Shades of Red

by T L Christianson

  “Alexei.” I stood and hugged him. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m on my way to Eagle, what are you doing here? I thought you only flew private jets? Why aren’t you jet setting in luxury?”

  I rolled my eyes and laughed. “What? I flew commercial to Peru. Besides, that plane you rode in belonged to Chronos. I told you, I’m not working for them right now.”

  “Wow, that really happened then? I honestly thought you all wouldn’t go through with it.”

  Aurev weighed heavily on my mind, and the kiss we’d shared plagued me with thoughts of our possible future.

  However, Alexei was here, in front of me. “Let me buy you a drink, what’ll you have?”

  He hesitated, “Ahh, all right, but I buy the next round. Is that a stout you have?”

  I laughed, “No, no. This is a lager, try it.” He settled in beside me, setting down his messenger bag. When I held the glass to him, his fingers brushed over my own, and a shiver went down my spine.

  Easy girl, I told myself. My libido was out of control, which was the exact thing I didn’t need right now.

  “Yeah, I like that,” the Russian said. Waving to the bartender, he ordered, “I’ll have one of those.” With his gaze on mine, Alexei touched my knee with the tips of his fingers. “I’m sorry about what I said last time we were together, about your boss and your Clan. I’ve just seen how…difficult…things can get when it comes to Clan politics and relationships.”

  “It’s fine,” I told Alexei.

  Biting the ring on the side of his mouth, he made my innards flutter. Inwardly I cringed at the self-control I needed to muster up. My heart felt so torn. I’d been attracted to Alexei from the first time we’d met. However, now that my dark angel was a possibility…

  The thought of an easy hook-up or even possible relationship with the Russian left me feeling guilty as though I was cheating on Aurev.

  NO! It wasn’t fair. Aurev couldn’t just kiss me one moment and then act like nothing happened. I tried to push the ancient moroi from my head and focus on the warm-blooded man before me.

  “So, what have you been up to? What are you doing here, I thought you were banned from the US?”

  “Eh…technically. I’m flying to Eagle. I’m visiting a family.”

  “Oh? I thought your grandmother lived in Russia?”

  His eyes plumbed the depths of his beer. “She does, I’ve already been to see her. But that’s a mess. Another subject for another day. What about you? What did you decide to do? Where are you going?”

  I frowned. “I have some business with the Bennett’s, then I’m not sure where I’ll go next.”

  “Come crash with me in Eagle for a while when you’re done. I’ll take you out, show you the sights. My uncle’s place is just a short drive away; I can even come pick you up. Yeah?”

  I still stung a bit after Aurev’s rejection. He’d killed me off, evicted me, and sent me away.

  Smiling, I shrugged, “Maybe, I’ll call you when I’m done with this dealing.”

  The flight was bumpy but thankfully short and waiting on my baggage made me long for the Chronos jet.

  I ordered a car using an app on my phone and cursed Aurev again for making me only seventeen years old!

  Seventeen! I couldn’t even rent a car!

  In all fairness, it had been almost 80 years since I’d driven, but it would’ve been nice to have had the ability to rent a car. The driver dropped me off outside of town at Owen’s place. The Victorian Manor house sat in a clearing surrounded by tall pine trees and clusters of aspens, about thirty minutes outside a remote town in southwestern Colorado.

  Owen and Emilie were expecting me and invited me to stay for a couple of nights. Pulling my new rolling suitcase over the rocks and across the covered patio, I rang the bell.

  However, when the door pulled open, it was eight-year-old Becca who stood there smiling. “Hazel!” The girl wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed with all her might.

  I patted her back, “Hi honey, where’s Emilie and your dad?”

  She pouted, “They’re in the lab, again.”

  I frowned and looked at my watch—It was nearing 10 pm. “Wow, who’s looking after you and Jack?”

  “Flor is, but she fell asleep,” her tinkling laugh brought a smile to my lips.

  “All right.” Straightening, I bolted the door behind me and motioned Becca back up to her room. “I’ll find your dad.” Pointing to the stairs, I smiled conspiratorially at her, “Go get back into bed and I’ll give you the present I brought for you when you wake up.”

  “Can’t I have it now? Please?”

