“Makeda?” He knelt in front of her. “What is it?”

“I remember the night of the accident.”

The printouts from her computer history lay spread on the table before her. She stood, unable to remain sitting, and sifted through them with inhuman speed.

“This one,” she said. “Read it.”

“Bone marrow and viral infections?” He skimmed the article. “You think the virus is replicating in the bone marrow.”

“I think it has to be. Everything goes back to the blood, right? It’s what vampires feed on. It’s what keeps them alive. Bone marrow is the single biggest site of blood cell production in humans and—I’m assuming—vampires.”

“It is.” He stared at the paper in his hands, frowning as she spoke. “I suppose I could write Brenden in Dublin. Have him check—”

“Bone marrow is also vital to the immune system. If the virus is attacking and living in the marrow—”

“That explains how it’s surviving in vampire blood,” Lucien said. “And if the bone marrow is the source of the disease, it would also inhibit any immune reaction.”

“No antibodies. No immune reaction. The body is helpless against the invading disease because the disease is replicating in the marrow itself.”

Lucien set the paper down. “How do we treat diseases that attack bone marrow? Think out loud.”

“Marrow transplant. Peripheral stem cell treatments. There are other ideas proposed, but those are the current options.”

“Bone marrow transplant.” He sat down and let out a long breath. “On vampires.”

“It’s theoretically possible.”

“There are so many problems with this.” His eyes were fierce. “Makeda, you have no idea—”

“Yes, the healing factor would be a problem,” she said. “And we’re dealing with big unknowns because transplant surgeries often take—”

“The healing issue is only the start of it.” Lucien stood again, as on edge as Makeda was. “If we’re talking about marrow transplant, we’re talking about fundamentally changing the structure of a vampire’s blood. Possibly killing off the very thing they need to survive in order to cure them. This could change everything about their biology. Amnis is fed by the blood, yes, but it’s tied to the nervous system. Changing marrow could change blood type. Could change elemental identity. Amnis. It could change a vampire’s connection to his sire or mate.”

None of those things had occurred to Makeda, but she immediately saw their importance. Vampire identity, family, and political power were closely tied to their element and family structure. Changing either of those things could fundamentally alter an immortal’s place in the world.

But even then…

“They’re dying, Lucien.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “We offer. We ask for volunteers like we would in any experimental treatment, and we let them decide. But they’re dying. If we can work out the mechanics of the transplant, this may be an option. The only valid option that’s presented itself in four years.”

He looked around the lab. “Even if we work out the existing problems, where are we going to run these trials? You can’t be around human patients, and I can’t leave you. At the same time, I don’t think the immortal world can wait for this.”

The thought of running trials she couldn’t monitor enraged her, but she knew there was no other option. “We’ll have to run them in Ireland. You’re familiar with the doctors in the facility there, aren’t you?”

“Brenden McTierney,” Lucien said. “He’s human, surprisingly. He was a great friend and colleague of Ioan ap Carwyn, one of the first immortal scientists who discovered Elixir.”

“Why can’t we have this Ioan—”

“Ioan’s dead.” Lucien’s expression said the subject wasn’t up for discussion. “But Brenden worked with him and Ioan trusted him. Patrick Murphy hired McTierney when he started the Elixir facility outside Dublin. He’s my chief point of contact there.”

“Would he be able to run trials? How familiar is he with vampire biology?”

“He’s not innovative, but he’s thorough and he’s meticulous. More, he has the trust of the vampires he’s treated. If anyone can make the case for an experimental procedure, Brenden would be it.” He paused. “Katya won’t like it.”

Makeda scoffed. “Neither of us is under Katya’s aegis at this point. As far as she’s concerned, I thought up this theory after I became vampire. She has no proprietary claim on my ideas, and she can’t prove otherwise.”

Lucien stared at her for so long she became self-conscious.

“Do you think I’m morally wrong in this?” Makeda asked. “Yes, she funded my thalassemia research, but this idea—”

“I don’t think you’re morally wrong. I was just trying to control myself. I find it incredibly arousing when you’re arrogant.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Makeda found that pleasing, and she didn’t know why. Arrogance was an unavoidable part of her personality, but she didn’t consider it a positive one. Her very traditional parents tried hard to instill humility in all their children. It just hadn’t taken well with Makeda. She wasn’t a boaster, but she remembered going through much of her childhood quietly tolerating those she felt were inferior on an intellectual level. It wasn’t an attractive trait.