by CJ Flynn
I made it through the didactic part of the class just fine. Clinicals, not so much. I had refocused then, shifted towards studying genetics. That was how I'd met Harding-he was an excellent doctor and researcher and I was lucky to be on a consulting team for a study he was starting.
I winced as my mind wandered to Harding. It was still difficult to believe he was gone, that he wasn't here to help me with whatever I was trying to do.
I took a deep, shuddering breath and checked the leather pouch again. I only had enough tubes to collect from one of the vampires in the back of that truck.
I pushed that last question away—no time to over think anything right now. I sighed. There was a chance I'd be able to buy more time for Ben, but there was nothing to be done about Imala's sentence. I would need her blood to fully investigate what was happening with Ben.
I tapped the controls on her box. It was still dark, and even though I knew that she'd been dosed with something to keep her unconscious, I didn't trust it. I flicked the last button, knowing that I wouldn't have much time if she was conscious. If I saw so much as a flick of a finger, I'd slam the lid and... run.
It was the only way.
I jammed the last button and prepared to spring back, but nothing happened. The lid opened, and she lay there, looking sound asleep. I inched closer and jammed the little needle into the vein in the crook of her elbow. Blood seeped up, and I attached the first tube, which looked just like any other discard tube I'd ever seen. It filled and I worked my way through the next two. They were color-coded in a way I didn't recognize, and contained a wet additive that looked almost green.
I disconnected the last tube, removed the needle, and slammed the lid shut. Done.
I let out a breath I'd been holding and stared down at the tubes in my hand. The blood had come so fast-I hadn't even needed to tie her arm off. She was strong, had eaten recently. Just as she had felt when I'd first met her in Budapest.
I blinked back tears. The Change process was familiar to me now, after doing some research on the plane. Multiple blood exchanges, over a certain period of days. And then, a final sleep buried in the ground.
Imala had not had enough time to complete the change, and she hadn't been alone with Benjamin since we'd captured them in Hungary. I had no idea how many blood exchanges could be left, but Benjamin seemed so far gone already.
I pocketed the leather pouch and ducked away from the cars, knowing this would be my best chance to enter that lab.
* * *
My key code wasn't working.
I typed it three times and knew the system wouldn't let me try it over and over. I tried one last time and the keypad gave me three red flashes before going dark. I was locked out.
After a few minutes, I heard boots coming down the stairs.
“Allie, what are you doing?”
It was Daniel.
“What are you doing?” I replied, turning to look at him for the first time. “Sunrise isn't too far away. Shouldn't you be asleep?”
He shrugged. “I am underground here. For now, that is good enough. Buys me a little time.”
“I need access to this lab,” I said, not really feeling the need to continue the conversation.
He shook his head. “I cannot do that, Allie.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. “Please. I know I've asked so much of you in the past weeks, but I need to get in there. I need to access Harding's notes.”
“You should report upstairs. Camilla wishes you to be present as Imala meets the sun. We can talk once I awaken—”
“There's no time!” I cried. “I need to get in there now. I don't need to see what happens with Imala.”
He closed the distance between us and grasped my chin in his hands. His body lacked any real warmth, but his eyes were flashing. “You are maddening to me. So impulsive. Take a moment to think things through and stop trying to buy yourself tiny increments. You need help, Allie, if you're going to pull this off. And I'm not in the best position to help you.”
“Then who is?”
He stepped away, his fingers lingering on my cheek. “You already know the answer, and you already have my opinion on this. Make the phone call.”
* * *
I knew better than to ignore orders right then. I couldn't risk missing a chance to speak with Camilla Pierce alone, either. There was also a release of tension around the time the vamps went to sleep. Those of us among them who could still stand the sunshine tended to need the reprieve.
Camilla was alone at the edge of the courtyard, staring at a kneeling figure on the flagstones. Imala's head was bent down, and she didn't even look up as the first rays of sunlight began to creep over the horizon.
Camilla reached out a hand as I moved next to her. I grasped it for the briefest moment, and she pressed something in my palm. I dropped my hand to my side for several moments, and then reached in my pocket for my gloves.
“Thank you for joining me, Allie. I realize you probably have a great deal of work to do.”
I stared at her for a long moment, trying to push the burning questions from my mind. I didn't know what Camilla was up to, and I wasn't sure I could trust her.
The icy January air was swirling through the courtyard, making the snow dance across the stones in the pink light of dawn.
I could feel the pulse of energy as the light filtered into the courtyard and finally Imala turned her smiling face to the sky.