  Shaking my head, I motioned back upstairs. “Go on.” When she plodded away, I said, “That’s a good girl.”

  Leaving my bags to deal with later, I strode to the kitchen and found the two Chronos soldiers stationed here at the long roughhewn table eating homemade cookies.

  “Hey guys,” I addressed them, grabbing one of Elaine’s famous ginger biscuits.

  They both stood, brushing crumbs off their laps and shirts. “Ms. Richards. We received no mention from our superiors of your visit.”

  “It’s fine, Max, I’m here for personal reasons.” Smiling, I left the room and headed to the study.

  Once inside the dark chamber, I glanced around. Tall bookshelves lined the room, a rolling ladder sat near the desk, and a settee rounded out the space. This room looked exactly the way it had eighty years ago when I’d first stepped foot inside—except for the couch which had been reupholstered.

  Marching up behind the desk, I pushed on two books to activate a secret lever. Part of the shelf moved inward and opened up to a circular stone staircase. Following the steps down into the bowels of the house I made my way to the Laboratory.

  Red brick and granite made up a series of high arches to support the main structure of the house. This place always reminded me acutely of how much time had passed since my mortal life. The old with the new, mixed together. Changes made here and there to accommodate new technology.

  Below the red brick ceiling, a modern lab sat with the main door before me. It stood open and there sitting and chatting were Emilie and Owen.

  “Hi there,” I said into the sudden silence of the room.

  Emilie stood, “Hazel, I’m so sorry! We lost track of time! How are you? How was your flight?”

  Taking a seat at the table, we exchanged pleasantries until my impatience won out.

  On a piece of paper, I wrote: I’ve come to talk about something highly top secret. Are there any bugs in here? Can anyone overhear us?

  Turning it toward the couple, I raised my eyebrows.

  Emilie chatted to fill the space while we both watched Owen write back to me: Only surveilled by Chronos. Why?

  Me: I’m looking into something, and I’d like to keep it secret from EVERYONE. Where can we go to chat in private…I want Emilie to come also. She’s involved.

  Owen: Is this about the letter?

  Me: Yes, but more.

  The doctor nodded and spoke, “I’m kind of tired of being cooped up. Hazel? Would you like to go for a walk with Emilie and me?”

  I hesitated, “Yeah, it would be nice to stretch my legs.”

  Up the stairs and in the main entry, I pulled on my high heeled boots and followed the couple out into the snow-covered forest. We made our way outside and walked the gravel path that crisscrossed the multi-acre property. Several people used the route daily. Owen ran, and the soldiers used it to walk to the fence line. Because parts of the path circumnavigated the property, it was also used as a patrol route.

  Moving swiftly, we walked for a good twenty minutes, taking the opposite trail away from the creek and up the side of the mountain.

  “I think we’re good here,” I whispered to Owen, keeping my ears on alert for anyone else nearby.

  “What have you found out?” Emilie asked.

  Nodding, turning to the Doctor, I spoke, “I’ve come to you, Owen, because I
know you’ve been suspicious of our clan since I’ve known you. Sarah trusts you.” I examined his pale brown eyes, hoping to find confirmation that I could trust him. “We all know that Karsten’s trial was fishy. I’m not trying to accuse or get anyone in trouble with the law, but I’m pretty sure Karsten was protecting someone at Chronos. Someone powerful. Someone he respected and knew needed to stay in power.”

  Owen looked at me confused. I began to speak, but Emilie cut me off.

  “Aurev didn’t make me. I would know.” She shook her head, her eyes wide. “I mean, I feel …he’s a very powerful vampire. I mean I feel that. But my attacker was tall, and even though I know Karsten didn’t make me, the one who did was very similar.”

  Thinking for a moment, I pulled out my phone and flipped through pictures from a party at Chronos. “Would you recognize him? I mean, if you saw him again? Your attacker?”

  Handing her my phone she shook her head not even glancing at the people in the photos. “No, I’m sorry. It’s too long ago; I don’t remember.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Emilie, what was she playing at?

  Owen’s words cut into my thoughts, “Is this why you left Chronos? Did Aurev catch you? Did you confront him?”

