Chapter 480: Turning the Tables

Chapter 480: Turning the Tables

Their objectives aligned in that single moment.

Anouk pulled out her phone and dialed a number she'd never called of her own volition. The line barely rang once before connecting. Prince Miguel's voice carried a certain dark amusement, as if he'd been expecting this call all along.

"Ms. Montgomery? Funny, I was just wondering if you'd reach out."

"Charles can be saved. Dr. Diaz has developed the antibody. But I can't get to it. I need your people."

A beat of silence on the other end, then Miguel's low chuckle—like a serpent's hiss. "And what do I get in return?"

"Keep Charles alive."

"Fascinating. Does Charles know you love him this much?"

Anouk didn't answer.

"Location," Miguel said simply.

 

Night draped the landscape like spilled ink. Fiona leaned against a thick tree trunk, the night-vision scope casting green phosphorescent blips across her screen.

She'd been tailing Anouk for three days straight.

Static crackled through her encrypted earpiece, then resolved into a conversation—coded, but already broken.

"...Charles can be saved. Dr. Diaz has developed the antibody. But I can't get to it. I need your people."

Anouk's voice.

Fiona's pupils contracted. She immediately boosted the receiver's sensitivity. Seconds later, another voice emerged—male, measured, carrying the casual authority of someone accustomed to control:

"Fascinating. Does Charles know you love him this much?"

Prince Miguel.

Fiona's fingers flew across her communicator, transcribing the exchange in real-time and encrypting the transmission. Once finished, she melted soundlessly into the forest depths and dialed Emily's private line.

 

Hell's Angels Manor

Emily stood at the window, her phone screen displaying Fiona's encrypted file. She opened it. Anouk and Miguel's conversation unfolded word by word before her eyes.

Moonlight filtered through the glass, falling across her face. Her eyes—usually soft with warmth—had gone cold as tempered steel.

The study door eased open.

Sebastian had just returned from Marcus's lab. One look at Emily's expression told him something was wrong. "What happened?"

"Anouk contacted Miguel. They're planning to steal the antibody. They'll move tonight."

Sebastian took the phone, quickly scanning the transcript. His face showed little surprise. He lowered himself slowly onto the sofa and after a moment's silence spoke: "Actually, I was going to discuss something with you anyway."

Emily turned to face him.

"The antibody is real. It can completely eliminate the virus in Charles's system. But we can't administer it yet. The virus has entered what we call 'neural latency.' If we inject the antibody now, it won't cross the blood-brain barrier into the central nervous system. It can't identify or eliminate viral genes that have already integrated."

Emily's brow furrowed slightly. "Similar to herpes simplex?"

"Exactly. Charles's current fever and unconsciousness stem from systemic inflammatory response triggered by immune system collapse. Injecting the antibody at this stage would have minimal effect—worse, it could provoke an excessive immune reaction and accelerate deterioration."

"How long do we wait?"

"Until something triggers reactivation. When the virus releases from neural cells back into blood and bodily fluids—that's the treatment window. It's dangerous, because once the virus erupts, his condition will deteriorate rapidly. But it's the only way to achieve complete eradication."

The study fell into brief silence.

Emily walked to the coffee table, her fingers lightly tracing the cryo-container.

"So we need to create the illusion of a critical outbreak. Make Miguel and Anouk believe the antibody worked. Let Charles 'recover' so they drop their guard. Then, when the real eruption comes, we administer the genuine antibody."

Sebastian nodded. "That's precisely what I was going to suggest. I can add trace sedatives to his nutritional IV—simulate dropping temperature and returning consciousness. A temporary facade. This 'improvement' will last twelve to twenty-four hours maximum. After that, the virus will reactivate due to immune suppression."

"When can the decoy antibody be ready?"

"I can prepare it now. But we need bait—something for Anouk and Miguel's people to steal. What they take must be the fake. The real antibody must remain absolutely secure."

Emily crossed to the desk, opened a drawer, and withdrew a metal cryo-container identical to Sebastian's.

She slid the empty case across the surface. "Use this. Keep the real antibody on your person at all times. Put the decoy in this container and leave it somewhere obvious in the lab."

Sebastian accepted the case, a glint of approval in his eyes. "You're quite good at this."

"Well, I learned from the best."

Sebastian said nothing, only patted her shoulder before turning toward the makeshift laboratory setup in the study corner. He extracted several vials from his medical kit, his movements practiced as he mixed, diluted, and portioned.

Twenty minutes later, a pale blue liquid trembled faintly inside a glass ampule.

Sebastian loaded the ampule into the metal cryo-container and secured the lock. "Nutritional saline with 0.1 milligrams of midazolam. Enough to keep him 'conscious' for a few hours. This container has a temperature display and GPS chip. Once stolen, it'll transmit a single location ping—leading them exactly where we want."

Emily nodded. "Fiona will coordinate with you. Once Miguel's people make their move, she'll track them end-to-end without breaking cover. We need them to believe they got the real thing."

"And then? Once Charles 'improves,' Miguel will rush to arrange a media announcement. If Charles isn't genuinely recovering at that point, Miguel will grow suspicious. So will Anouk."

"Which is why we control the timeline. After the decoy injection, Charles will have a twelve-to-twenty-four-hour 'improvement window.' During that period, Miguel will expedite the press conference as fast as possible. Meaning we need to precisely predict when the virus will erupt in Charles's system—and induce it to happen exactly when we need it to."

Sebastian considered this carefully. "Viral reactivation is typically triggered by stress, immune suppression, or specific hormonal changes. I could use low-dose immunosuppressants to artificially create an 'eruption window.' But it's extremely dangerous..."