“What is it about the vampires that scares you?” I asked.
“Everything,” he said and shivered again. “Watching Vonn tear into that officer was gruesome. I can’t trust the vampires after seeing that… and their story seems too convenient. I know you don’t want to hear it, but what Director Sloane said made sense to me back at HQ.”
“What part of it made sense?” I asked, curious to see his perspective. “Grayson, keep in mind, he told you all this while torturing you guys.” I was biased when it came to defending the vampires, but I still didn’t find Alan’s story convincing from an objective standpoint. Grayson’s wounds had healed, but the aftereffects of torture could be strong and inspire feelings of sympathy with the torturers.
“Even with the beating,” Grayson stressed, “I think his point stands. The vampires could easily be manipulating us so they can feed without repercussion.”
“They’ve also saved us,” Louise reminded him softly. “Dorian could have just left us in those cells, Grayson, and they haven’t ever wanted to feed on us. If they're honest about their folklore, maybe they really believe they’re reforming bad souls.”
Grayson turned from her with a distrustful scowl. “Of course you would say that. You’re both vampire-lovers. You’re going to be biased.”
The comment struck me like cold water across the face. It angered me, but I couldn’t blame him for feeling that way. I had a connection with Dorian… and Louise, who was blushing, clearly had some sort of dynamic going on with Sike. I wasn’t sure what that would mean for them yet, but I wasn’t the only person who could see it.
“You jerks are upsetting the kids,” Roxy said loudly from the other side of the cavern. “In case you’ve forgotten, the sounds echo.” She stood, a vampire child clinging to her back.
My jaw dropped as the girl squealed with delight when Roxy bounced up and down.
The vampire woman next to Roxy gave her a grateful smile. She’d never given her name and often kept to herself, though she and Jeth spent a lot of time together with the children although, as far as I was aware, they weren’t a couple. This time she had stayed behind to take care of the children while Jeth had gone with Dorian, though it looked like right now she had some help. It was nice to see Roxy’s softer side.
If I can bring that softer side out one day, maybe we can fix our issues.
Roxy took off running, another vampire child hanging from her arms, sputtering and making airplane noises. The children dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Hart glowered at the scene from his dark corner, displeased by any bonding between vampires and humans. I was grateful that Oleah, at least, was absent. I turned back to Grayson. Vampire-lover or not, I still had my wits about me.
“I know you think I’m biased, but I don’t see any logic in the story Alan gave us. Why would the vampires destroy their own land to open up the tear? They seemed to be living and feeding quite happily in the Immortal Plane before that,” I pointed out and shook my head. “I don’t want to rehash old points, but if you want to talk about it, we can.”
Grayson pulled his arms tight over his chest and jerked his head to the side, silent. Louise frowned worriedly. Did he have an argument against my reasoning?
“I’m here for you if you need me,” I said. I couldn’t force him to talk to me. Maybe some time to cool off would make him more willing to discuss the situation.
I wandered over to the supply area with Bryce. He gave me a nod of acknowledgement as I approached. We stood in silence, surveying what we had left.
“Is it worth it to go scavenge the resort again?” I asked. Our food rations were low.
“Maybe,” Bryce said. “Let’s tell people to sweep farther inside the resort on their perimeter checks. We’ll look for Bureau soldiers and tins of food at the same time if we can.”
“More beans if we’re lucky,” I said, looking at our dwindling rations. “Have you ever been in a situation like this?”
The corner of Bryce’s lips raised. “Let’s just say I’m well acquainted with using bugs as a protein source, and I don’t recommend it.”
I mock-gagged, vowing to never ask him questions again. In truth, I’d hoped Bryce would share something deeper with me. He had years of experience with the Bureau under his belt… but he’d been quieter since we’d found Jim.
He must feel so betrayed and devastated. He had been with the Bureau longer than any of us.
My hope that the vampires would return by evening didn’t look like it would be fulfilled. The day reached late afternoon, and Louise and Colin prepared to set out for another check around the resort.
