Darklight 2: Darkthirst

by Forrest, Bella

  He dropped his resentful gaze to the transmitter, and I raised my eyebrows expectantly.

  “The Chicago Bureau surrenders,” he said into the comm, bitterness staining every word. “I repeat, this is Director Sloane, telling all units to surrender the Chicago HQ.”

  I quickly placed the comm in my ear.

  “Roger that, Director Sloane. Head of Security confirming a surrender of Chicago HQ.”

  The added voices faded away as I dragged my gaze over the rooftop.

  It was official. The Chicago HQ had surrendered. Our mission had succeeded. With Alan’s handpicked group of cronies in chaos, it was unlikely they’d be able to rustle up a retaliation anytime soon. They would probably flee Chicago to save their own skins once they realized Alan had surrendered in the end.

  For the moment…

  We had won.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  I kept the comm in my ear, listening to the chatter as the Chicago HQ slowly calmed down. There was still a sense of confusion and tension, but it sounded like everyone was following Director Sloane’s final order.

  Gavril snapped the connector of my cuffs, giving me freedom of movement and some questionable jewelry choices. Stretching my arms wide amid the chaotic aftermath for the first time in what felt like hours, I scanned the surrounding sky, trying to spot the faint dot of the other helicopter. They must be long gone by now. We would just have to work with what we had.

  My chest felt strangely empty as I surveyed the mess of blood and rubble and scattered weapons around me. I couldn’t shake the odd sensation spreading throughout my body. Part of me felt relief, but another part didn’t truly believe this ordeal was over.

  “Restrain the hostages,” Kane ordered his fellow vampires. “We need to make sure they stay contained.”

  I raised a surprised eyebrow at Kane’s actions. He was quick to take command and act as though he’d planned this whole operation. His vampires nodded, jumping to do his bidding.

  “What do we do after that?” asked a thin vampire with wispy fire-red hair near Kane.

  Kane jerked his thumb at me and then at Bryce. “Ask these guys. My job was just to contain things and keep the bad guys from getting away.” He puffed out his chest.

  I rolled my eyes a little at his lighthearted boasting but couldn’t deny that his arrival had certainly helped turn the tide. Anyway, who cared about getting credit for this madness? I had bigger issues to worry about. I couldn’t see Roxy anywhere among the milling mass of vampires, humans, and redbills. Zach, Sike, and Louise were still missing somewhere down below in the residential building. And where the hell was Dorian?

  Bryce came up behind me and clapped a hand on my back. “If I’m being honest after the fact, I thought quite a few of us would end the day in either a cell or a body bag,” he said, his tone cheerful despite the seriousness of his words. “So I would call this whole situation a resounding success!” He winked at my look of shock and waved a phone triumphantly. “Now, I need to make some calls.”

  “Where did you get that?” I asked. “You gave your phone to Louise.”

  Bryce pointed to a soldier currently being watched—along with several others—by one of Kane’s vampires. I recognized him as the young man who had guarded Dorian and me. He waved a little hesitantly. “Reese Thomson. He was in basic training the same year as you but had to delay for six months when he broke his leg on the first day during the cross-country run.”

  “I remember that,” I said. “Well, I didn’t know it was him, but I remember someone breaking their leg in a rabbit hole and dropping out.” I waved back, and he shifted uncomfortably. “Who are you calling?”

  “Video calling,” he corrected with a grin, stabbing at the screen with his large fingers. “We’ve got news to brag about to a certain ally of ours.” He held the phone up in front of his face, and I leaned in.

  Gina and Colin gathered closer around us, curious. On the second ring, Fenton’s weary face appeared on the screen. Gone was the champagne-toting man I saw yesterday. He was all business today.

  “What the hell have you guys been doing?” Fenton asked, rubbing a hand across his bloodshot eyes.

  I glanced at Bryce, hoping he would answer this one. I had just been nearly choked to death by my vampire lover and confronted my murderous uncle.

  “We performed an impromptu, in-house audit of the Bureau,” Bryce replied with swagger. He was loving this. “We’ve found evidence that many of the board members were performing illegal experiments.”

