Up ahead, she saw the tension in Josh’s shoulders. Was he wondering about Marjorane? Did he think she might be lying in the cafeteria? A dry lump formed in Sami’s throat. She felt all the unshed tears lodge inside of her, threatening to burst free. All the deaths over the years, her mother, Raj, Michael, even Nickles. Her feet shuffled against the tile. One boot caught and she stumbled. In front of her, Marc turned back to look at her.
No falling apart, Sami, she thought. Not allowed. Not with that boy looking at her, not with Josh wounded and losing blood. She had to stay strong, stay focused. She was a professional, act like it.
She swallowed hard, forcing the lump down, knowing it would rise again and then she’d have to deal with it. But not now. Not now.
The light above the emergency elevator shone out in the darkness. After studying the panel, Josh turned back to her.
“Minimal power,” he said. “Just enough for one trip.”
Sami nodded, the light on her forehead bobbing up and down. “How many can fit in there?”
“Let’s open it and take a look.”
Wedging the door open, Sami shone her head light into the elevator. Smaller than she’d hoped. Before Josh could say anything, she started ushering the kids inside. Five of them with enough room for her or Josh. She grabbed Josh’s right arm and gave him a shove.
“In you go.”
“Hey!”
“See if you can rig this thing to skip all the floors going down and head for the garage,” Sami said. “I’ll take the last two and we’ll go by the stairs.”
She backed out of the doorway and the doors began to slide closed.
“Sami, dammit,” Josh said.
“Double drinks say I beat you down there,” she said. “You’ll owe me!”
“Bitch…” The doors cut off the rest of his words.
Sami turned to find Katey and Marc waiting for her. They nodded to her. She noticed them holding hands. She blinked back tears.
“Let’s find the stairs,” she said.
* * * *
Something very close to alarm fluttered over Elliott’s face before the mask of civility clamped down.
“That’s ridiculous,” Elliott said. “Our numbers are too few to waste on such a thing. We’ve come to broker a peace.”
“You’ve come to buy yourself time while you create your perfect vampire race,” Peter said. “But this first batch isn’t going quite the way you’d hoped. They still have too much of their own will, too much of their previous allegiance to being human. That’s why you’re attacking the lab. To eradicate your mistake.”
Elliott laughed, spreading his arms to include the entire room. A few of the councilors snickered but most stayed silent.
Not quite so convincing this time, Rick thought.
“You’ve given me quite the devious motive,” Elliott said.
Peter smiled. “You are a vampire.”
“And so are you, technically. If you hadn’t snuck past the sensors your infection would have been picked up.” Elliott shrugged. “Who knows what mutation my sister has developed in her obsessive quest for a cure.”
Lucy glared at him but said nothing. Her fists whitened even more.
But Peter was nodding as if they were having a pleasant conversation. “You still haven’t explained why your people are attacking the Cerkasin lab.”
“They aren’t and you have no proof that they are.”
Peter turned his head toward Trina. The girl stepped forward. Her fingers still pinched the fabric of her pants.
“People from the squads Light’s Fury and Black Shadows arrived at the lab this afternoon. Just before dusk, the lab was attacked by vampires. All members of both squads have been killed. Eleven of us were killed.”
Her voice carried through the silent room. It had a harsh, mechanical quality as if she was reciting a poem rather then talking about death.
Rick noticed that Elliott looked visibly tense. His body stood rigid as if he wasn’t breathing. The vampires behind him were also frozen, taking their cues from Elliott.
“What is this?” Bennett spread his hands out. “This girl can’t possibly know what’s going on miles from here.”
“She’s infected,” Peter said. “She has a psychic link with the other infected children back at the lab. You know perfectly well that’s how vampires communicate over distances. That’s why you’ve used spotters like me to trace them.”
“She’s just a child,” Bennett said.
“Show them, Trina.”
