The Crucible: A Lawson Vampire Novel (The Lawson Vampire Series)

by Jon F. Merz

  We descended to the first tier. A patrol of four guards had set off before we arrived and we watched as they delved deeper into the pit, their flashlights cutting swaths in the darkness. The light beams played back and forth as they explored deeper. I marveled at Talya’s thinking. Going into the pit was a dead end unless she knew of an alternate exit. But that seemed unlikely. She had chosen what looked like a trap. No doubt this contributed to the confidence that was evident in the body language of the guards. They seemed unhurried as if expecting it only to be a matter of time before they located their quarry.

  I knew better. If Talya was down there, no doubt she was waiting to spring a trap on them. She was a master at the art of ambushing people and I knew she could conceal herself better than most. I’d been out with her one time and seen her lay down amid the tall grass and literally vanish in front of my eyes. She had claimed it was due to her extensive training as a sniper, but I knew there was only so much of that skill that could be taught. A lot of it was artistry and she had that in spades. Talya could look at a landscape and pick out the best spot to hide in, knowing that everyone else would focus their attention elsewhere.

  I watched the guards continue to pick their way in the darkness. I could hear them cursing in Mandarin. Twice they thought they had something, but each time it turned out to be nothing. Talya, wherever she was, had obviously chosen her spot well. The danger in that, however, was her pursuers would grow annoyed and possibly treat her even worse if they ended up catching her. She would know that, though, and I suspected she had a plan already mapped out in her head.

  Which is why I found myself turning away from the Chinese soldiers and examining the path before us. Roughly twenty feet ahead of us, the ground color switched from a light shade of gray to a darker tone of charcoal. Anyone looking at the area would have thought the color change occurred because of the differences in lighting. And in doing so, they would have dismissed anything unusual that had chosen to hide in that particular spot.

  Like, say, a beautiful Eurasian woman who happened to be the world’s best freelance assassin.

  As the thought crossed my mind, I saw something shift against the rocks. Slowly at first, I saw a corner of some sort of tarp peel back and expose a grime-streaked face. I saw her eyes next, cold and calculating and my heart jumped again. But this time, I knew it was her. She was in full hunter mode. And I had to be careful how I played this or else she’d try to kill me before I could reason with her.

  “Davaye.”

  Jack whipped his head to look at me the same time as Xuan Xiang did. They must have thought I was nuts to break silence the way I had, even though I’d barely whispered the Russian word for “come on.”

  The effect on Talya was instant, however. She turned slowly, still maintaining her discipline. She didn’t freak out; she simply moved her head to the general area where she’d heard the Russian.

  I spoke again. “Talya, it’s Lawson.”

  When she rose from the ground, she moved so fluidly that I had a hard time believing she’d been locked up as a prisoner. She seemed utterly capable and her movement betrayed no injuries. One moment, she was concealed against the ground and the next she was standing perhaps three feet from me.

  “Lawson.”

  “It’s me. I’m under a Cloak that makes us invisible.”

  She cracked a grin and I nearly kissed her right then and there. She was so exquisite, even when covered in dirt and grime. “Vampire magic?”

  “Something like that. You need to get under here so the guards can’t see you.”

  She nodded. “Let me in.”

  I lifted the Cloak and held it up so she could duck under. The moment she saw Xuan Xiang, her face twisted into pure rage. She eyed me. “Is this some sort of sick joke?”

  “I’m afraid not. We needed him to find you.”

  She smiled. “Of course you did.” And then she drove a blistering knife hand into the right side of Xuan Xiang’s neck. He collapsed on the spot and fell out from under cover of the Cloak, spilled down the path and dropped ten yards, landing at the feet of the Chinese soldiers.

  They didn’t hesitate.

  Gunfire erupted all around us.

  24

  Instinctively, we all dropped to the ground.

  Talya, Jack, and I covered up with the Cloak even as the dirt and rocks around us exploded as rounds ricocheted and splintered in the air. I glanced at Talya and grinned. “Nice to see you again, sweetheart.”