“I remember this,” she said, her voice quiet and light. “I can see it all now, that beautiful blue water stretching out so far, farther than I could possibly imagine. I had never seen such water until they took me to that harbor, and I had never seen so many people in one place before.”
She sighed as the sun lit her fully and for just a moment, she glowed with its warmth, just before her skin lit with flames. I saw her aura flicker around her, jumping with the flames and glowing with a blinding energy.
There were no tortured screams. No pleas for help.
Just Imala, and the sun, and finally... the dust.
Chapter 24
The sunshine and a long sleep had a way of clearing my mind. When I awoke, for once in my own bed, in the little cottage in the woods, I knew it was time to call Ernie Haden. I couldn't put my finger on why I'd been so hesitant. Daniel had been right before we'd left Paris, and he'd been right down by the lab. But I just wasn't sure how far to really trust Haden. He had been a friend of my father's, but he'd never really reached out to me, or given me any usable information about my father. The list of people I could trust completely had rapidly dwindled to... no one.
I dialed the only number I had for him, and after a few rings, he answered.
“Allie?”
“I'm sorry to bother you, Ernie, but I'm afraid I need your help again.” I knew better than to waste my own time with small talk. I needed to rip the Band-Aid off, get my request out there, and hope for the best.
“What can I do for you?”
“Ben—the man that was in your bar— we found him.”
There was a pause on the line. “I see. That's a good thing isn't it? You don't sound particularly happy.”
“He was kidnapped by a vampire, Imala. And he's been partially changed. I need to find a way to save him, and I think I need your help.”
“I'm not sure how much help I can really offer you, Allie. This is vampire business.”
“Imala used two different witches to hide her whereabouts from me. They used dark magic.”
Another long pause. “I'll make some phone calls, and see if I can't gather some additional information for you.”
“Thank you, but I'm not sure that's enough.”
“What else do you want from me?”
“I need protection. From the vampires. I don't exactly have approval to do this work.”
“I see.”
Ernie was silent so long I checked to make sure the line hadn't gone dead. Finally, I heard him clear his throat. “Very well. Expect me before sunrise
tomorrow. And please try to have some semblance of a plan together if at all possible.”
The line disconnected and I repeated his last words in my head just to make sure I'd heard him right. I had my promise. My cavalry would arrive before sunrise.
The only other item on my agenda was solving the mystery of Camilla Pierce. She had given me vials to collect Imala's blood, and she had pressed that creased square of white paper into my hand.
I looked down at it again. It was four distinct triangles, arranged around an open circle. They were facing up or down, and the left and top triangles both had horizontal lines cutting them in half. The bottom triangle was black. There were also two dots at the top.
It meant nothing to me.
I opened my laptop and launched a secured browser window that would prevent any of my internet use from being tracked. I looked at the paper again and tapped out a search query. Several images popped up and I scrolled through them, before selecting one that looked vaguely reminiscent. A page loaded with lengthy descriptions about the four primary elements and their influences.
I sighed. Could it really be that? Christian Michaels' words weren't so far away from me. He had explained the belief that the Druids had created all their little...variations...from the four elements.
But even if it Camilla's note really was referencing the elemental symbols, what exactly did that have to do with my current situation?
I locked my laptop session and closed the lid. I tucked it, the paper, the leather blood sample kit, and a few other necessities in my bag. The leather pouch was still cold to the touch, but I knew I needed to get it to my lab sooner rather than later.
I would try the keypad again, and try to come up with another plan of action. Camilla seemed to have some sort of desire to help; maybe she had given me access while I'd been sleeping.
But if she'd done anything to restore access, she hadn't made it easy. The left light flashed red as soon as I typed my normal entry code. I stared at the black panel next to the solid, gray door. It was pretty typical to my eyes: blue LCD with the date and time, two small lights above the silver number keys. One flashed red if your code failed, both flashed green if you had successfully keyed the entry.
I wracked my brain, trying to think of what code Camilla Pierce would set for me if she had set one at all.
I tapped in the four digits representing Ben's birth date. Red flash.
Only one attempt left before it locked me out. I stared at the keypad, hoping some sort of magical hint would appear before my eyes.
The lights.
I thought back to the square paper she'd given me. There had been two dots at the top of the page, above the triangles. I looked again at the keypad. The four triangles on the paper had been arranged at cardinal points, but oriented in different directions. I sighed and decided it was my only option. I tapped the four digits that corresponded to the triangles: 8,6,2,4.
Both lights flashed green, and the LCD flickered: ADMIN ENTRY AUTHORIZED.
I stared down at the words that I had never seen before and grinned. I knew what they meant at least: no cameras, no recording of sounds, or even of my entrance into the lab. It was practically a magical key to every area of the building.
