Chapter Seventeen
Muriel’s claim to be nervous was actually a huge understatement. The woman was literally freaking out. It’s not like Raven had never seen people freak out about the Moon virus. There wasn’t enough of the vaccine to go around. It was given to those most likely to come in contact with the virus and considered indispensable. Many people who were at risk of exposure didn’t get vaccinated. No one got a booster, and they had no idea how long it remained effective. Muriel’s natural healing talents and need to leave the settlement regularly had earned her the vaccine when she was a child. Actually, Raven had argued with their leadership council for her to get it. Now, Raven was in the strange position of having a friend who hoped the vaccine wouldn’t last a lifetime. Even stranger, Raven found herself wondering if Muriel blamed her for the fact that she’d been vaccinated in the first place.
They were back at the hospital she’d raided with her human friends. It was a cold-looking building with reflective glass all around the outside. Inside, it was depressing and sterile, with five floors of offices and patient areas. It would have been confusing if not for the interactive touch screen map at the entrance. The map had a voice response system that apparently only worked with no background noise. She’d tried it when she’d come with her team, and the noise from the lobby made it useless. It seemed like a stupid thing to have in a noisy area.
She was seated in an annoyingly drab room with Muriel, Jack, and Connor. It had white walls with nothing hanging from them. There were strange machines and assorted stainless steel equipment all around. At least, it was a big room with enough chairs for the four of them. Connor still stood by the door with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Shelby, Carla, and the other vampires were standing guard by the vehicles.
They’d already seen Muriel’s doctor, an experience Raven hoped never to have again.
Muriel looked over at her and frowned. “Are you worried I’m blaming you for the vaccine?”
Raven laughed. “How do you do that?” Muriel had a knack for knowing what was bothering people.
Muriel shrugged. “I don’t blame you. I wanted the vaccine back then. Besides, you wouldn’t change what you did.”
“You’re right,” Raven conceded. “I convinced them to give you the vaccine when you were a child because I thought it was the best way to protect you. I’m still not sure I want you to get the Moon virus, but it should be your choice, and I took that away from you.”
Muriel just nodded her understanding and squeezed Jack’s hand.
“It was the smart thing to do,” Connor interjected. “Had she been attacked by turned vampires, things would have gone very bad for her without the vaccine. You did the right thing, little nymph. Stop feeling guilty.”
“Thank you,” Raven said softly. For some reason, Connor’s words meant a lot to her.
They were going to run a series of tests to try to determine if the Moon virus had passed on to Muriel’s unborn baby. Raven had never expected to be hoping a baby would be born a vampire. Then again, she’d never had to face the possibility of having a child born mortal. Any child she had would be a wood nymph. Muriel was sure the vaccine would wear off, eventually. The problem was they didn’t know what would happen with the child. From what she’d heard, if the child contracted HIV or cancer, he could become a born vampire after birth. For some unknown reason, those two diseases mutated the Moon virus. Otherwise, they’d just have to watch him age and die. With a girl, they could hope she could be changed during pregnancy. Either way, there was a risk of them becoming a turned vampire.
A sudden thought occurred to Raven. “How do you avoid infecting your blood donors?”
“The strain of the virus we carry can only pass through blood, not saliva,” Connor explained.
Satisfied with that answer, Raven’s thoughts turned to Ian. With the current state of the world, even vampire children could easily be taken from their parents. That thought had always been disturbing, but since she’d met so many vampires, it bothered her more. She was beginning to see how foolish the rift between the humans and born vampires was. So much could be changed if they worked together. Although, the humans probably shouldn’t meet all the born vampires. Muriel’s doctor had the bedside manner of a troll with hemorrhoids, in Raven’s opinion.
“Can’t you get another doctor?” Raven asked.
“She’s much nicer most days,” Muriel assured her. “She doesn’t like it when Connor comes with us.”
“Why?” Raven asked as she looked over at the scowling Connor.
“He has a tendency to bark orders,” Muriel explained. “I’m not sure if you noticed.”
Raven laughed. “Really? I hadn’t noticed. He’s normally so sweet-tempered.”
“Behave, Raven. Well, at least behave as much as you’re capable of behaving,” Connor warned, and she was surprised to hear the humor in his voice. He’d been even more serious than normal since they’d left his house.
Finally, Dr. Harold Moon walked into the examination room. Raven would be lying if she said she wasn’t shocked by his appearance. He looked like a young version of a mad scientist from the old movies. It made sense that he would look young since he’d obviously contracted the Moon virus, and one of the benefits was it caused rapid regeneration of cells. No one had actually confirmed that for her, but there was no other way he could still be alive. If not for the lime green lab coat and tufts of white blond hair sticking up everywhere, he would have looked like your normal twenty-five-year old. His eyes were a soft shade of brown one might describe as puppy dog eyes, but they had a crazed look to them. Raven decided she’d feel better if Muriel was only seeing Dr. Troll today.
“Oh, you brought a new friend!” Dr. Moon said with a friendly smile. His crisp British accent seemed strange with his crazed appearance. “Could this be the infamous wood nymph I keep hearing so much about?”
