“So, you don’t really know why my blood ages you?”
“No.”
“It reverses the vaccine but only temporarily,” I guessed.
“Or overwhelms it. I don’t know.”
I stared at the screen. “What are all these numbers?”
He blacked the screen and folded his hands in front of him. “How would I run tests without subjects?”
The reality of it struck me then. Zack’s story of Vie dragging Anemies away, Alex and the other Vie talking about sorting Anemies that night on the rooftop, seeing the numbers of test subjects on Alex’s computer: all of it fit together in some horrific, layered nightmare that never ended.
“How can you be a NCAAR member and use Anemies as lab rats? Unless you do it as a cover to make it easier to collect us.”
“This is a way to help Anemies.”
“I don’t believe you, clotsucker.”
Rage boiled in my stomach. As an NCAAR member, he had better access to the distribution routes and therefore to Anemies. Like Martin. Having a Vie friend did nothing but get him killed.
Alex raised his hand. “Before you decide to insult me again or try to run off, let me explain.”
“You explained enough.”
“Just listen for a moment, will you?”
“Or what? You’ll drain me dry?” I scratched my chin with my thumb. “That one’s getting old.”
He took a step closer, arm extended, a plea for me to pay attention. “If I can develop a synthetic drug that gives Vie the same sensation as Anemie blood, we won’t need to harvest it directly from Anemies.”
“Then there will be nothing holding you back from killing all of us.”
“That’s not my intention. I want to set up safe houses for you and then, I don’t know, develop a colony where you can live in peace.” He sputtered the words out fast, excited by the idea, a fake little utopia located only in his mind.
I dragged a stool out and dropped on it. “You’re out of your mind.”
“Completely.” He lowered his arm.
A strong pounding in my head chiseled away at my own sanity. “All this stuff, equipment, computer data, numbers, test subjects. You’re figuring out how to make drugs in Abarron’s lab? Does he know what you’re doing?”
“Excepting you, of course, yes. Abarron knows that Vie need distractions to maintain order. Otherwise, we become obsessed with the next, greater pleasure and descend into chaos.”
“He lets you make drugs so his people become addicted and don’t cause him trouble.”
Alex shook his head. “You make it sound awful. Abarron needs me, my work, to help make New City a safe place.”
“It is awful. All of it. And all of you,” I sneered.
“I understand why you’re mad—”
“Wait. I want to hear more about the chaos thing. Is that why you have to keep taking over new planets, because you destroy them with your greed?”
Alex opened his mouth, then closed it again. Close enough for yes. We weren’t the first species destroyed by Vie and we won’t be the last. Immortal aliens jumping from planet to planet, eating up resources—well, drinking them—on and on an on until time ended and everything else was dead. My brain hurt from the enormity of it.
“Alex, sir?” Cara whirled to face us, her brows knitted together. “Someone’s coming.”
Alex returned the test tube tray to the refrigerator, tucked my stool under the table after dumping me off it, and powered down his computer.
With an arm around each of our shoulders, he ushered Cara and me to the other side of the lab and a door.
“Take him to the end of the hallway and stop. Hopefully that will be far enough away so your heartbeat can’t be heard or your scent traced. Now go.”
“I thought I didn’t smell anymore,” I said.
Cara led the way until we reached a corner. She stopped, but I kept going.
She grabbed my arm. “Wait. We have to stay here.”
“You have to stay here because you have to obey, but I don’t.”
The muscles in her neck tightened. “But…”
I broke free of her grip. “If I have a chance to find Sammie, I have to take it. Do you know what floor the test subjects are kept on?”
“No.” She shook her head, eyes darting from me to the way we came, then to me again. “Please don’t go. I’ll get in trouble.”
“Are you saying that because you’re tranced or because you mean it?” I searched her face for some tic or hint she lied.
“You’re just as cruel as he is.”
I flinched as if she’d smacked me. “What do you mean?”
