“Why was it made differently than the first batch we ordered?" I was beyond confused and now have more questions floating around in my brain than I had before.
“I don’t know, but I made an appointment to see the director in two weeks to find out.”
“You mean I finally get to leave this place?” I jumped out of my seat with excitement at the thought of spending time outside these walls.
“No, you are not going anywhere.” Caressa said as she pushed me back onto my stool.
“Oh yes I am. This is my baby and my body; I think I have a right to know everything that is going on.”
“We can’t afford anything happening to you Gia.” Caressa argued. “Rhett and Keira will go; you will stay here with us under the safety of the coven.”
“If Rhett goes, I go. If anything happens to him I for damn sure will be right by his side and there’s nothing any of you can do or say to change my mind.”
Rhett stood next to me, grabbing me by the waist and pulled me close to his body. “Maybe Caressa is right Gia. Maybe you should stay here with the others.”
“What are you saying Rhett? You don’t want me to be by your side. What happened to we’ll figure it out together? And what if something happened to you and I wasn’t there?
He turned me to face him.” That’s exactly why I think you shouldn’t go. You are carrying my child and it’s my job to keep you both safe.”
“Don’t give me that macho bullshit, I can take care of myself, I’m going!”
“Okay, fine.” Caressa interrupted with an exasperated glance in my direction. “You can go with Rhett, but Keira is going with you just in case.”
Keira’s black eyes gleamed with anticipation. She jumped up and down with her tiny twisted braids bouncing off her shoulders. “Yay, road trip.”
Caressa put a damper on poor Keira’s party of one. “This is no time for fun and games Keira. This is business, serious business. Gia and the baby need you to be cautious, calculated, and alert to everything that will be going on around you. This is no time for playing around.”
Keira flipped her hair off her shoulder. “Boy, you really know how to ruin a girl’s fun. You know, you’re becoming a real wet noodle.”
“Well, I’ sorry you feel that way, but right now we have more important things to be worrying about than me being a wet noodle.”
I couldn’t help but to laugh at their exchange. I’m glad I’m not the only one around here that can push Caressa’s buttons. That job gets pretty damn exhausting after a while.
“And Patience will be going with you guys too.” Caressa continued.
“Aw, c’mon. Why does she have to go with us? She’s not going to be able to contribute anything and that’s one more person we have to look out for.”
Caressa sat on the stool next to mine gathering up the papers I had put on the counter and placed them back in the folder. “Gia, stop whining like a child. She’s going. You will be gone for a few days and you’ll need someone who can go out in the daytime if need be. She is the only human I trust, so there’s no debating it.”
“Keira’s right; you are becoming a wet noodle.”
Keira laughed and Caressa rose from her seat, grabbing Noah’s hand as they made their way to the front door. My head was spinning with everything that would be going on and I swayed a bit. I’ve been feeling dizzy on and off for the last couple of weeks. I haven’t had spells of vertigo since I was a human and it has me worried.
Rhett rushed to my side catching me before I fell off the stool. “You okay sweet cheeks?”
“Yeah, I think so. I just need to lie down for a while.”
He took me by the arm and led me over to the sofa. He placed a pillow behind my head as I laid back. “I really don’t think it's good idea for you to travel now. I think you should stay here and rest.”
“Rhett I’m going.”
“Okay fine, but if I see you in any kind of distress I’m bringing you right back here and there will be no more discussion about it.”
Chapter Eleven
Sitting in the car with Patience for the last five hours was brutal and I wanted to kill myself when we hit that bit of traffic on the way to Washington D.C. I was trying to enjoy the ride and thought it might have been fun to finally leave the safety of the club for a while, but my excitement was quickly doused the moment Patience opened her mouth. She started talking the minute she got into the car and hasn’t stopped since. I wish she would shut the fuck up already.
I attempted to tell her just that about halfway through the drive here, but Rhett placed his hand on mine and shook his head, telling me to leave her alone. I know he didn’t want me to aggravate myself, but there was only so much of Patience I could take. How I put up with her for the last year is beyond me and what’s more, how does she not annoy anyone else?
We closed the club early last night so we would have enough time to drive through the night and stop at a hotel to sleep during the day. Our appointment with the doctor at the lab was tomorrow night so we needed to rest up as much as possible.
When Rhett stopped the car I was more than elated and quickly jumped out so I didn’t have to hear Patience anymore. I walked ahead through the automatic doors of the hotel and checked us in.
Thankfully we had two separate rooms. Keira was a gem for sharing a room with Patience because if I had to be in her presence for one more second I would throw myself right out the hotel window.
When we got to our room, I crawled onto the king size bed. I buried my face in the pillow and groaned. “Uh, finally.”
Rhett laughed. “She isn’t that bad Gia.”
I sat up on the edge of the bed and furrowed my eyebrows at him. “How does she not bother you?”
“I think she’s kinda cute.”
“Oh, do you now? Irritation laced my words and the monster in me wanted to rip her to pieces just because she existed.
