Grave New Day

by Lina Gardiner

  James looked torn as to whether he should attack or run. Blood had dried in lines down his face. He’d bitten someone recently.

  “Regent isn’t in the city,” Britt said, matter-of-factly.

  “What? How the hell do you know that?” Was he delusional?

  Britt shrugged. “Not sure, but I think I’m right.”

  Jess cursed under her breath, her stance wary as she monitored James. For an instant she considered phoning Regent to verify what Britt had just said. She even snatched her cell phone off her hip, but then she shoved it back into its holster. Not the right time.

  With Britt’s odd announcement about Regent, she had taken her eyes off James for a second and that was all he needed.

  Britt saw what was coming before Jess did. James’s newly evil, obsidian eyes glittered while his mouth turned angry. He whipped a huge spike from beneath his tattered jacket and dove at Jess, the spike aimed perfectly at her heart.

  Britt’s muscles contracted instantly and he dove in front of Jess. Being fractionally closer to her gave him a tiny advantage.

  The spike drove through his rib cage with a crunch while he was still in midair. He grunted and dropped to the ground with a dull, heavy weight grinding through his chest. If his breathing was any indication, his lung had been pierced. He took another breath and heard a gurgling sound deep inside.

  A quick look down confirmed his suspicion. Blood bubbles worked their way out and around the metal spike buried deep into him. Damn.

  “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” Jess screamed.

  Britt felt the cool touch of her fingers against his carotid artery. He felt himself wavering between consciousness and unconsciousness.

  The last thing he remembered seeing was Jess attacking James with all the fire of the dark demon inside her.

  Then everything went black.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Eleven

  Jess opened the door to Regent’s SUV and grabbed James by the scruff of his neck. She’d bound his wrists with metal wire that had been blessed by Regent. Regent always kept it in the back of his SUV just in case. It wasn’t the most potent of weapons, but it did the job when necessary.

  She’d phoned ahead and Sampson waited for her at the main door of the chemical building where she rented a sublevel as her base of operations. The place where Sampson performed autopsies. She also had a series of holding cells for vampires who were taken alive. Something that pleased Dr. Sampson Case to no end. She might work for the police force, but they didn’t have the resources to deal with living vampires and were quite happy to let her handle their containment. She got James downstairs and shoved him into a holding cell near the autopsy room. Livid that he’d injured Britt so badly, she’d been rougher with him than she might have been otherwise. At least he would heal, whereas Britt might not.

  In a hurry to meet her outside, Sampson still wore goggles and the front of his plastic apron was spattered with remnants of dead vampire. Dried, desiccated bits of flesh that sometimes flew off when he used the saw.

  Old vampires turned to dust when they were killed. Occasionally a younger vampire evaporated the same way, in which case, she figured they had to be an old soul. But most vampires in North America left a corpse that had to be handled by the cops—and they always ended up here for research. Something that pleased Sampson. He worked for her, not the police force, and his main goal was to find a cure for vampirism. In any case, he was a brilliant man who’d come up with some amazing solutions to problems, even if he hadn’t yet found a cure—and probably never would.

  She got James into the cell and turned to Sampson. “Hurry! Britt’s in the SUV.”

  It must’ve been the tone in her voice that tipped Sampson off to Britt’s serious condition. He instantly pulled off his goggles and tossed them aside. “Let’s get out there.”

  “He looks bad, Sampson. James drove a spike into his chest. I’m afraid no human can survive an injury like that.”

  On a dead run and slightly out of breath, he said, “If my calculations are correct, he’s not fully human any more. Did you remove the stake?”

  “No. Should I have?”

  “No. Leaving it in is good. If it severed an artery or hit a major organ, it could be sealing the wound until I can stitch him up.”

  To their surprise, Britt sat slumped sideways in the front seat. His door was open and one leg was out. He was trying to get out of the vehicle by himself.

