Dr. Khatri frowned. “No. It worries me. I’ve talked to Owen about it. We’re going to make sure she’s all healed up and then wean her off the serum. She should be cured, but there is no guarantee.”
“What? That just doesn’t make sense. She’s not making any antibodies at all?”
“No, that’s what I keep testing.”
We both pursed our lips.
Why was OVC eluding our efforts at every turn?
It was around 1 a.m., and I’d just laid my head on the pillow when my phone rang.
It was Forest.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said, holding the phone to my ear.
“Real talk, you gots ta get to those GPS coordinates I gave you. He ‘bout to move, son.” I ran a hand over my face and attempted to translate his slang with my sleep-deprived brain.
“Shit. When? How do you know this?”
“Just now, I got a call from my boy. He was buggin’.” I didn’t know who his boy was, but maybe it was better that way. “Take yo big ass bodyguard and go pop the mo’ fo’.”
I didn’t want to kill anyone, but I’d given up telling the P.I. that.
“Okay, thanks for the heads up.” I hit the end button.
Karsten sat up on the couch where he’d been sleeping after overhearing my conversation. He pulled on a t-shirt before saying, “According to my sources at Chornos, Aurev has a team tracking the Butcher; Forest’s on his payroll also. We don’t have to go, we could wait and sift through the research when they find him. But, their orders are to assassinate anyone associated with the killer, so if you want to try to talk to him, we’d better go now.”
My response was immediate. “Let’s go, I’ll leave a note.”
He nodded before dialing the pilot.
I slept fitfully on the jet over, waking when the plane descended into Hot Springs, Arkansas.
After waiting so long, with so many questions, my mind had gone blank. A surreal feeling enveloped me–we were going to meet the Butcher! My heart thudded in my chest as I looked out the small oval window. It was still dark and the city lights spread out below us, divided by a wide river that cut the land in two.
“What’s your plan?” My Viking asked me.
“Hmm?”
“What’s your plan if we find him?”
“Uh… talk to him?” I answered making a strange face. “A plan? Why would I need a plan for this? We’re both scientists, I just figured we could talk.”
“You’re just going to walk up to this guy and talk?” His gaze was skeptical, and I noticed that he’d outfitted himself with several guns, and knives. A sword handle stuck out from behind his shoulder.
I chuckled and smirked. “You have a sword? What year is this?”
Karsten lowered his chin and looked up at me. “You want to kill a Moroi, a sword is the best weapon.”
“What about a gun?”
He shrugged. “Unless you use silver bullets, a gun’s just a deterrent, like pepper spray or a Taser to a human.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, good to know.”
The plane had come to a stop, and the cabin door had been opened to the stairs that led to the tarmac. A mid-size sedan waited for us.
Karsten hustled me down and into the car, throwing our luggage into the trunk before speeding off.
A few minutes down the road, I checked google maps and confirmed we were on the right track.
“Why are we in such a big hurry?”
“The Chronos team is on their way. Their plane just landed.”
“Crap. You think we’ll beat them?”
“I’m trying, but it’ll be close.”
“Thanks. Hey, I’m curious, what did you do before you were assigned to me?” I asked as I looked out into the scenery. The morning light began to bathe the dew-covered trees of the forest in hues of yellow and orange.
“I worked for GC.”
Holy crap. GC was kind of like if the United Nations and North Korea had a baby. They were basically the world peacekeeper and scary enforcer of all Moroi Society.
“You were one of those scary Global Council soldiers?” I asked, a little taken aback.
His eyes crinkled around the edges in humor, “I trained those scary soldiers.”
I narrowed my eyes and looked out the window, the sun had risen higher behind us. “Have you always been with GC? I thought you were from one of the Scandinavian countries?”
“I was with the Jaeger Corps–it’s special forces in Denmark. Now, it’s called The Royal Danish Army, but I’ve fought and trained all over Europe.”
“Do you speak many languages?”
“Yeah, a few…” He replied modestly. “You?”
“Just Spanish.” I twisted my lips.
I tapped my fingers against the armrest on my door.
“How long ago were you turned?”
He leaned back against the headrest. “Do you really want to know?”
“Yes,” I told him. “I really want to know.”
“I’ve been around for a while.”
“Why are you evading my question?”
“Because it’s personal and rude to ask.”
I was drinking my coffee and nearly spayed it across the dash, before coughing. “What? Seriously?”
His expression was deadpan as he returned my gaze. “Yeah.”
“So, are you a real Viking?”
Biting his lip, he answered, “Why are you trying so hard to figure out my age?”
“You feel powerful but not as powerful as Aurev. So, you must be at least a few hundred years old. If that’s the case, then why do you have an accent and Aurev sounds like an American.”
“I’ve been in the States for only a few weeks. I rarely spoke English before now. Aurev has been in the States for centuries, so his accent has progressed with American society. He does have an accent, by the way–his speech is dated, like a fifties movie.”
I pondered this. Karsten, a warrior, ex-special forces Moroi and he was my guard?
“So, did you piss someone off to get assigned to me?”
His eyes twinkled as he looked over. “No, Chronos Corp offered me the job, and I accepted.”
