by Michele Hauf
“I think visiting hours are over,” Xana said, as they parked the car.
“I’ll take care of that,” Marius said as he got out of the vehicle.
He must be planning on doing one of his persuading spells on the guard, she thought. Sometimes it was good to have a vampire around. Xana choked. She did not just think that! And yet, somehow, she knew that after this night, nothing would ever be the same. For any of them.
“Are you all right?” Marius asked, as he opened her door.
“Yes, thank you.” She took his hand and got out of the car. Look at her being all polite. She sighed. She supposed knock-your-socks-off sex could do that to a girl.
They walked through the front doors and straight toward the guard’s desk. Marius was amazing. He just looked at the man and told him what they wanted and the next thing she knew the guard was telling them exactly where to go. Freaky.
And totally disconcerting. If he wanted to, he could make her do anything he wanted. Anything.
Moving at a brisk pace, they made their way down the stairs and into the bowels of the building. The lower they went, the quieter and spookier it was. “I didn’t know they had an R and D department here,” she whispered, though she didn’t know why. There wasn’t a soul in sight.
“What better place to perform their experiments?” His mouth twisted in disgust.
Hers did, too, as they passed room after room filled with animals in cages. Xana’s heart broke. “I hate this. And I hate that my uncle could be involved.”
“Sometimes family is the last to believe and the last to know.”
“I must admit, part of me hopes we will find nothing else down here but dusty old filing cabinets and vintage medical equipment.”
“And the other part?”
“Hopes we’ll find Cayman.”
“This way,” Marius said, gesturing down another dark hall.
“How do you know where you’re going?” “Call it a hunch.”
And then she heard it, the soft moans Marius had probably been hearing all along. Cayman. She rushed forward to the end of the hall to the last windowless room on the left. Cayman lay in a bed, hooked up to various machines and an IV. Forgotten and alone.
“Oh, my God!” She hurried to her brother’s side. “What happened to you?”
Cayman turned to her, his skin a purplish gray, his eyes a very pale blue.
She froze as her heart dropped with a heavy thud into her stomach.
Behind her, Marius placed a gentle hand on her back.
“He’s been infected.”
She shook her head in denial. “No.”
“It was an accident,” Cayman said, his voice gravelly. “Was poking around and touching things I shouldn’t have been touching.” His eyes drifted closed as if the effort of speaking took more strength than he had.
This couldn’t be happening. They had to do something. Marius dragged a chair to the side of Cayman’s bed for her. Grateful, she sat down, grasping Cayman’s hand with her own. His skin felt dry and cold to her touch. She kept staring at his hand, rubbing her thumb over it, back and forth as a strange numbness came over her. She was shutting down. She could feel her mind closing off like a dark cloud falling over the city, blocking out the sun’s light with its thick heavy despair.
He was going to die, a voice inside her whispered, and tears filled her eyes. She rested her head on his hand,
feeling his papery skin against her cheek. She took a deep breath, trying to reign in her emotions. She had to be strong for him. She had to make him strong, to help him fight. He could make it through this. He had to.
“What is he doing here?” Cayman asked, looking up over her shoulder.
“Marius helped me find you.”
“Can’t trust—” A fit of coughs wracked his body, making him visibly weaker.
Xana’s stomach twisted into knots. “Cayman, save your strength. We’re going to help you.”
“Where is the antidote?” he whispered.
She looked at him with confusion then turned to Marius, the question in her eyes. Marius just shook his head. “What antidote?” she asked.
“The case I gave you. It has the antidote in it.”
Tears filled her eyes as the horror of his words sunk in. “I don’t know. I lost it.”
He cringed then started coughing again.
“When did you last have it,” Marius asked, his hand a comfort on her shoulder.
“I don’t—”
“Don’t tell him,” Cayman said, his voice barely a rasp. “Don’t trust him. He’s involved.”
She looked up at Marius, Cayman’s words making her hesitate. Did she trust him or had he put some kind of mind-spell on her, too? She thought about all they’d been through that night, at the bar, at Cayman’s house. He cared about his people, that had been clear. He cared about saving them as much as she cared about finding Cayman. If they worked together, maybe they could save them all.
“I trust him,” she said to Cayman.
“Then you’re a fool,” he replied, his words cutting her to the quick.
“Where is the formula?” Marius asked him. “What did you do with it? We need it to create a vaccine so we can stop the spread of the virus. If we had it, we could make an antidote. We could help you.”
Cayman’s eyes flashed bright blue. “I had an antidote. It was in the case I gave Xana. I don’t have time to wait for you to make another one.”
“Why didn’t you get it back from me at the warehouse? Why did you disappear?” Xana asked, grasping for understanding.
“I had to go. I was sick and getting sicker. I couldn’t let Marius see me. Couldn’t take that chance. I waited at the top of the road but then … the explosion. Too … big.” He struggled to breathe. “Uncle Ben came out of nowhere…”.
“You two are the ones who set the explosives,” Marius said.
“Had to. Couldn’t let those things loose. Most … were …
vampires. You don’t know—” he gasped for breath, his strength waning “—what they’re capable of.”