  I scoffed, “Oh no. No, no no.” Turning to Emilie, I asked, “I thought you wanted to know who your maker was?”

  Her tight curly hair bounced around her head. “No. I’m over all that. I want to know who’s sending me crazy letters.”

  Pursing my lips, I sucked a breath in with my nose before turning my gaze to Owen. “We don’t have a lot of time. I was given a thumb drive with information concerning Emilie, the Butcher, and viruses... As a physician, I figured you’d be able to help me understand them.”

  The small woman had turned away, making my anger rise like fire. “Emilie, you know who made you. Why are you acting so weird?” I unlocked my phone and forced it into her hands.

  “Show me. I’m pretty sure that someone at Chronos made you. What are you guilty of? Why are you trying to hide this?”

  She shook her head, eyes glassy. “Because I know who made me! But I don’t want anyone else to go through what Karsten did!”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Emilie!” I spat. “Aurev IS Karsten’s maker! Did he make you? Why were you so quick to say that Aurev didn’t make you?”

  “Because he wasn’t the man who attacked me.” True. “Why does it matter?”

  Owen pushed between Emilie and me. With his arms crossed, he turned to her, “I think it does matter. Here, Em, look at the photos. You said you knew who it was?”

  Emilie reluctantly took my phone.

  “You know something. What do you know?” I asked him.

  “I have blood samples of everyone who works for Chronos,” he answered, expression stern.

  Just then Emilie begrudgingly whispered. “This is him. Yeah, this is him.” Shaking her head, she bit her lip.

  Glancing at the digital image, I furrowed my brow. “This is Nate…Ignatius.” Shaking my head. “Aurev made him about two-hundred years ago. Are you sure? Could you be wrong?”

  She shook her head.

  “Hmm… That doesn’t make sense. Karsten wouldn’t take the fall for Nate,” I said.

  “I don’t know. Maybe we’re coming to the wrong conclusion. Maybe all those things on the drive aren’t related.” The doctor shrugged, and taking the phone from his fiancé, he handed it back to me.

  “Back to all the blood samples you have. Have you run Emilie’s DNA against the Chronos database?” I blew out a breath.

  “I haven’t, but I can.”

  “That thumb drive has pictures of Emilie. Pictures of her during the war, in New York.” I turned to her, “Even pictures of you here.” Shaking my head and fluttering my eyelashes, I made sure to keep my voice down. “This all is linked somehow, and your maker is part of it.”

  “I can’t believe that Karsten would give his life to protect anyone other than his maker or lover. I think there must be some kind of mistake.”

  “I agree, but I know both Karsten and Nate and I would stake my life that they’re not lovers.”

  Emilie shrugged, “It is Nate. I recognize him.”

  “Maybe you’re wrong,” I told her.

  Owen spoke up, “Well, I’m going to throw another wrench into this mess. The samples don’t have names, they’re labeled in code by Freddie.”

  I squeezed my eyes closed. Freddie, Chronos’s CFO was nearly as old as Aurev and made by the same moroi maker. He was a crazy smart mathematician and computer expert.

  “We’ll never break Freddie’s code,” I told them, defeated.

  Owen’s eyes lit up, and he smiled, “I’ve been studying their connections and come up with kind of a genealogy. Come back to the lab, and I’ll show you. Maybe based on what we both know, we can identify some of these moroi.”

  Back in the lab, Owen turned on the radio tilting his head slightly to point out a dark surveillance half dome on the ceiling. “The cameras are for security, but I don’t know who all sees the footage.” He whispered to me.

  Pulling out a large whiteboard from a supply closet, he angled it away from the camera and began drawing a chart. His eyes darted between the dry erase board and his computer as he drew.

  “Okay, so there are three very old moroi here at the top.” He tapped the top spot. “I don’t know who this is, but this,” the second square down, “Has to be Aurev. I have six moroi that he’s made.” Looking to me, “Aurev made you, right, Hazel?”

  I nodded.

  “And you made Sarah?”

  Again, I nodded.

  “Okay, so you are his youngest offspring. This,” he tapped the fourth square down, “Is Sarah. So this sample, A594B must be you.”

  “Where does Emilie fit into all this?”

