Twice Bitten

by Rayna Vause

  They exited the lab and sealed the doors shut behind them.

  Kier carried Danny as he rushed down the hall toward the stairwell.

  “Thank God you came.” Danny mumbled the words into Kier’s neck.

  “I’m so damn sorry, love. So sorry. We’re going to get you home and patched up in no time.”

  “This way.” As Rogan guided them through the maze of corridors, he pulled up the security app and tried to activate the sprinkler system, but it didn’t respond to his commands. He tried to switch back to the security feeds, but they wouldn’t load.

  “I think I’ve been locked out of the system. We better move. Stay close. I don’t know where anyone is now.”

  “Kier, put me down. I can walk. You need your hands free just in case.”

  Rogan did a quick visual catalog of Danny’s injuries. Blood oozing from numerous cuts, bruising around his wrists from the restraints. His eyes were sunken. He looked pale, he wore a grimace of pain, and soot and sweat covered him from head to toe. Danny Reynolds looked like he’d been put through hell.

  “Dan, I think we’ll move faster if you let Kier carry you. You’re not exactly looking your best right now.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I can manage.” Kier kissed Danny’s temple, and they kept moving.

  Rogan stayed vigilant, watching for any security patrols making the rounds. When they made the final turn that led to the stairwell, their luck ran out. Five soldiers waited for them, guns at the ready.

  “Sir, I need you to drop your weapons and put your hands up.”

  “Rogan, can’t you call them off?” Danny whispered.

  “I can try.” He raised his hands and took a step forward. “Lower your weapons, men. You have no authority to stop us. Stand down and let us through.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but our orders come directly from Ms. Moran. We are not to let any of you leave the premises.”

  “I see. You’ve got your orders. I understand. But, maybe we can put off the detainments until we all get out of this building? Lydecker is dead. His lab is burning as we speak, and the sprinklers aren’t turning on. With all the gases and chemicals in that room, this entire floor will become a fireball any minute now.” Rogan caught the nervous glances among the four troops who had yet to say anything, so he pushed. “You’re going to get these men hurt or killed if we don’t get out of the building now.” More nervous fidgeting.

  “Nice try, Rogan, but we’re not buying it.” But Rogan heard the thread of doubt that belied the tough stance. “You probably killed Lydecker yourself helping your little freak-of-nature friends try to escape. Besides, Ms. Moran has regained control of the security systems that you tampered with. If there really were a fire, she would have already activated the fire suppression system.”

  Rogan let his arms drop to his sides. “You moron. She killed Lydecker and started the fire herself. She’s not going to stop it. She wants it to burn.” More nervous glances and fidgeting. Rogan noted that one solder took a step back toward the doors.

  “Enough! I’m through talking. On your knees, hands behind your heads, all of you.”

  Rogan lowered his voice and turned his head but kept one eye on the soldiers. “No talking our way out of this one.”

  “Okay, here we go.” Kier breathed out the words. “Can you stand?” he whispered to Danny.

  “Yeah.”

  Kier eased Danny to his feet. “Stay back. Stay safe.” Then he angled in front of him.

  They complied with the soldier’s instructions, watching and waiting as all five slowly approached. When they were within arm’s reach, Rogan sprang into action. With a few precision moves, he’d taken out the soldier closest to him and started for the next. Kier became a flurry of motion, at times moving so fast his progress couldn’t be tracked by the naked eye.

  Rogan stayed out of Kier’s way. Instead, he guarded Danny, who’d crouched down and huddled against the wall. He didn’t look well at all. What the hell had Lydecker done to him?

  Bodies flew and shots rang out. In a matter of minutes, silence fell throughout the hall again. Kier had taken out four members of a five-man team of trained operatives.

  “Well, shit.” Rogan took in the sight of bodies strewn across the hall in crumpled heaps. “Damn, Kier.”

  “Admire later. Grab their weapons now.”

  “Think we should restrain them?”

  “No. I want them to be able to get out when they come to, but I don’t want them sneaking up on me with a weapon.”

