“No. Nothing. Just business.” He turned his attention to the digital floor numbers above the doors that showed our descent.
He seemed grumpy today, not that I was an expert on the varying moods of Jackson Gale, vampire hunter. Maybe he was pissed about my rejection yesterday. I doubted it. I didn’t get the impression he was actually serious about me in a romantic way. He just wanted to get laid by a woman he perceived as horny enough to say yes. I wasn’t quite there yet.
I thought about what had happened between me and Declan last night. While it had been rather … satisfying … it was also entirely unsatisfying, which is why I said what I had to him. Sex wasn’t just the means to an orgasm for me—although it was a lovely gift with purchase. I needed to have the emotion to back it up. When I looked at Declan’s face, I wanted to see the same desire that I felt reflected there—the same desire I had seen on his face in the past. Otherwise the one-sided sex experiment was fun and more than enough to get me off, but ultimately hollow.
Soon it might not be an issue at all. With me cured, my blood cleansed, and no reason to stay with Declan any longer, I figured it would be unlikely that I’d see him again. I’d go back to my regular life—my succession of unfulfilling jobs, socializing with friends and coworkers, visits with my sister and my nieces, random dating of entirely normal men, ones a lot like the unscarred, non-dhampyr version of Declan in my dream—and that would be that.
It would be strange to know he wasn’t close by, watching over me. The thought made me feel something I could only describe as grief. Grief for a man who’d come into my life unexpectedly and disappeared just as quickly as he’d arrived.
I stayed close to Declan, nearly, but not quite, touching him. He was motivated by wanting to help me get better. So was I. I think I might have followed someone into the very depths of hell in order to get my blood cleaned out. The thought of the pain that was to come was an issue for me, but not enough to stop me from moving forward.
We got off the elevator and went down the hallway to Dr. Reynolds’s examining room where we’d been yesterday. Other than the sparse furnishings of the stainless steel table and metal chair, there were cupboards on the walls, a sink, and a filing cabinet.
Jackson spoke briefly with Dr. Reynolds at the doorway, then nodded at us and took off down the hall.
“Come in,” Dr. Reynolds said. He reserved his smile for me, an expression that froze at the edges when it became obvious that Declan was staying at my side. “My assistant’s joining us in just a moment.” His gaze moved toward the open door. “Here he comes now. Please, don’t be alarmed.”
I didn’t have to wonder about what he meant by that for long. Another man entered the room—he had dark red hair and was wearing a white lab coat. His skin was very pale, his cheeks gaunt.
Declan tensed and pulled me back by the edge of my shirt so abruptly I let out a small shriek of surprise. He grabbed for his stake.
My stomach lurched and every muscle in my body stiffened the moment I saw the assistant’s fangs.
He was a vampire.
He smiled uneasily, his gray eyes moving to Declan’s sharp silver stake. “I guess Dr. Reynolds didn’t mention me yet?”
Declan moved himself in front of me. “No. He sure the hell didn’t.”
“Please relax. I mean you no harm.”
“Wish I could say the same,” Declan growled.
Dr. Reynolds’s face looked tight. “Lawrence is my assistant. I’m so accustomed to having him around that I sometimes neglect to let others know beforehand what he is. It’s not an issue for me.”
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded. This unexpected revelation had choked me and I struggled to breathe normally. It was one thing to think there were vampires downstairs, safely locked away. It was an entirely different thing to have one in the same room, wearing a lab coat just like Dr. Reynolds. A little warning would have been nice. A little warning and I wouldn’t have shown up in the first place. “If he gets close enough to get a whiff of the Nightshade—”
“He won’t.” Dr. Reynolds moved to stand next to the redheaded vampire, protecting him in a near mirror image to what Declan was doing for me.
“I already know about you,” Lawrence said. “And I’ll be staying well back just in case.”
I glared at them. “Nice that one of us had some warning.”
