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Zed
Behind me, crashing sounds and feminine grunts signaled my partner’s arrival. I didn’t dare look that direction because I was too busy aiming my gun at the servant I’d stumbled into when I came out of the chute. He wore simple gray clothes of a finer cloth than the prisoners I’d seen, which made sense seeing how he worked for the head of the camp. His head was bald and his lips were disconcertingly red, as if he’d recently fed and had forgotten to wipe them with a napkin.
I’d fired a warning shot when he’d refused to stop coming toward me. Luckily, the bullet that flew past his head and lodged into the wall behind him convinced him to stay put, but now we faced one another across the bed. The room wasn’t as elaborate as I’d expected. The bed had a wooden headboard and the bedspread was simple white cotton tucked into hospital corners.
“Oof,” Carmina grunted as she fell out of the chute and landed on the floor.
“’Bout time you made it,” I said. The vampire’s eyes flicked in her direction, and I raised an eyebrow at him to dare him to give me an excuse to fire.
“Who’d you shoot?” Carmina demanded.
“The wall.”
“Um, Zed—”
As she came to join me, I spoke over her to the vampire, who watched us with an unblinking gaze. “Who are you?”
He shook his head, but I couldn’t tell if it signified that he wouldn’t tell me—or couldn’t.
“Zed,” she said.
Another shake of the head from the vampire.
“Maybe he’s in the lab,” I said, pointing to the door on the other side of the bedroom.
“Only Pontius Morordes may enter the lab.” The vampire’s voice sounded like rusty chains dragging along concrete.
“Do you know how to get in there?” I demanded.
The vampire tipped his chin to indicate he did.
“Zed, that’s him,” Carmina said with more force.
I didn’t dare take my eyes from the vampire. “That’s who?”
“Dr. Death.”
I chanced a look at her face to see if she was joking. She didn’t look amused. When I looked at the vampire again, he was still smiling, but he was also halfway around the bed toward us. “Don’t move,” I said to him. To Carmina, I whispered, “How do you know?”
“I know, okay? I knew him…before.” She looked around for a moment, as if hoping proof might present itself. She finally walked toward the wall and pulled a picture from a hook to bring it to me. “Look, here’s a photograph of him with the Prime. Trust me when I say the Prime isn’t the kind of guy who has his picture taken with servants.”
“Meridian Six?” the vampire hissed. “Is that you, my dear?”
Her face paled but she refused to look at him. “It’s him.” She walked across the room to check out the door, as if she needed space. The vampire’s eyes followed her.
“There’s a security pad here,” she called. “How do we get in there?”
The vampire said nothing.
“Open it,” I said.
“I do not take orders from humans.”
I took a menacing step forward. “I will kill you if you don’t.”
The vampire smiled. “Please try.”
“Is she right?” I asked the vampire. “Are you Pontius Morordes? Are you Dr. Death?”
