickly and before she could blink he was shutting the door behind him.
Over the walkie-talkie Ryuu's voice came through. "If possible, could Law relieve Etain guarding Meryn? Etain has been called to the hospital."
Kendrick picked up his walkie-talkie as Law left. "He's on his way."
"Many thanks," was the squire's polite reply.
Vivi was mid-sentence talking with Rheia when she stopped. "Why was Etain called to the hospital?"
"Oh, that. Ellie has been asking the fae warriors to rotate shifts at the hospital. They can easily lift the children, as well as the adults for sheet changes. It makes keeping the patients comfortable so much easier," Rheia explained.
Vivi blinked. "That makes sense. I'm really the worst person when it comes to nursing. Give me a microscope and slides any day."
"Speaking of slides, what had you running out the meeting with your hair on fire?" Serenity asked Rheia.
Rheia blushed. "It's what Meryn said about the warriors not getting sick. Normally I would say it's because they are paranormals and paranormals don't get sick right?" She waved her hand about. "Except we now know they can get sick. We have shifters and vampires ill up on Level Six, but not the warriors."
"What does that tell us? How are they different?" Serenity asked thoroughly confused.
Rheia grinned wickedly. "Last year our menace conned the public works of Lycaonia into completely updating our clinic. But the downside to that was that they started asking for weekly reports on what was being done, kinda checking to make sure the money was well spent. Well, short of having the warriors break each other's bones on a weekly basis, which would have gotten really old, really fast, I suggested that we give all the guys physicals."
Micah nodded. "Doc St. John did those here too. He said that the warriors' care had to be uniform across all four pillar cities."
Rheia clapped her hands excitedly. "Exactly! The physicals included inoculations getting everyone an updated shot record!"
Serenity felt around for a stool and sat down. "One of the vaccines made them immune?"
Rheia and Vivi nodded enthusiastically. Vivi held up a slide. "That's what we're hoping anyway. If we're right it will take some time to isolate which one it is, but we finally have a direction to go."
Vivi turned to Rheia. "I want to apologize. When you first suggested Meryn I was skeptical about what she could contribute, I thought she would distract us. But she really came through."
Rheia gave a smug smile. "Our menace is amazing."
Kendrick nodded. "That she is."
As Vivi and Rheia entrenched themselves with the new testing Serenity made her way over to Kendrick. She looked over to Micah and made a circle with her finger. When her mate was done casting the soundproof spell she leveled her gaze to Kendrick.
"Do you want to tell me why you're testing for elemental presence when it has nothing to do with a cure?"
CHAPTER FOUR
Kendrick sighed. "I should have known you'd pick up on that." He pointed to his table. It was evident from the multi-colored plates that he was testing for elemental influences. "Technically, finding out the elemental magic used in the virus can help. I have deduced that there is a sort of self-destructive command encoded within the virus. Once it drops below body temperature it erases any traces of the virus and magic within seventy-two hours, give or take."
Serenity nodded. "So by isolating the elemental magic used, you can nullify that magic giving Vivi more time to study the virus."
Kendrick nodded. "Exactly."
Serenity stared. "And?" He gave her a devilish grin. "And, if I can figure out which element was used I can begin tracing the magic back to the witch." He eyed the table. "There are very few witches in the world who can create something this intricate. I mean, you're talking about magic on a molecular level." He shrugged. "I can do it, but that's not really saying much."
"Kendrick..." Serenity growled impatiently.
Kendrick blinked. "Right. Anyway. There are only a handful of witches it could be, and I know all of them. If I can determine who it is, I can take the steps needed to ensure that this virus or any other like it never happens again."
Micah frowned. "But by creating this virus and infecting people, killing people, wouldn't the witch who created the virus turn feral and lose their magic?"
Kendrick shrugged slowly. "Welcome to Magical Ethics 101."
Serenity groaned. "It falls into a grey area doesn't it?" When she was studying for her exams she and Kendrick had gone round, for round discussing magical ethics. He always played devil's advocate and she usually ended up screaming at him. His favorite arguments took full advantage of what he liked to call 'grey areas'. Scenarios that were neither right nor wrong. Neither white magic nor black magic. Neither overtly helpful nor harmful. Just a vast, bleak, grey zone where some good was done, but mostly bad.
Kendrick nodded. "Technically, the virus in and of itself is harmless. The witch who created it didn't infect anyone." He held up a finger. "Now here's where it gets even trickier. DeLaFontaine is the one who distributed it, yet he's not feral. Why?"
Micah closed his eyes and shook his head. "Because he wasn't the one who created the virus." He opened his eyes to stare at Kendrick. "That's one of the most brilliant loopholes I've ever seen." He paused before continuing. "Who in the hell is behind this?"
