Days of Redemption (The Firsts Book 6) (17 page)

His eyes shot to Lauren, who was too far away for him to reach and make it back to the helicopter with the safety margin he wanted.

“You haven’t seen the last of me!” he yelled as he climbed on board and yelled to the pilot to
get the hell out of here.

Seconds later, the vampires could move again. 
Bryn fast-phased to Lauren’s side.

“
Ya all right?  Did he hurt ya?”

That face, that smile.  It was all worth it.

“No, Bryn, I’m fine.  You got to me just in time.”  Lauren lifted her uninjured hand to touch his cheek.

He lifted her easily into his arms and held her gently against his chest.

“I woulda taken it amiss if he’d gotten ya into the belly of that beast and left with ya.” 

“
I would have as well.  But you came, that’s all that counts.”

“Aye.
  Although what the hell happened I don’t know.”

David looked at Bryn and then at the others. 
“Yeah.  What the hell happened?”  He repeated.

Park answered. 
“Something new.  Something we better discover soon.  I don’t think that has ever happened before, right?  Has anyone ever been able to control that many first bloods at once?  Tamesine is the most powerful vampire we’ve ever known, and he stopped
her
.”

“Another thing.”
  Koen joined the discussion.   “You all noticed, didn’t you?  He’s still human.  He hasn’t even been converted.   So how was it possible for a human to wield power of that nature, and without a spirit amulet?   It was first blood magics, and off the charts.”

“We start with his lab,” Park said and turned to hurry down the stairwell.   The others followed just as quickly, eager to know what was happening.

Kalia took up the rear, and spoke to Bryn.  “I’m going to open the rest of the cages and arm the residents.  You guys do what you need to do.”

“I’ll help
ya.”  Bryn sat Lauren on a long couch outside of the lab area Park blew into.  “Ya need some vampire blood to begin ye’re healin’ now.  I’m sorry he hurt ya.”

“Not right now.  Kalia needs your help.  I’m
fine, you can help me when you get back.”

“Lass,
are ya sure?”

“Bryn, of course.
  Do whatever you need.  Just, um, would you do me a small favor?  Would you get me a rifle?  I would just like to be able to protect myself if anyone else comes along.”

Bryn grinned. 
“Always thinkin.’  Aye.  I’ll be right back.”

He
returned with an AK 47, placed it in Lauren’s hands, took her face into his, and kissed her lips, gently at first, and then deeply.

Kalia groaned.  “Time enough for that later, okay?  We’re losing the darkness.”

“All right, ya wench.  I’ll be back, little Lauren.”

Once he disappeared, Lauren leaned her head against the back of the couch.  She hadn’t yet allowed herself to accept that she’d survived this. 
To realize that rape, brutal torture and being murdered weren’t on her list of activities for the next few weeks.  That the big sexy vampire had cared enough to come for her…
again.  
She closed her eyes, let a long breath of relief come, and tried to relax.

In the lab a few doors away from the sitting area where Lauren rested, Park had led Koen, Xavier, David, and Tamesine towards two white-coats who had tried to hide in supply closets.

Koen yanked them out and threw them onto the floor.

Park glared at him.  “I need them conscious, Father.”

She squatted in front of the youngest, a man about thirty years old with already thinning blonde hair, and captured his gaze.

“Hi.  You will answer any question I ask you, quickly and honestly.  Are you capable of answering questions about your boss Lamont’s newfound abilities?”

“Yes.  I am the one who suggested the experiment.  I just didn’t expect Lamont to volunteer himself to try it.”

“Good.  Stand up.  Come over here and tell me exactly what you two did.”

She placed him on a tall stool, and leaned on the counter.  The smell of blood struck her and she looked into a sink close to her where multiple large glass beakers had been placed upside down to drain.   She knew there had been blood in them.

“Um, are you going to kill me?”
the shivering doctor asked.   The human researcher had veered from Park’s question.

“Don’t concern yourself.  Answer my question. 
In detail.”