  Usually the epitome of cool and calm, Sampson gasped when he saw the oversized spike stuck in his chest. “John Brittain, you’ve got more strength than anyone anticipated,” Sampson said, grabbing his hand and feeling the pulse at his wrist.

  “Do you think you can get inside under your own steam?”

  “Of course he can’t,” Jess said. “But I can help him.”

  Britt’s eyes fluttered and he smiled. “I don’t think even you, with all your strength, can carry me. I outweigh you by at least eighty pounds.”

  “Shit, Brittain, you really don’t remember everything about me yet, do you? I’m more than capable.” Even so, she respected his need to retain his dignity. Some men couldn’t stand the thought of being carried by a woman. She had a feeling Britt would be one of those men.

  He groaned when he forced himself out of the vehicle.

  Instantly, she slid under his arm and supported him. He didn’t argue.

  The spike impaling his chest looked massive. He should be dead.

  Most of the time he managed under his own steam, but occasionally he slumped against her, his breathing rough and thready.

  In the elevator he leaned against the glassed walls and closed his eyes. Jess stared at the metal protruding from his chest and tried not to panic. The elevator door opened, and Britt half staggered and was half dragged by Jess to the first door on the right. A little further down the hall on the left, James screamed like a raving madman in his cell.

  Inside the morgue, hunched over in pain and breathing hard, Britt looked around the room. “You want me to lay down where? On that slab? You’re kidding, right?”

  Jess sighed. He might not have even remembered it was an autopsy room if there hadn’t been a desiccated body on a gurney in the middle of the room.

  “Is my injury so bad I need to be here?”

  Her blood ran cold. Yes! “Sampson knows about your irregular DNA, and he’s the best of the best. He was a surgeon before he became a forensic vampirologist, so he’ll be able to help you.” Dear God, let that be true!

  Britt grunted when she helped him lie on the table. “Ouch.” He moaned and rolled onto his side at an angle that apparently was less painful.

  Meanwhile, Sampson had ducked into his office the minute Britt was on the table.

  “Sampson! Get your ass back in here,” she shouted. She could hear him muttering to himself in his office.

  “Just gathering the necessary tools, Jess. I’ll be a minute.”

  A minute that felt like hours.

  Still talking beneath his breath, Sampson zipped back into the lab, arms loaded with bandages and an IV bag and tubing. He laid the paraphernalia on a gurney and wheeled it close to Britt, then leaned over his miraculously still-conscious patient.

  “Still awake, Britt?” he asked in a soothing voice, while gently cutting away the torn fabric of Britt’s shirt to get a better look at the offending weapon.

  “Barely,” Britt gasped. He sounded like he needed air.

  Jess hovered near his head.

  Still bent over Britt, Sampson looked at up her with worry in his eyes. “Hold it together, girl.”

  She swallowed. Knew her VNA was rising. She’d be no help to Sampson if she turned right now. She paced to the corner and phoned her brother. He could always talk her down, even on the phone.

  “Father Vandermire speaking.”

  “Regent, where are you? Britt’s been hurt and …”

  “I’m sorry Mrs. Portman, I’m not in the country right now. You’ll
have to wait until I come back to continue with your catechism lessons.” His voice was strained, but hearing it soothed her a little. His voice alone could do that.

  “What the hell are you talking about, baby brother?”

  “Yes, that’s right. Church business. I’m attending an audience with the Vice-Cardinal. I’m in Rome.”

  “Rome!” Her mouth flew open. Then she snapped it shut and asked, “How could you leave the country without telling me first?”

  “It happened so quickly I didn’t have time to change my appointments,” he said. He obviously didn’t want anyone to know who he was talking to. “After today, I won’t have access to my cell phone either. I hope you and little Johnny can hold on until I get back, Mrs. Portman?”

  “They’re monitoring your calls?”

  “Maybe. I’m not really sure when it’ll be. I’ll contact you as soon as I get back. Good-bye.”

  She stared at her cell phone. Britt had been right when he said Regent wasn’t in town, but how could he possibly have known?

