“You’re right, but most of the bleeding would have been internal,” I explained. “Mods heal almost instantly. Smashing his heart to bits definitely could have killed him, but not before the skin around the weapon started to heal.”
“Agent Timmons may be on to something, Lucy,” Andre noted. “Given the scale of the attack, I would have assumed that all of the victims were killed in a more efficient manner, possibly ahead of time and then staged. If he had been dead when the stake was driven in, there would be blood everywhere because dead tissue doesn’t regenerate. There’s no blood, but there’s also no sign of a struggle. I doubt that he just laid there and let his attacker drive a stake through his heart.”
“Unless he was drugged,” I pointed out.
“I’m sure our forensics experts will figure it out,” Goff said with a sharp glance at the police officers by the barricade. “Right now our job is to get him out of here. It looks like the cleanup crew has arrived.”
The vampire was loaded into a body bag and lifted onto a stretcher. There was a brief wait while the police cleared the path enough for Goff to drive the government’s van up to the barricade, but for the most part, we were out of there quickly and without too much hassle from the news reporters. A few tried to stick cameras in our faces, but Andre and I just put our heads down and shouldered past them as if they were invisible. I might have shoved past one particularly pushy reporter a little harder than necessary, but in all fairness, she deserved it.
As soon as we got back to Andre’s truck, we were given another body to pick up. This one was in an alley off Canal, not far from a restaurant where I once had a date with a murderous vampire. This time the victim was a human. There were bite marks on her neck and from the waxy gray pallor of her skin most, if not all, of her blood had been drained.
“Isn’t this one a little out of our jurisdiction?” I asked. Collecting the bodies of vampires was one thing. Vampires didn’t report their missing to the police. Humans did. This girl looked to be around my age and was probably a college student.
“Maybe,” Goff replied. “For all we know, she’s a vamp too.”
“She’s not,” Andre said. “There’s not much blood left in her, but there is enough to get a positive reading for human on the hemograph. We need to let the police take her.”
“Like hell we do,” Goff stated sharply. “This is a federal investigation now. Those wounds need to be swabbed for evidence that this was an actual vampire attack. I highly doubt that the police would know what to look for.”
I bristled at her insinuation that the police were incapable of dealing with a problem that they’ve known about for a lot longer than the government. Even if Goff didn’t know her insult was directed at my father among others, it was nothing more than stupid government posturing and rude as well. I nearly said something, but I caught a look of warning from Andre.
“We’ll have the department search for next of kin once we identify her and release the body after it has been examined,” Timmons told me with an apologetic look as soon as Goff was out of earshot.
Luckily, there wasn’t another call, so after we moved the body into the agent’s van, Andre and I headed back to the office.
“Goff’s curious,” Andre said after we got back in the truck. “I couldn’t get a lock on her.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what we were supposed to be looking for, but all she managed to do was make me like her even less. I get that she hates vampires, but she was just as much a coldhearted bitch when the victim was human. Timmons though, that guy was an open book. I almost feel bad for him.”
“Either he’s a good actor or he really didn’t know what he was getting into,” Andre added. “But at least he didn’t seem to react any differently whether the victim was human or vampire. Good to know some agents still have empathy for both.”
Back at headquarters, Holly informed us that there were still four teams out, but that the calls had stopped, at least for the moment. Andre went to find Ben and I decided to poke around and see what I could find out. The first place I went was the kitchen, where Ida was bustling about in preparation for the increase in mouths to feed.
“Oh good, you’re back,” she said with a warm smile that didn’t quite mask how upset she was. “Does this mean that the nightmare is over?”
“For now at least,” I replied. “I was hoping you could tell me anything you’ve heard. Evan’s not back yet.”
“Give me a second. Hey Saundra!” she called over her shoulder to one of her staff. “Can you keep an eye on this for me?”
“Sure thing, Ida.”
“Thanks, doll. Come on out to the dining room,” she said to me while untying her apron and tossing it in the bin by the door. “Grab some coffee if you’d like.”
“That goes without saying,” I chuckled and poured myself a rather large cup. “So, what’s so important that you trusted a newbie to watch your roux?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but a lot of odd coincidences have been cropping up and I don’t quite know what to make of it.”
“Like what?” I asked, wondering what I had missed.
“Like a couple of them bodies they brought in today looked familiar,” she said with a sigh. “Back when I was running Gilly’s, there was a gang of hooligans that used to show up in the alley every now and then. I tried several times to get through to them, but not a one would take me up on my offer of a warm meal and a clean place to stay. I never did give up though. This went on for a few years, but then one day they all disappeared. This was back in the early eighties. I haven’t seen any of them since. Until today that is.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “That would have been almost thirty years ago.”
“I don’t forget a face, Lucy. And I most certainly don’t forget the ones I couldn’t help. I don’t know what it means, but for a group of vampires to disappear for that long, only to show up dead, something weird has to be happening.”
“Well that’s great,” I sighed. “So we’ve got another mystery to add to the growing list of things that don’t make sense.”
