Vivi Anna - [Valorian Chronicles 04]

by The Vampire's Quest

  “Yeah, I just came to talk to my old mate Kellen here. We have a lot to discuss. Old times to go over.” He shifted in his seat, trying to reach in his right coat pocket with his left hand. He looked at Kellen. “Do me a favor, mate, reach in and get my pack of ciggies.”

  As Kellen leaned forward, he eyed the rig around Louis’s torso. It looked like four pounds of C-4 explosives fastened to Velcro straps and wrapped in three thick strips around his chest and stomach. Glancing at the wires, he tried to figure out what was attached to what, but he didn’t have enough time to gauge it. He wasn’t quick enough to pull them all before Louis pressed the detonator.

  Louis grinned as Kellen slid his hand into the man’s pocket. “Sorry, Kellen, I made sure there was no way you could disarm me. I know how fast you are. But it won’t be enough.”

  Kellen grasped the pack of cigarettes and took them out, along with a Zippo lighter. He shook one out for Louis. “Hey, you can’t blame me for looking. I really don’t want to die today.”

  Louis took the offered smoke and put it in his mouth. Kellen lit the cigarette and sat back.

  He blew out a couple of smoke rings. “Yeah, but you’re going to soon enough. The good doctor made sure of that.”

  “I heard he was working on a cure.”

  “He was. He and a Chinese doctor named Shen Li were close to the answers when Brenner pulled the plug on their research, taking what he could and leaving Li with nothing.” Leaning his head back on the sofa, he blew some more smoke rings, then continued, “Brenner realized there was too much money to be made by treating Sangcerritus than in curing it.”

  “Is that why you killed him?”

  Louis nodded and took another drag on his cigarette. “I went to him before and begged him to continue with the research. I told him I knew about the experiments he did on us in the war. How he was trying to make super soldiers, but instead gave us this disease. He just patted me on the head and told me to be a good boy and keep my mouth shut.”

  “What about this other doctor? Was he involved in the initial tests in Vietnam?”

  Louis shook his head. “Nah, Dr. Li’s too young to have been in Vietnam.”

  Kellen could just imagine how furious Louis must have been to know that Brenner purposely injected something into them without their knowledge, and inadvertently gave them a lethal disease—and then tried to profit from it in the end. Kellen was shaking with fury now, as he heard all that he suspected being spelled out for him.

  “Why didn’t you expose him?”

  He shrugged. “I was going to, but killing him seemed like a much better plan.”

  “You killed three other people.”

  “I know. That was a bugger.” He flicked his cigarette butt on the floor and ground it out under his boot heel. Shifting again, he reached into his left jacket pocket and came away with something. He tossed it to Kellen.

  It was a small key.

  “That’s to a safety deposit box downtown in the main Nouveau Monde Bank of Europe. You’ll find all your answers there, mate.”

  Kellen glanced down at the key, then back at Louis. Something had changed in the vampire. A kind of peace had settled over him. He didn’t like what it could mean. “What about you? We can find this cure together. It doesn’t have to end badly.”

  He smiled again. “You’re an optimist, Kellen. That’s a rare find in a vampire.”

  “I know the superintendent. I can talk to him about reducing your sentence. You’re a vampire. A life sentence is what, forty years? You can still have a long life ahead of you, Louis.”

  Louis glanced at the two officers. “Look at him, lads, trying desperately to save my life. You’re a good chap, Kellen.” His gaze returned to Kellen. “Tell you what—I’ll let you be a hero for your lady. You can save some lives.” Reaching with his left hand, he pulled two wires out of the detonator strapped to his hand. He unwrapped the trigger and tossed it to Kellen.

  Unbelieving, Kellen looked down at the detonator in his hand. Squeezing it tight, he glanced up at Louis. Something was wrong. The man would never have walked in here dressed literally to kill, then give up. It didn’t make any sense.

  He met Louis’s gaze and it became clear. Except it was too late to do anything about it.

