Hannah exchanged a look with Alek as she went to stand beside him. Louise prepared another blank form as Chris stepped up to the desk. “Christopher Dunn.”
“Hold your horses, son.” Louise finished clipping the form down and picked up her pen. She wrote his name. “Dunn, you say?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re the second Dunn I’ve checked in this week. But that poor lady lost her son. I don’t suppose you could be him.”
“You’d suppose wrong.”
“Well, how ‘bout that? So what do you do, besides rising from the dead?”
“I was a student and a Walmart stocker.”
“Hm. By the looks of you I’d have guessed military.”
“No, ma’am. That would have made my dad too happy.”
“And your mother miserable, no doubt. We’re shorthanded in the laundry room. What do you say we try you out there?”
“Fine.”
Louise set the clipboard aside before standing up. She turned to retrieve three sets of orange jumpsuits from the bunks behind her.. “You’re not required to wear them," she said, handing one to each of them, “but you’ll be glad to have something to change into. I’ve already prepped your cells. You‘re on the C block with the rest of the newcomers. Someone will show you down there, but Julia wants to see you first.”
Hannah glanced at Alek. “All of us?”
She nodded and looked at Celine. “You, too. You’re to escort them there.”
Celine glanced at the three of them. “Let’s go.”
They followed her through another series of corridors and down a flight of stairs. Hannah recognized the infirmary as they passed it, and the door where they paused so Celine could swipe her key card. It led into the administration offices, where Hannah had once snuck in to search for a map of the prison that would help her locate her brother. She hoped this visit to this part of the prison would have a better ending than the last one, but with Alek included in their party, she wasn’t so sure. She glanced back at him. Judging by the grim set of his mouth, he shared her apprehension.
They arrived at the warden’s office and Celine knocked on the door. “Enter!” a silky, accented voice called. Celine opened the door and ushered them inside before following them in.
Julia looked every bit as cold and cultured as the first time Hannah had seen her. She rose from her desk and came around to stand in front. After looking them over, she turned to Celine. “Well done. And our wayward brethren?”
“We found no sign of either Esme or Doctor Konstantin.”
Hannah refrained from looking at Alek. So far his disguise seemed to have Julia fooled, and she didn’t want to draw attention to him.
Julia turned her gaze from Celine to Hannah. “This one. She is the doctor’s pet. A mighty warrior, he would have us believe. But perhaps not so brave without him here to protect her, and a baby to look after.”
Hannah looked her in the eye. “I’m not a warrior. I’m just a survivor, like everyone else.”
“Not such a docile sheep, eh?” Julia moved to stand before her, and reached up to stroke her hair. It reminded Hannah of someone patting a dog on the head. “The doctor is your lover, no?”
Hannah blinked. “He... we had a relationship.”
“Had? Where is the good doctor?”
She shrugged and shifted Noah to her other hip. “He said he was going into town to get supplies. He never came back.”
“He left you.”
“Maybe. Or maybe something happened to him.”
“And you are uncertain which you would prefer?” She grinned. “Perhaps he is with Esme. They were once lovers, did you know this?”
She stiffened. Beside her, Alek drew in a deep breath. She had known Esme sired him, but beyond that... “No. But I don’t believe he’s with her. He hated Esme. I don’t care what they had before.”
“Yes, yes, that was plain to see. It was also plain that Esme was still obsessed with him. I do not mean to say he is with her voluntarily.”
“Then what’s your point?”
Julia arched an elegant eyebrow. There was not a single crease on her ebony forehead. Hannah wondered how young she’d been when she’d become a vampire. She turned to Celine. “Loath as I am to give credence to any advice from Esme, her reports on this one held an element of truth. She has... what is the word?”
“Spunk?” Celine offered.
“No. Well, yes, but that is not the word.” She put a finger to her chin as though in deep thought. After a moment her face brightened, and she pointed the same finger at the sky. “Ah! Moxy.” She looked back at Hannah. “You would make an excellent vampire.”
“Too bad making more is off limits,” said Hannah.
Julia grinned and looked at Celine. “See? Moxy in spades. I like this girl.” She turned back to Hannah. “You are certain you do not know of the doctor’s whereabouts?”
“I’m certain.”
“Then you won’t be trying to escape to find him?”
“Alek can take care of himself. I have my brother to think of.”
“You are as wise as you are impertinent.” She reached out and stroked Noah’s head. “If I have your word you will not try to escape, then you have my word that your brother will have everything he needs to grow into a big, strong boy.”
“And he’ll stay with me?”
“But of course.”
“Fine. I won’t try to escape.”
Julia nodded. She glanced at the other two before addressing Celine. “That is all for now. Deliver them to their people and then report back for a full debriefing.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Celine went to the door and held it open for them as they filed out of the office. Out in the hall, she led them well away from the warden’s office, and out of vampiric earshot before turning around. “That was too close.” She looked at Alek. “You don’t know how lucky you are she didn’t recognize you.”
“Believe me,” he said, “I know.”
“And you.” She turned to Hannah. “What happened to not drawing attention to yourself?”
