Shadows Strike

by Dianne Duvall

  In your living room.

  Anger rose. He did not like unexpected visitors invading his home.

  I mean you and Dr. Lipton no harm, Zach said in his head.

  Though the other immortals remained leery of Zach, still accepting his presence in their midst with caution and wariness, Bastien had come to view him as something of a kindred spirit. Both men had begun their association with the Immortal Guardians as the immortals’ enemies. And both could’ve easily walked away were it not for the women they loved.

  Or at least that used to be the case. Much to his surprise, Bastien had actually begun to form bonds with some of the other immortals.

  Nevertheless, Bastien did not like Zach rambling around in his head. Stay out of my head, elder, he groused. Carefully untangling his limbs from his wife’s, he slipped from the bed.

  Melanie smoothed a hand over the sheets, reaching for him. “Where are you going?”

  “Zach is here,” he told her softly as he donned a pair of pants.

  Raising her head, she frowned up at him through the tangles of her long, brown hair. “What? Why?”

  “I don’t know. He’s waiting for me in the living room.”

  Throwing back the covers, she rose. “I’m going with you.”

  Bastien bit back a groan as she crossed to the wardrobe and pulled a robe on over her beautiful bare body. He wanted to tell her to stay in bed so he could hurry back and spend the next few hours exploring those lovely curves, but knew Zach didn’t pay surprise visits unless something was wrong.

  Melanie dragged her fingers through her hair a few times, then gave him a nod.

  Taking her hand, Bastien headed for the living room.

  Zach waited for them in darkness.

  Bastien flicked on the overhead light, wincing at the brightness of it.

  For once, the mysterious elder immortal’s upper body was covered in a black shirt, his wings tucked away in whatever magical way he had of making them disappear. His shirt was far from pristine, however. It bore numerous bullet holes and glistened with blood. Zach’s expression, as he nodded a greeting to them, was grim.

  Though Bastien was over six feet tall, he still had to look up at the elder. “What’s up?”

  “There’s been an incident at the network.”

  Bastien stiffened. Dread coursed through him.

  Melanie’s hand tightened around his.

  “Cliff had a psychotic break,” Zach informed them.

  Bastien swore. “When?”

  “Around dawn.”

  It must have happened shortly after Bastien and Melanie had left. “How bad was it?”

  “Bad. Several humans were injured. The network is on lockdown. And the tension level there is about a fifty on a scale of one to ten.”

  “Is Cliff okay?” Melanie asked, the same fear Bastien felt in her voice.

  Cliff was the last remaining member of the vampire army Bastien had raised to take down the Immortal Guardians several years ago. Cliff and two others had wisely surrendered during the last big battle in which Bastien had been captured. The other two, Vince and Joe, had long since succumbed to the madness spawned by the virus that infected them. Cliff continued to fight it, however, and was like a brother to Bastien. To Melanie, too, since she’d been working with Cliff at the network, looking for a way to either prevent or cure the madness vampires suffered.

  Hell, Seth had even given Bastien permission to take Cliff hunting with him, so Cliff would have an outlet for the rage and violent impulses that bombarded him.

  “Cliff was shot multiple times,” Zach said. “And it took twice the usual dose of the sedative to knock him out.”

  “But he’s alive?” Melanie pressed. “He wasn’t . . . ?”

  “He’s alive,” Zach confirmed. “Just unconscious.” He shifted, a hint of awkwardness stealing into his posture. “I thought the two of you would want to know. If you want to see him, I can teleport you to him so you won’t have to wait until the sun sets.”

  Bastien nodded. “Thank you. I would appreciate that.”

  “Yes,” Melanie added. “Thank you, Zach.”

  Bastien motioned to Zach’s bloody shirt. “Were you there when it happened?”

  Zach shook his head. “I made the mistake of teleporting to network headquarters without calling ahead first. Everyone is on edge, and the guards all have itchy trigger fingers.”

  “Do you need blood?” Bastien asked.

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “Then give us a minute to dress and we’ll be ready to go.” Bastien offered him his hand. “Again, thank you, Zach.”