  Faster than he could blink, Louis reached across the sofa, unsnapped and unholstered the officer’s gun and pressed the muzzle under his chin, angled at his head. He smiled again at Kellen. “You can save lives. All of them but mine.”

  Yelling, Kellen leaped toward the sofa, intent on grabbing the gun. But he wasn’t fast enough.

  The blast of the gunshot echoed in his head.

  It was a sound he would never forget.

  Chapter 26

  When Sophie heard the sound of a gunshot, she thought her heart had actually imploded. A pain so sharp, so intense, ripped through her that she found her legs wobbling like jelly when she ran down the hall to the door separating the lab and the lobby.

  The lock didn’t keep her from the room.

  She grabbed the handle tight and twisted, snapping the entire locking mechanism and yanking it off the door. She was racing across the lobby floor before anyone else had reacted. The bomb squad tried to evacuate her earlier with the rest of the team, but she had refused to go. After one of them received a solid punch to the jaw, no one else bothered to reason with her.

  When she spotted Kellen across the room, blood splattered over his face and T-shirt, she nearly went down to her knees. But after another perusal of the scene, she noticed Louis Martin slumped on the sofa. Obviously the blood didn’t belong to Kellen.

  As she threw herself into his arms, relief surged through her like a tsunami. Tears trickled down her cheeks. He hugged her tight and pressed his lips to her temple, drinking her in.

  “Please don’t do that to me again,” she breathed, digging her fingers into his back, too scared to let go of him.

  He smoothed a hand over her hair and murmured into her ear, “I promise I won’t meet up with another man with explosives taped to his body and a death wish.” He pressed his lips to the sensitive spot just below her earlobe.

  She sighed and hugged him tighter. When she had escorted Charlotte out of the lobby, Sophie didn’t know if she’d see Kellen alive again. Standing in the background, not knowing what was going on, was the hardest time she’d ever experienced in her life.

  The thoughts that had raced through her mind had been staggering, nearly immobilizing. All she could picture was another bomb going off and Kellen being ripped to pieces by the debris—and her left with only pieces to put back together.

  “Oh God, Kellen, I thought I lost you.”

  Leaning back, he cupped her face with his hands and looked deeply in her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, Sophie. For as long as you want me, I’m here.”

  “I want you for a long time.”

  “Then no matter what, I’ll always come back to you, my Sophie.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

  She smiled and, cupping the back of his neck, pulled him down to her mouth. She kissed him long and hard until her toes curled and her thighs tingled. It was a good kiss. A kiss full of possibilities.

  The rest of the team arrived and they worked the crime scene. Statements were taken from Kellen and the two stunned officers. The coroner had come and gone, the obvious manner of death listed as a suicide.

  It had seemed surreal to Sophie to have it end this way, with Louis’s death. But the case was closed. They had their bomber. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel like the resolution had been a win. Louis had been a victim, too. How would he be vindicated?

  An hour later, Sophie and Kellen stood in the lobby of the Nouveau Monde Bank of Europe talking to the manager about a safety deposit box. He led them to the private room, left, and then came back with the steel box. He set it on the table in front of them and left again.

  Kellen opened it with the key. Inside were several file folders full of information. He took them out and flipped thr
ough the pages. Sophie saw pictures, charts, reports and handwritten notes.

  “Where did he get all this?”

  “I think most of this is the doctor’s research notes. This is what he got from the doctor’s second apartment. That’s where he was doing all his research.”

  She wrapped her arm around his waist and hugged him. “This is great. All of this can help you find a cure.”

  He nodded, but his attention was on the research papers. “I guess there’s a doctor in China who was working on the cure with Dr. Brenner.” He pointed to some information written on a page. “Here it is, Dr. Shen Li. I can take all of this to him. He can continue with it.”

  “That’s fantastic, Kellen. I’m so happy for you.”

  Setting the folder down, he gathered her in his arms and hugged her tight, lifting her off the floor. “I finally feel like there’s some hope. I can finally get on with my life.”

