Vampire Beach Hunted (16 page)

The drug is wearing off
, Jason realized.
His vampire powers are weakening
.

‘I’ll make millions of dollars – billions, even,’ Norton was saying. ‘Just for spilling your secret to the world. Don’t worry, Zach, you’ll be a part of it. Well, your body will, anyway. Of course, I can’t say for sure whether you’ll survive long enough to see humans everywhere using your powers . . .’

If his appearance is slipping, then maybe his super-strength is slipping, too
, Jason thought.
He’s alone in the lab. Now’s my chance. Maybe I can take him
.

He inched closer to Norton, working his way around the tank so he could reach the guy.

‘Tell you what, I’ll show you what it’s like,’ Norton said, still taunting Zach. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle. He popped the top, opened his mouth, and shook two red pills onto his tongue.

Those are the same as the pills from the van
, Jason realized.

Before Jason could move, Norton began to transform. His nose shrunk. The jowls disappeared. The muscles of his face contracted until he was a carbon copy of Adam once again. ‘This is a neat trick,’ Norton told Zach. ‘I don’t know why you vampires don’t use it more often. With different faces, you could get away with so much! Whatever you wanted to do, you could do. When this is all over, maybe I’ll make myself look like you for a while. Might be a good way to lure your parents in to the lab.’

Jason saw a flicker of anger in Zach’s eyes. He hoped his friend would be able to hold it together and not reveal that he was free. Norton’s vampire skills were obviously back on. There was no chance Jason could beat him in a fight now. If the security guards at the warehouse were anything to go by, right now Jason would have a better chance taking on Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya simultaneously than he would Norton after a dose of vampire-ness.

Still, Zach wasn’t entirely restrained anymore. Maybe Jason could attack Norton and Zach could help. But it was risky. He had no idea how weak Zach still was from the gas.

‘Mr Norton!’ a voice blared from the walkie-talkie strapped to Norton’s belt. ‘Are you there, sir?’

‘Yes.’ Norton turned away from Zach and spoke into the walkie. ‘Is the complex shut down?’

‘Yes, sir. We’re on lockdown,’ replied the unmistakable voice of the New Yorker. ‘But our guest is here, and Dr Abell told her you were in the lab. She’s on the way to you now, sir. And she’s angry.’

‘Dammit!’ Norton barked. ‘Send security to this lab, now.’

The outer door opened, and a tall figure strode over to the airlock. When the glass door slid back, Jason thought he might be hallucinating from all the gas. He had to be.

Because striding through the doorway, looking as glamorous – and as dangerous – as ever, was his Aunt Bianca.

Seventeen

JASON GAPED AT
his aunt in astonishment. What on earth was she doing here?

Bianca’s eyes flashed with anger, and she stalked over to Norton without even bothering to reach for a gas mask. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ she yelled, getting right in his face. ‘How
dare
you use these vampires in your experiments!’ She gestured around to the incubator tanks, specifically Zach’s. ‘That is a Lafrenière, for God’s sake. I specifically told you he was off limits. In fact I told you
none
of these kids was to be used for experimentation. Release them this instant!’

Norton had backed off when Bianca first walked in, but now that she was screaming at him, he straightened up and advanced on her. ‘I’m not releasing them now or ever,’ he snapped. ‘And you’d better start watching your tongue if you know what’s good for you.’

Jason felt Zach’s eyes on him, and Adam’s. But he couldn’t tear his gaze away from his aunt. He hadn’t seen her since she’d tried to get Dani’s ex-boyfriend to transform Dani into a vampire. His aunt was going insane as a result of her own transformation years ago, and in his mind Jason had pictured her getting smaller and thinner and, well, less powerful. But Bianca seemed as tall and strong as ever, her long dark hair cascading around her face and her deep-blue eyes practically glowing with fury.

‘You little ingrate!’ she growled, not backing off an inch as Norton approached. ‘You’d still be languishing in some stupid think-tank if not for me.’

‘Well, I’m not,’ Norton sneered. ‘And I’m through taking orders from you, Bianca. If you want a cure for your transformation sickness, you’d better learn to shut up and start doing as you’re told.’

The outer door banged open and two big security guards appeared, armed with crossbows.

Bianca’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘I’ll have you replaced in a heartbeat, Norton,’ she snapped.

‘Don’t you get it? You have no power anymore,’ Norton taunted her. ‘You already gave me all your information — about vampires, about the purest bloodlines and where to find them. Your knowledge was your only value to me. And now that I have it, you’re of no further use.’

