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LIGHT BLOOMS IN THE loading bay, revealing a large space packed with boxes and pieces of wooden props. A flight of metal stairs leads up half a floor where a hallway must connect the rest of the theater.
A blond man is standing on the stairs, a tall, dark-haired woman behind him. Myah gropes for the door handle. It would take so little to slip out that door and into the alley beyond leaving Dax to deal with this new complication.
But his hand is still on her shoulder, warning her against sudden movement.
The blond man raises his hand in a gesture of peace before reaching inside his jacket. Dax’s hand tightens on her shoulder. She could break his grip easily. Every instinct screams at her to run.
Instead of the gun she’s expecting, the man pulls out a badge. “Police.” He holds it up for them to see. “Vampire Liaison, Dante Rodriguez.” He jerks his head in the direction of the woman behind him. “This is my partner, Xandra Wheeler.”
Xandra’s gaze lingers uncomfortably on Dax for a moment before centering on Myah. “We just want to talk.”
* * *
FEAR SHOULD BE THE only thing in Dax’s mind now. He’s involved the police, the vampire police. He would be worried, but his imagination supplies one pertinent fact he wishes he could forget.
The dark-haired woman on stairs not only looks familiar, she appears to know him. Recognition dawns. They dated once. He tries to shut down the memory so he can deal with the situation at hand, but his traitorous brain keeps supplying more details. He still has no idea what led him to do such a thing, but he signed up for a dating site. He met Xandra in the Vampires seeking Humans section.
Their date did not go well. It had been decades since he’d been on a date and the rules for dating had changed. Trying to save an awkward evening, he’d tried to impress her by singing show tunes all the way home. He winces at the memory.
Then his senses sharpen. Xandra Wheeler certainly wasn’t a vampire when he met her, but she is definitely one now. His gaze snaps to the man with the badge. Officer Rodriguez. Rodriguez called Wheeler his partner. He can’t help wondering if they’re partners in other ways as well. Is he the one who made her a vampire? He sighs inwardly thinking once more about that uncomfortable date. Hard to compete with a man with a badge.
He yanks his mind back to the present with the thought that he’s probably about to be arrested by that man with the badge.
Rodriguez puts the badge away. “Please step away from the door.”
Myah looks up at Dax questioningly. He nods. Obediently they take a step away from the door, but not so far that they can’t make a dive for it if things go sideways.
Rodriguez and Xandra move down the stairs until they’re standing on the loading dock floor. It takes everything Dax has not to flee out the back door. Beside him he can feel Myah practically vibrating with tension.
Xandra takes the lead, moving out from behind her partner. Her gaze focuses on Myah. “Look, we know about the robbery. We know why Jeremy Landis is looking for you. We know all about his experiments and what he’s done.”
“You think you know?” Myah’s voice is shrill, accusing. “You don’t know anything.”
“We do know,” Rodriguez says quietly. “We were part of his experiments, too.”
Traffic from the nearby street is all Dax can hear in the silence that follows.
“You don’t have to run. We can protect you,” Xandra says.
Myah raises her chin. “And if we do run?”
“We hope you won’t.”
Rodriguez takes a cautious step toward Myah. “We could really use your help. We shut down all of Landis’ experiments that we knew of. Clearly we didn’t get them all. You might have information that can save countless other people.”
“I had a life.” Myah’s words are barely audible. “Not a great life, but a peaceful life. Until this morning.”
Xandra closes the gap between them. Surprisingly, Myah doesn’t shrink away from her. “You can have that life back, better than before. But the only way we can do that is if we shut Jeremy down for good. And to do that we need to know what he was working on most recently and the full extent of his reach.”
“Everyone we find gives us another piece of the puzzle. We’re getting closer to having the full picture, but we can’t do it without you.”
“And if refuse?”
Rodriguez inhales. “A crime has been committed. I can still bring you in for questioning.” He lets that thought sit for a moment. “But we’d much rather have you as willing partners in this fight.”
“They know who we are, where we live. And they probably know we’ve been talking to you now. How are we going to be safe?”
“We have the resources to protect you.”
