Days of Redemption (The Firsts Book 6) (14 page)

Reuben and Kalia left without question.

Waving the men in white lab coats forward. Lamont walked over to Bryn’s cage.

“You’re awake.  Won’t remain that way long, but I’m glad to see you up right now.  Men, this is the first vampire I have ever been able to capture and secure without supernatural intervention.  The serum that I brought from France has proved more success
ful than we imagined.  You can see he’s not a threat, fully bound by chains and bars.  This is the beginning, gentlemen, of human superiority, and the end of all things supernatural.  An abomination on the natural order will finally be put right.  They think they are gods…”

Bryn growled
and cut him off.  “Hardly.  But we’re grander than
you
are, leach.  Ye’re lookin’ for somethin’ that isn’t yours to have.”

“Says the monster in the cage.
  Anyway, before this…creature…interrupted, team, I was about to tell you that you will be working on the next phase. We’ve been studying this vampire virus for years with little success.  But we’ve never had this kind of opportunity before. I want this vampire’s blood compared with the blood of the vampires on Sub-level three.  Take them apart, doctors, piece by piece, but I want to know how this one differs from the ones that were born as vampires.  I want to know exactly what this virus is that converts a human being to a vampire. I want to understand the biology and chemistry of the change and how it does what it does.  If you need more subjects, I think that’s quite doable now.” 

Suddenly, Lamont looked at Lauren.  “And doctors
, when you dissect him, make sure
she
is there to watch.”

He smiled at her, a wide toothy grin, and turned away
to speak to one of the armed guards.

“He’s too alert.  That worries me.  Give him another round.  Doctors, join me for a celebratory dinner.  Today is one of victory for mankind.”

Leading the doctors from the room, Lamont sauntered through the door as two of the security guys stepped in front of Bryn and fired.  Three darts dug deep into his gut and he roared, but before the shooters left the room, he had already dropped back down onto the concrete floor.

Lauren screamed out his name as she, too, dropped onto the floor where she remained the rest of the night, unable to take her eyes off of Bryn crumpled in his cage.

THIRTEEN

Cherise marched into
Dez’s home as if she owned the place, followed by Park, a stunning redhead, who Dez knew well, and Tamesine, a gorgeous blonde who she had only heard about.  What she had heard wasn’t good.  A fourth woman came into the room moments later tugging at her boot, long dark hair snatched up in a messy bun.  Dez had never met her either, but knew it was David’s long-time lover and housemate, Katerine.  She was still his housemate, but no longer his lover since Cherise and David were mated.  All three women with Cherise were first blood vampires.

What seemed like arrogance from Cherise
was merely confidence, focus, and a fierce determination to protect that which was hers. 
And David…oh, hell was
he hers! 
Cherise and David had fought impossible odds to find each other and be able to be together.  One thing Dez knew was that she wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of Cherise’s mission. 

Dez was certain…the vampire facility was going down.

“My dear Dez, have you put together the numbers we need?”  Cherise’s soft French accent belied her intensity.

“I have a total of fifteen vampires that will accompany us.  All are here now except for three, and they will arrive soon.  Weapons are ready, vehicles prepped.
”

Cherise nodded.  “Thank you,
chérie
.  You are a good friend.  This may be an ugly fight.  Can you tell us what happened?  How they were captured?”

“Some.  They went in alone while my team got into place.  Three first bloods should have been invulnerable. 
But the society is clever, I’ll give them that.  From what I could read from their minds, they entered a room that was completely enclosed, empty, with no visible openings.  Moments later, they were fired upon, and all three went down.”

Dez had the attention of all four women now.

“Yeah, I was shocked too.  Ladies, it appears they’ve developed a sedative that works even on first blood vampires.  It not only knocks them out, but it appears to be capable of affecting their abilities and strength.  They’re caged, chained, and monitored.  None of them can break the chains or open the locks on their cells.”

Everyone was quiet as they considered this news.

“Okay,” Park finally said.  “Then we can’t repeat that mistake.  They’ll be waiting.”

Her father
, Koen, was one of the imprisoned.  Nothing would stop her from bringing him home.

Park turned to Tamesine.  “Sweetie, I think we need to use our link again.”

Tamesine nodded, but did not speak, which was typical for her. 

Dez remembered that Tamesine was a first blood who was healing after centuries of
insanity.  She’d been told that Tamesine was completely crackers until she bonded with a first blood child that had been born last year.