  Zach shook it. “You came to my aid,” he said, referring to the time Bastien had bandaged his wounds after Zach had been tortured by the Others. “Now I come to yours.”

  Bastien nodded. Zach was a powerful ally to have . . . and was a hell of a lot more likable than some of the other immortals.

  Zach smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  Shaking his head, Bastien wrapped an arm around Melanie and headed back to their bedroom to dress. “Stay out of my head, elder.”

  Zach stood in the same spot in which Bastien and Melanie had left him when the couple returned to the living room, holding hands like teenagers. Now that Zach had found Lisette, he could understand the need immortal couples had to constantly touch each other.

  Bastien wore the traditional hunting garb of an immortal: black pants and a black shirt that wouldn’t show bloodstains as easily as other colors, heavy black combat boots, and a long, black coat that likely concealed numerous blades. Melanie wore snug-fitting blue jeans, a pale blue TAR HEELS T-shirt, and black-and-white Chuck Taylor canvas high-top sneakers.

  Zach drew his cell phone from a back pocket and dialed.

  “Yes?” a male voice answered.

  “Todd, it’s Zach.”

  “What can I do for you, sir?” Todd asked.

  Zach wasn’t sure where exactly Todd fell in network security’s grand scheme of things, but knew Todd was the highest-ranking human guard on the fifth subterranean floor at network headquarters. Sublevel five could only be accessed by those with the highest levels of security clearance. On it, one would find the lab in which Melanie and her colleagues studied the virus, Melanie’s office, the infirmary, a break room, several apartments that housed vampires, and a few holding rooms.

  “I’m about to teleport Bastien and Dr. Lipton in. Tell your men to take their fingers off the triggers.”

  “Yes, sir. Where can we expect you to appear?”

  “Just in front of the elevators.”

  “One moment.” Todd’s voice quieted as though he pressed the phone to his chest to speak to the human guards around him. “Stand down. We have three immortals incoming.”

  “Which ones?” someone asked.

  “Zach, Dr. Lipton, and Bastien.”

  Curses erupted over the last name.

  Bastien’s lips twisted in a dark smile.

  Frowning up at him, Melanie elbowed him in the side. “Behave.”

  Amusement filtered through Zach.

  Bastien had few friends at the network. None could forget the violence the immortal black sheep had spawned there—not to mention the broken bones—on some of his earlier visits.

  “Okay,” Todd said into the phone. “We’re ready.”

  Zach pocketed his cell. “Shall we go?”

  Faces full of dread, both nodded.

  Zach touched their shoulders.

  The room around them darkened and fell away, replaced by the bright white hallway in sublevel five.

  Zach lowered his hands.

  At least two dozen guards congregated around the desk near the elevators. All were heavily armed with automatic weapons. A handful also carried tranquilizer guns that could loose darts filled with the only sedative that would affect a vampire or an immortal.

  More guards lined the hallway.

  “Where is he?” Melanie blurted, her face full of worry. “The infirm
ary?”

  “No, ma’am.” Todd started down the long hallway with them. “We thought it would be safer all around to chain him up in one of the holding rooms.”

  Bastien swore.

  “But Zach said he’s been sedated,” Melanie protested. “Surely the infirmary—”

  “You didn’t see him, Doc.” Both Todd’s face and voice carried regret. “He was . . . crazed. Like Joe used to be toward the end.”

  Melanie bit her lip.

  “And fast.” Todd shook his head. “I’ve never seen Cliff move so fast. He moved and fought like an Immortal Guardian.”

  Zach cut Bastien a look, knowing the former vampire leader had secretly bestowed upon Cliff the same weapons training all immortals received when they transformed.

  “What happened?” Melanie prodded. “What set him off?”

  “Dr. Whetsman. I don’t know what he said, but Cliff went berserk and wanted to kill his ass. Damned near succeeded, too. We held him off with gunfire while Whetsman ran. I even tranqued Cliff once, but he still got past us and made it all the way up the stairs to the ground floor. If one of the guards up above hadn’t managed to tranq him a second time, Cliff would’ve either torn Whetsman apart or followed him out into the sun.”

  Bastien muttered several slurs against Whetsman.

  “What did Whetsman say to him?” Melanie asked.