“You treat me like I’m an imbecile. Like I can’t think.” Pain darkened her gaze.
“It’s not that you can’t think for yourself but that you have to do what they say. You can’t help it.”
Tears welled. “And that makes me a liar?”
“If the situation calls for it.”
My voice hitched at the end. She didn’t deserve to be hurt anymore, and I was a complete ass for insulting her.
She stepped closer. “You didn’t mean that.”
I turned my head away so I didn’t have to face her. “No, I didn’t.”
“Look at me.” This was Alex’s trance influencing her behavior.
“I have to find Sammie.” I strode down the hallway, leaving her behind.
Her quick footsteps tapped behind me. She caught up, matching me stride for stride.
I arched an eyebrow at her. “Disobeying?”
Loose locks at her temples bounced with every stride. “Alex told me to stay with you no matter what.”
“And that trumps waiting over there?” I hooked my thumb.
“Since I have to do what I’m told…” she countered, gaze sharp and jaw tight.
I pointed to the gadget Alex had given her. “That thing have a map of the place?”
She held it up, peering at the screen. Pausing, she tentatively swiped her finger across its surface then keyed in something.
I peered over her shoulder, inhaled her fresh-rain scent, then blushed because she thought I stank.
“Here.”
She turned the screen so we both could view it. One tap and a blueprint of the building emerged. The grid mapped out every floor of the lab.
“How’d you know to do that?”
She whacked my forehead with the heel of her hand. “Alex. Duh.”
“Oh.” I rubbed my forehead.
She smacked my hand. “Don’t or you’ll rub off the concealer.”
“Oh.” I wiped my palms on my uniform then grabbed fistfuls of the fabric so I wouldn’t touch anything else.
“You deserved that, you know.”
“I know.”
She tapped the screen a few times.
“Where is she?”
I studied the image, wishing one of the rooms was labeled Sammie. I clenched my jaw, breathing slowly through my nose. If I was so special that I could make Vie age, why couldn’t I also have a sixth sense as to where my sister had been taken?
“Test subjects are separated by experiment. Alex’s would be relatively nearby. I think.” She expanded our current floor.
“She’s close by, then. She has to be.”
I caught Cara’s stare. Pure pity. “Justin—”
“My, my, look who’s here.” A sultry woman’s voice curled around us like a thicket of thorny brushes.
Cara gasped. I shivered as if the hallway had dropped in temperature by fifty degrees.
Margaret stood before us, a satisfied twist to her lips. “I heard Alejandro had arrived. And surprise, surprise, he’s brought his guest and his slave.” Margaret folded her arms and smiled. Her fangs almost glinted in the bright light.
So much for Alex’s comment about not being watched on the security cameras.
“You work here too?” I blurted.
She fixed her gaze on Cara. “Return to your master, slave. Take your time and don’t
mention me.”
Cara whimpered. As she turned, she plunked the portable vidscreen in my hands. Like I knew how to use it.
“Run,” I whispered.
“I can’t.” She pressed a red button on the side of the screen and walked away slowly as Margaret had instructed. Her footsteps padded softly down the hallway.
“Such a cute little rabbit, isn’t she?” Margaret walked toward me, taking her time.
Click… click… click.
For every step forward, I retreated, my heart pounding quadruple-time to the beat of her heel strikes. “Are you jealous of her?”
“Jealous of a slave?” Her laughter reminded me of a drill.
“Do you have a slave boy? You know, someone you can boss around?”
“Of course. I have everything I want.”
“Except Alex’s attention.”
She hissed and crouched.
I turned and ran with my heart in my throat. Adrenaline bolted through me, surging down my limbs, jerking me forward.
“Alex! Help!” I yelled, slamming into a wall.
Like a ping-pong ball, I ricocheted left at the corner, pinwheeling my arms for balance. I expected Margaret’s talons to dig into my skull and rip the back of my scalp off.
Just as I lifted a fist to pound on the door, Margaret’s arms coiled around me, vice-like and hard.
