Their heads bobbed. "We will."
Kendrick pointed at the door. "Go directly to bed and tomorrow a full breakfast. After using that much power your bodies will soon be feeling the effects. Make sure you're in bed before it hits."
They beamed at him. "Yes, sir!" They ran out of the room much in the same manner they had entered it, recklessly.
Once the door shut, Kendrick pulled out a stool, sat down and resumed rubbing his arms. "How in the hell did they go unnoticed?"
Rheia walked over looking concerned. "Are you well?"
Kendrick nodded and sighed. "I'm angry at myself for not seeing their abilities sooner. When I think of what could have happened." He scrubbed his hands over his face.
Rheia lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're not a god Kendrick, no matter how much you like to act like one." When he looked up, she winked at him, and he relaxed.
"What do we do now?" Ellie asked in a small voice. "Seeing the virus was the only ray of light from Clara's death." She wiped at her eyes.
Vivi wrapped an arm around her. "You're forgetting my other specialty, hematology. I have been studying blood for as long as microscopes have been around."
Ellie looked confused. "What good will studying their blood do if we can't see the virus to work on a cure?"
"I didn't just study human blood to improve it for my people. I also studied using vampire blood as a healing agent for others," Vivi informed her.
Rheia frowned. "We thought of using vampire blood, but we decided against because of the bonding that would occur."
Vivi looked at the human doctor. "What if you could use vampire blood without worrying about the patient bonding with the vampire donor?"
Rheia stared. "Then we could cure just about anything." Her eyes widened. "That's what you've been working on?"
Vivi nodded. "I have been very secretive about the procedure since it's still being tested among humans, but yes, I believe I have found a combination of science and magic that may work."
"I thought you said you didn't have much experience with magic," Kendrick pointed out.
Vivi shrugged. "I personally don't, not really. What I use as part of my procedure was created by a witch years ago. I use it in the same manner as I would use a microscope or centrifuge."
"What exactly are you talking about?" Kendrick asked.
"It's a flat stone the size of dinner plate that was bespelled to sever bonds. In the wrong hands, it could be placed under a bottle of wine to break up a marriage or under a coffee carafe to destroy friendships. I use a combination of three different strains of vampire blood, then set the bag of blood on the stone before infusion. It can take eight to twelve hours. The time varies depending on the age of the blood. By using different donors and the stone, so far, it has prevented a bond from forming in trials," she explained.
"Trials?" Rheia asked. "Wait, you've been using this on humans?"
Vivi nodded and smiled at Ellie. "Like my friend, I have a soft spot for children. I have a small network of vampire donors who work with me to treat childhood cancer patients. The vampires have to be willing to move to the child's town for the first year of treatment in case a bond does form. If a bond forms, those vampires will stay close to the child for the rest of their lives."
"Good gods," Ellie whispered.
Vivi nodded. "Now you see why progress has been so slow. In the beginning before I figured out that using more than one strain of blood helped, we had two cases where the patient formed a bond." She chuckled at the memory. "Fate has a wonderful sense of humor because in both instances, the little girls ended up being mates to one of the donors, so they, in essence, saved their own mates."
Rheia smiled. "That's amazing. Have you had any cases of bonding since?"
Vivi shook her head. "No. After the second case, we started using multiple donors and the bonding stone. So far, we have cured an additional eight patients without a single bond forming." She turned to look at the microscope. "Though, I have no idea what parameters should be used with shifter patients."
"It's something," Ellie began bouncing on her feet excitedly. "We've had to space out the antivirals because they are losing their effectiveness. This could be the breakthrough we need." She laughed. "If this works, we won't even need to see the virus. The vampire blood will give the shifters the boost they need to cure them altogether."
Kendrick stood. "I think that we need to work and save as many lives as possible," he paused. "That being said, I also think we need to identify this virus and trace it back to its source." He looked around. "If the ferals, or reapers, or whoever is out there now working against us, can cook up this virus, they can make more. I'd rather kill them all and destroy any trace of their methodology before more death and chaos can spread."
Rheia chuckled at Ellie's shocked expression. She turned to Kendrick. "We'll leave the magic, killing and destruction to you. We'll work on keeping people alive," she said in a sardonic tone.
Kendrick shrugged a shoulder. "We all have our strengths."
Ellie turned to Vivi. "What do you need to get started?"