  Fenton nodded, but his mouth twitched with frustration. “Yes, I saw everything on a livestream that several national news networks picked up and broadcast. The word ‘vampire’ is everywhere right now. People are digging into the public façade of the Bureau. Their house of cards is going to come tumbling down pretty fast after this.”

  I gaped, unable to help myself. I’d almost forgotten about Louise’s plan, and it worked! Remind me to personally thank that cybersecurity whiz kid with a gift basket. Or a medal.

  Bryce pressed his finger against his ear. “Louise? Fenton says your livestream was a success! Is it over?” He paused for a moment, listening to her reply. “She said it’s over. She streamed the entire disastrous board meeting to the world before cutting it off when Team War blasted through the walls.” He listened again as Louise added more information.

  Fenton waited with bated breath, along with the rest of us.

  “Confirmed. I’ll let you tell them yourself, Louise.” He dropped his hand and clicked something on his comm. Louise’s voice spilled out.

  “I got into the Bureau’s file system! I posted anything relevant I could find from the Bureau’s records—the results of the experiments Dorian and Lyra did with Jim, footage of the tear growing in the Canyonlands, even some footage from a camera on the chopper Zach and Gina flew when the shrieking decay attacked us in the mountains,” Louise relayed excitedly. “I’m still fighting to release all the classified board documents, but I’ve got the blueprints online already.”

  “Where are you?” I asked. “Are you, Zach, and Sike okay?”

  “The soldiers got Zach and Sike, but they didn’t find me. I crammed myself into the back of a coat closet in your apartment with a laptop. Everything worked great, though. The guys were the perfect distraction!”

  I just hope they’re okay. I knew they could take care of themselves, but I wanted to hear my brother’s voice. “Thanks, Louise. We’ll try to touch base with Zach now.”

  Bryce switched to Zach’s line. “Zach? Sloane, are you there?”

  My breathing wavered as the silence stretched out.

  “Hey.” Zach’s voice finally came on the line. Relief filled me. “Sorry, just got my comm back from our lovely Bureau friends. They got Sike and me, but the official surrender came through, so they’ve begrudgingly returned my things.”

  “You and Sike are safe?” I asked.

  “Safe but injured. Sike got a bullet in the arm and is in a bit of pain after they hit him with a blast from one of those dark energy weapons. I’ve got some serious bruising where a few bullets clipped my armor, and my leg wound tore open again, so I’ve ruined these lovely pants from Fenton with blood. Other than that, we’re fine,” Zach promised. “We’re leaving the apartments now. The guards told me they’ve got what I think are members of Team War in the holding cells.”

  Fenton had been listening with a restrained expression, not wanting to cut in. He must be overwhelmed. He sighed. “Whatever other craziness you guys have done… as long as you have committed no war crimes, we’ll be able to work it out just fine. I’ve gathered some senators, politicians, and judges who will back a legal coup. They want to perform a fair investigation into what’s going on with the Bureau and to what extent the CIA is involved in this mess. There’s a private security team that should be with you in a few minutes to help contain the situation. I’m on my way to you via DC, so I will be there in a few hours.”

  I felt the crushing
pressure of my stress slowly begin to uncoil. Finally, there were people in positions of power being brought in to deal with this mess. It was far from over, that was certain, but at least we had real backup coming to help us out.

  Bryce’s face fell. “A significant part of the board escaped, but we’ve collared three of them, including Director Sloane. We won’t let them go without facing justice.” He frowned wearily. “I would watch out for counter-moves though. We have the upper hand for now, but we’ll see how the public reacts to Louise’s stream.”

  “At least they can’t backpedal and bury the story, since they were caught on camera,” I added. “Let’s just hope the public is ready for the truth. Considering the reputation vampires have had historically, it might take people a while to come around to the idea.” Whatever people’s reactions, we didn’t have the option of hiding anymore.

  Any further thoughts were shattered by the roar of an incoming tilt-rotor aircraft approaching rapidly across the city toward us.

