“Here, I got her,” he said and lifted her from my arms. I mopped up the mess as best I could and grimaced. The slimy stain across the front of my shirt didn’t just look gross, it also smelled pretty bad. Isaac got the baby cleaned up and laid her against his shoulder, patting her on the back until she let out a couple of squeaky burps. “There we go, I bet you feel better now, don’t you?” he cooed at the baby, who snuggled into the crook of his neck.
“I guess she likes you better than me.”
“Nah, babies have sensitive stomachs,” Isaac said lightly, but his eyes darkened. “Who knows what that monster might have been feeding her.” He rocked the baby lightly for a few minutes until she settled down and then looked over at me with a hopeful smile. “Want her back now?”
“That’s okay,” I said a little too quickly. “I’m still kind of slimy and uh…you seem to be doing a better job with her.” I felt my cheeks redden.
“Okay,” Isaac chuckled lightly. “I certainly don’t mind, but she does make me a little emotional. I missed out on so much of your life. Be prepared, I plan on spoiling the heck out of any grandchildren you give me.”
“Well you’ll have to wait on that. I’m a little too young for kids yet,” I said lightly, but my mood darkened considerably. I was pretty sure I’d never be ready for kids unless I woke up suddenly to find that Abe had found a way to reinstall my missing biological clock. And while I did feel twenty-five was too young to be a mother, I realized my mother was seven years younger than I am now when she had me. A point Isaac obviously knew as well.
“Of course,” Isaac replied with a not so subtle glance over at Andre, whose head, thankfully, was still buried in his computer. “I’m not pressuring you to have children by any means. That was just a warning for when you do. So, does this one have a name?”
I shrugged. “I’m sure whoever ends up adopting her will give her one.” As long as it wasn’t Lucy, I didn’t care what she was called. Isaac looked down at the sleeping baby with a thoughtful expression.
“She kind of looks like a Sophia, don’t you think?”
“No!” I nearly shouted, startling both Isaac and the baby. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just that Sophia’s my middle name and well…” I didn’t want to tell Isaac about Cynda’s connection to me just yet and Johnny’s earlier comments about this baby’s healing ability made me assume the worst. Behind me, Andre closed his laptop with a little more force than necessary and quickly stood up. I turned to see him looking at me with more than a little anger in his expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Hm? Nothing,” he said distractedly. “I’ve got the codes programmed into the computer and I can start replicating chips as soon as I get back to base. I’ve got to go destroy this one now.” He nodded at Isaac and gave me yet another strange, somewhat hostile look before walking out the back door without another word.
“Now what did I do?” I muttered.
“He’s had a rough night,” Isaac reminded me. “Andre’s just being Andre, but I suspect you probably know that better than I do at this point,” he added with a wink. I couldn’t help but blush. I had a father for all of ten minutes and already we had come to the awkward conversation about boyfriends.
“Oh I do,” I said with a sigh. “But I have no idea what that was…” I stopped speaking when the realization that I did know what that was about hit me. I should have realized it sooner. Andre wanted kids, I didn’t. Even if I did, it wasn’t possible because of my vampire blood. Seeing me acting completely inept and making an offhanded comment probably lost me any chance of a future with Andre. I was grateful that Johnny and Abe were ready to go moments later because falling into a melancholy funk over my relationship was not how I planned to spend my reunion with my father.
As we started driving back into town, I realized my plans to get to know all about my father would have to be put on hold. I really wasn’t in any shape to deal with headquarters and I desperately needed to sleep.
“Do you mind dropping me off at my apartment?” I asked and turned to Isaac to apologize. “I’m so sorry. I want to talk to you, and hear more about my mother and you, but I’m pretty well beat up. I… I’m sure you have a lot of catching up to do with Ida and everyone. Do you mind if I just come by when I’m human again?”
“Of course I don’t,” Isaac replied with a warm hug. “I’m not going anywhere, Lucy, not this time.”