  Together Rogan and Kier started to disarm the men when an explosion rocked the floor and smoke came streaming around the corner.

  “Time to go,” Kier said.

  Danny tried to stand but collapsed again, his body tensed with pain. Kier bent to help him up. He paused, winced.

  “Kier, are you okay?” Danny looked up at him with wide eyes.

  “Kier, you’re bleeding.” Rogan laid a hand on his back. “Did you get hit?”

  “Bullet grazed me along the rib cage. Burns like a son of a bitch, but it will calm down in a minute. We need to keep going.” Kier reached for Danny again and scooped him into his arms. “We’ll move faster if I carry you. Let’s get out of this place, and then we’ll worry about our variety pack of injuries.”

  Danny relented with a nod. The three rushed into the stairwell and raced down the stairs.

  “Hang in there for me,” Kier murmured to Danny.

  “I’ll be all right. In fact, I’m starting to feel better.”

  When they reached the ground floor exit, Kier set Danny down. “Rogan, do me a favor. Take Danny, head for your car. I’ll go find Alex and Aiden.”

  Danny wrapped his arms around Kier. “No, I’m not leaving without you.”

  Rogan shook his head. “Nope. We stick together. We’re stronger together.”

  “Fine. Which way to the lab?”

  Rogan lead them down two more floors. They raced down the hall to the underground lab. As they made the last turn, Alex and Aiden emerged past the mangled metal door.

  Something in Rogan loosened at seeing Aiden alive, if not well.

  Alex smiled at Rogan. “I told you I didn’t need any damn code.”

  “Damn, Alex.”

  “I was motivated.” She hugged her arm tighter around her brother.

  The five of them made their way back to the rear emergency exit of the building. Rogan hit the lever to open the door that led out of the building to freedom. As soon as they hit the exterior, they found Melissa and a force of at least twenty-five men waiting for them.

  “Well, shit.”

  Chapter 13

  “ROGAN, ROGAN, Rogan” Melissa smiled, dark and dangerous. “Did you really think it would be that easy? You must take me for a fool. Granted I should have realized your betrayal sooner. Should have smelled the filth on you, but we all make mistakes.”

  “Melissa, don’t do this. Just let us go and no one else needs to get hurt.”

  “You know better than that. You know I can’t just let you walk away. I’ve got plans for Purity now that our fearless leader is no longer with us, and you and your associates have made yourselves a danger to my plans. You and your associates are liabilities. You understand?”

  Rogan snorted. “It’s just business, right?”

  “It’s mostly business. See, you broke the rules, Rogan. You turned your back on your family here at Purity. We can’t let people think you can just walk away and that there will be no consequences.”

  “Seriously?” Rogan barked out a laugh as his stomach jittered. “This is a job. It’s a paycheck. It’s not a cult or a secret society. You really have lost your mind.”

  Melissa leveled a cold hard glare on Rogan and pointed her gun at him. “I think we’re done here. Take them.”

  “WHAT THE hell are we going to do, Kier?” Alex stepped closer to him and spoke in hushed tones.

  Kier’s gaze swept across the wall of soldiers. Twenty-five soldiers versus two vampires a
nd a human. He didn’t like those odds, but he wouldn’t let these people get their hands on his family.

  “Damn, these guys are like roaches. They come out in darkness, and you just can’t get rid of them,” Alex muttered. “How are we going to get out of here?”

  Rogan had moved in front of the group to confront Melissa. Kier didn’t want to pull her focus. “Rogan, stay where you are and just listen. Keep her talking for as long as you can. When we give the word, Alex and I are going to split the field. Alex, you take the left. I’ll go right. Rogan, you hang back a bit and take out as many soldiers as you can. Alex and I can move fast and avoid getting overwhelmed in a large crowd of attackers. Your job is to defend Aiden and Danny and to be our eyes scanning the whole field. Wiggle your finger if you understand.”

  Rogan acknowledged and kept his attention on Melissa.

  “What about me? Three vampires are better than two.”

