Cold Front by E. Prybylski

Author:E. Prybylski [Prybylski, E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

I pulled out my notepad and slid it over to him, waiting while he assessed what I’d written. “If this is a street drug, it’s not one of the more common ones, but I can tell you it’s addictive like a narcotic, would cause intense hallucinations, and would even be effective on creatures like vampires. That said, some of this we use to treat CAR-I in fae. So it’s… hm.” He tapped his lips with a finger. “If used by someone of fae ancestry, it could help combat some of the ‘city sickness’ seen in older fae.”

“City sickness” is a catch-all term referring to the way many of the older fae struggle to live in more urban environments. It even affected some elves. The precise definitions of it remain vague, but as I understand it, it’s a constellation of symptoms relating to the more polluted air and water and environment than when they were born. Many of the long-lived species have something similar. CAR-I, on the other hand, stands for “Chronic Autoimmune Response: Iron.” The so-called bane materials all have a correlating version of CAR. In weres, it’s CAR-S (“s” being “silver”) and so on.

While CAR-I is manageable in the modern world, it can still be a death sentence if not cared for well. It’s why the bane materials are heavily regulated when in the form that could be used to cause serious harm. For fae, it’s not all iron that’s the fatal stuff, but specifically “cold iron” or, to be less poetic about it, wrought iron. It’s not common these days and is mostly the purview of historical buildings and reenactment. For weres, it’s pure silver. Sterling silver or alloys don’t trigger the same response. To make a very long and dry explanation short, it has to do with the way the magic they carry innately interacts with the energy properties of the bane substance.

“So what you’re telling me is that this stuff has the potential for therapeutic use?”

“Well, sort of. Think of it more like how you can make medicine out of opium or how they used opium to treat pain. But taking opium can still cause a very potent non-therapeutic effect.” He shook his head. “So, yes and no. If someone has CAR-I or city sickness, this would probably make them feel better for a while, but it definitely doesn’t treat the underlying problems. Anyone else taking it would end up extremely high. Not to mention that anyone taking this would probably become addicted very quickly.” He tapped the paper. “This wasn’t just cooked up in some back alley lab somewhere using cold medicine and drain cleaner. This stuff is precision. Whoever is making it is some kind of seriously skilled chemist.”

That only furthered my concerns about the whole operation, but at least it backed up what I’d guessed at when I’d first seen the data. “So this isn’t some kind of small-time thing.”

Lincoln shook his head. “If it is, the person doing it is using high-end lab equipment somewhere and somehow not getting caught.

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