“Relax. I only have eyes for my sweet cheeks.” His arms wrapped around my waist, giving me a light squeeze. He kissed my cheek and gently rubbed the small lump in my belly. “How’s our little one doing?”
I sighed deeply with my head slumped to my chest. I wish I could give him an answer. Fact of the matter was, I had no idea how the baby was, or if it will even be born. There was nothing in our history that we could refer to and compare my symptoms. “I don’t know.” My voice was barely a whisper as it left my mouth.
“Hey, everything will be okay, I promise.”
“How can you promise me something like that Rhett? We have no idea what’s going on or what can possibly happen. There’s so much that can go wrong.”
“But there’s so much that can go right. Let’s sleep on it tonight. Tomorrow we’ll go and see that doctor; maybe then we’ll have some answers.”
“What if he can’t give us the answers we need...”
He placed his finger over my lips. “That’s enough for today. Now lie down and rest.”
After a few hours of sleep I felt much better, but Rhett still wouldn’t let me get out of the bed until it was time to get ready to go to our appointment at the lab.
We pulled up to a huge office building around ten 0’clock. There were hundreds upon hundreds of windows that seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. Many of the employees had gone home already, but a few office lights were still on. Thankfully there weren’t many people still working tonight because we needed to be as discreet as possible.
When we entered the building we were met by a huge, bald security guard with bulging biceps sitting behind a desk. He stood and came over to greet us. “Can I help you?” His deep voice echoed in the quiet entryway causing Patience to jump a little.
Rhett stepped in front of me. “We’re here to see to Dr. Chamberlain. We have an appointment to see him.”
The guard walked back behind the desk and picked up the phone. He dialed a few numbers and paused for a brief moment before speaking. “Hello Dr. Chamberlain, I have some people down here at the front desk w
ho say they have an appointment to see you.” He then addressed Rhett who was standing across from him. “What’s your name?”
“Rhett Larson and Gia Bishop.”
He announced us to the doctor over the phone and placed it back on its receiver. “Okay, go right up. Take the middle elevator down the hall to the twenty-seventh floor and make a right went you get off. Dr. Chamberlain’s office is the second door on the left.
We thanked the man and proceeded to the row of elevators at the end of the hall. Patience caught up to us, walking along side me. “Do you think he has a girlfriend? I sure would love a piece of that.” She said a little too loudly and could probably be heard three blocks away.
I laughed in spite of myself and no matter how much she annoys me, I couldn’t imagine the club without her. “Stop, you’re gonna get us thrown out.”
“Or, I may get lucky.” She winked at me and glanced behind her to see if the guard was watching her, which he was. She giggled and I shoved her into the elevator.
Rhett peeked into the doctor’s office as he knocked softly on the door. “Dr. Chamberlain?”
A middle aged man with short brown hair and a few days worth of stubble walked from behind the desk and stuck out his hand. Rhett shook it and introduced the rest of us.
“Everyone please take a seat.” The doctor pointed to the chairs placed in front of his desk, then sat in his own chair behind the computer. “How can I help you? I spoke to Ms. Carmichael over the phone; she said you had some concerns about the product we engineered for your company.”
I nodded but allowed Rhett to take the lead in the conversation, for now. “Yes, there were certain additives that should not have been in the synthetic blood.”
The doctor shifted in his seat and loosened his tie a bit. He looked visibly nervous about something. I could smell his fear from a mile away. He cleared his throat before he answered. “Was there?” He glanced at me before turning to his computer screen and began typing. “Let me pull up that information and have a look. Why yes, you’re absolutely right.”
Rhett lunged forward, banging his hands on the doctor’s desk. “Don’t play games with me Chamberlain. We know you were the one who engineered this specific batch of blood for us. Why would you change the formula without us asking you to?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about and I certainly don’t like your tone.” The doctor said nervously.
Rhett grabbed the desk and pushed it so hard it went crashing through the wall. He took hold of the doctor’s lab coat, causing him to lean to the back of the chair. “You aren’t going to like your head ripped off your body either if you don’t start talking right now.”
Chamberlain’s eyes went wide at Rhett’s threatening glare and I thought he was going to pee his pants; he looked that scared. “I was only doing what I was ordered to do.”
Rhett shook him hard. “Who told you to change it?”
“I...I don’t know his name. I only know him as The Dark One. He sent two large men into my office a couple of months ago and forced me to engineer a whole different formula. I was told to give you that batch the next time Ms. Carmichael ordered. If I didn’t do what he asked those men would have killed me on the spot. They said they’d find out if I hadn’t done what they demanded and hunt me down.”
“What else do you know about this Dark One?” Rhett commanded as he shook the doctor again.
“Nothing. I don’t know anything else. He hasn’t contacted me since then.”
“What do you know about us?” I asked as I stood up from my chair and walked over to Rhett’s side.
“I don’t know anything about you. All I know is Ms. Carmichael originally requested the synthetic blood for some club she owns in New York City.”
I sauntered behind the doctor’s chair, hovering over him. “I think you’re lying. I think you know more than you’re willing to tell us.”
