Harvest of the Gods (21 page)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“
I don't know what else to do,” Emma had finished giving all the rabid wolves the shots but none had shown any signs of improvement.

We were still sitting in the dining hall but we'd put it back to some semblance of order. The overturned furniture had been righted and all the broken pieces were piled in a corner awaiting disposal. There was even a collection of drinks in the center of our table, provided by some thoughtful wolf, but howling and growling had become the constant backdrop to our conversation.

“How is this possible?” Fenrir looked at me, “how can there be a virus that can hurt us?”

“
I don't know,” I tried to work it out. “I don't know a lot about viruses, but I do know they can mutate and become stronger. It's possible that this one has been manipulated into a mutation that's so active it can grow faster than the rate at which the Froekn heal.”

“
I agree with Vervain,” Emma nodded to me, she finally seemed to be over my manhandling of her.

“
Can we stop this?” I asked her.

“
I don't know,” Emma shook her head. “In humans, once the disease has progressed to the point of encephalitis and the patient exhibits violent behavior, it's past treatment and is fatal in a matter of days. But this,” she waved her hand back toward the doorway. “This has progressed much faster than rabies in a human would and so I really don't know how much time we have. They're immortal so I would think there would be a chance that they could recover if we could only find an antidote but the question is, how much time do we have to find that antidote?”

“
Where the hell do we even get an antidote?” Fenrir growled.

“
From whomever made the virus,” Emma shrugged. “We need a sample of the mutated virus to create the antidote from and even then, we'd have to find a lab that was able to make it for us and fast.”

“
Do you have any contacts that could help us?” Trevor asked her. “Anyone who could make this antidote?”

“
I could probably find someone,” she frowned. “But really, we have nothing without the strain that was administered. We need that virus.”

“
Can't we just swab a cheek or something?” I tried to think of everything I knew about viruses. “Aren't vaccines created by using a sample of someone already infected?”

“
I don't know,” she frowned. “This just isn't my area of expertise, but I do know it's too late for vaccines, we need a cure.”

“
What if we just take a sample to a hospital?” I was reaching for straws. “I could ask Blue to come with me and put his mind whammo on some lab tech.”

“
I don't think a hospital would have the proper equipment to process a sample down to the components of the virus. Once a virus enters-”

Whatever she was going to say next was cut off by Ty falling to the floor, where he began to convulse.

Chapter Forty

“No,” Fenrir had carried Ty into a spare room and laid him on the bed. “TryggulfR, come on, Son, don't do this.” Ty had started growling, staring at Fenrir like he was his worst enemy. Fenrir had him by the shoulders, pinning him down. “It's me, your father.”

“
Go get something to tie him down with,” I said to Trevor and he ran off.

I ran over to the bed with Kirill to help hold Ty down while Emma prepared some kind of shot. She lifted his shirt and injected him in the stomach. Ty paused briefly to look at her but other than that, there was no change. She went to prepare another needle but I stopped her.

“Don't, that might be making it worse,” I shared a look with her and she finally nodded, putting the needle away.

“
Not TryggulfR,” Fenrir was moaning, staring into his son's face. “Not you, my boy. My sweet boy.”

Trevor came through the door with a length of chain and some padlocks. He went to work on chaining Ty's hands down by running the chain beneath the bed to connect them. He did the same to Ty's feet and then we all stepped back.

Ty was raging, half shifted, and snapping at the air. We started to back out but Fenrir wouldn't move. I looked over at Emma and she nodded. She went over and took Fenrir's hand. He looked down at her sharply, like she'd startled him.

“
Come on, honey,” she pulled at him, “you're not going to help him here and you definitely won't help him if you get bit.”

“
Alright,” Fenrir said softly and followed us out. His
shoulders were slumped, his eyes dull, and he dragged his feet along the floor in a slow scrape. I'd never seen him so beaten, the fight completely gone from him.

We shut the door and locked it.

“Emma,” I pulled her attention away from Fenrir. “Do you know the name of the biologist Demeter employed?”

“
No,” she shrugged, “all I know is that he's from Chicago.”