“He wanted us to continue studies on the vampire blood he’d secured from all of you.  We’ve never had the
chance to do that before.  They had some first blood samples from…”  His eyes went to David and he pointed at him.  “That one in Paris.  But those files were destroyed and they really hadn’t had enough success back then understanding and separating the components.  We have.  But since Lamont mostly wanted to know how to use the blood to create vampire abilities, I suggested a radical experiment.  We feed some blood to a test subject, human, and watch for reactions.  They did it with David’s blood, but there were no measurable clinical changes in tests following that ingestion.  But we had five of you.  Five of the most powerful creatures on earth.  I suggested a cocktail.” 

He smiled, but dropped his eyes when he saw the fury in Park’s.  “It, uh, worked.  Lamont had a bad reaction for about an hour, but then he could do things. 
Manipulate objects.  People.  He was strong. Like you guys.”

Park took a deep breath before she spoke.  “So you fed blood from each of five first blood vampires to that man.”

“Yeah.  It was kind of brilliant.  Your blood has properties no one in the scientific community has ever seen.  I had a test subject ready, but Lamont insisted he would be the one.”   He hesitated, and looked around the room at the five upset vampires.  “We, uh, had over 16 ounces of blood from each of you.”

David surged forward. 
“You assholes!”

“I’m sorry, but you were out and we weren’t sure how long we could keep you out, so we had to take
the chance to get what we could.  That blood was supposed to be for a series of experiments until my idea to test it on a human.  But Lamont wanted all of it.  He drank the entire collection of samples from all five of you.  It was sickening and yet awesome to watch him chug that much blood.”

“Sleep,” Park said to the doctor, and
as he fell forward, his temple smacked the counter.

Turning, Park shook her head as she looked at her companions.  “Oh, guys, this isn’t good.  I don’t know exactly what our blood will do to Lamont.  My first instinct is that the results of his newfound abilities will be temporary,
but blood from
five
of us…it’s exponentially potent.   And Tamesine’s blood mixed with mine is unpredictable at best, very, very dangerous for us at worst.”

“Then we have to find him and kill him.  Make it a vampire kill, just in case
.  We take his head,” Xavier said.

“Who knows where he
is now.” David was visibly upset that this man responsible for so much pain had gotten away.

“Paris.”

They looked at Lauren, who had dragged herself to the doorway of the lab.

“He’ll go back to Paris. 
At first, at least.  Afterward, yeah, he likely will disappear.  But Paris is his base, and he’ll return there to wrap things up and make sure he still has untraceable access to his funds.   You need to get someone to his offices immediately, make sure they’re waiting for him.  I know where they are.”

“I could kiss you,” Koen said. 
“All right.  Finally, a plan.  Xavier.”

“Yeah, yeah.
  I’ve got a neat fifty vampires I can round up in the region, four of which are first bloods.  I’ll call Sarah, and she’ll coordinate.   Pretty lady, give me that location.”

Cherise and Dez
arrived at the lab at that moment with several armed vampires.  Cherise’s eyes went to David’s immediately.  “Husband,” she said softly.  He smiled and nodded to her. 

She continued. 
“Everything is secure out there.  Katerine’s doing a final sweep, but none of Lamont’s security force is intact now.  Bryn is helping make sure the supernaturals are released.”

She looked at Lauren, still propped against the door jamb.  “Lauren, are you all right?” 

Cherise put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, supporting her.  “No, I can see you’re not.  Come, I will fix you.”

Moments later Lauren’s pain was gone, the breaks
beginning to heal. 

“Vampire blood really should be in every doctor’s bag.”

Cherise smiled at Lauren’s comment.  “That’s the kind of thought that will really get us all in trouble.  I imagine it’s how this vampire research group got started, coveting a vampire’s abilities.”

“Yes, I think so too.  I’m sorry it all escalated like this again.  I can’t believe they found me.”

