Her answer seemed to knock the wind out of Kendrick's sails. "We'll discuss it later then." Ellie surmised, whatever Meryn saw, Kendrick didn't want anyone else to know.
Ellie turned to Magnus. "Where can we meet?"
"You can take over my meeting room here on Level One. Only Kari and I have access. You will be undisturbed," Magnus promised.
Ellie looked across the table at Rheia. "Ready?"
Rheia stood. "It's what I'm here for." Around the table, the men standing signaled the end of their impromptu emergency meeting. Colton decided to stay with Aiden and help with the warriors. Kendrick announced he would be with Law, babysitting Meryn while he looked into Elizabeth's shadow.
Ellie walked with Grant out of the prince's living quarters as he led the way to Magnus' office. Rheia and Anne walked just behind them, and Marjoram brought up the rear. She was on her walkie-talkie, asking for Tarragon and Dr. St. John to join them on Level One.
"So Meryn looks like shit, Beth has a shadow, the prince looks like a stiff wind would knock him down, and we have an unknown virus in a city of vampires." Rheia shook her head. "Sounds like a really bad B movie."
"Don't forget angry mobs of Founding and Noble family members making demands," Grant added.
"Not to mention finding my mate in all this mess." Ellie smiled up at Grant. "Okay, that was more of a happy thing, but it still makes for more chaos."
Anne snorted. "I found Kendrick when I thought I was meant for his brother. Then we discovered the feral necklaces were made with the souls of unborn children." She shuddered at the memory.
Rheia cackled. "I almost lost Colton the first week we were mated to a feral bite getting infected. He was rotting while still alive." Ellie turned back to her, eyes wide. Rheia nodded. "Did I mention that he got the bite from the feral that murdered my daughter's biological parents and was stalking Penny?"
Ellie looked up at her mate. "We're good, right?"
He leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. "Once we put this sorrow behind us, we'll be just fine."
Kari jogged up from behind them, grinning. "Sebastian was putting Magnus to bed when I left. He sounded like a five-year-old protesting on Christmas Eve. I had to leave when Sebastian threatened to get Marjoram. If I laughed in his face, I think he would have fired me." She held up her clipboard. "Looks like I am yours for the afternoon."
They stopped at a mahogany door, and Kari used her hand to unlock the meeting room. She walked in and turned on the lights. "Magnus said you could use this room for however long you need. I will add your prints to the lock before we leave." She raised a wooden panel to expose a large dry-erase board.
Ellie walked in and picked up a marker. It only took a few minutes for Tarragon and Dr. St. John to join them.
"Right. Let's get started."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
"What do we know?" Rheia asked, starting the meeting after Tarragon and Dr. St. John introduced themselves.
Ellie smiled as her grandmother handed her some notes. "I was called in four days ago to treat three children who weren't feeling well. Their symptoms were achiness, restlessness, joint pain, low fever, and trouble sleeping. They would be fine one moment then fly into almost violent episodes, thrashing about and hitting their parents. Between the time I was called and the time I arrived, which was less than twenty-four hours, the number of patients doubled.
"The sick children were moved to an open courtyard in the refugee camp to stay near their parents and pack. They were set up on cots and were given doses of a pain killer, sedative, and fever reducer. This helped enormously, and we saw results immediately. The children were calm and able to sleep. However, it quickly began to lose it's effectiveness." She flipped to the next page.
"The next day, our patient load doubled again and we realized we didn't have the space to treat that many children. We also received our first adult, which shot holes in many theories about where the sickness was coming from since Julio had almost nothing in common with the children. His symptoms were completely different from theirs. Whereas the children became combative, Julio was brought in unconscious. We haven't been able to wake him. His mate is beside herself.
"Last night and into the early morning, Sulis and the other warriors procured hospital supplies that were desperately needed to treat the ill and built the hospital you saw when you came in. They were able to get the donated hospital beds, linens, and monitoring machines from the hospital where I used to work; otherwise, we might still be waiting on beds. The vampire who helped with our request for supplies knew my grandmother and me, and she expedited things so that we could get the children moved to actual beds. We were about to start moving the children over to the hospital when we had the first fatality, Clara Garcia."