“Julia’s met me before, remember? She would’ve been more suspicious if I acted like some meek little frightened thing.”
Celine sighed. “I suppose. But can you at least try not to mouth off to any of the vampires we meet between here and general population?”
Hannah made a motion of zipping her lips. Noah started to fuss and squirm. “Can we get going? These packs are getting heavy and I need to change him.”
Celine pointed at her. “That is not being quiet.” Behind Hannah, Chris snorted. Celine pointed at him next. “Don’t you start.”
“The sooner you deliver us, the sooner you can stop worrying we’ll draw unwanted attention,” said Alek.
With another sigh, Celine turned around. “Let’s go.”
CHRIS BROUGHT UP THE rear as Celine marched them through the prison. They took a lot of twists and turns down long corridors, each identical to the last. Finally, she brought them to a large room filled with tables and chairs. And people. Some Chris didn’t recognize. Many he did.
A few heads looked up as they entered, followed by more as recognition prompted surprised gasps and excited murmurs. Chairs scraped against the floor as their friends shot to their feet and hurried to meet them. Soon their people surrounded them, pressing in and peppering them with questions. They were most astonished to see Chris. Hands kept touching him, shaking his hand and grabbing him by the shoulders, as if to confirm he was solid.
“Where’s my mom?” He had to shout to be heard over the buzz. A hush fell, and heads turned. The crowd parted for Captain Burell, who led Chris’s mother by the arm. The sight of her caused a heaviness in his chest to lift a little.
But she didn’t notice him, rushing instead to Hannah and the baby, throwing her arms around them both. “I’m so happy you’re both okay! I don’t know whether to be glad to see you, though!” She released them and looked up at Konstantin. “Doc, what i
n the world did you do to your hair?”
“Long story.” He took her by the shoulders and gently turned her toward Chris. “But this is more important.”
Her gaze finally landed on her son. She stared at him, her expression disbelieving, as if she didn’t trust her own eyes.
He stepped toward her. “Hi, Mom.”
Suddenly she collapsed, letting out a massive sob as she fell. Chris lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground, and they sank down together. He held her and rocked her as she cried. “It’s okay, Mom. I’m okay.”
She leaned back to look at him, stroking his face and hair as she gazed at him in weepy wonder. “How?”
“It’s another long story.”
“But I thought you were... I heard you scream... those shamblers—”
“It was nothing. Just a scratch. The doc found me and fixed me right up.”
Paula looked up at Konstantin. “He got scratched by one of those things?”
The doctor crouched down beside them and put a hand on her shoulder. “He survived. That’s the important thing. I’ll explain how later.”
She reached up and threw her arms around the doc’s neck, almost knocking him off balance as she squeezed him. “Thank you! Thank you for giving me back my boy!” She let him go, then grabbed Chris in an equally fierce hug. “And you! What were thinkin’, running after those things? You almost killed your poor mother with fright and grief!”
“I’m sorry, Mom.” Chris held her and kissed her cheek. “I wanted to keep you safe.”
She took his face in her hands. “Let me tell you something, son. If my safety means you gotta die, I’d rather get torn apart by a whole horde of shamblers than go through that again. You hear me?”
His stomach soured as he imagined his mother experiencing what he’d gone through. Whatever she may believe, it was better for her to be alive and grieving than to know the pain of being eaten alive. He swallowed against the bile rising in his gorge and forced a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay. Just so we’re straight.” She pulled him into another embraced and planted a kiss on his cheek before releasing him. “Now help your mother up.”
Chris got to his feet and took her hands to pull her up. Once she was standing, she wiped her face and looked around, noticing for the first time they had a large audience. “Oh, go on! Don’t you people have anything better to do than watch the happiest moment of an old woman’s life?”
Smiling, Captain Burell came forward and clapped Chris on the back. “Good to see you, son.”
He pasted on a smile as other well-wishers came forward. His mother beamed as he endured more hugs and handshakes and pretended to be the same old Chris. He spotted Celine standing at the back of the crowd. He’d thought she’d left already, but she’d stuck around and watched the whole scene. His cheeks flushed hot with embarrassment, but he couldn’t say why it bothered him to have her witness all of that. His gaze met hers. She nodded briefly and turned to go.
“I need everyone to listen.” Konstantin drew the crowd’s attention away from Chris. He raised his voice and spoke in that southern accent he’d pulled out upstairs at check-in. “Now, y’all don’t know me that well, but my name is Alvin Johnson. And I’m sorry to say this Doc of yours is missing in action. Now Miss Jordan here and I will be happy to tell you everything, but we’re plum worn out, so we’re gonna go find our cells. I’d love it if Miss Paula, Captain Burell and our good friend Ned could join us so we can all get caught up.”
Paula leaned in and whispered. “Why does he sound like he’s from my hometown? Does this have something to do with his hair?”
Chris raised a finger to his lips. “We’ll tell you everything.”
She nodded, though she looked confused. In her normal voice she said, “Well, y’all follow me. I know where they set your cells up.”