“I swear, I don’t know anything.” The doctor looked between Rhett and I, probably hoping we’d believe him and let him go.
Only there was one special gift I possessed as a vampire and that was the ability to tell if someone was lying to me; and this man cowering in front of me was lying through his fucking teeth. I reached down and grabbed Chamberlain by the head. I forcefully twisted it, breaking his neck in the process.
Patience leapt from her chair shocked at what I had done, but she didn’t scream or yell. She only slid back into the chair with her hand over her mouth.
“Damn it Gia.” Rhett said as he let go of the limp doctor’s body. “Now, we’ll never find out who The Dark One is or what he wants.”
“He wasn’t going to tell us anyway and now that the good doctor is gone, whoever this Dark One is will have no choice but to come looking for us himself. Keira see if you can find something on the computer that will tell us anything.”
Keira walked around the desk. She grabbed the back of the chair and leaned it forward, causing Chamberlain’s dead body to fall to the floor with a thump.
I gave her an annoyed look.
“What? Don’t look at me like that, I have to sit down. Besides you’re the one that killed him, not me.”
“Hurry up and look before that security guard comes up here please.” I ordered.
A few minutes of frantic searching and I wondered if Keira would ever be able to find anything. I was about to tell her to give up when she grabbed my hand and pulled me over to view the monitor. “Look Gia. There’s an encrypted file here called Bloodsuckers.”
An eerie feeling washed over me as my eyes fell upon the file. “Well, don’t just sit there, click it.”
Keira opened the file and hundreds of other files appeared on the screen. “Oh my God. We can’t go through all these now.”
“Save them to the memory drive here and send a copy of the files over to the computer at home. And hurry.”
“I’m going as fast as I can. Okay, done.”
“Good, now erase the whole file.” Right when Keira was about to push the delete button I noticed a file labeled Repopulate. “Wait Keira, click that folder there.” She did and what popped up on the screen was astounding. Names upon names of these so called “Bloodsuckers” were listed with the words ‘successful’ or ‘unsuccessful’ next to them. At the end of the list was Caressa’s name with the word ‘pending’ next to hers?
Keira peered up at me before looking at the monitor again. “What do you think all this means Gia?”
“I think it means there are more of our kind still in existence that we didn’t know about and they are being experimented on. It looks like Caressa was chosen to be next, but I guess I took her spot."
“What the fuck is going on in here?” The burly guard yelled from the doorway. He glanced down to the floor where Dr. Carmichael’s lifeless body laid. He ran over to him, dropping to one knee. He placed two fingers on the doctor’s neck feeling for a pulse, but obviously found none. “He’s dead.” He pulled his gun out of the holster and pointed it at each one of us. “None of you fucking move. I’m calling the police.” He backed away from us a few feet as Patience stood.
I tried to stop her. If one of us was shot, we’d be fine. We couldn’t die, well, because we were already dead. But, if this fool got spooked and shot Patience by accident, it would be fatal. Even though she annoys me to no end, she’s still a part of this family. “Patience don’t move.” She ignored me and lifted her hand, walking over to the guard who was twice her size. I squeezed my eyes shut unable to move. I could’ve gotten to Patience in time to push her out of the way, but my feet were cemented to the floor.
The guard screamed again. “I said don’t move.” He pointed the gun right in Patience’s face, but she still pressed on.
She slowly reached for the gun and placed her small hand on the guard’s large one. The sparkly gold nail polish she wore shimmered under the fluorescent lights in the room. I couldn't help but think that this will the one thing I will remember about her as she took her last breath right in
front of me.
The guard didn’t move. He watched Patience’s face as closely as the rest of us were. It was like we were all in some kind of trance or suspended animation. He allowed her to lower his arm and remove the gun from his hand. It dropped to the hard linoleum floor with a thud causing me to jump. She took his hand in hers and quietly led him out of the office.
I turned to Rhett meeting his shocked expression. “What the fuck just happened?”
Keira leapt out of the chair and grabbed my hand. “Let’s not question it and get the fuck out of here.”
We sped down the hallway to see Patience coming out of another room alone. We all entered the elevator because Rhett refused to let me run down the stairs. “Where’s the security guard?” I asked Patience as we descended to the lobby.
“Let’s just say he won’t be telling anyone we were ever here.” She said with a wink.
“Patience what did you do? Did you give him a blow job? Keira asked as she elbowed her.
Patience responded with a sweet smile. “I’m not telling you my secrets to seducing men.”
“You did give him a blow job!” Keira yelped in the small space.
The elevator dinged and we all exited armed with some pretty significant information about what appeared to be more of our kind. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing there's chance that I’ll be okay, that my baby will be okay. I paused for a second, trying to soak in the news.
Rhett saw that I wasn’t following behind him anymore and came back to where I was standing. “You okay Gia? Do you want me to carry you? We have to leave before anyone else shows up.”
I lowered my hands to my swollen belly and peered up at him. “Rhett, our baby is going to be fine, I just know it.”
Epilogue
One year later
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I picked up my little girl and hug her close to my chest.
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