  She hugged him back and, smiling, gave him a smacking kiss on the mouth. But she didn’t feel the joy behind it. A feeling of uncertainty fluttered in her stomach. She was overjoyed for Kellen, but somehow she thought that his search for a cure would ultimately lead him away from her. It was a selfish thought, but she couldn’t stop it from setting up camp in her head.

  She had just found him, the man she’d been searching for, and she wasn’t ready to give him up.

  When they returned to the lab, Sophie allowed Kellen his space and privacy to go through the files. For the next three hours, he poured over the information in the file folders from the safety deposit box. All the experiments conducted in Vietnam were noted in detail by living subject. His file just happened to be the thickest and the most up-to-date.

  Brenner had been keeping tabs on Kellen since his honorable discharge from the army. There were pictures of Kellen over the years, a copy of his application to the OCU and medical records from his doctor in Necropolis. It appeared that he was the last test subject to be diagnosed with Sangcerritus. His immune system seemed to be the strongest. But it eventually would fail, as did all the others.

  All the test subjects—over one hundred of them—had been administered the experimental serum through the hepatitis vaccination by an unassuming administrator, a pretty nurse, in his case. Because vampires were already stronger, faster and didn’t get killed easily, the serum was supposed to increase all of that, plus mental alertness and healing capabilities. With those heightened traits, a soldier could go on longer without sleep, be stronger and faster in the field and not wound so easily…a super soldier.

  The doctor naturally didn’t account for long-range side effects, or just didn’t care. Vampires, after all, have stronger constitutions, and soldiers can be replaced.

  Kellen hoped that Dr. Shen Li didn’t share that attitude. The Chinese doctor was Kellen’s last and only hope to be cured. He had done some checking on the Internet and located the doctor in Shanghai. But he had yet to call him. For some reason, Kellen was afraid to phone.

  What if Dr. Shen Li didn’t want to, or couldn’t, help Kellen? What if he didn’t make it to Shanghai in time?

  That was the one idea that frightened him the most. Time. What if it had already run out?

  Rubbing a hand over his face, he closed the file in front of him and leaned back in the chair to stretch. The past twelve hours had been harrowing to say the least. Watching Louis die had been tragic and unnecessary. Louis could have been saved, but he had lost all hope for his future. A hope for something better.

  And maybe if Sophie hadn’t come into his life when she did, Kellen would have felt the same way.

  He had been traveling on a road of self-destruction. It was just a matter of where he would have met his end. But now he didn’t have any desire to stop searching and give up. Sophie had given him meaning and a purpose.

  Just thinking about her made his gut clench.

  Glancing at the wall clock, he decided it was high time for a break, and if he had his way, it would be with a pleasant distraction, like a pretty lycan with icy blue eyes. He picked up the phone on the desk, intent on calling Sophie’s cell phone, when Olena strode into the room in a whirlwind of energy.

  “Get on your dancing shoes, Kellen, we’re going out tonight.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I already talked to Sophie about it. She’s up for a little fun.”

  “Really?”

  She put her hand on her hip. He was starting to realize it was a typical Olena tactic. “Don’t be a party pooper. Besides, it’s my birthday. It’s not every day a girl celebrates her two hundred and seventy-seven…ish birthday.”

  He chuckled. “You’re right. That is a milestone.”

  “Anyway, you can have fun thoroughly intimidating my date.”

  “Who’s the lucky guy?”

  “François.”

  Kellen nearly sputtered. “You’re going out with Frank? Is he even legal?”

  She pouted. “Of course. He’s a respectable twenty-one. What can I say? I like my men young.”

  Shaking his head, Kellen stood. “Okay, cougar, let’s go have some fun.”

  Olena’s idea of fun truly did involve dancing shoes.

  She’d booked the four of them a table at a popular salsa club downtown called Casa de Musica, the Music House. It was packed and noisy, and Kellen loved it. Especially with Sophie at his side.

  As they all stuffed themselves with great, Cuban-influenced cuisine, they talked and laughed like old friends. Frank was surprisingly witty and full of charm. Kellen’s fondness for him grew throughout the evening, especially with the way he catered to Olena. The boy witch was definitely smitten with the vampiress.

