Page 15 of Doctor Wolf's Human Nurse

He fished a fresh slide out of its wrapper, poured a couple drops of blood on it, and then smeared it, before sliding it under the microscope.

Sawyer studied the new sample and then shook his head. “Same thing. They were both exposed to a virus at the same time. Let’s see if we can figure out where.”

He asked Jarred and Erin to get dressed and join him in his office. While he waited, he called Beth.

After the initial greeting, Sawyer said, “I have a peculiar case and could use yours, Savvy’s, and Taryn’s help.”

He described what he saw in the blood and related that the two people couldn’t shift anymore.

“I will call Savvy and be there as soon as we can. I’ll have to round up the kiddos and take them to Rory’s and Savvy’s place so that Rory’s housekeeper, who is considered a part of the family, can watch them.”

“Thank you. I’ll ask them to stay.”

Abby stood behind Sawyer as the two shifters took a seat.

“It looks like you guys have some kind of virus that rapidly grows. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. Can you retrace your steps from yesterday?”

Erin started. “Like I told you, we went for a run yesterday morning and shifted just fine. We both had the day off, so we decided to have a picnic by the lake. Then, we went back to his place to watch movies and then had pizza before I went home. I felt terrible last night, but I figured that it was the pizza.”

“Did you encounter anyone or anything out of the ordinary?” Sawyer asked.

Jarred nodded. “Now that you mention it, while we were walking toward our favorite spot, we passed a couple. One of them was wearing a cologne or perfume so strong that it was suffocating. It was almost like they had just sprayed it right as they came in contact with us, although I don’t remember them having a spray can or bottle.”

Sawyer made some notes on the computer. “Did you have the same symptoms as Erin?”

“Yes. My body hurt so bad, as though someone had beaten the living daylights out of me. All of my muscles ached. My head felt weird, as though I was drunk and my stomach twisted up in knots. Like Erin, I thought it was the pizza. I guessed that we had food poisoning until this morning when we couldn’t shift.”

“Can you guys hang out for a while? I have a couple of friends coming who might be able to help. No promises, but they arecapable of working miracles that I can’t. I just ask that you not talk about them to anyone.”

Erin held up her pinky. “We pinky promise. If they can help us, we’ll do anything.”

The three witches arrived an hour later.

Beth put her hand on Erin’s arm and immediately drew back. “This is something alive and evil.”

“Let me try, Mama.”

Taryn put her hand on Erin’s arm and closed her eyes. Savvy muttered a protection spell for Taryn. Sawyer could see the thin veil that surrounded the young witch.

Taryn opened her eyes and shook her hand as though she was trying to shake off the feeling she got. “This was purposely made by someone. I don’t know who or why. It’s not going to stop growing until it has taken over her body. It won’t kill her, but it’s suppressed the magic that allows her to shift.”

“What are we going to do?” Erin moaned.

“We’ll figure out something,” Sawyer assured her. “I promise.”

He just hoped that was a promise he would be able to keep.

Beth put her hand on Erin’s shoulder. “We’ll try to come up with a solution, too.”

After the witches and the shifters left, Sawyer went into his office and shut the door. He sent emails to Zac, Matthias, and Lucious, the alpha of the dragon shifter clan, and told them what had occurred.

Lucious replied first.Could this have anything to do with the lab?

Matthias replied,That would be my guess. It’s rumored that they’re in the business of creating new viruses just so they can experiment with them, and it’s awfully suspicious that the virus suddenly appeared after they popped up.

We have to find a way of getting into that building,Matthias replied.

Zac let them know they were trying.Sebastian’s initial tries haven’t gotten him anywhere. They have that place locked up tighter than Fort Knox. It is heavily guarded with armed security that patrols the place. He’ll find a way, though.

---