“Bring back any food you find,” Bryce said.
I grimaced. Anything that we hadn’t already found was likely not going to be worth finding.
Something crackled in the air, and my pulse shot up. There was no mistaking the sound of a comm going live.
A female voice rang out from Bryce’s comm. “Captain Bryce. This is Sterling from the CIA calling in.” Bryce snatched it up as the voice in his hand called out again. “I’ve received your message.”
Everyone in the room stopped whatever they were doing, all of us laser-focused on the conversation. The plan hadn’t failed! Was this good news? All I’d heard from those comms for the last few weeks seemed to be threats and new reasons to worry. I felt like I was dreaming.
“Captain Bryce speaking.”
Hearing him announce himself with his title reminded me how far we had come from our time in the Bureau. I felt the hairs on my neck stand up. This might be one of our last hopes to get outside help to deal with the Bureau. Even the vampire children in Roxy’s arms quieted, as though they could sense the adults’ concentration.
“Captain.” Sterling’s voice came in over the comm again. “Thank you for the message you left me the other day. I apologize that it’s taken time to get back to you. I have alerted my colleagues at the CIA to your concerns. We have reached out to the Bureau and initiated an investigation.”
I cheered inwardly. Great. But the cynical voice inside me—the one that had been developing since we’d been on the run—replied, How long will that take?
“The Bureau seemed surprised to be accused of torture and assured me nothing of the sort had transpired,” she said in a dry tone.
Was she skeptical? I couldn’t quite tell.
“But it’s my job to investigate all sides of the matter.”
All sides sounded like government agency code for I don’t believe you yet.
“What do you need, Agent Sterling?” Bryce asked, his voice incredibly polite, given the pressure. He was a true military professional, even while sporting that ridiculous ski resort sweatshirt and hat with fluffy pom-pom.
“I want to interview dissenters. Any person claiming to have been tortured is a person of interest to my investigation. I need testimonials from survivors.”
“We could provide that, but… when you say you want to consider all sides of the matter, does that mean you’re working closely with the Bureau on this?” Bryce asked.
Sterling paused. The line sparked with white noise. “Captain Bryce, I’m afraid you’ll have to trust that I know how to do my job. Government investigations are no cakewalk. I’m sure you understand. I can’t give preferential treatment to anyone. I can promise to listen to your soldiers, though.”
No mention of Alan. I leaned forward, trying to see if I could hear anything in the background. The crackle made it too difficult.
“Very well,” Bryce said. “What can you offer us?”
“I understand you may be hesitant to work with me,” Sterling assured him. “As a gesture of goodwill, I would like to inform you of something, Captain. The Bureau has narrowed down your location to a specific region. They believe you are in a region spanning from northeastern Utah, sections of Wyoming, and Colorado. Possibly Idaho. That’s all they told me.”
My stomach sank. They weren’t wrong. It would only be a matter of time before the Bureau tr
iangulated our position. Sterling was giving us a heads up, but it was also a warning of another kind: the Bureau had its sights on us.
“Given that your location is under wraps, I will need to invite your soldiers to a safe location in order to interview them,” Sterling explained.
“I will discuss it with the necessary parties,” Bryce replied. “Give me a location and a time. If we don’t show up, you have your answer.”
Agent Sterling rattled off an address. I quickly took it down on a spare piece of the paper we kept for kindling and chore lists.
“Let’s do this tonight,” Sterling said. “The sooner, the better, so we can get this ball rolling.”
Tonight? My eyebrows shot up as I looked at Bryce.
He rubbed his beard, reflecting. “Thank you, Agent Sterling.”
The comm went dead with a final crackle.
“A meeting with the CIA,” I said, shaking my head. “Tonight.” The suggestion felt ludicrous at the moment. “The vampires are gone. This is bad timing for us. The CIA reached out to the Bureau already. Doesn’t that give off weird vibes?”