  “Jess come talk to me,” Britt grunted. “There’s a stool right here at the head of the table. If you sit there you won’t be in Sampson’s way.”

  “How can you even talk with that spike sticking in you?”

  James’s piercing shrieks from down the hall proved nearly more distracting on her frayed nerves than she could handle. She was going to lose Britt again, and she hadn’t even accepted him as the man she’d sworn to love and protect forever.

  She’d failed him again. Acid swirled through her veins.

  Shoving the stool close to the table, she sat next to him and stroked his hair. She fought her vampirism with everything inside her, until suddenly she felt his hand on hers. He’d reached one arm over his head and gently squeezed her hand. Even in his mortally wounded state, his concern was for her. He wanted to calm her.

  Her tear ducts felt like they’d suddenly become clogged and she blinked several time to offset the impending dam burst. She had to be strong—for Britt.

  Sampson slowly cut off Britt’s shirt and carefully examined the wound. He shook his head and said something under his breath. It sounded very much like a curse word Sampson never used.

  “Pardon?” she said.

  His eyes were troubled. “I don’t see how I can get the stake out without severely damaging him. In fact, I don’t even see how it’s possible that he can talk to us right now.”

  Jess felt the ground beneath her dissolve and fall away. She bit her lip until it dripped blood.

  Britt only had eyes for her. He gave her a small smile and nodded. She knew he was acquiescing to his death—the second time. He’d saved her life again.

  “No. Britt, this can’t happen. You can’t come back to me only to die again.” Was this her punishment for not welcoming him back into her life? She’d been too suspicious.

  “What if we take him to the hospital, Sampson? I know an amazing surgeon,” she said.

  Sampson touched her shoulder and shook his head, then turned to Britt. “I’m sorry, Britt. This stake is too invasive. You can’t survive its removal. No surgeon, no matter how skilled, will be able to help you.”

  “I don’t mean to contradict you, Dr. Case, but I have the feeling Britt is going to be fine,” a voice said from the doorway.

  Jess gasped at the sight of the man who stood in the doorway of the lab. No one should have been able to access this lab without their permission.

  Sampson ran a hand over his bald head and stared numbly at the man. “Who are you? And how did you get into our lab? We have NASA grade security.”

  The man stepped into the room, and the moment the florescent light hit his face, Jess jumped off her chair. It was the man from the cemetery!

  He smiled at her briefly then turned his attention to Britt. He stood at least six foot six, his blond hair and stunning blue eyes looked so serene, so confident, that Jess almost believed him. Hell! She wanted to believe him.

  “I walked in behind you when you were preoccupied with Britt’s injury.”

  Jess glanced at Britt. Sweat glistened on his forehead and his eyes looked tired. Was this it? Was he dying?

  Jess turned away from the stranger and threw her arms around Britt’s neck, careful not to touch his upper torso. “I’m sorry I didn’t accept you when you came back. I was afraid of … of so many things.”

  “Jess, you know how I feel about you,” his voice was weak. “I love you.”

  From the corner of her eye, Jess noticed that Sampson had slowly worked his way toward the phone in the corner. No doubt going to call the Black Ops unit.

  The tall man raised his hand toward Sampson and said, “Don’t bother, the phone won’t work.”

  It was crazy, but just like the time in the cemetery, there were no danger vibes emanating from him. Besides, all she cared about was Britt.

  The man, who’d said his name was Zeke when she met him in the cemetery, took off his dark blue silk jacket and draped it over a metal stool, then loosened his tie. “I’m more than capable of helping Britt. In fact, this is a perfect place for me to perform surgery and stitch him back up.”

  Jess glanced around the room at the desiccated remains of the rotting corpse and knew that statement couldn’t be farther from the truth. Talk about an unsafe environment for surgical procedures.

  Regardless, Zeke prepared to do just that. He picked up a scalpel in one hand, touched Britt’s bare chest with his other hand, and was about to cut into him!

