Thirteen (Otherworld 13)

Aaron was holding the young man down as a team member bound his throat, the blood pumping so hard I knew he wasn't going to make it. Aaron struggled to keep hold of his hands, both slick with blood. One got free and went straight for his own throat, clawing. Aaron managed to grab it before he did any more damage.

"Stay back, Savannah," Aaron growled without looking up.

Almost everyone was doing that--standing back. The team member binding the young man was gloved and masked. The others stood around, watching.

"There's a woman in the hall," I said. "She's infected."

Estrada sent one of the team out after her.

"A woman called this in," I said. "Where is she?"

"In here," Cassandra called from the next room.

I found Cass prowling around a big office. On the floor lay a woman a few years older than me, blond, dressed in a blouse and skirt. She was lying in a pool of blood.

"Did they shoot . . . ?" Another step and my question was answered. The young woman's face was partially changed, brow and nose misshapen, bloody teeth bared.

"The virus appears to have been more successful with her," Cassandra said.

"Not if they were trying for invulnerability."

"True, but I might suggest you step away. Just in case."

I moved back fast. Cass opened the door to a private washroom, poked her head in, and looked around.

"Looking for clues?" I said.

"I sense someone." Vampires can detect signs of life. "It's very faint, though. Someone not long for this world."

"Still a potential hazard. Or someone who needs help."

"My thoughts precisely. In that order, as well." She left the office, still talking, expecting me to follow. "Is your sensing spell working, Savannah?"

"Let me give it a shot."

I cast. It clicked on the first try. I could pick up the people in the reception area. No one else here, though--the spell doesn't work on those without a heartbeat, like Cass. But there did seem to be something in the other direction. Faint, like she said.

I started walking that way. Cassandra swept in front of me. Halfway down the hall, she stopped and tilted her head. Then she pivoted toward a half-open door.

It was dark inside. She went first. I brought up the rear. As I stepped through, a figure lunged out behind Cass, appearing from the darkness. It stopped abruptly.

"Savannah," a soft voice breathed. "Thank God you're here."

Roni took one teetering step toward me, then collapsed on the floor.

THIRTY-SEVEN

We stayed with Roni as the Cabal medical team arrived and got busy, sedating the wounded and carrying them down to a waiting van. We brought Roni with us straight to the airport where the backup jet was now waiting. We'd been in touch with Lucas. The situation in Dallas was under control, so he wanted us to take these victims back to Miami.

We loaded the wounded and the dead into the cargo area. All except Roni.

As far as the medic could tell, she wasn't showing any signs of infection. It looked as if the infected woman had started making a meal of her, then got distracted, maybe by the tactical team bursting in. Roni was in rough shape. Really rough shape. She'd lost a lot of blood--and a fair bit of flesh--in the attack. For now, all the medic could do was stanch the bleeding, load her up on drugs, and hope she made it back to Miami.

One problem with pain meds is that they have a tendency to put you to sleep. It might have been more humane to let her drift off into drugged oblivion, but we didn't have time for humane. We needed her awake, which meant the medic had to give her a shot to keep her lucid.

"What happened in there?" I said as soon as she was conscious.

Her gaze went from me to Adam, whom she'd met, then to Cassandra and Aaron. She stared at them, then whispered, "You're the vampires, aren't you?"