“But,” Xandra added. “Your real protection lies in destroying Jeremy’s influence. Not just in getting him off the street this time, but in ferreting out all his schemes and shutting them down for good. That way there’ll never be another person like us.”
Myah isn’t going to do it. Dax can tell. Not unless he jumps in first. “I became a vampire in the usual way. I’m not part of any experiment. But I’m willing to help you in any way I can. This affects us all.”
Rodriguez nods his gratitude. His eyes shift to Myah. A long silence stretches between them.
“Okay,” she says finally. “I’ll tell you what I know.”
Dax clears his throat. “It would be best if we could talk elsewhere. I have a rehearsal about to begin here. I can find someone else to run the rehearsal, but I’d rather not involve anyone else in our discussion.” He looks around the loading dock. “Do you think my crew will be safe here tonight or should I cancel it completely?”
“We can send over some officers to ensure everyone is safe.”
“They’ll be discrete,” Xandra adds.
“I’ll, ah, need to borrow a phone. I left mine at home.” It sounds suspicious, he knows.
Xandra Wheeler strides up to him. “Hey Dax.” She hands him her phone and moves away so he can make his call in private. As she leaves he notices her lips quirk into a hurriedly suppressed smile.
Is she smiling because he’s been caught without a cell phone, or because she remembers that terrible date? He tries to keep his mind from exploring that thought by reminding himself of their dire circumstances. But she’s called him by his first name. His heart sinks. She remembers.
Rodriguez saves him. “We should leave before your crew starts arriving. Like you said we don’t want to tip off anyone else. And we don’t want to put your people in danger.”
Myah gives him one last questioning look. Xandra seems to have won her over, but he can tell she doesn’t like dealing with the authorities. He can’t blame her. They haven’t done such a good job of protecting her so far. Still, he can’t see any alternative. Wheeler and Rodriguez seem sincere. He gives her a nod of confidence and tries to ignore the sinking feeling that if this doesn’t work there won’t be any way out.
Rodriguez makes a call and an SUV pulls into the alley. The windows are heavily tinted, nearly blacked out. They pile into back and it pulls away.
Dax can feel the tension radiating from Myah and he hopes he hasn’t doomed them both.
Wherever they’re heading, the SUV takes a circuitous route. Usually his sense of direction is excellent, but by now even he can’t determine in which direction they’re heading. Is their meandering a tactic to throw whoever might be following off their trail? If so, it isn’t filling him with confidence. Beside him Myah sits wide-eyed and suspicious.
Finally they pull into a garage in what seems to be a suburban neighborhood. He has no idea where they are. Nothing looks familiar. The garage door shuts behind them.
Dax studies the bare cinderblock walls. “This isn’t the police station.”
Rodriguez turns in his seat. “No, this is a safe house.”
“There are more officers inside,” Xandra adds. “The place is secure. You don’t need to worry. We have people watching all the time. We’ll be able to talk more privately than at the station.”
He’s starting to have real doubts about this. But they’re here, and even if they were to make a break for it, where would they go? He doubts there’s even a decent bus route this far out in suburbia. As if in a footnote to that thought, the garage door closes behind them.
Rodriguez gets out of the SUV. He approaches a door and fishes in his pocket for a key. The door swings open showing them a nondescript back hallway painted in a depressing gray-beige. Xandra gets out as well and opens the door for Dax and Myah. With one last imploring look, Myah gets out of the car. Together they crowd into the narrow hallway.
Rodriguez points toward the end of the corridor. “Kitchen’s this way. There’s food and uh, blood in the fridge.” He gives Dax an appraising glance. “From the looks of you, you could use some.”
He must look awful. He’s sure his exposure to the sun took off a layer of skin. He can feel it burning even now. The excitement back at the theater and the drive here took his mind off it for a while, but now it’s back with a vengeance.
They turn a corner into a kitchen, also painted greige. The windows are narrow and the blinds closed tight. He hopes the glass behind them is bullet proof. He tries to catch a glimpse of himself in the reflection off the shiny black fridge, but he can’t tell how bad it is. By the surreptitious looks everyone is giving him, it must be bad indeed. He could ask to use the restroom to check, but he doesn’t want to leave Myah alone.