I pushed the door open and slid into the lab. It was dim, and smelled faintly of the cleaning solution used by the maintenance workers. It had likely been several weeks since anyone had entered, judging by the thin layer of dust coating the covered machines at Harding's primary workstation. I ignored my own space, angry with myself for not paying close enough attention to the work Harding had been doing. He'd told me he wanted to find a cure... he'd called vampirism a disease.
But I had been working so hard at creating the master database of vampires we both needed, I hadn't looked closely at much else. Now, as I pulled back the white covers, I was ashamed at myself. He had everything needed to perform substantial blood work. I placed the pouch in the fridge, dropped the rest of my belongings at my own workstation, and went to Harding's computer. I sat in his chair and pressed the power button. The computer whirred to life and I waited for the login. I had known Harding's password before his death, but the system wouldn't accept it.
Camilla clearly wanted me to do something with Imala's blood, but I had my own agenda. I needed to get into Harding's account; I needed to lay my eyes on his real notes, and whatever Erika Weiss had been looking at.
* * *
I left the lab after processing Imala's samples. It would take time to get my results, and daylight was approaching quickly. Ernie Haden would be arriving soon, and hopefully with plenty of backup. I needed access to the servers, and I wasn't sure how to get it.
I thought of Sloane, the private investigator, and her partner Olivia. Olivia was more than capable of getting into Harding's files, but I didn't think I could bring them any further into this. Sloane had been very clear about keeping a big distance between herself and the vampires, and I still hadn't heard from her on the other two angles she was working for me.
I sighed and checked my watch. I had planned to meet Ernie at a little diner a good distance from the mansion, but it wouldn't take long to get there. The mansion was nearly completely quiet—all but half a dozen vampires were in France—but it wasn't safe to have Ernie on Sorrell's property.
I parked my car in a spot far from the door and ducked inside the diner, a place I had grown to enjoy. The food was average, but the coffee was strong. It made me feel normal in a way nothing else did.
To my surprise, Ernie was already parked in a corner booth, surrounded by three witches: Christian Michaels, Eba, and a woman I didn't know.
I grabbed a chair from an adjacent table and slid into it.
“Thanks for coming,” I said, not bothering to grab a menu. Coffee, fruit cup, bagel with cream cheese. Standard order. I probably wouldn't even have to recite it.
Ernie gave me a slow smile. “You asked for help. I promised you my assistance whenever you needed it. You know Eba and Christian, of course, and this is another friend of mine. Her name is Sarah.”
Eba barely made eye contact as she nodded a hello, and Christian Michaels looked the same as when I’d last seen him: well-dressed and sour-faced. Sarah was the only one who didn’t look annoyed to be here. She was young, with curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes that flickered with raw energy. I hoped this mess wouldn’t stifle that.
“Thank you all for coming.” I tried to smile, but was a little flustered with having a new face around. “So, do you have anything in mind?” I asked.
“What exactly do you need?”
“I was able to get access to my lab, but none of the computer files. Do you know anyone—”
“How did you get access to the lab?” Christian asked.
I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I should reveal Camilla Pierce's involvement, but then, I couldn't think of a reason not to. Ernie had only ever helped me, even at risk of great personal cost.
“Sorrell's proctor, a woman named Camilla Pierce. She gave me an admin code.”
Ernie's eyes narrowed and I noticed a subtle rise in tension. “Did she give you anything else? Why is she helping?”
I frowned. “I haven't figured that part out yet. I'm not in a place to really question it at the moment.”
Christian snorted. “I'm not sure I disagree. This situation is an unmitigated disaster. Human is kidnapped by a recently dismissed power player vampire, who enlists the help of a rogue witch to hide her energy signature from a paranormal human who can see auras across the ocean.”
Our conversation halted as the waitress stopped by to drop off plates of food. My food was exactly right.
After the waitress left and people had settled into their breakfast, Ernie cleared his throat. “I've been thinking through the timeline,” he said, setting his fork down and stroking his chin lightly. “Seems like the children of the Earth just can’t help but go to war every three or four centuries. Big battles that spill over into the world that doesn't know a
bout us. The earthborn can never remain civil for more than a handful of decades before it breaks out into minor hostilities. They somehow always manage to keep war at bay for a long time, but it comes eventually. It always comes eventually.”
“The earthborn?” I asked. “I've never heard that word before.”
Ernie shrugged. “It's what you are, all of you. The Druids created all of their cherished little pets using the elemental magics, and the lot of you, vampires, witches, and humans... you're born of the earth.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
He smiled. “You're far more alike than you are different. I can tell you that.”