  Owen’s chest shook as he scoffed. “Hers is coded too. I can run a new test, but it’ll take about a week to get results.”

  I examined the chart. “That’s Dr. Peter’s. He’s only a bit older than I and hasn’t made anyone.”

  “Anyone else recognizable from their offspring? Who has made three moroi?”

  Shaking my head, I laughed, “No one that I know of. Elsbet has two; Forest and Fatima, or you know her as Dr. Khatri. Nate has two, Rhoda and Gabriel, your lab assistant.”

  “Ugh! Rhoda! That horrid woman!” Emilie spat. “I’ve met her.”

  “Okay! That’s Nate,” He wrote in the name above the number, “Because this,” he said, tapping the board beneath, “is Gabe.”

  “So Elsbet has made another moroi?”

  Owen examined the files on his desk. “A female.”

  “Could it be Emilie?” I asked.

  “No,” they said in unison.

  Then Owen explained, “I’ve had that sample since before I met Emilie…but I’ll test us both. You never know.”

  “How could that be possible? I remember this Ignatius guy! I’m sure.” Emilie sputtered.

  Touching her arm, I suggested, “Just because Nate was there, doesn’t mean he’s necessarily the one who changed you. Elsbet has one unknown female offspring. What if Karsten was protecting Elsbet?”

  The blonde woman pursed her lips and shook her head. “My maker wasn’t a woman.”

  I just shrugged.

  “Here, Emilie, I can run a DNA profile on you from your spit.” Owen rummaged in another drawer and pulled out a plastic beaker. “Here you go, spit away.” Handing her the vial.

  “Do you have all the equipment needed to run the tests here?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yeah. I do,” he hesitated, “But I’d like to show you something else that might be important.” He motioned to the whiteboard. “If this is Aurev, who is this? Who is his maker? And if this top person is his maker, who is this other moroi?” He drew a stray box off the top one to the side of Aurev. “And, this guy?” Owen nodded. “We don’t have any offspring on file for him?” he continued, shaking his head in confusion.

 
“That’s Freddy, the CFO.”

  “The IT guy?” He asked in a high pitched, questioning voice.

  I nodded, “I think he and Aurev have the same maker.”

  “Hmmm…the guy everyone calls Creepy Freddie?” Emilie asked.

  I laughed, “Frederick isn’t…okay, so he’s eccentric. He’s also brilliant.”

  “I’m actually working on a project with him,” Owen said.

  Raising my brows, “Oh yeah, what is it?”

  Shaking his head, he laughed. “Actually, we’re doing this with Mary, Dr. Seals, the Geneticist. We’re trying to use DNA as a means of data storage. They’re using blood as the medium, which is why I’m involved.”

  “But, that’s not his biggest and baddest accomplishment!” Emilie announced. “He’s cured me! He may have found the cure for the vampire plague!”

  I raised my brows. “For good? Sarah said Emilie was still having symptoms. Oh my God, Owen! That’s amazing! When did this happen? How? What?” I smiled and slapped him on the back.

  The modest doctor blushed, “Actually, it was Sarah’s idea. She suggested we isolate Amy’s stem cells and treat Emilie with them.”

  “Yeah, but you’re the one that did all the work!” Emilie piped in. “And now, no sign of the virus! It’s gone!”

  “This was what I wanted to talk to you about, Hazel. Amy has a genetic variant that makes her impervious to the disease. So, I treated Emilie with this, and now OVC is basically undetectable in her. But, we have to wait to make sure.”

  “That’s amazing! That’s a crazy breakthrough! Why aren’t you in New York? GC has Amy. Won’t you need more of her cells?”

  “It’s fine. Actually, a few other people carry this mutation. You—Hazel, if this is you on the chart, then you actually have the mutation.”

  This took me aback. “I can’t get OVC?”

  “You can’t get it, you’re immune. I’ve just begun to test all my samples for the mutation.”

  I tapped the whiteboard. “Is Amy on here? Am I moroi related to her?”

  Owen shook his head. “I haven’t compared anything other than the mutated gene, but who knows, I’m not sure how prevalent the gene is. However, I’ve tracked the deaths from OVC and Chronos’ contagion rate is very low; I mean we have suspiciously low casualties.”