“Lauren, my dear, you are not responsible for this.  In the end, you’re our savior.   You’ve protected the innocent and helped me secure the future for my husband.  And now you’ve helped to release another facility filled with victims of this terrible man.”

“I’m going to really disappear this time.  No one will ever find me again.”

“Are you sure that is what you want to do?”

“I’m sure it’s what I
need
to do.  I’ve made my bed, I’ll lie in it.”

“Well, we’ll see. I want to go hug David.”

“Of course.  Thank you, Cherise.”

“Anytime, my dear.”

As Cherise walked elegantly away, Lauren watched with regret.  If they had been able to spend time together, Lauren felt certain she and Cherise would have become close friends.  They’d had a connection right from the beginning, but their relationship could never have developed then because of her involvement with David’s abduction.

“In another life,” Lauren whispered.

FIFTEEN

It was finished.  The SRS facility that was so covert no one in Brazil had any idea it existed, including vampires, was done.  All of the staff had been compelled to forget anything about the facility, to leave Brazil and never return.  They’d also been left with a compulsion to contact Dez if anyone ever said anything to them about the facility or Lamont. 

Once
Dez’s team made sure there was nothing that could tie anything in the facility to the vampires, or even to Lamont’s SRS, it was destroyed completely, the inside burned and the remaining rubble broken up and buried.  Even if someday somebody happened across the trashed debris, they would have no idea what had happened there or who to blame.

Reuben and Marie gave all of the electronic data to Park so that she could see what the society had been working on and assess the damage of the serum.  A rather large supply had been brought in from France with Lamont
, and Park had it stored safely for transport.

Kalia had reminded the vampires that many of the residents had tracers, GPS chips, embedded subcutaneously, so Park had Katerine assist her in removing the offensive technology.  The subjects were now safe to return to their homes.

Eight genetically modified children would go with the woman Kalia.  Kalia wanted them, and they trusted her.  Park had a strong interest in their future, too, so she made sure she had contact information so that she could keep up with their progress and offer assistance Kalia might need in the future with children who might have genetic issues from these illegal tests.

O
nce they had given every piece of information they could, Reuben and Marie, too, were compelled with a complete purge of their experience with the SRS, and carted off with the rest of the staff as they were dispersed.

Kalia found Bryn and Lauren in the smoky wreckage once it was all done.

“Thank ya for all ye’ve done,” Bryn told her.  “Where will ya go?”

“Home.
  I haven’t been able to contact anyone and let them know what happened to me.  They’ll be shocked to see me.”

Lauren stepped forward to hug her.  “Well, the best of luck, Kalia.  You’re a fine woman.”

“Cat.  A fine cat.”

“Ah.  I understand.  My lovely feline friend, we probably wouldn’t have survived without you.”

Kalia’s eyes seemed more cat-like by the moment, such that Lauren felt almost mesmerized by them.  Kalia stared into hers very seriously before she smiled.

“You would have.  You’re a survivor. 
If you’re ever in Patagonia, look me up.”

“Do you need a ride? 
Any money?  Clothes?”

Shaking her head, Kalia ran a finger up Lauren’s arm.

“No.  It would probably surprise you to see how I will travel.  I’m not unlike the vampires in that I have no trouble getting whatever I want, whenever I want it.  I can’t compel humans, but I can convince them.  And they usually see only what I want them to see.”

As she watched,
Kalia’s smooth chocolate skin and long dark hair morphed, her body changed completely, and a slender pale-skinned young girl with shocking red hair stood smiling at Lauren and Bryn.

The transformation startled Lauren, but Bryn seemed unfazed.  As if it had never happened, Lauren barely blinked and Kalia had returned to her usual appearance.

“You’re a shapeshifter?”  Lauren asked.

“No.  Well, not in that way. I can make people see what I want them to see.  But I
can
take the form of my cat, and I would do so to travel, if I didn’t have the Smalls to take with me.”

“I see.  You’re even more remarkable than I already knew.  Travel safely, Kalia.”