Chris hung back and let the others go first. The rest of the crowd had already dispersed. For a moment, he was an island to himself, and he closed his eyes and soaked in the silence.
When he opened them again, he saw that Celine hadn’t left. She still watched him from further down the hall, a curious look on her face. She seemed almost embarrassed at getting caught and abruptly turned and hurried away.
Chris stood there a moment after she left. What was her deal, anyway? And what were his chances of finding out? Probably not that great. Shaking his head at his pointless curiosity, he went to catch up with the others.
FOURTEEN
CELINE PICKED UP HER pace on the way back to Julia’s office. She hadn’t meant to linger with the humans as long as she did, but she couldn’t resist staying to see the reunion between Chris and his mother.
The latter had been every bit as overjoyed as Celine expected. Chris looked happy to see her, too, but his happiness had seemed strained. Celine sensed an underlying sadness in him. There seemed to be darkness in him. She wasn’t sure if it was that which drew her to him, or something else.
And that bothered her. If not for her attraction to dark, broody guys, she would never have become a vampire. After she’d woken up transformed, she had sworn off that type for good.
Which was just as well. With Chris and the others safely delivered, she had no reason for further contact with him. Best to put him out of her mind for good.
And yet he still preoccupied her thoughts as she knocked on Julia’s door. But the ancient vampire’s voice cut through her useless fantasies. Celine steeled herself and entered the office.
Julia didn’t get up, but indicated a chair on the opposite side of the desk. Her attention was on a stack of forms and she didn’t so much as glance up. Celine sat and waited in silence.
After an interminable moment she asked, “What do you know about Alvin Johnson?”
“Who?”
Julia glanced at her. “The blond man.”
“Oh. Nothing. He was with the other human strays, so we brought him in.”
“Did he not seem familiar to you?”
As much as she longed to be human again, at that moment Celine was grateful she didn’t have a heartbeat. Otherwise it would doubtless pound like a hammer, alerting Julia to her nervousness. “No, ma’am. Did he to you?”
She set the form aside and leaned back. “He did. But I don’t see how I could know him. Perhaps he simply has one of those faces.”
“That must be it, ma’am.”
“I take it that this time you and your team conducted as thorough a search as possible?”
“Yes, ma’am. At one point Reynolds thought she might have seen Esme, and I directed all hands to help her search that quadrant. But they came up empty-handed.”
“They? Did not you yourself assist the search?”
“At that point I was already on the scent of the humans, ma’am. I didn’t want to risk losing them.”
Julia nodded. “A prudent choice. Tell me, how did it feel to go from secretary to team command?”
“I would be lying if I said it didn’t feel good.”
Julia leaned forward and folded her arms on the desk. “Leadership has its drawbacks. But it is a far cry better than servitude. Tell me, which do you prefer?”
“Leadership, ma’am.”
“Another wise choice. And you seem to be far more cut out for it than she who sat in this chair before me.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Would you like to lead this prison?”
Celine blinked, not sure she heard correctly. “Ma’am?”
Julia waved away her confusion. “I don’t mean as warden. But the day-to-day things, staff assignments, scheduling blood draws, et cetera, et cetera... it’s all so tedious. It reminds me of holding court and listening to the endless complaints of the villagers. Those were days I was happy to leave behind. How would you like to be in command of personnel and daily operations?”
“I... I don’t know what to say.”
“I hope you will say yes. There is no one else I believe competent enough to entrust t
his job to, other than myself, and I do not want to do it.”
“Then, yes.” Celine smiled. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can start by choosing someone to replace you as my assistant.”
“I recommend Reynolds. She’s been on guard duty since this camp first opened, but I believe her talents are wasted there.”
“I’m not surprised. Esme seemed to have a special talent for wasting that of others.” She waved a hand again in the dismissive gesture that was becoming familiar. “Go. Make it so.”
Celine rose from her chair and exited the office before this unbelievable turn of events undid itself. She shut the door behind her and leaned against it, letting everything sink in.
She had just been made boss of the entire prison. Of course, she would still report to Julia, who in turn reported to the rest of the Council. But for all intents and purposes, she would run the show.
Unable to suppress a grin, Celine hurried to find Reynolds and share her good news.
FIFTEEN
ALEK HAD PASSED BY these cells before in his duties as the prison doctor, but he’d never been inside one. Each cell held two bunks, a sink and a lavatory, with barely enough room to move from one to the other. But he’d been in worse prisons under far worse conditions, so he couldn’t complain.
He wrestled out of his heavy backpack before entering the cell that would serve as his new home for the foreseeable future and stashing it on the top bunk. Hannah followed, handing him Noah before removing her own pack and stowing it next to his. She took Noah back and sank onto the bottom bunk. No sooner did she get the baby settled in her lap than Paula sat beside her and asked to hold him.
“Hi there, sugar! Come and say hi to your auntie Paula.”
Noah smiled and reached for her. Hannah looked relieved to be handing him off for a while. She’d been holding the baby all day and her arms had to have been getting tired.
Chris also entered the cell, wedging himself into the space next to the lavatory. Ned and Burell remained in the doorway where they could listen and keep watch.
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