“Did you ever try diluting it?”
Jelani met his gaze. “We couldn’t risk it not working.”
Understandable since a Sarvari would be immune to the Rakta if they survived the dose.
“That’s why we used every drop of the aged Rakta we had left on the Anubis.”
After Isaiah took his father’s seat, he’d defied orders to remain with the other Greater Alpha ranked Varu. Because by the time humans and Varu had agreed to work together to kill the Anubis, Isaiah had decided if he were going to die, he would do it as the wolf, fighting beside his people.
He’d been there the day the Anubis fell, but he never saw who killed it. By the time he’d recovered from the shock of finding Jia, the ichor had purged from it, been collected, and—Isaiah thought—destroyed.
“I’m sorry.” Jelani shook his head. “You’ll just have to accept killing the Anubis is going to result in Nash Kelli dying.”
It wasn’t himself Isaiah worried about.
Isaiah’s wolf emerged from the faint shadow he cast against the wall. The creature stared at the door, then Isaiah, before taking a few steps and vanishing.
Isaiah went to the door and opened it.
Cassie stood with a covered plate in her hands. “I thought you might like some brownies.”
“And listen in on our conversation?”
“It wasn’t on purpose.”
Isaiah held open the screen door. “Come in.”
She did.
“How much did you hear?” Gossip was the last thing Isaiah needed.
“Enough to know what you want to do.”
“Good, then I don’t have to explain why telling anyone else would be harmful.”
“Do you really think the Cana will hate us?” Cassie set the brownies on the counter with exaggerated care. “I mean, even when he understands his purpose and how important he is to us?”
Isaiah rubbed a hand over his mouth. “He loves Nash.”
“Could the Anubis be lying to him?”
“If it was the Anubis telling him, yes, of course. But Nash is still who he was, and he loves Luca. There’s just no way of knowing how long it will be till it isn’t him anymore.” Nash had been a Varu with no wolf until infected with the ichor. Ari had nurtured the root of darkness inside him, bringing it to term that day on the grounds.
“If we can save Nash, will Luca be happier?” There was knowledge in her tone.
“You already know the answer.”
She nodded and wrapped her hands around her ribs. “There are people who were saved from dying from a cur and cured of the bite from a Sarvari. There are even people who purged the ichor from the Anubis and lived.”
“Those are just fairy tales,” Jelani said.
“No they’re not.” She looked at Isaiah. “They’re not stories.”
“I helped perform treatment on hundreds of infected people, and I attended at least that many interrogations involving Sarvari. If it were possible, we wouldn’t have let our own die.”
Jelani was right. They would have done whatever it took to keep pack members from being executed when humans died from bites inflicted by Mah.
“Our people weren’t the ones who cured them,” Cassie said.