Innocence and Evil (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #6)

by Malone Wright, Jennifer

  I waited for an answer. It was half a minute before a scratchy noise sounded and then Drew’s voice, “Copy that Dark Angel, we’re on our way.”

  With that out of the way, I shifted the vehicle into gear and pulled out onto the road. It was sort of a long drive anyway, but it was made even longer with having two men who probably wanted to kill us, sitting so close. It seriously stressed me out while I tried to concentrate on driving, but oddly enough, the drive went smoothly and we were at the gates to the compound before I knew it.

  Luke saw us on the cameras and opened the door so we could drag the two guys through with us. Then, he came running into the entryway with a concerned expression written across his wrinkled face. “What is this?”

  I pointed at our bound and blindfolded prisoners. “We found these jerk offs loading a truck with cartons of blood bags … a lot of blood bags. I’d say enough for more than one vampire.”

  Luke looked confused. “Why did you bring them here?”

  I shoved Lawrence down into a chair by the door. “They didn’t give me any answers. Both are refusing to talk, so I’m going to make them.”

  Christina shot me a worried look.

  “How are you going to do that?” Luke wanted to know.

  “I’m going to do whatever it takes.”

  “You’ll have to kill me before I tell you anything!” Lawrence growled.

  I widened my eyes. “See, he’s defiant. Besides, we couldn’t just let them go. They would run back and tell their little vampire boss what we’re up to.”

  Luke rolled his eyes upward. “Good lord. You all are giving me high blood pressure.”

  Christina shifted, keeping hold on Alec, who was unexpectedly quiet. “The others are on their way. They should be here soon. But, where should we put these guys?”

  Our planning for this was spur of the moment and I hadn’t considered where we would hold them. “Panic room?” I suggested.

  She shook her head. “No, there are controls on the inside.”

  Luke rolled his eyes. “Both of you need to watch what you say, what if they get loose and go back with information. We don’t want them knowing everything about this place.”

  Crap, he was right. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  “Basement.” He pointed in the general direction. “There is a room with no windows and a metal door. That should work.” He didn’t look happy about the situation at all … neither did Christina for that matter.

  With a shake of his head Luke went back to the control room. I nodded to Christina and then pulled Lawrence up. “Let’s go.” We dragged them toward the garage which was where the entrance to the basement was located. Once we were safely down the steep staircase, we found the room Luke had mentioned.

  I heaved open the heavy metal door and shoved my prisoner inside. Christina followed, pushing Alec inside ahead of her. Then, she slammed the door shut behind us.

  “The Escalade just pulled in,” Luke’s voice sounded over the intercom.

  I gave the room a quick sweep, making sure there was no other way out and then nodded to Christina. “Go on up and get them.” I sat Lawrence down against the wall furthest from the door. She did the same with Alec, who had begun to whimper, and then turned to me. “You know this isn’t going to go over well with the group.”

  You think?

  “I know, but I don’t care. We need to know what they know.”

  She turned and pushed out of the room without another word.

  After she was gone, I bent down over Alec and traced the barrel of my gun across his cheek. He trembled, but tried to hide his fear. “You want to tell me who the blood is for before things get a lot worse?” I had realized before we even put them in the truck that if we were going to get anything out of either of these guys it was going to be him, for sure.

  Still shaking, the guy said nothing. He only shook his head in response.

  “Okay.” I gently ran the cool metal across his lips. “Have it your way.”

  Then, the door behind me was pulled open and the entire group pushed into the small space. Drew and Chloe were at the front of the pack. I rose to meet them. Drew looked like he was ready to tear me a new one. “What the hell, man! You know you can’t bring people here.”

  I waved him off. “It’s fine. We blindfolded them.”

  Drew pressed his thumb and forefinger to his nose. “Seriously, dude. You’re going to give me high blood pressure.”

  I crinkled my brow. “Funny, that’s the same thing Luke said.”

  “Well, it’s true. You’re like the rebellious child in the family.”

  “Awww, you called me family.”

  Drew rolled his eyes. “Don’t get too excited just yet.”

  Sarah pushed through the crowd and wedged herself in between us. “Calm down children,” She drawled in her thick southern accent. “I know there is a lot to discuss, but we should probably do it in the hall.”

  She was right, we shouldn’t say so much around the Dragons. So, we all worked our way out of the room, but remained standing just outside the door.

  “Now,” Chloe set her hands on her hips, “Tell us everything.”

  Christina and I had both described the incident, taking turns telling the story. When we were finished, there was a long pause while the group let it sink in.

  “Okay,” Drew finally mumbled, with a slight shake of his head. “I agree that we need to know where and who they were taking the blood to.”

  Chloe turned on him. “We can’t torture them though.”

  I put a hand on her shoulder. “We have to find out somehow if they won’t talk to us.”

  She pulled away from me. “Have you all forgotten the Pentagon! We can’t be like those people.”

  Her feelings were justified. She had been kidnapped, imprisoned and tortured when they ran tests on her. The monsters at the pentagon had almost drained all of the blood from her. I didn’t want to bring back that awful time for her, but we needed this information.

