Beck closed her eyes, changing focus, then opened them once more as Margo got up from her desk and punched in the security code on the panel. Each button clicked loudly, like someone rapping a door knocker.
Two unfamiliar men, dangerous looking and built like brick walls, dragged a third man between them, his head covered by a dark hood, apparently unconscious.
“Unbelievable. Now they’ve resorted to kidnapping,” Beck muttered under her breath. The coppery scent of fear joined with peppered anger in the air around her. She’d bet ten to one that whoever was under that sack was a male vampire. How in the hell could they do this? Vampires weren’t a subspecies, they were human—a different kind of human, but human.
The cold, salt and kelp-scented air coming off the Puget Sound tugged at her, shifting her feet on the narrow window ledge. She dug her fingers tighter into the concrete, creating little puffs of dust that blew away in the breeze.
The security door sealed shut with a sucking sound. Meathead One and Two plunked the limp vampire into a chair, then roughly pulled his hands behind him securing them with a pair of handcuffs. Fat lot of good it would do them when the vampire woke up mighty pissed. Unless—and the thought disturbed Beck even more—unless they were silver cuffs. Based on how out of it the vampire looked, he’d been given one heck of a dose of corpse cooler.
Achilles hadn’t mentioned anything else that could knock out a vampire like this.
“He’s secure,” said Meathead One. Margo, who’d already returned to her desk, snatched up one of the vials of swirling black and green liquid and slipped it into the pocket of her white lab coat.
Beck ran a quick scenario in her head. She needed to get closer, grab one of those vials and test it to determine exactly what Margo was planning. If she knocked Margo out after the guards left, she might have enough time to grab one of the vials and get it back to the labs at the clan headquarters.
The phone rang again and Margo pressed the speaker button. “Doctor, your guests are on their way up.”
“Thank you.”
Crap. Scratch that plan, Beck thought.
Margo glanced at her hired thugs. “You two can wait outside. I may need help with the cleanup.”
Pressure throbbed behind Beck’s front gums, her fangs pressing for release. It angered her that Margo was being so laissez-faire about the life of another being as if murder were no big deal. What had happened to her? Not just four months ago she and Margo had a conversation about what a better place the world would be when they eradicated the vampire virus. They’d been so secure in their own omniscience that they’d passed over one of the most important tenants of their profession: never assume anything.
Beck pushed the uncomfortable memory away and focused her entire energy on feeling light and as insubstantial as air so she could pass through the wall.
She found herself inside the laboratory. The security door swished open and in came the three investors. Even though she was invisible, Beck backed into the corner out of habit.
“You’re going to be very pleased by the results, gentlemen. The new ichor base has presented significant improvements in the formulation for Vanquish,” Margo said with pride in her voice.
“I’ll believe it when I see it, Dr. Rutledge,” Pastor Snyder responded with distain.
Margo unstopped the vial and poured it into a simple spray bottle. The scent of black licorice blended with sour green apples permeated the air. Beck hadn’t ever noticed a scent to Vanquish before.
“Please observe that we no longer require it to be injected to be affective,” said Margo. “The new formulation for Vanquish is so far improved that it can be administered via a simple spray bottle.” She stretched forward and stripped the black hood from the captive sitting in the chair.
“You see, gentlemen, every organism has weaknesses. For vampires, dead man’s blood acts as a fast-acting poison. It effectively immobilizes them for several hours once it enters the skin. Silver burns and disrupts muscle and nerve function.”
How had Margo learned that, and from whom? The limp head covered in spiky platinum blond hair slowly raised. A pair of dark red eyes bored into Margo, full of hate, vengeance and superiority.
Beck gasped. Vane.
Margo’s head tilted a fraction as if she’d heard Beck.
Beck plastered herself against the wall and struggled not to make another sound. Surely Margo hadn’t heard her.
“Vampires aren’t so very hard to catch, once you understand the creatures,” Margo continued as she shook the nondescript white pump spray bottle in her hand.