Serenity stared down at the table. What Kendrick was doing made a lot more sense. If they could figure out the witch, they could use them to trace this back to whoever was pulling the strings. She glanced back up at Kendrick. "Whoever is behind this used one of the oldest Founding Family heads as a pack mule," she whispered.
Kendrick nodded. "I knew you'd see the depth of this issue quickly."
"They must have solid brass balls," Micah murmured.
Serenity rolled her eyes. "What makes you think a man is smart enough to do this?"
"Hey," Kendrick and Micah protested.
She grinned. "Just saying." She walked over to the table. "Earth magic huh?" she said pointing down to the bright green tray.
Kendrick nodded. "I can use the twins to stabilize the magic in the virus, this should also help make it more visible."
"The boys?" she asked feeling anxious. She didn't want them anywhere near this magic.
Kendrick patted her shoulder. "They are grown now Serenity, you can cut the apron strings." He chuckled. "Besides, they rival me for earth magic power."
"Their test scores were barely passing," Serenity argued. There was no way Nigel and Neil had the same amount of power as Kendrick.
Kendrick rubbed the back of his neck while Micah chuckled. "I may have taught them how to hide their magic for the exams," he confessed.
Serenity looked to her mate. "You said something similar, about fudging your test scores."
Micah nodded. "Most witches who want to continue to serve as unit warriors have to hide their abilities to get lower scores or they would be contracted out by Storm Keep to earn money for the city. If you have mediocre scores they allow you to remain a warrior since the city is obligated to provide warriors for the units. It's why Leif and Travis were hiding out in Vegas. They accidentally displayed their magic when they prevented that mudslide while visiting home a while ago. The test administrators wouldn't have been fooled. Magnus did everyone a huge favor getting them reassigned back to Noctem Falls and their tests cancelled."
Serenity clenched her teeth in frustration. Instantly Micah was wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. "What's wrong? What's upset you?"
She looked up at him tears in her eyes. "They barely even tested me because I'm not a full blooded witch. 'Half-breeds' are assessed at two-hundred and fifty years old instead of five hundred years old like full blooded witches. I had half the amount of time to study. They gave me the score they thought I should have. At the time, I fought for every point thinking I had a chance at working for the council, but after I received my score I was informed that although I had potential they were reserving those open positions for other candidates, in other words, you need not apply."
Kendrick nodded sympathetically. "I never did put much faith in their scoring system."
Micah rubbed her back soothingly. "Look at this way love, Kendrick's been sabotaging the system for centuries, that shitty score they gave you is meaningless." As the words tumbled out of his mouth they turned to each other, then to Kendrick who began to whistle and stare up at the ceiling as if he weren't single-handedly responsible for ruining an entire social structure.
Micah chuckled and Serenity wiped her eyes. "In a way I'm glad they turned me down. They initially asked me to act as a low-level secretary in the Magi
cal Academy. I was stubborn and deliberately moved to the Lower City to take the position as the Water Temple head." She exhaled. "Thank the gods for whoever insisted on keeping the temple there, otherwise a lot people would have been denied care. Since it's in the Lower City the temple was hard pressed to fill positions. The placement board thought it was an appropriate assignment for me." She smiled. "It has allowed me to help so many people and has made my life so full that I can't imagine working in the Magical Academy, even if it is in a nicer part of the city."
"You've done a lot of good work, you should be proud," Kendrick said giving her a rare compliment.
"I get to work with Laelia and Radclyffe and I was able to help the boys," she listed.
"Speaking of the boys," Kendrick looked to Micah who took down the soundproof spell. Kendrick picked up his walkie-talkie from the table. "Frick, Frack, report to lab as soon as possible."
"On our way," one of the twins responded.
Kendrick put the walkie-talkie down. "I can never tell them apart over these things."
Serenity smiled. "That was Neil. He usually takes charge and speaks up more than Nigel."
"Of course, you would know," Kendrick said putting his hands on his hips then leaning back to crack his spine.
"We'll leave you to it then," Serenity said before looking up at Micah. "I'd like to go check on Prince Magnus now."
"I can take you," Vivi volunteered. "Rheia can test the vaccine against the pure strain of the virus we got from DeLaFontaine. I'm praying we'll get a reaction we can see."
"I'll be able to help with that." Kendrick said. "My testing is done. We've figured out that it's earth magic in the virus. Now that we know the element, I'm going to have the twins help me stabilize the magic which should prevent it from wiping itself out and make it visible."
Vivi practically sagged in relief. "Thank the gods," she murmured reverently.
As they were leaving the twins were jogging up to the door. They both dropped a kiss on her cheek before going to meet with Kendrick.
"They are good boys," Vivi said once they were heading toward the prince's quarters.