Dr. Reynolds spread his hands. “Lawrence has been my research assistant for five years. He was turned against his will a year ago but retained his good sense and human morals, enough for me to trust him to stay on as my assistant. He believes as I do that most vampires are a threat that needs to be eliminated.”
Lawrence stepped out from behind Dr. Reynolds, keeping a wary eye on Declan, who hadn’t budged or said a word, but I could feel the menace coming off him in waves. He wasn’t happy about this little unexpected turn of events. That made two of us.
“Many vampires keep their human personalities,” Lawrence said evenly. “I’m one of them. I value my job here. Victor and I have a great deal in common.”
I wasn’t letting down my guard yet. “Like what?”
His expression shadowed, and I could see pain there. “He knows what it’s like to lose a wife.”
I shivered at his bleak tone. “What do you mean?”
His throat worked as he swallowed. “Susan accepted me after I was turned. But—she disappeared without a trace six months ago. I’ve been searching for her, desperate to find her.”
“We think she was taken by another vampire,” Dr. Reynolds said. “But I don’t think anyone should give up hope yet.”
Lawrence took a shaky breath and nodded. “I’m trying.”
“I know.”
“We should have been told about this up front.” Declan’s voice didn’t hold a whole lot of empathy. He held on to me so tight I thought my arm might bruise—sometimes Declan didn’t know his own dhampyr strength. But I didn’t try to pull away. “You having a vampire assistant, no matter what the story is behind it, doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy about being here. It’s fucked up.”
“If I had told you, you might not have returned.” Dr. Reynolds adjusted his glasses. The stiffness in his expression made me think he was having trouble speaking cordially to Declan. With his prejudices against dhampyrs, the two would never become best friends. “You might think I had ulterior motives in bringing you here, but you’re not the only ones who were kept in the dark.”
I watched him warily. “What are you talking about?”
“You, Jillian.” Dr. Reynolds turned to look at me directly, his gaze sweeping over me from head to foot. “When I heard about the Nightshade formula, I had assumed it was a slow-moving poison that would weaken its victim over time, something that would lead eventually to death. But it’s not like that at all, is it?”
I let out a shaky laugh. “No, it’s a bit more immediate than that.”
“It’s amazing, is what it is.”
I grimaced. “I have other words to describe it. Amazing isn’t one of them.”
“When a vampire bites you, only seconds need to pass before it dies.”
“Pretty much. But it’s still enough time for them to kill me if they want to.”
His jaw tightened. “It’s such a waste.”
“Why?”
“I can’t re-create it.” His expression reflected his deep disappointment. “The original composition has changed too much since bonding with your blood. However, I discovered something I’d like to show you.” He nodded at Lawrence. “Go get him.”
Lawrence left the room without a word.
Declan finally tucked his stake away and let go of my arm. “We didn’t come here for any more fucking experiments. We came here because we thought you had a solution for us. Do you or don’t you?”
“Patience,” Dr. Reynolds snapped, casting a fiery glare at him. But then he cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “I apologize for my rudeness. But as a hunter, you, I think, will
appreciate how important this discovery is. Will you just give me a couple minutes to show you what I’ve found?”
Declan was silent for a moment but then nodded. “A couple minutes. That’s it.”
“Thank you.”
Lawrence returned with another man whose gray eyes were glazed. With a push, he stumbled forward into the room.
“Sit,” Dr. Reynolds said, and the man sat down heavily in the chair without being asked again.
Uneasiness moved through me. “What’s wrong with him?”
Dr. Reynolds went over to the chair and walked a slow circle around it. “He’s been chemically subdued so he won’t cause us any problems.”
A breath caught in my chest. “He’s a vampire?”
“Yes.” The doctor grasped the vampire’s chin in his hands and squeezed. “Last week he killed a family whose car had broken down at the side of the road. Three children and two adults died to feed his hungers.”
“I needed to feed.” The vampire’s voice was weak. “I couldn’t stop myself.”
