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“Dose them,” I said. “Wait a minute. Dose them with what?”
“My blood,” Anson said, coughing. He took Dr. Olivet by the shoulder. He gave her a firm nod.
“NO!” I said. “She said there won’t be any martyrs here today. I’m not going to let you sacrifice yourself like this. This wasn’t your fault. It was the fae.”
“It’s okay,” Dr. Olivet said. “I know another way. At least I hope so. But time is of the essence. Let’s get going.”
Anson turned to me. The light hit his face, and I saw him as if for the first time.
His hair was still blonde. It was still Anson’s brilliant blue eyes staring back at me, but he was different. Some of X’s scars had faded, but they cut across his features. Split his right brow and carved a new, but faded line over his cheek. He was beautiful. Rugged and dark. I reached for him, letting my fingers thread through his blond locks. That’s when I noticed near his temple, there was a patch of midnight-black hair. His frame too, he was larger, with X’s shape. It was as if the two men I knew had melded into one. Both the light and the dark.
“What is it?” he said.
“It’s just…”
“Later,” Dr. Olivet said. “We’re running out of time.”
Within an hour, all six packs were assembled in triage tents in Pat Bonner’s yard. Dr. Olivet ran it like a field hospital. She wouldn’t let me back in the house once she took Anson inside. She alone didn’t have the power to stop me, but the Brandhart dragons came out in full force. Xander guarded one entrance, his brothers Gideon and Kian the others. I wanted to find a way to rip them all apart. I felt Anson’s pain coming from inside the house. Dr. Olivet was doing something to him. But quick enough, the wolves in the tents needed my help.
They were fading fast. Those who had been involved in the melee with Anson fared the best. They were up and walking, helping to keep the rest of the wolf shifters going.
We almost lost one of the Monroe betas. He started to convulse. It looked like every drop of blood had drained from his body. Even his gums had gone bone white.
Finally, Suzanne Olivet appeared on the back porch. She was dripping with sweat, and her usually impeccably styled hair hung in unorganized wisps. She held a red plastic box in her hands. I got closer. Inside, she had maybe fifty vials of glowing red and gold liquid.
“Help me,” she said. “Every shifter here gets one vial. Inject it in the meat of their thigh. You don’t have to be too precise. We just have to get it in.”
My mother rushed forward, followed by Pat, my father, and Jarred. They each grabbed several syringes and started to get to work. I picked up a vial. Instantly, I could feel the connection to Anson. His blood. But…not. It was something more.
“What have you done?” I asked the doctor.
“It’s a hunch,” she said. “But it’s a mixture of Anson’s blood and Xander’s. I think I found a way to take something from Anson, without, well…having to take it all.”
Behind me, my mother administered the first dose. She had Jacob, one of my father’s betas. He was one of the ones closest to death. Without hesitation, my mother jabbed him with the syringe. He bucked and thrashed on the cot. I rushed forward, holding him down so she could finish the injection.
Jacob’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. For a moment, he looked dead. Then, he sucked in a great breath of air and his color returned to normal. His eyes snapped open. Clear. Full of fury. I knew instantly what he needed.
“He’s starving,” I whispered.
Jacob bolted off the cot. He shifted into his wolf. He was strong. He was cured.
I grabbed another syringe. One by one, we administered the antidote Dr. Olivet had made. One by one, the wolves of Wild Lake were up and running.
Exhausted, Dr. Olivet sagged against one of the porch pillars. I’d just used up the last vial on one of the Devane betas.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“I didn’t,” she smiled. “It was just a hunch. A hope.”
“Anson,” I said. “You did something to him too.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Tempest. I think that was you. He’s…while I was doing the transfusion, his whole chemistry has changed, Tem. You can go to him now. He wants to explain everything to you himself.”
“Explain,” I repeated.
“Listen,” she said. “I can’t claim to understand all of it myself. But I’ve been around shifters and their magic for a very long time. I’ve seen things that defy explanation. But…I know one thing. You should have gotten sick, too. You were around Jarred before all the others were. What Anson or X…what he did to you…the soul binding you thought was a curse. I don’t think that’s what it was at all. I think it’s how he protected you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
