Keystones: Altered Destinies by Alexander McKinney Page A

embarrassment colored Susan’s words. “Sorry,” she said. “I try keep scenes like this tidier for my visitors, but you caught me mid-job.”
    Deklan blanched and turned his head away from the animal. “That’s okay, but could you put a sheet over him?”
    Susan walked over to the chromatographer and hit “Print,” replying, “Sorry, no sheet, but I have the results. Shall we go to a different room?” Susan grabbed the printout and headed for the door without waiting for a response.
    Deklan followed her out after taking one last look at the dog’s corpse. In another room that was a replica of the previous one, a look of puzzlement washed over the vet’s features. “What did the hospital do to you?” she asked. “Be specific.”
    Deklan’s left hand explored the hollow behind his ear. “Um, well, they didn’t do anything.”
    Susan’s eyes left the printout to stare at him. “Excuse me?”
    “When a nurse came by to examine my leg, I realized that I wasn’t injured anymore.”
    Susan’s eyebrows shot up along with her voice as she replied, “The wound, the swelling, the spreading black flesh?”
    “All gone. So I’d like you to tell me about that venom now.”
    Susan looked at the paper in her hand and then back at Deklan. “The proteins contained in that venom should have progressed through your leg with a cascading effect, beginning with inflammation and ending with the flesh in your leg and body rotting off after necrotizing.” She paused in her description. “Can I see your leg, please?”
    Deklan rolled his pants leg up to mid-thigh. Clean, unblemished, pale skin was all that was left where before there had been a wound.
    Susan’s next words were bitter. “Well, congratulations. You’re a Keystone with a useful ability, and all I got was this.” Susan pointed at the far wall. A beam of light issued from the tip of her finger to the wall.
    “I guess I am,” admitted Deklan, “and I guess you are too.”
    “Yes,” replied Susan, “and how lucky I am. Now I don’t need a flashlight to check a dog’s eyes when I’m examining him.”
    Deklan spread his hands, palms up, and smiled a nervous smile, careful not to look too happy. He wanted to defuse her irritation, not exacerbate it. “How do you feel about tentacles or extra limbs?” he asked.
    “Having wings like your friend’s wouldn’t be too bad.”
    “I only met him today,” he responded.
    “I still wouldn’t mind having wings.”
    “If it makes you feel any better, being bitten and poisoned hurt like hell, and being flown to the hospital by Sebastian wasn’t a picnic either.”
    Susan flicked a beam of light into Deklan’s eye. “For some reason you are nearly immune to poison and injury.”
    Deklan decided to change the conversation’s trajectory. “There were a lot of people in the ER because of freak accidents involving animals.”
    “You said that it was a slow day.”
    “Yeah, but it wasn’t.”
    Susan gave him a flat look before asking, “What kinds of freak accidents?”
    “Oh, you know, the usual venomous bites from non-venomous creatures. Bunny rabbits that burst into flames. Attacks by a rat that was two meters at the shoulder. Nothing too out of the ordinary.”
    “I feel as though your story ends with a question,” said Susan.
    Deklan hesitated, unsure of where to start. “Have your clients been bringing in odd cases?”
    “One or two, yes, but what of it?”
    “Did Paige tell you how Brownie was injured?”
    “She said something about a cat. It didn’t make much sense.”
    “My cat, Mittens, ripped the front door off my apartment and then disemboweled Brownie.”
    Susan’s brow furrowed. “Was your door damaged or flimsy?”
    “Before Mittens’ escapade? No.”
    “Where are you going with this?”
    Deklan hesitated again. Where indeed was he going with this? “I’ve just been in a hospital overflowing with people injured by animals that weren’t all trying to attack them. In a lot of