Page 111 of After the Burn

Mine was warm and metallic, and Harper’s carried something beneath it.

Something sour.

Wrong.

I swallowed against the taste coating the back of my throat.

Beck noticed. “What?”

“Her blood smells different?” I sniffed the air again. “Can’t you tell?”

Finley’s head lifted. “How?”

“I don’t know. Almost spoiled, but not like rot.” I shrugged.

Beck’s nostrils flared, and Lucas went still. Adrian looked toward the collection bag filling with Harper’s blood.

They smelled it too.

Wren wrinkled her nose. “It smells pissed.”

It should have sounded ridiculous, but it didn’t.

Finley immediately wrote something in his binder. “You’re right, it does.”

Even now, he documented everything because someone else might need what he learned tonight.

The bag containing Harper’s blood slowly filled.

The bag containing mine collapsed.

When the final dark stream traveled through the tubing, Finley clamped both lines.

Silence descended.

“Is it done?” Lucas asked.

Finley checked Harper’s pulse, then her blood pressure. Finally, he studied the red streaks on her arm, comparing them to the line he’d drawn.

He stared long enough for my heartbeat to become deafening.

“Finley?” I whispered.

“The progression hasn’t moved beyond the mark.” Finley brushed the hair off Harper’s face.

Hope tore through me so hard it hurt. If this succeeded, we’d have to get the word out.

“It worked.” Beck let out a breath.

Finley looked up sharply. “I didn’t say that.”

“But it stopped.” Wren pushed up the brim of her hat.

“For the moment. Yes.” Finley walked back over to his notebook and wrote a few more sentences. “But it’ll take time to determine if it’s temporary.” He cleaned Harper’s arms and secured the lines, then crossed to the door but didn’t walk through. “Rory?”

“I’ll get her.” Wren turned and went into the room next door.

A few seconds later she came back in with Rory.