  “Wait a minute. You can’t do that without giving him anesthesia.” Sampson jerked forward, but then he stopped in his tracks. For a second he looked confused. Sampson had never had a confused moment in his life, as far as Jess knew.

  “I’m capable of performing this surgery. I promise Britt won’t feel a thing.” He bent over Britt again, said something under his breath and Britt’s eyes closed, as if he had suddenly fallen asleep. Or worse.

  Jess couldn’t believe her feet felt like they were Super glued to the floor. She wanted to fly across the room and rip out Zeke’s blond hair.

  As if he understood her emotions, he tipped his head toward her. “I promise you, I am the best person for this job. I brought him back from near death once already. Surely you believe that now.”

  “Near death, my ass,” Sampson said. “He was as dead as it gets.”

  A blur of movement and Jess stood next to Sampson. She touched his arm to calm him. If it was true that this man had already saved Britt, something that Sampson had believed impossible, then she was willing for him to do it again. Whatever it took.

  He seemed to read her mind because he said, “Good. Now, I work better alone. Please wait outside.” He looked at his watch. “Even better, I’ve given your vampire down the hall a truth serum. It should be working just about now. It’ll give him the ability to tell you what happened to him without having his mind clouded by the disease infesting his soul. But you have a very short window of time to talk to him. Maybe you can find out where is wife and child are. Time is fleeting, so don’t waste it. In the meantime, I’ll tend to John Brittain. He’s not going to die today.”

  “No way he could’ve gotten past the door without us seeing him,” Sampson said.

  “We were focused on Britt,” Jess said weakly. She didn’t believe it either.

  Jess stared again at Britt’s horrifically impaled chest. For all she knew he could already be dead rather than resting.

  Without justification, without really even knowing how the stranger had gotten past them and down the hallway to the holding cell, she began to think it was true that she could get information from James. Since time was limited, she had to try.

  She blinked. Wait … that’s not what she wanted to do. Even if there was nothing she could do for Britt right now, she wanted to stay with him. Be by his side.

  “Go quickly,” the stranger named Zeke said, and she and Sampson simply left without question.

  “What’s going on, Sampson?” she aske
d, feeling confused as they walked toward James’s cell.

  “I don’t know, Jess, but that man must be a mesmerist. He seems to be able to make us do what he wants with very little effort.”

  “I’m a vampire, Sampson. A mere mesmerist couldn’t affect my mind. Not that easily.”

  He pursed his lips and his glasses moved behind his ears while his bald head wrinkled in strange places.

  “Do you think there could possibly be a drug that could help James tell us where Terry and Sephina are?”

  “No. I think he was trying to get rid of us. But since his plan worked so well and we’re out in the hall like a couple of pawns, we might as well try to talk to James. Just in case.”

  They’d recently revamped the cells. Three of the walls of the holding cell were copper lined with silver fiber, and the main entrance wall consisted of solid Plexiglas with reinforced mesh that made it impossible for vampires to escape. A strip of holes drilled into the plastic made discussion possible. No way could that stranger have even gotten close enough to James to give him a serum.

  James sat on the cot in the room with his head in his hands.

  Admittedly, that in itself was unusual. He should be violent right now, like he’d been moments ago. Wild vampires couldn’t stand being locked up.

  “James?” Sampson said. “Can you tell us where Terry and Sephina are?”

  James lifted his head and his blood-red eyes showed signed of wetness. Tears streaked down his face. “I killed a man. A human. I’ve destroyed any chance to have a life. I’m turning into a vampire with no soul, no humanity. I did it to save Terry and Sephina, and still I lost them.” He jumped toward the Plexiglas making Sampson jump back.

  James’s claws scraped along the insides of the thick plastic, causing high pitched scratching sounds. “Jess, you have to save them. I promised I’d keep her safe if she married me. This can’t happen to her!”

  “Where are they, James?” She asked, again feeling confused. There was no miracle drug that could turn a mad vampire lucid, even for a short time. So what had happened to make James so intelligible?