Her hot breath seared my neck. “Hold on, Anemie, Alejandro is speaking with the boss, and Abarron hates being interrupted.”
Her red curls enveloped me, their cinnamon scent tingling in my nose.
I gasped. Abarron. “How do you know that?”
“I just met with him and he mentioned where he was headed. Luckily, I found you here, in the hallway, rather than in the lab.” Her hand clamped over my mouth. She dragged me away from the door. “If Abarron hears you, he finds you. And if he finds you, then Alejandro is a dead man.” Her arm tightened across my ribcage. Much tighter, and she’d cut off my circulation. “I’ll have to wipe the camera footage because of you. You’re creating a lot of work for me, little Anemie, but I will not lose my Alex, especially over a waste of molecules such as yourself.”
She sniffed my neck. “Hmm, you smell different… almost tasty.” Her fingers dug into my jaw. A low purr vibrated from her throat. “He’s given you a fresh transfusion, hasn’t he?” Her teeth grazed my skin. “If I didn’t know what you are, I’d feast on you right now. Or maybe I could rip you open and watch you bleed. It wouldn’t take long. My Bear would surely listen to me then, with you dead at my feet.”
The door burst open. Alex flew through. He locked onto us and froze, his brow furrowing in confusion. “Margaret, what are you doing here?”
Her tongue slithered over my jugular. “Hello, lover. I found a snack.”
I stiffened at the brush of her fangs against my skin. She wasn’t really going to bite me, was she?
“Don’t!”
He dove into us with the force of a Mack truck. Air whooshed out of my lungs as my breastbone reached for my backbone, sandwiched between two very pissed-off Vie.
Alex forced Margaret’s face to the side so her fangs didn’t have access to my throat.
She howled, squeezing me harder.
“Alllllexxxx,” I gurgled.
He rolled us to the side. “Release him, Ripper.”
She dug her fingers into my sides.
Pain flared through me.
Alex pried her arms away. “Go, Justin. Go!”
I scrambled to the lab where Cara waited, arms open. She greeted me with a hug and dragged me inside, slamming the door behind her.
“Lock it,” I croaked, holding my neck.
She hadn’t bit me. Holy shit, she hadn’t bit me.
Cara slapped the lock button and rested her head against the wall, panting. “I thought… I thought she was going to kill you.”
“You actually sound worried.” I leaned against the lab table, gulping air.
She spoke to the wall. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. It’s just… You’re a slave, and I’m an Anemie.”
The divide between us couldn’t be crossed. She could be tranced to do anything at any time which made her impossible to trust. And I was… well, I was useless, a defect, weak and homeless, and an outcast.
“And Alex tranced you to act like you cared,” I added.
The truth hung between us, heavy and thick.
She faced me. Her green eyes pinned me with a Vie’s intensity. “I don’t see how we’re so different.”
My breath caught in my throat. Usually my heart raced from fear. Now it raced for a different reason. Except that it sort of kind of still felt like fear. “No?”
She shook her head and eliminated the distance between us with two confident steps. Tilting her head back, she leaned closer. “No.”
“Why not?”
I gripped the table edge behind me. If I let go, I’d have to touch her. If I touched her, I might not be able to stop.
“You really don’t get it, do you?” she whispered.
Our lips hovered this close to touching. My whole body tingled. She stood right there. All I had to do was open my mouth and connect with hers. I closed my eyes. Sparks of electricity darted around my chest and extended lower, deep in my belly. I pulled in a shaky breath. She didn’t really have feelings for me. Alex had tranced her to do this to make me compliant.
The lock disengaged and Alex entered, rambling off curses. Some I’d heard before, others I hadn’t.
Cara dipped to the side, slapping a palm to her mouth. I cleared my throat and stuffed my hands in my pockets. Searing heat rushed to my cheeks, fleeing other places.
Alex paused to take in the scene he’d interrupted. He did a piss poor job of concealing a smile.
