"I'm not exactly sure," Carlos admitted, glancing at the same spot on the floor Damali had focused on. Marlene's appraisal was also too intense to continue direct eye contact with her at the moment.
"All right," Marlene said, her voice like a schoolteacher dispensing facts. "For twenty-eight days and nights, everything was fine. I take it you bit her multiple times every one of those nights - no need to answer. Fact one." Her gaze went to Damali. "And, during said time, there was no fight, no resistance, correct?"
Damali glanced out the kitchen window. "No."
Jose walked so far away from the group that he was nearly beyond the kitchen entry. Carlos glanced at him, expecting to see worry, but the glare Jose gave him was almost a direct challenge. He could feel himself begin to bulk, but willed away the sensation. The young blood was definitely working his nerves.
"Herein lies the beginning of our problem," Marlene said on a long sigh. Disgusted, she put the reading glasses that dangled from a silver-beaded cord about her neck on the bridge of her nose, and opened the Temt Tchaas hard in the middle of the table. "This is partly my fault."
"How's that?" Shabazz holstered his gun, folded his arms, and stared at Marlene, unconvinced.
"The Neteru physiology is designed to create vampire antibodies under battle conditions. When fully amped, in a bloodlust, in the heat of battle with adrenaline pumping, everything in her whole system works as a unit to seal the wound, kill the attacking virus. But with a serious endorphin rush happening with every bite... no anger, no fear, total open trust and willingly offering her throat..."
"No," Shabazz said, his words seething past his lips. "They would have had a seduction provision in there, knowing that a Neteru could get within intimate proximity to a master vamp while on the hunt and possibly get hypnotized, whatever. It's not your fault; that much I do know." He glared at Carlos. "The bastard wanted her like this all along - you and I both know that, Mar. Subconscious intent was there from the door."
"Shit." Carlos just closed his eyes. "I should have seen this coming."
"Poor choice of words, dude. We're still armed."
He refused to dignify Rider's comment, but it was a direct blow to his ego. The way the muscle in Jose's jaw pulsed grated him. Carlos turned away toward the sink, now unable to look at any of them.
"Then, you mix in the normal fluctuations that happen to a normal female's body chemistry on a monthly basis," Marlene added, her voice pained as she spoke, "and we have a recipe for disaster. A variable. You're the only one she would have allowed to be with her like this, and there's nothing in the Temt Tchaas about a Neteru falling head over heals for a master vampire - ever. This wasn't a vamp seduction or treachery that would have had resistance still lingering in her subconscious; she wanted to be with you, that's the issue. There was no resistance to fire her system up to fight the turn."
Damali stood and went to Carlos's side. "It wasn't his fault, y'all. It wasn't anybody's fault. I didn't know; he didn't know; you guys didn't know."
Her voice had become so tender that he almost reached for her.
"There was nothing to resist," she said, still defending him. "He was supposed to be a Guardian, and he is a good man. Carlos didn't want to turn me... it just sorta happened."
He had to get away from Damali's sweet words, so he concentrated instead on Marlene's eyes, the pain and anger he saw there. He had to stay focused, so the group's mother-seer could save Damali.
He just wished that he hadn't blocked the older woman's second sight from entering his lairs. Maybe she could have prevented this.
"We're not here to cast blame, honey." Marlene's voice was gentle. "But we have to find a solution, or by the end of the night..."
"The hunger is gonna hit her," Carlos said, giving his back to the group again.
When Damali touched his shoulder, he turned slowly and lifted her chin with one finger. "Baby... I'm so sorry. They're gonna have to lock you up, and seal you in a room without sunlight until - "
"Oh, hell no!" Damali snatched away from him, and started for the door, but stopped as Big Mike, Shabazz, and Rider blocked her exit.
"I might be the only one who can feed you, until Marlene figures out a way. Call me, if it gets real bad, and I promise, I'll come to you. From my veins is the only way, at the moment." Carlos looked at her team. "And you all are gonna have to be cool and let me in so she can feed. If she gets out I don't want her hunting alone - she might take a body. That can't happen. Or another male might approach her and feed her. That definitely can't happen."
"No, it can't," Marlene said, ignoring Damali's stricken expression.
"But there's one other problem," Carlos muttered.
"What the hell else could be worse than this?" Jose walked into the kitchen again to stand by Shabazz, Rider, and Big Mike.
"I think she's ripening early," Carlos said in a distant tone, his gaze going toward the window. "So you've gotta find a cure fast, because I won't be able to come in here and just feed her. Understand?"
"You have got to be bullshitting me." Rider let his back slam against the wall and he closed his eyes.
"Wish I were, man." Carlos went to Damali and touched her hair. "That's when the shit got really out of hand... last night. One hit of her fragrance, and I was near gone. If she hadn't siphoned me first, I would have flat-lined her. You have no idea how close it came to that."
Shabazz had taken two paces in Carlos's direction, but Big Mike grabbed the back of his shirt.
What could he say? It was the cold-blooded truth. Carlos spoke slowly; he needed them to understand. "A mind lock went down, she took a walk on the dark side with me. She bit me, took two quarts, and the virus is all through her... not just from my bites, but now from a total blood exchange - a double plunge. She woke up hungry, and watched me drop an international courier to feed her without batting an eyelash."