  And the boy had moves out on the dance floor.

  Grabbing his hand, Sophie snuggled next to him as they watched Frank and Olena spin and shimmy around the room. “Who knew that François could dance?”

  “I would never have guessed,” Kellen chuckled, then turned to her. “Care to give them a run for their money?”

  Her eyes widened. “I thought you didn’t dance?”

  “I don’t usually, but that doesn’t mean I can’t dance.” Standing, he pulled her to her feet and spun her around once. “I can be pretty light on my feet when I want to be.”

  He guided her onto the dance floor, pressing a hand to the small of her back and holding her other hand up and to the side. The short wha-wha of a saxophone and the one-two thump of bass started the next song—a mambo.

  Quick-quick-slow, Kellen moved Sophie around the floor to the sensual beat. He pressed her close to his body as he moved his hips with the swift motion enunciated in the traditional mambo dance.

  He could feel the change in her breathing patterns as they danced. Her heart rate went up as he moved his hand up and down her back. Dancing was an aphrodisiac, and they were both feeling the effects. He wondered how soon they could part company with Olena and Frank and make their way back to Sophie’s for more body language.

  “You definitely have the moves, Kellen Falcon.”

  He grinned, reveling in the way her body brushed against his. He was growing hard just by having her so near. She made him feel like a damn teenager, with an out-of-control libido. A feeling he could get used to—easily.

  “I spent some time in Cuba.” He spun her once, then back. “Wasn’t much to do but drink and dance.”

  She laughed as he, pressing close, spun them around in a circle. “There’s so much about you I don’t know.”

  Brushing his lips against her temple, he murmured, “You know what matters.”

  She sighed as he ran his hand down the swell of her buttocks to the back of her thigh, and slowly raised her leg to his waist. Cupping her back with his hands, he bent her at the waist, dipping her low, his mouth a breath away from her breasts. The movement was torturously slow, and he found his own heart racing.

  He brought her up quickly, so they were face-to-face. Her eyes were wide, her lips parted. Keeping her gaze, Kellen brushed his lips against hers. He’d neve
r grow tired of seeing the spark in her eyes. She was breathtaking; and he was lost to her. He needed to tell her before he misplaced his nerve.

  “Sophie,” he breathed. “I—”

  She pressed her fingers against his lips and smiled. “It will keep, Kellen. If you feel so strongly tomorrow, tell me then. Tonight, I just want to dance.”

  Cupping her face, Kellen took her mouth in a hard, passionate embrace. The kiss made his knees weak and his gut churn, as if a thousand butterflies had set up camp. He could feast on her forever, glorying in the taste of her. The thought of forever didn’t scare him any longer. He had to tell her, it couldn’t wait until tomorrow.

  A tap on his shoulder gave him pause.

  Hands still wrapped around Sophie, Kellen turned in surprise. Duncan Quinn stood, hands fisted at his sides, glaring at them both.

  “You and me have a little business to settle.”

  He could feel Sophie tense in his embrace. To effectively block her from Duncan, Kellen moved forward, linking a hand with hers.

  “This is not the time or place, Duncan,” Sophie said.

  “I’m not talking to you, woman. I’m talking to your filthy vamp boyfriend.”

  A few dancers on the floor stopped to watch what was going on. Including Olena and François.

  “Why are you not dancing?” Olena asked, her voice friendly, but Kellen sensed a change in her demeanor. She was as on edge as he was.

  “Mr. Quinn here seems to have a problem.”

  Sophie moved past Kellen before he could stop her, and got in Duncan’s face. “I suggest you leave now, Duncan, or I’ll inform Leon about your behavior.”

  He smiled at her, but it wasn’t friendly. It was a predator’s grin. “Leon’s on my side with this. He doesn’t want that bloodsucker anywhere near you.”

  Moving so quick he was blurred, Kellen had Sophie tucked behind him and he stood toe-to-toe with Duncan, releasing some of his power. Duncan shrunk back a little at Kellen’s burst of energy.

  “You know I can kill you in a blink of an eye, don’t you?”