Rodriguez indicates that they should all take places at the table. Xandra pulls out a chair and sits down. Dax does the same. After a nervous glance at Dax, Myah takes a seat. Rodriguez gives Dax another look and then shakes his head.
“For God’s sake, buddy. Drink some blood.”
He walks to the fridge and reaches inside and then pokes his head back out. “That won’t bother anyone will it?” By anyone he clearly means Myah.
She shakes her head. But when Rodriguez hands him the container, she looks pointedly away.
The container his opaque, so no one can actually see what’s in it, but Dax feels self-conscious drinking it. It’s been in the refrigerator, so it’s cold. The first sip makes him shudder.
“There’s a microwave, if you prefer.” Rodriguez nods to the appliance on the counter.
But the only thing worse than cold blood is nuked blood. The microwave gives it a taste he can only describe as dead. Everyone’s eyes are on him. Xandra and Rodriguez don’t appear to think anything usual is happening. He imagines they’re just waiting for him to replenish and repair himself so they can move on. Myah looks horrified. He’s never drunk blood in front of anyone else. It’s a private thing. But they clearly don’t have time for niceties, so he tips back the container and drains its contents.
Blood hits his system all at once, revitalizing the energy he’s depleted. A bead of the salty liquid lingers at the corner of his lip, tickling him. He tries to snag it with his tongue and fails. They’re all staring at him now.
He gets up from the table. “Excuse me.”
Xandra points to a door off the hallway. “Bathroom’s there.”
The florescent light stings his eyes. Everything is far too bright. White fixtures, white towels. Dax grips the sink, looks in the mirror and nearly screams.
For once he wishes the myth about vampires casting no reflection is true. Because the face staring back at him isn’t one he recognizes. Crimson, swollen skin obscures his features. A line of blood dribbles from the corner of his mouth down his chin. He grabs a wad of toilet paper and wipes it off, wincing at it touches his sensitive skin. He tosses the paper into the toilet and reaches for some more, which he soaks in cold water. The last thing he wants to do is wipe his face on those blindingly-white towels.
The cool water and the blood are helping. Already his skin is fading to a slightly less gruesome shade of red. He’s looking a lot more like himself and less like raw hamburger.
He runs his hands under the water and slicks his hair back into some semblance of his regular style before flushing the toilet. After smoothing his clothes back into place, he joins the others at the table. They look much relieved to see him looking a little more, well, human.
Myah is munching on an energy bar and rinsing it down with a bottle of water.
“Good,” Rodriguez says as Dax sits down. “We’re all here. Everyone is...revived. Let’s get started.”
Xandra turns to Myah. “We need you to tell us everything. Anything you know about what kind of experiments Jeremy was working on. Where his lab is. And most important, what he’s planning next.
* * *
MYAH DOESN’T WANT TO talk about any of these things. She’s kept it all inside for so long, buried it so deep. But this morning—it seems impossible it was only this morning—all her secrets were thrust into the light. It’s clear that keeping secrets doesn’t work, but she’s not entirely certain baring it all will help either.
All she knows is that she can’t go on like this. She can’t live her life looking over her shoulder. She has to know that she’s going to be safe once and for all. So she begins...
“My life, up until I was about twelve, was pretty normal. I lived in a house, kind of like this one. I had parents. Or at least I thought I did.”
She stops. Dax is looking at her, his swollen face full of sympathy. She doesn’t want his sympathy so much as she wants him to understand.
“I have a feeling I know where this is going,” Xandra remarks.
Rodriguez holds out a hand, palm up. “Please continue.”
Myah inhales deeply and dives back into the tale. “One night—in the middle of the night—I’m snatched from my bed. And my parents...my parents—they did nothing.” For a moment all she can hear are her own sobbing breaths. “I found out they weren’t my parents at all.”
Xandra reaches out and covers Myah’s hand with her own. “That’s horrible beyond belief.”
