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“To discuss in a more private setting,” he said.

So it wasn’t a date he was after. Stupid, Char. He wanted to discuss our plans away from the general and anyone potentially overhearing.

“Sounds good,” I said, hoping it wasn’t obvious that I’d read the room wrong. Or the elevator, as the case may have been.

Julian left me in the lab, and I began my analysis of the sample we’d secured.

As I’d suspected, it was identical to the one Mordock had stolen from my lab. So why take Lydia? I wondered. Unless she’d resisted doing anything to the formula…but he’d turned her, making him her sire, and if I understood right, that meant he had sway over her. I’d have to ask Julian at dinner about that. Maybe everything I knew about vampires was wrong.

I pulled the goggles from my face and stuck them on my head as I twirled in the chair, thinking. The ashes I’d gotten as samples showed a difference with blood in the system. The shifter I’d seen changed was okay because he was still alive, AKA still had blood in his body.

The old excitement of potential discovery sent tingles of anticipation through me. It was a feeling I hadn’t had since the day the lab was attacked. I welcomed the adrenaline surge and got to doing what I did best. Before long, I had the microscope set up with various samples ready to go. It was when I got to the strangest combination that I held my breath.

The slide had a bit of ash from one of the vamps and a drop of my own blood. I tipped a pea sized sample of GDK5 onto it and watched, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

First, fizz obscured the rest, then as it settled, I watched as the blood and ash swirled together, bubbling and—

I held back a scream and leaped off my stool. With a hand pressed to my mouth, I peered into the microscope again. Sitting on the slide was a chunk of…flesh and bone. I sat down hard.

Blood was the key to the cure. The vaccine was within reach, and I was ready to set up the machines to make GDK6 samples. But a last-second glance at the results on the slide showed decay on the new flesh. There had to be a way to stop the decay from happening…

Before I knew it, hours had passed, and Julian reappeared along with the elevator, ready to take me to dinner. I stretched out my back with a huge crack, then worked on my neck.

“Long day,” Julian commented as I shut things down and put away all but two samples, which I’d already slipped in my bag.

“The glamorous life a scientist,” I said with a shrug. “But do you mind dropping me at home to take a shower before we…discuss things?”

“Of course.” Julian gestured for me to lead and nodded at Gladys on the way out, receiving a grunt in reply.

The ride home felt faster than usual, and it could have been because my head was still swimming with ideas from the day in the lab. But when I went to get out and Julian grabbed my hand, I realized he’d been preoccupied as well.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

He hesitated then smiled. “Yes. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

I watched him drive off then made my way inside, trying to puzzle out his behavior as much as the genetic codes I’d been fiddling with all day. The scent of my mother’s chili greeted me, and my stomach rumbled in response. It was then I realized I’d missed lunch.

“Soup’s on!” Zoe called from the table.

“I can’t,” I said, peering into the room where the two were seated and in the middle of their meal. I didn’t blame them. I was less than predictable when it came to timing. “I have plans.”

Mama and Zoe exchanged looks.

“What?” I asked, hand on hip.

“A date?” Zoe squealed.

“No. Well…maybe. Sort of. Anyway, I need to change.” I turned to leave when I heard her murmur Sam’s name to Mama.

I flinched but hurried on to my room, not ready to tell them I was going on a date with a vampire. That was a whole different level than not warding him from the house. Maybe it was cowardly, but I just didn’t have an inch of room for another stressful situation. If they assumed something, that was their own fault.

The shower reinvigorated me, and I finished up on autopilot until it came time to pick an outfit. What did one wear to dinner that wasn’t a date but maybe was? With one’s boss? I thought of the feeling I had in the elevator and how he’d been ready to defend me at the possible expense of his career. Surely, he’d had a million women in his long time on earth. Why would I be any different? I was probably acting like a sex-starved college girl and had the whole thing wrong.

Even so, I ended up sneaking over to Zoe’s room to snag a dress while she and Mama watched a movie on the couch. I think she caught me, but she stayed put, probably assuming I was going out with a werewolf. Again, I figured it was her own fault.

I tugged at the hem for the fifteenth time as I surveyed myself in the mirror. My hair was loosely pulled back on the sides to show off the curve of my throat, and for once, I let my wild waves cascade down my back. My charm necklace glowed slightly through the dark material stretched over my chest. I hadn’t realized I was a size bigger than Zoe because the red dress I’d worn had a more flowy vibe, but this damn this dress was tight. It landed way too high on my thigh and hugged every curve I had. At least it was black. If it had been white, I would’ve chickened out. As it was, I’d applied some lipstick and was in the midst of debating changing out of it when the doorbell rang.

I ran out, beating Mama to the door.