Vane spat, fangs coming out in full force, lethal white and dripping venom. The almond scent filled the room, almost cloying to Beck’s amped sense of smell. Whatever Margo had given Vane had weakened him, but was wearing off quickly. Margo didn’t seem to care. She glanced at the trio of investors. “Once Vanquish is administered, it takes only forty-eight hours or less to complete the transition.”
Vane waited until she was within arm’s reach then leaped from his chair grabbing her. Margo shrieked, and sprayed him full in the face.
Vane stumbled back, moaning in agony as the skin on his face began to bubble and crisp, as though he were under a broiler. Pungent smoke rose in spirals as his skin blackened. With inhuman cries he fell to his knees, his hands clawing at his head, digging out chunks of charcoal that had once been pale skin and muscle. His features were already charred and undistinguishable. Only his fangs gleamed, brilliantly white, against the blackened husks that were once his lips. The acrid stench and the haze of smoke tainted the air.
Margo backed up against the desk, a hand shielding her mouth and nose from the smoke. In minutes, only his black leather duster and a pile of white-gray ash remained. The central ventilation system had sucked up the smoke with quiet, detached efficiency.
A gag reflex kicked in hard and Beck struggled to hold it in check. She swallowed hard. She hadn’t liked Vane. Truth be known, she hadn’t even really known Vane. But in her mind’s eye for an instant she had replaced Vane’s face with Achilles’s and the image had left her terrified. Then she thought of her mother. If Vane had been Victor, she’d just lost the one person who could tell her where her mother was. She had to do something to stop this.
Cardinal Worcher applauded. His eyes glittered with appreciation, his heavy ring winking in the brilliant overhead lighting. “Excellent. Stupendous. A vast improvement. When can we begin shipping it?”
Margo blinked as she stroked her throat, then she brushed back her perfect hair with shaking fingers. Far from being frightened, Margo seemed excited by what had just happened. Eager. “We could begin manufacturing as soon as tomorrow and shipments could begin by the end of the week.”
The stout Reverend Evans slapped the painfully thin Pastor Snyder on the back. “Dust to dust.” He looked pleased, his fleshy face wreathed in a sadistic, self-satisfied smile. “I timed it. One minute, eighteen seconds. With this antidote we can eliminate the entire vampire population within a month!”
At this moment, Beck would have gleefully watched the whole lot of them fry. What angered her worse than being lied to about the real reason they wanted the vaccine was that they’d used her mind, her abilities, to do something she never would have condoned.
While they congratulated each other, Meathead One and Two were brought back in to sweep up what was left of Vane. Beck picked her way carefully and silently to Margo’s desk and snagged a vile of the new and improved Vanquish.
As soon as she palmed the vial, it disappeared. She stuffed it into the interior pocket of her jacket just as a further precaution, then backed slowly toward the wall where she’d entered. Just because she was invisible didn’t mean they wouldn’t feel her if someone walked into her.
“I believe we’ve delivered on our agreement,” Margo said as she walked toward her desk, just a few feet from where Beck stood. The sour green apple scent of Vanquish clung to her, and it made Beck slightly nauseous. She’d never been s
o disappointed in her own judgment in her life. She’d trusted Margo. Thought they were on the same team fighting to heal, to help. It proved once more her ability to judge people sucked. She couldn’t trust her gut, only what her head told her.
“If you gentlemen could sign for final payment on the project, we’ll get Vanquish into production for you as soon as possible.”
Clearly Margo had been in it just for the money.
Margo turned, grabbing the paperwork on the desk. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the rack holding the vials of Vanquish. Her gaze darted quickly around her desk and to the floor. Beck’s whole body tightened. Margo knew a vial was missing. “I don’t know how you did it, Rebecca,” she whispered, barely moving her lips, “but you can’t stop it. Nobody can,” Margo said under her breath.
Margo’s head swiveled around looking straight at Beck. Then Margo’s eyes flashed from dark brown to a pale blue that stunned Beck. Good grief, was Margo possessed?
Beck didn’t wait to find out. She focused on phasing through the wall and transporting back to the clan complex on the double.
