Page 35 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

Abril joined Lucian at the edge of the hole and Crispin followed, stepping up on her other side as they watched Cassius, Decker,

and Bricker all now begin to work with smaller tools on their find.

“It looks like it is just another skeleton,” Decker said with confusion, his movements slowing.

“Well, dig it out,” Lucian growled impatiently. “We cannot leave that skeleton here any more than we could the ones outside.

Besides, I suspect it is not like the other skeletons at all.”

“What makes you think that?” Bricker asked as he continued to drag dirt away from the skeleton with his hands.

“Because if it were like the others, the rogue would not have risked coming in here to dig this one up,” Crispin said solemnly, and then turned to Abril and took her arm. “I really think we should go wait in the kitchen and let them deal with this. We can set the table and prepare for dinner.”

“The table is already set,” she pointed out. “I am fine here.”

Crispin opened his mouth on what she knew would be another attempt to lure her away from the garden, but just then there was

a curse from Bricker.

“Goddamn, Lucian. You were right.” His tone was grim.

Curious, Abril tugged her arm free of Crispin’s grip and knelt to get a better look. It was only the skull that was revealed

so far, and nothing she hadn’t already seen from the garden outside. She had no idea why Crispin had been so eager to keep

her from seeing it.

“ Is it the same as the others though?” Lucian asked softly next to her.

Abril glanced up at the man standing on her right, and then turned back to again examine the skull that had been revealed.

This time she looked more closely and noticed that something was off about it around the jaw area. What—? Her eyes widened

as she noted that this human skull had canines like a dog. Long, pointy canines or... fangs?

“Shit,” Cassius breathed. All three of the men in the hole had paused and sat back on their haunches as if to distance themselves

from their find.

Abril’s gaze snapped from the fangs to Cassius, then to Lucian, and finally Crispin. They all looked grim and tight-lipped.

“Those aren’t fangs, are they? I mean, they’re joke fangs or something. Right?”

When silence met her question, Abril was sure the answer was no, though the very possibility seemed ridiculous to her. They had to be fake. Didn’t they? But why would anyone bury a skeleton and put fake fangs in their mouth?

“I believe it is time you had that talk with Abril, Nephew,” Lucian said firmly.

She turned to Crispin in question to see that he was avoiding meeting her gaze.

“What do you have to tell me?” Abril asked finally.

When Crispin hesitated, Lucian snapped, “No more delays, Nephew! Now! Or I shall do it myself.”

Mouth tightening, Crispin took her hand and led her into the kitchen. Abril expected him to stop there, but instead, he continued

on through the kitchen, up the hall, and into her office. There he closed the door and urged her to sit on the couch. He then

dropped to his haunches in front of her and took her hands in his. “What I have to tell you is—Well, it might be scary,” he

admitted apologetically. “Which is why I have hesitated to tell you this before now. But also because I was not sure how to

do it. I do not want to distress you.”

“You’re distressing me right now with this buildup to it,” she told him with a small frown. “Just tell me.”

“Right,” he muttered, and then glanced down at their entwined hands and paused for another uncomfortable moment or two, before

finally saying, “First off, I do not want you to be scared. We would never hurt you. And I hope you believe that.”

“Okay,” Abril said, beginning to get a little weirded out.

“In fact, I could never hurt you. I care about you a great deal. You are very important to me,” he said.

Abril’s eyebrows rose slightly. She wasn’t used to men speaking so freely about their emotions, but aside from that, they had only known each other a very short while.

As attracted as they were to each other, it was still a bit early for her to be “very important” to him.

But she let that go for now and simply waited for him to continue. .. and waited... and waited.

Just as she was about to suggest that perhaps they could discuss whatever he was having trouble saying to her later, he opened

his mouth and blurted, “I come from a family of scientists.”

She blinked at that announcement. It was so anticlimactic. Abril had expected some earth-shaking revelation, not that he had

science geeks in his family. She also didn’t see what this had to do with the skeleton in the garden, and the fangs that may

or may not be fake. Deciding he would hopefully get to that later, she cleared her throat, and then said, “Your parents are

both scientists?”

