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“Sorry about earlier,” Bel murmured as he typed. “My brothers like to tease me that I’m not a very good riser. If my brain is a computer, then it is very slow to boot up.”
“Coffee doesn’t help vampires, right?”
Bel shook his head. “Our systems metabolize and process the caffeine too fast. I once calculated the amount of coffee I would need to drink to feel that same boost humans do in the morning.” He paused and looked up at River, his nose wrinkled. “It wasn’t pretty.”
River huffed a soft laugh. The vampire always had something unexpected to say.
“What are you working on?”
“Just plugging in the results for a test that concluded. Still trying to find a cure for vampirism without much luck. My brother’s mate, Ethan, is the only human I know personally who was changed to a vampire. I’ve been studying his blood, looking at the specific changes after the conversion. It’s shown me some very interesting ways in which the DNA and cells are transformed, but I’ve made no progress in reversing it.”
“Why cure vampirism? You’re immortal, kept forever young. You’re stronger and faster than most humans. Don’t get sick. I think most humans would want to be a vampire.”
A soft sigh slipped from Bel’s parted lips, and he closed his laptop lid with a quiet snap. “Because not every vampire was given a choice. Some would very much rather go back to being human than watch their loved ones age and die without them.” He paused and gave a little shake of his head. “And some…some should have been allowed to die as a human rather than be reborn and bring a horrible danger to the world.”
There was a weight of personal experience to Bel’s words that River couldn’t begin to understand. The only thing he was sure of was that Bel had not tried to cure vampirism out of idle curiosity. He was trying to help other vampires, even if he never met them within his very long existence.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, nothing to be sorry about.” Bel flashed him a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Science is about countless failed tests and trials in the search for truth. Every negative brings me one step closer to the answer I’m looking for.”
River stepped back as Bel started tidying up his work area. His movements were quick and precise, but they also struck River as being nervous.
“Where’s Wyatt?”
“He went to patrol your grounds.”
Bel froze in the act of turning off the water where he’d been washing his hands. “Really? Is everything okay? Are there more wolves in the area? I didn’t feel any, but I wasn’t exactly watching for them. I’m sorry. I should be paying more attention with you and Wyatt here.”
“Whoa, whoa!” River said, holding up both of his hands. He nearly reached for Bel to reassure him, but he quickly dropped his hands to his hips. “Everything is fine. It’s just a thing he does. Gives him a chance to stretch his legs and reassure himself that we are safe.”
“Oh. Okay,” Bel murmured.
He turned off the water and looked out toward the wall of windows that stretched along one side of the lab. Snow still coated the ground in places, though much of it appeared to have melted during the day. Energy swept past River, and it was like being touched by a summer breeze. It rushed past him and out into the surrounding woods. A couple of seconds later, an echo bounced back, and he knew without a doubt that it had been Wyatt.
“That’s Wyatt. You can feel him,” River breathed in wonder. It was stunning to be wrapped in both Wyatt’s and Bel’s powers. He’d never been aware of Wyatt quite that way, but something about his connection to Bel had made it possible for him to sense Wyatt through the vampire. It was…beautiful.
Bel nodded with a smile. “He’s heading to the house. Everything is okay.”
“That’s an amazing gift.”
Smiling, Bel picked up a towel and dried off his hands. “It’s come in pretty handy over the years. When it first kicked in, I was afraid I was losing my mind.”
“Really?”
Bel’s smile turned a bit mocking as he folded up the towel and placed it next to the sink. “I thought I was hearing voices. It didn’t take too long to determine that I was receiving the thoughts and feelings of animals around me. The hard part was learning how to tune them out, so I didn’t go insane.”
“True.”
“But it gave me a chance to study a variety of animals that I hadn’t considered before.”
“Like that bird you spoke to last night?”
Bel gave a little laugh. “That’s Ozzie. We’ve been together for quite a while.”
“Is he a pet?”
Bel’s brow furrowed, his lips pursed together in thought; then he shook his head. “A neighbor. Or maybe a friend, I guess. We met while my family was living in South Carolina. Ravens travel in flocks when they’re young but are generally solitary birds. I was out hunting one night, and there were a handful of ravens about that I politely borrowed to scout the area.”
