Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Charlie pressed his hand to his chest. He felt like throwing up.
"You okay back there?" Viktor glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
Charlie hunched in the backseat, Brent's gym bag full of hastily packed clothes at his feet. "No," he admitted. "I mean, I'm ok. But I don't think Simon is."
Brent twisted in the passenger seat to look at him. His friend's face still held the dazed expression of someone whose entire worldview had been upended in the span of fifteen minutes.
"So you can, like, sense him? Because you drank his blood?" Brent shook his head.
"The bond formed when he fed me."
"And the rabbit thing?"
"That's... unrelated."
Brent's brow furrowed. "It's gonna take me a while to wrap my head around this."
That was fair. Charlie just didn't know how much time they had.
Viktor took a sharp turn, heading out of the city. "We need somewhere to regroup. Somewhere they won't look for us immediately."
"And then we still need to contact that guy from the library," Charlie said. "The one Simon talked to before everything went sideways. Noah."
Viktor nodded. "Slight problem, though. We don't have his contact information."
"Shit." Charlie slumped back. Another dead end.
But what could they do?
Charlie thought furiously while they passed the next few minutes in silence, the weight of their situation growing heavier. Viktor eventually pulled into a motel parking lot.
"Stay here," he ordered, climbing out of the car. "I'll get us a room."
Once Viktor disappeared into the office, Brent turned fully toward Charlie.
"How long has this been going on?" he asked quietly. "The vampire thing."
"For as long as I've told you."
"All this time…" Brent's shoulders slumped. "I never believed you."
"To be fair, it is pretty unbelievable."
"I should have believed you anyway." Brent stared out the window at the dark parking lot. "I'm your best friend."
The simple statement hit Charlie harder than he expected. "You are," he agreed. "And now you're in danger because of me."
"No, I'm in danger because some creepy organization decided I had good genes or whatever." Brent's jaw set in a determined line. "And unlike you, I'm pissed about it."
Charlie blinked. "You think I'm not angry?"
"Dude, I've known you since college. Your default setting is 'apologize and hope people stop being mad at you.'" Brent turned to face him fully. "Even as a vampire, your first instinct was to hide and try not to bother anyone."
"That's not—" Charlie stopped because, well, Brent wasn't wrong.
"It's okay to be angry, Charlie. These people were going to turn me into some kind of half-vampire science experiment. They took your boyfriend. And I bet they still want to kill you."
Before Charlie could respond, Viktor returned with a room key. They grabbed their meager belongings and followed him to a ground-floor room at the far end of the building.
The room smelled of industrial cleaner and traces of nicotine. It held two double beds, a small table with two chairs, and a television that might have predated Charlie's birth.
"Home sweet home," Viktor said dryly, dropping his bag on the nearest bed. "At least until we figure out our next move."
"Which is what, exactly?" Brent asked, sitting on the edge of the other bed. "Break into vampire hunter headquarters and rescue Charlie's stalker-not-stalker before they completely brainwash him?"
"That's about the size of it," Viktor confirmed.
"With what resources?" Charlie paced the small space. "We don't even know how to break in."
"I know," Viktor said. "I worked for them for sixteen years. I know the layout, the security protocols, everything."
Charlie stopped pacing. "You know how we can get in?"
"Not easily. But maybe." Viktor rubbed his face. "The building has multiple entry points, but they're all heavily guarded. We'd need a distraction, specialized equipment, and a miracle or two."
Charlie resumed his pacing. "There has to be a way. I'm not leaving Simon with them."
A knock at the door made all three of them freeze.
Viktor moved silently to the window, peering through the gap in the curtains. His posture stiffened.
"Who is it? The organization?" Charlie moved toward the window, but Viktor held up a hand to stop him.
Another knock, more insistent this time.
"I know you're in there," called a cheerful voice. "The longer you make me wait, the more attention we'll attract."
Viktor exchanged a glance with Charlie before cautiously approaching the door. He opened it a crack, his body positioned to block entry.
Standing in the doorway, looking absurdly ordinary in khakis and a bowtie with tiny unicorns, was a man Charlie had never seen before.