Johnny pulled the van up in front of the building and waited until I was safely inside. A brief check of the common areas and dorms revealed that I was alone and I took full advantage of the situation. I grabbed Gumbo off the sofa where she was sunning herself, curled up around her in my bed, and started to cry.
I cried for my own stupid situation with Andre. I cried for the tragic missed opportunity for my parents to live a normal, happy life. I cried when I thought of the poor girl whose baby was now safely tucked away at headquarters and the fact that she, having no way of knowing this, was probably devastated. I cried until my eyes stung, my sinuses burned, and I was sure there was no more liquid left in my body to turn into tears. I hadn’t cried that hard since the day my mother died fifteen years before. And just like then, letting it all out only served to make me feel even emptier than I already had.
Chapter 17
I awoke to the sound of Gumbo's low menacing growl and an incessant pounding on my front door. The sunlight streaming in the windows made me glance at the clock and do a double take when I saw that it was just after seven in the morning. It had been just after three the previous afternoon when my crying jag finally subsided, meaning that not only had I slept nightmare free, but I had slept for sixteen hours, something I didn't think was physically possible. Oddly though, I was still exhausted and the banging on the door was doing nothing for the headache that was coming on.
Even odder was Gumbo's behavior. She was normally a lazy cat who only showed mild interest in the occasional bird that would land on my balcony. To see her standing on my dresser, back arched, and hissing, put me on high alert. I drew back the curtain and looked out. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, so I shrugged into my bathrobe and stalked to the door, not at all surprised to see three impossibly perky vampires who were impervious to the death glare I gave them.
“Wow, you look like crap! Have you been asleep this whole time?”
“We tried to call you!”
“Oh my god, your dad is so hot.”
I considered slamming the door in their faces, but opted for turning my back and stalking into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.
“Don’t bother, we brought some,” Ingrid said, holding up an insulated jug.
“Right,” I grumbled and continued scooping beans into the grinder, “like I’m going to fall for that again.”
“Ida made it, and what’s up with you?”
With a sigh, I grabbed some mugs from the cupboard and flopped onto the sofa. “I’m sorry, I’ve got a raging headache and the last thing I want to hear is my nineteen year old friend telling me my dad, who is sixty, is hot. That’s just gross.”
“Well he is!” Kaylee said with a dramatic eye roll. “Anyway he’s worried about you. You said you were going to come over last night.”
“I was planning on it, but apparently, I was pretty tired. I don’t know how I missed your calls though. I usually hear the phone no matter what.”
“Yeah, that’s because you dropped Fred in the van last night,” Layla said as she pulled my phone out of her purse and tossed it to me. They weren’t kidding. I had several missed calls from them, as well as Ida, Andre, Lona, Miles, Holly, and Evan. I’d never felt so popular. “Good thing one of us was smart enough to remember there’s a GPS tracker in it.”
“You mean good thing you spazzed out and Holly suggested tracking it?” Kaylee teased.
“Thanks whoever,” I mumbled and sent off a mass text to let everyone know I was fine and that I’d be over soon. “Well, let me shower and we’ll head back over.”
Twenty minutes later, I was dressed and, thankfully, my headache had subsided. I ushered the girls out of my apartment and scooped up Gumbo with the hope that lounging in her favorite spot by the window would settle her down. Instead of curling up and going to sleep, she jumped up onto the windowsill, arched her back, and started hissing. I was starting to get pretty freaked out, so I glanced out the window and froze at what I saw.
“Hey guys wait! Get back here.”
“What’s up?” Ingrid asked.
I looked out the window to make sure I had seen correctly and unfortunately, I had. “We’ve got company and it’s not the good kind.” Two gray-skinned vampires with stringy black hair were hanging out in the alley, just a little too close to the door by the loading dock for my comfort. “Who else is here?”
“No one,” Ingrid replied and looked out the window. “Oh my god, is that those guys from the other night?”
