Marked (18 page)

Janie retrieved data spit out by the nearest printer, her heart aching. Nearly her entire family had converged in the lab, heating the oxygen, but at least now everyone had regained consciousness.

Emma pushed off from a table, and Dage slipped an arm under her shoulder to half-carry her toward Kane. “What do you see?” Emma asked.

Kane turned around, his violet eyes nearly as dark as the natural cotton shirt he wore. It looked like silk, but with a vegan as a mate, he’d quickly discarded all silk in favor of plant-based materials. “You all are infected with a mutated Virus-27.”

The room roared into silence. Deadly, stunned silence.

“How?” Talen growled.

Cara hustled inside the room. “What’s going on? I’m getting reports from all over the world about an illness. Witches, mates, and even a few shifters who haven’t been inoculated.”

“Oh God.” Janie sagged back against the counter. “The virus has gone airborne. It’s the only explanation.”

Emma finally reached the row of microscopes. “How did we get infected? We triple-check all food brought in, and the air vents prohibit any addition of contaminants.”

Janie’s mind ran through the last week, and she gasped. “The peace talks.” Janie rubbed absently at her aching temple as she flashed back to her last interaction with Kalin. He’d pretty much admitted the truth without giving her any details. “We warded against chemical and physical weapons. It would’ve been easy for Kalin to bring in a biological sample and infect Moira and Vivienne. The rest dominoed from there.” So that’s what Kalin had been talking about in the dream world. Bastard.

“Coward,” Talen hissed. “Going after mates and witches. Have the balls to come after us.”

But Kalin had struck and well. Vampires loved completely, and killing their mates would destroy them. Their extra chromosomal pairs protected the vampires, so they’d have to live on alone. The witch species as a whole might be wiped out.

Zane loped inside the room. “I’m getting calls from vampire allies around the world that their mates are dropping like flies from Virus-27. As are demon mates who’d once been a different species. What’s going on?” He directed the question toward Dage but kept his focus on Janie.

Dage stilled. “You have vampire allies.”

“Of course. Not everyone is aligned with you, King,” Zane said.

Dage scrubbed both hands down his face. “Purebred demon females are safe, but mates must not be. We need the data on how many chromosomal pairs a demon mate who was formerly human now has.”

“Same as a vampire mate,” Zane said slowly. “Twenty-seven pairs.” Then he frowned. “Belle? You look pale.”

Cara gasped and rushed for her daughter. “You’re a mate now. You’re susceptible.”

Oh God. Janie swayed. “I hadn’t thought of it.” She automatically held out her arm for Kane to quickly take blood. “I do have a headache.”

Zane paled and crossed the room. “You’re fine. We’ve only been mated a short time, and there hasn’t been enough time to contract the virus. You’re fine.” Desperation lifted his eyebrows. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into heat and safety.

Kane used a dropper to place her blood on a slide to slip under the specially modified machinery before turning around, his gaze sober. “You have the virus.”

Cara gasped, her face paling as she stared at her daughter. “Oh.” Then she took several deep breaths. “Okay. This is going to be okay. I’ve had the virus for decades, and I’m still standing. The first year sucks, and you’ll feel horrible, but it gets better after that. And the attack on the chromosomes slows down. We have time to fix this.”

Emma and Kane exchanged a look.

“What?” Cara asked, clasping her hands together.

“The mutation,” Emma said, brushing a limp piece of hair from her forehead. “The virus attacks much more quickly now. It might unravel chromosomes at a faster rate. We need to do testing.” She hummed and then coughed. “We haven’t even found where the damn thing gets in. If only vampires had studied genetics instead of weaponry the last few centuries.” She shot a hard glare at Kane.

He shrugged. “Why? We’re immortal. Until this virus, we didn’t give a hoot about chromosomes.”

“I know,” Emma nearly spat. She frowned and focused on Janie. “Did you know that before your mother and I started working on this virus issue that the vampires didn’t even map their chromosomes? They thought they had either an XV or a ZV setup. Morons.”

