AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jill? Is that you?” It was Jackson.
My grip on the phone tightened. “Where are you?”
“A level down from you. What the hell happened on twenty? Why is the alarm going?”
“To sum up? Dr. Reynolds’ vampire assistant, Lawrence, learned his wife died as a test subject here. He went full-vengeance-mode, killed Reynolds, and now he’s off doing some major damage, which triggered this.”
“Reynolds is dead?”
“Yeah,” I replied tightly. “That’s the short version.”
There was silence for a moment.
“Jackson, are you still there?” I asked.
“I’m here. I’m processing all of this and what it means for all of us. Lawrence must be the one who let the vampires out of their cells down here. At least a dozen of them are on the loose, maybe more. You need to get out of here. Where’s Declan?”
I looked at the dhampyr in question. “He’s with me.”
“Good.” I heard relief in his voice. “Okay, here’s what you need to do. Find the nearest stairwell. Don’t try to use the elevator, it’s not working. Don’t let any vampire get too close to you or you won’t have a—”
His voice cut off.
“Jackson? Are you still there? Jackson? Shit. He’s gone.” I shoved the phone back into Declan’s coat.
“Gone where?” Declan asked.
“Just gone. I’m really hoping Lawrence didn’t find him.” I couldn’t let myself worry about what just happened to Declan’s vampire-hunting friend too much. Jackson could take care of himself. “We have to move. Lawrence must have gone completely batshit crazy because he released all the vampire test subjects. We have to get outside.”
Sunlight didn’t kill vampires. However, it did fry their hyper-sensitive eyes, blinding them and making them much easier to kill. Obviously, they preferred the nightlife to any potential exposure to daylight.
“Come on.” I pulled Declan with me toward the door before I froze. Something Dr. Reynolds said came back to me. “Wait. Dr. Reynolds mentioned another human woman who’s here for his dhampyr breeding project. We can’t just leave her behind.”
“If we can get to her, then we will,” he replied, his voice tense. “But if we can’t, my first priority is to get you out of here in one piece.”
“But Declan—”
“No, Jill. No more arguments. We’re out of here.”
Faster than I thought he was currently able to move, he pulled me along with him to the door of the office. It was already open, the hinges broken.
Dr. Reynolds had chosen his research over friendship and loyalty. He tried to convince himself he was one of the good guys, but keeping a woman locked away—even if she had misguidedly agreed to it—until she gave birth to a monster that ripped her apart...that wasn’t something a good guy would do, even if it was in the name of science and research.
I felt Lawrence’s pain, but he wasn’t right either. I was just thankful he hadn’t killed me or Declan yet. All we could do was try to get out of there before he found us again and finished what he’d started.
He'd bite me to end his life and put himself out of his pain and misery. And in his current mood, he’d probably tear out my throat in the process.
I’d already experienced suicide-by-Nightshade with Matthias. I was in no hurry for a repeat performance.
Declan leaned against me as we walked, and that worried me. He was also trailing blood from his more severe wounds. As a dhampyr, I knew he’d heal quickly, but unfortunately not quickly enough.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Never better,” he replied.
Emotionless, yes. But not without the natural capacity for sarcasm.
We had to keep moving. The underground facility was huge, with mazelike hallways. The debilitated warehouse on the surface was only the proverbial tip of the iceberg to what lay beneath. And I’d only seen a fraction of it. A fraction was all I ever wanted to see of this place.