Jason saw his aunt’s shoulders began to sag a little. He got the feeling that she hadn’t realized any of that until now.

‘In fact, if you weren’t tainted by your disease, I would stick you in a tank and harvest
your
blood, too,’ Norton said.

‘We had a deal,’ Bianca cried. ‘I gave you that information in return for a cure. It was a
deal
!’

‘Sure it was.’ Norton chuckled. ‘And now I’m changing the terms of the deal. So keep this in mind: if I decide to devote any of HemoCorp’s resources to finding a cure for you, it will be because I want to, not because I have to.’

Bianca gathered herself and lifted her head. ‘Those little pills are making you pretty brave, Norton,’ she said. ‘But my husband gave me some of the oldest and strongest vampire blood in existence when he transformed me. I’m one of the most powerful vampires you’ll ever meet. I could snap you like a twig – right now!’

Norton chuckled and lazily gestured to the security guards at the door. One of them lowered his crossbow, taking aim at Bianca. ‘Bianca, you really need to calm down,’ Norton said reasonably. ‘You know your transformation sickness makes you . . . unstable.’

‘How dare you—’ Bianca began.

‘And besides, your nephew wouldn’t live very long if you snapped me like a twig,’ Norton continued. ‘Or didn’t you know that Jason broke in here along with these three?’ He gestured to Zach, Brad, and Van Dyke.

‘Jason?’ All at once, Bianca’s bravado vanished and she actually seemed to shrink in front of Jason’s eyes.

‘He’s in the complex. It’s only a matter of time until we find him,’ Norton said. ‘If you want him to get out of here alive, you’ll stop getting in my way.’ He gestured to his men, and they stepped forward, placing themselves on either side of Bianca.

‘Where are we going?’ Bianca asked quietly.

‘To the security center. I’m sure you’d like to watch as we take down your nephew.’ Norton glanced over his shoulder at Jason and Adam. ‘You two, get those vampires wired. I’ll be back.’

Jason was too stunned to speak.

‘Yes, sir, Mr Norton,’ Adam called, his voice squeaking.

The airlock door slid closed behind Norton and Bianca, and a second later the outer door closed too. They were alone again.

‘Jason—’ Adam started.

‘We’ve got to move,’ Jason cut him off. He turned to Zach and found him already sitting back up, spitting out the feeding tube he’d shoved in his mouth. Zach flicked off the wrist restraints and started working on his ankle straps.

‘You need help with that IV?’ Jason asked.

‘No,’ Zach grunted. He grabbed the IV needle and jerked it out of his arm with a grimace. ‘I’m good.’

Jason rushed over to Brad’s tank, while Adam went to Van Dyke. Both vampires were awake. Jason untaped the tube from Brad’s mouth and prepared to pull it out. ‘Sorry,’ he muttered, then he pulled.

Brad coughed and retched as the tube came out. ‘Man, that sucked,’ he finally sputtered.

‘How long have you been conscious?’ Jason asked.

‘Long enough to watch Turnball turn into somebody else and back,’ Brad muttered.

‘We weren’t really
un
conscious,’ Zach explained, climbing out of his tank. ‘Just zonked by that gas. As soon as you released it, the effects began to wear off.’

‘Yeah. I heard everything that was happening,’ Brad agreed, yanking out his IV as soon as Jason freed his wrists. ‘By the time your aunt got here, I was just pretending to be woozy.’

‘What the hell, dudes?’ Van Dyke said, climbing from his tank with Adam’s help. ‘What’s Bianca doing in league with that guy?’

‘She’s lost her mind,’ Zach said grimly. ‘There’s no telling what she might do. But I have to say, I never thought she’d turn on other vampires.’

‘Me neither,’ Jason said sadly. ‘I guess she thought Norton could help her overcome the madness.’

‘Christopher!’ Van Dyke cried, peering into the last incubator tank. ‘Is he alive?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jason said. ‘But they didn’t have the tank closed, so he’s not being gassed anymore.’

Van Dyke reached in and pulled out Christopher’s IV. ‘Maybe it’s just some kind of drug,’ he said. ‘They talked about putting us in comas.’ He pulled out the feeding tube, then began yanking all the other tubes out of Christopher’s body.

‘Hey, go easy,’ Jason said.

‘No time,’ Van Dyke grunted. ‘We’ve got to get him out of here. He’ll heal himself.’

‘How do we get out?’ Zach asked. ‘Obviously the warehouse exit is being watched.’

‘Yeah, but I’ve got a plan,’ Jason said.

