Lone Werewolf Duology (bxb)

19. Full Monty

Sangha returned with a particularly dreamy smile curling her lips and a warm gleam in her eyes. Volya didn't ask if it was his blood, its quantity or quality, to satisfy her like that. With that motherly exterior, she wasn't at all like a vampire, but then again, she was.

Her gaze traveled between Liam and Volya. It emanated infinite patience—and it made Volya antsy to hop to it more than any amount of checking her watch and screaming, move your ass! would have done.

June, also back from their excursion, ceased her restless foot-tapping. She sat by her workstation. Her fingers moved gently, but fast, bringing out row upon row of numbers ran onto her screen. A deep dive into a few databases—and she started to hum tunelessly, even bobbed her head in time with some beautiful algorithm. Why would anyone ever hurry? June's relaxed, white-coat-clad shoulders practically screamed at the onlookers.

Volya leaned away from Liam, but Liam clasped his fingers. They linked, locked, and lingered.

"I'll be right here, watching the timer. I wouldn't let them keep you under for a millisecond longer than it is safe," Liam promised. He swallowed and had to repeat it again, slower, calmer, because Alexa gave a beep to indicate that he spoke way too fast for it to pick it up. Once the translation went through, he added, "I wouldn't allow pushing safety protocols by a single volt."

"Whatever, man." Volya slanted his eyes at the cross bulging Liam's breast pocket. They blew past 'safe' long ago. But after his flat-out refusal of the counselling offer, voicing this sentiment felt disingenuous. Besides, whoever heard of a lab rat with opinions? He swallowed a lump in his throat: his maze, in the shape of the red cylinder, awaited. Hopefully, there was cheese at the end of it. Every lab rat deserved its cheddar.

While they dallied, Sangha's maternal front held up admiringly. Not even a hairline crack ran through her patient visage; her smile didn't tightened even a fraction. Her voice remained warmer and lighter than the down-feather comforter in Volya's room; the one he would have to bring to the lab tomorrow, if he didn't fancy adding pneumonia to the list of his woes.

"We'll never endanger you," Sangha said. "June had recorded samples of your normal brain activity. The moment we observe anything abnormal, even infinitesimal, we will release the emergency hatch."

She indicated a round hatch at the bottom of the cylinder.

"Won't all the jelly spill out?" Volya asked.

"Yes, but losing the interstitial biomass is inconsequential next to saving a human life. Don't worry about it."

It was his life, they were discussing, so he didn't understand how he shouldn't worry about it. Besides, in the movies, when the scientists assured the heroes how safe things were, five minutes later all hell broke loose, things went haywire and something inevitably blew up.

Despite Sangha's omniscient voice and appearance of All-Mother, Volya caught himself chewing a hangnail on his index finger. He wanted to help Liam. To save Anabelle. He wanted to win love for once in his life. But above all, he wanted to live, because if he didn't keep going, he'd never see the better future he and Toshka dreamed about.

"Hey you."

Volya turned his head to glance at Liam. The silver cross migrated from his pocket back into his hand. It hung between the fingers of Liam's fisted hand; the chain clutched inside. Volya was very familiar with fists. You clenched your hand, you hit hard. You dodged the ones flying at you. But fists could also hold on to the precious things tight. Liam brought it to his lips and kissed the cross, turning Volya's trinket into a promise.

Volya's heartbeat slowed down. Or maybe it was the time itself. The electrical current pulsed evenly down his veins, no longer turbulent and divided.

Liam is kin, the inner voice rejoiced. Your kin!