by S. L. Eaves
“Need to clear my head if I’m going to be any help. Any blood around here?”
“Of course.” Quinn points behind me. “End of the hall you’ll see a staircase, second floor has a kitchen.”
The kitchen turns out to be the first room on my right when I reach the top of the steps. The fridge is flanked by a tower of coolers. I peer in one and find it full of blood bags, the kind you get from hospitals and blood banks. I find the fridge full as well, mostly jars. Vega must have some serious connections to get this much blood. There can’t be more than a dozen vampires here, likely half that, and unless they are all getting shot up on a regular basis, there is enough blood here to sustain everyone for several months.
I rip into a packet, not caring that it’s cold. The shaking stops, my muscles relax. I try to push the image of Tyler’s face out of my mind…the sound of the bullet slicing through his jaw, the gurgling noise in his throat as he hit the floor, pieces of him…first in my hair, then on my boots…I have to go back inside Trion. I have to make them pay. And yet I can’t stomach the thought of ever going back to that place.
“Lori, I see you’re up and about.”
I turn and see Vega standing a few feet away. Absorbed in blood and flashbacks, I hadn’t heard him enter. A breakfast bar juts out from the kitchen, dividing it from the den-like room on the other side. Vega moves past the counter and waves for me to join him on the set of chocolate suede couches.
I finish off breakfast, wipe the blood from my lips, and take a seat on the couch opposite him.
“This is a nice apartment you’re renting here. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through and you don’t strike me as the type of vampire to go to this much trouble over humans.”
“My interest has less to do with the humans and more to do with what we spoke about before.” Vega looks amused.
“Yeah, about that; I’d like to pick your brain a little more, if you don’t mind. See how I can repay you for saving me, intentionally or not.”
Vega smiles. “Not that I want you to feel in my debt, but I wouldn’t object to us working together. What’s on your mind?”
“Well, Brixton and her crew—they are all human, from what I saw at least. They may be developing these demon-mutants you mentioned, but if they were ready to be tested I’m guessing they would have tested them on us.”
“You sure about that? Did you get a look inside their labs while you were there?”
“No I didn’t. And I don’t doubt your theory; I just lack the intel to back it up.”
I don’t have enough pieces of the puzzle to make sense of what I glimpsed while inside.
“Can you fill in some blanks? You have any specifics on these experiments?” I lean back into the soft suede, arms folded.
“Aside from the vampire-esque demons they are attempting to engineer, you mean?”
“No, that is what I mean. I’m asking, how? Or if you’ve seen any of them in action? Know what we should be on the lookout for?”
“They are developing technology that supersedes our capabilities. They are taking existing forms of artificial intelligence and re-engineering exoskeletons to make humans damn near invincible.”
“Don’t you mean invisible?”
“That black box is one toy in their ever-growing arsenal. From transplanting limbs to second skins—the technology they are developing will make humans stronger and more powerful.”
Vega stands and paces.
“Take us, for example; we can hunt like no other predator out there. Even wolves can’t move like we can. They are strong and have heightened senses, but they aren’t fast and agile like us. Sure they don’t die easy, but they don’t heal quickly either. And they rely on moon phases for strength. We have our limitations, vulnerabilities, but not as many as them. And they need to breathe. So the humans are modeling their technology after our kind. Night vision, regeneration, speed—no matter how far from Pureblood the line extends, you name it, we’ve got it. And at the rate this military company is going, pretty soon they will too.”
“Any proof of this? Not that I don’t believe you, I do, but it doesn’t match my intel. Most of what I’ve been given has to do with weapons. We did find some evidence of AI and nanotechnology but haven’t gotten as far as confirming what they’re using it for. That’s what the botched mission was about.”
“We don’t have much in the way of evidence. Since we’ve started monitoring Trion’s activity, we’ve picked up bits and pieces of intel from hacking into their systems and surveying their facilities in the U.S. Their security is top notch, though, and we haven’t had much luck seeing the full scope of their projects. That’s why I was expecting you to tell a different story about what you saw inside.”
“No vampires and exoskeletons, I’m afraid. I wish I could verify your suspicions. The DIA, as I’m sure you’re well aware, they know some of this, but they are more concerned about weapons technology. They think Brixton is developing stealth technology, bullets with built-in heat sensors, that sort of thing, to supply to terrorist groups. Trion’s main source of funding is from some high-value targets overseas. They want to use her to get to them. At least that’s my understanding. I’m privy to very limited information. Need to know basis.”
“I’m sure it is within their capabilities to produce such things, and those groups may be a source of funding, but human weapons—capable of rapid healing, enhanced senses, reflexes, superior strength—that’s what she’s after.”
“And you want this technology for yourself? Or you just want it destroyed?”
“I don’t really care if vampires have it. Way this world is moving, vampires will need to control it, make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. What alarms me most about Brixton is that she doesn’t just want to use it against humans, she wants to use it against us. She wants to hunt us down.”
“Well, tell her to get in line.”
Even Vega smiles at that, but his smile quickly fades.
