Ripping her gaze from the still form, she managed a professional smile and a nod. Inside she screamed. It? He'd said it. Like Taz was a slab of meat. Not trusting herself to speak, she held the metal end bar and pushed the gurney toward the elevator. Was it her imagination or did an uncomfortable silence fill the space she'd left behind? A test? See if she had the stomach for this after her earlier exit?
Rotating her shoulders, she let them slump once the elevator doors closed and locked behind her. Thankfully the camera hung above and behind her, letting her close her eyes for a second. She didn't dare touch the motionless shape in front of her.
Not yet.
Just another hour and forty two minutes
The doors opened to a blast of cold air hitting her in the face. She crossed into the huge, stark white room full of metal drawers on the left side, a complete autopsy table setup on the right back and desks in close on the right. Taz would call it the morgue and he should know. A doctor, a savior of human souls and a raving advocate for change and equality—now a captive on a blood farm. Ironic. And her fault. Guilt twisted her insides. He should never have followed her. She'd broken it off, pushed him away. She hadn't wanted him to find out her secret. He'd be better off without her. Relationships like theirs were frowned on in both societies. He was important in his. Everything he'd built would be destroyed if people knew about her.
Taz hadn't listened, hadn't believed her lies, knowing her better than she did. How naive to think a strong man like Taz would leave it at that. That he'd let her have her say and leave him like a discarded puppy. Not Taz. He'd followed her deep into vampire territory, tracked her down. Her, a vampire tracked by a human.
And he'd been taken.
She'd seen it happen, only hadn't understood exactly what she'd seen—until later. When she'd tracked down the truth.
Staring down at the white sheeted body before her, she blinked back tears collecting in her eyes. Thankfully the morgue was empty. Swiping at her eyes and cheeks, she pulled the trolley over to the line of steel drawers. Walking to the front, she pulled the sheet back from Taz's head.
She shuddered and couldn't stop the tears from falling. She stroked his chilled forehead. Lifeless and white, Taz's icy skin was a reminder that his eternal rest wasn't the same as hers. Holding the sheet over his head, she paused, taking one last look. Impulsively, she pressed a soft kiss against his icy lips then dropped the sheet and walked away.
One hour twenty minutes
Straightening, she turned her back on her one true love and hurried into the elevator. Back up in the medical center, it appeared to be business as usual. Hoping to remain undetected, Sian grabbed the stack of files waiting for her and carried them to her desk.
"Did you get that body downstairs okay? They were having trouble with the elevator yesterday."
Wrinkling her nose, Sian looked up to see Terrance, an orderly with a bad case of the hots for her. Like she wanted anything to do with the ghoul. Being nice for these last weeks had been hard enough. "Thanks for asking. I didn't have any trouble."
"Too bad. I could have come and rescued you." His leer widened, making her skin crawl.
"And instead, I managed without you." Turning her back on him, she reached for the next lab report.
One hour and ten minutes
Thankfully everyone left her alone for the next while and she could unbury herself from the pile of work. These people needed to be kept healthy so their blood remained sweet for selling to the vampire population. Nice. Not.
Time moved in slow motion. Refusing to hang on the minute hand of her watch, Sian went to work on the next half of her job. She strode back out to the hanging human population. God, she hated these duties. She rationalized her role as one working to keep the humans safe, to keep them healthy, until she could affect a rescue.
Checking her sheet, she walked to the last person charted and started scanning the stats on the next person. She called them people. No one else did. Everyone hanging had been assigned a number. Nasty cold attitude to what they considered animals. A food supply. That was all. Keep them healthy and keep them producing. Using her scanner, she moved from one to the next and then the next.
The computer system had been upgraded recently. It would eventually download these stats instantly for each person to the main servers. Except the new software roll out had glitched their system. The techies had set the system to send an alert with any fluctuations in the blood and fluid levels for each case, but the servers had gone down and when they'd come back up again, the techs found one complete row of humans had gone off line. It hadn't taken long for that to set off an alarming chain of events.
As a result, they'd needed her expertise and had brought her onboard. She'd been testing and analyzing the results of each person here as they reconnected and confirmed each person in the new system. So far, except for minor issues, only four had needed extra care. Her job was almost done.
Finally.
Fifty minutes
Blind to anything but the building tornado in her stomach and her work, Sian continued down her rows, scanning and cataloguing the readings. She wanted to do what she could for these poor people in the short time she had left.
"Any change on this one?"
Startled, she turned around to find her supervisor, Dr. Lawrence, glaring up at the man stretched spread eagle before her. Without thinking she followed his gaze then averted her eyes instantly. Nude and distorted with the plastic covering, he stared down at her, his blue eyes open. Swallowing, she checked the chart in her hands. "No change from yesterday."