“Unless you know of any other chimeras that might have a reason to be hanging out in my alley. This isn't a good sign.” I hit the emergency beacon on my phone and immediately called Evan.
“Lucy, what’s going on?”
“Two of Bluebeard’s chimeras are hanging out by the loading dock. It looks like they’re trying to find a way in.” From upstairs, I heard the sound of breaking glass and froze. “Oh, shit! Evan, I don't think they're alone! I gotta go, get someone over here as fast as you can!” I looked out the window again. The two in the alley were still there, which meant they were probably lookouts. “Ingrid, are you armed?”
“Yeah.” She nodded and pulled two CPAs from her wrist holster. I did the same.
“Lucy what’s happening?” Kaylee asked in a panicked whisper. She and Layla were a liability because in addition to being ‘defective’ vampires, neither of them had any weapons training.
“Listen carefully,” I told them in the calmest voice I could. “Get to the kitchen and lock yourselves in the pantry. Push everything you can find up against the door and do not open it for anyone or anything until I say so, okay?”
“Got it,” Layla squeaked and pulled Kaylee into the kitchen. Ingrid and I crept towards the stairwell, but another crash from below caused us to pause. I knew Evan could mobilize a team rather quickly, but we had just reached the point where seconds were going to matter.
“Up or down?” Ingrid whispered.
“Down,” I replied. “We need to get to the security office and we are not splitting up.”
We only got halfway down the stairs when another crash and a scream, which sounded disturbingly like Kaylee’s, echoed from the second floor. We ran back up the stairs and into the kitchen. One of the chimeras had Kaylee around the waste with a knife held to her neck, inching toward the shattered window over the sink. Layla stood by the table, holding a butcher’s knife in her shaking hands.
“Layla, put the knife down,” I said with a slight tremble to my voice.
“What?” She looked at me with wide, terrified eyes.
“Just trust me,” I said, a little more calmly. I turned to the vampire who was inching away. “Let her go and I’ll come quietly.” I slipped the holsters off my wrists and laid them on the table. “I’m unarmed, just let her go.”
The chimera smiled sinisterly. “You’re not exactly in a position to be negotiating now, are you?” A series of soft clicks echoed through the room and I turned slowly. Four more gray-skinned chimeras blocked the exit and all of them had guns pointed at my head. I put my hands up automatically. Like I said, guns terrified me. While I was in training to be a hunter, I was supposed to learn to properly maintain and shoot at least one gun before I was allowed to join the team. Evan had given me a pass when I displayed a natural ability for the CPAs. I’d never had any reason to regret his decision until that moment.
“Let them go,” I said with as much bravado as I could force. “I know you’re here for me and I know Adam wants me alive. You and I both know that if you kill me, you’ll be dead before nightfall.” I could have sworn I saw a flicker of thought in the eyes of the one closest to me, but apparently, the one who had Kaylee was the ringleader.
“I’m afraid what works on television doesn’t work in real life, Lucinda. You just keep your mouth shut, and keep your hands up like a good girl, and maybe, just maybe, you won’t get shot. Hey!” He barked suddenly. “Where you think you’re going, red?” Ingrid, who had been inching her way along the wall, stopped suddenly as the one closest to her swung his gun in her face. “Get your ass back over here and put your weapons on the table like little miss talky here.”
Ingrid slowly backed away from the chimera with the gun until her hip bumped the table. She removed her holster, which fell to the table with a dull thud. The ringleader shoved Kaylee at us and swiped the holsters from the table.
“Okay tie ‘em up and bring ‘em down to the truck.”
Suddenly, the room erupted with the thunderous sound of several heavy footfalls coming up the stairs.
“Nobody move or I’ll shoot to kill! Everyone put your hands in the air!”
Miles’ booming voice meant the cavalry had arrived. I chanced a quick glance over my shoulder and saw Miles, Johnny, and two other hunters, Edgar and Carlos, in full riot gear, pointing some big guns at our captors.