“We will do so.  I hope I may see you again sometime.  It’s a small world.  If you’re this way again, you must look me up.  The red-headed vampire will know how to find me.”

Lauren nodded as
Kalia herded the children into a big SUV, her eyes on them until she disappeared.  Bryn took her arm to lead her to another car.

For the second time
in her life, Lauren watched a horrible place of torture recede in her rearview mirror.  She glanced up at Bryn, seated beside her, and sighed.  He felt her as she did so, and put an arm around her to pull her closer.

“It’s all right, now, Lauren.  Ye’re safe.”

She didn’t answer him with words, but laid her head against his chest the way a young girl might do with her boyfriend, a deceptive fabrication of her mind that she allowed herself to believe.  How could it hurt to pretend for a few moments that they were in love and he had come for her because he could never let her go?  It didn’t do any good to remind herself that they’d known each other less than an hour before Lamont’s henchman had taken her away.

S
he wanted to believe, so she would let herself believe.  Tomorrow, she’d ask reality to forgive her and proceed with her life as she searched for the next place to hide from Lamont.

In another car, Cherise sat on David’s lap, her arms curled around him, her head on his chest listening to
the beat of his heart, calm and steady.  She couldn’t believe he’d been imprisoned again.  After all he’d been through with that lab in Paris…that he had to endure even a few hours trapped and chained again, it broke her heart. 

David could feel Cherise enter his mind and every breath he took came out on a slow sigh.  One thought repeated and gave him solace as nothing else in his life ever could. 
I will never let you fall, I will always have your back.
  He knew Cherise meant it, and he knew she could do it.  Either of them would move hell and earth to protect the other.  He just wanted to get her home and get inside of her as soon as possible.  There was no greater healing than the moment their minds and bodies merged, no greater moment of his life. 

Later, as the vampires all arrived back at Dez’s, exhausted and starving, daylight was no more than thirty minutes away.

Dez stepped up onto a low table to address them.

“Everything is prepared.  My staff has extra tables set up in the adjacent rooms, and a feast for 200, so there’s plenty for everyone.  Please, enjoy yourselves.  You’ll have to bunk together, but I have enough underground rooms so everyone can sleep safely.  We’ve done a good thing tonight, not just for vampires, but for so many races of supernaturals that don’t deserve this.  I will be keeping a much tighter eye on what is happening in my own backyard from now on.  Enjoy.”

She came up to Bryn
, started to take his arm, but hesitated as she remembered their bizarre shock, then let her arm drop.   His group of friends and family headed towards the buffet that lined the entire back side of the room.

“I have private rooms for
you and the first bloods.  When you’re ready, I’ll show you where you’ll sleep.”

Bryn nodded, looked at Koen, Xavier, David, then Park, Cherise, and Katerine.
  He still didn’t trust the quiet blonde, Tamesine, who stood beside Park, but he put his hand up.

“Everyone, I want to thank
ya for comin’ to my rescue.  It went wonky, I know, but in the end, we saved a lot of people, and we discovered that we’ve more to worry about with this asshole than we thought.  So I suppose everything happened for a reason.  Still, I appreciate the risk ya took for us.  So does this girl who would have been brutalized if we hadn’t saved her.”  Bryn took Lauren’s hand in his.

“Okay, then enough maudlin sentiment.  Let’s get some
chow and get some sleep.”

Everyone nodded and brushed hands with Bryn as they walked towards the
laden tables.

“Are
ya hungry, lass?” he said as he turned to Lauren.

“I should be.  I haven’t eaten anything in two days, but honestly, I’m not.  I know you vampires have
huge caloric needs, so go ahead.  I think I’ll ask Dez where I can clean up and where I can bunk, and go on to bed.”

She realized quickly he wasn’t going to release her hand
when his fingers tightened on hers.

“Nay, ye’re not.  Not alone, anyway.  I’ll come with
ya.  Someone’ll need to scrub ye’re back.”

“Bryn, no.
  You have to be hungry and that’s a lot harder on you than me.  Go ahead and eat with your family.”

