by J. C. Diem
The handcart sagged beneath the weight, but it didn’t collapse. Flynn and Reece quickly secured it with straps before it could roll off. With Flynn in control of the cart, we followed the guard inside. As small and cramped as I’d expected, there was only an office, a restroom and a tiny kitchen. The walls were painted light blue, which was surprisingly soothing. The floors and ceiling were white. An elevator at the far end of the room led deeper into an underground facility.
“You’ve been given access to levels fifteen and twenty, Agent Steel,” the guard said and nodded towards the elevator. “Only Agent Levine is authorized to disembark on level fifteen.” Reece wasn’t happy about being separated from me, but he didn’t argue.
Nodding his thanks, Mark took the lead and pushed the call button. Much larger than a standard elevator, it was spacious inside when the doors slid open a few seconds later. There was easily enough room for us and our cargo.
A panel of twenty buttons sat to the left of the door. Mark pushed numbers fifteen then twenty and the doors slid shut again. He’d warned us to be careful what we said while we were inside the building. Hidden surveillance equipment had been installed on every level and in every room. It was imperative that our true identities be kept secret. Only the highest members of our organization knew what we were and Mark intended to keep it that way.
When the doors opened, Reece squeezed my hand and reluctantly let me go. Now that we were bonded again, we’d always be able to stay in contact no matter how far away we were from each other.
“We’ll meet you upstairs when you’re done,” Mark said. I nodded, stepped out and found a guard waiting for me.
“Agent Levine?” she asked in a brisk tone. Much shorter than me, she tilted her head back to stare at my face. Somewhere in her thirties, her dark brown hair was cut in a stylish bob.
“Yes.”
“This way,” she instructed and trotted down the hall. For once, I wasn’t asked whether I was related to Philip Levine. Either she hadn’t heard of my father, or she didn’t care.
Long, white and bare of ornamentation, the hallway stretched out further than I’d expected. Thick metal doors with barred windows were spaced out periodically on the left. The wall to the right was blank.
Palm scanners were attached to the walls next to each door. Most of the cells were empty, but some held occupants. Towards the end of the long corridor, she stopped at one of the doors. “You have ten minutes to visit with the prisoner,” she told me. Her tone and scent reflected her distaste at the idea.
“Thank you,” I replied. Placing her palm on the scanner, she opened the door for me then closed it after I stepped inside.
₪₪₪
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Unsure what to expect, the cell was surprisingly spacious. Instead of utilitarian furniture and fixtures, the room was almost cozy. Viktor had a double bed rather than a tiny metal cot. His toilet facilities were hidden behind a screen to give him privacy. Sitting on a comfortable armchair next to an antique style coffee table, he was reading a book. The title was written in a foreign language.
Realizing he had company, he looked up and smiled when he saw me. “Ah. I was hoping you would come to visit me, Alexis. You must have so many questions.”
“Not really,” I replied. “My father told me everything I need to know about you.”
His expression darkened and he put the book down on the table and stood. “I am your father. Philip Levine stole you and your mother from me.” His tone was almost cold enough to make me take a step back. His death magic swelled and seemed to pluck at me with insubstantial fingers. I forced myself to stay where I was as he came to a stop in front of me. “He ruined any chance that we could have a normal happy family.”
I stared at him incredulously. “You kept my mother as your sex slave for eight years. How could you possibly believe we could ever have anything close to a normal family, let alone a happy one?”
“I saved Katrina from a life of poverty,” he declared. “Without me she would have starved to death. She should have been grateful, but she repaid me by running away with an American soldier.”
“She tried to kill herself,” I informed him. “Finding out she was going to have your baby sent her over the edge. That’s how grateful she was for what you did to her.”
He waved his hand, dismissing the conversation. “She is dead now and is of no further consequence. If you do not have any questions then why are you here?” His dark brows rose and he looked at me knowingly. “Perhaps you do have questions after all? Perhaps you would like to know more about my necromancy?”
It galled me to have to speak to this monster at all, but I nodded. We both knew we were being monitored. He could destroy my career with the PIA by telling them the truth about me, that I was just like him. “When did you first know you could raise the dead?”
“I always knew,” he said. Pacing up and down the cell next to the glass wall, he clasped his hands behind his back. “We come from a long line of necromancers, but not every D’Ath is gifted with the talent to raise the dead. As happened with you, it skips a generation now and then.” I acknowledged his lie with a brief nod of thanks.
“I was thirteen years old when I called my first zombie,” he recounted. “I’d been raised with the knowledge that I was special and that I would become more powerful the older I grew.” His gaze grew distant at the fond memories. “I’d waited impatiently for the power to manifest itself. It usually appears somewhere between early to late teens for true born necromancers.”
“Is there any way to destroy the ability to raise the dead?”
Throwing his head back, he uttered a deep laugh. “You cannot destroy something that you were born with, Alexis. Can you change the color of your eyes? Can you change your height?” He shook his head. “Death magic resides within a necromancer’s very soul, dear child. There is no possibility that one can rid themselves of it.”
