Yet the room wasn’t as empty as it looked. Someone breathed softly, a whisper sound barely distinguishable from the sigh of the wind. Like him, whoever made the sound was standing close to the door, close to the wall.
He waited, not moving. After several long minutes, the watcher muttered. Then soft steps crossed the wooden floors, and a chair squeaked. Stepping back, Gabriel raised the laser, sighting along the wall until he reached the approximate position of the squeaking chair. Then he fired. The acrid smell of smoke and burnt wood stung the air. After a moment, the smell of burnt flesh began to taint it as well.
He kicked the door open and rolled through, gun at the ready. No angry shots greeted
his arrival. The guard lay slumped over a com-unit, half his chest burned away.
Gabriel did a quick check of the rest of the room, noting only one other exit. He rose and walked across to the com-unit. This one also had print identification. Old-fashioned, but still reasonably effective in an outpost like this. He grabbed the dead man’s hand and pressed it against the screen. The door to his left clicked open, revealing the corridor he’d seen Mary disappearing down.
He approached it warily. The corridor was long and white, and it wound down several levels before flattening out. He stepped forward and peered over the handrail. No one below, either. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. He kept his back to the wall as he moved down it.
The corridor made a sharp right at the bottom of the ramp. Halfway down were two doors, both closed. He eyed them, unable to ignore the uneasiness beginning to weight his gut. Something just didn’t feel right. It wasn’t like Kazdan to be so haphazard with his security.
He checked the laser’s charge—half full. Probably not enough to handle the trouble he sensed waiting ahead. Keeping the weapon at the ready, he moved forward. The sensor above the door to his right blinked to green as he neared, and a heartbeat later, the door silently opened. He stopped, body tense, ready to retreat or attack. The only sound he heard was the soft hum of the air-con. He dug the security card from his pocket and tossed it into the room. There was a quick whine, like that of a motor gearing to life, then a white flash. The card flamed briefly as the laser burned it, the ashes falling softly to the floor. Obviously, there were movement-sensing laser rifles inside, which meant that while it was definitely a room he should investigate, it was a no-go for now.
The other door was locked. He edged past it and continued on. The corridor curved to the left, and another door came into view. The sensor above the door flicked to green as he approached, and the door opened, revealing several long rows of coffins. Were these the people on Kazdan’s list, the ones who’d likely paid to become a vampire?
The uneasy sense that something was wrong was growing. It had been far too easy to get this far. Kazdan was up to something—or was he giving the man too much credit? Surely if Kazdan were aware of his presence, he would have stopped him before now. Still, despite the sense that he was walking into trouble, he really had only two choices—and retreat had never been an option he’d favored. But it would be foolhardy to take unnecessary chances.
He took off his boot and tossed it lightly into the room. If there were movement-sensing lasers inside, he’d soon know about it. There was no response, no reaction.
After taking a deep breath, he dove through the doorway, coming to his feet behind the first row of coffins, laser rifle primed and ready to fire. No white flash greeted his appearance. Inching upward, he swept the laser’s sight across the room. No one. Frowning, he grabbed his boot and put it back on before he glanced at the nearest coffin. Metal, not wood, which meant the coffin more than likely contained one of the newly turned. After checking the room a second time, and noting the exit across the far side of the room, he slowly opened the coffin.
The woman inside was little more than a teenager, with long blond hair, rich brown skin, and a build that could only be described as voluptuous. Why would Kazdan be recruiting people like this? Sure, the girl was pretty, but the softness in her face suggested that she’d led a sheltered, easy life. How would someone like this help him start—or maintain—a war? Wouldn’t it make more sense to recruit people he could use as bullet fodder? Even then, being among the newly turned, his creations would be next to useless for at least a few months. While there were some who—like Kazdan—learned to cope with all that becoming a vampire involved in a relatively short amount of time, most could not. Indeed, the onslaught of so many new sensations and abilities were often a fast track to madness for the freshly turned vampire.
He lifted the woman’s hand and felt her wrist for a pulse. After several minutes, he found it. A single beat, unsteady, weak, but nevertheless there. The girl was still turning. It would be another day or so before the unsteady beat settled into its regular pattern of one beat every three minutes, and only then would she wake. Was this girl one of the names on the list? What price had she paid to join the ranks of the undead? And why?
He turned and looked at the other coffins. If he’d had the time, he would check them all, but time was the one thing he didn’t have. Still, one thing was clear. Kazdan was gathering an army, and it didn’t really matter if that army was filled with women as soft as the blonde. What mattered was how many more he’d created. But if Sethanon was as all-powerful as they’d presumed, why would he let a lieutenant build an army like this right under his nose?
Gabriel frowned and closed the coffin lid. The SIU would have to be called in to decontaminate the place. But first, he had to find Sam. And Kazdan. He hefted the rifle to a more comfortable position, then walked across to the next door. Again, the sensor opened it as he approached.
The room beyond was silent, but he had a bad feeling someone was in there, waiting. He dove through and rolled upright, rifle at the ready. And found himself staring into the barrel of a laser cannon.
“Don’t move, Gabriel dear, or I’ll blow your beautiful eyes through the back of your fucking head.”
VOICES BROKE THROUGH THE DARKNESS. Voices Sam knew, voices she was beginning to fear—for with them came the onslaught of more tests, more pain. Better by far to remain in the secure safety of dark unconsciousness. Yet something within her struggled through the layers of pain, struggled to hear and understand. Gradually, the words became clearer.
“You keep on with these tests, and you’ll kill her.” The speaker was a woman. The sultry tones were familiar, even if the worry that edged her words wasn’t.
“She is more than any of us had guessed. More than even Sethanon guessed. She is our key.”
Jack’s voice, cold and hard.
“And she will be no damn good to us dead!” Anger filled the woman’s voice. Visions of Stephan’s wife, Lyssa, swam through Sam’s mind. But if this woman was Lyssa, how did she know Jack? And why was she here—wherever here was—defending her? “Look at her, Jack, she’s barely alive. Look at the heart monitor.”
She could almost feel Jack’s scowl. “I only have two or three tests to go.”
“Two or three tests we don’t need. Unless, of course, it is your intention to kill her.”
“Why the sudden concern?” Jack’s voice held a mocking note. “I thought you couldn’t wait to get her out of my life.”
Sam frowned. Why would Lyssa want her out of Jack’s life? This was making no sense … Her thoughts stopped. There were two women called Lyssa. The one she’d rescued from Jack’s cell, and the shifter who’d taken the original’s place—Suzy. This was Suzy, of that Sam had no doubt.
But why would Suzy even attempt to help her, especially given the hostility she’d thrown Sam’s way over the years?
“That’s before I saw her in action myself. I owe her my life, Jack. If she hadn’t found that bomb Mary set, I’d be paste right now.”
Jack snorted. “Have you seen the stupid bitch?”