Page 73 of Wolf Bane
“Justin has been on our radar for some months now.Since Colorado.”
Eliza, shaky and pale but masking defiance, had led us to a small nook at the far end of the lab.It was probably meant to be some sort of intake space, if this building was a hospital I imagined it to be at some point.Walls on three sides with the fourth open towards the doors, facing Robards’ bed.I refused the seat she offered as she brought up the monitor, a huge beast of a thing I’d only seen in Tyler’s setup before.
“Were you involved with that too?”I asked quietly, tired and sore, and nauseated, and angry, and just done with everything, down to my bones.
She smiled faintly.“No.That was another group, but we’ve since joined up.They supply our brute force, we supply the science.”
“We.You and Garrow.”
She paused, just a flicker of a hesitation, but I caught it.“And others,” she admitted.“Others who know the only way out is through.”
“Others who have no problem murdering people who don’t fit their idea ofright?”
“It’s not personal.It’s for the good of our communities.Here.”
Reluctantly, I looked at what was on the screen.“Who are all of these people?”But I knew already.I recognized a few of the names from my patient list.“How did you get their names?”
Eliza’s smile was a little crooked, a lot smug.“The same thing you were doing, Doctor Babin.Making a list, checking it twice,” she sing-songed.“We don’t care about naughty or nice, just about mongrel or not.”
Mongrel.
“There’s that word again.”I sighed, resting my hip against her desk to better not fall over.Did I mention everything hurt?
It did.So, so, so much.
“I’m sure it feels pejorative,” she dismissed, “but it’s correct.Andmongrelsare anathema.”She sighed, mirroring my posture, offering me one of thosethe principal will see you nowpitying looks.“You’re an intelligent person, Doctor Babin.Surely you see that what we’re doing is strengthening the weres.We’re returning the world to balance.There will be weres, and there will be humans.Nothing in between.Nothing outside.”
“What about shifters?”
She sniffed dismissively, glancing down at the monitor with a slight frown.“That’s not my current problem.”
“Your current problem is you’re a murderer.”
“Oh, God, here we go again,” she muttered, raking her fingers through her sweat-soaked hair.“If the deaths of these abominations bother you so deeply, then you shouldhelp us.”
A soft buzzing sounded in the cubicle.Eliza’s annoyed expression morphed into an ugly scowl as she pushed away from the desk and strode past me.“No one should be out there,” she muttered, passing Tyler and Justin at a fast clip.I trailed after, pausing to check Robards’ stats.I only looked away from Eliza for a moment, but it was enough time for a loud shout of dismay.
“Block it!Block it!”Justin cried out, shoving at one of the lab benches.“It’s too heavy!”
Tyler jerked his head towards the tall metal locker he was braced against.“Trade ya.”He and Justin rapidly switched places as Eliza shouted and screamed inside the cupboard.Tyler shoved the lab bench against the door while Justin started grabbing smaller equipment to pile atop it, laughing breathlessly, eyes wild.
“What the hell,” I started.
“Sometimes the old-fashioned shit works best,” Tyler panted.“She can breathe, there’s vents,” he added, pointing to the top of the cupboard where three narrow slits ran the width of the door.Inside, Eliza shrieked, voice already raw around the edges.“Daniel’s gonna lose his shit any minute.We need to go fast.”
Justin let out another panicky, breathy laugh.“I was gonna go get my driver’s license renewed today,” he admitted, wide-eyed and shaking.“And maybe go to Sonic.They have a new shake flavor.You can add Nerds to it.”
I nodded.“I promise we’ll get you one on the way home, okay?Let’s move.”
“Don’t patronize me,” he snapped, then frowned.“Can I get pop rocks instead?”
“Sure.Let’s go.”
Tyler found a lab apron in one of the cabinets and covered himself with a small, apologetic nod in my direction before doling out orders.
“Justin, get it together, dude, okay?I need you to get all that shit she had you working on and compile it.Landry, figure out if we can move Robards.”
“We can’t.Not safely.I don’t know how much sedative she’s given him, and he’s already fragile to boot.And for the love of God…” I grabbed a pair of scrub bottoms from the cabinet and tossed them to Tyler.“Don’t Winnie the Pooh it.Put these on.”