"Good. I want to make sure he's healthy for a long time." Cryptic. Dark. So typical of the people here, as if they truly hated humans. Typical of her kind. That might have ended up being her attitude, too, if it hadn't been for Taz. He'd crept into her heart and wouldn't leave. And look where that had gotten Taz. In a morgue.
"Have you noticed anything unusual today?"
Surprised, she glanced up at him. "No, nothing. I've just started, though."
"How many are there left to do?" Those dark eyes turned on her, vestiges of his anger at the man hanging at their side still boiling in their depths.
Her palms itched with sudden sweat. She struggled to keep her voice calm. "Tonight, just a couple more. Over all, maybe twenty-five left to check and bring online?"
He nodded. "Then you only need a day, possibly two to complete this job." He paused. "Correct?"
"I should think so." She shrugged. "That's what you projected originally, and it appears to be on target."
He pursed his lips. "Good. I'll make the arrangements for your departure then." He stalked away, leaving her staring at his retreating back. Had she only imagined the menace in his voice? Her stomach didn't think so. The anxiety she'd been holding back all evening was threatening to send her system into overdrive. She wouldn't be here in two days. Instinct said he didn't intend for her to be alive in three.
Was that what happened to anyone who completed their job here? Kill them and leave no witnesses? Or had her imagination gone off the wall along with her nerves? Finding information on previous staff and indeed on anyone who worked here had been brutal. Luck had smiled on her that she'd found out about the institute at all. Labeled a research center, secrecy abounded and with good reason. The penalty for being caught blood farming was fierce. For repeat offenders—death. Her break had come when their systems had gone down. A data analyst and blood serum specialist, she'd jumped at the chance. On day 4, she’d found Taz, hanging lifeless like all the rest.
Thirty minutes
Swallowing hard, she moved swiftly down the row. She couldn't keep Taz from her mind or her heart. Over six foot, dark wavy hair and that smile. Well, she dared anyone, any female, to ignore it. In her case, that smile had slid into her heart and made itself right at home. She caught back a sob at the thought of him lying downstairs in that cold room. Alone.
And her window of opportunity was about to close.
S
he'd cut it close. Too close.
Fifteen minutes
A shudder worked up her spine. Her stomach had given up a long time ago. Rotating her head, she tried to ease the knots twisting up her neck. A faint hissing sound wafted toward her. Casting a cautious glance around, she saw three orderlies, their heads bent together in deep whispers. One glanced at her, then nodded to the others. The sound heightened.
Shit.
Moving with purpose, she put distance between her and the others. Dread washed through her bloodstream. They couldn't know. They had to be discussing someone else. Coming to the end of the row, Dr. Lawrence stepped in front of her.
Her hand went to her chest. "Oh. You startled me."
"Were you going somewhere?"
There was that menacing tone again. She raised an eyebrow. "No. It's my break in a few minutes, but other than that, no." Wide-eyed, she stared up at him. "Is there a problem? Do you need my help?"
He reached out a hand for her clipboard. Checking over her notations, he studied the numbers. "We're making good progress. It seems we might not need you after today. One of my staff will be free to finish this off tomorrow."
"Oh good." She smiled amiably. "Perfect timing. Everything will be back to full operation then."
Pursing his lips, he handed back her clipboard. "So you have this row to finish. Then...what...your break? I hope you've enjoyed your time with us. I'm sure breaks must be boring for you though. What do you normally do in that time?"
Accepting her clipboard, she stared down at the sheets of numbers then up at the unfinished row. The three orderlies appeared behind the good doctor. Her stomach acids bubbled. "I usually just go for a walk or sit down with a cup of tea in one of the staff areas for my break. Get off my feet and relax." Her instincts screamed at her. With effort, she managed a normal tone of voice and even a smile for him. "I'll just finish this off if you don't mind, then go sit down for a bit."
He nodded and withdrew so quietly she almost wondered if he'd ever been there. With that short reprieve, she realized the threat had gone from bad to dangerous. She had to get out—now.
Her throat seized as the three men sauntered toward her. Regardless of what else happened tonight, she was grateful that this job was over. Keeping an eye on the approaching goons, she quickly scanned the last two people on her row. Then, as if unaware of the approaching men, she left the aisle and returned to her office.
Five minutes
Panic stirred inside as she arrived at her station.
Her desk had been cleaned off.
Doreen, her friendly and always smiling co-worker, looked up from the desk behind hers. Sian had wondered from her first day at work if Doreen was faking that much happiness, but by now, Sian realized she was just ditzy. Probably figured what was going on around her was normal.
"Oh, I thought you'd left," said Doreen, a big happy grin on her face. "I'm so glad you haven't."
"Left? I'm just about to go on my break. I still have another four hours to go on my shift." Sian's stomach was now a hard knot, her muscles leaning out, preparing for a battle she hadn't planned on. Or prepared for.
