Blood Pool

She supposed, in hindsight, that was how she was able to do her job. Death was something that happened to others.

“I have a vaccine that seems to be working on the Lamai. Mick is the longest-running success story. The other two Lamai and the shifters have also been inoculated. I’m afraid I haven’t got one that will work on humans.” He rocked back and forth, almost falling off the chair.

Raven stood and steadied herself. “Supplies. Where are they?”

Laroque wheezed. “Downstairs. Masks, gowns, oxygen, quarantine tent…”

He was visibly weak, barely able to hold himself up on the seat, let alone speak. “Raven, I loved your mother more than life itself. I know she never loved me the way she loved your father, but she did love me, and that was enough. I would take whatever she wanted to give. Jade…is my whole world. You are sisters…”

Her hands fisted at her side, she suddenly lost her self-control. “You almost killed the only man I will ever love! Am I supposed to forgive you?”

He shook his head. “No…of course not. I promised Jade I wouldn’t hurt you. We all do things we wouldn’t normally do for love-or hate. Your father couldn’t live with the fact that Nicki gave herself to me. He did the unthinkable…” He could hardly catch his breath now.

“Aren’t you leaving out a little tidbit of info? I know about the fae.”

Laroque’s eyes widened. “How did you find out?”

“Not important. What is important is that my father did not kill my mother. Be still. I’ll be right back.” Did I step into the twilight zone? Everyone had a different version of the past, and Raven was no longer sure which one was reality and which was illusion. For now, her reality wasn’t very promising.

Raven headed out the door and walked right into the wall that was Mick.

“Laroque asked me earlier to show you where the supplies are,” he said, leading her down the stairs. Raven couldn’t believe the low, rumbling quality of this man’s voice. Barry White had nothing on this guy.

They made their way down the semi-circular staircase of the huge mansion. A home that seemed to belong on a plantation. Raven could see the boarded up windows. Battery-operated candles illuminated every room.

The main level was like a walk-in clinic, albeit a stone walled and wood floored one. A fireplace blazed in the center of the south wall, and a hospital bed jutted into the middle of the floor from the opposite wall.

Raven rapidly issued orders to the Lamai. “Put the fire out now and get me an oxygen tank. Can one of your goons lift Mr. Laroque and put him in the bed here? I need surgical masks, a gown-and I don’t mean an evening gown and gloves. Am I talking too fast for ya, Mick?”

“No, ma’am.” He smiled, reluctantly. It seemed to Raven that he liked her.

“Good, because I’m not going near Mr. Laroque until I get those things. Is there an autoclave?”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am, it’s in the kitchen.”

Mick pointed a long, beefy finger toward the closet. “Mr. Laroque gave strict instructions that I not touch anything you might need. The items you asked for are in that closet, all sterile. You’ll also find IV bags and needles.” His voice registered an octave below the thunder that clapped outside. “There’s also a freezer with the virus in the kitchen, and in the refrigerator are the vaccines. Mr. Laroque has them all labeled. He has his notes in his laptop, which is on the dining room table.”

Raven turned to look around the room, making sure the candles didn’t have combustible flames. “Is there a generator, in case we lose power?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Raven opened the closet and took out everything she required. Slipping on the scrubs, she turned to look at the hulking Lamai. “You feel all right?”

“Never better.”

“Good. Go get him,” she said, putting on the booties, double gloves and mask.

Chapter Seventeen

Raven peered into the refrigerator at the small vials of vaccinations stored in a Rubbermaid container. On each lid was a label: Lamai, Fae, Siren, Empusas and Shifter. On another container, Human.

She turned and noticed the short chest-like freezer with the biohazard symbol on it. That was where the virus lay dormant, like a demon frozen in time. She’d never worked with hot agents before. She really had no desire to do so now, either. But the choice was no longer hers. The universe had other plans for her, and what they were she wouldn’t even hazard a guess.

What would possess a man to go to such measures? It couldn’t be for love. Love was nurturing and caring. Hate, on the other hand, destroyed people and lives, just like the virus in the freezer.

The Lamai called. “Dr. Strigoi.”

She headed into the makeshift hospital room. Mick had placed Laroque on the bed and closed the plastic curtain around him.

“I need other supplies… a thermometer, and I need to check his blood pressure, too.”