“
Chicago?” I lifted my brows. “Okay, that's good, that's great. It gives me a place to start. He would have needed a sample of rabies to start the process right?”

“
Yes, of course,” she frowned, “but I don't see-”

“
Where would he acquire that?” I cut her off.

“
Most likely the CDC,” she shrugged, “I'm not sure, I've never done that kind of research. I'm usually in the field, observing behavior.”

“
Okay, fine,” I nodded crisply and went to hug Fenrir. He just stood unresponsive in my arms. “I'm going to find this man and get the antidote.” Fenrir stared blankly at me. “Dad!”

“
Yes?” He was trembling, his eyes unfocused.

“
I will find him and we will cure Ty,” I shook his arm. “I promise you.”

“
Little Frami,” he swallowed hard. “I don't know what to do. Tell me who to kill and I'll do it, but this... I can't fight this.”

“
I know what to do,” I pulled his face down to mine. “I'm going to fix this. You need to snap out of it and hold things together here. You're the Valdyr, remember?”

“
Okay,” he blinked and seemed to pull himself together.
“You do whatever you have to do to bring us a cure and if you need me, you call me and I'll hear you. I'll be listening.”

“
I will,” I turned to Trevor. “Stay with him, Honey-Eyes, I'll be back as soon as I get the cure.”

“
Vervain,” Trevor shook his head.

“
Don't worry.”

“
Okay,” he nodded, knowing he needed to be with his father. “Take Kirill with you.”

Chapter Forty-One

“
Vat vill ve do, Tima?” Kirill asked as soon as we exited the Aether ans stepped back into Pride Palace.

“
We're going into the Inter Realm,” I smiled at his surprised expression.

“
Of course,” he huffed a laugh. “Maybe ve
can
save them.”

“
We
are
going to save them,” I swore. “Now where's Roarke? Roarke!” I started roaming through the hallways shouting the cat-sidhe's name. “Roarke! Roarke!”

“
What's with all the
cat
erwauling?” Roarke came out of a bedroom rubbing at his eyes.

“
Do you deliberately try to find words to use that have
cat
in them?” I blinked at him.

“
Wouldn't you if you were cat-sidhe?” He grinned a Cheshire cat grin.

“
Yeah, alright,” I laughed, wondering for the first time if I'd got my sense of humor from my fey heritage. “I need you to please go into Faerie and bring me Meilyr along with any of the other imps who are willing to come and help me again.”

“
Alright,” he frowned. “What is it, Queen Vervain? What's happened?”

“
Demeter has infected the Froekn with a disease called rabies, a mutant strain that I believe she had engineered specifically for them. I need to go into the Internet and find the biologist who created the strain and the imps could really help. Please hurry.”

“
Yes, my Queen,” he ran toward the tracing wall and I started for the library to wait. It wasn't till I was almost there that I realized he'd called me
his
Queen, a very important distinction
among the fey. It was like that moment when you're in bed with a guy and he whispers that he loves you before he passes out. I wasn't really able to comprehend the meaning of it at first. Then it dawned on me, Roarke had just sworn fealty to me, basically disavowing the House of Earth to align himself with Fire.

I couldn't think about the consequences those two words were going to have. I'd have to leave that for when I returned to Faerie. Instead, I focused on the speed at which Roarke had retrieved Meilyr, Bearach, and Scotaidh. The four of them came barreling into the library less than five minutes after he'd left.

“Thank you, Roarke,” I hugged him quickly, “and thank you all for coming to help.”

“
My Queen,” Meilyr bowed, going from one foot high to six inches. “We are ever at your service. How can we help you?”

I filled them all in on what we needed to find and the scant information I already had, then I ran and got my goggles at Meilyr's suggestion. He was right, they could come in handy at finding things quickly. I strapped them on and we stepped into the Inter Realm.

The ultra brightness of the realm flared into existence around me and the imps popped into view as big as wookies and looking a little like a red version of Chewbacca. We ran the length of the tube of Inter Realm that snaked through Pride Palace and then out into the Aether. I kept my eyes fixed firmly ahead as we traversed it, I couldn't handle the distractions of the Aether right then.

