Chapter Eleven

Fergal shrugged. “Fifty-fifty at a guess.”

“And what’s the rest?” Tannis asked.

“Little bits of metal and a few big bits of metal.” He flexed his right arm. He’d punched Rico with that arm once.

“The question is—can he do it?” Tannis said. “Can you hack into the Church’s systems?”

“Probably.”

“I like a man with confidence.” Tannis grinned. “Let’s see you do it.”

Fergal glanced around the room. Did he want to reveal what he could do in front of all these people? Everyone who had anything to do with Cybercom had been rounded up in the last six months and executed. He felt uneasy exposing his secrets to so many people.

“Not here. Not now.”

Tannis stared at him, her smile fading, her boot tapping on the floor, then she shrugged—he was guessing she knew all about people who liked to keep secrets. “Okay, after the meeting. Let’s presume Hatcher is there. Do we just blast the place or do we want to make sure he’s dead?”

“Make sure he’s dead,” Devlin said. “I don’t want the slimy bastard slipping away.”

It occurred to Fergal that this was as much a personal attack on Temperance Hatcher as it was on the Church. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He should feel nothing. But that obviously wasn’t the case. And he wasn’t happy about it.

“Are you okay?” Daisy asked from beside him.

“Yeah. Why shouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. You looked a little weird for a minute.”

“No, I’m fine.” He glanced sideways at her. “You guys really hate this Hatcher, don’t you?”

Her expression hardened. “He killed our friends. That made it personal.”

“Yeah, I guess it would.”

“So,” Tannis continued, “We send a small team in—Me, Rico and Devlin. We kill the bastard, get out of there, and blast the place to pieces.”

“Why not me?” Callum asked.

“Because you’re a little conspicuous, sweetie.” Tannis patted his wings.

“And what happens afterward?” Thorne asked.

Tannis frowned. “Afterward? Who gives a toss?”

“So you destroy the Church and afterward, you just leave everything in chaos?”

“I like chaos.”

“We can’t remove the old rulers and leave nothing in their place,” Thorne said. “We have responsibilities—”

“You might have responsibilities,” Tannis said. “We don’t. If you’re so fucking concerned, you take over. You’re pretty good at telling people what to do yourself, if I remember.”

Beside him, Daisy shifted restlessly, dragging him from the conversation. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Just hungry. All these people…”

“All this blood,” he finished for her. “Can you control it?”

“I think so.”

They were still bickering among themselves. Finally, Rico stepped forward. “Madre de Dios,” he muttered. “Enough. Let’s kill the bastards first and worry about who’s in charge afterward. One thing at a time.”

Thorne didn’t look happy, but he settled into his seat, a scowl on his face.

“Okay,” Rico continued. “Everyone who doesn’t belong here—out.”

Fergal wondered if that included him. He’d never really belonged anywhere before, and now wasn’t a good time to start. And certainly not here. He needed to work out his next move, and he was very aware that it might involve betraying these people. But he kept his seat.

The room cleared quickly, leaving just the crew of The Blood Hunter and Thorne.

Tannis crossed to them and hunkered down beside Daisy. “You okay? I’m next on the roster if you need to feed.”

Daisy gave a jerky nod. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not a problem. Come on, let’s do it now, then we can get your boyfriend set up and see if he has anything to offer other than the obvious uses.”

Daisy flashed him a quick smile as she disappeared out of the room with Tannis. Restless, Fergal stood and wandered over to where Rico talked quietly with Devlin and Skylar. He glanced up as Fergal approached and met him halfway.

“How long will Daisy be like this?” Fergal asked.

“Like what?”

“Needing to feed so often.”

“I don’t know. Maybe years, but she’s doing very well. I was still ripping people’s throats out at this point. I think the blood she’s getting is a bit more potent than normal. It’s changing her. But she’ll be okay. She’s stronger than she looks. Actually, incredibly resilient.”

“Good.”

“You care about her?”

“She’s a friend.”

Rico studied him for a moment longer and shrugged. “Let’s get you set up and see what you can do.”

“I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry. You’re worse than Daisy.” But he called over to Skylar. “Can you go get Fergal some food? He’s feeling faint.”

“What am I the goddamn maid?” But she headed for the transporter bubble.

“Come on,” Rico said and led him to where Saffira was sitting at a console, tapping away.

