Andre laughed. “Lucy, you’re not dead. St. Paul is a metro stop, remember?”
“But,” Lucy reached out and touched Andre’s cheek. It was warm and slightly prickly from a few days stubble growth. “You seem so real. I saw you, Andre. I saw you fall.”
Andre leaned forward and kissed her softly, taking her hand from his cheek and resting it over his heart. A steady, yet strong heartbeat reverberated beneath her palm. “Do you feel that?” he whispered.
Lucy nodded, but her confusion was evident in her expression. “How?”
The smile he gave her was the most achingly beautiful sight she had ever seen. “I have you to thank, Lucy.”
“Me?”
“Your blood saved me,” he explained. “I broke a few bones. I thought for sure I was dead, I felt dead, but thanks to you I survived.”
Lucy swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. Andre was alive. Against impossible odds, they had both survived. An overwhelming mix of emotions surged through her. She threw herself against Andre’s chest and wrapped her arms around him as shuddering sobs wracked her body. He held her close, burying his head in her hair and whispering words of comfort, until someone nearby cleared their throat loudly. Lucy pulled back slightly and looked up.
“Evan!” Lucy smiled bashfully. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you! So, um…I guess we made a mess of things.”
Evan Conroy smiled down at her. “You could say that. But considering the fact that you singlehandedly destroyed the secret base of The Eyes of the Sun and all of their laboratories, something I might add, that in twenty years I have never been able to locate, I’ll let it slide.”
Lucy’s stomach dropped, remembering the events that led her to where she was. “Actually, it wasn’t exactly single handedly,” she admitted with sadness, averting her eyes from both Evan and Andre’s.
“I intend to hear everything, but let’s get you back to base and checked out before we worry about that.”
Andre helped her to her feet and insisted on carrying her over the worst of the wreckage. When they reached the street level, Lucy nearly burst into tears again at the sight of the night sky, something she thought she would never see again. But then she began to laugh uncontrollably when she realized that the bright light, which she mistook for a harbinger of death, turned out to be a high-powered halogen torch brought in to assist in the search for her.
“Andre did she get hit on the head or something?”
Lucy spun around and grinned wide. “Miles! What are you doing here?”
“I’m on vacation,” Miles deadpanned. “What do you think I’m doing? I came to help look for you, silly!” They hugged briefly, but Evan cut the reunion short, ushering everyone into a small van, and they headed back to EJC headquarters. As they approached La Defense, Lucy remembered Oscar’s warning about the Paris division.
“Um, Evan, I found out some information you might want to look into,” Lucy said timidly, “about the Paris team. It’s possible some of them might have been working with the ES.”
The three men looked at each other with knowing and wary expressions. “More than some of them,” Evan admitted with a sigh. “I’m going to be taking a much more active role in the operations here for a while.” He didn’t say any more on the subject and Lucy didn’t press him for details.
Evan pulled the van into the parking garage and ushered everyone into the corridor that led to headquarters. The first thing Lucy noticed was that it was not bustling with activity as it had been the last time she was there. In fact, it was eerily quiet. “Our four remaining hunters are currently out assisting the government with the cleanup,” Evan explained.
Lucy winced. Cleanup undoubtedly referred to the aftermath of the explosion. “Was anyone hurt?”
“So far, no,” Evan assured her. “The compound was shielded heavily. You, unfortunately, were caught within the shielding. Most of the wreckage you saw was made by us. We had to break through to reach you.”
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. At least no one was hurt unnecessarily, no one that is, other than Oscar. There wasn’t much hope of survival considering what she herself went through.
They reached the main office, which Lucy recognized as where she first met Joseph. Evan settled himself behind the desk and switched on the monitor, typing something before turning his attention back to her. “We have a lot to talk about, but it can wait until morning. You should check in with medical.”
Lucy shrugged. “I’m fine, really. I’d really appreciate a shower and a bed right now.”
“Fair enough,” Evan conceded. “Andre, would you show Lucy to her quarters?”