  “Are your people coming via air, Fenton?” I asked as the aircraft drew closer. “Because we’ve got an aircraft coming in fast.”

  Fenton frowned. “No, they’re ground troops. I don’t know who that is.”

  At his response, my heart thumped wildly in my chest. Was this another fight? The Bureau might’ve bluffed about accepting the surrender and sent reinforcements after all. The Immortal Plane vampires took fighting positions, ready to attack. Kane looked like he was ready to give a command to the redbills lurking around. Gina and I exchanged a worried look, but Bryce released a loud, victorious cry.

  “Finally!” he cried. “Don’t worry, Fenton. Everything is fine.”

  “Who is it?” Fenton asked, shouting to make sure we heard him over the aircraft.

  “Stop swanning around in DC, get over here, and find out!” Bryce replied before ending the call. He pocketed the phone, his blue eyes flashing with happiness.

  The plane closed in, and I made out a symbol on the side. It wasn’t the Bureau. Was… was that a unicorn?

  “Wait,” Bryce bellowed at the vampires and gestured for them to stay back. “It’s all right! My backup has arrived.” He grinned wildly. “Family always comes through.”

  As the plane drew closer, I saw the Scottish flag emblazoned behind the rearing unicorn, and it all came together as I recognized the country’s national animal. His “family” brought an entire aircraft? I was equal parts excited and terrified to meet them.

  Vampires and humans scattered as the aircraft landed on the partially destroyed helipad, expertly avoiding the chunks of concrete. The engine wound down and the doors opened, allowing a group of soldiers dressed in full tactical gear to pile out of the aircraft. They wore the uniforms of the Scottish military.

  A woman led their group. She stepped forward with a confident tilt of her chin. Tall and broad, her short, flaming red hair was peppered with gray and stuck up at odd angles. Her uniform, however, was perfectly clean and sharply pressed, while her self-assured expression radiated confidence.

  My eyes widened in delighted surprise. Now this was interesting. This had to be Bryce’s sister. Her fiery hair matched the spark of delightful madness in her face. There was also a distinct facial similarity to my former captain, and she carried herself with the same swagger as her brother.

  The woman surveyed the scene with a careful gaze. She waved at the gathered vampires, who stared openly, bewildered by the new arrivals.

  “Hello, vampires! Can I offer you an official welcome from Scotland?” she bellowed. “My name is Morag Bryce, and I’m at your service. They used to call me Major, but you can call me whatever you like.”

  I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my face. She was open-minded and friendly. That was a nice change from our experience with authorities.

  Kane blinked slowly. He shot Laini a confused look. Laini smiled and shrugged her shoulders. He took a cue from her relaxed attitude, waving for the rest of the vampires to stand down.

  Without pause, Morag strolled right up to Bryce. “Sorry I’m late,” she said with a grin. “The commute was longer than expected, and it’s surprisingly difficult to scramble up a last-minute excuse for a potential combat party on international soil, if you can believe that. My diplomatic immunity only gives me so much leeway, you know. I had to scrape together the go-ahead back home and call in every favor I had to get this crew.” She jerked her thumb at the assembled troops, who were looking around the roof with some mixture of shock and bemusement. “They’re not anything to get too excited about, but they’re part of my old squad and I trust them to behave in a scrap like this.” She shot them a proud smile.

  Am I hallucinating? This woman was awesome.

  Bryce gave an understanding nod, as if this was an everyday occurrence. “I thought it might be a bit of a chore. I’d apologize for involving you, but I know you can’t turn down an offer of a good fight.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. This was amazing. I would never question my captain’s capability to pull off incredible surprises.

  “You’re absolutely right I couldn’t pass on an offer like this.” Morag placed her hands on her hips. “So imagine my surprise when I finally wrangled a crew together, and on the way over, what do I see? A shocking news broadcast of a livestream from inside the board meeting! Do you realize what kind of scandal you’ve just caused? The international news is going mad for this.” She caught my shocked face and winked. “Good for you. I don’t imagine that recording was a convenient accident.”

