“It’s Chicago.” Trisk shot an ugly look at Kal.
The train yard was quiet and empty. The only motion came from the sparrows hopping among the cars looking for grain. Daniel ran a hand over his thickly stubbled cheeks and stared blankly at Chicago’s buildings. “Do your people have a lab in Chicago, maybe?”
“No,” Kal said, his gaze following Daniel’s, the barest hint of worry on his face.
“Someone will have a working phone,” Trisk said as she put the toe of her shoe up on a wheel to retie it. “The police, maybe. We can call Sa’han Ulbrine. Tell him where we are. Get a government transport to Detroit.” She dropped her foot, shoe scuffing on the loose rock. Her eyes went to the absolutely empty skies. Not a plane anywhere. God, it’s quiet. “At the very least, we can get the word out that infection is caused by eating tomatoes.”
“We need to find a phone,” Daniel said, arms clasped around himself. “And maybe a coat. Wow, is it cold out here.”
Kal’s expression darkened as he pushed ahead to take the lead. “We agreed we couldn’t tell people the plague is spreading by way of the tomatoes until we know for sure. I’m not starting a panic over a tomato engineered by an elf.”
Trisk jerked to a stop. “Excuse me?” she said, hands on her hips.
Kal turned. “We don’t know it’s the T4 Angel,” he said with an exaggerated patience that said he thought she was being a child about this.
“Bullshit.” Daniel’s face reddened at the foul word even as his expression hardened.
“And even if it is,” Kal said, “the vampires caused the plague, not your tomato. The virus was their weapon, the tomato their delivery system. You really want to be on their hit list?”
Daniel’s jaw was clenched, and Trisk looked between them as the tension rose. “It wasn’t vampires. It was you,” he said softly, and Trisk put a warning hand on his shoulder. “You had access, the knowledge, and the motive.”
“So did Rick.” Kal turned. “Let’s go. We have to contact Sa’han Ulbrine.”
You are a cold, callous fish of a man, Trisk thought as he walked away. The years since graduation hadn’t changed him. And he was lying. She could tell now. It was in his eyes.
“Rick didn’t do this,” Daniel said, unmoving beside her. “You did.”
Kal stopped short. Trisk’s heart pounded when she felt him tap a ley line and turn. “Don’t be absurd,” Kal said, and Trisk’s anger hesitated, slipping into what might be fear at how far Kal would go to hide his guilt. He’d already killed one man. “We need humans to keep everything functioning. But the vampires . . .” He stopped, head bobbing. “You get a crazy one, and they think they can rule the world.” Lips pressed, he looked past them to the boxcar. “Orchid!” he shouted. “Let’s go! It’s too cold for you out here.”
The pixy flew out of the car, her dust an alarmed red. She didn’t land on his shoulder, instead alighting on the top of a nearby car, looking unsure and unhappy. Kal’s expression tightened into an angry grimace upon seeing her reluctance.
“Maybe it’s not about saving your species,” Daniel said. “Maybe you’re sick enough to kill the world if you can blame it on Trisk. Maybe your pride led you to think you were smart enough to tweak the virus safely, but you were dumb enough to screw it up. That’s my working theory until I find a better one. Dr. Kalamack.”
Trisk flushed, not moving away from Daniel. Kal was petty and self-serving, and with an ugly certainty, she decided none of Daniel’s suggestions were beyond him—especially the one about pride. All this might be because of a grudge. God, please. Anything but that.
“Is that what you think?” Kal said, and hearing the warning in his voice, Trisk eased a thought into a ley line, praying he didn’t notice and that there was no one around to see.
“Let me tell you what I think.” Daniel pointed an accusing finger, his outrage warring with his professional need to get along. “I think you tried to discredit Trisk by killing her tomato with my virus, and when Rick found out that you accidentally made a carrier for the PTV, you burned him to death in Trisk’s field to destroy the evidence as well as Rick. That’s what I think.”
Wire tight, Trisk watched Kal’s hands, not his eyes.
“You shouldn’t have told those people your virus was in Trisk’s tomatoes,” Kal said, and a wash of heat took her. Shit. It really was him. Not only that, but he wanted the virus to spread.
“You bastard,” Daniel whispered, and before she could stop him, he went for Kal.
“Daniel! No!” she shouted.