Truthfully, the community of vampires was changing so quickly,
Dez couldn’t keep up, and she didn’t want to.  After all of this was done, she wanted everyone to pack up the crazy, and go back to their homes to leave her in peace.  Dez had a good life here, and didn’t want anything to upset it.  She thought about the man she’d let walk away from her last year. 
Yeah, he’d been one great big upset she didn’t need
.

“We must think about our approach,” Cherise said.  “Dez, will you have your cook prepare a meal while we speak about our options?”

A quick nod let Cherise know Dez would comply with that request, so the five women proceeded to the dining area, and prepared to take in calories to use in the upcoming battle.  It was close to daylight, so since they would not be able to advance on the lab until the coming night, they would eat, plan, and rest before they went to get their loved ones.

Dez watched Tamesine.  For some reason she did not understand, she couldn’t take her eyes off of her.  

Tamesine was gorgeous, first blood eye-candy, but that wasn’t it.  Perhaps it was because Dez knew she’d had a bizarre history, or the fact that she had been accepted into Koen’s family in spite of all her awful deeds during the years she’d been mentally unstable.   Or was it just that Dez understood how easy it would be to give in to madness after so many years alive, after centuries of frustration and pain.  There were times Dez thought that vampires lived far longer than anyone should.  This was not something she had ever revealed to anyone, and never would.  Dez prided herself on keeping her life private so that no one ever got too close.  She’d learned long ago, that’s how you keep people from hurting you.

As Dez played hostess and made sure all of her guests were well cared for, she noticed that Tamesine generally kept her eyes downcast, on her plate, and only every once in a while would she look up, her pastel blue eyes bright and searching, aware of everything that went on around her.  Strangely, Dez could not touch her mind.

Under most circumstances, Dez used her telepathic skill carefully, and rarely invaded other people’s minds unless she had a good reason to.  Partially because she
did
honor their privacy, but mostly, she had no need of their trauma in her life either.  But today, for the same reason she couldn’t seem to stop looking at Tamesine, she couldn’t stop herself from trying to read her.  It was unsettling.

Park was speaking now.  “Okay, I think we’re set.  All we have to do is get past that trap they’ve designed.  Once done, we take them out.  No hesitation.  This is the same mission we had in Paris…we shut them down.  Only this time, all of us have people we care about still captive inside.   So it has to go right.  Everyone understand their role?”

The powerful women collected around the table all nodded.

“Good,” Park said.  “So, we sleep.  We rise at sunset
and we get our men back.  Dez?”

Standing, Dez waved her hand towards an elevator near the back of the room.

“One level down, ladies.  I’ve emptied all of the rooms on the left side of the hall.  Choose one, make yourselves comfortable.  We will meet here for a quick meal and go.  My entire team will be dressed, armed, and ready.”

“Thank you, Dez,” Cherise told her and led the women to bedrooms secure enough for a vampire’s sleep.

Koen woke slowly, and just laid still, his eyes focused on the ceiling of his cell.  He was on his back, his arms and legs spread from his sides, still shackled.  This was the second time he’d awakened since being taken captive.  He didn’t hear anyone, just an incessant high-pitched beep in an annoying slow cadence. 

He found it funny that at this moment, the beep seemed to upset him more than the fact that he was a prisoner for the first time in his life.  A few moments passed before he lifted his right arm and tried to break the chain that held it, but it remained intact.  He just let his arm drop back down on the cold floor.

Getting upset didn’t help.  Anger just muddied the senses, and he would need them to work out how to overcome this drug and get his innate abilities
functioning again. 

Th
e scientists here at this facility hadn’t been smart enough to make sure he couldn’t access his amulet.  Or maybe they didn’t know about them.  Spirit amulets linked a first blood to his powers, to his abilities, and in its resting state, it was invisible.  Either way, he was going to attempt to increase his strength by trying something different.  He was going to try to link his spirit amulet with Xavier’s.  It was something they’d done as children and God, had it worked back then.

First blood children are powerful, but their power grows with age and experience.  A full-grown first blood vampire was always more powerful than a child.  But once, when Koen and his brother had found a way to link the spirit amulets that every f
irst blood vampire wore around their necks, they had been able to use compulsion on a first blood man in their village.

