All The Queen's Horses {Myrnin, Morganville Vampires}

Dragon Mallow

Chapter 27 - Dragon Mallow

Oliver leaned down to gently stroke Amelie's hair and whispered in her ear, too low for me to hear his words. Amelie didn't respond. He lifted his head, defeated and murmured, "Do it."

Myrnin nodded and left to collect Gwion. I stood uncomfortably, averting my eyes blatantly away from Oliver. Thankfully Myrnin reappeared quickly with Gwion right behind him.

Gwion reached his hand slowly and brushed Amelie's hair gently away from her neck. I was surprised at the tenderness of his touch. Oliver stiffened and looked like he would rather sever Gwion's hand from his body. Gwion leaned down and touched his lips to Amelie's neck. He murmured, "It won't be long now, love," right before he slid his teeth into her flesh.

Nobody moved.

The atmosphere felt tangible, as if even time realized the magnitude of the situation and waited; each second drawn out five beats longer than it should have been. My chest ached and I realized I was holding my breath. I slowly drew in air to replenish my wanting lungs, careful not to make any sound.

As the seconds ground unhurriedly by, I was surprised at the length of time Gwion remained attached. I had assumed he would make his bite quick, to reduce his exposure to the toxin, but he lingered, caressing her veins with his tongue. The embrace almost felt passionate and I shifted uncomfortably in place. The longer Gwion held, the more Oliver's body vibrated in fury.

Suddenly, Amelie's chest rose and fell. Her fingers twitched. Oliver hissed angrily, "What are you doing to her?" But I could see excitement behind his eyes at her slight signs of life.

Gwion withdrew his fangs carefully, and licked the remainder of Amelie's blood from his lips. I shivered, knowing that her blood was tainted with the deadly poison. His expression remained unaffected as he replied, "After I took the necessary sample, I infused her body with an anesthetic. The effect should last a few hours." He turned toward Myrnin and said, "I need access to a lab."

"Of course," Myrnin nodded.

Gwion suddenly looked up at me and murmured, "You were not far off, little minx."

I inhaled sharply. What did he mean by that?

My thirst for knowledge flared shockingly strong, fueled by my excitement to watch Gwion work. He smirked when he felt the radical acceleration of my emotions, and my eagerness to be near him. I blushed fiercely and blocked my emotions. He smiled to let me know my defensive positioning was a little too late; he already knew how I felt.

It did not take us long to get back to the lab. It felt like an eternity since I had last been there, when really, only a few days had transpired. So much had radically changed in my life. I smiled softly, warmth running through me from my head to tingling toes as my gaze rested on Myrnin, shocked again that he was mine.

Myrnin quickly gathered and arranged varied equipment on one lab table, before drawing a secondary lab table near. He lifted and set me on the adjoining table, so that I would have a bird's eye view of their work. Without my needing to ask, he then gathered up the journal we shared for our projects and tucked it into my hands, so that I could take notes. My eyes were riveted to every movement Gwion made. And as he worked, he murmured a steady stream of instruction and education. It was glorious.

Quite quickly, they had potions bubbling and machines whirring. I madly scribbled notes, afraid that I would miss something, but I knew that my brain was subconsciously cataloging and sorting the data for future use.

"The unidentified elements were Ocluron and Dragon Mallow. More precisely, the Ocluron camouflaged the Dragon Mallow. Had there been either one or the other element, modern means would have identified it. However, in combination, Ocluron masks the Dragon Mallow markers," Gwion explained.