Annihilate (Hive Trilogy #3)(3)

We all winced then, an open wound around a bleeding vampire was a death sentence. Becca continued: “It was feared that the virus had entered her system. She remained in the hospital under lockdown until they could figure out what this meant for her. Would she turn or die? They were the only two options. But then nothing happened. She had a fever for a day but didn’t turn. They tested her blood, and tested it again, over and over almost right up until I was born. She never had any of the virus in her.”

“How is that possible?” Markus asked.

Rebecca shook her head. “It isn’t possible and yet it happened. They were saying it was a miracle, or that maybe none of her attackers’ blood landed on her wounds.”

Okay, this story was going to get all weird and sciency now. I just knew it.

“I have studied this virus now for many decades, and I’m starting to see the pattern. It’s smart; it develops and learns. It seeks out the strongest and wants to form bonds with that genetic pattern. Shape those cells. So when a pregnant woman receives the virus, it goes to the life it can shape the most, the fetus. But because a fetus is such a fast growing being, I was shaping and changing and fighting the virus every minute, every second. I was pumping out the cure to my mother, which is why she only had a fever for a day. Even being seven months developed in utero, the virus still managed to bond to my genome, and basically start the process of making me a born vampire, which in a way is like a cross of ash and vampire.”

Okay then. Ashpire was making much more sense now.

“It still takes a long time for the change to kick into effect, which is where we mimic the ash males, but we’re not ash. Our blood is different. Because the virus matures within our body and bloodstream during our early development, we create these antibodies to the virus as a natural part of our system. In a way, it’s almost as if we have cured the virus, and what was left was the best version of a vampire, something which mimics the ash.”

Holy shit. Hooollly shit. I remembered my mom’s story about being attacked when she was very early stages of being pregnant with me. She said that Carter Atwater, Original of the fourth house had saved her, but that he had been injured. Some of his blood must have mixed with hers, which is why I turned into an ashpire. Dammit, that meant the abusive dick of a father who had been in the army was really my biological dad.

I worried at my lip, unhappy about that. My hair color was from him after all. Still … in lots of ways Carter was as much my father. His blood was what changed my genome as I developed in the womb. I had been little more than a single cell when I received his blood. My mom hadn’t even known she was pregnant yet.

I needed more information. “So the antibodies we have is why my blood can cure vampires. Does it cure ash as well?” I had been wondering for a long time what would happen if an ash bit me.

Rebecca shook her head. “No, because ash don’t have the virus. They’re born of a mutated genome and technically never actually received the virus. Therefore, there’s nothing to cure.”

My brain sort of shorted out then because that shit made no sense to me, but she was super smart and it made sense to her so I just nodded.

“Can you cure vampires as well?” I asked. It would be so great if there were two of us helping to try and deal with the war that was no doubt going to explode in our world.

I was tense as I waited for her answer, and when she shook her head my heart sank a little. “Not really, not permanently. I have some curative properties, which I have been trying to manipulate for many years. Basically, if a vampire drinks from me, they’ll partly return to human form. They can walk in the sunlight, and enjoy human food, but unless they continue to drink from me, the virus reasserts itself and they return to vampire.”

My eyes found Ryder’s and I could see the questions in his as well. “I don’t actually know if my blood can long-term cure either, but the vampire we found was definitely human. And had been for a week or more.”

Rebecca’s eyes lit up. I could see her brain ticking away as she analyzed me and thought about that. “I need to test your blood. We might finally have the secret to this virus. To figuring out how to stop it.”

She looked like a kid in a candy shop, ready to drain my blood in the name of science. But curiosity was a dominant trait in my personality too, so hell yeah, let’s figure out how to cure these bloodsuckers. I nodded and she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.

“Come, I’ll show you my lab!” Her glasses had fallen on the bridge of her nose and she pushed them up, looking 150% an adorable nerd.

And Sam had noticed.

He was watching her like she was some fascinating creature that he wanted to touch but knew was off limits. Did Becca even realize he felt something for her? Did she feel something for him? Had they hooked up? If not, which one of these idiots was the hold-up, because life was way too short. Even for ash.

Becca walked us back through a narrow hallway that opened up into a huge science lab, all stainless steel benches, fluorescent lighting, massive machines, and shelves filled with beakers, vials, and other science paraphernalia.

“I have all of the latest technology, and I get blood donations from a local blood bank under the guise that I’m researching human diseases. Which I do on the side for fun.”

Of course she did. Jayden and I shared a smile.

She continued: “That’s how we’ll get our food. I have more than enough blood to feed us and continue my human research.”