She was on the phone with Austin now as Hayden drove toward Appaloosa Plains. He was speeding, but his ears would be able to pick up any police sirens before they reached him.
“Austin says to meet him at the lab,” Kenzie announced when she hung up her cell phone. “He says the first thing he’ll have to do is draw my blood – just great – and then analyze it.”
Hayden gripped the steering wheel. He was feeling worried and helpless. His mate was going through a very confusing time, only getting worse, and he had no idea how to help her. His foot inadvertently pressed further down on the gas pedal. Normally, Kenzie would chastise him for this. But now, she said nothing. She was probably as anxious as he was to get to Appaloosa Plains and hope that Austin could tell them something probative and helpful.
It was late afternoon by the time they arrived, and many of the lab workers were on their way out the building. Hayden parked the car and they both scurried inside, their hearts beating in unison. Austin greeted them at the entrance and hastily ushered them toward his lab. Coincidentally, this was the same lab Jillian and Isaiah had visited not long ago when approaching him about a cure for vampirism.
“I guess we could make small talk,” Austin suggested, “but that would probably be pointless at this point. You guys are here for answers, not idle chatter.”
“Austin,” Kenzie began, “I don’t want to inconvenience you. I mean, I know you have a family to get home to, and…”
“Cheyenne understands. Besides, she doesn’t want anything to happen to you, either. Honestly, it’s okay.”
“So, is there anything you can do?” Hayden wanted to know.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Austin responded. “The first thing I’ll have to do is take a blood sample. Obviously, since Kenzie has three different blood types in her system, that’s a factor.”
Kenzie squeezed her eyes shut when Austin poked her with a needle. Needles were one thing she hated as bad as heights.
After the blood had been extracted from her arm, Austin squeezed it onto a glass slide and slid it under the microscope. Hayden helped Kenzie dab at her arm to stop the blood from flowing, even though it was only a tiny dot, as Austin scrutinized the sample under the microscope.
“Holy shit,” he said after a few moments. Kenzie looked up, baffled. Austin rarely swore, and when he did, it was always serious. She was even more frightened now.
“What?” she asked tentatively. Austin looked up from the microscope and motioned her and Hayden forward. One by one, they looked into the microscope to see what had Austin so riled up.
Hayden looked first, and a frown etched itself across his face. He stepped back without saying a word. Kenzie was afraid of what she’d see, but she finally surrendered and took a look for herself.
She wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking at. But she was sure that it wasn’t normal. The blood sample wasn’t stationary; it was moving. Not little particles inside the blood, but the actual blood itself. And it almost looked like it was trying to devour itself. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen, and Kenzie had seen some very weird things in her life.
“What the hell am I looking at?” she demanded after looking up.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Austin replied. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Something supernatural is definitely going on here.”
“We already ascertained that,” Hayden growled, a little more fierce than necessary. “We want to know what it is and how to fix it. Whatever it is, it’s making Kenzie sick.”
Kenzie’s stomach rolled as soon as Hayden said that.
“I’ll have to conduct some more tests and research,” Austin replied to Hayden’s question. “But it may take some time, and I’m not sure how much.”
“So what do we do?” Kenzie wanted to know.
“I honestly can’t tell you. I’ve got some vampire colleagues that may be able to help, and some of them work nights and will be coming in soon, so I’ll ask them. Let me call Cheyenne; I’m sure she won’t mind if you stay at our place tonight.”
“No, we couldn’t impose,” Kenzie and Hayden both started to object, but Austin cut them off with a wave of his hand.
“It wouldn’t be an imposition,” he promised. “We have a guest room that hardly gets used, and I know you want to see Mason.”
Austin pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called his wife. Kenzie felt terrible to put her friends out like this, and she knew Hayden did as well. She was so grateful they’d remembered to pack extra clothes in case they’d had to stay overnight, though they’d intended it to be in Lucky Palms at a hotel.
When Austin hung up, he confirmed that Cheyenne had no problem with their friends spending the night, though Hayden would have to be invited inside due to the supernatural spell on the house for Mason’s safety. The spell didn’t affect Kenzie since she wasn’t a full-blooded supernatural.
So Kenzie and Hayden left the lab and made their way toward the Crowley house, with the promise that Austin would work for a couple more hours before returning home, hopefully with some sort of headway.
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