Page 51 of Bitten By Desire

“As long as you’re within my sights.” I thought for a moment, then added, “If you find any more elixir, bring it to me.”

“Aye, aye, doctor,” she said, saluting.

Her blood almost looked normal, but it was thinner than the human stuff. I unstoppered it and sniffed. It smelled of Lavender. I put it in the Blood Chemistry Analyzer. I picked up a second tube as I waited and squeezed a drop onto several glass slides, adding a drop of various properties to each, one at a time, to study the results under the microscope, all the while keeping half an eye on the changeling in the room.

“Do you have any marks on your body that might indicate you aren’t the original Lorraine?” I asked.

Looking up from a piece of plaster she’d been examining, Lorraine shook her head. “If I do, I don’t know about it. I still can’t believe what you’re saying is true. I feel like Lorraine. Like me.”

I sighed. Then I leaned in to see what a drop of the liquid silver they’d pumped into Julian’s veins would do to a changeling. Since iron, which worked against fae, had no effect on her blood, I doubted something that worked against vampires and shifters would either.

Nothing happened. Throat tight, I pushed my goggles on top of my head to rub at my eyes. What would it do to vampire tissue?

I startled when Lorraine dropped a few containers of the elixirs before me. A sudden burst of inspiration motivated me to carry on with a bit more speed, testing the different solutions on the blood. Then I prepped three more slides, one for each of the elixirs.

The suggestion potion she was so fond of swirled with her blood, reaching out toward the edges of the glass, I assumed searching for a pathway to the brain. Then I tried the pain elixir. The blood blazed bright red, spiking outward in tiny sharp points when the purple drop hit.

I raised my head. Lorraine had righted one of the tables and lain down on it, staring up at the ceiling with her hands crossed over her stomach.

Then I turned my attention to the silver. One of the many things Julian had found while rummaging were samples of his own blood and skin. I purposely hadn’t reacted when I saw them among the mix, not wanting to hurt him but excited about the potential they provided. Instead of using them to hurt others, I could use them to try and help him.

Prepping the slides again, I dropped a bit on each and watched. The blood and silver clashed, pushing at each other like opposing magnets. I switched to the bit of skin and held my breath, watching as the silver blackened it like a torch. And then I added a drop of his blood. The silver backed away and right through the surface of the burnt flesh.

Gasping, I pushed away from the table. Lorraine sat up, eyes wide with questions, and I drew a deep breath before forcing a smile.

“I spilled something on my sample,” I lied.

She rolled her eyes and lay back down as I leaned heavily on the counter. A theory had solidified in my brain, and I didn’t like it one bit. But it worked to explain what was happening to Julian. The silver had been shoved by the blood, pushing and burning the inside of his very veins. Then with no room, the silver had passed through his tissue and…and…

Tears burned behind my eyelids as I held back a whimper. It had settled in his organs, slowly burning them away. Every time he fed, it healed them, only to start the process all over again.

I sat heavily on the stool, heart sinking. How could we possibly remove the silver from inside his organs? I’d pulled the majority out of his veins using the IV that had already been connected, but it would literally rip him apart if I tried it with what was left. What I needed was something that could alchemically change the silver into something that caused him no harm.

But that didn’t exist. And I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that might be in theory. Nevertheless, I vowed to find a way to save him.

A gust of wind announced Julian’s arrival, and I looked up into his warm face and indigo eyes and attempted to smile. Before he could confront me about what was bothering me, the analyzer machine I’d put the Lorraine changeling’s blood in finished, and I jumped off the seat to check the results as the other two followed.

I read the report and faced them both. “I need another sample. A bit of you.” Before Lorraine could react, I reached over and yanked a hair from her head. I had to admit her yelp was satisfying.

They huddled around me as I set it beneath the microscope. And it confirmed my suspicions.

“I’m afraid your body is slowly deteriorating.”

The devastation on her face was not satisfying. I cringed inwardly as shock, fear, anger, and finally grim acceptance danced their way across her features.

“We need to find a way to stabilize you if we can,” I offered, wracking my brain for possible answers. But the fact was, she was made from earth and fae magic, which apparently withered and dispersed after time if more wasn’t used.

That, in and of itself, was an important scientific finding regarding fae, who were so secretive about sharing information with other supes.

I just wasn’t sure how to help her unless we found an unseelie fairy who was willing to continue putting magical energy into her, and from what I could tell, that was not likely unless they were getting something in return.

“If the general is a golem,” Julian said, claiming our attention. “And they are made in a similar way, perhaps there’s something we can learn from him to help the Lorraine changeling.”

Hope shone in her face, and I winced as I had to crush it. “Fae magic is different than the kind we use, whether witch or other. I’m afraid it’s just too different to be able to use that as a model, even if we did have access to him or his creator.”

Lorraine crumpled into a sobbing heap then scrambled up and out of the room in tears. Julian set a hand on my shoulder as I moved to follow her.

“Let her be for now.”

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