A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness [89]
Miriam shook her head. “No way. The answer’s in the nuclear DNA. When a body is assaulted by vampire blood, it must trigger a reaction that makes it possible for the body to capture and assimilate the changes.”
“Maybe, but if so, we need to look more closely at the junk DNA, too. Everything must be there to generate new chromosomes,” Marcus insisted.
While the three of them argued, I was rolling up my sleeve. When the fabric cleared my elbow and the veins in my arm were exposed to the cool air of the laboratory, they directed their freezing attention at my skin.
“Diana,” Matthew said coldly, touching his Lazarus badge, “what are you doing?”
“Do you still have your gloves handy, Marcus?” I asked, continuing to inch my sleeve up.
Marcus grinned. “Yeah.” He stood and pulled a pair of latex gloves out of a nearby box.
“You don’t have to do this.” Matthew’s voice caught in his throat.
“I know that. I want to.” My veins looked even bluer in the lab’s light.
“Good veins,” Miriam said with a nod of approval, eliciting a warning purr from the tall vampire standing next to me.
“If this is going to be a problem for you, Matthew, wait outside,” I said calmly.
“Before you do this, I want you to think about it,” Matthew said, bending over me protectively as he had when Peter Knox had approached me at the Bodleian. “We have no way of predicting what the tests will reveal. It’s your whole life, and your family’s history, all laid out in black and white. Are you absolutely sure you want that scrutinized?”
“What do you mean, my whole life?” The intensity of his stare made me squirm.
“These tests tell us about a lot more than the color of your eyes and your hair. They’ll indicate what other traits your mother and father passed down to you. Not to mention traits from all your female ancestors.” We exchanged a long look.
“That’s why I want you to take a sample from me,” I said patiently. Confusion passed over his face. “I’ve wondered my whole life what the Bishop blood was doing as it pumped through my veins. Everyone who knew about my family wondered. Now we’ll know.”
It seemed very simple to me. My blood could tell Matthew things I didn’t want to risk discovering haphazardly. I didn’t want to set fire to the furniture, or fly through the trees, or think a bad thought about someone only to have that person fall deathly ill two days later. Matthew might think giving blood was risky. To me it seemed safe as houses, all things considered.
“Besides, you told me witches are dying out. I’m the last Bishop. Maybe my blood will help you figure out why.”
We stared at each other, vampire and witch, while Miriam and Marcus waited patiently. Finally Matthew made a sound of exasperation. “Bring me a specimen kit,” he told Marcus.
“I can do it,” Marcus said defensively, snapping the wrist on his latex gloves. Miriam tried to hold him back, but Marcus kept coming at me with a box of vials and sharps.
“Marcus,” Miriam warned.
Matthew grabbed the equipment from Marcus and stopped the younger vampire with a startling, deadly look. “I’m sorry, Marcus. But if anyone is going to take Diana’s blood, it’s going to be me.”
Holding my wrist in his cold fingers, he bent my arm up and down a few times before extending it fully and resting my hand gently on the stainless surface. There was something undeniably creepy about having a vampire stick a needle into your vein. Matthew tied a piece of rubber tubing above my elbow.
“Make a fist,” he said quietly, pulling on his gloves and preparing the hollow needle and the first vial.
I did as he asked, clenching my hand and watching the veins bulge. Matthew didn’t bother with the usual announcement that I would feel a prick or a sting. He just leaned down without ceremony and slid the sharp metal instrument into my arm.
“Nicely done.” I loosened my fist to get the blood flowing freely.