Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Sully
Fuck. Maybe this was a terrible idea.
My chest is tight, a fist closing around my lungs. My heart stutters then sprints. The air is too thin. Too dead. I gasp, but it’s not enough—I’m still out of breath. My hands tingle, going numb.
The lab, once familiar, now tilts and blurs at the edges.
My fear has no shape, it’s enormous and immediate and I’m trapped within its grasp, helpless.
Is this what a panic attack feels like?
Because I think I might be having a panic attack.
And I definitely don’t have time to freak out right now. I’ve got shit to do.
I’m strapped to an examination table, flat on my back staring up at the ceiling. The way-too-bright fluorescents burn my eyes. Oliver Kalinov looms over me. A satisfied smirk spreads on his lips. My only comfort is Voijin lurking in the background, and that isn’t much comfort at all.
I have to believe he won’t let things go too far.
Kalinov doesn’t know Voijin’s switched sides.
So I don’t exactly feel safe, but I am safe.
At least I keep telling myself that. Voijin won’t betray me.
I’m his family now that he’s admitted as much to me.
And you don’t betray family. Right? I know I wouldn’t, but Voijin doesn’t have the best track record so far.
He’s probably on my side.
Kalinov circles closer. “You, Specimen 19, have caused us a great deal of trouble since your… unauthorized departure.” He waves a pair of trauma shears as he speaks.
My eyes catch on the glinting metal. Blunt tipped, so they won’t cut me. Meant for slicing neatly through my clothes.
Ru’s clothes.
I like Ru’s clothes, and the thought of him ruining them pisses me off. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Kalinov’s dark chuckle contains a level of glee that sickens me. “I can do anything I want with you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
A flood of anger washes over my fear. I grind my teeth. I want to bite him, tear through the flesh of his neck until blood coats the white walls I loathe with every fiber of my being.
He brings the scissors to my wrist and begins to cut through my sweater.
I snarl.
He laughs.
I spit.
He backhands me with the scissors.
Pain flares in my cheekbone. Fuck, that hurts.
“Do you want a muzzle?” he asks, far too calmly. “We’ve never had to muzzle you, but I assure you, it won’t be a problem. Hayworth’s will fit you just fine.”
A new sense of revulsion repels me. I turn my face away. Catch eyes with Voijin. He looks so impassive, as if none of this is affecting him.
Maybe it isn’t. Maybe he’s just a better actor than me.
Hopefully he’s acting.
The shears are cold against my skin as they slice through the thick knit wool of my sweater. Ru’s sweater. I’m going to make Kalinov wish he never did that.
The sting of a needle sliding into my vein focuses my thoughts. Are they putting something in, or taking something out? I crane my neck to check my arm. The tube turns red. So, out. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse.
I turn my head and sneak a glance at a row of neat brown glass bottles. Ethanol.
“No muzzle then? Excellent,” says Kalinov. “Because I have questions.”
I drop my head back against the metal. My cheek throbs from where he hit me. “I have questions too.”
He snorts. “Oh, really. Pray tell, Specimen 19, why would I answer any of your questions after what you put me through?”
What I put him through? The nerve. “Why not? You have me back now. It’s not like it matters what I know and don’t know.”
He stares, cold gray eyes on mine. I meet his gaze, unflinching. He’s not going to get the better of me. I refuse to be afraid of him anymore. I shove the panic aside and wait.
“Me first,” he says. “Answer me, and maybe I’ll answer you. You had help from the inside. Who was it?”
“I didn’t.”
“Don’t lie.” He dangles the scissors over me, threatening. “You won’t like what happens if you lie.”
“I’m not lying. You just can’t bear to believe I got out on my own. That’s the issue. I didn’t need any help. You just want someone to blame that isn’t yourself.”
Mouthing off probably isn’t wise. But fuck wise, I’m angry. And… maybe a little dizzy. How much blood is he taking?
“Where’d you get the tablet?”
“Stole it. Ages ago. Not my fault your goons can’t keep track of their things.
” It’s the truth, and he knows it. And it burns.
