Page 306 of Immune

He nods. “Unfortunately, that’s the only way I know how to be useful right now.”

Huh. That’s fair, I guess.

I sit back. “Then be useful.”

Mercer nods again before starting in on checking my temperature first. Then my pulse. Then my pupils. Ellis checks the wound on my arm and my fucked-up knee, muttering something about stitches and antiseptic, and idiots who have sex while actively bleeding.

Kaito looks at the ceiling while Ewan coughs into his hand. Maine makes a strangled noise like his soul just left his body to jump in the nearest pit of lava.

I take it back. Ellis is so not cool.

I narrow my eyes on her and coldly mutter, “Can we not?”

Ellis presses gauze to my arm. “Can you not?”

“I was balls deep in a crisis.”

“You were actually having several of them.”

“Then I think we can both agree that I was actually very efficient in my multitasking.”

Ellis pauses at that and then nods. Ewan makes a small sound that sounds like he’s choking back a laugh. Kaito’s bond warms by half a degree. Hell, even Mercer’s mouth twitches.

Only Hale remains carved out of stone. What a vibe killer.

Mercer doesn’t reach for the needle yet. Good for him. Instead, he looks at me and says, “You never made sense.”

“No kidding,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.

“I mean medically,” he corrects carefully. “Clinically. From the moment you came through the west gate, nothing about your presentation matched what I expected.”

I glance down at my hands. They’re a little cleaner now, but not clean. Just… cleaner.

Mercer continues. “You were malnourished, injured, exhausted, and running on blockers strong enough to put mostOmegas to sleep on the floor. But your scent kept breaking through them anyway. Not normally. Not steadily. In waves.”

I clear my throat. “You know, my scent being an annoying little bitch isn’t exactly the breaking news you might think it is.”

“No,” he says. “But it wasn’t only brought on by stress. And tonight proves that.”

The atmosphere in the small room grows charged then. Ewan’s knee presses lightly against mine while Kaito’s hands stay flat on the table. Fletcher doesn’t touch me, but his cedar and leather scent is as steady as a wall at my back.

Xeon says nothing, but I feel him anyway. Not through a bond, but through attention. Through the way the air close to the door feels watched, held, and protected.

Mercer’s gaze flicks to Hale and then back to me. “I can’t prove it without tests. Not yet, anyway. But I think the virus in your system isn’t progressing the way it does in everyone else.”

The room goes as still as an abandoned cemetery.

Maine leans forward in his seat. “What virus is in her system?”

Mercer’s face tightens. “The one NOVAC built its entire research around. The one her father was studying. The one tied to the outbreak, to Omega instability, and turning.”

My stomach drops and I shake my head slowly. “You’re guessing.”

“Yes. I am,” Mercer agrees. “But I’m not just guessing blindly.”

Hale leans forward. “Explain.”

Mercer doesn’t once look away from me. “Most people exposed to active viral contamination show one of three outcomes. Rapid turning. Delayed turning. Or death before there’s even a conversation about the first two. Some rare caseshave shown resistance for a few hours. Maybe even longer. But the virus always pushes in one direction. Always.”