Mick, donned in scrubs and gloves, nodded and went into the kitchen. He soon returned with the required items.

Raven approached Laroque. His skin was pale and he looked feverish. She placed the disposable sheath over the thermometer, slid the plastic tent open and began taking his temperature. While she waited, she instructed Mick to get the IVs ready.

“In a former life, I was an ER nurse,” he said through the mask.

She studied his face. He was a handsome man with caramel-colored skin and deep sable eyes. “Present time or past life?” Raven asked.

Mick’s eyes squinted, indicating a smile. “Two years ago. In Boston General. Before that I was in Atlanta for six years.”

Looking at the thermometer, she frowned. “Well, I suppose that’s why Laroque chose you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Can you stop with the ma’am, please? You’re making me feel old.” She attempted a smile, but it just wasn’t there.

He wore a sheepish expression. “Yes, ma-Doc.”

She said with a sigh, “Better. Okay, Mick, let’s get those IV fluids in him. He’s got a temp and is dehydrated. I want you to use a peripheral IV line, eighteen-gauge with a hep-lock. We’re not administering any Heparin, but in case I need to flush the line I want that accessible. Do you know if he tried to administer any of the vaccines to himself?”

“Not as far as I know.” Mick worked swiftly for a man of his immense size. He gently inserted the needle into Laroque’s arm and adjusted the drip.

Laroque opened his eyes and looked at Raven. She knew he was thanking her and perhaps apologizing at the same time. She was still angry with him for what he had done to Bo and would never forgive him for that. Ever.

But seeing him so weak and learning of how circumstances and lies had framed his life, she couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit sorry for him. But only the tiniest bit. She attributed this newfound compassion to her recently acquired humanness.

Although Raven was no longer Lamai, she still carried the blood memories of drinking from her sister. Raven saw what a loving father he was and that he cried almost every night over a photo of Nicolette, how torn he was over his love for his daughter and the woman he could never quite possess, and his consuming hatred for the man he thought caused all his grief. All the betrayals he endured throughout his life by his own family, the woman he loved, a man who claimed to be his friend and now his daughter. Raven could see why he mourned.

She refocused on her task ahead. “I’ll need a place to work and a microscope, perhaps?”

Mick pointed to the dining room. In the corner was a mini lab. “What else might you need?” he asked above the sudden return of thunder.

She placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, “A telephone.”

Laroque shook his head. Lightning flashed.

“I kind of figured. My chances of helping you would be greatly increased at the hospital.”

He continued shaking his head. “Jade…” he whispered in a gravelly voice.

Raven checked the drip on the IV. “I won’t let her come anywhere close to you unless she’s geared up.”

The winds began to howl. Raven thought she heard Bo amidst the roars. She wished she could see him again. She missed him terribly, but she couldn’t think of that now. If she ever hoped to see him again, she had to keep this man alive. How ironic.

“No, forget Jade.”

“I have friends who are virologists and epidemiologists. I’d at least have some people to bounce ideas off of. Don’t you watch TV? You know the show House?” Raven was desperate to get him to drop his guard.

She could see he was trying to raise his arm. “I have all…the information…you need.” He looked over to his laptop.

“I get it. Dr. House is your idol. Not lacking in the self-confidence department, I see.”

“Smartass…like…Nicolette.” He was obviously in dire pain.

“Yes, so I’ve been told. Suit yourself,” she said to Mick. “I need you to draw some blood so we can see what we’ve got cooking.” Thunder cracked as if to emphasize the point.

“The Empusas delegates are arriving from the mainland in a half-hour,” Solaris told Bo.

He shrugged. “Good luck. I’m out of here. I’ve got a plane taking me to the mainland and then I’m heading to Logan airport.”

She straightened the bar, filling the dishes with nuts and pretzels then took inventory of what she would need for the coming evening. “You’re going to Haiti?” she asked.

“Yes. And no cracks about chasing my tail or any other canine jokes. I’m going to Haiti. I can’t sit here and do nothing. I’ve been going out of my mind. Tobias won’t-or can’t-take me to see Rhia since she’s allergic to dogs, or some bullshit. So I’m going to Haiti to see if I can find Raven myself. The wolf in me is a good tracker. Might as well take advantage of it. I’ve hung around here long enough. I need to do something constructive. I need to find her.”