She nodded slowly. She'd seen it once. Even being a vampire, she'd run like hell. Belle hadn't needed that in her day.
Night.
Whatever.
"This venom has been distilled down to its base poison. It's pure rage. It causes the body to turn on itself."
"To rip itself to shreds," she nodded. "I shudder to think what would happen if someone with a grudge against supes were to get hold of this."
"Me too. That's why I haven't used it in the field, or turned it over to the Department of Supernatural Defense like I was supposed to. I don't even have any of the research on any electronic medium."
"That's smart." She swallowed hard. "I guess Woolven really can take care of themselves." A cold knot settled in her gut. The idea of that being used on her family tore her up, but she knew the law of the jungle. Only the strongest... and if they went up against the Woolvens, only the law of the jungle applied.
"I don't know if it's because you shared your blood with me, but I feel the conflict inside you. And I understand it," David said.
"There's nothing I can do, except go back to them. And that's not something I'm willing to do. I guess I should say that I'll sacrifice myself to save everyone, but I won't." And she felt like the biggest coward because of it.
"Woolven has offered you protection with their eyes open. They'd take it as the gravest of insults if you were to try something so stupid. No, you don't need to sacrifice yourself. You deserve to be free to live your life like anyone else."
"Even though I've had so many lifetimes?" She didn't know what it was about David that made her open up to him. The seemingly gentle fatherly air about him, or maybe it was because she hadn't interacted with another of her own kind in so long.
"Is that where your guilt is coming from? Didn't you tell me that we are exactly as we are meant to be? Take your own advice, little one."
Emotion overwhelmed her. So many things she hadn't allowed herself to feel. This familial connection.
Even though her life had been long indeed, and she'd had a kind of freedom, being on the run was kind of a cage, too. The loneliness had ebbed after those first years, but it had been like losing a limb. A part of herself.
Was this pack her murder? Was that even possible?
She looked up at David again as she handed the vial back to him. "So this is what you do all day? You engineer a more perfect weapon?"
"Vaccines and cures, too. Want to see one of those?"
"I really would."
He went to another cabinet, this one had no security at all. David pulled out what looked to be a piece of butterscotch candy.
"Okay, what's this?" she asked.
"It's also distilled from werewolf venom and it can heal any wound, but it can only do it once. We found in testing that anyone who took it more than once and humans who couldn't be Turned were driven mad. We're working on applications for cancer and degenerative brain diseases. I'm concerned about a zombie apocalypse when the government wants to start playing with prions, but the immediate good it can do is worth the risk."
"How do you keep them from using it more than once?"
"I rewrote the genetic code so that if it comes in contact with body chemistry already altered, it will self-destruct."
"That sounds violent."
"Just a little bit of diarrhea." He shrugged. "If you're already so screwed that you'd chance Turning, a little bit of gastric distress is the least of your problems."
She laughed.
Belle thought of her family again, the Asakku. She wondered if they'd stagnated these many long years, of if they'd advanced like the wolves, keeping up with science and discoveries. Making their own. Engineered a better vampire. She had so many thing she wanted to ask her father, but their relationship would never be a meeting of the minds. He sought to dominate, control and if those things couldn’t be accomplished, he would destroy.
And that included her.
"Things are heating up around here, and I imagine I'm going to be working a lot of overtime. I want my little girl safe. I want the ma--wolf she loves safe, too. I could probably use an extra pair of hands in the lab if you're game."
"I think I'd just be in the way, but if you really want me here, I'd be glad to help. I want them safe, too."
"You're a good, if toothy, egg."
She flashed him some fang. "You know it."
He picked up his phone and his brow furrowed. "Yeah, things are heating up fast." He looked up at her. "Text from Parker. I'm going to take you to security and get you added to the system. Then you'll meet the supernatural force that actually runs things around here. Eleanor Westwood. She'll key the wards for you."