Zach stood up, his limbs loose, his posture already appearing improved by the news. “It could be an opportunity. They reached out to Bryce! That’s a good sign, right?”
“She even disclosed that the Bureau was closing in on our location,” Bryce added hopefully. “She didn’t have to do that.”
A nervous sensation crawled over me. I crossed my arms, trying to calmly recall all Agent Sterling’s words. “True, but that information could’ve been shared solely to win our confidence. What if it ends up being a bad idea?” I argued. “I don’t like the fact that they reached out to the Bureau first. Wouldn’t it have been better to hear from the people who had been tortured before going to the accused?”
“They have to follow up with the Bureau,” Bryce said. “We accused an organization of torturing its own soldiers. Not to mention attempting a covert mission against a supposedly nonexistent vampiric presence. Although the Occult Bureau may operate covertly outside of the public eye, it is part of the agencies charged with keeping the country safe. The CIA would want to check in with them first.”
I swallowed my frustrated reply, knowing he had a point. Still, I was wary.
“Maybe the CIA will set things right in the Bureau,” Zach said hopefully. “They might be able to convince the board and Uncle Alan to back off their anti-vampire stance.”
“Director Sloane could potentially be punished for his plan for vampire genocide,” Bryce said in a neutral tone. “Yes, the Bureau was set up to exterminate vampires, but things changed when the board made a peace treaty with them for our trial at the facility, and it could be argued that the vampires haven’t broken that treaty outside the parameters of self-defense. They promised safety, at the very least, if the vampires abided by their rules, which they did beautifully. The vampires weren’t posing an active threat—on the contrary, they worked with law enforcement and saved countless human lives by banishing hundreds of redbills. Sloane appears to have no solid evidence to prove that would change, or he would’ve shown it to Lyra. Without solid evidence from him, a case could be made that the Bureau doesn’t have the authority to take that kind of action against innocent refugees, even if they are vampires. He could even face a prison sentence.”
In other words, he would be held accountable by someone at last. But will the CIA actually believe us?
I scanned the faces of those who had been tortured. Roxy, Louise, Colin, and Grayson had all been exemplary soldiers before the incident at HQ and the resulting skirmish in the Canyonlands. Their spotless records might count for something in a testimony. I chewed my bottom lip.
“I think it’s worth the risk,” Bryce said, his gaze holding mine. “I understand your fears, Lyra, but we potentially have a lot to gain from this. If we pass it up, then this opportunity won’t come again. If we could get the CIA on our side, the possibility of peaceful relations between vampires and humans could be in the cards.” Honesty poured from his face, then his expression hardened, becoming no less earnest but more painful. “And justice. For Jim and for any others the Bureau has mistreated, including us.”
Justice. Something I wanted too, a desire that had gnawed in the marrow of my bones as we hid out here, barely surviving. I sighed, knowing we had to chance it. “Fine, but we need to sort out logistics.”
I had wanted a distraction from my worry about the vampires, and now I had one. Over the course of the next hour, we formulated a plan.
There would be two teams. One, which I dubbed Team Negotiate in my head, would meet with the CIA at their appointed location. It would consist of Zach, Bryce, Louise, and Grayson. With two soldiers who had faced torture, it should be enough for the CIA to begin to form a case. I would have preferred for Zach to stay behind, but I couldn’t hold him back any longer. He’d been sitting on the sidelines for days and was desperate for some sort of positive action.
So that left Gina, Roxy, Colin, and me to stay behind and wait for the vampires to return and, if worst came to worst, protect the remaining vampire children, the elderly, and those unable to fight if the Bureau decided to creep up on us.
After hearing this leg of the plan verbalized, Hart stiffened with wounded pride from his place in the corner. From what I understood, he had never trained in combat and was far too weak to fight. But he could control the redbills.
“Hart,” I said, using his name for the first time, “we need your help guiding the birds.” I waved the paper on which I’d written down the meeting point in his direction. “Please escort the group there and back.”
