Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Sully
I wake in my cell, and I’m not alone.
To my horror, Samira is there with Voijin standing at her side. He fears this vampire. So do I. So would anyone with half a brain.
Her presence is a bad omen. It means Voijin is probably going to abandon me and save himself.
And Samira… She’s so old and powerful, I’m not even sure she can be killed.
Unassuming in appearance only, Samira is of average height and average build. Dark straight hair tied half back. Oval face, pretty but not remarkably so. Dark eyes to match her hair, set a little too close together, and staring with an intensity to rival any predator.
It’s the pull of power around her that’s unsettling. The feeling of being in the presence of something ancient and immovable. The aura of strength behind her ordinary frame. Gives me the creeps. Makes my throat tight.
I sit up, and my head spins. Blood loss. Damn Kalinov. “What’s going on?”
It feels late in the day, though I’m not sure how I know that. Some internal clock reminding me there’s a world up there with a sun and a moon and a man that I love and need to get back to soon, creepy old vampires notwithstanding.
“My apologies,” says Voijin. “I couldn’t stop Oliver without tipping our hand, and we need to wait until dusk.”
I flick my gaze from him to her and back. “The cameras?”
“Are on a loop, as you instructed. I would have done it myself, but there’s a man here called Malachi who did it for me.”
“What? We can’t trust Malachi. He’s one of them.”
“Apparently, we can. His orders came straight from Dr. Martin.”
“Ru?”
“The very same.”
Ru is helping. Ru told Malachi and Malachi is helping. I’m not sure what to think.
But there’s more I need to know. “And the water main?”
“Shut off. I saw to it myself. They’re already scrambling for a fix.”
“And her?” I narrow my gaze. “What’s she doing here?”
A flutter of laughter indicates Samira’s amusement. “I’m here because I’ve been remiss in my responsibilities. I intend to redeem that, young one.”
Gross. I think I hate “young one” even more than I hate “Specimen 19.” Whatever. As long as she doesn’t get in my way. “If you’re part of II Tech, you have a long way to go to redeem yourself.”
“You’ll find, my dear, the problem hasn’t been my involvement—but the lack thereof.” She doesn’t blink as she talks.
It becomes difficult to focus on her. I’m not sure if it’s something she’s doing, or the blood loss. Either way, I need to shake it off.
I glance at Voijin instead. “Can you get me in to speak with Haywood?”
He nods. “That’s one reason I’m here.”
Why does that sound suspicious to my ears? “And the other?”
“You need my blood. To replace what was taken from you.”
My skin prickles and my stomach drops at the idea. I recoil. “I’ll be fine.”
“I disagree.”
“I’m afraid I do as well,” Samira chimes in. “You’re far too fragile as you are now. I must insist.”
“Lady, I don’t even know you.”
“Not now, no.” Her smile, if you can call what her lips are doing a smile, freaks me out. “But you will.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Her brows knit. She doesn’t answer.
Meanwhile Voijin bites his own wrist and blood wells to the surface.
The scent is overpowering. Not like human blood. Something more.
My mouth waters. Every instinct in my body demands I take what’s offered. But I don’t want to.
He extends his wrist. “Drink.”
I hold myself back. Barely. “What does it mean if I do?”
“Nothing more than I want to help you. Same as before.”
My suspicions have suspicions, but the bloodlust inside me isn’t going to give me a choice. I’m leaning in without meaning to. Opening my mouth. Grabbing his wrist.
Swallow after swallow slides down my throat, burning like alcohol, lighting my veins, and restoring my wits in the span of a heartbeat. I don’t know how long it goes on. I overwhelm easily, and vampire blood is like bagged blood on steroids. Bagged blood 2.0. Bagged blood concentrate.
I come back to myself as he reclaims his arm and licks the wounds closed. When we catch eyes, there’s something different about him now. Something familiar. Hard to explain. Maybe warmth where once there was only a chill.
