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“I won't!” a vampire screamed, yanking his arm away from one of the guards. “Not here, not this! The tracker is bad enough, I won't be a rat in your lab!” I realized with a shock that it was Steve. It felt like a lifetime since that night in the cemetery.
“Is there a problem?” Raquel asked, stepping forward. “If you'll just be patient, we'll get everyone processed and settled in. ”
Steve looked at her, a desperate, manic gleam in his eyes. “I'd rather die,” he whispered. Before anyone could react, he leaped forward, lunging for Raquel's throat.
I screamed as he bit down on her neck. No one else moved. “Do something!” I shouted, fumbling for my Taser. But it wasn't necessary. He jerked away from her neck, a look of--peace?--on his face as his ankle tracker was activated. The glamour faded and in a matter of seconds he was nothing but a corpse crumbling to the floor, unnatural life gone.
We all stared, shocked, at dead undead Steve. Raquel put her hand over her neck to stop the flow of blood. She looked pale and scared.
“Raquel!” I rushed forward, putting my hands on her arms. What if he had killed her? What if those mean things were the last words I ever said to her? “Are you okay? I thought--I was so scared that--”
Another light flashed and five of the Supervisors walked into the room. Raquel straightened and brushed my hands off her arms, her face an emotionless mask as she turned to the group of people. I dropped my hands to my sides, shattered by her rejection. She walked forward to greet the Supervisors, leaving me surrounded by paranormals.
I guess I knew my place.
Chapter Eighteen
OH, BLEEP
Two days later and I was going crazy. Everyone was on edge with the Center packed to capacity. The timing with the lunar cycle couldn't have been worse. Since werewolves make up the bulk of IPCA security forces, we always operated on minimum capacity during the full moon. So now most of our security would be unconscious tomorrow night with every single member of IPCA locked in the Center. This included a whole bunch of things you wouldn't want to meet at night in a dark alley (unless you were me and that was your job--and, let's face it, even I didn't usually want to meet them).
Frustrated and scared, I got dressed in a dark gray wrap dress and my pink boots. I hadn't been able to get to Lend with things so crazy, and I was determined today would be different. I bundled up some cookies and headed out. Usually I could walk anywhere I wanted and run into only one or two people, if that. Today everywhere I went there were werewolves, people carrying things in cages, personal assistants bustling about, and vamps. I went out of my way to avoid them after the Steve incident. They didn't exactly like me to begin with, and everyone was so tense. I didn't want my blood to be someone else's suicide.
I tried to visit Lish, but Central Processing was very literally like a zoo. Looking in, I realized just how few paranormals I usually came into contact with. I didn't know what most of the things in there were. I gave up trying to work my way through and went to the detention block. Although this area was quieter, more of the cells were taken. I couldn't help but peek through the open doorways at what was in them. It was depressing. All the paranormals I saw were sitting listlessly on their beds, totally broken.
The hall was clear by the time I made it to Lend's room, and I ducked in as fast as I could.
“What's going on?” he asked, jumping up.
“It's crazy--total lockdown. This thing took out our Birmingham Center--everything. They called everyone in. No one can come or go until they figure this all out. ”
“Well, at least that'll protect the paranormals IPCA knows about. That's something. ”
“I guess. ”
“Had some visitors last night,” he said. I just now noticed he was wearing the handsome black guy again. I was so focused on his real self that what was on the outside barely registered.
“Oh, the Supervisors?”
“Mm-?hm. Man, if I were in charge of some massive, covert international organization, I'd choose a better title than Supervisor. ”
I laughed. “No kidding. Are you okay?”
“Sure. They asked me a bunch of questions, I didn't answer any. It was productive. ”
I nodded glumly. “Raquel and I had a. . . fight. . . about you. She hasn't seen me since, or let me talk to the Supervisors, either. ” I held out the cookies. “Figured you might like a treat. It's kind of the least I can do. ”
“Thanks. ” He took them from me, setting them on the bed. We stood there awkwardly.
“I'd probably better go. I don't want to get us in trouble right now. ”
He looked disappointed. “Yeah. ”
On impulse, I leaned in and kissed his cheek. When I pulled back, he was smiling. “I'll see you soon,” I said, beaming back and blushing as I walked out, practically floating.
I finally saw Lish the next morning. Everyone in Central Processing was super stressed, gossiping and spreading rumors in the hallways as they rushed to and fro. Lish, however, was in her element, flicking through screens and giving orders to people and paranormals standing in front of her.
“Hey, what's up?” I leaned against the glass, ignoring the queue in front of her.