  She smiled. “You always know how to show a girl a good time.”

  “Only the best for you, babe.”

  Jack sighed. “Any time you guys are done reuniting, I’d be fine with getting the hell out of here.”

  I glanced down the slope. Two soldiers had Xuan Xiang up against the side of the dirt wall. He was still unconscious. That was a good thing. As soon as he came to, I had no doubt he’d sell us out in order to save his own skin. We needed to get out of the facility as fast as possible.

  “We’ve gotta go.”

  Another volley from the assault rifles kept our heads pinned down, however. Dirt showered us. The soldiers couldn’t see us under the Cloak, but I had no idea if the dirt showering us was causing some type of weird outline of our bodies or something. Needless to say, I didn’t want to hang around and find out. Their bullets might not kill Jack or me, but they’d be lethal to Talya.

  Talya pointed back up the way we’d come down. “There’s only one way out. I’d hoped to let them pass and work my way back up.”

  “Let’s get moving then,” I said. We crouched low and moved back up the dirt trail. As we did, more rounds struck around us, but I could tell they didn’t have a clear line of sight. The firing was random and misguided. Now and again, a round would spit at our feet or over our heads, but they appeared to be shooting at random areas elsewhere in the pit hoping to hit us. That made it less dangerous and more dangerous at the same time. If they managed to nail us, I doubted our blood would stay invisible. And if they saw that, then they’d know how to zero in on our spot.

  That would obviously be really bad.

  I led the way up with Talya in between and Jack bringing up the rear. We tried to stay in sync as much as possible, but moving up the trail was slow going given how far down we were. By the time we reached the top, I was sweating profusely. Having automatic gunfire going off around you will tend to fray your nerves a bit.

  More soldiers stood at the ready above. Looking up by the helipad, I could make out another squad positioned there. If they caught sight of us, they could literally rain a wall of lead down on us. Stealth was essential now.

  I mimed our route to Jack and Talya. Both of them nodded. From the top of the Abyss, we headed to the left, circling the ring until I caught sight of the corridor that I knew would lead us back to the outside world. But just as I was ready to lead us over, a squad of soldiers moved in front of it and blocked anyone from exiting.

  Shit.

  I heard a bit of commotion and turned. Ten soldiers flanking a tall, thin man appeared at the entrance to the ring from another corridor. I knew who it was even before I could see his face clearly.

  Wei.

  He’d gotten older since I’d last seen him. A spider web of veins covered one side of his face giving it almost the look of a topographical map with contour lines. From that perspective, Wei’s cheek would have been a mountain.

  The same cruelty still burned in his eyes. They flashed around the perimeter of the ring and the entire place went silent. All gunfire ceased. Even the technicians knew enough to get up from behind their terminals and stand at attention. You could have heard a pin drop.

  Wei walked to the edge of the Abyss and looked down, presumably at Xuan Xiang. He sniffed and waved his hand. I thought they might simply empty a magazine into him, but a few minutes later, two guards emerged from the pit with Xuan Xiang draped over their arms. They approached Wei, dropped Xian Xiang at his feet and saluted smartly.

  Wei returne
d their salute with a whatever wave and then glared at Xuan Xiang. He squatted down and lifted Xuan Xian’s still unconscious head aloft before letting it droop back down. He motioned for two new guards to take him away. With another glare around the perimeter of the ring, Wei spun on his heel and exited down the same corridor he’d come from.

  I think we all breathed a huge sigh of relief - including all the Chinese in the room. No one wanted to get on Wei’s bad side. And if you did, you never lived long enough to be a problem to him again. I glanced at Talya and nodded. We’d hang out for a few more minutes and then get moving back toward the exit.

  I felt Jack’s hand on my shoulder, turned and smiled.

  But when I saw his eyes, I knew something was wrong. They looked vacant. And his skin looked pale. Really pale. Like stereotypical vampire pale.

