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“So… yes?”
“Evan, I don’t know. There’s still a risk of embolisms, hypothermia, and then there’s the unique properties in someone like Liza’s blood who might have more acid than normal to combat her tetrodotoxin capacities. It could overload Daisy’s system and kill her faster.”
“That’s not a no.”
She frowned and stared at the sketch. “Maybe if we start with the less lethal blood types. Wyatt’s. Parker’s. And so on. Theoretically, she would gain strength as we go along, and theoretically, she would be able to receive her siblings’ blood as it would have enough similar DNA markers as the donor.” She shot hopeful eyes to him. “I think there’s a chance it could work.”
Evan whooped loudly and clapped his hands. Grace grinned. And then the foundations rocked beneath their feet. Crumbs of concrete and dust fell from the ceiling. Evan grabbed Grace and pulled her to a doorway where he covered her head with his hands, turned, and sheltered her with his body. The rocking stopped.
“What was that?” Grace asked, eyes wide.
“I don’t know.”
Evan took Grace’s hand and jogged to the operations room, only feet away.
“AIMI,” he shouted. “What happened to the building?”
The wall of flat screens flickered to life. Each depicted different news networks. Some had footage feeding from their CCTV building cameras at street level.
“It appears the building is under attack,” AIMI replied. “Hostiles have been spotted on the street outside Lazarus House. Parker has been notified. The team is assembling.” AIMI paused. “Incoming footage on screens one and two… more attacks have been reported around the city.”
Through the dust clouds and flickering, silhouettes of hostile bodies moved with menace. Replicates. They encroached on popular landmarks around the city, using whatever gift they’d been graced with to damage.
“That’s the municipal district. The Quadrant. Syndicate Tower.” He frowned as he said those last words. “Julius is attacking his own tower?”
“He destroyed his own childhood home,” Parker said, coming up behind Evan. “Why not his tower?”
He went straight for the glass cabinet housing his Deadly battle gear and started dressing. Evan hesitated to follow suit. Others jogged into the room. Wyatt, Liza, Sloan, Tony, Griffin.
They were all there and changing into their battle gear. Parker noticed Evan’s hesitance.
“Gear up,” Parker said. “This is it.”
Evan shook his head and shared a look with Grace. “We thought of something that will help Daisy.”
He explained his vision-sketch and what they’d deduced. Parker hit the form fitting Deadly Seven emblem on his breast pocket. Air whooshed out of the arms and legs in his suit, sucking the bullet proof fabric against his muscular frame. His eyes were bright gold, already flickering with evidence of the beast that prowled beneath his skin.
“Grace, you believe this could work?” he asked, voice a low rumble.
“There are risks,” she replied and then swallowed, betraying her nerves.
Evan could already see the doubt enter Parker’s eyes as he checked the situation of the city on the screens. Chaos. Pure, utter, madness.
“The Sinners are in trouble,” he said. “We’ll be spread thin. We don’t have time to sit here and spend hours transfusing our blood into Daisy.”
“Mary said it wasn’t supposed to end this way for Daisy,” Evan growled. “I believe her. Don’t you?”
Parker’s hard, contemplating gaze pierced Evan and, for a moment, Evan considered what he’d have to do if Parker said no. Would he go upstairs and donate his blood anyway. Would he go against orders?
“We’re all too cowardly to sacrifice ourselves for her,” he snarled, giving voice to his own fear. He tugged Grace to his body and hated that he couldn’t give her up, because that’s what could happen if one of them donated enough blood to bring Daisy back. That Lazarus sibling might take her place, or at the very least be out of commission. And he was terrified of not being there to protect Grace.
Multiple pairs of guilty eyes darted to him, and then looked away as they no doubt felt the same thing. He opened his mouth to say more, but then Liza ran to a screen and pointed at figures milling about in the Quadrant Park. “Somethings wrong with them.”
“And here,” Griffin added, pointing to another screen where people were attacking one another like animals. He frowned. “They’re acting like… no… that’s too weird.”
“Like what?” Parker asked.
“They’re acting like Doppenger acted when he took the greed serum. Could it be they’ve been infected?”
