Page 91 of Caged

“Sure is.” Dax smiles, way too pleased with himself.

Or the blood.

Or… maybe the fact that Caelan stole it.

Hard to tell.

Gav scrubs a tired hand down his face and groans. “You put it in the fridge? Right next to the fucking hot sauce?”

“I didn’t want to risk cross-contamination with samples in the lab’s unit,” Dax replies, like that’s the most logical explanation in the world.

I snort in disbelief. “And you couldn’t slap a Not For Consumption label on it?”

“There’s a biohazard sticker,” he snaps back.

Gav turns to Caelan. “Tell me again how you found the blood. Don’t leave anything out.”

Caelan shrugs. He’s barely been paying attention, staring out the window toward the forest, eyes unfocused and distant.

“I found it hidden in Captain Creep’s study,” he says. “There were ten, so I stole one.”

That sounds about right. No apologies. He saw something he wanted, and he took it.

“We don’t know whose it is. Not even what species it came from. It’s currently being tested to scan for… stuff.”

Dax gives him a pretty solid side-eye, but I’m with Caelan. I have no fucking clue what kind of shit Dax would test for. The most any of us know about blood is that it shows up in bags and vials, and we drink it. The more we drink, the better we feel, the faster we are, and the quicker we heal.

Blood from humans doesn’t do it for us. I mean, we can survive on it, but it tastes… hollow, like drinking blood-flavored air. And the effects don’t last longer than a day.

So, we drink blood from other vampires and the random wolven nice enough to donate.

Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of getting too deep into the science part of it. I don’t care if that makes Dax’s heart rate increase.

I mean, it’s not like humans study the biology of every cow they eat, or know the enzyme count of each carrot they throw in their salad.

Do carrots have enzymes?

Actually, now that I think about it, I’m not really sure what exactly an enzyme even is…

“Not ‘stuff,’” Dax huffs, sounding offended. “Blood Type, RH Factor. The normal tests. I’m also screening for enhancers or suppressants, and a full drug panel. The targeted run is for genetic markers and proteins to determine Species, as well as sequencing, unmapped genes, or hybrid markers—alleles that shouldn’t be there.”

He hesitates, chewing on his lower lip. “Mainly because the decay resistance tests were concerning.”

“Decay resistance?” Silas asks, eyeing the blood like it might vanish before his eyes.

Dax nods. “Yeah. Red blood cells break down outside the body immediately. That’s why our shipments only last a week once they’re open. The only preservatives that might show up would be those added to keep blood safe for vampire consumption.”

I roll my hand in a get on with it gesture. “Okay, and?”

“I threw this under a microscope the night Caelan brought it in. It looked like it had just come out of the vein.”

There’s a gleam of awe in Dax’s eyes when he looks at the blood. “I checked it again yesterday, and no change. Checked it again today.”

He holds it under the light again, and I realize that now, I can see a faint shimmer.

“Blood is red. It darkens over time as it ages,” he explains. “The longer it’s out of the body, the closer it skews toward a deep maroon. This blood?”

He tilts gently, giving us a better view.