Raven peered into the scope. “I’ll need a sample in order to compare it to what I have in my lab. From what I recall, this blood doesn’t seem to have quite the same characteristics as the sample from Derrick Bly. He was our most recent fledgling vampire.”

Raven, having finished her analysis, walked out to find Bo. Dr. Sanjay prepared a blood sample for Raven to bring back to her lab for further comparison.

Julianna entered the hall outside of Mordred’s room. “Bo told me to let you know he had to leave. His partner was waiting for him outside to pick him up. He said something about Jade showing up at the festival.”

“Tell Jet we’re doing all we can for Mordred,” Raven said as she headed for the exit. Soon she was in her car, racing toward town. Her bad feelings about this night were growing in intensity. By the time she reached Town Hall, her suspicions that the evening would end in disaster were no longer simmering beneath the surface, but were quickly approaching a boil.

Raven got out of her car and raced to the park next to Town Hall. There had been no mistaking her. All the photos Raven had seen, including the computer-enhanced picture, indicated that the young woman at the center of the commotion was Jade Laroque. Amidst the clamor, Jade was calm. That was just before Raven observed the sea of people gawking at Bo who lay on the ground unconscious.

Raven’s stomach clenched then threatened to expel its contents. Her head swam as all the sights and sounds pulsed around her, threatening to pull her into darkness. “Bo!” His name tore out of her in a rush of adrenaline. Her incisors lengthened and she knew her eyes changed to silver ice.

Pushing her way through the crowd, Raven knelt beside him and felt for his pulse. She noticed her hands were shaking and moist with perspiration. She blinked back the tears that blurred her vision. Get it together, Strigoi.

He had a fairly strong rhythm, but he didn’t respond to her verbal or psychic requests. “Boo, please…open your eyes. Squeeze my hand if you can hear me.” She caressed his cheek and forehead pushing his hair off his face. A white, powdery substance stuck to her fingertips, and she wiped it on the moist grass beside her. The film covered the skin around his nose.

“Raven, what happened?” Joe Menendez asked as he ran over, out of breath. “Did anyone call 911?”

“I did,” Jade said, waving her cell phone. From the memories Raven had of watching old family movies, Jade even sounded like their mother.

“What happened here?” Raven’s gaze never left Jade. Her hand clutched Bo’s.

The two sisters stared at each other. Jade glared at the Raven with resolve-while Raven overflowed with anger.

Jade placed her cell phone into her jacket pocket. Leaves crunched under her feet as she started to approach Raven. “I was returning from the parade and some lunatic jumped out at me from the bushes.” Jade pointed to a thicket of bittersweet behind her. “The next thing I know this man here pushed me out of the way. I didn’t see anything after that.”

Raven felt her skin growing colder. That was not how things had transpired and Raven knew it, somehow she could scent the lies. She looked around, tuning in psychically to see if there was anyone who fit Laroque’s description, but no one felt unfamiliar.

Screeching sirens filled the night air while wisps of clouds blocked the moon’s light.

“Can I go now?” the young woman impatiently asked.

“No, you can’t go now. This man’s a cop, and we need a statement from you,” Joe tersely responded.

“Coming through!” the EMTs warned as the crowd parted.

“What happened?” Solaris’s familiar voice called from behind the crowd. “Oh. My. Gods. Raven. What happened to Bo?”

Raven moved away on unsteady legs to make room for the medics. “I don’t know, Sol. When I got here, Bo was unconscious. According to this young woman, he saved her from an unknown assailant.” She was barely holding her emotions at bay as she looked at her beloved.

Solaris placed a strong, reassuring arm around Raven’s shoulder. Sol’s body stiffened as she recognized that it was Raven’s half-sister standing in the midst of the crowd. As the EMTs lifted Bo onto the stretcher, Raven broke away from Sol and stormed over to Jade.

She inhaled deeply. “I know who you are, and if I find out you had anything to do with this man’s condition, you’ll be sorry you ever set foot on this island.” Raven finished with a crooked smile, revealing her extended incisors. “Do we understand each other?”

Jade swallowed hard. “Yes.”

“Sister or not, I’ll find you.”

The young woman just nodded in silence.

Raven spun around. “I want a sample of whatever this substance is around the nose and mouth,” she directed the paramedics.

“Come with me, miss,” Joe interrupted.

“It’s Laroque, Jade Laroque,” Jade answered.

“Let’s go, Raven. You ride in the ambulance with Bo,” Sol instructed. “Give me your keys. I’ll drive your car and leave it at the hospital.”

Raven followed, quickly handing Sol her keys. She looked over her shoulder and noticed Jade’s eyes were downcast, a frown tugging at her mouth.

Raven sat next to Bo in the ambulance. “His pressure is dropping,” she frantically called to Steve, one of the EMTs. “Can you push those fluids faster?”

“Dr. Strigoi, we’re doing all we can. His temperature’s up. Is he allergic to any medications?”

Raven felt the ambulance swerve around the corner. “Not as far as I know. He has always been healthy. I-I’ve never seen him ill.”

Steve lifted Bo’s sleeve to take another blood pressure reading. Raven noticed a red mark on his bicep.

It was a tiny puncture, just like the one on Derrick’s arm.

The ambulance careened to the ER entrance, finally coming to a halt. Raven jumped out of the ambulance as soon as the doors opened. She was in doctor mode now. She had to be. It took all the willpower she had to suppress the emotions that kept bubbling to the surface. Fear and anger meshed together, becoming a symbiotic energy that threatened to fully transform her from human to Lamai. She couldn’t allow that to happen. Not until she knew Bo was out of danger.

“I want a full blood work-up, tox included-and check for Tetradotoxin!” she barked to the staff as they wheeled Bo into an exam room. “Get me an EKG, CAT scan and an ultrasound, stat!”

The EMTs had already checked his pupils, but Raven checked them again. They were slightly dilated, the iris a golden color. It was as if his wolf counterpart was trying to emerge to facilitate his healing.

Raven whispered into his ear, “Can you hear me, Boo?”

There was no response. The nurses worked quickly, getting Bo undressed and into a hospital gown.

The entire ER staff at Seacrest Hospital was familiar with the magickal community. A majority of the staff were some variation of supernatural being.

The doors swung open and Tracy rushed in, throwing her bag onto an empty chair. “I came as soon as I heard. What exactly happened?”

“I’m afraid he’s somehow become infected,” Raven said, walking over to reveal the puncture mark on his arm. “There was news of a woman fitting my sister’s description seen at the festival, and Bo went to check it out.” Raven ran her hands up and down her arms. Tracy looked confused. “It’s a long story. Jade’s got to be involved. My sister had to be the bait. Bo was protecting her from an unknown assailant, and he was stuck. I bet the blood of one of the missing DBs has infected him.”

Tracy stepped closer to Raven. “Infected him? How? With what?”

Raven tried to mask the fear she bottled up inside. “I’m not a hundred percent certain. Some type of virus.”

“Raven, in the twelve years I’ve known you, you’ve never had this look of unmitigated fear. Until now.”