His warm smile changed Raven’s mind. Dr. Moon might be a little on the crazy side, but he seemed harmless enough. “Infamous?” she asked.
“Quite,” he replied. “Some say you’re being held captive to feed Connor’s wicked carnal desires. That seems unlikely considering how dour he looks. Others say you’ve cast a spell on him and made him your sex slave. Again, I’m sure he wouldn’t be so dour if that were the case. There are other stories going around, but those are by far the most interesting. Admittedly, they all have to do with sex.”
“Why do all the rumors have to do with sex?” she asked.
“Sex is rather exciting,” Dr. Moon explained. “Connor is also considered quite the catch among the ladies and some of the men.” Then he looked at Connor and gestured with a finger. “You have dog fur all over your clothing. I didn’t know anyone was keeping dogs as pets now. I used to have one. What you need is a good lint brush.”
“It’s wolf fur,” Connor explained with no emotion.
Raven stifled a giggle, remembering Connor yelling at Fang to stop rolling around in his clean laundry.
Rather than looking shocked, Dr. Moon nodded. “I suppose a wolf would shed quite a bit. I never had one of those, but I imagine a lint brush would still do the trick.”
“Raven wants to hear how you became a vampire,” Jack said, saving her the trouble of finding a polite way to ask.
She glared at Jack, and he winked at her.
“Ah, well,” Dr. Moon began with a sigh, “I’m afraid this story doesn’t portray me in a very positive light.”
“You’ve more than made up for your past mistakes,” Connor assured him. He was still leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest as if he were guarding the room. Raven suspected that was truer than he’d admitted.
“I don’t understand,” Raven said. “Your research helped with the development of the vaccine for the Moon virus. You saved many lives.”
He shook his head a little too vigorously. “I created the virus, and I’m not sure one can make up for destroying the lives of millions and bringing about the end of a co
untry.” He looked directly at Raven. “In truth, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was told it was a new form of lethal injection.”
“What’s lethal injection?” Raven asked. She’d never heard those terms used together, and they sounded far from innocent.
“Most humans who were executed were given injections of poisons,” Connor explained.
Raven nodded her understanding. They still executed humans in her settlement for certain crimes, but most were hung.
“There was always an argument about how cruel it was,” Dr. Moon continued. “Honestly, I didn’t believe in the death penalty, but I thought creating a more humane method was a good idea. The virus was tested on rats, and they reacted quickly, merely falling asleep. There didn’t seem to be any physical distress, and we could give it orally or intravenously. I was moved to a different facility to work on a drug to reverse it, in case the need arose. Apparently, that was when they started the human experiments. I didn’t hear about them until much later. When I learned what had happened and heard the people I worked with calling it the Moon virus, I injected myself. It was actually a cowardly move on my part since I already had stage four lung cancer. I was going to die, anyway, and I could have tried to save people first. I just didn’t think beyond my own guilt. Obviously, that happened before people started to rise. Several others on my research team also injected themselves. There were, of course, many who didn’t care about the loss of life. Those of us with cancer or HIV didn’t die, we just changed. We left and kept ourselves hidden for years. When we heard about the cities springing up, I decided I might finally be able to make amends for my past sins.”
“It sounds like you were tricked and shouldn’t be so hard on yourself,” Raven assured him.
He gave her sad smile. “As much as I would like to believe that, it’s a lie. In truth, I always suspected more was involved. Deep down I knew they would never use a dangerous virus for executions and risk it spreading. I worried about the possibility of chemical warfare, yet I continued to work on the virus.”
Raven wasn’t sure what to say. He was right; had he not created the virus, her mom would still be alive. Connor would have had a normal human childhood, and he wouldn’t have the scars on his back. She would have never met Connor, and as much as she hated to admit it, she was glad she’d met him. It was then that she knew what to say.
“We can’t change the past. All we can do is try to move forward. You’re doing that by trying to help now.”
“You are a wise woman,” Dr. Moon praised. “Now, let’s see what’s going on with that baby.”
Two hours later Muriel was exhausted. Dr. Troll and Dr. Moon had confirmed that the Moon virus had passed on to her baby but so had the antibodies from the vaccine. No one knew what that would mean for the baby. In more surprising news, the virus was still attacking Muriel’s system. The vaccine was slowing it down but not killing it. There was a chance she might change this pregnancy, and if she didn’t, Dr. Moon was sure she’d change with the next pregnancy.
Raven was so happy she threw her arms around Connor and hugged him. He hugged her back awkwardly, obviously surprised by her move.
Connor reached up with one hand to stroke her hair. “You really amaze me sometimes,” he murmured before quickly pulling away from her. He ducked his head, looking embarrassed by his admission.
“We need to hurry and get out of here,” Connor snapped, making Dr. Troll scowl from across the room where she was looking at Muriel’s chart.
“He’s right,” Jack agreed, taking Muriel’s hand. “The roads are even more dangerous after dark.”
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