Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian 1)

"The military is certainly working on implanting vampire genes into other nonhuman races, but from what Jack says, the longest any of them has lived is a couple of years."

I remembered the smell in the parking garage. Remembered the feeling I was facing dead - or at least dying - things. "Whoever is behind this, I don't think they're having much luck in the longevity stakes, either."

"They're living long enough to do some pretty nasty stuff."

I raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

He hesitated. "You know we've had ten guardians gone missing?" When I nodded, he continued, "From what we can glean from the remains of those we've found, it appears they might have been forced to fight for their lives in some kind of arena."

I closed my eyes and prayed that Kelly hadn't joined their number. Hadn't become just another means of testing some madman's grotesque creations

She didn't deserve that sort of end. None of the guardians had

But once again I shoved the thought away, not wanting to face the hurt of it until the moment hope was totally gone and I knew for sure she was dead. "Obviously, the bodies were dumped in areas out of the sunlight; otherwise, there wouldn't be any remains to study. Which in itself suggests someone wanted the Directorate to find the remains."

He nodded. "Jack says there was an enormous amount of growth accelerant in the body of the vamp they discovered in Quinn's plane. And the prelim results Quinn got back on Gautier's clones also show high dosages."

I frowned. "Sounds like they don't really care if their creations live all that long."

"Maybe just long enough to complete a task." His expression was grim when it met mine. "A vampire's body degenerates pretty quickly once he's dead. Can you think of a better killing machine than one designed to get in, do its job, then self-destruct before any evidence can be pulled from it?"

"It's not something I actually want to think about." I watched a willy wagtail flit across the backs of the nearby cows. "How come Gautier has been allowed to stay with the Directorate? Especially after his clones started appearing everywhere?"

"We think Gautier is working with someone in the Directorate - someone other than Alan Brown. Until we can ferret that person out, Gautier stays. It's better to have an enemy where you can watch him."

"You're not exactly watching him now."

"Director Hunter is."

"Ah." I closed my eyes, listening to the wind keening through the nearby gums. The storm that had hit Melbourne earlier that afternoon was on its way. "As a guardian, Gautier has to undergo regular health checks. I'm gathering nothing out of the ordinary has ever been found?"

"No. And Jack's told you about his history - or lack thereof."

"Yeah. Bit by little bit."

Rhoan grinned. "He wants you in the program, sis, and he's just trying to reel you in."

"So he's already said."

The man in question came out of the trees as I spoke

"Riley," he said, a smile touching his lips but his eyes all seriousness. "We need to talk if you can give me a moment."

I glanced at Rhoan, who shrugged at my unasked question. I pushed to my feet, and said, "Sure."

Jack followed the path back into the trees and I trailed him. We walked down to the dam and stood on the edge, watching dragonflies buzz the water

"What's up?" I said, after a moment

"Something you may not like." He looked at me, green eyes hard with anger. "You remember the blood sample I took?"

My stomach dropped. "Yes."

"We got some interesting results back."

I briefly closed my eyes, not sure I really wanted to hear this. "So, I was drugged?"

"Yes. There was N529, a fast-knockout drug designed for use on nonhumans, and one which is not due to come onto the market until next month. The other was ARC1-23."