Alpha Terrell's POV
Merrick sat with my statement for a long moment. Long enough that I could hear the fire in the corridor through the closed door, long enough to hear the distant sound of movement from the direction of Angel's room.
"You're serious," he said.
"When have I said something like this and not been serious?"
"It's…" He leaned forward, elbows on knees, looking at the floor. "Terrell, conversion isn't - it doesn't always work. For humans. The success rate…"
"I know the rate."
"If it doesn't take…"
"I know what happens if it doesn't take." I held his gaze. "I know every risk. I've known them since tonight, since I was carrying her across that garden and counting the seconds between her pulses and thinking…" I stopped. Breathed. "Thinking that this keeps happening. And every time it happens we are one piece of bad luck away from a result that can't be fixed."
Merrick looked at me.