“Nicholas wasn’t the first. Remember the two Irishmen? Vamps that saw you stake Franco?”
It occurs to me that those two hadn’t made an appearance yet. I try to hide my reaction.
“Hard to forget,” I manage.
“Well, Brixton got to them. She’s killed several of mine that were residing in the States.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. There’s no love lost between us, but I realize it wasn’t anything personal and had things been the other way around I’d have wanted vengeance for my friend’s death, too…”
I watch as Vega goes to the fridge, opens the freezer eyeing a bottle of clear booze, probably vodka. He reconsiders, opens the fridge, and pours himself a glass of blood.
“Why kill us if the goal is to acquire our abilities or to become one of us? She wasn’t in a hurry to kill me.”
“I think she was trying to capture them, experiment on them, and it didn’t go as planned.”
“That may be…I didn’t see a single vampire inside. But you had a loyal comrade in Nicholas; the others too, it’s safe to assume, otherwise I’d have been facing vampires in there, or at least a turned Brixton. Way she handled asking me, I got the impression she wants vampirism for herself, not for her entire crew.”
“Well, that’s good to know. And yeah, Nicholas was one of the good ones; so were the others, at least in my eyes.”
“You say that like you mean it, like you take that to heart. No offense, but you don’t strike me as the type to give a shit. Yet I can tell you’re hurting from the recent losses. Perhaps the cold demeanor is a front? Maybe the real reason you don’t like war is because you actually care?”
“Of course I care.” Vega sets down the empty glass and meets my eyes with a hard stare that tells me he’s in pain. “These are all my kin, even the vampires I didn’t sire myself; we are all connected. We do what we have to do to survive, sure, but don’t misread my courage to make the tough decisions as apathy.”
“Fair enough.”
Afte
r a moment of silence, I press my point a little too hard. “We could have used some of that courage against Striden.”
“Striden was going to be his own demise; you just helped him get there faster! And how many of your comrades died in the process?” Vega yells as he paces the room.
I sit still, waiting for him to cool. He lets out a long sigh as he collects himself.
“You know the answer to that, Vega. And he may have well been on a wayward path to self-destruction, but there were millions of serums with real destinations.”
Vega returns to the couch.
“Think we got that out of our systems?”
“Yeah, I do.” I lean forward. “So how did you know I was up here anyways?”
“Because Adrian asked me to keep an eye on you, so I have.”
Something vibrates and Vega removes a phone from his pocket, eyes the screen then puts it away.
“That came out creepier than I meant it to. Just meant I’ve been keeping track of your activity. I’ve got a network of vampires, vampires who, like myself, never wanted to be part of a clan. Rogues, I suppose; nomads is more accurate. But we are all connected, if not through the blood, then through more pedestrian means.” Vega holds up his phone. “We have our own network.”
“So these vampires living here, this isn’t your clan?”
“No, this is more of a commune; a temporary location, but permanent philosophy. Vampires helping vampires, taking what they need, giving what they want, coming and going as they please.”
“Marcus does the same thing at the mansion. Vampires are free to come and go, get supplies, a bed to sleep in.”
“But Marcus expects payment; in service or in blood or in whatever else he deems worthy. And he turns away a lot at the gate. Or so I’ve heard. Perhaps you know more than I, having lived there for a few years.”
“I’m beginning to think I know less by the minute. Hell, I heard word you ran a tight ship from one of Florien’s men.”
“Times have changed. After Florien’s betrayal, I started looking at the world differently. Franco’s too, for that matter. Hunger changes people, and I’m not just talking about blood. Marcus and I have vastly different views. I may have changed, but so has he. Which is why your leaving there caught my attention.”
“I told you, I left because of Catch. It was too depressing being at the mansion without him. I tried, I really did; those vampires…they are the only family I have. That hasn’t changed. But when the others left the States, I hung back, needed to go out on my own for a while, find myself.”
“Looks like someone found you.”
I regard him quizzically, wondering if he means himself, but knowing he doesn’t.
“The DIA.”
“Oh right, yeah, that was…interesting. How much do you know about them? Does your network extend into the American government?”
“In a way. I know as much about them as they know about us. That’s probably a fair statement. Anyways, we have an understanding.”
“Then why not come to you? Why go to the trouble to bring me in?”
Vega laughs as if I just told the best joke he’d ever heard. He never laughs. This odd sound emitting from his lips disturbs me more than it should.
“They don’t know about me specifically, I don’t think. Just us as a species is what I meant.”
“Right, yeah, so I’ve come to learn…” I nod.
“They are on my radar; I am not on theirs. I’d like to keep it that way.”
Vega’s phone vibrates again; he makes an annoyed face as he pulls it out.
“Excuse me.”
I sit back and consider getting more blood. He dials a number.
“Rex, will you check out the roof? Two motion sensors were tripped. It’s probably just the hawks again.”
“Brixton?” I ask, somewhat alarmed. Vega shakes his head.
“Doubtful. How would they even begin to know where to look?”
He thinks for a minute.
