The reactions were instantaneous. Cicera pulled Felix away and they struggled to rise and scramble away while Yezia shot to her feet. Constantine's arm tightened around Vica, and Oren, heretofore silent and looking silently at the fire, decided now was the right time to ask a question:
"You're half-elf," he said. "That isn't enough to protect you?"
Bren did absolutely nothing other than send him the same calm smile he had been wearing all night. "No. It seems my human blood condemns me. But none of you have anything to worry about. My elven side seems to make it impossible for me to infect others. It afflicts only me, no one else."
"You can't know that for certain," Yezia objected. She was still backing away. "s**t -"
Shit was right. If Bren was wrong, that meant the whole camp could