A frown split Susan's face. "Really? That can't be right. Two orderlies just came and cleaned out your desk. I asked them why and they said you'd left and wouldn't be coming back."
Chills raced down her legs and the hard ball in her stomach turned to lead. She fought to control her breathing, even her fangs started to slide out. "They probably just mixed me up with someone else."
Susan's face cleared and the sun shone in again. "Oh that makes sense. That's great. I like working with you."
Outwardly, Sian smiled. Inwardly, her mind raced over her options.
Sian put on the sweater she'd draped over the spare chair in the room, checking that her small purse and its valuable contents were still in the pocket. Everything in her quarters would have to be left behind. "I'm going on my break now. See you later." She gave a quick wave good bye, then slipped out the back door as if heading to the staff room.
The goons were nowhere in sight. Still, someone had already initiated her disappearance—from her desk at least. She daren't give them a chance to follow through. Her breath came out in uneven gusts as she passed the lunch room to the door at the far end. Making sure she wasn't being watched, she slipped inside to race down the stairs. So far so good. There were several more hallways to navigate before she finally stood in front of the steel doors of the morgue. She hadn’t met anyone on the way, but that didn't mean the room was empty. Someone could have taken the elevator down.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.
One minute.
It was time.
For better or worse.
Was he dead or alive?
She pushed open the double doors and entered.
And saw the camera above the first row of cabinets.
Shit.
That's why they'd become suspicious of her. They'd seen her kiss Taz good bye. Thankfully, the camera wasn't facing her. Unless there was more than one.
Just in case, acting as if she had an errand to run, she walked to the desk and picked up a chart and flicked through it. Then she walked over to a miscellaneous drawer and made as if to open it and slipped under the camera itself. Utilizing the vampire strength she'd been born with, she pulled on the camera support redirecting its view to the cabinets beside the door and not the door itself. Careful to keep out sight, she searched for any other cameras. And found a second one above the autopsy tables. She left that one alone. Making sure there were no more, she took a deep breath and allowed herself, for the first time, to gaze on the sheet covered form still parked in front of the steel drawers.
Nothing had changed.
He hadn't moved. Not even a twitch.
She bowed her head. She'd killed him. Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. He should have woken up by now. He should have moved.
There was one option left. Her backup plan. A desperate attempt in desperate times. Sniffling back the pain and fear, she reached into her pocket.
Pulling the adrenaline out of her small purse, she walked over to the body and pulled back the sheet. Taz. Oh, Christ. Biting her bottom lip, she released the shuddering breath. With tears flowing in a steady drip, she placed her left hand on the rib bones just off to the left of the center of his chest—and plunged the needle directly into Taz's heart.
She emptied the syringe.
Holding her breath, she waited. And waited.
Nothing.
Please.
Sobbing openly now, Sian yanked the syringe back out, threw it across the floor and slammed both fists down hard on Taz's chest. Then slammed again even harder. Crying noisily, she screamed, "Damn it, Taz, wake up!" She leaned over his pale features. "I'm so sorry, honey. I don't want you to die. Please...don't...die."
She cried her heart out, not caring that she needed to run. That her own capture could be minutes away. She couldn't leave him. She'd killed him. Her love. Her heart—the better part of her soul.
Collapsing on top of him, she cried her out her torment.
Suddenly, through her pain and heartache, something registered.
Movement? A tremor?
The smooth heavily muscled chest under her cheek heaved. Air exhaled from Taz's mouth.
She stilled. Holding her breath, she studied his face and waited.
Breathe, damn you. Breathe.
His chest moved again. She gasped and waited for the magical third movement.
There.
"Taz!"
Taz heaved a harsh gasping breath. Color rushed through his face as blood pumped from his once-again beating heart. He groaned, softly at first, then louder as chilled ribs swelled, reaching for warmth and life.
He was alive.
Oh, thank you. Eyes shining through the tears, Sian rubbed her hands over his chest and arms, helping the blood to circulate through his chilled system. Pulling the sheet all the way off, she began massaging his heavy thighs a
nd calves. He'd been in that deep coma state for too long. Getting him moving and at the speed they needed him to move could be a challenge.
"Sian?" his voice, rusty and hoarse, brought more tears to her eyes.
"Yes, yes, it's me." Smiling, laughing, crying, she swooped down to place a gentle kiss on his lips. "I'm so sorry, but we have to get out of here. Now. You're in danger. We both are." Slipping her arms under his shoulders, she struggled to get him into a sitting position. "Try to stand up."
Muscles bunched as he switched to a sitting position with only minor difficulty.
"Hey, how does that feel?" She peered into his huge chocolate eyes that blinked back at her owlishly.
"What happened?"
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