It was a good plan.  Sitting up, he tried to reach
Xavier, hoping great vampire hearing would help him and his brother communicate without their captors being able to realize they were.

“Xavier, brother,” Koen said, barely above a whisper.

At first he thought it must not have worked, since there was no answer.  Then Xavier’s voice, soft now, the anger controlled like his own.

“Aye, brother.
  We’re fucked aren’t we?”

“Not necessarily.  Do you remember
A’Charnaich?”

It was where they’d grown up, and where they’d done this
before, two mischievous boys, only that one time.

Koen heard a soft chuckle. 

Xavier’s voice amused, he said, “Ah, I do.  Good plan.  Boost the power.  Get out of this cell and kill some humans.  Good times.”

“I hope so.
  My concern is that we touched before, which helped us to make the merge.  You think we can do it, without proximity, or even being able to see each other?”

“The spirit amulet is spirit…it moves in ways we cannot define.  I think it can.  Can we clear ou
r minds and spirits enough to channel them?”

“Yeah, I
think we can.  Let’s try it now.”

“
Don’t got anything else on my schedule today, so sure.  All right, I’m lying flat, and I’ll clear my mind.”

Koen did the same,
his breath calm and even, his mind reaching for a white space where all else disappeared other than connection on a spiritual plane.  This wasn’t his skill, but he could achieve it with effort.  So could Xavier.

Moments later, he felt Xavier with him, and they began to form a bond, a merge, that let their powers combine. 
The strength of that power would be beyond anything these idiots could conceive.

Koen was certain.  This would work.

They could feel their powers gather
.  It moved through the air like a gale force wind, rattled their chains and lifted them clear of the floor by a few inches.

Koen could feel Xavier’s exhilaration and knew that he was thinking the same thing…that their combined powers had grown
like the little boys had, and that they would blow through this place like hurricanes, carving a path through everyone that thought to stop them.

The chains fell away, clattering loudly against the metallic flooring, as the lock
s blew and the cell doors flew open.  Air that had been circling, trapped in the limited space, exploded out of the cell and pushed anything nearby backwards with enough force to imbed some items on desks and counters into the wallboard a good twenty feet across the room.

Koen stepped out of his cell at the same time Xavier did, and their eyes met.  They smiled so widely, the memory of childish joy returned as they looked around and saw a line of armed guards moving towards them, firing.

Koen waved his hand and changed the movement of the air in front of both he and Xavier, the bullets traveling into a density that slowed their progress so much, it was as if time stood still.  Xavier smacked his hands together and the suspended bullets fell to the floor.

They had control of the air.  It was over. 

Koen brought both of his hands up, palms out and pushed against the air, ripping it out from under the guards, the rifles flying from their hands as they fell unconscious on the pure white tile.

The deafening reports stopped, the wind calmed, and order returned to the room.

Koen nodded and walked towards his brother, taking his arm and hand with his, a victory shake.

“We always were a fine team, my brother,” Xavier said.

“I’m glad we’ve come back together.  Being here with you now reminds me how much we mean to each other.  We’ve missed too much, too many great moments lost.  No more though.”

“Aye.
  Family makes everything bearable.”

“Let’s get David out.  After what they did to him
as recently as last year, I can’t imagine what he’s going through.”

Still merged, the two first bloods concentrated on the last cell door that was tightly closed, and it
splintered open.

David had been sitting and watching the doorway with concern ever since he’d heard the wild noises outside his cell.  It took a moment for him to realize what was happening as his eyes moved from Xavier to Koen, and then a big smile spread slowly on his face.

“My heroes,” David said, in his best imitation of a rescued damsel.   Standing, he held up his hands and his chains broke apart, then the ones on his legs fell away as well.  He shook out his hands as he walked out of the cell and hugged first Koen and then Xavier.

“Where are those motherfuckers?”

“We’ll find them,” Koen said.  “I can’t believe they managed to capture us, and that makes them way too dangerous to vampires.  We have to stop them.”

“We have to stop them, aye, but permanently.  You’re
right, they’re too great a threat to be allowed to live.”

Xavier taking the extreme path, as usual, but this time Koen was inclined to agree.  It wasn’t their fault this research group was
dedicated to destroying his race.  This would be self-defense, and justified.  He saw no other way, so Koen knew that was how this sad event would play out.  Those responsible for this latest atrocity must be eliminated.