“Sage is thinking about taking the antiserum,” she said softly.
Maybe if he knew another hybrid—a friend—would take it, he might be willing to do the same.
Tanner looked at her in surprise. “I thought you said it would only work on me?”
Zarina shook her head. “I said it would only work on first-generation hybrids like you. Technically, Sage is third generation like Minka, but the serum that created her was developed a few months after you were turned. It might have shifter DNA in it instead of an animal’s, but it’s very similar to what they used on you. In some ways, she has more in common with you than Minka. I’ll still have to tweak the formulation a bit, but it shouldn’t take me too long.”
Tanner didn’t say anything for a long time, his eyes filling with pain. “The relaxation and visualization techniques I taught Sage were finally starting to help. I never thought about her having a setback after I left.”
“Actually, she’s doing okay,” Zarina said. “Landon was able to get Derek Mickens transferred to the DCO from Special Forces temporarily.”
Derek had been the one who’d rescued Sage from the hellhole where she’d been captive all those months ago, and they’d developed a connection. He was the only one who could seem to calm her inner hybrid when she lost control.
Tanner looked confused. “If she’s doing well, why take the antiserum?”
“Because Sage doesn’t want to live her entire life in a locked room on the DCO complex. She’s come to the realization that she might be able to have the life she used to have before all this happened. If she takes the drug I’m offering.”
That seemed to take him aback. “When is she going to do it?”
“Not right away,” Zarina said. “She still wants to see if she can learn to control her feline side on her own. I’ll also need time to modify the structure of the drug to perfectly match her hybrid breed and DNA.”
Tanner stared out into the surrounding forest, his expression thoughtful.
Zarina moved around in front of him, trying to catch his eye. “Look, I’m not saying you should take the antidote because Sage might.” Actually, that’s exactly what she’d been trying to do. “It’s just that I’ve learned a lot about shifters and hybrids since you left. Rebecca Brannon is extremely interested in supporting my research and has given me a nearly unlimited budget. Between the money and the countless hours I spent in my lab for the past two months, I’ve pushed the science of shifter and hybrid DNA miles beyond where it was. All so I could come up with an antidote for you. And I’ve done it. The drug I developed is designed to counteract the effects of the hybrid serum used on you. I swear it will work, Tanner. With everything in me, I swear it will work.”
She knew now was the time to mention the less-than-thrilling side effects of the antiserum, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Those details could wait until later, when Tanner let the idea of taking it seep in a little.
He turned to gaze at her intently, and for a moment, she thought he might actually agree, but then he shook his head. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Zarina, I really do. But I’m not going to take the drug.”
It was all Zarina could do not to scream in frustration. What the hell was wrong with him? She’d never wanted to smack someone so much in her life. But it wasn’t in her to hurt anyone, especially Tanner. So instead, she yanked the ax out of the log with both hands and swung it at the piece of wood in an awkward attempt that took a lot more effort than she would have thought. It didn’t land with nearly enough force to split the log and ended up getting stuck. It took her a few seconds to get it out, which only frustrated her more. But once she had the blade out, she attacked the wood again, swinging even harder this time. It still didn’t split, but it did get a crack in it. That was a start.
It took her five minutes to finally get the log split, and by the time she did, her arms were numb with fatigue. Crap. Tanner had made it look so easy. But even as tough as it was, it felt good to do something physical and take her pent-up frustrations out on an inanimate object.
She’d just shifted her focus to the next log in the line when she realized Tanner was standing there, his muscular arms crossed over his chest, an amused expression on his face.
“What?” she demanded. If he made a crack about her swinging the heavy ax like a girl, she was going to throw it at him.
Tanner shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just while I’ve always thought of you as a city girl, it never struck me until now how completely out of your element you are here in the wilderness. This outdoor living thing really isn’t for you, is it?”
She knew Tanner was likely trying to distract her from the previous topic of conversation. While it was irritating as crap, there wasn’t much she could do about it. But just because he wasn’t ready to deal with the subject didn’t mean she had to give up. One way or the other, she was going to figure out what was going on in Tanner’s head.
“Ha! Shows what you know,” she said as she got lined up to aim the ax at the second log. “I grew up on a farm. It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this. It takes a little while to get back into the swing of things.”
As if to emphasize her point, she swung the ax, trying her best to bring it straight down into the center of the wood. The result was a very pleasing-sounding thud as