Janie bit her lip. “You’re kidding me.”

Kane shuffled his feet. “Like I said, we didn’t really care. Nothing hurts us but beheading, so we concentrated on protecting our damn necks.” He shook his head. “Now, thanks to your cranky aunt, we know that vampires have a combination of a V and a Y chromosome. Period.”

“So no girls. Ever.” Emma nodded. Janie stayed within the circle of Zane’s strong arms, her mind spinning. “Maybe now the virus has been weakened by the mutation. Maybe we can finally cure it.”

Kane nodded. “Here’s the plan. I need a full workup from every mate as well as every vampire. We’ll compare to old samples.” He nodded at Dage. “Get on the horn and have studies conducted all around the world with our associated medical facilities. Tell them to concentrate on the differences between the old version of the virus and the new . . . and not to waste a bunch of time tracking back the infection. At this point, we don’t care about carriers. Everyone susceptible to infection will get it.”

Dage nodded, his gaze concerned on his mate. “Love? Why don’t you come with me?”

Emma smiled, her lips trembling. “I need to work in the lab, sweetheart. I promise I’ll rest.”

The king brushed her lips with his. “I’ll be back.” Turning, he strode out of the room, the weight of rule darkening his features.

Kane immediately set everybody present to the task of collecting, analyzing, or retrieving samples. The group worked tirelessly and silently, each caught in their own thoughts.

Hours upon hours later, Janie, Kane, and Emma sat on examination tables, tense and tired.

Everyone else had been dispatched to other areas of the compound on jobs.

“I’m exhausted,” Emma said, stretching her arms. “This virus sucks.”

“I’m tired without the virus,” Kane said, tapping his foot on the tile floor even while sitting.

Janie swung her legs, nowhere near reaching the floor. “It was a productive day.” Though a pretty shitty one. “The virus is speeding up, is easier to contract, and so far doesn’t respond to any medication in the petri dishes. Even my mom is infected with the new version of the damn thing.” Her shoulders slumped. “We need a cure.”

Kane nodded and slid from the table. “I’ll go and update Dage. You two, ah, have a nice talk.” He patted Janie’s shoulder as he walked by, grooves cutting into the sides of his mouth.

Janie stilled and frowned. “What was that about? Am I different because Zane is a demon?” God, was she going to unravel into a vegetative state overnight? Panic roared the blood through her head, echoing in her ears. “Emma—”

“No. You’re not different—at least not yet.” Emma cleared her throat, having the same expression on her face as when she’d told Janie her pet turtle had died twenty years ago. “Kane left because he thought you and I should talk alone. I mean, it’s girl talk, and I’m your aunt and have been in your life forever. I love you.”

Emma was babbling. Janie stiffened. “What is going on?”

Emma swallowed. “We did a full blood makeup on everybody.”

“I know.” Janie leaned forward. “Did you find something odd in mine?”

“Not odd.” Emma exhaled slowly. “You’re pregnant, Janie.”

Zane stopped himself from knocking on Janie’s front door and instead smoothly slid the heavy oak open. She’d said to make himself at home, and now they’d mated.

He had a mate.

Truth be told, any time in his life he’d ever considered a mate, he’d always seen Janie’s face, but he’d never really believed he’d live long enough to mark her. Suri had been threatening to kill him for so long, he’d figured his fate had been set.

For the first time in so long, he wanted to kick the ass out of fate. The only way to do so was to take out Suri. But surviving his uncle’s death would definitely be a long shot.

Zane stepped inside and closed the door, immediately scenting a delicious aroma. Long strides ate up the distance to the kitchen, where he stopped short.

Janie stirred something in a Crock-Pot, her butt wiggling as she danced to some tune she hummed.

His lips twitched as he recognized the song as “Baby Got Back.”

She stiffened as if sensing him and slowly turned. Still pale, her skin nearly glowed, while those blue eyes that had haunted his dreams for decades shimmered with wisdom. “Hi.”