With no warning, Bryn lifted Lauren and slung her over his shoulder.

“Dez, ye’re showers?”

“Stairs, left, then two doors to the left.”

“And where shall we sleep tonight?”

“Pick any of the rooms in that area, close the door, and you won’t be disturbed.”

“Thanks.”

He strode purposefully to the stairwell, took them two steps at a time, and arrived in an elegant large bathroom before Lauren could protest.  He
lowered her carefully, aware her foot was still healing.

“He didn’t touch me.  Not like this,” Lauren told him.  “But I want you to wash him off of me, anyway.”

“Take ye’re clothes off,” he commanded as he began to remove his.  He reached into the oversized shower and turned a knob that brought a massive showerhead to life.

Lauren didn’t move.  All she wanted to do was watch him remove his clothes, one piece at a time.

After dropping his shoes, Bryn unbuttoned his shirt slowly.  He saw her watching and smiled.  Although women told him he was hot, for some reason, it pleased him most that Lauren stood still, her breath held, and stared at him as if she could eat him.  That was okay, because, while the buffet upstairs had seemed nice, he was much hungrier for her than he was for food. 

He kept his eyes on Lauren’s as he peeled off the tight jeans. 

Lauren’s eyes were locked on his cock, which came free of the denim already erect. 

“Hmmm,” she said, and lifted her eyes to his.  She realized that he’d been watching
her
watch
him
.  “I want that,” she whispered.

“It’s yours, lass.  Come and get it.”

Lauren hopped onto his naked body, still dressed, and he backed them into the shower, the full force of the warm water cascaded over both of them, plastering Lauren’s clothes against her.

The shower had a big stone seat and he set her on it and dropped down to his knees to kiss her.  He held her head in his hands, and pressed her wet hair away from her face as he kissed and nipped down the side of her cheeks and finally reached her lips. 

Her hands were already wrapped around his neck.  She kissed him back, aggressively, and was surprised to find he’d removed her clothes while she sat there. 
Yay for vampire skills
.

“Don’t move,” Bryn told her.  He took her feet and pulled her forward, forcing her back against the wall,
then he put one foot on top of each of his shoulders.  His hands curled around her buttocks and he lifted her up.

The second his tongue touched her between her legs, Lauren moaned.

“Bryn.” was all she said.  He was burned into her mind, so even though she closed her eyes, she still saw his face as his tongue languished on her thighs, his fingers caressing the skin around her buttocks while he licked and bit the most sensitive areas on her body over and over, using a little of the vampire speed when he dipped into her and tugged at her swollen clitoris.

She opened her eyes to see water dripping from his hair, his eyes staring up at her, as he drove her to a convulsive orgasm that required his hands to support her while she gave in to the pleasure.
  She could feel his fingers curving around her butt as she released a squeal and grabbed his wet hair.

Moments later, Lauren climbed up onto his body and curled her legs around his back.

“I’m soaked.  And vampire, it has nothing to do with this shower.  Get inside of me now.”

T
aking her hands and putting them around the pipe where the shower head came out of the tile, he told her, “Hold on.”

Once again his hands curved around her buttocks, and he lifted her
so that he could plunge into her, but he didn’t have the chance, because Lauren pulled him to her with her legs and slid over him.  He moved back and forth, up and down, until his own buttocks clinched tightly while her second orgasm drove him to his first this night.

Bryn buried his teeth against Lauren’s throat
, and she knew what he needed.

O
pening her eyes a slit, she whispered, “Yes,” and dropped her head back further. 

On
a growl, he bit, drawing on her blood while he pressed her into the warm tile and pumped into her while her body tightened around his.  She’d always heard that it was erotic when a vampire fed on a human, but now, with him drinking from her while buried inside of her, she knew words would never have been able to describe this.  He lingered even after he’d finished and grazed against her skin.

All the while, the water caressed their bare skin and washed away the tension and worry from the past few days.