  “Aiden, I need you to stay with Danny. Once the fighting starts, I want you and Danny to duck behind the junction box. Once we clear a path, head for the van and get it started.” Kier let the keys dangle from his fingers.

  “No way. These bastards owe me.”

  “You’re not up to full steam yet. Just do as you’re told. Please.” Alex shot an annoyed look at her brother.

  Danny stepped forward and pressed against Kier’s back. “Kier, I can defend myself.”

  “I know, love, but I need to know you’re safe. If you’re with Aiden, I know you’ll be okay.”

  Danny blew out a breath but nodded in agreement. Aiden stepped next to Kier and took the van keys.

  Danny squeezed Kier’s arm even as his heart rate sped up and his mouth went dry. “Kier, please be careful.”

  Kier covered Danny’s hand with his own. “I’ll be fine. You be safe. When it’s clear, head straight for the van. All right? I need to know you’re safe.”

  “All of you freeze. Drop your weapons and put your hands up,” the unit commander yelled across the open space.

  “Fuck you!” Rogan yelled.

  “Let’s do this. Now.” At Kier’s words, the group lunged into action.

  DANNY AND Aiden huddled behind the large junction box and watched the action. In a burst of dizzying motion, the two vampires were on the men, cutting through them like a mower over grass.

  Danny saw Alex drop a guard while looking like something out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She did a flying back kick and sent a soldier airborne, landing a few feet away from Kier. Kier was pure street fighter. Quick, smart, and no holds barred.

  He slammed a fist into the man in front of him, putting the guard down for the count and opening the gap that he and Aiden needed to get to their vehicle. They raced across the field, Aiden tugging Danny along. Only a few steps separated them from the safety of the van when Aiden cried out in pain, his back arching, and dropped Danny’s hand. Bright red blossomed over the back of his shoulder as he fell to his knees. Danny knelt next to him, pressing his hand to the wound.

  “Come on, Aiden, we’re almost there. Help me get you into the van. Then I can tend to your shoulder. You’re going to be fine. We just need to get to safety and get some pressure on that wound.”

  Aiden groaned in pain, but he tried to push himself to his feet. A bullet slammed into the side of the van above their heads. Danny threw himself over Aiden, flattening them both to the ground. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Melissa walking toward them, firing her weapon. She aimed straight at Danny and Aiden but didn’t seem to care who she hit in her march through the chaos. Shit. Danny snatched the keys from Aiden’s hand even as he searched for a weapon. Nothing. All of the guns were back in the middle of the field, scattered among the bodies of the dead and unconscious.

  “Kier!” he shouted, then covered his head with his arms even as he blanketed Aiden’s back.

  Alex shouted her brother’s name a second before a huge explosion rocked the ground. The top floor of the compound erupted. Chunks of building went flying high into the air and rained down on them as a large section of wall tumbled down to land on most of the combatants. A wave of hot air slammed into Danny, followed by tiny bits of cement and glass that pelted him, leaving bruises and abrasions in their wake. The noise seemed to go on forever before giving way to silence and stillness.

  Danny lifted his head, throat closing. He forced himself to turn his head toward the disaster. He sucked in a long slow breath, then opened his eyes. He clapped a hand to his mouth to keep from getting sick. Flames still danced in the upper level of the building, which looked as though something had taken a bite out of it with long, sharp teeth. Embers floated up into the sky and drifted down toward them. The field, once the scene of a fierce battle, now contained piles of rubble, twisted metal, and other burned debris. Nothing stirred. Nothing made a sound.

  He eased himself off Aiden, then laid a hand on his back.

  Aiden turned his head and glanced up at him.

  “Oh, thank God. Are you okay?”

  He nodded. “I’m fine. What about the others? Where’s Alex?”

  “Take a look.” Danny gestured to the disaster area behind them.

  Aiden’s eyes went wide, and he pushed to his feet with a wince.

  “Careful. Your shoulder?”

  “The shoulder’s still sore, but the bleeding has slowed. Regardless, we’ve got work to do.”

  The two started toward the debris field. “Alex! Kier!”

  Again, silence greeted them.