“Hi.” A quick glance at the table revealed she’d set places for two. He removed the gun at his waistband. Where should he put it? With a shrug, he placed the weapon on top of the fridge. The gun in his boot and the blades hidden along his body would remain in place. “Smells delicious.” He had to stop talking in incomplete sentences, but he wasn’t sure what to say. They’d only been mated a short time and were still actually getting to know each other.

“Thanks.” She smoothed her hands down worn jeans that hugged her delicious hips. “Um, have a seat.” Turning, she dished out two large bowls of what looked like stew.

“Let me help.” He grabbed a platter of biscuits from the counter as well as a bowl of rice. The woman didn’t need to serve him. “It was nice of you to make dinner.” Could he sound any more damn polite?

She grinned and led the way to the table near a wide expanse of windows. “This is awkward.”

Relief brushed through him. “I know. We’ve been friends for years, and I’ve never had trouble talking to you.” He thought she muttered “just wait” under her breath, but when she sat down, her face remained calm.

She’d placed a beer at his place. “It’s Guinness, but I have other kinds.”

“This is great.” He’d rather have a Scotch, but it was nice of her to get him a drink. “Aren’t you having any?” He nodded at her water glass.

“Ah, no.” She took a bite of stew. “I’m fine with water.”

“Okay.” He took a bite of the stew and nearly moaned out loud. The flavors exploded on his tongue. He was starving. Several moments later, he smiled. “You are an amazing cook.”

A smile lit her pretty face. “It’s just stew, but thanks.” Her fingers drummed on the table. “So, I figured we should talk.”

He nodded. “How are you feeling, anyway?”

Her shoulders slumped. “Tired and kind of achy. Virus-27 is like the flu but tunnels deeper.”

His chest tightened. “I’ve had all medical facilities I know of report to Kane and Emma.”

“Even the demon facilities?” Janie asked, her eyebrows rising.

“No. Suri won’t allow that.” Zane rubbed the rigid muscles at the base of his neck. “But I still have some allies in vampire and shifter nations that aren’t aligned with the Realm. Maybe through this, they will.”

Janie’s smile wavered. “Is there any way to reach peace with Suri? Now that we’ve mated, and your family is safe, maybe Suri will move on.”

Zane rolled his shoulders. “That’s a nice thought, but Suri’s not a man who’d take my betrayal well.”

“But couldn’t you try?” Janie grasped his hand on the table. “Since the virus has gone airborne, even demon mates are susceptible. The Kurjan-Demon alliance is dead in the water because you and I mated. At least give peace a chance with Suri.”

Zane studied her. Intelligent and hopeful was a sexy combination. More than that, he wanted to see that smile on her face again. “I can try,” he said slowly.

The smile bloomed. “Excellent. Peace is not only the right solution, it’s the smart one. We all need to work together to cure this virus.”

He finished his stew and leaned back to study his stunning mate. She’d pulled her sable hair up into a messy bun, and no makeup covered her pretty face. She didn’t need makeup. “Dinner was wonderful, and I appreciate your feeding me. Now would you like to tell me what’s on your mind?”

She blinked and set down her water glass. “How did you know?”

He smiled. The woman should never play poker. “You have several tells.” He flipped his hand over hers, trying to warm her chilly skin. “You can tell me anything. No matter what, I’m on your side, Belle. I promise.” Whatever was bothering her would be a pleasure to fix, even if it meant reaching out to his damn uncle. “What’s going on?”

She took a deep breath. “We ran a full blood panel on me today in the lab.”

“Of course.” He frowned and leaned closer. “Did the results concern you?”

She barked out a quiet laugh. “Concern? No, but they surprised me.”

“How so?” He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles, trying to offer comfort.

“I’m pregnant.”

Adrenaline roared through his blood, while his entire body froze in place. He jerked his head. Had he heard her right? “You’re
what
?”