Have you got the lab on alert? she asked Achilles with her mind.
Ready and waiting for you, Doc.
Good, because there’s something weird about all of this.
Concern shimmered through the air and she could feel the tension building in him even though they weren’t in the same room.
His voice came through loud and clear, a soldier focused and in control. I’ll be there in five.
Chapter 15
Achilles scrubbed his hands over his face. “What do you mean her eyes flashed blue?”
“It isn’t like I waited to ask Margo questions,” Rebecca shot back. She spun around, nearly toppling over a white armchair in her haste and he grabbed her arm to steady her. The atrium’s waterfall, meant to be serene, was getting on his nerves.
“Tell me again.”
“Her eyes have always been brown. But when she looked at me, it was like a wall of icy water hit me, and her eyes flashed blue. It’s illogical. Do you think she could be possessed?” Rebecca asked wryly, her own hazel eyes glinting at the preposterous notion.
But it was not preposterous at all. In fact, Achilles damn well bet on possession. Eris wasn’t taking any chances with this pet project of hers. She was going to ensure mass destruction on a global level no matter what it took to feed her hunger. His gut took a dive and hardened into stone. Eris was going to start World War III using vampires against humans. He blew out a harsh breath to steady his nerves and released his hold on Rebecca.
“Got a sample of the ichor?”
She shot him a cool look, but he saw the flash of real fear in her eyes, and in the slight tightening of her soft mouth. “Yes. Of course.”
He held out his hand. “Let’s have it then.”
She stepped back, then took several more steps, separating them by a good ten feet. “No way. Considering what it did to Vane, I want to handle it in a secure, sealed room. No vampires older than a few years allowed. And that includes you.”
The determination etched into her delicate heart-shaped face was admirable. Her glossy dark curls bounced as she straightened her shoulders. Gods, but she was beautiful when she was focused. Still, no matter how cute she was, there was no way he was letting her take care of this alone.
He walked toward her. Rebecca retreated until her back hit the wall. She scowled a warning. “Stay where you are, Achilles. This stuff is lethal. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I feel the same way about you, sweetling.” He teleported the few feet between them, and brushed his fingers across her soft cheek. “It’s in a sealed vial, right?”
Rebecca pulled the vial from her jacket pocket and shook it lightly. Malevolent green and black swirled inside the innocuous glass vial. “Do not touch this!”
“For gods’ sake, Rebecca. It’s sealed.”
She growled at him and he stopped. “I’m serious, Achilles. This will destroy you, just like it did Vane.”
A cold sense of impending disaster dredged up inside him. “Tell me.”
“They captured him and used him as a guinea pig.” Her grip tightened on the vial, all but hiding it from view. “This reduced him to ash.”
Achilles shifted his weight looking with new respect at the little vial in her hand. “How fast?”
“Less than two minutes.”
He took a step backward as if she held a live grenade in her hand. He’d seen the destructive forces of time ravage other vampires during the plague. It was a brutal way to die. He cursed under his breath. “You’re right to be cautious. I don’t want you near it, either. Put it down. That stuff is lethal.”
“Only to vampires like you. I’d just age by a few weeks.”
“I have to tell Dmitri.”
A curl of dark smoke eddied in the air beside Achilles. “Tell me what?” Dmitri demanded. He twisted his head, his eyes darting from Achilles to Rebecca and back again. He sniffed the air. “Oh, gods. You two have imprinted. You reek of roses and honey.”
Achilles put his hand on Dmitri’s chest. “The council isn’t going to care about that once they see the destruction in a bottle.” He glanced at Rebecca. “Tell him what it did to Vane.”
As soon as she was finished with her story for the second time, Dmitri’s legs wobbled. Achilles managed to phase him a chair in time so he didn’t go sprawling on the floor.
He gripped the arms of the chair so hard his knuckles turned white and his fingertips deeply indented the wood. “We don’t have a choice. We’ve got to destroy the lab now, before they begin production and distribution of this weapon. I must tell the council immediately.” He shot out of his chair and leveled his gaze at Achilles. “Have a team ready to move.”