“Don’t think too hard on it,” she said, patting me on the hand. “That’s the easiest way to overlook the obvious.”
“The obvious is that someone wants all of the vampires dead, but why? I admit that I’ve been quick to blame the government, but even that isn’t adding up.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. You’re trying to look too deep,” Ida said. “I don’t think the government is behind these attacks. Not after today.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because whoever is behind this is looking to create chaos,” she explained. “Not that I think the government is above using fear as leverage. I just think they use fears they can manage. Nuclear war and terrorist attacks are dangers that the average citizen fears, but they also believe that the government is capable of protecting them from such things. Vampires are out of bounds. If the newspapers started reporting that vampires really exist, how many people do you think would put their trust in the government to protect them?”
“Okay, I see your point. But isn’t that what just happened?” I asked. “There were news crews out everywhere.”
“Oh Lucy,” she laughed. “You underestimate our natural human instinct to rationalize away the unexplainable.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“So far only the tabloids have mentioned vampires,” she said with a wink. “All of the, and I use this term loosely, ‘legitimate’ news organizations are speculating that it might be a cult or gang activity. Scary things that will panic the population, yes, but on a level that they can understand.”
“Yeah, Andre mentioned that as well, but that doesn’t really tell us much, does it? Who wins in this situation? I mean, you’re right. The government would want the extinction of vampires, but not at the cost of terrorizing the nation with the news of their existence. The Eyes might see other vampires as inferior, but they’ve used them to gain territ
ory in the past. The Daughters might be crazy enough to provoke the extinction of all vampires, but either way, wouldn’t this end up backfiring for them as well?”
“Maybe it’s someone or something else altogether.”
“Don’t say that,” I said with a groan. “We don’t have time to start from scratch, not after this.”
“Nothing is ever as simple as we expect it, Lucy, but conversely, it’s never as complicated as we make it.”
“Okay, I don’t even know what that means.” I was used to Ida’s proverbs and advice, but occasionally she could be obtuse.
“It means what it sounds like. There are no easy answers, but there are answers and you don’t have to find them on your own. There’s a whole group of people working on this. You just have to remember that we’re smarter as a whole than any of us are individually.”
It made sense after she explained it, but I still had little faith in that being the case. I mulled this over after Ida went back to the kitchen. When I checked my phone to see if anyone had posted any updated information, I noticed I had missed a call from Dr. Hayward.
“I’m sorry I missed your call. Is everything all right?” I asked after she picked up.
“I called to ask you the same thing,” she answered. “I saw you on the news. These murders are related to the found paintings, aren’t they?”
"I don't know," I said cautiously. "The investigation has only just begun."
"Lucy, please be honest with me. How much danger is the museum in? I know we have the FBI swarming all over the place, but how big is this gang?"
I knew what she was asking and I felt terrible about the lies, but there was nothing I could do. "Look, Dr. Hayward, please understand something. I'm not authorized to discuss a federal investigation, but I can assure you that neither you nor anyone else at the museum are targets. I shouldn't say anything about this," I told her in a conspiratorial tone, "but we're pretty sure the only reason the Kimbell received the painting was to lure me out there." I decided being honest to a point might buy me time. Luckily, Dr. Hayward seemed to accept my assurance that she was safe. I only hoped that I hadn't lied to her.
It was early evening before everyone was back and assembled into Evan’s office to discuss what happened. In total, thirty-six bodies were recovered, twelve vampires and twenty-four human. Never in the organization’s two-decade history had they seen an attack of that size and with that many human casualties. Several government officials, including Agents Cervantes and Kurtz, were present when I arrived.
For all of the talking she did, Cervantes didn’t seem to have any more information than we had already gathered. Like us, the government was acting under the assumption that the group responsible was the Daughters of Darkness. While it was the most reasonable conclusion, it was also the most frustrating. The Eyes of the Sun at least had a defined power structure. The Daughters, as far as anyone knew, had no such structure. Sects seemed to act independently of each other, springing up whenever and wherever. Quite a few of my recruits had been members of the Daughters, yet few of them could name any coven leaders in common. The best information I could get was that there was at one time a leader, but no one I knew could even remember hearing her name, let alone anything about her.
When the meeting was over, Evan called Andre and me to his desk where Cervantes and Kurtz hovered, obviously not leaving. “You might know this by now, but you two, as well as a couple of other team members, were caught on camera by more than one national news outlet.”
“I know,” I told him. “Dr. Hayward called me. I’m worried about her. I told her the museum staff should feel safe, but I can’t help wondering if that’s true.”
“The agents guarding the painting, and Dr. Hayward herself, are all ours. They’re just posing as ACT. She will be safe,” Kurtz assured me. Surprisingly, I was able to refrain from sarcastically informing him that his assurances were anything but comforting.
“You’re going to have to lay low for a while,” Evan said with a tight smile.
“What exactly does that mean?” I asked.
“Disguises, mostly,” he explained. “Nothing you aren’t used to, but I’d feel better if the two of you stayed out of circulation at least until the media finds something else to focus on.”
