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“Was I thinking it that hard?” I asked.
“No, but I know you,” he said as he looked in his rearview mirror at a car behind us.
My phone rang again. Fortune started talking as soon as I picked up. “They tried a painkiller for vampires. It worked; Wicked and Truth are unconscious.”
“Great that they have a painkiller that works on vampires.”
“Of course, but now the doctor has a new treatment that he’s wanting to try out.”
“What kind of treatment?” I asked.
“He’s wanting to cut off all the damaged flesh so he can try this new experimental thing where he can make vampire flesh regrow.”
“Are you serious?”
“It’s worked in the lab, but this is his first chance to try it on a subject outside of the study.” She sounded disgusted and angry.
“Put the doctor on the phone,” I said.
“Can’t you just come inside? I can feel your energy and Ethan just outside.”
“Can’t find parking and after the debacle at the restaurant I’m not allowed to run off without security in place.”
She was quiet for a second, then said, “Can’t argue that.”
“So put the doctor on the phone,” I said.
“As you order,” she said.
“Don’t be pissy, I’m cranky enough without your attitude rubbing up against mine.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry, genuinely sorry, it’s been a cranky night for all of us.”
“Apology accepted, now put the doctor on the phone.”
“I’d like to put him on the ground,” she said, her voice suddenly sweet and sounding far more girlish than Fortune ever sounded. “Dr. Boden, Truth and Wicked’s live-in girlfriend is on the phone. She would like to speak with you.”
The doctor came on with that rich, male tone in his voice that was very pleased with itself. I didn’t have to see him to know he’d be good-looking, maybe even handsome, that he’d always been smarter than, better than, in a lot of ways and now he had this new theory he wanted to try out. I had taken enough pre-med to keep my dad happy and to have met a lot of classmates just like Dr. Christopher Boden.
He tried to dazzle me with science, but since I had a science background and no patience left I cut him off. “Dr. Boden, when you say you’ve had success in the lab, define ‘success’ for me.”
“Vampire grew new flesh to replace old flesh that had been excised.”
“So it was flesh cut away from a vampire, not a burn injury.”
“Well, yes, but not a vampire. We didn’t cut pieces off vampires. They’re citizens in good standing just like the rest of us now.”
“So, what vampire flesh did you cut away and regrow?”
He started to try to drown me in scientific mumbo jumbo, but I’dhad just enough of my own science-speak to translate the important parts. “You grew vampire flesh in the lab, in a petri dish, right?” He hadn’t said that last part, but when the headlines say things likeliver grown in lab, they usually mean a few liver cells grown in a petri dish. It’s a breakthrough, but it’s not what the headline actually implies, nor is it ready for human testing, or vampire testing.
“Well, yes, and it worked every time. It’s one of the reasons I’m here in St. Louis, so we can find subjects to test it out on.”
“My lovers are not your test subjects.”
“But they could be. Think of how it would help the entire vampire community.”
I hadn’t given him my name, nor had he asked. Now I said, “You’ll need to write this up so I can read it before any vampire in St. Louis will let you experiment on them.”