My laughter filled the car. “What? That easy? My last few guards hated me.”
“You’re an important asset to Chronos… and a challenge. I like challenges.” His eyes flitted back to the road. “Besides, I was bored, and I read your profile, and you fascinated me. It seems that I wasn’t wrong.”
I pursed my lips and studied him. Everything about him drew me in, his scent, his voice, his compassion. And it didn’t hurt that he looked like a Norse god. His blond-streaked hair was long on top and trimmed on the sides.
“I feel like there’s some catch here.”
He laughed, “Not that I know of.”
“I’m interested in you too.” I conceded, then my eyes bulged. “Not like sexually… I mean… Oh my gosh, but you know?”
The corner of his lip curled upward. “Yes, and I like you. You’re real and gritty. You weren’t pampered, and you’re not high maintenance.”
I drew my brows together. “I’m difficult…”
“You’re exciting.” His hand covered my jean-clad thigh and sent shivers radiating from his touch.
I put my fingers over his to pull them away. “Thanks, you’re pretty exciting yourself.”
His grin was cocky as hell. “Maybe there’s a reason Aurev put us together.”
“Tell me if you figure it out,” I told him a little breathlessly.
Chapter Eight
The sun had risen high in the sky, when Sten pulled the car to a stop on a deserted dirt road and jumped out, heading into the woods.
I checked the laces on my running shoes and pulled my backpack on, following him into the trees. “Do you know where you’re going?”
“Yes. Are you ready?”
I nodded, and he took off running, using vampire speed. I followed quickly, dodging branches and leaping over logs and the o
ccasional stream.
We ran for nearly an hour. Then he slowed his pace and held his fist in the sign to stop. I pulled out my water bottle and drank while his eyes focused to the left of us.
“I hear them,” he whispered barely audibly. “Come on.”
Carefully stepping through the trees, we neared an entrance to a limestone cave.
“Oh-em-gee!” A high-pitched girl’s voice split the air, coming from the cave. “This is freaking ridiculous! Where’d you see the soldiers, David?”
“Chronos,” Karsten mouthed to me.
I couldn’t make out a reply as the voices seemed to fade farther down into the cavern.
Following, I entered the cave, navigating the wet, slanting ground that swallowed us up.
The voices were moving away, and we continued deeper underground. Every noise echoed, and I could tell Sten was struggling to follow their trail. “Are you tracking them by scent?”
He nodded. As Moroi, we saw scents like colors. But the color threads of both the Butcher and the girl were everywhere, like a woven blanket. No doubt they had done it on purpose.
After a moment, my Viking led the way again through a narrow passageway until we came to a steep drop. He leaped down into the black hole, but I hesitated. “Come on Sarah,” he whispered up to me, “Jump.”
My heart pounded in my chest, and I took a cautious step, stopping at the edge. Small rocks tumbled down toward Sten. Then my foot slipped, and I slid, hitting my butt on a sharp outcrop before tumbling headfirst into the shaft. I squeaked out a cry before I remembered to keep quiet.
Strong arms caught me and then turned me upright, setting my feet on the ground. He gave me an exasperated look, and I gave him back my best apologetic expression.
Leaning forward Karsten’s lips brushed the skin of my ear giving me goosebumps all over my body. “Are you alright?” His voice was lower than a whisper.
I ran my hand over my sore behind and nodded. I’d have a bruise, but it would heal quickly.
Pointing in the direction of light glinting up ahead, I let him lead the way. I tried to mimic Karsten’s quiet, graceful movements as we crawled through a hole and into a massive cavern.
The light we’d seen came from a small gas lantern on a makeshift work area on a flat area near our end of the cathedral-like space. There was a printer and papers scattered around, with an orange extension cord that must lead to a generator somewhere.
The Butcher was gone, but on the other end of the cavern I spotted the girl duck down into a deep crevasse in the rock.
“Sweetie!” I cried out to her. “We’re not here to hurt you! I just want to talk to the Doctor.”
She flipped me the bird and disappeared.
“Shit!” I cried.
Karsten charged toward her, bounding over truck size boulders and seemingly flying through the air until he vanished into the crevasse. Following as best as I could, I picked my way through all the rock debris.
Crawling, shimmying and stretching myself to my mental limits in the chase, I finally emerged outside. The light flooded my eyes and blinded my vision. I stood there blinking for a moment.
When my vision returned, there stood Karsten holding one arm of the girl, her hands bound with Moroi handcuffs.
She had been cussing him out. “You bitch ass mother f…”
“Hey,” I yelled out, “We’re trying to help you. There’s no need to use such foul language.” Hi, pot, my name’s kettle.
She stared me down as I approached. She looked very young, with rounded child-like cheeks and big eyes. I’d put her age somewhere between twelve and fifteen. Her bright blue eyes stood out in a tanned face that was framed with cornrows that ended in colorful braids.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Shepard. What’s your name?”
Thoughts chased each other behind her eyes as she gazed warily at me.
“Amy,” she finally said.
“Amy, where’s the man you were with?”
“Gone.”