  Talya saw it too and reacted immediately by leading us down a corridor until we managed to find a vacant office. Inside, we spun Jack around and saw the damage.

  He’d been shot.

  I frowned. Human bullets shouldn’t have had that effect on him. Yeah, they’d sting, but they wouldn’t produce the level of obvious damage that Jack had suffered.

  Talya eyed me. “Didn’t you tell me human bullets wouldn’t hurt you guys?”

  I nodded. “I did and they shouldn’t. He must have taken a round when we were climbing the slope back up to the top.”

  Talya poked at the wound in Jack’s lower back. “It doesn’t look like it punctured anything. If anything he got grazed. Which makes me wonder why the hell he’s reacting to it like this.”

  I looked at the wound. Blood had already started coagulating around the laceration, but it wasn’t bright red. It looked darker. Like someone had sucked the color out of it. And it didn’t look good.

  Jack cleared his throat. “Is it…bad?”

  Talya glanced at me but then she quickly smiled. “Nah, hon, you’ll be fine. Just a scratch really.”

  “Feels like it’s burning. And it’s burning inside me, too.”

  I frowned. This shouldn’t have been happening. If the slug had penetrated his body and I could dig it out, then I might have a shot at figuring out what had happened. But a graze meant the round was still back down in the Abyss and there was no way I was going back down there.

  One thing felt certain, however: Jack was injured and in need of medical care as soon as possible. I wondered if the Chinese had a new type of bullet that was effective against vampires and humans alike. Then I followed that train of thought down until I came up with a likely suspect who would have originated the idea.

  Xuan Xiang.

  He could have easily betrayed my entire race to the Chinese if he got something out of it. Hell, he could have helped them develop the round and even test it. But without knowing what it contained exactly, there wasn’t much I could do for him. At least not until Xian Xiang and I had some quality alone time.

  It was a good thing I hadn’t killed him when I’d had the chance.

  The problem was, now Wei had him. And if I was going to save Jack’s life, I needed to go find them both.

  Swell.

  “We need to get Xuan Xiang back.”

  Talya shook her head. “Are you nuts? Wei’s got him now. We’d never even get close to that guy before he’d have us both killed. And I don’t need to tell you that if Jack’s been wounded by those bullets, odds are good that you would be, too.”

  “Yeah, I got that part.” I sighed. “But we can’t stay here.”

  “I can make it,” said Jack. And then he passed out in my arms.

  “Shit.” I laid him down and stroked his head. His face had gone even whiter. “Something looks like it’s…I don’t know…poisoning his blood? Does that even make any sense?”

  “I don’t know if it does,” said Talya. “But I’d definitely agree with you that that is what it looks like is happening. How else do you account for the whiteness of his skin. It’s like all the pigment is being drawn out of it.”

  I nodded. “I’m guessing Xuan Xiang told his patrons how to build a better bullet. One that can kill both humans and vampires.”

  “Why would he sell out his own race?” asked Talya.

  “I don’t know. But if the guy didn’t have enough death warrants pending, he certainly does now. Providing material knowledge to help someone develop a new weapon that can kill the vampire race is an immediate sanction if ever there was one.”

  Talya looked down at Jack and a sad grin played across her face. “He looks so peaceful.”

  “He’s a great kid,” I said.

  “Looks more like a man now,” she said quietly.

  I felt a lump in my throat and tried my best to swallow it down. “We’ve got to stash him somewhere.”

  “You want to leave him?”

  “If we bring him along, it might make the poison seep through his system even faster. But if he’s immobile, then that might slow it down.”

  “That’s just a guess, though.” Talya shook her head. “I think we should bring him.”

  “Please don’t make this any harder than it already is,” I said. “He’s here because of me. You all are. If anything happens to Jack, I don’t know what the hell I would do. But it won’t be pretty. We leave him here, concealed, and we go get Xuan Xiang. If he built that bullet then he ought to know how to help Jack.”