‘You do?’ Adam asked in surprise.

‘Yup. Let’s go.’ Jason opened the sliding glass door and stepped into the airlock, pulling off the clean-suit helmet. Adam followed him.

‘Turnball,’ Brad said. ‘That is the real you, right?’

‘I certainly hope so,’ Adam replied.

‘Well, what are you doing here?’ Brad asked.

‘Long story,’ Adam told him. ‘And thanks for not noticing that Evil McNasty was impersonating me for two days.’

‘That’s definitely the real Adam,’ Brad said happily.

‘He’s awake!’ Van Dyke suddenly called from the lab. He held Christopher under the arms and helped him sit up. ‘You hurt, man?’

‘I’ll live,’ Christopher croaked.

Jason couldn’t believe it. The dude looked pale and weak and generally awful, but the fact that he was even conscious and talking was astonishing, given the state he’d been in just two minutes before.

‘Is there anyone else in the cells?’ Zach asked him. ‘Any other prisoners?’

‘Just some funny guy who was next to me,’ Christopher said.

‘That was me,’ Adam told him.

‘Then there’s nobody else. Dr Abell told me I’d lived twice as long as any of the other vampires he worked on.’ Christopher grimaced as Van Dyke helped him climb out of the tank. ‘I think it’s gonna take me a while to recover from this.’

‘So what’s the plan?’ Zach asked Jason.

‘Yeah, because Norton will be back any minute, and the guys who went to check on the prisoner cells are going to notice that I’m gone pretty soon,’ Adam said. ‘Any minute now, a bunch of guards are going to come rushing in here like Storm Troopers – and by the look of this place, they might even
have
Storm Troopers!’

‘Well, good, because my plan is basically from
Star Wars
,’ Jason replied. ‘Adam, you and I are going to act like bad guys escorting our vampire prisoners to another part of the complex.’

‘Nice. Episode Four, Han and Luke pretend Chewie’s their prisoner,’ Adam said.

‘You two better have an
actual
plan,’ Brad cut in.

‘Look, we’ve all seen Norton, right?’ Jason said. ‘He looks like Adam.’

‘Yeah. We get that,’ Van Dyke replied. ‘So?’

‘So if he looks like Adam, Adam looks like him,’ Jason said.

‘Genius.’ Zach nodded. ‘Adam can pose as Norton and all the jerks who work here will listen to him because they’ll think he’s their boss.’

‘Right. But I need some kind of disguise,’ Jason said. ‘I can’t go walking all over in a clean suit. Adam, you have to lure a guard in here.’

‘No problem. I bet this place is crawling with security right now.’ Adam strode over to the door, pulled it open, and stepped out into the hallway, holding the door with one hand. ‘You!’ he yelled. ‘I’ve got Jason Freeman in here. Call off the search, then get in here and help me.’

He stepped back inside, letting the door close.

‘Did he buy it?’ Jason asked.

‘I don’t know. I figured Norton’s not the kind of guy who waits around to see if people are obeying him,’ Adam said. ‘If he shows up, we’ll know he bought it.’

Two seconds later, the door opened and a security guard stepped in. ‘I’ve cancelled the alert, Mr Norton. Where is . . . ?’ his voice trailed off when he saw Jason and the vampires standing in front of him.

‘I’m right here,’ Jason said, flattening the guy with a punch to the jaw.

The dude jumped right back up, aiming his weapon at Jason, but Brad was too fast for him. He grabbed the crossbow out of the guy’s hand and turned it until the point of the bolt was at his throat.

The guard froze, and Zach and Van Dyke grabbed his arms. Jason was about to clock him again, when someone got there before him.

Christopher.

The injured vampire had found a surge of desperate energy from somewhere, and had latched onto the guard like a leech, his teeth going straight for the man’s neck.

Jason hesitated a moment, reminding himself that Christopher needed the boost, however tough it was to watch. After the vampire had taken four or five loud gulps, Jason shot Zach a look.

Zach nodded back as he prised Christopher off the guard, who had that blissful, drunken look of a human who had just been fed on.

‘That’s enough,’ Zach told him. ‘We have to get moving.’

‘I need his uniform,’ Jason said.

‘You heard him,’ Adam told the guard. ‘Strip.’

The guard was so out of it, he obeyed Adam’s command without complaint. When the guy had taken off his dark-blue jacket and pants, Brad and Zach dragged him over to the incubator tanks and made him climb inside. They taped his mouth shut with the medical tape and tied his hands and feet with the restraints.