“Any luck?” Rico asked.

“No. I keep hitting a wall.”

“Okay, let’s see if iron man here can do any better.”

Saffira stood up, and Fergal took her seat. He sat for a minute, thinking how best to do this. Did he want to reveal what he was becoming? But he needed the information himself and was pretty sure they weren’t going to leave him alone while he tried to get it.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. He’d only done this a few times. Mainly because he wasn’t sure what sort of alarms his intrusions would set off. Also the ability had been a side effect of that last phase he’d received a few weeks before Stefan helped him escape Cybercom. The final phase that had turned everyone else into drones or dead men. He’d had to work it out on his own as well.

Reaching inside, he flipped the internal switch. His brain clicked into another mode like a load of lights flashing on, until the whole of his head was lit up. The people around faded out of focus, but the machines came into harsh relief. The ship was a living, breathing thing. He could sense the hum of her workings like the beat of a heart. The console in front of him was buzzing. He needed to focus. Resting a hand on the keyboard, he pressed a few keys, not because he needed to but because it might make it a little unclear to those watching exactly what he was doing.

Then he opened his mind and spoke to the computer. Immediately his brain flooded with information. He didn’t try to slow it, just set his brain to sorting. He delved farther inside, found the wall that Saffira had spoken of, thought about knocking it down, but it dissolved before him.

All the information in the universe was there for him.

He was vaguely aware of Daisy returning, standing behind him, and resting one hand on his shoulder. The touch anchored him, brought him back to himself a little, and he realized he’d been in danger of getting lost in the maze of information.

Someone placed a bowl of food in front of him, and he ate it absently, the flow of information not slowing down. He sorted through it, sifting at lightning speed. Finally, he latched onto the files he needed and informed the machine in front of him to output what was required. He was dimly aware of it flashing up on the screen in front of him for the others to read.

He searched some more for the prison records. Forgot to switch off the external feed and swore as the details whizzed out to the monitors. Finally, he withdrew, closing down the links, pulling out. When he was sure he’d shut off everything behind him, he clicked off his internal switch and heaved a sigh.

Everything was quiet.

He swiveled his chair so he was facing them.

“Fuck,” Saffira said. “What the hell did you just do?”

Daisy squeezed his shoulder, and he glanced up. She looked good, her cheeks flushed with color. Tannis, on the other hand, looked pale, but okay. She was reading through the information on the monitor, flicking through quickly. “Jesus, you’ve even got what Hatcher had for breakfast.”

“Dry bread and water?” he asked.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

Fergal could have said because that’s what the man always had, but he didn’t. Instead, he shrugged. He shouldn’t have said anything, but it was taking a minute for his brain to come back to itself.

“Well, he’s definitely there, and we have all his security details as well. They’re not very heavy.”

“He probably believes God will protect him,” Devlin said.

That’s exactly what he believed, but this time Fergal kept the information to himself. He was coming around.

“We’ve got the fucker,” Tannis said and punched him on the shoulder. “Crazy or not—you certainly have your uses. And not only getting information, according to Daisy.” She gave him a sly look.

What exactly had Daisy been saying? He cast her a glance, but she just smiled.

“What’s this other stuff?” Tannis asked. She’d gone back to reading the screen. “It’s the prison records for Trakis Five. What did you get those for?”

“No reason. I’m not too good at controlling the output yet.” He reached forward and deleted the file. He didn’t need to read it. He already knew that Stefan wasn’t listed as in the prison. Which presumably meant he was at the Church’s headquarters. Though he hadn’t found any reference to him. At least not under that name.

Shit.

Somehow, he had to get Stefan out of there before the crew of The Blood Hunter blew the whole place, and Stefan, into little pieces.

For a moment, he considered asking for their help. But only for a moment. It wasn’t in his nature. And they were too determined to kill Hatcher and destroy the Church. Why would they let what he needed stand in their way? He was nothing to them.

That caused a little jolt of something. He just wasn’t sure what. Daisy might be upset if he dropped dead on her, but she would be the only one.

He looked up and found her watching him, her brows drawn together. What was she thinking?

But even Daisy would no doubt turn against him if she learned exactly what his connection to Temperance Hatcher was. No, he was on his own, as he’d always been. He’d have to find a way to get Stefan out. But he hoped he could find a way that wouldn’t mean the end of the crew of The Blood Hunter.