  “We don’t know. He’s out cold. Cliff broke his arm, his hip, and gave him one hell of a concussion. The other docs think he may be brain damaged.”

  Zach frowned. “Seth hasn’t been by to heal him?”

  Todd shook his head. “Seth said he’s tied up in Mozambique and will be by later to do it.” As they stopped in front of a heavy steel door, Todd lowered his voice. “I think Seth is pissed at Whetsman for triggering the break. Cliff has fought long and hard to keep the madness at bay. And you know what a dick Whetsman can be.”

  All nodded.

  Zach had once heard Chris say Whetsman wasn’t a prick, he was a brilliant prick whose input on their viral research, unfortunately, had been so valuable to the network that it made overlooking his dickish nature imperative.

  When Todd reached for a set of key cards attached to his belt, Zach waved him away and held his hand over the electronic lock. A loud clunk sounded, then the door—as heavy and thick as that on a bank vault—swung open.

  The room beyond was small. Several feet of concrete coated the heavy steel walls, ceiling, and floor. A cot, the only furniture present, rested opposite the door with thick titanium chains embedded in the wall above it.

  Cliff slept on the cot, his wrists and ankles manacled.

  Melanie looked around. “Where’s Linda? She isn’t sitting with him?”

  Dr. Linda Machen, Zach knew, was one of the other doctors at the network. The only one, aside from Melanie, who was comfortable working hands-on with the vampires.

  “She left just before it happened and isn’t answering her phone,” Todd told her.

  Frowning, Melanie strode forward and seated herself on the cot at Cliff’s hip. “Did you try her at Alleck’s?”

  Zach’s eyebrows flew up. “Alleck’s?” Alleck was a German immortal Seth had been teleporting in on occasion to compare notes on the virus with Melanie. Zach had only met him once, but had found the immortal to be shy and soft-spoken.

  “Yes.” Melanie leaned forward to press a palm to Cliff’s brown, stubbled cheek. “She’s sort of dating him.”

  “Linda is dating Alleck?” Bastien questioned with disbelief.

  Todd looked equally shocked.

  “Yes.” Melanie peeled back one of Cliff’s eyelids. Curled her fingers around one of Cliff’s wrists. Paused. Then combed her fingers through his sticky dreadlocks, searching for the wounds beneath the blood. “Couldn’t you have at least cleaned him up?”

  Todd shifted restively. “He injured a lot of guards, ma’am. By the time we brought him down, some were ready to hurl him out into the sun . . . and probably would have if Mr. Reordon hadn’t stopped them.”

  Bastien moved forward and stared down at the young vampire. “I don’t understand. He was fine when we went hunting earlier.”

  Melanie looked up at him. “Did he say or do anything to make you think he was struggling?”

  “No. I mean, he told me a long time ago that it was harder to keep his violent impulses in check when he was around Whetsman, but he’s held it together thus far. And hunting provides him with an outlet for the violence. He always seems calmer after we hunt. Tonight was no exception.”

  Melanie drew up the vampire’s T-shirt, exposing smooth, brown, leanly muscled skin riddled with bullet holes. “You didn’t even give him blood?” she demanded.

  Todd shrugged. “As I said, we haven’t been able to reach Dr. Machen. And none of the other medical personnel will go near him. They’re too afraid of him.”

  “Stuart?” Bastien said suddenly.

  “Yeah?” Zach heard a vampire answer from one of the apartments down the hallway.

  “Did you hear what happened?”

  “No,” the vampire answered. “I was asleep until the gunshots sounded.”

  “What about the rest of you?” Bastien asked.

  The other five vampires housed at the network all responded in the negative. All had been asleep until the guards had started firing.

  Melanie rose. “Can we move him to the infirmary?”

  “You’ll have to ask Mr. Reordon,” Todd offered apologetically.

  “Bastien, talk to Chris,” she ordered. “I’m going to get Cliff some blood.”

  Bastien took out his cell phone and dialed Chris, who was still at Heather’s home.

  “Reordon,” Zach heard Chris answer.

  “It’s Bastien. I’m at the network with Zach and Melanie. We’re moving Cliff to the infirmary.” Bastien hung up.