“You’re a murderer who killed five innocent humans. You’ll get no sympathy from me.” Dr. Reynolds let him go, and the vampire’s chin dropped to his chest. The doctor wiped his hand on the front of his lab coat.
My stomach churned at the thought of it. At the moment he didn’t look that dangerous. “You have him on drugs?”
“Yes. We have very powerful tranquilizers on hand here, but they still don’t last long when it comes to monsters like this.”
I eyed the other vampire in the room, the helpful one. If he didn’t show his fangs, he looked as human as anyone else, apart from his pale gray eyes. He stayed on the other side of the room, a good twelve feet away from me. Most vampires didn’t have a problem with the scent of the Nightshade as long as they kept their distance. I’d really rather not have any more problems today.
I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “Look, I’m not letting him bite me, if that’s what you want me to do.”
“I don’t want that.”
“Then what sort of experiment is this?”
“It’s to show you how your blood can be used when it’s outside of your body.”
I shook my head. “I suggested that to someone else, but if it hits oxygen, it’s useless as a poison. Something about the air keeps it from working properly.”
“Then it shouldn’t come in contact with oxygen.” Dr. Reynolds opened a case on the table to our left and removed what looked like a gun. It was small and silver, with a short, thick needle protruding from the end of it. “Inside this is a vial of your blood.” He held the device in his right hand, just as he might a gun. He approached the vampire.
I tensed. “What are you going to—”
I didn’t have the chance to finish my sentence. Dr. Reynolds pressed the device to the vampire’s throat, jabbing the needle into his flesh, and squeezed the trigger.
FIVE
The vampire gasped as he was injected. He looked around as if seeing us for the first time.
“What did you—” He drew in a shaky breath, and his face began to show strain. “Please, no—I need to—”
His words broke off, followed by a chilling moment of silence. Then he screamed, raising himself up off the chair. Before he could get fully to his feet, fire poured out of his mouth and quickly consumed his entire body. A moment later, just after the stench of burnt flesh filled my nostrils, he exploded in a scattering of fiery ash. It was the usual death of a vampire—one I’d seen several times before this. Quick. Efficient. Scary as hell.
I stood frozen in place, my hand against my mouth, my eyes wide with shock. I’d known what was coming, but that hadn’t made it any easier to see. It was exactly the same as what happened when a vampire bit me. It was my poisonous blood—the take-out version.
“Holy shit,” I managed to say.
Dr. Reynolds smiled widely. “It’s amazing. This is the third vampire we’ve tried it on.”
Lawrence nodded. Considering he, too, was a vampire, I was surprised he didn’t look more disturbed. “It’s worked perfectly every time.”
Declan stood stoically beside me as he watched the proceedings. “The Nightshade formula alone was useless. It had to be bonded to a human’s blood to work.”
Dr. Reynolds’s smile faded as if he’d forgotten the dhampyr was still in the room. “That’s right.”
“Then it’s too bad you can’t replicate it and find another volunteer to take Jill’s place.”
The doctor looked down at the silver gun. “That would make everything much simpler. The source is Jill’s blood itself—and any new blood her body creates is immediately infused with the poison. Jill’s blood is the beginning and the end of the Nightshade program.”
This was one situation where it wasn’t that great to be popular. It was too bad that the very thing that was killing me could be a huge help to others. Talk about a lose-lose situation.
A million possibilities sped through my mind. “Why don’t we take a couple of days and you take all the blood samples you can from me before we start getting the Nightshade out of my system?”
Dr. Reynolds’s expression held relief. “I’m glad you’re willing to help.”
I leaned against the examining table. “Of course I’m willing to help. This isn’t my world, this isn’t anything I want to be a part of for longer than I have to be, but I’m not naïve. I know that my blood can kill vampires and that this is a very good thing. If the Nightshade wasn’t also killing me, I’d be all for making regular donations.”