“Get down!” I yelled to the girls and dove under the table, which proved to be the smartest idea of the day because despite the close quarters, and being faced with a team of snipers in riot gear, the chimeras chose to start shooting. The room erupted into a deafening cacophony of gun blasts, breaking glass, and the terrified screams of Kaylee and Layla. There was a loud crash as someone, or something, was thrown into the wall, which shattered the glass doors of the cabinets.
Through the dust and debris that had once been our kitchen, I could barely see what was happening, but I caught sight of the ringleader crawling towards the broken window in an attempt to escape. I slid out the single CPA that I had the forethought to slip up my sleeve before unarming myself, and lunged, bringing my weapon down as I landed on his back. I barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before the room suddenly exploded into a blinding flash of light and I was thrown against the wall.
Except when I hit the wall, I didn’t stop moving. It wasn’t until I felt most of my bones shatter against the pavement in the alley that I realized I was no longer in my kitchen. I willed my eyes open and stared up at the gaping hole in the side of the building that was now billowing smoke. Somebody must have had a bomb. I panicked when I realized that the others had probably also been hit by the blast and prayed that I took the brunt of it. I didn’t want to think about what that would have done to someone without my healing ability. I tried to get up, but it was useless, nothing worked. My arms, legs, and even my neck were completely immobilized. I was alive, but barely.
As I lay on my back, unable to move, I heard coughing and the footfalls of someone running toward me. Seconds later, a shadow obscured the smoky sky above as Andre dropped to his knees next to me.
“Oh thank guh…” He collapsed into another coughing fit. “Sorry,” he said hoarsely. “I saw you fall.” He gasped for breath again. “Can you move?”
“I think…” I strained against the injuries, but it was useless. I managed to move my left arm slightly, but my legs might as well have been missing. “No,” I said with a frustrated sigh. “How long did it take you to heal after your fall?”
“Nearly an hour, but we don’t have that kind of time.” I followed his gaze up to where the smoke was now pouring out and I could see the orange tendrils of flames.
“Is anyone still up there?”
“No, but...there are a lot of serious injuries and... I'm not sure about Ingrid,” he said softly.
“What about her? What happened?” I struggled to get up. I couldn't wait for bones to heal when there was a very likely chance my friends were critically injured.
“She was hit with the same blast that got you,” Andre informed me grimly, “and another one.”
I was able to turn my head slightly and noticed that both his shirt and pants were torn and slick with what was most likely blood. It was a testament to how weak I was that I hadn’t even noticed enough to react. “You were injured too? What happened, did they have a bomb or something?”
“They were the bombs, Lucy. The implants, they must have been rigged to explode at the time of death. I found out the hard way when I killed the two that were hanging out back here. I was able to shield Evan, but he still took a bad hit.” He looked up as the sound of sirens filled the air. “I've got to get you out of here. Damage control is going to have enough of a headache without us hanging around. Can you move at all?”
I reached out and swung my arms over his shoulders to steady myself, but as he pulled back, I shifted awkwardly and fell to the ground. I reached out again and gasped in horror. Something was very wrong. Aside from the tattered sleeve and bloodstains on my left arm, it was perfectly normal. But my right arm, the arm that somehow, through some misfiring synapses in my brain, I could still feel, was gone. I stared in wide-eyed horror at the smooth, slightly pink stump of skin that ended just above where my elbow should have been.
“Holy...” Whatever curse I was about to utter died on my lips because at that moment, my eyes rolled into the back of my head, the world tilted sideways, and I passed out.
Chapter 18
The raging headache that woke me indicated that I must have been drugged after I passed out. My surroundings confirmed this to be true. I was in one of the observation rooms near the medical ward. Aside from the headache, there was a stabbing pain shooting up my damaged arm. I lifted my stumped appendage to see what might be causing me pain and I nearly passed out again. Where my elbow should have been was a shriveled protrusion that looked something like the fingers on a baby’s hand. Instead of passing out, I shrieked and jumped back far enough to fall off the bed.
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 48