Achilles gave one curt nod. Dmitri disappeared in a swirl of dark smoke. While neither of them were looking, Beck phased the vial back home and put it in the photo box at the back of her closet where no one would think to look for it.
Achilles closed his eyes and a blast of power radiated out of him that shimmed through her. “The team’s been put on alert. I’ll have to go.”
The twisting deep in Beck’s gut increased. “This is far worse than I even imagined, isn’t it?”
“You don’t know the half of it.” Achilles shoved his fingers over his scalp, worry creasing his forehead. “I think Eris has taken over Margo. And if she has, then destroying the lab and everything in it is only going to be a stopgap measure. She’s out for total destruction.”
Beck sucked in a breath and her body shuddered. “So she won’t stop at vampires.”
“Hell, no. The more the merrier, as far as she’s concerned. She’ll pit vampires against humans and feed off both sides. If Eris has her way, she’ll use Vanquish to start World War III.”
Beck didn’t know Eris, but a man like Achilles wasn’t scared of much and he seemed terrified of her. She leveled her gaze at him. “What if they’ve already started manufacturing Vanquish?”
His eyes widened. “Is that possible?”
Beck nodded. “Once Margo got approval, she could overnight samples to a dozen locations nationwide that have the facilities capable of reproducing Vanquish in large batches. It’s no different than the manufacturing process of a flu vaccine. Just faster.”
Achilles uttered a string of swear words. “Then the council better damn well move quickly with a decision. We’ll need to take out as much of the original samples as possible before they are distributed.”
“Achilles?”
“Yeah?”
“What if Eris has possessed Margo? Does that mean Margo’s going to die?”
His gaze cooled. “If Eris has taken over her body, she’s already dead.”
Beck flinched. She’d suspected it might be the case when Achilles had first mentioned Eris’s ability to possess people. But then another thought hit her like a fist to the stomach. “So my exposure to Vanquish could have been part of her plan all along.”
Achilles mouth flattened into a grim line. “Yeah.”
Beck sighed. “That makes so much more sense to me. I just couldn’t ever understand why Margo would have been so careless about any kind of life, or why she’d gone along with the investors.”
“Or why she stabbed you in the back?” He reached out, placing his arm around her shoulders. His hand, warm and comforting, rubbed against her upper arm, soothing her stinging pride. It hurt to know that she’d been betrayed by someone she’d considered a colleague and a friend. Knowing that it had been Eris in a Margo bodysuit made it marginally more tolerable.
“Yeah. That, too.” She hesitated as a thought sunk like a stone to the pit of her stomach. Did Eris’s plan also include getting Achilles to mentor as a means to destroy him? He certainly was more vulnerable now that he’d imprinted with her. The thought of being used as a tool caused a blend of acrid smoke and pepper to swirl in the air.
Before she could ask how her exposure might interact with the imprint, a curl of dark smoke eddied before them and Dmitri reappeared. Achilles quickly withdrew his arm from around her shoulders. Beck had a sudden flashback to being a teenager and having her mom show up just as her boyfriend was about to kiss her.
Dmitri clapped a hand on Achilles’s broad shoulder. “Go time.”
“Already?” Beck grabbed hold of Achilles’s arm, both hands wrapping around his massive bicep without even overlapping. “Can I come? You’ll need to know where to store the samples and the code to get into the temperature-controlled storage vault.”
“We’ll just phase through the vault wall.”
“You don’t know what you’d pass on the way through those walls. It could be just as lethal as Vanquish.”
“Good point.” Achilles cast a questioning glance at Dmitri.
“Can she flux?” The skeptical sound in Dmitri’s tone irritated Beck. Even though she wasn’t exactly sure what he was asking.
“Flux?” Beck muttered.
Achilles looked at her for a moment. “Go invisible.” He turned back to Dmitri. “It’s how she got the sample of the vaccine in the first place,” he said, a note of pride in his voice.
The Vampire Who Loved Me Page 16