I relish the irritated expression on his face, knowing I’m the cause.
“My turn. Fucking why? What’s the point?
Why breed vampires if all you’re going to do is keep us locked up forever, bored out of our minds? What goal could that possibly serve?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Voijin steps forward and breaks his silence. “We’re trying to solve the problem of procreation.”
Kalinov scowls, but doesn’t interfere.
I blink. “Procreation.”
“Yes. Vampires can only turn pre-existing humans into other vampires. We cannot create life on our own. And until we can, we’re dependent on their species for our survival.”
“Aren’t you dependent on them anyway?” I ask. “As a food source.”
“Yes.” He inclines his head, and his gaze narrows. “But you aren’t.”
Oh right. I mostly eat food, just like humans. I require very little blood to thrive. “So, we’re what? Supposed to be the future of the species or something?”
“Yes. Our sons and daughters, born and bred to be superior in every way to those who’ve come before you.”
“Then why are we jailed?”
“Because we’re not ready. The specimens aren’t ready. There aren’t enough of you. And it should come as no surprise that not all vampires are on board with creating a subspecies that can and will outmatch them. They’d prefer to stay on the top of the food chain, flaws and all.”
That… is a lot to take in. And my brain feels funny. I jerk the arm with the needle in it. “Too much.”
“That’s not for you to decide,” says Kalinov.
If looks could kill, I’m aiming one at Voijin now.
Step in. Stop this. Stop him.
Voijin… does nothing.
Ru
We park next to the broadside of an idling semi-truck. There were loads to choose from, and we settled in a spot with a decent view for me and Zoe, but out of range of II Tech’s security cameras. Time ticks by at a snail’s pace.
I crack my knuckles. “Sitting here is killing me. I want to do something now.”
“I know, but we have to wait.”
“He’s in there. What if they’re doing something horrible to him?”
Zoe slings back her seat as far as it will go, tucks her feet up, and turns to me. “Sully went in there prepared for the worst. We have to trust he knows what he’s doing.”
“He didn’t know you can’t put shoes in a dishwasher, Zo.”
“Um, what?”
“Never mind, that’s not the issue. I know he wouldn’t have gone in unprepared, I just wish he’d have included me. I could have helped.”
“He tried to.”
“Stop being right.”
“You know, you can be mad at him. It would be normal for you to feel that way.”
I shake my head. “He deserves—”
“Snap out of it, Dr. Rupert P. Martin. No one is perfect, including your new blood-drinking arm candy. You’re constantly kicking yourself for being a part of II Tech in the first place, but it’s hardly your fault.
Trying to live a life your parents would be proud of is admirable.
You didn’t know what you were getting into.
Sully doesn’t blame you for being part of it, so stop blaming yourself. ”
Oof. Easier said than done.
I let that sink in, or at least I try to, but my guilt flares like an ember ready to start the fire anew. It’s not easy to let go.
“Thanks for saying that. I hear you, and I appreciate it, but I think I’m always going to feel bad for the part I played in keeping him captive.”
“Whether you do or don’t, it’s still important to stick up for yourself. You can’t be a doormat for the rest of your life because you think you wronged him. He literally sexed you into a stupor then deliberately took enough blood to make sure you’d have to sleep. Who does that?”
“Um, vampires, I guess?”
“I’m just saying, don’t let him get away with that shit. He’s not off the hook. Once we save him, either you’re going to hold him accountable, or I will.”
Despite myself, despite our current situation, despite the diesel fumes we’re currently huffing (or maybe because of them), I laugh.
Laughter pushes through the fear, through the worry, and through the guilt. “You are seriously the best friend in the entire world. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but thanks for always being there for me.”
She smiles. “It works both ways, boo. I haven’t forgotten the old days. Everything you did for me. Let’s just say we deserve each other and call it even, yeah?”
A silly urge has me grabbing her hand and planting a kiss on her knuckles. “Yeah.”
“Three hours until sundown. What do you say we start hittin’ up those news stations?”
“Let’s fucking go.”