His cold eyes stared at me, unimpressed. Without anyone else to back him up, though, he was in no position to argue. “Fine,” he said begrudgingly.
It was the first non-combative statement I’d heard from him. Good. Let’s try to keep it that way. “Thanks,” I replied, keeping my tone neutral.
I turned to Bryce and the others as they set off behind Hart to board their redbills. “Good luck,” I said. “And please be safe.”
I couldn’t handle another mission gone awry. I felt powerless staying behind, but it was necessary.
“Have faith in us,” Bryce said with a small smile. “We’ll be back before you know it. I’ll call on the comm when we have some news, so keep it switched on and tuned to our channel.”
I hoped it would be positive news, but the flame of skepticism still burned in my heart.
Team Negotiate left for their task. After an hour of stressed pacing, I resigned myself to the couch next to Gina. She’d grown tired of watching me walk around and advised me to sit. My legs buzzed from forced stillness. I needed to jump or run or fight someone. Electricity coursed through my nerves. We were taking a big risk here, and as much as it would be good to rest, my body wouldn’t let me forget who we were up against in the end.
“You’re going to run yourself into the ground,” Gina said, watching my knee bounce frenetically.
I sighed. She was right. “I feel bad about this,” I groaned. “It feels too vulnerable.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” Gina said dryly. “Things are hectic.” Her eyes were fixed on the empty entrance tunnel.
She was worried for Zach; I could tell. I hoped nothing would happen to aggravate his healing wound. I wrung my hands. I couldn’t handle him getting hurt anymore. I hated to see my brother in pain, and Zach brought qualities to the group that helped me focus on leading.
Colin was at the other end of the room, sitting peacefully. He was reading an old mystery novel scavenged from the ski resort. Maybe that wasn’t a bad idea. It was probably better to keep our minds off things…
I awoke sometime later to the sound of one of the vampire children erupting into giggles as Roxy made an ugly face at the kids. The fire burned brightly, and the stress-induced nap had eased some of my tension. I smiled to myself, watching her pick up the girl with a powerful swoop of her arms. The vampire woman seemed to be enjoying the
show—and her break from child-rearing—immensely.
Maybe I could invite Roxy over to sit with Gina and me. Things between us had been awkward, but they weren’t irreparable. I hoped. As I worked up the courage to ask her, the comm sounded.
“Team Negotiate checking in,” Zach’s confident voice declared. “We’re heading to our pickup point with Hart.”
I rushed to answer the comm. “How did it go?” I asked. It crackled again.
“Feeling good about everything,” Zach said in a cheerful voice.
My heart lifted. I turned my head to look at Gina, sharing the relief between us.
Maybe our contact with the CIA would lead to something positive after all.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Team Negotiate arrived exactly thirty minutes later. I knew that because I’d been sitting in the entrance tunnel staring at one of our remaining watches when I heard the beating of wings.
Being on the run was giving me strange new personal habits I didn’t like, but I hated being unable to do anything. I was powerless compared to the vampires and useless to my team unless an emergency struck.
When the flock of bills appeared in the entrance, I let out a grateful sigh of relief. After Hart finally landed the redbills, Louise smiled at him, evidently unaware of his usual track record with humans.
“Thanks!” she said as she dismounted with Grayson, who looked like he would rather eat his own tongue than talk to Hart.
Hart glowered at Louise and stalked back toward the main cavern without a word.
Before he could disappear completely, however, I put out a hand and touched his arm, trying not to be too offended when he shrugged it off. “Thank you,” I said, genuinely meaning it.
Surprise flashed through his eyes, and for a moment, his face softened. “You’re welcome,” he said somewhat curtly, but I took it as a win.
Bryce seemed cheerful enough as he approached, but Zach looked positively elated. Gina frowned, hesitance blossoming beneath her expression. Was she worried about him getting his hopes up? I knew she would always support my brother, but I also thought of her as the more emotionally mature between the two of them, and I found her caution reassuring.
Darklight 2: Darkthirst Page 27