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“Sorry?” Darien asked. It took every ounce of his willpower to tear his attention off Loren.

“How many days have you been off the Venom?”

“Umm…” He gave a soft, humorless laugh and admitted, “One. I caved yesterday afternoon and took a hit. That was before I talked to her.”

A few minutes of silence passed.

“The cops think Venom is to blame for a handful of homicides that have occurred in the last few days,” Darien ventured.

Roark’s brow creased. “You know about those?”

“I spoke to Detective Finn Solace last night. He tried asking me if I know anything about what’s happening in Yveswich. His personal opinion is that this new virus—theVenenum virus,they’re calling it—isn’t connected to Venom, but to the falling of the Veil.” He studied Roark’s expression, searching for any tells.

Finally, Roark said, “He’s not way off.”

Darien stood up straighter. “You know what’s causing it?”

“It’s the Tricking.”

His face smoothed with shock. “The Tricking?”

“It’s mutating,” Roark began. “The disease started mutating the minute the Veil was blown open in Yveswich. Remember when we spoke on the phone, when I told you that I’d run into a few complications that’d led to a change in orders?”

Darien nodded.

“The Tricking patients at Yveswich General Hospital—those with Stage Three—randomly started attacking staff, visitors, other patients. It’s similar to what happened with the first Well replica—when the missing women were later discovered to be the new breed of monster.”

“Can the virus be healed the same way, then?” Darien asked. “With the same antidote?”

Roark shook his head. “They’ve already tried—it didn’t work.”

He cursed.

Roark continued, “There are ancient wellsprings of magic in every section in Spirit Terra, and it’s the shadow magic in the Void that is activating the spread of the Venenum virus and triggering those who are infected with it to randomly attack—maul, basically, like a wild animal, biting, clawing, you name it—whoever is closest to them at the time. The first victim was Tamika Isley—she was attacked by her mother, who was sick with Stage Three Tricking.”

“Tamika? We know her.” Shit—thatwas the reason she was in the hospital? “She wasn’t bitten, though—she was stabbed.”

Roark nodded. “Right. Because she was the first victim, right at the time the Veil fell, the virus reacted with Charlene differently. It still caused her to act out of violence, but with a weapon instead of teeth.”

Holy shit. “Why aren’t you working with the MPU on this? They have no clue what’s going on—Finn’s desperate for answers. If the virus is that deadly, why isn’t anyone working together?”

“It’s the imperator’s orders.” Of course it was. “He’s trying so hard to cover this up and keep his reputation clean, that he is willing to risk the spread of this virus and the lives of potentially millions of people.” Roark briefly lowered his gaze, his throat bobbing. Darien could feel—sense—his stress levels through his aura. “If it gets out of hand, millionswilldie. The infection is spread through a person’s saliva—if bitten by an infected person, the virus can turn them within hours. In the short time since the first attack, those who are infected have begun to rapidly mutate physically. If it goes on for much longer, they will hardly be recognizable to anyone who knows them.”

Shit. Itwasjust like what happened with the missing women. The Loren lookalikes the imperator had shoved into the first Well replica.

“We have to tell them,” Darien said, heart pounding. “Finn—someone has to tell him so he can work on quarantine.”

“I plan on it. I have a feeling Glen already knows the truth, since he seems to be answering directly to the imperator, so I plan on going straight to Finn. How we stop the virus, however…cureit…that is something we will have to figure out, as quickly as we can. And I believe it all ties back to simply re-sealing the Veil. If we shut the Veil, we stop the virus.”

Made sense.

“And it’s not just hellsehers, then?” Darien pressed. “The cops and the MPU are only targeting hellsehers. Charlene was a witch, no?”

“Correct. Hellsehers simply use their magic more than the rest of the population, so they are more likely to have Stage Three Tricking and come down with the virus. And the eyes—theblack eyes with the lines around them—” He indicated to his own under-eye. “It’s just a physical symptom that only hellsehers get. So their argument about Venom…” He shook his head. “There is no argument. It’s not the Venom at all—it’s the Tricking.”

Darien should feel relieved, but?—

There was nothing about this that relieved him. No—it stressed him the hell out.