Myah appears to have forgotten Xandra is a vampire because she allows her hand to rest there for a moment. “You probably have a story just as bad.”
Xandra nods solemnly. “I do, but I’ll have to share it with you some other time. Please go on, unless you want to take a break for a minute.”
“Maybe you need some more food?” Dax asks. Myah does her best to give him a reassuring smile. His concern for her welfare touches her, but he can’t help her with the dark secrets she’s about to divulge.
She swallows another bite of the bar and shakes her head. “No, let me get it all out. If I stop I’ll lose my nerve.” She takes another swig of water. “They told me I was going to a special school. And I guess it was a kind of a school. There were other kids there, but I almost never saw them.”
“That’s Jeremy’s M.O. He likes to separate his victims from their support system. He makes himself the center of their lives and...” Xandra stops talking and motions for Myah to continue.
“I had no idea I’d been specially bred to be resistant to vampires. They made vampires attack me. It was terrifying. I still don’t know why.”
“There is no why,” Rodriguez says. “Except in the mind of a maniac.”
“But it makes a twisted kind of sense.” Xandra nods at her partner. “You’re a vampire with a few human characteristics. I was the opposite, a human with a few vampire traits.”
A look passes between her and Rodriguez. Xandra glances away and motions to Myah. “And here we have a human who is resistant to vampires.”
“Jeremy’s ultimate soldier.”
Xandra shakes her head. “No, the antidote to Jeremy’s ultimate soldier. The poison and the cure, if you will.”
“Thanks a lot,” Myah interjects.
But Rodriguez is looking at his partner. “Because a guy as psycho as Jeremy Landis would have foreseen the dangers of his invention falling into enemy hands and devised his own countermeasures.”
“I don’t want to be anyone’s countermeasures.” Myah puts her head in her hands. “I just want to be me. I just want the life I thought I had back.”
“And we’re going to help you do that,” Xandra says. “But before we can do that we need to find Jeremy. We need to shut down whatever he’s working on now and lock him up somewhere impenetrable where he can’t get out.”
“Ever.” Rodriguez adds.
“Last time we left this to the authorities. This time we need to make sure the job is done properly ourselves.” Xandra reaches for Myah’s hands and pulls them gently away from her face. “Do you know where this so called school was?”
“I could probably lead you back there. But I’m not entirely certain. When I escaped, I just ran until I got far enough away that I thought they wouldn’t find me. Those days were really tough. I was living on the streets, trying to hide in plain sight.”
“That must have been hard.”
“It was, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who suffered that way. When I heard Jeremy had been captured, I thought I was safe. I figured I only had to hide what I am and it would be okay.”
“It will be okay,” Rodriguez says. “We’re going to make sure of that.”
“When the store was robbed, I should have run then. But I’d promised my friend I’d take her shift. She’d been good to me. She’d given me a job when I had no one to vouch for me. I stayed at the store because I was waiting for her to come back.” She shoots Dax a grateful glance across the table. “If Dax hadn’t shown up, they’d probably have captured me.”
“I’m sure it was Jeremy’s intention to recapture his assets.”
“Myah isn’t an asset.” Dax sounds outraged. “She’s a person.”
“Of course she is.” Xandra offers him a conciliatory look. “But we need to start thinking like Jeremy if we’re going to find him.”
Dax doesn’t appear mollified. “So what’s the plan then?”
“The plan is that you’re a civilian, and you’re staying here.” Rodriguez’s tone leaves no room for argument.
Myah watches Dax’s jaw clench.
“No. I go where Myah goes. I’m not a soldier, but I can fight. You might need another vampire on your side.”
Rodriguez and Xandra trade another glance. Xandra draws in a deep breath. “He has a point.”
“I don’t like it. No way is a civilian going to know how to handle himself in this kind of fight.”
Xandra considers Dax for a moment. “True, but he’s motivated. And that counts for something.”
“Still not liking it,” Rodriguez says, but Myah can tell his resolve is weakening. Knowing Dax will be there with her gives her hope.
Xandra studies each of their faces in turn, taking in their resolve. “So let’s do it then.”