  “Chloe, if we can find out where the Dragons and the vampires are, it will save lots of innocent people. You think these two haven’t killed?” I glanced at the door. “I can feel their evil, they are not innocent.”

  Her eyes met mine. “Do you know what they have done? For sure?”

  I shook my head. “No, but I know what I feel. The Warrior Angel told me to trust my gifts and that is what I’m doing here.”

  She closed her eyes. “I don’t like it.”

  “You think I do?” The harsh question came out softly. “We have to make sacrifices for the greater good.”

  Drew sighed. “All right, but we remain as humane as possible.”

  I turned to face him. “Duh, what do you think I am?”

  “Sometimes I’m not sure.”

  I quickly stopped a retort that was on the tip of my tongue. He was right, I had to give him that much. I was better today, but I was still unsure of myself … of my gift. The past few months I had been someone who was unpredictable and I couldn’t be angry with him for telling it to me straight. “Don’t worry,” was all I managed to mumble in response.

  Daniels cleared his throat. “Not to intrude on your plans for torture, but why don’t you use the siren instead?”

  Drew, Chloe and I all moved so that our eyes rested on the soldier. “Not that I’m against a good beating or whatever, but why do that when this dude can just ask them.”

  I had forgotten, that was my only excuse. I was pretty sure, gauging from the expressions of sham that Chloe and Drew had forgotten as well.

  “Yeah,” I turned away, “Let’s do that.”

  Oscar stepped forward. “I’m in, whatever you need.

  Our resident siren was always excited when he could help the group. He was a decent fighter, but not like the Hunters who were trained from birth. So, whenever the chance came for him to use his gift, he jumped right on it.

  We went over the questions I wanted him to ask. When I was sure he had it right, we pulled o
pen the door and entered. Chloe and Drew accompanied us, but everyone else went back upstairs. Alice was charged with talking to Luke about what we were going to do with these guys when we were done with them. Keeping them in the basement wasn’t really an option.

  The two were exactly as we had left them. They sat with their backs against the hard, stone wall, knees up to their chests.

  “All right.” I knelt down beside Alec. “My friend here is going to ask you some questions.” I removed his blindfold and backed away to give Oscar room to hunker down next to him.

  Alec blinked several times, trying to adjust his eyes to the light. Then, he realized Oscar was right in front of him, so he looked away, staring at the wall instead of his interrogator.

  “So, your name is Alec?” Oscar began.

  The man didn’t answer, he only continued to stare at the wall.

  “I need you to look at me, Alec.”

  When the guy still didn’t move, Oscar reached over and gently touched his jaw, turning his face so that their eyes would meet. “Alec, I am not going to hurt you, I just need you to answer my questions, all right?”

  Alec’s blue eyes locked with Oscars and then glazed over.

  “Are you ready to answer my questions now?”

  “Yes,” Alec answered, his voice somewhat monotone.

  “Who are the blood bags for?”

  “Don’t you dare tell them,” Lawrence growled at his partner.

  Alec didn’t seem to hear anyone but Oscar. “For the vampires.”

  “We know that much, but who is the vampire in charge … who is the leader?”

  “Edgar.”

  Oscar looked up at me and then back to Alec. “Edgar is the name of the vampire leader?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are there more vampires?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many?”

  Lawrence wiggled around in his bindings. “What the hell are you doing to him?” He shouted. “He would never tell you any of this!”

  “Shut up,” I ordered.

  “Screw you and your little bad cop act. You ain’t going to kill me and I’m not telling you anything.”

  Without even thinking about it, I lunged forward and grabbed the blindfolded man by the shirt, fisting it in my grasp. In my other hand, I pushed my gun up to his forehead. “You feel that, you piece of crap!” I hissed. “I will take you out of this world without a second thought.”

  “Zander!” Chloe’s voice filtered through the haze of anger. “Snap out of it!”

  How had I just let that guy get to me? I should be stronger than that … shouldn’t I? How could I be so weak if I was some sort of Warrior Angel? I released my grip on his shirt and then slowly backed away. “Don’t get smart with me again. Just keep your mouth shut.” I told him in a pathetic, ‘I’ll have the last word,’ type statement.

  Oscar hadn’t looked away from Alec during the confrontation. “How many?” he repeated.

  “Twenty, at least, there might be more.”

  “Does Edgar have a second in command?”

  “Tristan.”

  “You were taking the blood to Edgar and Tristan?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know where the blood came from?”

  “Human donors.”

  “Are people who donate Dragons, like you?”

  “Yes. Everyone donates, just like before. We donate and the vampires reward us.”

  Reward them? I exchanged a glance with Chloe and Drew. Drew shrugged turned back to watch Oscar continue his questions.

  “What do they do to reward you?” Oscar asked.

  “Our lives and a place on the Vampire Council.”

  “The Vampire Council fell,” Oscar told him. “It’s gone now, so how could they promise you that.

  “They are rebuilding.”

  The words resonated deeply. We had gone through so much to stop the Apocalypse that the vampires started. Now, even with only a few vampires left, they were going to try and do it all over again. This wasn’t good.

  Oscar continued his questions. “Where are Edgar and Tristan?”