  “And if he doesn’t? What then?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t have the slightest idea. But focusing on getting Xuan Xiang back from Wei is the best step toward helping Jack, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

  “Should we cover him with the Cloak?”

  I thought about it. But we’d need the Cloak to get past Wei’s guards and sneak inside his lair. If anyone discovered Jack, they would see the gunshot wound and hopefully transfer him to the medical unit. Even though they wouldn’t know how to cure him, they’d take care of him.

  I hoped.

  “No, we need the Cloak. Leave him under the table and let’s get moving. The sooner we find Xuan Xiang, the better.”

  We rolled Jack’s body under the table and put a rolled up jacket underneath the wound. The weight of his body would provide pressure that should help stop any residual bleeding. Then it would just be a matter of figuring out what was contaminating his blood.

  I took a final glance at his face. He looked sound asleep and I hoped he was having decent dreams.

  “Lawson.”

  I looked up at Talya. “I know.”

  We moved to the door and made sure the Cloak was properly positioned so that it covered both of us.

  “Ready?” I whispered to her.

  She nodded. “Let’s do this.”

  We slid the door shut as we snuck back into the hallway. Talya pointed in the direction that Wei and his goons had gone. We headed down the corridor and I allowed myself a final glance back at the room where we’d stowed Jack.

  Stay alive, I thought. I’ll be back as soon as I can.

  I just hoped I had enough time to find Xuan Xiang and get some answers before it became too late.

  For any of us.

  25

  Ahead of us, the corridor branched. I glanced at Talya and she shrugged. Guessing time. I pointed left and she agreed.

  I felt like shit leaving Jack behind. He’d come on this mission because of me and now the poor guy was close to death. The last thing I wanted to do was leave him behind like we had. But I didn’t know how else I could possibly locate the antidote without Talya and me getting shot in the process. I tried to focus on Talya’s presence and stow the guilt for the time being.

  Walking next to her felt good. It had been ages since I’d seen her and I had so many questions. Primarily, how the hell had she been caught by Xuan Xiang in the first place? Had she made a mistake? Had he lured her here somehow? We’d have plenty of time for an After Action, but damned if I wasn’t busting to ask her all about everything right then and there.

  We had other priorities though.
Find Xuan Xiang and ask him what the hell he’d done. I felt pretty certain he must have worked with the Chinese - specifically Wei - to create some sort of bullet that could harm humans and vampires. Call it a hunch or professional instinct. I don’t know. I just wanted to get my hands on him and wring his neck until he told me. If Jack died, I’d never forgive myself. And I’d kill Xuan Xiang more than once, then work my way back through his entire network.

  We paused when we saw two guards standing over a door ahead of us. Talya must have felt weird about being out in the open and having to trust the Cloak to keep her concealed. I’d gotten more used to it, but it still felt odd. She looked at me and we tried to figure out if the door in front of us was another prison cell or an office. Wei’s office? I didn’t know. But we had to get past the guards in order to find out. And that was going to present a whole slew of problems.

  Once we moved on them, they’d know we were coming. Surprise was gone.

  But I didn’t know how much time Jack had left. If his blood was being poisoned, then the poor guy could be dead before we could figure out another way to sneak in.

  I knew Talya must have been thinking the same thing. She put a hand on my arm and I saw the look of grim determination on her face.

  We’d hit them hard and fast.

  I took the guard on the left. Talya took the one on the right. The Cloak wouldn’t cover both of us, so I opted to leave it on Talya.

  We approached and at the last moment, I came out from under the Cloak and swung the butt of the assault rifle right into the guard’s jawline. His head snapped around and I heard his neck crack. He dropped to the floor and lay still. His partner joined him a moment later. Talya scooped up that guard’s rifle and pocketed the extra mags, handing me one in the process.

  I put my ear to the door but heard nothing on the other side. Xuan Xiang or a whole squad of Chinese soldiers could be in there protecting Wei.