“Don’t I?” Marius turned to Xana. “When did you last see the case?”
“Xana. Don’t. Give him … cylinder. It’s all he … wants.” A slew of coughs wracked Cayman’s chest. Speckles of blood splattered his hospital gown.
“Stop. Cayman. Please. I don’t have this cylinder,” she protested, her heart breaking into a million jagged painful pieces. “I need to trust Marius. I can’t do nothing and just let you die.”
“It doesn’t matter.” He coughed again. “There is no time. Not for me.”
“Where is the formula,” Marius insisted. “We have to stop the virus from spreading.”
“Trust him, Cayman,” Xana pleaded.
Cayman lifted himself up and pointed a shaky hand at Xana’s neck. Her hand flew to the necklace he gave her. “The formula is inside.”
Nausea rolled through her as she took off the necklace and handed it to Marius. She’d had it all this time!
“There, you got what you were after. Now go,” Cayman said then fell back against the pillow, his eyes closing once more.
Marius’s hand brushed Xana’s shoulder. She looked up at him as he gestured for her to follow him into the hall. “You can trust me,” he said. “You know that, right?”
She did know it. She nodded.
“Then I want you to remember where you were when Cayman gave you the case. Think about what happened after.” She listened to his voice and leaned closer to him, staring into his dark gaze until she felt as if she were drowning. Her tongue slipped out to moisten her lips as she anticipated his kiss, his touch, his taste, knowing he could search her mind for any memories she might have hidden there.
“Please tell me I’m doing the right thing?” she whispered.
“I don’t need to. You already know.”
He kissed her gently and she felt herself melting as his kiss deepened, as his lips moved behind her ear and down her neck. She didn’t
feel it coming and barely flinched as he bit her, his fangs sinking into her neck with a sting that quickly melted to pleasure.
Her eyes fluttered closed as heat began to rise within her. Just as quickly, he broke away, releasing her. She grabbed onto his shoulders for support as she wavered in his arms. “Did you see anything?”
“You were running through the building, the case in your hands. The impact from the explosion sent you flying into the bushes. Then you saw me. You got up and ran into the building, looking for your brother, the case forgotten.”
“You think it fell into the bushes where I landed?”
“Yes, I’ll find it.”
“Why didn’t you see all that the first time you bit me?” “I only saw him put the case in your pocket before I broke away.”
“Will you go to the warehouse?” She glanced at her watch. “It’s only two hours ‘til sunrise.”
“Xana,” Cayman called, his voice barely reaching them. She rushed back into the room.
His eyes widened as his gaze moved to her neck. She touched the wound. Her skin felt wet and sticky.
“It’s okay,” she assured him. “Marius is going to help us.”
“You can’t trust him,” Cayman muttered. “It was his warehouse we blew up. He’s been in on it, working with Uncle Ben from the start.”
Shocked, she turned to Marius. “Is that true? Was the warehouse yours?”
“Yes. Just like the warehouse in the Tenderloin is mine, but I don’t manage it. And I didn’t manage the one you destroyed. One of my sergeants did. That’s how I knew there was a problem. He was one of the first infected. He was the one working with the Alliance. It was his blood the Alliance used to create the virus.”
Xana turned back to her brother and grabbed hold of his hand. “I never would have found you without him, Cayman. Besides, you are the one who called him and told him to meet you at the warehouse. Why would you have done that if you didn’t think he could help us?”
“I didn’t call him,” Cayman said. “I never would have never done that.”
Xana’s blood froze. That couldn’t be true. Marius told her Cayman had … She turned back to Marius, expecting an answer. An explanation. But he was gone.
And so was the cylinder.
CHAPTER SIX
MARIUS maneuvered the Jaguar down the lonely predawn streets racing toward his mountain warehouse, wondering if he was going to have enough time to retrieve the antidote, deliver it back to the hospital and get back before sunrise. He’d be cutting it close. Too close.
He had to wonder why he was doing it. Cayman and his sister had been a thorn in his side for years. Why not let the boy die? Without him, his sister would move on, get married and settle down with two kids and a white picket fence. No more chasing vampires in the middle of the night. No more chasing him.
But he realized he’d miss her. He’d grown fond of the little hellcat, always hissing and snarling, but when she cuddled up next to him all warm and soft, it gave him a feeling he’d like to explore further. And he couldn’t if he let her brother die. He called Jaz and ordered him to rouse their scientist friend and meet him at the warehouse. He only hoped they would get there in time.
He drove down the hill and parked as close to the bushes as he could, shining a light where he believed Xana had fallen. As quickly as he could, he searched the area, checking under bushes as the sky lightened on the horizon. Damn. He was running out of time.
Within minutes he found the case. Inside was a syringe with its barrel full of a gold liquid. He closed the case, jumped back in his car and sped back toward the hospital, calling Jaz once more. “Change of plans, meet me at the VA hospital in the city.”
“Have you seen the sky, Marius?” Jaz said.
“If I can make it, you can. Call me when you get there.”
Twenty minutes later, Marius pulled into the hospital parking lot. He’d hoped Jaz would have beat him there, but his car was nowhere in sight. He rushed into the building, past the guard, and hurried down into the basement.