That was what I’d been afraid of and I fought to suppress my anguish. While he looked sane on the surface, I sensed that Viktor was just as unbalanced as Katrina had been.
“I have been searching for you for ten years. My intention had been to find Katrina, to kill her and the man who stole you both from me then take you back home with me to Romania. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Katrina had become a vampire.” He shook his head in false sorrow. He hadn’t cared about her. She’d just been a possession to him, as I would have been if he’d found me as he’d planned.
“You were the one sending her visions of the rival vampire nests,” I said.
He nodded then proved that he had about as much soul left as any undead monster. “We had unfinished business. I wanted to make sure that no one else would finish her. That was my right.” His arrogance was unbelievable, but I kept my mouth shut.
“I allowed myself to be captured by Agent Steel for one purpose,” he told me. At my enquiring look, he continued. “I’d finally received information on where to find you and flew to America. I decided to pay a visit to Katrina first. I soon learned that she’d encountered you and that she’d placed your life in danger. I forced her to recount every moment she’d spent with you. I was furious when I realized that she planned to turn you into the very creature that she had become.” At my warning look, he remembered that we were being watched. “Thank God I was able to stop that from happening.”
“Yes,” I said. “If you hadn’t reversed her vampirism, Reece and I might have ended up like her.”
“This ‘Reece’,” he said the name with a twist of his lips. “He is your boyfriend?”
I almost laughed when I realized he was interrogating me as if he had the right to. “Yes,” I said simply and left it at that. I could hardly tell him that we were bonded to each other. Anyone could be listening in to our conversation.
“He had better treat you well or he will answer to me,” he said with a frown then changed the topic. “I will not be kept in this prison forever, Alexis. When I am free, I wil
l find you again. We have much to discuss. A change is coming that will affect every being on this planet. You will need to decide whose side you are on.”
I sincerely doubted he would ever be free, but I nodded rather than arguing with him. Now that he was in PIA custody, he’d never leave this place. I certainly had no plans to visit him again. As far as I was concerned, this was the last time I’d ever see my biological father. Turning, I walked over to the door and knocked. It opened a few seconds later and I stepped out without looking back.
The guard escorted me to the elevator and paused as someone spoke into her ear. I heard the conversation, but let her give me the news. “Your team is waiting for you upstairs,” she informed me then jabbed the button with a little too much force.
I was glad to leave the underground facility and to step out into the fresh mountain air. It had been stifling being locked in the cell with the necromancer. The team was standing next to the SUV, waiting for me. “How did your visit with Viktor go?” Mark asked.
“About as I’d expected,” I replied. I waited until we’d left the facility behind before I described our conversation. “He’s completely delusional and said something about a change coming and that I had to choose a side.” I shrugged off his grandiose claim. “Did I miss anything cool when you delivered the golem?”
“Nah,” Kala said. She was slouched against the door, looking bored. “It was just door after door in a really long corridor. We finally stopped at one and the guard opened it for us. It was an empty room and we put the golem inside and left.”
Mark was about to say something when his phone rang. He took it out and his brows rose when he saw who was calling. “It’s one of my superiors,” he said then answered it. “This is Agent Steel.”
“Mark, something has happened.” The voice sounded like an older man. He also sounded close to being frantic. “We need you to come in immediately. Bring your team with you.”
“What’s happened?” Mark asked.
“EERI just infiltrated several of our most secure facilities. They’ve taken some of the more dangerous artifacts that were in storage. They stole both of the golems you brought in and they also took the necromancer.” Everyone turned to look at me and Reece met my eyes in the rearview mirror.
“We just left the facility five minutes ago,” Mark said. “We didn’t see anyone entering or leaving the base.”
“They used a teleporter.” Somehow, that news didn’t surprise me at all. “The jet is being sent back to Denver. It will be there by the time you reach the airstrip.”
“We’re on our way,” Mark said grimly and hung up. “I think we can safely assume that whatever plan EERI has been working towards has just escalated.”
“Why do I get the feeling this is tied together with the task Fate gave Lexi?” Flynn asked.
The sinking feeling in my stomach backed up his theory. I’d been made for a purpose and Fate had put Reece and me through some fairly horrible events to make sure I’d be ready for it. I only hoped I’d changed enough to suit her and that she didn’t have any more lessons for me to learn.
“Strap yourselves in,” Kala said with a grim smile. “I think we’re in for a hell of a ride.”
Titles by J.C. Diem:
(Mortis Series)
Death Beckons
Death Embraces
Death Deceives
Death Devours
Death Betrays
Death Banishes
Death Returns
Death Conquers
Death Reigns
(Shifter Squad Series)
Seven Psychics
Zombie King
Dark Coven
Rogue Wolf
Corpse Thieves
Snake Charmer
Vampire Matriarch
Web Master, book eight of the Shifter Squad Series is due to be released in January.
If you would like to be advised of any new releases, please visit my website: www.jcdiem.com and sign up to receive my newsletter.