  With every passing moment, I liked this woman more and more. I wondered what the Bryce siblings’ childhood had been like. Adventurous and chaotic, I imagined.

  “We’ve still got a few problems to deal with,” Bryce informed her, cutting through Morag’s playful lecture, now all business. “All but three of the board members escaped. The American legal system will investigate the Bureau, but there’s no way the remaining Bureau members won’t try to stage a comeback once they regroup.” He glanced at Alan, who sat staring at the ground. “Even with the involvement of the government and oversight committees, I still don’t think those of us involved will be safe. That’s without assuming the added threat of a hostile reaction from the public.”

  Morag followed his gaze and rubbed her chin thoughtfully before turning back to the vampires.

  “I might have just the thing,” she announced. “As the official Scottish ambassador to the United States, I’d like to offer all the vampires and the Bureau dissenters asylum in Scotland until they ensure proper justice in America.”

  I could have cried. Clearly, she was willing to fight for our plight. Morag was quickly winning me over. At long last, the vampires had an offer of asylum!

  Bryce’s jaw dropped. “Are you allowed to do that?”

  Morag grinned determinedly. “Even if I’m not… it’ll take so much bureaucratic nonsense to figure it all out, it’ll buy us some time and at least give you some additional options. Besides,” she shrugged and gestured to the ruined rooftop, “this a historic moment for humanity, and I need to ensure that Scotland and I will be at the middle of it.” She gave a sharp whistle. “Time to get to work, team. I’m guessing the three tied-up goons are board members? Let’s show these bullies some fresh, finely wrapped Scottish hospitality, shall we?”

  The squad of soldiers snapped into action, sweeping forward to take the board members from the vampires who currently guarded them. Alan struggled as he was hauled to his feet and limped heavily as they half dragged him toward the Scottish aircraft.

  “You can’t do this,” he yelled, giving me and Morag a look of such burning fury I could almost feel the heat. “This is American soil! You have no jurisdiction here, so unhand me immediately.”

  Morag held up a hand, and the soldiers escorting the disgraced director stopped. Her presence shifted to become cold and imposing, and she had no issue with getting within inches of Alan’s sweating, twisted face. “I’d see how you would think that, sir,
but you appear to have forgotten one very important detail. See, I did my research, and I know for a fact that you worked out a deal with some people a little higher up the chain of power. You managed to register the land this building is standing on—and the land of the other Occult Bureau HQs—as international land.” She began to circle him. “Now, I imagine this was to make sure you could argue that you were exempt from certain pesky laws, but the downside of that is,” she leaned in close to his ear, but her whisper carried, “that I can take you wherever the hell I want right now.”

  She gave a sharp nod, and he was dragged once more toward the aircraft.

  “You are meddling in affairs you have no knowledge of,” Alan screamed, twisting wildly in the soldiers’ grip. His words were cut off as he was bundled unceremoniously into the aircraft.

  “Never underestimate the value of research,” Morag said as she returned to us, looking satisfied. “Being an ambassador has its perks.”

  It was almost too good to be true. Would she be able to use her position as ambassador to work with other government agencies? Would Fenton be happy about this? What could we do about the Bureau’s powerful position in the US? She could help us with asylum, but we’d have to work with Fenton to take on most of the heavy lifting for the Bureau mess. A million other questions went through my mind at once. I couldn’t contain myself.

  “Do you have any advice for how we can take down the Bureau?” I asked, then added wryly, “Apart from embracing the value of research, of course.”

  She turned around to face me and smirked softly. “Take them down? They practically did it themselves on that livestream, and your impassioned testimony will only help paint them as the villains they truly are. There will be floods of official calls being made to the CIA, the FBI, Congress, everyone, to put massive international pressure on the US to deal with this transparently. Western Europe isn’t fond of American intelligence agencies to begin with, so the US government will need to produce results if it doesn’t want massive international backlash.” A spark of excitement crossed her face. “Oh, I will enjoy watching this diplomatic chaos unfold. I can already see the yelling politicians. I love my work.”