Page 42 of Nidev and Lyric

“Yes, and fucking no. Turns out he could bite to kill and bite to heal. He wasmate-biting.And that comes with a special saliva that not only preps the bite site, it injects a healing that allows him to take what he wants without killing her.”

Nidev had to stand at hearing that, his hands suddenly sweating. “What did she…”

“Oh, she fuckinglovedit, brother,” he said quieter than ever. “But at the time, it was a bizarre horror flick. One I nearly died in.”

“Is hestillthis way?”

“Fuck no,” Patches said in a breath of relief. “He learned to control it. But I’ll never forget that night. Every bat in the swamp came, swarming around the hospital when he’dturned,if you get my drift. “Was like they were…onewith him, in the same frenzy that had a hold of his mind and body.”

“You think the bats did that?”

A single weird laugh escaped him. “No, no, no,” he said in mild awe. “He did that tothe bats.Lesion called him a… Bayou Hematarch, or blood king. DNA forever fucking altered. But before you get too impressed, listen to this. Our Eveque? He gave Nitro blood after he was bitten. Saved his life. So that serum that Lesion prepared for Nitro? It interacted with Eveque’sblood more than his. Can you guess what happened whenhetook the fucking bite?”

“What thefuck,” Nidev muttered, pissed. “Where was this information when we took the bite?”

“Not available yet!” he blurted, still being quiet. “Eveque took the bite after the Creole Kings did.”

“Christ,” he muttered, pacing in his office now. “So what, is he the father of the blood king?”

“Honestly don’t know what the hell he is yet. Lesion is studying his blood. But before you panic—”

“Too fucking late.”

“Hear me out, just… hear me out,” he pled. “There’s only one thing you need to know about all of this and it’s that this power, this insanity, willnothurt the woman it mates with. But it will sure as hell hurt everything else or anything else in her vicinity. And I don’t mean threats in her vicinity—I mean that shit you said earlier—himbreathingher air? That kind of threat. It gives a whole new meaning—no,chapter—for obsession and possession. Which brings us back full circle to what’s standing in your way. Because I do know another thing about this. You need to lock this power into a woman. Because we still don’t know a lot about what happens if you don’t.”

He froze at that. “What doesthatmean?”

“Lesion’s still studying it. There’s a lot of unexplored properties, namely what happens to it if it’snotacted on. Does itgrow, does it fade, does it become unstable, does it merge and if so, how? Those are not questions you want zero answers to.”

“All I heard was the justification to have her immediately.”

“Right. Skul is somehow in your way. But youcan’tkillhim.”

“I fuckingknowthat,” he shot out. “But the only reason I wouldn’t kill him is because it could cost me having her, you see how sick that is?”

“You definitely need to mate with her. Oh fuck,” he said.

“What.”

He chuckled lowly. “I just remembered why I called you. What’s Skul’s gift again?”

“Sight. Interpretation. He sees things others miss.”

Another amazed, sneaky chuckle. “Well, I’ve got a situation,” he all but bragged. “One of our swamp families. Father’s showing signs of dementia, but it’s progressing too fast. Doesn’t fit medical standards. He refuses to come in for a check-up and he’s been wanting to leave the swamp, doesn’t like being told what he can and can’t do.”

Nidev’s jaw ticked at that news. “You think whatever’s wrong with him might be from outside the swamp?”

“No clue. I just know the old man’s too stubborn to follow rules about staying put and I need somebody to take alookseeat him. Our Seer’s too fucked up over what happened with Eveque—so I can’t call him. But if the idiot’s been wandering out of—”

“Say no more.”

“Ah shit. The family’s located in 8-Bit’s Hatch. If Skul goes, he’ll likely talk to him since that’s his jurisdiction.”

“But aren’t you the hoard’s doctor? Pull medical rank. I’m sure you have exceptions or can create one.”

“Damn, you’re right. I actually do, during wartime. Well, that solves that.”

Nidev made his way back to his desk, eyeing the time.

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