Page 50 of Immortal By Morning
“What makes you think that?” Bricker asked as he continued to drag dirt away from the skeleton with his hands.
“Because if it were like the others, the rogue would not have risked coming in here to dig this one up,” Crispin said solemnly, and then turned to Abril and took her arm. “I really think we should go wait in thekitchen and let them deal with this. We can set the table and prepare for dinner.”
“The table is already set,” she pointed out. “I am fine here.”
Crispin opened his mouth on what she knew would be another attempt to lure her away from the garden, but just then there was a curse from Bricker.
“Goddamn, Lucian. You were right.” His tone was grim.
Curious, Abril tugged her arm free of Crispin’s grip and knelt to get a better look. It was only the skull that was revealed so far, and nothing she hadn’t already seen from the garden outside. She had no idea why Crispin had been so eager to keep her from seeing it.
“Isit the same as the others though?” Lucian asked softly next to her.
Abril glanced up at the man standing on her right, and then turned back to again examine the skull that had been revealed. This time she looked more closely and noticed that something was off about it around the jaw area. What—? Her eyes widened as she noted that this human skull had canines like a dog. Long, pointy canines or... fangs?
“Shit,” Cassius breathed. All three of the men in the hole had paused and sat back on their haunches as if to distance themselves from their find.
Abril’s gaze snapped from the fangs to Cassius, then to Lucian, and finally Crispin. They all looked grim and tight-lipped. “Those aren’t fangs, are they? I mean, they’re joke fangs or something. Right?”
When silence met her question, Abril was sure the answer was no, though the very possibility seemedridiculous to her. They had to be fake. Didn’t they? But why would anyone bury a skeleton and put fake fangs in their mouth?
“I believe it is time you had that talk with Abril, Nephew,” Lucian said firmly.
She turned to Crispin in question to see that he was avoiding meeting her gaze.
“What do you have to tell me?” Abril asked finally.
When Crispin hesitated, Lucian snapped, “No more delays, Nephew! Now! Or I shall do it myself.”
Mouth tightening, Crispin took her hand and led her into the kitchen. Abril expected him to stop there, but instead, he continued on through the kitchen, up the hall, and into her office. There he closed the door and urged her to sit on the couch. He then dropped to his haunches in front of her and took her hands in his. “What I have to tell you is—Well, it might be scary,” he admitted apologetically. “Which is why I have hesitated to tell you this before now. But also because I was not sure how to do it. I do not want to distress you.”
“You’re distressing me right now with this buildup to it,” she told him with a small frown. “Just tell me.”
“Right,” he muttered, and then glanced down at their entwined hands and paused for another uncomfortable moment or two, before finally saying, “First off, I do not want you to be scared. We would never hurt you. And I hope you believe that.”
“Okay,” Abril said, beginning to get a little weirded out.
“In fact, I could never hurt you. I care about you a great deal. You are very important to me,” he said.
Abril’s eyebrows rose slightly. She wasn’t used to men speaking so freely about their emotions, but asidefrom that, they had only known each other a very short while. As attracted as they were to each other, it was still a bit early for her to be “very important” to him. But she let that go for now and simply waited for him to continue... and waited... and waited.
Just as she was about to suggest that perhaps they could discuss whatever he was having trouble saying to her later, he opened his mouth and blurted, “I come from a family of scientists.”
She blinked at that announcement. It was so anticlimactic. Abril had expected some earth-shaking revelation, not that he had science geeks in his family. She also didn’t see what this had to do with the skeleton in the garden, and the fangs that may or may not be fake. Deciding he would hopefully get to that later, she cleared her throat, and then said, “Your parents are both scientists?”
“No. Actually, my parents are... well, both of them have had many different careers, but presently my father is a lawyer and my mother”—he hesitated—“I guess you would call her an entrepreneur.” Shrugging, he continued, “When I say I come from a family of scientists, I mean, other family members. Like my cousins, grandparents... and some ancestors.”
“Okay,” Abril said, and then again waited. She didn’t have to wait as long this time.
“Well, they—some scientists, not necessarily my ancestors—were looking into different ways to cure diseases like cancer and such. Ways that would avoid needing dangerous and invasive surgeries.”
When he paused as if waiting for her to respond, she said the only thing she could think to say at that point. “Oh.”
Apparently, it was enough because he continued, “And they actually came up with a brilliant idea. It was nanos. Bioengineered nanos that would cure illnesses, even injuries.” He paused briefly and then said, “The nanos were bioengineered.”
“You mentioned that already,” she pointed out gently.
“Right,” he said uncomfortably. “So, these nanos use blood to do their work and to propel themselves. Do not ask me how,” he added quickly. “I do not know the specifics. But somehow the nanos, once injected into the host would go to any site in the body where there is an injury or illness and heal it.”