“I see that you’re Moroi, like us. Did he make you?”
“No,” she spat out contemptuously.
“Do you know where he’s going?”
She smirked at me, annoyingly blinking her eyes.
“Let her go,” I told Sten.
My Viking looked at me like I’d gone crazy.
“We should take her into Chronos.”
“She’s a kid, she’s not going to give us anything useful,” I shrugged.
Karsten raised one eyebrow. “Looks can be deceiving.”
I examined the girl, her eyes had become wide with fear, and her lip trembled.
“Please let me go. I promise I’ll stay away from him. I’ll go back to my clan! I promise.” She looked so helpless and innocent.
“Let’s let her go,” I said.
He sighed and removed the cuffs.
“Do you need help getting back…” before I could finish my sentence, she had vanished.
Male booming laughter filled the air, and when I glanced over to my partner, he was shaking his head.
“Did you feel that?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“What was that?”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. “She was old. I felt it after I let her go. She must have been masking her power.”
“Old? Like, how old?”
Shrugging, he exhaled a laugh. “Very.”
“Shit!” I kicked at the ground, before placing both my hands on my head. Karsten said nothing, but his amusement hung in the air, irritating me.
“Let’s figure out what they left in the cave,” I finally told him. He motioned to the hole I’d just crawled out of.
“Lead the way.”
I rubbed my forehead in irritation at myself before climbing back into the hole.
After finding our way back to the giant size room in the cave, I pulled my headlamp from my pack, as Karsten set out a few glow sticks. The black of the cave cloaked us in darkness. Even with Moroi eyesight we needed at least a little light.
His light bounced along the cave wall as he began to explore other rooms and I concentrated on this one.
Papers littered the area and intrigued me with what they might contain. I sat down where the old board had been propped up like a desk along with a log for a chair.
After pulling on some latex gloves, I examined some of the handwritten notes. It looked like a strange mix of symbols and English. Some of the writing almost looked like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Coming across a stack of pages, I let out a breath of frustration–they were filled with lines upon lines of triangular shapes. I knew I’d glimpsed something like this before; it was an ancient script but from where and what time?
Stacking all the papers, a funny coin fell out.
What the hell?
The front read 5 RAND, and on the other side was written, Afrika Dzonga, 2004, Ningizmu Afrika.
“What did you find?” Sten called out from across the room as he moved toward me.
“A coin and a lot of strange writing. I’m not sure where it’s from though.”
I handed the coin to him.
He took it and examined the object. “Rand, it’s from South Africa.” He handed it back to me. “That fits; I found where they’ve been sleeping. Look at this.”
I took an envelope from him. “Johannesburg, ZA?”
“Yeah, it looks like they had chemicals shipped there.” Giving me back the coin, he continued, “Show me the writing you found.”
Handing him the papers, I watched as he examined the script. “This is old Persian,” he told me. “Writing like this is very old, even for most Moroi.”
“Can you read it?” I asked hopefully.
He barked out a laugh, “No.”
“Were they running any experiments here?”
His mouth went taught. “Yeah. It’s kind of grisly, follow me.”
Standing, I followed my Viking into the lower part of the cave system.
The smell of de
ath and decaying flesh filled my nose, almost taking my breath away.
When we entered the experiment room, my gaze examined the contents. Makeshift blanket beds were filled with the remnants of what used to be living souls. I counted nine dead.
Depending on the age of the person, the decomposition was different. All Moroi deteriorated rapidly after death, but the older the vamp, the more ash-like their remains.
I pulled out two paper masks and gave one to Sten.
“Look,” I told him, holding the mask over my face. “This looks like a newly turned.” The flesh was translucent and seemed to barely be holding the jelly-like innards together.
“Have you seen this kind of thing before?”
Shaking my head, “No. Have you?”
“Yes.” His eyes were narrowed as he picked up a pencil. “There’s a trick to determine age, do you know it?”
“No, I’d never seen a dead Moroi until this plague broke out.”
He prodded the body between us, making it wobble. “Do you see the bone, just there?” I nodded. “If they have bones and soft tissue than they’re under fifty years as a Moroi.”
“What about the older ones, like this?” Stepping around the patient, I motioned to a withered-out husk lying on a pile of blankets.
Karsten pressed the pencil into a protruding dried limb and when he pulled it out, the indentation remained. “This one, see how when you press on it, the body holds the shape? This is a much older one. Maybe three hundred years.”
“Huh… What about when they’re completely ash, like that?” I pointed to the corner.
A sigh escaped his lips, “He was old. Maybe seven hundred years or more.” Shaking his head, we both stood in silence contemplating the lives that had been taken.
Making my way to another victim, I examined an old-school glass bottle IV that hung nearby. The needle still taped in place on the skin of a dehydrated corpse. Holding back a moment of nausea, I didn’t think I could eat beef jerky ever again after this.
Reaching over, I stopped the drip on the modern tubing. Turning the bottle right side up, I looked for a label. Pulling out a roll of medical tape, I was about to seal the bottle when I changed my mind. Chronos was on their way, they’d collect everything and send it to my lab.
Shades of Red Page 24