  “The old library.”

  I noticed that Alec answered the questions, but only the questions asked. He didn’t offer any more information than specifically requested.

  “Thank you, Alec, I think you have given us everything we need.” Oscar reached down and picked up the piece of tee shirt that I’d used to as a blindfold. “I’m going to cover your eyes again, all right.”

  “All right.”

  Oscar leaned over and tied the cloth around Alec, covering his eyes and securing the knot in the back. “I think we got enough out of him for now.” He got to his feet, joining the rest of us.

  I glanced at Lawrence, who was finally being smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

  Chloe shook her head. “This is so far from what I wanted to hear today.”

  We all silently agreed. But Drew nudged Chloe, pushing her toward the doorway. “Yeah, but we need to discuss all of this somewhere else. These two will be fine in here for now.”

  He was right, whatever we discussed needed to be away from them, if they did escape somehow, the last thing we needed was them knowing every little detail. So, we exited the room, securing the locks on the door behind us.

  “You’re sure that will hold them?” Chloe asked doubtfully.

  “Yes,” Drew nodded. “Unless they have some sort of super power we don’t know about.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “It’s possible, look at us.” She gestured to the group. “We all look normal on the outside.”

  I stalled. “She’s right, we shouldn’t leave them alone down here. We need someone to stay down here and guard the door.”

  “I’ll do it.” Oscar stepped back. “You all need to be in on the attack plans, you can just fill me in later.”

  I exchanged a glance with Drew. He appeared to be thinking the same thing as me. If they got out, Oscar might not be able to hold his own with two of them.

  “Oh come on you guys.” He rolled his eyes. “I have two guns and the intercom. I can watch two guys securely locked up in a basement.”

  Chloe pushed at Drew. “He can do it. Let’s go.”

  “Thank you for your confidence, Chloe,” Oscar called after us.

  ***

  Upstairs, Alice had just finished making a plate of sandwiches and was placing it on the table as we entered. She glanced up at us. “As always, you guys have perfect timing when it comes to food.”

  “I can smell it a mile away,” Chloe told her jokingly as she plucked one off the pile.

  Sarah and Daniels were already sitting down at the table. Daniels had the chair turned around, resting his head on his arms which were folded across the back.

  I looked for Christina and found her leaning against the counter, filing her fingernails. She caught my gaze and offered a small smile. Sometimes, it was hard to know what she was thinking. My girl was all hard around the edges and didn’t like to let people in. I guess that was what made us so perfect for each other.

  Ignoring the urge to cross the kitchen and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe, I chose to pull out a chair and sit down at the table.

  Drew stalked in next, tugging his shoulder holster off and looping it over the back of a chair. “We have to talk about what we’re going to do with those guys.” His eyes flicked toward me.

  I leaned back, returning the glare. “What?”

  “It’s just that we aren’t really equipped to hold people prisoner, nor do I want to have anyone tied up in our basement.”

  “Well, excuse me for not having time to consider the options. I was busy trying to get the morons to talk.”

  Chloe snagged another sandwich. “Knock it off, you guys. Hey, Alice, is there anything you can do to wipe their memories or something?”

  Alice poured herself a big cup of coffee and sat down. “I can’t do anything like that right now, but I could work on it when I have time.”


  “That would come in so handy if we end up having to hold more Dragons. We know there are a lot of them still out there.”

  Christina tucked her file into her back pocket. “And they are still following the Vampire Council.”

  “The Vampire Council that is trying to come back from the dead,” Alice pointed out, lifting her coffee mug to her lips.

  “All right.” Drew selected a sandwich from the top of the plate and held it in his right hand without taking a bite. “We have several things to worry about right now. I feel like the first priority is finding the vampires and taking them out. Maybe if we do that, these Dragons will just stop whatever they are doing.”

  I shook my head. “Those two downstairs need to be locked up forever. The evil radiates off of them like bad body odor. We can’t let them out into the world again.”

  Gavin had quietly entered the room with everyone else and stood off near the doorway. “Zander, I don’t really think that is your decision to make.”

  “Wrong. It is my decision. The Warrior Angel gave me these gifts for a reason.”

  “So you think the fate of mankind is in your hands?” Gavin’s voice was low, non-confrontational, and I tried to keep that in mind when I replied.

  “Look man, I was given this power for a reason. Not only do I want to do the right thing, but I want to accomplish the mission the Warrior Angel gave me.”

  Christina stepped up behind me. “What he said was that if we find the humans, then we will find the vampires. He wants us to find the vampires.”

  “But… the Dragons.”

  “No,” she cut me off. “He said that the Dragons were simply mislead, and that hopefully they would change course. That means there is still hope for them. These should be the only ones we hold.”

  I took a deep breath. Had I jumped the gun with the Dragons? Yeah, I didn’t kill them … and I admit, I wanted to. “Okay, these two are the only ones … for now.” I added the last part and Drew glared at me.

  “What? You know as well as I do that some of these guys are bad dudes. What good are we doing the world just letting them roam around hurting people?”

  “Again,” Gavin stated quietly, “That is not your call.”