“No. Actually, my parents are... well, both of them have had many different careers, but presently my father is a lawyer

and my mother”—he hesitated—“I guess you would call her an entrepreneur.” Shrugging, he continued, “When I say I come from

a family of scientists, I mean, other family members. Like my cousins, grandparents... and some ancestors.”

“Okay,” Abril said, and then again waited. She didn’t have to wait as long this time.

“Well, they—some scientists, not necessarily my ancestors—were looking into different ways to cure diseases like cancer and

such. Ways that would avoid needing dangerous and invasive surgeries.”

When he paused as if waiting for her to respond, she said the only thing she could think to say at that point. “Oh.”

Apparently, it was enough because he continued, “And they actually came up with a brilliant idea. It was nanos. Bioengineered nanos that would cure illnesses, even injuries.” He paused briefly and then said, “The nanos were bioengineered.”

“You mentioned that already,” she pointed out gently.

“Right,” he said uncomfortably. “So, these nanos use blood to do their work and to propel themselves. Do not ask me how,”

he added quickly. “I do not know the specifics. But somehow the nanos, once injected into the host would go to any site in

the body where there is an injury or illness and heal it.”

When she just stared at him silently, absorbing his words, he rushed on, “You see the scientists programmed the nanos with

a map of both a male and female body at their peak condition. Which is basically twenty-five to thirty years old,” he informed

her. “They then programmed the nanos to return their host to that condition. Unfortunately,” he added with a grimace, “the

scientists who came up with that assumed that they could be injected into the human body, and they would—Well, I mean, imagine

somebody got shot,” he tried. “The nanos were supposed to go to the site of the injury, recognize that the bullet did not

belong, force it out of the body, and repair the wound without ever having to have somebody cut them open to dig out the bullet,

or sew anything up. It is all taken care of by the nanos.”

He paused briefly, looking pleased with himself for the explanation, but Abril was staring at him with confusion. She still

had no idea what this had to do with the fangs in the jaw of the skeleton in the indoor garden.

Pushing that concern aside for now, she clarified, “So, these nanos would go and repair wounds, and—what? Surround and kill cancer cells, illness, and anything that didn’t belong?”

“Yes. Basically,” he said with obvious relief and then sat back.

Abril simply stared at him, waiting. Not sure that the conversation was over yet. Finally, she raised her eyebrows and asked,

“Is that all you wanted to tell me? I mean it is a lot,” she assured him. “It sounds like a brilliant invention. If they ever get it working properly, or get it approved

by Canada Health, or the FDA or whatever, then that would be amazing. A real boon to mankind. You should be very proud of

your family.”

Crispin began to frown at her words and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could there was a thump on the office door

that made them both jump. It was followed by Lucian Argeneau’s voice through the door, barking, “Dear God, Nephew! You are

worse at communication than your father. Do you need me to come in there and explain things to her? Or are you going to finish

this properly?”

“I can do it!” Crispin snapped. “Just get away from the door and stop eavesdropping.”

They waited in silence, but when no other sound followed, Crispin apparently decided Lucian had left and turned back to her

with a very long and weary sounding sigh. Offering a weak smile then, he said, “I apologize. What I just told you was only

part of the story.”

“Have they done human trials with these nanos yet?” Abril asked.

“Much more than just trials,” Crispin admitted. “A dozen or so patients were treated with them when they were first developed.”

Abril’s eyebrows flew up at that. Not because she didn’t believe him, but because she couldn’t believe that it hadn’t made

the news that these nanos existed and were being used. Finally, she said, “I guess they didn’t work.”

Crispin gave a start, obviously surprised by the comment. “What would make you think that?”

She shrugged and then said reasonably, “Well, I haven’t heard anything in the news about bioengineered or miracle nanos, so

I assume they did not work well.”

“Actually, they worked very well,” he assured her, and then hesitated and reluctantly admitted, “Not exactly as they expected

though.”

“How so?” Abril asked with interest.

“Well, they intended for the nanos to do their chore, cure whatever illness or injury their host had, and be done. They were

programmed to self-destruct once they finished restoring their host to peak condition. Then they would be flushed out of the

body just as any other waste leaves.”

“But that didn’t happen,” she suggested, and when he looked surprised, she pointed out, “You did just say it didn’t work as