As much as she wanted to get everything over with, Lucy was grateful for the momentary reprieve. She was exhausted. Andre placed his hand gently on her back and steered Lucy out of the room.
“Andre,” Evan called after them, “once Lucy is settled in, I want you to get some sleep too.”
“I'm fine,” Andre waved him off dismissively.
“You've been up for almost four days,” Evan reasoned. “That was an order, not a request.”
Andre held the door open, allowing Lucy to enter her temporary quarters. The room was slightly smaller than the room she had in New Orleans. No windows though. Once again, Lucy found herself beneath the city and she shuddered. She couldn't wait to get home, back to her wonderful home, where basements were logistically impossible.
“Are you alright?” Andre's voice trembled slightly.
“As much as I can be,” Lucy smiled weakly. “I'm just tired of being underground.”
“You're safe now, Lucy,” Andre whispered and slipped his arms around her. “We'll be home soon.” Lucy allowed herself the luxury of the moment. So much had been left unspoken between them and tomorrow would likely bring more questions and tough answers. She pulled out of Andre's embrace with a shy smile.
“Thank you,” she whispered softly. “I should probably go clean up.”
“I'm right next door if you need me.”
She wanted to ask him to stay, but simply nodded, closing the door behind him with a deep sigh.
The following morning Lucy sat on her bed and tried to clear her mind of the jumble of thoughts and emotions that had made sleep nearly impossible. In a few moments, she would have to give Evan her report, as well as the decision she had made. She was sure that he would not take it well. A soft knock on the door broke through her thoughts.
“Hey.” Andre stood in the hall, his hair still damp from his shower and a mug of coffee in each hand. He looked slightly less pale, but the dark circles remained, leading Lucy to believe Andre hadn’t slept much more than she had. “How are you feeling?” He handed her one of the mugs.
“Thanks. I'm not sure,” Lucy confessed. “I mean, I'm fine, I'm not hurt or anything. I just...well, I’m not looking forward to reliving any of this.”
Andre’s brow creased in concern. “What happened to you? Were you hurt?”
Lucy shook her head. “I don’t want to think about it anymore than I have to. How did you find out about the corruption?”
Andre’s face distorted in disgust. “As soon as I realized I was not injured, I came back here and called an emergency meeting. I had your location, thanks to the earrings, and I intended to go after you. I fully expected the team to be behind me one hundred percent. What I did not expect was a dozen objections and excuses. It was appalling. Evan was on the next flight out, Miles too. Thirteen hunters have been taken into custody by EU operatives and are awaiting their fate.”
“But they were being blackmailed, right?” Lucy asked, but Andre laughed bitterly.
“No, not blackmail, bribery. The ES was paying them to look the other way.”
“That’s horrible. What’s going to happen to them now?”
Andre shrugged. “Who knows? We’re an invisible organization working with a branch of the government that doesn’t officially exist. I expect imprisonment at the very least. Evan can tell you more. I didn’t stick around
any longer than I was required.” His gaze softened as he looked up at her. “I had something far more important to do.”
Lucy flushed uncomfortably. “You were looking for me, all this time?”
“I was,” Andre said softly, “and it was so frustrating! I’d be standing right where the computer said you were and there would be nothing there. I knew you had to be underground, it was the only explanation, but I never found an entrance, not even a clue as to how to reach you.”
“I’m so sorry,” Lucy whispered. “You had every reason to give up on me and you didn’t. Thank you.”
“Of course I didn’t give up on you!” Andre said with vehemence. “I’ll never give up on you, Lucy. I knew you were alive.”
“You did?”
“Of course I did,” he replied with a trace of his former cockiness. “The transmitters also monitored your life signs.”
“Andre!” Lucy huffed, swatting him lightly on the arm. “Why didn’t you wear one and give me a monitor? If I knew you were alive…”
Andre smiled wryly. “I wasn’t the one walking into a trap, so I thought. And besides, you couldn’t take your phone with you, so it wouldn’t have done you any good anyway.”