The girl opened her mouth, baring her teeth. For a moment Rick didn’t notice anything strange, her teeth began to shift. Sharp incisors descended from her gums. Other pointier teeth sprouted on her bottom jaw. Within second, the fangs had replaced all normal teeth.
Shouts rose from the councilors. They began moving back in a wave, some climbing over the seats behind them in a rush to get away. Even Bennett backed up away from the girl.
“That’s enough, Trina,” Peter said.
The girl closed her mouth and bowed her head. She retreated from the attention, only stopping when she bumped into the Sister who scooped her arm around the girl.
A few councilors noticed. The exodus slowed. Murmurs sounded.
“She’s infected.” Peter’s voice rang out clear. “But she’s not a full vampire. Elliott created this mutation because he wants her to be able to breed, he wants vampires to be able to breed, not by just infecting us, but by giving birth.”
“Ridiculous!” Elliott yelled but his voice was drowned by the rising wave of voices from the chambers.
Peter bowed his head and closed his eyes.
Bennett slide back away from Elliott, moving toward the side of the council floor. As he got closer to the door, Rick saw a sudden movement. A man darted forward. He collided with Bennett. Bennett fell and the man fell over top of him. No, the man fell on him.
Bennett screamed.
Mitchell! Rick lifted his gun and fired. The bullets ripped into Mitchell’s back, tearing hunks of fabric and flesh. Blood sprayed across the floor. Mitchell lifted his head, mouth covered in blood. He snarled and sprang at Rick.
* * * *
Josh sagged against the side of the elevator. The towel on his forearm felt as heavy as cement, dragging at the muscles of his shoulder. He felt like his arm was going to fall off, toppling him to the ground. His eyelids drooped. No, stay awake. He had to stay awake.
Around him, the children huddled together. They whimpered with every jostle of the elevator as it inched downward. He checked the bypass; it was still set to take them all the way down but it sacrificed speed. At each floor, he felt the elevator slow as if wanting to stop before speeding up again. Come on, he thought. Another two floors, just another two and they would be at the garage level.
The elevator shuddered. Josh braced himself against the wall. Was it slowing down even more? He shone his head light up to the display. They still had another floor to go. It couldn’t stop now.
Metal screeched. The elevator bucked. The children whimpered as they grabbed for handholds along the wall. Josh bent over the panel he had busted open. His bypass should still be working. Why wasn’t the elevator still moving?
From above, he heard something, scratching on the roof.
“Quiet,” he whispered to the kids. As one, they shut up. There it was again. Scratching.
Fuck, shit, Josh thought. Adrenaline rushed pumped through him. Now he was definitely awake. He wrenched at the wires of the panel, unlocking the door. As the scratching grew louder, Josh pried his fingers between the doors and pulled.
He felt the wound on his arm open wider. Blood dripped down his leg to the floor. The doors groaned. An inch, then another. Small hands appeared, helping him pull at the doors. Through the crack, he could see the floor halfway down. A narrow space. Too narrow for him, but good enough for the kids. He pulled harder. The door began to slide open.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said. “You first.” He pointed to a
small girl with golden hair. She dropped to her knees and scurried through the opening. Josh grabbed her arm and lowered her as she stretched her legs toward the floor. A few inches, then he left her go. She hit the floor and tumbled back, landing on her rump. A smile lit up her face.
“Everybody, hurry up!” Josh said. From above, he heard the scratching stop. Then metal groaned. Someone was peeling the roof of the elevator like an onion.
“Hurry up!”
By twos, the children dropped to their knees and crawled out through the hole. The elevator jerked once. A boy hanging loose whimpered. Josh hurried to the panel to stabilize the elevator.
Finally one boy was left. He had long blond hair, falling over his eyes. It reminded Josh so much of Peter. His chest tightened and that made his head feel even more light-headed. He took a stumbling step to the boy and grabbed his shoulder to steady himself.
“Get going,” he said. His voice felt gritty and worn. Fatigue dragged at him. He swayed on his feet.
