"You tricked her," Jose said, pointing toward Carlos. "She would have never chosen - "
"Put your hand down," Carlos said between his teeth, "before I rip it off!"
"Carlos, stop!" Damali yelled, her hands going to his now massive biceps. "You hurt my people, and I'll tell you what my choice will be."
She looked at Carlos hard, and he shrugged away from her, but backed off.
"Fine," he muttered. "So long as you're clear about your choice."
"She's in no position to make a decision like that," Marlene said. "She's under the influence, and her system is in flux! You've polluted her, just like her bites have somehow given you a way to cross our thresholds like a male Neteru! What she gave you was good, what you gave her without her rational awareness or full understanding was - "
"No," Carlos shouted back. "What you people did was flat-line my baby - and she made the choice to survive!" He took two steps toward Marlene, the dogs growling at his heels, but Marlene never backed away. "You're her moms, so I'ma be respectful... but when your daughter came to me, she was code blue." He slapped the center of his chest. "She sucked in the first breath of returned life from my lungs, not yours, sis. I started her heart, made her blood flow, and vowed to never let you all put your hands on her again." He shook his head. "No, Mar. Girlfriend is making wise choices - she's in her full and right mind. I gave her something good - a second shot at the game - but you tried to kill her."
The night was so still, so quiet, that one could almost hear electricity crackle within it. Slowly, cautiously, Damali moved beside Carlos, and he pulled her to him hard, still glaring at Marlene.
"Baby," she said gently, her gaze going between the two drawn combat lines. Marlene's eyes looked so hurt and had such fury in them, she almost didn't know where to begin. Carlos's tight grip didn't help, because she knew he'd be beyond reason if she challenged the union in front of the teams. This was the rock and the hard place.
"Remember in the lair in Rio," Damali said as calmly as she could.
"Yeah," Carlos muttered. "Shoulda stayed in f**king Rio."
"When we sat on the beach and synchronized our breathing, our minds, and finally our hearts," she said tenderly, brushing a stray bit of hair behind his ear, watching him normalize.
"Yeah," he said, his tone low, private, his gaze now focused solely on her.
"And you know how much I don't want anybody in this to get hurt. Be gentle with Marlene, especially... and my brothers."
"All right," he said slowly. "I know. How could I forget? I felt it when your soul entered my empty space and started my heart, when my pulse fused with yours and lingered, baby." He lowered his forehead to hers and shut his eyes, completely relaxed and no longer at battle bulk. "You gave me your heartbeat."
"Damali," Marlene said firmly, not moving, as the team around her remained stone-still.
Carlos lifted his head and looked at Marlene. "Let it go, Mar. Can't you see where she wants to be?"
"Both of you, listen to me," Marlene said, her glances shared with Father Patrick. "You all did a ritual more dangerous than the bite. That's partly why her immune system is off... why she's literally turning and turning back, ripening, then going barren, and conversely, you're flashing male Neteru, then master, or some crazy combination that allows you to walk where you're not supposed to - just like it's making her do what she'd never dream of... your senses are off, Carlos, just like hers are. The mild scent she normally trails is probably enough to - "
"Knock his head back," Rider said, blowing out a long whistle. "His nose ain't no better than mine."
Carlos snarled. "Me and you, any day, motherfucker - but right now, I'm trying to hear some science - so shut up!"
He stepped back from Damali and moved toward Marlene. But his gesture wasn't threatening, just that of a man unnerved and seeking answers. He looked at Father Patrick.
"Carlos, give Marlene the Isis and send Damali home," Father Patrick said, quietly. "No more bites until we can figure this out." He looked at Marlene. "We thought the multiple bites challenged history - but I know this has never happened, much less ever been repaired."
"Her system probably could have handled the bites by itself," Big Mike said on a sigh. "It was the one-two punch, the combo. Shoulda known there was more to it than just that."
Big Mike and Shabazz lowered their weapons, as did the rest of the team.
"Now this is a true turn of events, if ever I saw one." Rider said, lowering his weapon arm, too. "What, we've gotta purge the Light out of this bastard to get him out of her system? Somebody on this team shoot me."
Carlos and Damali exchanged a nervous glance. Something in the team's disposition had clearly changed, just like it had within theirs.
"You had no heartbeat before, right?" Marlene said firmly. "She entered your dark space where your soul was supposed to reside, and took all of that darkness out into hers with it - along with a lot of the powers." Marlene's voice escalated in a slow rise as she spoke. "And her light warmed you from the inside out. I bet you've had a human pulse ever since." Marlene waited for Carlos to slowly nod. "And when you restarted her heart - what did you do?" She pressed on, not waiting for his answer. "You probably hoped her back to life, gave her your breath, and everything you had in you - on a prayer."
His dogs backed away from him, snarling and snapping. Carlos backed away from Marlene to stand beside Damali, his glances at her unsure. If it ever got out that he'd prayed over this woman... and did a soul transfer...
"I could stay half-vamp and have the blood hunger, the lust and still not be dead, or suddenly go into a ripening and start a vamp civil war? I thought I had seven years?" Damali was breathing hard. "I have to stay human with the missing - "
Father Patrick held up his hand at the same time Carlos did, stopping Damali's words.