He was right, of course, but still Lucy wondered how differently events would have transpired had she known he was still alive. “Well,” she said heavily, draining her coffee, “let’s get this over with.”
Evan, Miles, and Andre listened in silence as Lucy told them everything that had happened; from the moment she killed Mira, to the explosion that buried her two stories underground. She found it difficult to explain Oscar’s infatuation with her, especially with Andre present. Several times, she caught his eyebrows narrowing murderously, as if Oscar was somehow still a threat to their tentative relationship. When she finished, having glossed over the events that led to Oscar’s final sacrifice, Andre was the first to speak, asking the question she least wanted to answer.
“What made you trust that Oscar would carry out the plan? Isn’t self-sacrifice in direct opposition to the programming that drives them to extend their lives indefinitely?”
“His actions,” Lucy answered, unable to make eye contact with Andre. “I wanted to get out of there. I wanted to regroup, contact Evan, and formulate a plan that wouldn’t cost anyone’s life. I asked him the same question. After all, it had been his programming that drove him to reconfigure the lab shutdown in such a suicidal fashion. I told him he couldn’t do it and he…he did something that proved me wrong.”
“What did he do?” Evan asked with genuine curiosity, unaware of the discomfort he was putting Lucy through.
“He…he…kissed me,” she stammered, “knowing full well that doing so guaranteed his death.”
No one spoke for several minutes. Lucy chanced a look around the room and wished she hadn’t. Andre’s expression was neutral, but his eyes expressed hurt and disappointment, which nearly brought her to tears. At last, Evan cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.
“There were no survivors. We found the Elders, their bodies, of course are in the lab for analysis. You’ve put us ahead Lucy, and for that, I am truly grateful, especially in light of what has been revealed about our team here. The labs have been destroyed and only time will tell if any of the surviving vampires have the ambition to try to recreate them.”
“Thank you.” Lucy accepted the praise with a heavy heart.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Evan continued. “As you know, there is an official investigation in progress over the bribery allegations, and even now, thousands of these High Born vampires still hold sway over the government. I’ll be staying in the country for another month at least. Miles has agreed to assist me with rebuilding the operation. I’d really appreciate it if you and Andre were to stick around and help out, but given what you have been through, you are under no obligation to do that.”
Lucy took a deep breath. The moment she had been dreading had finally arrived. “I had hoped to do this under different circumstances,” Lucy measured her words carefully. “But in light of everything I’ve learned, my initial convictions have strengthened. I’d like to resign.” Her words were met with stunned silence. “Of course, I’ll give notice. If you need my help, I’m willing to stay, but I won’t kill unless it is the only way to prevent someone else’s death. I want to work with the outreach.”
“The outreach is tough, Lucy,” Evan informed her. “Vampires who have been conditioned from birth to be one way aren’t easily convinced to give it up. More often than not, Ida thinks she has made inroads with a particular vampire, only to find them in our morgue the next day. Are you willing to deal with that level of disappointment?”
“I think I am,” Lucy said with confidence. “What’s more, I think I’ve enough ammunition, given my experiences and my education, that I can raise the success rate for both Ida and myself. If anything positive has come out of what happened to me, it's that I have learned that no amount of gene modification can completely erase free will, only suppress it. I plan to enroll in some psychology and biology courses when I get back, to give myself a greater edge.”
Andre opened his mouth to speak, but Evan silenced him with a pointed look. “I have to admit, I’d hate to lose you, Lucy. You’re an incredibly intuitive hunter and you’ve surpassed even my expectations for you. But I can’t stop you from making your own decisions, and I won’t stop you. I think you’re right. If anyone can succeed in convincing a vampire to turn their life around, it’s going to be Emma Soriano’s granddaughter. You’re more like her than you’ll ever admit.”
“I appreciate that,” Lucy said, finding that she actually meant it.
