A Stone-Kissed Sea
Page 85

“Not that they need your stamp of approval,” muttered Lucien.
“And unofficially?” Makeda asked.
“Here I am now”—Tenzin bared her odd, raptor-claw fangs—“entertain me.”
Lucien tried not to shudder. Sometimes the old wind vampire was amusing. Other times… she was just creepy.
“Well, until we can provide Tenzin with entertainment,” Carwyn said, “perhaps you’d like to hear the news from Brenden.”
Lucien and Makeda’s eyes both locked on Carwyn.
“What?” Makeda asked. “What is it? Is everything all right? I’ve been waiting to hear if the transplants—”
“Good news and bad, my girl.” Carwyn gave Lucien a rueful smile. “Isn’t that always the way? But I think in this case, the good outweighs the bad.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“The good news.” Carwyn started talking once they’d taken shelter inside and gathered around a fire Brigid lit in one of the fireplaces in Lucien and Makeda’s quarters. “It’s working on the immortals. Both the peripheral…”
“Peripheral stem cell transplantation?” Makeda prompted.
“Yes, that one. Both that and the marrow transplants are working.”
Lucien asked, “Equally well?”
Carwyn drew a folder from the messenger bag Brigid carried. “Well, you can see his full report here, but—”
Makeda snatched the folder from him and opened it.
Carwyn’s eyes widened. “The short answer is yes. It appears they’re both working equally well.”
She scanned the report from McTierney. “Replication proceeded even faster than I’d predicted.”
Lucien looked over her shoulder. “The marrow actually replicated more slowly than the PBSCT. That’s surprising.”
“Not significantly so,” she said. “We’re only dealing with six test subjects. It’s possible it will vary with the patients.”
“But since peripheral cells are so much easier to collect—”
“Treatment on a larger scale could go much faster than we’d anticipated.” Makeda looked up. Her natural skepticism couldn’t temper the smile on her face. “Lucien, it’s working.”
Brigid said, “And it’s working quickly. The treated vampires are having more than a little trouble with the transition—all but two of them were water vampires—but they’re recovering.”
“They’re like newborns,” Carwyn said. “Murphy is working with my daughter Deirdre to mentor them until they can come to Saba.”
“Bloodlust?”
“That’s the one thing that doesn’t seem to be affected,” Brigid said. “All of them have newborn hunger, but none of them have uncontrollable bloodlust.”
“It’s behavioral more than biological,” Makeda said. “Because they’ve already developed the coping strategies to be around humans, they’ve conquered the bloodlust. The hunger is something they can control because they’re already used to the scent of humans.”
“Speaking of coping strategies.” Brigid nodded at Makeda. “I’d never expect a newborn to be as rational or focused as you. I’m practically a baby myself, so I remember that stage. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”
Lucien put an arm around her shoulders. “Makeda is an imminently rational scientist, Brigid. She won’t allow herself to lose control.”
“Imminently rational?” Carwyn poked Brigid’s side. “Well, there’s your problem, love.”
“Says the man who pretends professional wrestling is real,” Brigid said.
Makeda didn’t feel worthy of the praise. “When you’re forced to adapt to something quickly, you don’t have a choice,” she said. “None of this has gone according to plan. I’m just coping.” She flipped to the next page of the report and felt her heart sink. “And there’s the bad news.”
Lucien leaned closer. “What is it?”
“The human patients.”
“Damn.”
Makeda skimmed Dr. McTierney’s notes. The team in Ireland had followed roughly the same protocols with the human and immortal patients. The chemotherapy. The stem cell treatments. “None of the treatments are killing the virus.”
Lucien took a deep breath and squeezed the arm around her shoulders. “We knew it might not work. They were always more at risk than the immortals. At least we know one thing that will work for them.”
“It’s not fair.”
“I know, yene konjo.”
Brigid sat up straight. “What will work? Why haven’t you tried it yet if you think it will work? Why hasn’t Brenden been trying—”
“Saba’s blood,” Carwyn said, lacing Brigid’s hand with his. “It’s Saba’s blood, isn’t it? That’s the only thing that will cure the virus.”
Lucien and Makeda both nodded.
“Damn,” Baojia said, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “So in order for a human to be cured of Elixir…”
“They have to take Saba’s blood.”
Tenzin said, “But humans can’t take vampire blood.”
“Not unless they’re turned,” Lucien said. “Humans with Elixir poisoning can be saved. But only if they turn. And only if Saba sires them.”