Then we were out into the Inter Realm proper, which was laid over the Human Realm and basically looked like a brighter version of the place sans people and with the addition of millions of threads of information. The buildings in the Inter Realm were semi-transparent, you could see through them if you concentrated on it, and you could walk through them without an issue yet they would become solid beneath your feet were you to try to explore them. It was strange but when you considered that everything in the Inter Realm was transmuted into information, even myself, it made more sense. Information could be manipulated.

We stopped in the center of an empty intersection and stared at the multicolored threads that made up the worldwide web.
With the goggles on I could actually see what types of information were being sent through those threads. I could focus in on a thread at any distance and read its contents like a book. One of them would take us to the information we needed, we just had to find the right one.

I used the goggles to search and discard various threads until I finally gave up and headed over to the towering glow of a server. There I'd be able to search more effectively and I don't know why I hadn't thought to start there. Once at a server, searching became similar to using Google, you just asked the Internet for what you needed and it would bring it to your fingertips but when you were inside the Inter Realm, you didn't have to worry about things like security and passwords. It was all yours for the taking.

The imps spread out and each of us went to different servers to try to find the information as fast as possible. It was Scotaidh who finally shouted in excitement.

“
Here,” he waved his red, furry paws, “I've found the thread we need.”

We all ran over, straight through buzzing lines of information and incorporeal buildings, and looked over the thread Scotaidh was pointing at. It was a CDC email, confirming the request of a Dr. Malcolm Armstrong for a vial of Rabies Virus, to be sent to his lab in Chicago.

“Malcolm Armstrong” a memory tugged at me.
Your order is ready, M.A.
“Of course! The note we found at Demeter's. This is the guy, it has to be, and that order must have been the virus.”

“
This is the CDC database,” Scotaidh waved his arms toward a glowing gold panel. “The only rabbit virus sent to Chicago within the last six months has been to this guy.”

“
Rabies virus,” Meilyr slapped Scotaidh's shoulder and giggled. “Not rabbit.”

“
Excellent work,” I smiled at Scotaidh, “rabbit or not. Let's go.” Then I jumped on the thread.

The email was like striking gold. We wouldn't even have to search any further, the thread would take us directly to the bad
Dr.'s computer. A non-stop flight to our destination. I couldn't believe our luck.

The imps jumped the thread behind me and we all zipped along with the information, straight to the man behind the disease. The email connection wasn't active, just the dormant path that had been originally established between two servers, but it worked just fine for traveling. Like an Internet hacker, we could ride the stored information to the source as easily as something actively in use.

The thread carried us over whole states in seconds, rushing through buildings as if they were nothing but a hallucination, which they kind of were in the Inter Realm. As long as we held to the thread, it was the only thing that would remain solid for us. In the Inter Realm information was King and everything was in your head. You could be whomever you wanted to be and find anything you wanted to find.

I saw the server approaching, the one Dr. Armstrong's computer was attached to, and I shouted back at the imps to cloak themselves. We didn't know what would be waiting for us on the other side of the computer screen and I didn't want to start a stampede. So we zipped through the server and came to a stop directly behind a flat screen monitor. I nodded at the imps and then touched my hand to the screen, imagining myself whole again. The Inter Realm processed my request and uploaded me to the Human Realm once more. Pop, it's a human.

The imps appeared behind me. I saw a ghostly shimmer of their forms under their spells of invisibility, thanks to the goggles. They grinned at me as if they knew I could see them and I smiled back. Then I looked around.

The room we'd entered was empty of people other than ourselves, just a cluttered office with plain white walls, a desk groaning under piles of paperwork, a computer, a printer, and a filing cabinet. As I looked around, a man came through the door, closing and locking it behind him. How thoughtful.

He was gangly thin and bespectacled with wispy brown hair and watery brown eyes. He looked distracted and slightly worried, his brow crinkled in thought. His skin was an unhealthy milk color.

I revealed myself as he took a seat at his desk. He jolted in shock and then his face went white, staring at something behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the imps there, smiling their sharp-toothed grins. They did look a little menacing, even for tiny things, and especially to a guy who'd probably never seen a fey before.