“Just. Shut. Your. Mouth,” I warned.
He lifted a hand. “I didn’t say anything.”
Cara’s cheeks burned red. I’d embarrassed her. Smooth move.
Alex adjusted his suit jacket. “Well, either way, I think it’s time to go home.”
Margaret cut us off at the elevator. The red-haired bitch didn’t know when to quit. Rather than her usual greeting of claws and fangs, she smiled sweetly at us and said, “I’ll play nice, I promise, but I do need to ride with you to know which cameras need wiping, of course. Sometimes Alejandro misses the small details.”
Alex let her board but kept his body between her and us.
Pleasant-faced and proper, she said, “I’m beginning to think you’ve gone too far, lover. Bringing your lab rat here is unacceptable. I may need to screw deleting the vid footage and go straight to Abarron.”
“You said he couldn’t find—” I started to blurt, but Alex cut me off with a pinch.
I rubbed my upper arm while he said, “I’m trusting you not to.”
She toyed with a rust-colored curl. “I can’t stand by and watch you kill yourself over worthless Anemies. Their blood is changing you. And now you’re bringing your slave into this? Perhaps she needs to be drained ahead of schedule?”
Alex’s eyes flashed, but he said nothing.
“She knows too much now.” She clucked her tongue. “Such a dangerous game you’re playing.”
“All the games we play are dangerous, Ripper.”
She sneered. “What you’re doing is an abomination. My work is good, solid, and I’ve got Abarron’s blessing.”
“For now.” Alex watched the floor indicator scroll down to L for Lobby.
“Asshole.” She brushed past him as soon as the elevator doors opened.
Alex visibly relaxed.
“What’s she working on?” I asked.
Sadness clouded his gaze and lowered his brows. “I cannot tell you that.”
“Why not?” I blocked the exit.
Cara gently circled her hand around my wrist. “Not here,” she whispered.
“Do you know?” I asked her.
She shook her head.
“Tell me, Alex.”
>
He swallowed. “It’s not something you’ll want to hear. Trust me.”
steady rain pummeled the New City much like the night Alex stole Sammie from me. Water sluiced down the biodome panels in sheets. The gleaming metal and glass of Abarron’s empire grew muted and slick.
My breath fogged Alex’s apartment’s windows, blurring my view. Raindrops slid along the outside of the large panes, rivulets falling in random streams. When the dome was finished, rain would be no more. Snow would never crowd the streets. The wind wouldn’t touch us.
An unbearable thought.
Vincent Marks monologued on the vidscreen. Tonight’s show highlighted the wonderful varieties of synthetic blood Abarron had developed. The finale: two new products, 1) Ultraviolet Crush, the new and improved Crimson Crush—and 2) Burgundy Tequila Max, a combination of caffeine, liquor, and blood. They were supposed to be limited-edition lines that Vie could try and then vote on which one stayed as a permanent option.
Marks droned on about each flavor. Salty versus sweet. New blends of spices and herbs. Would cocoa turn up the palate volume?
“Red Springs will win out,” Alex said.
I didn’t answer. What was there to say?
“You’re deep in thought. Again.” Alex joined me at the window, futzing with an onyx cufflink.
“You use Anemies as test subjects.”
He rested an elbow on the sill. “All studies require human subjects.”
“Slaves are used too?”
“Yes.”
“What about Vie?” I forced myself to look at him, though I really didn’t want to.
He leaned so casually against the window frame like his repeated arguments with Margaret, bringing me to the lab, and holding me hostage was nothing but another ordinary day in his ordinary, immortal life.
“It took decades to perfect the vaccine. Many of the earlier Vie died.”
“So that’s a yes.”
“That’s a yes.”
I turned from the cityscape and pressed my back to the cool glass. “Vie weren’t always Vie.”
He mirrored my pose. “We weren’t.”
“You were mortal once. You personally,” I said.
Dawn of the Vie (Immortal Aliens Book 1) Page 18