No time to dwell. I’ll think on that later. “Take me to Hayworth.”
“He’s a feisty one,” says Samira unhelpfully. “You deserve as much.” Her little chuckle irritates the hell out of me.
But we’re finally leaving, so I keep my mouth shut and go.
No one bothers us as we head through the familiar halls. Not with Voijin in the lead and Samira’s spooky power vibes clogging the air. Nothing amiss. Nothing to see here.
It’s weird walking these halls gain. If anything, the place looks even smaller now that I’ve spent so much time on the outside.
The real world is big.
II Tech is small.
Best to keep that front of mind if I want to keep my newly won confidence in tact.
We round the last corner to Hayworth’s cell. My heart speeds up.
I’m thrilled to see that Hayworth looks the same as always. Bigger than me. Tall and broad. His dirty blond hair is practically in dreads, but not in an intentional sort of way. In a can’t-be-bothered-to-brush-my-hair sort of way. His face pinches when he sees me.
Voijin lets me into his cell, which is untidy and smells of old blood.
Hayworth takes a long look at me, arches a brow, and opens his arms. “Hey, little brother.”
We embrace. I let myself relax a fraction. It’s really nice to be close to him again. I missed him. “Hey, big brother.”
“I’m not exactly happy to see you again,” he murmurs against my hair.
“You’re never happy,” I murmur back. “What’s the difference?”
He looks over my shoulder. “They’re staring.”
“They’re creepy like that. Especially her.”
“What do you both mean when you say ‘brother’?” asks Voijin.
“None of your business,” I say, at the same time Hayworth snaps, “What does brother usually mean, dickwad?”
Then he holds me at arm’s length and looks me over. “You okay?”
“Fine. You?”
“Same as always.” He gives me a little shake. “I told you not to come back for me.”
“And I told you that was stupid. Listen, you ready to get out of here? Cause I’m gonna need your help, and also there’s someone I need you to be very careful not to kill. Remember Dr. Martin?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. The one you were always swooning over.”
“Shut up, I do not swoon.”
“Whatever. Yeah, I remember him. Got it. Don’t kill him.”
“Right. Or Malachi. I think he’s helping.”
“You haven’t changed at all, have you? You’re still no fun. So who can I kill?”
“Kalinov. And feel free to make it slow.”
Hayworth smirks. “Now you’re talking. Where is the bastard?”
Good question. I look to Voijin.
“Oliver Kalinov is in his office frantically handling some sort of emergency. Apparently,” he draws out the word while drilling me with his stare, “someone called in a bomb threat.”
I grin. “Now, who might’ve done that?”
We split up.
Voijin goes to release the others and give them instructions on where to meet after.
Hayworth goes to take care of Kalinov.
Samira… I don’t know what the hell she’s doing—and that’s a fucking issue—but as long as she doesn’t stand in my way, I don’t care. Whatever her deal is, that’s a problem for another night.
I head straight for the labs. Not the main lab—the worst of the experiments were never conducted there—but a smaller lab, another story down. The underbelly of the beast. The lab where I was turned.
The lab where Kalinov cut Ru’s sweater.
It reeks of old blood and fear down here. Like sweat, and cleaner, and medical grade solvent. Like fucking ethanol.
I don’t take my time. I don’t relish it. I just get it done.
One ethanol bottle after another, smashed and splattered all over this wretched room, until the smell is suffocating. Enough to drown every bad memory.
I grab an armful of the ugly brown bottles to take with me. It’s all gotta go. This lab, the others, the offices and computers, the cameras, our jail cells. All of it.
In the end, it was always going to be simple.
In my back pocket, a pack of matches I stole from the grocery store for the occasion. I strike the match and flick it to the pooling liquid on the floor.
It ignites in a magnificent whoosh of sound and heat. The flash nearly blinds me. Bigger, brighter, and hotter than I’d ever imagined.
I flee upstairs, breaking bottles as I go.