“Where’s Xana?” Marius asked as he burst into the room. Without waiting for an answer, he took the tip off the syringe and pumped the medicine directly into the catheter already inserted into Cayman’s vein.
“My uncle took her.”
Marius looked up from the syringe as the last of the medicine entered into Cayman’s bloodstream. “What?
Why?”
“He wants the formula back. I told him we don’t have it. That we gave it to you, so he took her. Said she was leverage. Though why he thought you’d care enough to exchange the formula for Xana, I don’t know.”
“You don’t think I would?”
“Why would you?”
Why indeed. “How long will it take before you are able to get up out of this bed?” “I’m not sure. Why?”
“Because the sun’s coming up. I’m running out of time. I have maybe ten minutes to find your sister before I need to head back to my resting place. And you, my friend, are going to help me.”
“Great. That’s your idea of a rescue?”
“Got any better ideas?”
“Give him what he wants.”
“And have him turn every vampire in this city into a crazed zombie? Think again.”
Cayman blew out a sigh and flexed his hands. “I think it’s working.”
“Good. Now where do you think he would have taken her?”
“Not far. Uncle Ben knew I was dying, but he didn’t know that I’ve changed in certain ways. Like my sight and my hearing.”
“Like a vampire’s, eh?”
“It’s amazing.” Cayman sat up and swung his legs off the bed. “Let’s go get my sister.”
“Uncle Ben, what in the world are you hoping to accomplish?” Xana asked, straining against the rope he used to tie her hands behind her back. She stared at her uncle, unable to believe the man in front of her was the same one who had bought her her first car and who had been there for her when she needed him.
“I’ve spent my whole life mending these soldiers, doing everything I could to repair their lives. They come back from duty with a lot more than broken bones, torn ligaments and missing limbs. These men lose so much out there on the battlefields. And for what? Do you think anyone here even understands or appreciates their sacrifice? They deserve more and I can give that to them.”
“How? By turning them into monsters?”
“By giving them an advantage, by giving them more than armored cars and vests. With vampire DNA, they can see better, hear better, smell more. They will be faster, stronger, and—”
“Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound. Do you not know how ridiculous you sound? People are dying. And it’s all because of you and your insanity.”
“People have been dying for years but no one sees and no one cares.”
“I understand. And it’s terrible. But these men chose their paths. The ones you’ve killed had no choice. The vampires you’ve infected with your virus are murdering people, and that’s on your doorstep. You have to stop this. You have to find a different way.”
“You should listen to her,” Cayman said, stepping into the room and leaning against the doorframe. He looked like Cayman, sounded like Cayman, but his eyes were a startling preternatural blue.
Uncle Ben’s gray eyes widened. “How?”
“How did I survive when you, my dear uncle, left me for dead? A vampire saved me.”
Uncle Ben was suddenly standing behind her, a scalpel held against her throat. “Give me that formula.”
In a flash Uncle Ben was on the ground and Marius was standing behind her, undoing her ropes.
“If anyone is going to tie you up, it’s going to be me.”
“Promise?” she asked with a wicked smile.
“Can you two do that later? Frankly, it’s revolting,” Cayman said, and pulled his uncle up from the ground.
“What are you going to do with him?” Xana asked Cayman.
“I’m
going to make sure his days of experimentation are over. I’ll stay here with him and help him destroy every bit of his data, everything he has on this project, and then he’s going to resign from the hospital.”
“And if I don’t?” Uncle Ben asked with barely restrained fury.
“Then you will have to answer to the hospital board and eventually the police for what you’ve done to me, and the other men in the next hall.”
Other men? “Will they survive?” Xana asked.
“Yes. I’ll make sure of it,” Marius said. “But right now, I need to get back to my home. I’d like you to come with me.”
“Cayman?”
He nodded. “I’m fine. Go on. We’ll be busy here for a long while.”
Before she could agree, Marius picked her up in his arms and the next thing she knew they were standing in the parking lot and her head was spinning. A dark sedan approached and the passenger window rolled down.
“Here’s the formula,” Marius said. “I want an antidote and a vaccine by nightfall.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” a gray-haired man with Coke-bottle spectacles said and reached his hand out the window for Xana’s necklace.
“I’ll call you tonight, Jaz,” Marius said, then they left the hospital with Marius driving like a speed demon as the sky grew lighter and lighter and the horizon exploded in a beautiful display of pinks and oranges.
Xana cringed. “Damn, we’d better hurry.”
Xana woke naked on the bed, her hands and feet tied once again to the bedposts and Marius’s head nuzzled between her breasts gently kissing and licking. She didn’t know whether to be annoyed or excited. Several candles burned around the room, filling the air with the subtle scent of vanilla.
“You’re awake,” Marius said, and reached for a feather lying on the bedside table.
“You are incorrigible,” she murmured as the sensation of wispy softness moved across her skin and sent tingles cascading through her.
“That’s what I’ve been told.” He circled her nipple with light feathery strokes.
“Where are my clothes?” she asked on a quick inhale of breath.
“I tossed them. They were filthy.”
