Sitting at his antique oak desk, which had begun to warp from the sultry atmosphere, Wake slipped the small dermal patch into the crook of his right elbow, and hissed as the shaking tension immediately eased up. He rolled his sleeve down to cover the patch as well as his emaciated arms. In the last two years Wake hadn’t slept more than three hours a night. For a while, it had been the work that kept him awake, kept him at his deck trying to crack the secret of the virus metagene, But after a time, despair had invaded the work.

That was when the drugs had become a necessity. The goal was close now, so close he could almost smell success, but there was still so much ground to cover if his plan to save metahumanity was to work. He would not rest until all metahumans could be infected without any deleterious side effects, and that presented complications that still boggled Wake’s mind.

He was very close to a breakthrough on normal humans. They were the easiest to work with, and not just because there was so much more information available on them, but because the HMHVV strains acted fairly consistently on humans. With metas, Wake had discovered the hard way that each strain not only affected the individual species differently, but there had also been marked differences in how each strain affected each test subject. Most variants were due to magical ability, but with some strains of the virus, there were variables that Wake hadn’t even come close to pinning down.

He put his head in his hands, rubbing the heels of his palms into his eyes. Then he took a deep breath, the light from his touch screen playing over his face. There were times he wished he could risk getting a datajack. It would make his work so much easier, but he also knew what it would do to his magical ability. Even a trode rig had the nasty habit of giving him a headache. Flatscreens had sufficed for years, and they would continue to do so.

He had been working on this one genetic sequence for almost a week now, and he was nowhere closer to figuring where the nips and tucks should go than when he’d started.

Wake took a deep, shuddering breath, rubbed his watering eyes, and tried to calm himself. “All right,” he said softly to himself. “The metagene seems variably activated, depending upon background mana levels. So what I need is a scale to accurately measure the mana at a particular time and place. It must be kept constant.”

He squinted and leaned in close so the screen, which was filled with a scrolling mass of nucleotide sequences and a modeling of which ones would be activated at a given mana level.

Suddenly, his private line beeped. “Go ahead,” he said, without taking his eyes from the information rolling in front of him.

Just to the left and at the bottom of his screen, a small square opened, showing the heavily made-up face of Marco D’imato. Wake suppressed a vicious grin. The pushy bastard just Wasn’t going to learn.

“What can I do for you, Mr. D’imato?” Wake kept his voice neutral, and went back to studying the DNA sequence.

“We might have a situation on our hands.”

Wake touched the screen, and the flow of information came to a halt. “Do tell.”

Marco paused, and for just a moment, Wake got the impression that the vampire was uncomfortable “First, let me ask you a question. How is the progress on Warren?”

Wake leaned back, actually intrigued now, This game of cat and mouse wasn’t usually Marco’s style. Wake steepled his fingers under his chin. “Excellent, actually. We are using the latest strain of the virus, which should allow for more improvements on the original model than even you had hoped for.”

Marco’s eyes shifted, but Wake knew that was simply an effect of the contacts sliding slightly. Still, it only made him look more nervous. “Good, good. Keep up the work. When can we expect Warren to be finished with the process and ready to make a public appearance?”

Wake smiled, though he hid it with his fingers. “I’d estimate about a week.”

Now Marco’s discomfort became apparent. “Not any sooner? There is no way you can push the process along?”

This time Wake laughed outright. “We are not making a cup of soykaf, here, Mister D’imato. We are performing an experimental procedure that is probably the most delicate blend of science and magic this side of Aztlan’s delta clinics. Or, to be more succinct, no. I cannot rush this.”

The vampire sighed, and then nodded. “Just had to ask. I think I might have been a bit too hasty.”

Wake steepled his fingers again. “Oh?”

Marco nodded. “I had intended to kill two birds with one stone. My brother is an extremely calm man, except when it comes to family, I had thought to convert Warren to the cause and use his father’s natural protective nature to eliminate a potential problem. Not to mention getting vengeance on the man who has interfered with my plans.”

Marco paused, and Wake, smiling softly, said, “And things did not turn out quite the way you expected them too?”

Marco grimaced. “I underestimated my brother’s determination. I fully expected him to find my son’s killer, which is well within his abilities, and I even had a high degree of confidence that he would be able to dispose of the killer with little problem. However, I was a bit too slow.”

Wake leaned forward. “How do you mean?”

Marco shrugged, looking like a little boy who’s just broken his mother’s favorite vase. “I intended to destroy the small scrap of Warren’s genetic information before my brother could try ritual magic. Unfortunately, he beat me to it.”

Wake settled back slowly, letting the cracked leather of the chair comfort him. “You realize that this is a bad thing, of course.”

For a moment, anger flared on Marco’s face, but it died quickly. “Yes, and coupled with the fact that I can’t reach him… well, frankly, it has me worried.”

Wake shook his head slowly. “Assuming your brother has a mage competent enough to penetrate my magical defenses, what kind of force can he bring to bear?”

Marco shrugged again. “Actually, your best bet is the fact that Julius has no idea who you are, or where you are. I kept him in the dark about everything to do with you, as per our agreement. Also, if he still believes that my son’s killer is the one behind his son’s disappearance, then he might underestimate your compound’s particular capabilities.

“However if he has any decent recon info, then I would suggest you find a way to get out of there. Julius can bring enough firepower to bear to wipe out the entire area.”

Wake nodded. “And what exactly do you expect me to do?”

Marco paused, as if he had been about to say something, then changed his mind. “About Julius, he’s expendable. I’d rather he was captured, but if there is no alternative, then he can be replaced. As far as the rest of the men are concerned, they are disposable.”

Wake nodded. “Very good. You continue trying to stop him from your end, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t get through from this end.”

Marco shook his head. “You don’t understand If I can’t reach him and stop him, he will roll over you and your defenses like they don’t even exist.”

Wake smiled, letting his grin go wide. For the first time since he and Marco had met almost a year and a half ago, he saw something close to fear on the vampire’s face. “Don’t underestimate me. Your brother will not make it past my first barrier. Do you honestly think I would be foolish enough to show you all of my capabilities? Don’t flatter yourself. If you value your brother’s life at all, then I suggest you redouble your efforts to stop him. If he comes after me, I will destroy him.”

Marco took a deep breath, and let it out. “Of course I’ll do my best.”

“As will I.”

Suddenly, Wake touched his screen and Marco’s face sprang to life-size. A nervous tick was causing the vampire’s left eye to jump. “Show me your hands,” Wake said.