“A little.” Eidolon leaned back in his chair. “And we’ve discovered a half-dozen wargs who were exposed but didn’t contract the infection. The R-XR is trying to determine what makes them immune.”
The U.S. Army’s paranormal unit was involved now? And Eidolon was working with them? She’d known that her sister-in-law, Runa, used to be a member, and that Runa’s brother still was, but holy crap—it just didn’t feel right for the government to be getting involved in any way with Underworld General.
“So I’m here, why?” she asked. “You in need of assassination services, or what?” She’d thrown that out just to get a reaction from her uptight, always-in-control brother, but to her surprise, it was Con who made the noise.
“You’re here because wargs are dying, and it’s your fault,” he growled.
She wrenched her head around to peg him with a glare. Which might have been a good plan, if he hadn’t looked so damned good in his black paramedic uniform, which set off his deeply tanned skin and sun-streaked blond hair so beautifully. Toss in those sterling eyes, and there was no glaring at him. Only admiring.
“Why are you even here?” she snapped, more irritable with her reaction to him than anything. “I didn’t think the disease affected dhampires.”
“I’m on the Warg Council. I’m keeping them informed.”
“Well, good for you.”
Eidolon cleared his throat imperiously. “Actually, you’re both here for a reason. Sin, it’s time that we work with your gift. We’ve got to determine a way to use it to treat the disease.”
“My gift kills. It doesn’t cure.” Her gift was something she’d really like to give right back to her Seminus father. Too bad he was dead.
“Yeah, well, technically, you shouldn’t exist, so I’m not ready to write off the impossible.”
Oh, she loved the reminders about how she was a freak of nature, the only female Seminus demon to ever have been born. “So what’s your plan?”
“Can you use your gift to determine what kind of disease resides inside a body? If you touch someone who is ill, can you tell what he or she is sick with?”
“Sort of. I can feel the arrangement of the virus or bacteria or whatever. And once I learn it, I can replicate that specific disease.” She shot Conall a smirk. “Khileshi cockfire is a favorite.”
Wraith laughed. Conall paled. Eidolon looked at her as if she was responsible for every case of the excruciating venereal disease he’d ever treated.
“As disturbing as that is,” Eidolon said, “it’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”
There was a tap at the door, and Lore strode past Wraith, who was still playing doorjamb sentinel. Lore held a folder in his leather-gloved hand, and Sin didn’t think she’d ever get used to seeing her twin brother in scrubs. “I read the R-XR’s initial report on the immune wargs, and something stuck out. The wargs who didn’t catch SF after being exposed were born wargs. So I examined the bodies in our morgue. I know not every warg that’s been infected has come through the hospital, but every one who has? Turned warg.”
Sin frowned. “SF?”
“Sin Fever,” Wraith chimed in with a little too much enjoyment.
Sin Fever? They’d named the fucking disease after her? Bastards.
E seemed oblivious to everything as he flipped excitedly through the folder. “Just when I thought we’d never find a link between the victims. I’ll call the R-XR and let them know. Excellent work, Lore.”
“So, what was it you wanted with me?” she asked.
Eidolon looked up from the paperwork, and the circles under his eyes seemed to have lightened a little. “About that… see, that’s why I called Con to this meeting.”
Bracing his muscular forearms on his knees, Con leaned forward in his chair. When he spoke, his fangs flashed as fiercely as his eyes. “What are you saying?”
“You know you were exposed to SF when you brought in patient zero.” When Con nodded, Eidolon continued. “It’s in your blood. Your body isn’t attacking it, nor is it attacking you. But when we introduced Sin’s blood to the mix in the lab, your white blood cells and hers joined forces to attack the virus. It’s a major find, and we’re working on developing a possible vaccine, but as I told you before, it could take months, if not years.”
Sin’s skin prickled with foreboding. Eidolon was dancing around something. “Skip the buildup and backstory. Bottom line. What do you want from us?”
“I need Con to feed from you,” he said softly. “And I need it to happen now.”
I need Con to feed from you.
Eidolon’s words kept ringing in Con’s ears. To Sin’s credit, she wasn’t ranting and raving. But then, with the hell no burning in her black eyes, she didn’t need to. Lore looked as if he wanted to take a piece out of Con. Wraith just looked amused.
Con shoved to his feet. “As much as I’d like to help you out, Doc, I can’t do what you’re asking.” Sure, he’d tasted Sin’s blood before—and it had been damned good—but that was exactly why he couldn’t do it again.
“I get that she’s not your favorite person—”