  Zach laughed.

  The British immortal’s grave expression lightened ever so slightly. “You want to help me with these chains?” Bastien asked as he leaned over the bed.

  Zach waved a hand.

  The wrist cuffs and ankle cuffs sprang open.

  Bastien lifted the young vampire into his arms and headed for the door.

  Todd followed them out into the hallway. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you need anything. And if all three of you intend to leave, please tell me ahead of time so we can restrain Cliff again. I have no idea what his mental state will be when he awakens and I’d rather avoid a repeat of what happened earlier.”

  “Of course,” Zach agreed.

  Todd hesitated. “I like Cliff, you know. He’s a good guy. And I know he can’t control what’s happening to him. I felt like shit, ordering the men to shoot him, but . . .”

  Zach nodded. “We understand. And I know Reordon wasn’t the only one who prevented those with hotter heads from surrendering Cliff to the sun. You’re a good man, Todd.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Spinning on his heel, Todd strode down the hallway, his boots thudding on the professional-grade linoleum floor.

  In the infirmary, Bastien lowered Cliff onto one of the hospital beds. “Can you read Cliff’s mind, Zach, and tell us what went down?”

  “I’ll try.” Zach frowned as he combed through the young vampire’s thoughts. The sedative muddled things and made it more difficult than it ordinarily would’ve been. Sort of like trying to understand the point of a long-winded tale spun by a sloppy-drunk man with slurred speech. “All I can discern is that he thought Whetsman meant to harm Linda. Either that or he thought Whetsman had killed her. It’s all jumbled up in there.”

  Melanie approached, carrying several bags of blood, and began to set up an IV for Cliff.

  Bastien helped her. “Where is Whetsman?”

  Tight-lipped, she motioned behind him. “Over there. I saw him when I came in.”

  Farther down, a curtain had been pulled closed around a bed.

  Melanie met her husband’s gaze. “I should try to reach Linda.”
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  Bastien nodded. “I’m sure she’d want to know. Zach, would you see what you can find in Whetsman’s thoughts? Cliff hasn’t exhibited any of the paranoia that struck Joe when the madness took him. I want to know what Whetsman said to trigger Cliff’s break and make him think Linda was in danger.”

  Zach crossed to Whetsman’s bed and yanked the curtain back. The paunchy doctor slept soundly, thanks to the morphine drip or whatever other pain-relieving drug was steadily trickling into his veins. He looked like shit, though. Lots of bruises. Casts. Bandages on his head.

  Seth must have been pissed to postpone healing the human.

  As Zach delved into the injured doctor’s thoughts and sifted back through what had happened, he heard Melanie dial Linda’s number on her cell.

  Barely discernible through all of the cement and steel and layers of earth above them, a phone rang somewhere outside.

  “Oh shit.” Zach turned to face the others.

  Bastien and Melanie looked over at him, Melanie holding her cell phone to her ear.

  The phone outside the building rang again in tandem with the one coming over the line on Melanie’s cell.

  “Cliff was right,” Zach told them. “Whetsman shot Linda. He left her bleeding in the backseat of his car.” He pointed to Melanie’s phone. “Keep calling that number.”

  Before they could react, he teleported to the network’s parking lot. Blinding sunlight struck as Zach appeared just outside the network’s bland front door. But, like Seth, Zach remained unaffected by the sun’s harsh rays.

  “Code nine! Code nine!” he heard Todd shout over an intercom inside. “Immortals are on the move! All guards stand down and let them pass unharmed!”

  Row after row of cars filled the parking lot.

  The ringtone on Linda’s phone led Zach to a shiny black SUV parked under a tree down near the end of one of the first rows of cars. Just as he had seen in Whetsman’s thoughts, Linda lay crumpled on the backseat.

  Zach gripped the handle of one of the back doors and yanked it off the vehicle.

  A car alarm immediately began to whine an annoying complaint.

  “We have a situation in the parking lot!” another voice in the building shouted.

  “Stand down!” Todd barked. “I repeat, stand down! We have a code nine! Immortals are on the move, inside and outside the building! Lower your weapons and let them pass unharmed!”