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Echo turned to Dr. Boden and smiled wider than she had, so that the delicate tips of her fangs showed. The doctor stumbled back as if she’d done a lot more than just smile at him.
“I…I didn’t realize you were one of them.”
One of them, calling vampires not human; he was afraid of his “test” subjects, so why had he chosen to study them?
Ethan came to stand beside me, saying, “The person who can give eternal youth to the world will be famous and rich.”
“Of course, he can hate and fear vampires and still work withthem if it prevents old age. The fountain of youth and all that jazz,” I said.
Ethan put his hand on my shoulder, and I patted his hand. I was happy for the comfort, because as much as I tried to be a grown-up about it, Echo asking for space still hurt. It was like she’d gone back to being monogamous with Fortune, except that Fortune liked men a lot. She liked being with the love of many lifetimes and getting to have extra lovers. Only Echo had retreated.
Dr. Boden was still staring at Echo. “If you could help make everyone in the world ageless and immortal, wouldn’t you want to try?”
“If I thought it could be done without damaging their souls, yes, but unless you do to every human’s brain what is done to a vampire’s brain, how will they survive and stay sane as the years pass?” Echo asked.
“If we use vampire DNA, then the brain-storage-versus-brain-health issue may resolve on its own,” Boden said.
“A young ageless body with advanced Alzheimer’s doesn’t sound good,” I said.
“We are in the very beginnings of this brave new world. First we must heal the vampires, then use the vampires to heal the rest of us.”
“Go back to your lab, Doctor; I won’t let you experiment on them,” I said.
“There will be other vampires whose families are more farsighted. This will happen.”
“Not in St. Louis, at least not until I’ve read your notes over.”
“I don’t have to show you my work; you’ve already refused, but you can’t keep me away from every vampire. Eventually one is going to come into the hospital that will say yes. You’re only postponing my work, not stopping it.”
“You never asked my name, Doctor.”
He looked startled. “I’m sorry; I was so excited to be able to offer hope to your boyfriend and his brother, I forgot.”
“I’m Anita Blake.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?”
I got my badge off my belt and held it up near my face. “Marshal Anita Blake.”
“You’re Jean-Claude’s fiancé,” he said. I was holding up a federal badge and I was still just someone’s girlfriend instead of a cop.
“Yeah,” I said, “and this badge combined with me about to marry the vampire king means I can tell all the vampires not to take part in your experiment.”
“Why would you deny them a chance to be healed?”
“I wouldn’t. Show me your data, explain it to me so I understand what you’re trying to accomplish and how it works. Convince me you’re as brilliant as you think you are, and I’ll find you test subjects, but until then leave the vampires alone.”
“What if they choose to get my treatment?”
In my head I thought,If they go against express orders they won’t need to be healed; they were undead but that didn’t mean they couldn’t die for real.
“Ms. Blake, please, this is important work.”
“It’s Marshal Blake to you, and if it worked it would be a medical miracle, but you don’t know what it will do to a real vampire, not just tissue in a lab experiment, but a whole living being—you don’t know if it will work or have some horrible side effect. Until you have your safety protocols in order, you touch none of our people.”
“I’ll speak to Jean-Claude, he’s their king, not you.”
Fortune, Nicky, and Ethan laughed. Echo and Kaazim just stared at the doctor. “Wow, you are new in town,” I said.