Normally, I would have protested, but this time it wasn’t just me that Evan was asking to stay off the streets. Call me selfish, but in my head this translated into more free time with Andre, a commodity that was more precious than gold in my opinion. Both Andre and I agreed to keep a low profile. That seemed to satisfy both Evan and the agents, who left soon after. I was about to follow them out when Evan made a subtle motion asking me to stay behind as he escorted the agents from the office.
“Okay,” he said upon his return. “Now that that is out of the way, I’m going to need to ask a very big favor from the two of you. There’s been a few new discoveries uncovered in Paris and I’d like to send you to do some investigating over there.”
“And I guess you don’t want to alert the government here of your findings yet?” Andre asked.
“Bingo,” Evan said with a wink. “In a way, this all worked out to my advantage. Cervantes was the one who suggested keeping a low profile.”
I suppressed a shudder. Funny, Paris had always been a dream of mine when I was younger. But after the events that nearly killed both Andre and me last year, I never wanted to step foot in France ever again. “What about Ben?” I asked.
“We can’t take him out of school,” Andre added. “And I don’t want to drag him into this.”
“Ben will stay here,” Evan replied. “He’ll have me, Isaac, Ida, and a host of others looking after him and yes, that means transporting him to and from soccer or any other activity he wants to pursue as well as school. I’d send someone else, but nobody else has as much experience with what we’re dealing with over there as you two.”
This had to be related to the discovery that Oscar was somehow involved and that made me nervous. The last thing I needed was friction between Andre and me on top of everything else that was threatening to shatter my nerves.
“What exactly are we looking for in Paris?” Andre asked.
“An Elder,” Evan said cryptically. “Lisette sent over a report the other night stating that there has been talk of a surviving female who claims to have been one of the Elders. Apparently, she has been trying to rally support for a new Eyes order. We had previously thought that none of them survived the destruction of the compound, but the only bodies that matched the description of an Elder we recovered were male. There’s a possibility that this woman might be the one organizing the attacks.”
I had a vague memory of Alphonse, the Elder that I had killed to escape captivity, mentioning a female name, but that was all. For most of the time that I was a prisoner in Paris, I was unconscious or in such excruciating pain that I could barely think clearly.
“And if possible, I’d like you to see if you can remember the location of Oscar’s private quarters. We’ve yet to find it and I’ve got a feeling that if we do, we’ll uncover more information.”
Andre stiffened slightly next to me, but recovered just as quickly. I wasn’t any more comfortable with this than he was. “Honestly, I don’t know how much help I’m going to be on that front. I was brought there by force in the dark. I didn’t get… wait a minute. I did get a map!” Andre turned to look at me. “Not an actual map, but I did memorize the route from Oscar’s quarters to the lab where we were supposed to activate the self-destruct mechanism. If I can get to that lab, I might be able to work my way backwards.”
“We’ll get together and make solid plans tomorrow,” Evan said. “I want you two ready to leave in a matter of days.”
Leaving on a moment’s notice to go to Paris might have sounded like a dream to anyone else, but suddenly I was getting the worst sense of déjà vu.
Chapter 8
As Halloween approached, my worries about returning to Paris took a backseat to
the more pressing danger of a planned attack against the team. Halloween had always seen an increase in vampire activity and last year’s information leak led to an attack on the entire organization that nearly killed Andre. Everyone was in agreement that this year would most likely be worse. Unfortunately, nearly everyone also agreed that I was most likely the main target, which meant there were many heated arguments about whether or not I was going to be allowed to work at all.
Given that whoever was attacking vampires had no issue with killing humans as well, I argued that we couldn’t spare a single person, let alone a trained hunter. Evan was inclined to agree with me, but like Andre and my father, he was also worried about my safety. I considered arguing that Tanya was more than capable of disguising me as a man, but decided against it when I remembered how limited my mobility was the last time we tried that. In the end it was Miles who pointed out that if Halloween was when we were expecting a personal attack, we should use that knowledge to draw out our enemy.
And so the second craziest plan I’d ever been a part of was hatched.
“Is my butt really that big?”
As I stared at the newly transformed Miles, I was once again completely blown away by Tanya’s makeup wizardry. It was like looking in a mirror. From the top of his now frizzy brown hair to the soles of my favorite boots on his feet, Miles was indistinguishable from me.
“I know better than to answer that question,” he replied with a grin that looked completely foreign on my face.
Miles and I were switching places. He was to be partnered with Layla and assigned to our usual corner of the Quarter in hopes that whoever was after me would know my patterns enough to go looking for me there. While I didn’t like the idea of Miles sticking his neck out for me, I was assured that there were going to be several other hunters in the area keeping a close eye on him, including Hugh. Fortunately, I didn’t have to disguise myself as Miles. I was, however, outfitted with some flexible, yet sturdy armor that did a pretty good job of disguising my gender without sacrificing my mobility. Unfortunately, this also meant that because of the shortage of personnel, I was going into a dangerous and unfamiliar area on the worst night of the year.
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 70