“He knows,” the boy said. “He’s sorry he can’t be here. He can’t help.”
Josh blinked sweat out of his eyes. That’s what it was, sweat. “Go,” he said. “Get the fuck out of here. Get to the garage and barricade yourselves inside. Wait for Sami.”
The boy nodded once then dropped to the floor and shimmied out of the hole.
Metal groaned above Josh. He heard a snarl, loud. He looked up, saw a space opening. Fingers poked through.
Josh sagged against the wall. His left arm hung useless at his side. He couldn’t feel the forearm anymore. Blood dripped steadily onto the floor. A puddle grew at his feet. It looked deep red and vast in the light of his head light.
They’re coming through. The thought felt fuzzy and distant. He knew he should care but it seemed like too much effort. His right hand reached for the panel. A few wires stuck out. Twisted together, they would activate emergency shut down and send the elevator careening to the bottom. How far was that? He couldn’t remember. Just twist the wires. All he had to do was twist the wires.
His fingers closed on them. Twist, he thought, but his fingers didn’t move. All strength seemed gone. Above him, metal shrieked and he heard a roar of triumph. Someone above him. Who was that? He couldn’t remember. Twist the wires, he thought. Why? He couldn’t remember but it was important. He’d promised. Who?
Peter. That’s who.
He remembered that much.
Something landed close by. He heard a snarl in his ear, smelled fetid breath on his face. His fingers tightened and twisted. The elevator shuddered. The snarl drowned out the elevator’s groan. Pain pierced Josh’s shoulder, his neck. He felt the warm gush of blood flood over chest. He twisted and felt himself falling, falling to the accompaniment of the screaming of metal and voice until he reached darkness and felt no more.
* * * *
Sami went first. She hated to use the head light; too much chance of someone on another level in the stairwell seeing it but she couldn’t go down blind. A quick glance back showed her Katey and Marc following. Katey caught her glance and nodded. Good, no talking. She’d told them both they’d need to be quiet. They had no way of knowing if the vampires on the floor below would be able to hear them through the door.
She placed each foot down as quiet as possible. Every inch of her screamed to run but she knew speed would create noise. That would draw the vampires for sure.
The children followed her lead and they crept down the stairs in agonizing slowness. With each step Sami wondered if some creak would give them away, some kicked pebble, some slip and grab for the railing, making it vibrate.
And Josh with the others, had he made it to the garage? Or was he now fighting for his life? The thought worried at her. He wasn’t strong enough to fight. He’d already lost too much blood from the forearm wound. If he hadn’t been augmented, he’d be dead already. But he had to take the others. He wouldn’t have made it on the stairs.
Sacrifice, she’d given too much already. When was enough? When they were all dead?
A small hand touched her shoulder. Sami jumped. Her foot smacked on the step. The echo seemed to hover in the air. She clamped her mouth shut and turned her head. Katey pointed downward.
Sami turned the head light off and listened. There, the scrapping of a door opening from below them. Dammit. Sami lifted the stake.
“Stay back,” she whispered over her shoulder. She took a step down.
Small hands grabbed her shoulder and waist. Both children held her back.
“No,” Marc said.
“We can do it,” Katey said.
“What?” Sami twisted out of their hands. The two children moved down the stairs passed her. She felt them move with a smoothness and sure-footedness she couldn’t match.
She heard them stop several steps down. Then a growling started. It came from farther below. She heard the scrap of feet hurrying upward. Adrenaline kicked in. Her heart began to pound. Her hand clenched the stake. She flipped on the head light, preparing to rush forward.
Katey and Marc stood with their backs to her, blocking the stairwell. From below four vampires rushed upward, snarling. Mouths open, Sami saw the blood coating their tongue, smeared on their chins and clothes. God, were they smiling as they came? Were they anticipating an easy kill of these children?