“But it is killing you.”
Apart from the poison, I’d been bitten, bruised, and beaten nearly senseless. This roller-coaster ride sure as hell didn’t come with a safety harness.
I nodded. “Yes. It is.”
His jaw tensed. “I don’t want to hurt a civilian, Jill. You’re a civilian.”
“It’s time for this to be over,” Declan said sharply. “You can either help or you can’t. Which is it?”
I could tell he didn’t approve of my blood donation suggestion. It wasn’t on our current to-do list.
Dr. Reynolds glared at Declan, then back at me. “You care about your companion a great deal. I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s true, isn’t it?”
“Her safety is my first priority.”
Dr. Reynolds laughed under his breath. “My wife and I were opposites, too. Two different worlds, but we made it work.”
I wasn’t sure how we’d moved into this area of conversation without any warning. “Whatever Declan and I are to each other isn’t exactly important right now.”
“You care about him.”
“Of course I do.”
“Even though he’s a dhampyr.” He made the word sound more like an accusation than an observation.
I looked at the dhampyr in question. He had his eyebrow slightly raised, his gaze on me, as if waiting for my reply. “I’d be dead if it wasn’t for Declan.”
Not the most romantic of declarations, sure. But it was still true.
Dr. Reynolds pursed his lips. “I met my wife four years ago after I’d decided to accept my confirmed bachelor status. My days were spent with test tubes and chemical formulas. Parachemistry, para-science, it’s an obsession for me. Always has been. But Clara … she made me see that there was more to life.” His voice caught. Lawrence moved toward him and squeezed his shoulder.
I swallowed hard. Seeing other people in pain affected me. “She sounds like she was an amazing woman. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“So am I.”
“You said a dhampyr killed her.”
“Yes.” His jaw tightened.
I shivered. “I—I haven’t seen too many monster dhampyrs, but the ones I have seen have been scary as hell. It must have been horrible for you, but I’m sure there was nothing you could have done to save her.”
He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. “You’re wrong.”
I was c
onfused. I looked at Lawrence, whose gray eyes flicked to me.
“It wasn’t a monster dhampyr,” he said.
I was surprised. “It wasn’t?”
“Lawrence …” Dr. Reynolds began.
Lawrence hissed out a breath. “It’s time you faced this once and for all, as we discussed. Maybe then you can finally move on.”
“I could say the same to you.”
“You lost Clara two years ago. It’s only been six months for me.”
“It’s different.”
I watched them warily. Declan stood like a statue beside me, his hands clasped behind his back like a soldier at ease.
“No, it’s so similar I’m surprised you can’t see it.” Lawrence wrung his hands and looked at me. “My wife is human—a human married to a vampire. Victor’s wife—she was a vampire.”
My mouth fell open. “A vampire?”
Reynolds put his glasses back on. His face was still. It looked as if he’d managed to put a lid on his grief for the moment. “She was already a vampire when I met her. It was difficult for her sometimes to control her hungers, but she maintained herself with class and dignity. Right up until she was murdered.”
“Murdered by a dhampyr,” I said.
“Yes.” Dr. Reynolds’s expression had rapidly turned from raw emotion to absolute ice. “The very dhampyr who stands with us in this room.”
Shock slammed into me by the cold, blunt statement. My gaze shot to Declan. He watched Dr. Reynolds carefully, no outward reaction showing at this accusation.
“You’re saying that I killed your wife,” he said.
“Yes.” The word was a hiss.
I felt the tension in the room rise to a sickening level. I waited for Declan to deny it, to say it was impossible that he’d killed Dr. Reynolds’s wife.
But he didn’t.
Declan didn’t move from where he stood, his expression didn’t change, but his gaze grew more intense. Dr. Reynolds had gotten his full attention. “I don’t kill innocents. I don’t creep up behind them and slit their throats. I face them. They know who I am and why I’m there. That’s when they usually attack.”
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