“I don’t see any reason to make you stick around here. Everything you brought to Paris has been brought here, so there’s little to do in the way of packing. I can have you on the next available flight to New Orleans. My only request is that you talk to both Dara and Ida when you get there.”
“I had actually planned on doing just that,” Lucy affirmed. “Thank you, Evan.”
She left the office quickly, knowing that despite her curiosity, she did not want to overhear the conversation that would likely follow in her absence. She turned down the hallway into the residential area just as someone was coming down the corridor. She stepped out of the way to let the woman pass, but found herself engulfed in a bone shattering hug.
“Lucy! I’m so glad to see you!”
Lucy stiffened slightly, recognizing the voice, if not the drab brown hair she was wearing this morning. “Lisette?”
Lisette nodded, beaming at her and let Lucy go with an embarrassed eye roll. “Sorry, I forgot Americans do not like so much touching. Evan told us you were found alive, but I am happy to see you myself.”
“It’s not that,” Lucy said slightly bewildered at Lisette’s warm reception.
“I realize we hardly know one another. But Andre is like family to us and it tore him apart when he could not find you.”
“Um, you should probably know that we aren’t really engaged,” Lucy admitted with a blush.
Lisette nodded. “Yes, and we know your true nature now as well, but surely you know how much Andre loves you, no?”
Lucy’s shoulders slumped as sorrow punched her in the gut. “I’m afraid that might have changed, he’s pretty ticked off at me right now. I thought you were interested in Andre?”
“Oh no!” Lisette laughed. “Well, I admit, all of us have had a harmless crush on Andre, and I was taken to teasing him now and then, but that is all. None of us ever had a chance, Lucy. That is why you are so special. Do not underestimate him, he may be upset over something now, but he loves you, he will get over it.”
“I don’t know about that, I just resigned,” Lucy admitted. “I’m going to work with the outreach back home.”
Lisette raised her eyebrows. “Is that all? I will have to have a talk with Andre about his stubborn side.”
“I doubt that’s all, but don’t worry about me,
you have enough to worry about here.”
“Disgusting, isn’t it?” Lisette screwed up her face. “We have so much corruption in Paris already and to find it so rampant in our own organization, ugh! But we will rebuild, you have done so much already to assure us success.”
Lucy shrugged. “I’m glad I could help, even though it was quite accidental. I need to get ready to leave. Evan’s getting me the first flight out.”
Lisette hugged Lucy once again. “Goodbye for now, Lucy. Please keep in touch, Andre knows how to contact me, and so does Bellona, in case he is a stubborn ass.”
“Goodbye, Lisette, I’ll definitely keep in touch.”
“I can't believe this!”
Andre’s voice was full of hurt. Evan had given him the job of driving Lucy to the airport. She understood Evan’s intentions, but couldn’t help feeling that he was being unfair to both Andre and her. Distance and time was what they both needed at the moment.
They had driven all the way to the airport in silence. Only after she had checked her bags and navigated the interminably confusing maze of escalators to her gate, did Andre break the silence.
“You're giving up on us,” he accused, “after everything we have been through, everything we've survived. Why?”
“I’m not giving up on anything, Andre,” Lucy said with a heavy heart. “I thought you would understand. I can't lie to myself anymore. You've known this. You saw my hesitations from the beginning. I'm not a murderer. If there's a chance I can use what I know to save lives, instead of taking them, then I have to take it. I can't be your partner anymore, that much is true. But if that means the end of whatever us there is, then yes, I'm hurt. I'm sorry, but I won't change my mind.”
Andre pursed his lips in disgust. “What exactly happened between you and Oscar?”
Lucy gaped at him in astonishment. He might as well have slapped her. “What happened was exactly what I told you happened. Yes, Oscar had some sort of obsession with me, and yes, perhaps under different circumstances I could have been open-minded, but for god’s sake Andre, have a little faith in me! I feel awful about what happened, but you seem to be accusing me of Stockholm syndrome!”
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 31