  “Where’s the last place you saw them before the explosion?”

  “I think I saw Kier over there.” Danny pointed to a spot in the middle of the grounds and rushed for it, calling for Kier as he ran.

  When Danny reached his destination, he looked around for any sign of Kier but found nothing. He started grabbing chunks of rock and heaving them aside, determined to clear the whole damn area of every piece of wreckage if that’s what it took.

  A section of the rock started moving. Danny rushed toward it, but before he got there, a piece of Sheetrock flipped over, freeing the person beneath. Kier rose to his feet, brushing the dust and dirt off himself. Tears burned in Danny’s eyes at the sight of the man he cared so much about standing before him alive, if battered. He rushed to him and flung his arms around him, burying his face in Kier’s shoulder.

  “Oh God. I was so scared.”

  Kier squeezed him back. “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not fine.” Danny ran his hands over Kier, assessing every cut and bruise.

  “Then let’s say I was lucky. No major injuries. I was more concerned about you. When I saw her shooting at you— Did you get hit?” Kier cupped Danny’s face.

  “I’m fine. Aiden was shot in the shoulder, but he’s healing already. We need to find Alex and get the hell out of here.”

  Danny held him tight once more, then stepped away and turned to seek out Aiden.

  “Get this fucking thing off me,” Alex groused from under a mound of crumbled cinder block. Aiden rushed to her and helped clear the rubble off her. “That bitch shot me. Is she in here somewhere? Because I’d like to dig her up and kick her ass. Ow. Fuck!” She almost collapsed when she took her first step.

  Kier and Danny rushed over. Aiden caught his sister around the waist. “What’s wrong?” He looked her over, searching for obvious injury.

  “I hurt my damn knee and ankle when the building landed on me.”

  Kier took Alex’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Aiden hugged her until she started grumbling and complaining.

  After a few more minutes of digging, they located Rogan still unconscious with a trail of blood oozing from somewhere in his dark hair and his arm lying at an unnatural angle. “We need to get him to a hospital. Rogan put himself on the line for us. We all own him more than one,” Kier said.

  They located a long flat piece of wood and eased Rogan onto it. Then, being as gentle as possible, they picked their way across the carnage to their van, carrying Rogan on the makeshift
stretcher.

  “Let’s get out of here. Someone call Sharon and tell her she’s about to get very busy. First stop, though, St. Michael’s ER.” Kier eased Rogan down on the rear bench seat, and everyone else piled in after.

  Danny scanned the field, looking for other signs of life. “Did anyone see what happened to Melissa?”

  “I lost track of her when the building blew. I’m assuming she’s still in that field under a mountain of rock and metal.”

  “If she is, getting crushed by her own building couldn’t have happened to a better person.”

  WARM WATER poured over Danny’s head as he stood in the shower in Dr. Sharon’s guest bedroom. They’d shown up at her house a bit before sunrise. The poor woman had been at a loss for words after they’d shared the story of the events of the last forty-eight hours. As they’d related their tale to her, she’d seen to their injuries and found places for all of them to sleep. Aiden got the brunt of her attention after everything he’d gone through, much to his chagrin.

  After a cursory examination, Danny insisted on a shower before she started poking and prodding him again. The weird side effects of whatever Lydecker had injected into him had subsided by the time they got to Sharon’s house, so he’d convinced her that he needed to wash off the blood, grime, and terror of the last day before he could be a cooperative patient. Even more, he needed to steam away the fear of the last week, the attack, being wanted by Purity, all of it. With the death of Dr. Lydecker and the destruction of his notes and samples, the target on his back lessened. But it didn’t solve everything. He still needed answers about his blood anomaly and what additional damage, if any, Lydecker’s injection caused. Then there was Melissa Moran. No telling if she’d survived the explosion at Purity or not. The thought that she could still be out there somewhere had his stomach clenching. He braced his hands against the tile wall and just breathed. God, he wanted to sleep for a week.

  The glass door to the shower stall opened, and warm strong arms wrapped around him. Danny leaned back onto Kier’s embrace.