“Who are you?” He stammered. “
What
are you?”

“
We're debt collectors,” I grinned my own wicked smile at him, allowing my eyes to turn a little hot, my dragon rising inside me. “We're here to collect payment for what you've done.”

“
I... I've done nothing.”

“
You created a mutated form of rabies, Dr. Armstrong,” I walked forward and leaned my hip against his desk. He pulled back from me. “That virus has infected some of my family. It's killed several of them already and now my brother is dying, so you'll forgive me if I don't have the patience to play games with you.”

“
Demeter,” he whispered.

“
Yes, Demeter,” I nodded. “Good, I'm glad I don't have to torture that out of you,” he blanched. “Oh yes, I will torture you if I have to. I have no problem cutting you into tiny pieces if it means saving my family. Are we clear on that?”

“
Yes,” his throat worked convulsively. “I understand.”

“
Great,” I waved my hands out, “then this will be very fast and painless for you. I want the antidote and I want you to come with me to administer it.”

“
Look, I'll give you the antidote but I can't go with you,” he glanced at the imps behind me. “I have things to monitor here, I can't just leave.”

“
Dr. Armstrong, maybe I wasn't clear enough,” I held out my hand and released my dragon claws. They were long and curved, shining like polished jet in the florescent lights. His eyes widened and he pulled back even further into his chair. “I will cut you open and pull things out of your body that should never see the light of day. Then I'll call in a friend of mine who can heal you and we'll repeat the process. Over and over I will do this until you finally agree to do what I want. Or, you could just come with me now and administer a few shots. I'll need more antidote just in case we have a relapse, and then you can go on your way, no skin off your back or anywhere else, I promise.”

“
I... I have a vaccine,” he stammered, “you can give it to the rest of your family and they'll be immune.”

“
Wonderful,” I beamed at him, “we'll take that with us as well. Now get up and go gather everything, all your vials of the mutated virus, your notes, the antidote, and the vaccine. Meilyr will go with you,” I nodded to the imp who immediately went invisible and the Dr. gasped. “Yes, he'll be there but you won't see him, so don't try to warn anyone or do anything else to piss me off because Dr. Armstrong, I am hanging on by a thread, you know?”

“
Yes, I understand.”

“
Good,” I nodded to the door, “run along then.”

He nodded jerkily and rushed out the door. Meilyr went after him and then the door shut behind them with a quiet snick. I had a strange revelation then, a moment of seeing how much I'd changed from the woman who had first started down this path. That woman would never have tortured a man. She never would have stood there and so calmly described the manner of the torture either. She would have found the very thought to be abhorrent and would have naively believed that there would have been a better way to get the Dr.'s help.

Was it the God War that had changed me? I've had more than my fair share of torture done on me. Had it numbed me or broken me a little? Or maybe it was the nature of the beasts inside me that had altered my perception so noticeably. It didn't feel like a bad change, more like an improvement, but does anyone ever look upon themselves and think they have changed for the worse? It made me think of a quote I once read.
Monkeys are superior to men in this: when a monkey looks into a mirror, he sees a monkey.

I let the matter go, deciding I didn't have time for philosophy, self or otherwise. So I turned to the desk and sat down in the chair there, surveying the surface for anything important. When I found nothing on the desk, I started searching the computer files for anything with his rabies research in it. I found several files with detailed descriptions that I couldn't understand but I did understand the word rabies, so I destroyed them all, Bearach helped me so that they were completely gone without any trace left to be retrieved later.

Maybe twenty minutes after that, right when I was about
to give up and go looking for them, Dr. Armstrong and Meilyr returned. The Dr. had a cardboard box with him and on top of it was piled file folders full of paper. I nodded to him and the imps all reached up for bits of what he was carrying. He handed it over with a wary look, his hands shaking.

“
Relax,” I turned him back to face me. “I don't want to hurt you, Dr. Armstrong. I have a feeling you were manipulated into doing this.”

“
I was, she-”

“
I don't care about that,” I cut him off, “I just want you to understand that I won't hurt you unless you try to do something that would prevent my family from recovering. If you help us, I will not only release you unharmed, I will protect you from Demeter.”