"May I come in?" The stranger smiled pleasantly. "I believe we have a mutual friend to rescue."
"You're the librarian," Viktor breathed.
The man's smile widened. "Noah, pleased to meet you."
Viktor stepped back, allowing Noah to enter. But the same moment, he demanded, "How did you find us?"
"I have my methods." Noah glanced around the room, his nose wrinkling slightly at the décor. "Not the safest choice of hideout, but it will do for our planning purposes."
Brent gaped at the newcomer. "You're the library guy? How did you know we'd be here?"
"I know many things," Noah said, which wasn't really an answer. "Including the fact that Simon is currently undergoing advanced reconditioning at the Organization's headquarters." He turned to Charlie. "You feel it, don't you?"
Charlie's hand pressed against his chest again. "Yes."
"Reuben is using his blood to overwrite Simon's connection to you." Noah settled into one of the chairs at the small table. "It's quite effective on enhanced humans who haven't fully turned."
"How do you know all this?" Charlie asked.
"As I told Simon, I've been watching the Organization for a long time, waiting for the right moment to act." Noah gestured for them to join him at the table. "That moment, it seems, has arrived."
Reluctantly, they gathered around. Noah pulled a folded paper from inside his jacket and spread it on the table. It was a detailed floor plan of a large building.
"The Organization's headquarters," he explained. "Simon is being held here—" he tapped a section labeled 'Sub-Level 3' "—in what they call the conditioning chamber."
Viktor studied the plans. "I can see three access points, but we can expect heavy security at all of them."
"Except for here." Noah traced a narrow passage with his finger. "There's an emergency access shaft for maintenance. But the entrance is exterior, behind the building. There'll be surveillance there."
"What about these ventilation ducts?" Charlie asked, pointing to the thin lines running through the building.
Noah's eyebrows rose slightly. "Those would be too small for a human, but..." His gaze settled on Charlie with new interest. "For something rabbit-sized, they might be perfect."
Charlie grinned. His odd animal form had some advantages after all.
"One access point is too little," Viktor said. "I'll try to get in through the maintenance shaft."
"You'll be caught," Noah said.
"I won't," Viktor waved him off. "We just need a distraction."
"I can handle that," Brent offered.
All eyes turned to him.
"What?" Brent shrugged. "I don't have super-strength or special infiltration skills. But I can definitely cause a scene."
"It's too dangerous," Charlie protested.
"So is letting these people turn me into their next experiment." Brent's usual easygoing expression had been replaced with determination. "I'm in this whether I want to be or not. Might as well make myself useful."
Charlie wanted to argue, but the resolve in Brent's eyes stopped him. His friend had made his choice.
"Okay," Charlie said. "But you'll need backup, like someone who can make sure you get away after."
"I'll coordinate with him," Noah said.
"Sounds good," Brent agreed. "What about the security systems, though? They probably have cameras, right?"
"I can handle the electronic surveillance," Noah said. "I can get you thirty minutes."
"That's not much time," Charlie worried.
"It's all we'll get." Viktor's expression hardened. "Once we're inside, we move fast. Charlie, your job is to reach Simon first. The bond between you might be enough to break through whatever Reuben has done to him."
Charlie's hand moved to his chest, where the bond had faded to almost nothing. "What if it's too late? What if he doesn't recognize me?"
"We take him anyway," Viktor said grimly. "And figure out how to deprogram him later."
"How do we even know he's still there?" Brent asked. "Couldn't they have moved him?"
"He's there." Noah's certainty was absolute. "Reuben will want to complete the reconditioning personally. It's a point of pride for him." He glanced at Charlie. "And he'll want to use Simon against you. Poetry, in his mind."
Charlie felt a chill run through him. "You think he'll attack me?"
The room fell silent.
"I'll sedate him if that happens," Viktor said finally. "I know the right dosage for someone with his enhancements."
Charlie's throat tightened. "And after? What do we do with a brainwashed vampire hunter?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Noah said after a moment. "The important thing is getting him out first."
Viktor squeezed Charlie's shoulder. "Get some rest. All of you. Tomorrow will be... challenging."