Page 27 (1/2)

Michael would knohy

Once the sun had dropped to the midafternoon position in the sky, Alex eased out of bed, dressed, and decided to stash her supply of tranquilizer where she could get to it without Phillipe or Michael being the wiser

After pocketing the keys to the infirrabbed her medical case, walked out, and tried to retrace her path to the guards’ hall The empty corridors indicated that none of the Kyn were early risers, although she spotted a number of security cameras set up in discreet corners, and what appeared to be motion sensors set into the door fra off an alarirl, so when Alex found the guards’ hall she took the right turn she remembered and followed another hall to the castle infirmary

Over time Alex had discovered that, unlike Michael, the majority of the Kyn had little use for doctors or medical treatment Part of it was due to the barbaric state that es A doctor e barber, a crazy old wo arts After Michael had described some of the standard treat therass and ree burns to them with a heated poker--Alex didn’t blame them

The other factor was the Kyn’s ability to heal spontaneously If a vrykolakas were healthy and well fed, any wound soed to make in them would close over in athe and destroying any benign or hostile organism that entered the body, which meant they never fell ill The Kyn were difficult to hurt, and alainst medicine, Byrne had a fairly decent setup in his infirmary Alex saw that copper, the only substance that could pierce a healthy Kyn’s flesh, coated all the instru thread were stacked neatly next to various splints and bandages Alex opened one heavy steel door and found a refrigerated walk-in, its shelves filled with several thousand bags of whole blood, plashty" Alex left her medical case on one of the counters and went inside the chilly roo to the dates not one of the bags was y research lab?"

"They were given to us freely," Jayr said from behind her "Good afternoon to you, my lady"

"Freely, huh" Alex eyed the seneschal and the towering hulk standing next to her His size should have , but his pink vest, red trousers, and the yellow jacket draped over his shoulders spoiled the effect "Who’s your friend?"

"This is Rainer, hted to make your acquaintance, my lady I will not interrupt your reverie--"

"Sit down," Jayr ordered To Alex she said, "Rainer’s ar you could advise urney "Have a seat" She sucked in a breath when Jayr relared at Rainer "You let it heal like this? Why didn’t you get help when it happened?"

"I was tied up," he told her

Alex went to work, with Jayr assisting An hour later, she finished wrapping Rain’s ar

"That should do the trick, but keep the arm out of commission for at least a week," she told him "Come find me in a couple of days so we can do a follow-up Or I’ll find you"

"You cannot rinned at her "You have but to look for the ain," she warned, "and next ti"

Rainer left, but Jayr stayed behind to help Alex tidy up "I thank you, my lady Rain is very dear to us"

Alex nodded "Then why did so his story about slipping and falling He’d have to fall down sixty flights of stairs to sustain that many breaks, and they wouldn’t all be on the same arm Sorimaced "But he will not tell me who did it"

"Look for a real sadist" Alex went back into the refrigerated room to retrieve some plasma "There are labels here from a dozen different hospitals and blood donation centers You in big with the AMA?"

"Blood donated by humans to their hospitals and collection centers is tested before it is entered into inventory and used for patients," Jayr said as she joined her "If the blood is found to be diseased, it is removed and destroyed as a biohazard"

"Which is why this stash of yours is really buggingpeople to voluntarily donate blood is like asking theh blood here to supply a ical hospital for a couple of ree on that point, my lady" Jayr nodded toward the shelves "All of the blood we store has been discarded It was tested and found to be diseased and unusable"

"By anyone but Kyn," Alex said slowly, "because we’re immune to human diseases"

"Yes Our supply comes from three different hazardous-waste collection companies that serve most of thestates They deliver the blood to another company, one hich is contracted to incinerate it Instead the company delivers the blood here" Jayr tried to look modest "We also take a share of the disposal fee"

"Good-bye, biohazard Hello, breakfast" Alex picked up one of the bags A second label on the back indicated that it had been found to be conta bad blood I’d never have thought of it It’s brilliant"