I enter the library, and there I find him in his little nook. His pile of books has gone down, and I shake my head, laughing to myself.
He doesn’t even peer up from his book. However, he does turn a page, then says, “What’s up, Hunter?”
I crouch down on the floor, crossing my legs as we sit opposite. He reads several more chapters until he finally glances up, a curious light in his bright blue eyes.
His eyes are bright whereas mine are dark. Our mate really got the best of both worlds with us two. What more could any woman want?
She has Brent’s silver eyes too, but that asshole isn’t here. I’m not even sure what Brent feels about his mate’s banishment. But I’m sure he will come to our side, eventually.
I know he can’t stand his uncle any more than we can, and I don’t even know why he sticks by the alpha’s side.
“Reading anything interesting?”
Paddy shrugs. “I guess. It’s a book on automobiles. Not like it’s any use to us. I asked Butch and he confirmed that none of the abandoned cars in the city work anymore...”
Cars? Those four-wheeled contraptions humans used as their primary source of transport? They were monsters. We should be glad we don’t have to use one.
He tosses the book aside, losing interest at last, then picks up another. It’s a book on warfare, and I bite my tongue.
Let’s hope it doesn’t have to come to that.
I lean back, smiling good-naturedly. “So, Paddy... I was wondering... if you’d read any books recently on communicable diseases...”
The bookworm jerks his head up, his eyes wide and alert. “Diseases? Why?”
I shrug. “Just a hunch I have.”
I almost hear the cogs of Paddy’s mind turning now. I know he’s following my train of thought, too.
“What do you call it when a disease passes from one species to another?” I ask.
He stills. “Zoonotic.”
I smile tightly. I knew he was the right man for this. He has read about everything. I bet he could name every constellation in the sky. He probably knows where Timbuktu is; I certainly don’t.
“Why are you asking me about diseases?”
He searches my eyes, and it’s blue against brown. I don’t have to communicate. I know he can sense my thoughts because of the bond we share with Ylfa, and he puts the book down.
“You noticed too, huh?”
“The way the humans wince whenever we get too close? Yeah. I think there’s something they’re not telling us...”
Patrick sighs. “Seems that way.”
We’re silent again. Paddy gazes off into space while I burn a hole into his book on warfare, and I make a link between the two. Diseases, warfare...
I think it’s finally dawning on me, and I’m surprised that I was the one who came to this conclusion. Paddy is the brains of our group.
“What chapter are you reading?”
He gulps. “It’s a chapter on biological warfare. How humans used deadly diseases to attack their enemies...”
My stomach drops. A deliberate attempt to kill off a race of people by infecting them with disease. It makes me cold all over.
“I think there’s something we should discuss with the humans,” I say. “We need to find Ylfa and tell her what we found out.”
Patrick nods, and he almost resembles a ghost. War and disease is an ugly thing, I suppose. Combine the two, and you get a match made in hell.
It’s not even worth thinking about, but we must if we want to all move forward together.