Sami hurried down but two steps from Marc and Katey she felt something stop her. A brush of wind froze her feet to the step. She couldn’t lift her legs. She grabbed the railing and tried to pull herself forward but she couldn’t move.
“Just wait.” Marc’s soft voice floated back to her.
The vampires rounded the final landing and launched themselves at the children. Three steps away, they stopped. As one, their heads jerked up. Mouths opened in screams, of fear this time, not anticipation. They cowered down, raising their arms in defense against… nothing. Sami couldn’t see anything but the vampires kept screaming and soon the screams changed to gurgles until they faded to silence.
After a few moments, she found she could move her feet again. She stepped down to stand behind Katey. The girl reached back and grabbed Sami’s hand.
“We can go down now. Just be careful near them. It will be a little slippery.” The girl shrugged her apology and led Sami down the stairs.
* * * *
Screaming filled Rick’s ears, blending into a buzzing that annoyed him. He watched as Mitchell rose from Bennett’s body, twisting toward Rick. First the leg foot, then the right foot. Every movement slowed in Rick’s mind. He anticipated the headlong rush Mitchell would make, too much force for too short a distance. At the last moment, Rick sidestepped, letting Mitchell rage past. As he went, Rick aimed the gun and fired consecutive rounds into the general’s neck. Blood sprayed as tendon and muscle peeled apart. Still not enough for decapitation, Rick thought.
Shaking his head like a bull, the general turned back at him, ready to charge again. This time the Sister opened fire. Her aim was just as good as Rick’s. Blood misted out of Mitchell’s neck. The man managed one step forward, then another before crashing to his knees. His head lolled on half a neck. He remained upright for a moment then fell onto his face.
When Rick looked up, the councilors were gone. All the doors were sealed shut. It left himself, the Sister, Peter, Lucy and Trina facing three vampires. Not enough ammunition and no stakes, Rick thought. Fuck.
Peter tilted his head at Elliott.
“Here’s what I’m going to give you,” he said. “You have one day to get out of here. One day to communicate with all the others. No more deaths. No more turning. You find other blood and we’ll leave you alone. Even one more attack, just one, and I’ll come for all of you. And it won’t be just me. Not anymore. You know it.” Peter smiled.
Elliott reared back. Fear filled his face.
Trina stepped forward and took Peter’s hand. She smiled and Rick swore it was the exact same one as Peter’s.
Elliott ran.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
&n
bsp; The hot dry air of the desert felt good on Peter’s skin although he had to admit he still preferred the evening. One of the side effects from the cure, his intolerance for the sun continued to grow. Probably by this time next year, he wouldn’t be able to stand in the sunlight for more than a few minutes so he wanted to take advantage while he still could.
In the distance, he saw a cloud of dust rising on the horizon. Now it didn’t seem to move any closer but he knew that was an optical illusion. The van heading this way would leap into view all of a sudden but it was still too far away for that yet.
Footsteps pounded on the dirt behind him. A boy reached him, grabbed his arm.
“Is it them?” Marc said.
“Should be,” Peter said. “They’ll be here within the hour. Tell the others.”
“Already did.” The boy smiled. The sharp incisors glinted in the sun.
“Sami will be surprised to see how tall you’ve grown.” Peter ruffled the boy’s hair.
With a laugh, the boy danced away and took off running for the entrance to the lab. Already Peter could feel the others coming up, like bright sparkles in his mind. Last he felt Lucy climbing the ladder. He had offered to build her a lift or some type of pulley system but she refused. She’d been climbing up and down that ladder for most of her life and she wasn’t going to let any pregnancy stop her.
He heard her puffing as she reached the top but he knew better than to offer to help her up. She stood at the top, brushing dust from her tunic. The children mulled around her, helping to straighten her clothes. Trina reached up and tucked the edge of her turban in around her head.
“Okay, stop fussing,” Lucy said.
Peter suppressed a grin. He knew she didn’t mind the attention at all.
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