“Did Rex or Quinn scan you for trackers? Brixton wouldn’t have bothered implanting one, but—”
Just then glass breaks as two windows behind Vega shatter simultaneously and two men in black SWAT gear swing in, two more following behind them. The four snap off rappelling cords and fan out around us. They are armed, not with stakes or crossbows, but with oddly shaped guns. I recognize the electrified dart tips sticking out of them. DIA.
Vega and I stand. If Vega is startled by their sudden presence, he doesn’t show it. In fact, he looks rather bored and maybe mildly perturbed. Quinn and the two others from downstairs burst in through the kitchen door ready for a fight. Vega raises one hand and for a second no one in the room moves. The tension is palpable. One wrong move and there will be more than just glass on the ground.
“DIA. We don’t want any trouble, we just need to speak with Lori Black,” says one of the men, flipping up his night vision goggles.
“You found her.” I step forward. “How did you know I was here?”
The man pulls a portable GPS from his pocket. “Tracker. One went down in the compound, but Abrams had you equipped with two. Second one led us here.”
I don’t remember either being implanted, or removed for that matter, but then I blacked out for a few when they captured me and even longer after the ambush at the compound.
I think about the tracking chip Jiro imbedded when I first came aboard and wonder if it is still active. How many chips are in me by this point?
“There’s a door, you know, you could’ve just knocked. No need for a dramatic entrance.”
“We didn’t know if we’d encounter friendlies or hostiles,” the agent explains. “We suspected this was another Trion base.”
“Well it is not, and you can lower your weapons. These vampires saved me; they are allies.” I look to Vega for confirmation, not knowing how he views the agency on his turf. This could go one of two ways and I’m hoping he opts for the peaceful way. He nods. I continue, “So please stand down.”
The agent scans the room, assesses the situation, and signals for his men to holster their weapons. Smart man.
“We were deployed as soon as we realized your tracker had moved from the target. All the others went dark. We weren’t optimistic. Can we go somewhere private to talk?” The agent’s hand is still on his holstered weapon; I can tell he doesn’t know what to make of the whole situation. We have that in common.
I look to Vega.
“There’s a conference room down the hall; you can use it,” he offers.
I motion for the agent to follow me, and as I pass by Quinn: “Keep everyone calm, okay? No need for a bloodbath. They lost men at the compound, too.”
Quinn nods and Vega heads into the hallway. “It’s this way.”
“Vega will be joining us.” I look from him to the agent.
The agent starts to protest, “I don’t have clearance to share classified intel with anyone else here.”
“He’s an extremely powerful vampire; he can hear what you’re saying from a hundred yards away if he chooses. He might as well be in the room. You don’t know it yet, but you could use his help.”
The agent shrugs. “Fine.”
We enter the room Vega called a conference room. It really appears more like a storage room. There’s a desk with some computer equipment, crates of gear, and a trunk with guns stacked atop it. Frankly, the room more closely resembles an evidence locker at a police station. I fight the urge to make a joke about it. The agent looks as if he’s going to pee himself, in a room with two vampires, one of which looks like Dracula himself.
“So this is supposed to be what? A rescue mission?”
“Extraction, yes,” the agent nods, his voice shaky as Vega closes the door behind us.
Well what do you know, Abrams considers me less disposable than I thought.
“Tell Abrams I’m fine, no thanks to him. One of his men was a double agent working for Trion. He sold us out. We were dead the second we entered the compo
und.”
“Shit.” The agent runs his hands through his hair, sweat sleeking it back. “I’m Agent Sullivan, by the way.”
He extends a hand and I reluctantly shake it. “This is Vega.”
Vega ignores his outstretched hand; the agent seems to be expecting that and continues unflustered, “Abrams wants to bring you in, to be debriefed on everything that went down at the compound. He wants to salvage what he can.”
I shake my head. “Not going to happen, I’m still in the middle of this whole thing. Besides, how do I know you aren’t with Trion, too? Abrams had one mole inside, who’s to say there aren’t more?”
“Because I didn’t come in here with stakes and crosses looking for trouble. If I am with the Trion group and I know where to find you, don’t you think this would be going differently right now?”
“He has a point.” Vega eyes him. “And he’s telling the truth.”
I forgot Purebloods are walking polygraph machines. I make a mental note to include him in all future meetings, especially those involving humans.
“Thanks.” Sullivan looks from Vega to me. “So you guys are what? Going back in?”
“We are working on a plan. I don’t know yet. I’ll be happy to let you all in on it once we have one formulated, but I just got pulled out of a hairy situation not twenty-four hours ago so I’m still trying to get my bearings. Head back to DC or wherever you came from and let Abrams know that the compound is better staffed than we expected and their leader knows about vampires. Not only that, but she’s also working on some seriously lethal android projects. She might be trying to create vampires or hybrids or something freakish. Vega lost one of his clan; that’s why they are up here. They are hunting vampires. Experimenting on them, we suspect. Whatever it is, it’s more than what we thought. Or I was made to understand; maybe this isn’t news to the DIA and if it’s not then we are done, because being left in the dark is not going to work for me.”