He was lying about something. Daisy just wasn’t sure what it was.

He’d gone all shifty-looking when Tannis had mentioned the prison records. He’d said they were a mistake. She didn’t believe him. Earlier he’d told her he was looking for a man. Had he been searching in the prison? If so, had he found him?

He didn’t trust them, that much was clear.

And why should he? Trust had to be earned. But she’d thought they were coming closer. Given time, she knew he would come to trust her, at least. How could you not trust someone who let you tie them up? He could have killed her at any time.

But they didn’t have time. Things were coming to a head.

There’d also been a minute tic in his cheek every time Hatcher was mentioned.

Did he also have reason to hate the man? She sensed it was more than that. What was clear was Fergal Cain had secrets he wasn’t ready to share.

Perhaps she should tell someone of her concerns. Maybe they would all be safer if they had Fergal locked up tight in one of the cells on the lower level of The Blood Hunter.

He’d be safe there.

Or would he?

Fergal had told her that if he didn’t find this man he was dead. What did he mean?

She wished he would open up to her. All the same, she wouldn’t have him locked up. He’d saved her life. She couldn’t repay him by maybe causing his death. But she could keep a close eye on him. And maybe mention her concerns to Rico.

“Is it okay if I go get some more food?” Fergal asked rising to his feet.

Rico shook his head. “Amazing.”

“I’ll come with you,” Tannis said. “I want to talk about…your brain.”

“Me too,” Callum said.

Fergal looked at her and raised a brow.

“I’m going to go shower.” Daisy answered the unasked question. “Get a change of clothes.” Have a chat with Rico. “I’ll see you there.”

He gave her a long look, but shrugged. “Okay.”

She waited until they had gone.

“So what’s up?” Rico asked.

Daisy tried for a casual shrug. She was going to have to be careful here. She didn’t want Rico going overboard and maybe locking Fergal up anyway. Or worse. “Why do you think anything is up?”

“Come on, spit it out. What do you think I should know?”

“Nothing, really. Fergal saved my life back at the prison. He could have left me, and they would have caught me and…”

“So, he’s a good guy.”

She tried for another casual shrug. “Maybe. Maybe not. I like him.”

“I noticed.”

“But I think he has another agenda. One he’s not sharing with us.”

“And you think whatever his agenda is—it’s going to be an issue?” He shook his head. “Stupid question. You wouldn’t have brought it up if you didn’t think there was some issue.”

“I’d just feel happier if I knew what it was.”

“Have you asked?”

“Yes. He needs to find someone. I know that much but no more, and he won’t open up. He doesn’t trust us.”

“So what do you want me to do? Beat it out of him?”

She smirked. “Didn’t he nearly thrash you last time you fought? I doubt you could.”

“Maybe not. So what? We could lock him up for his own safety.”

“No. I don’t want to do that. I just wanted to let you know. So you can keep an eye on him.”

Rico studied her for a moment and gave a nod. “Okay. But if you find out anything, you come and tell me. If he’s a danger to us, I want to know. Up until then, it’s your call.”

“Thanks.”

“So how are you doing?”

“Good.” She bit her lip. “I killed a man back at the prison. That’s when Fergal saved me. I lost it. Again.”

“It had to happen. So how do you feel about it?”

“It was…” She was going to say the best feeling in the world, and then she remembered the feeling of Fergal deep inside her. Warmth washed over her.

“It was…?” Rico prompted.

“It was amazing. But for the first time, I really got that I was different. I came face-to-face with the darkness and it was part of me. And I hated it. The man was a stranger. I killed him, and I enjoyed it. He didn’t deserve that.”

“Well, maybe we can find you a few people who deserve to die. There are always plenty about.”

She hadn’t thought of it like that. There was a lot of killing to be done in the near future. Some people needed to die, but she’d always considered it wrong to actually get pleasure from their deaths. But things were different now. She was different.

She was a vampire.

A bloodsucking monster.

A creature of the darkness.

She’d been rejecting the idea, clinging to the remnants of her humanity, trying to hold on to the nice girl she had been. And she had been nice.

Could there be a middle ground?

“Do I have to lose myself completely?” she asked.

Rico shook his head. “No. The old you is part of the new. We have a bad reputation, but the truth is, in the past, only those drawn to the darkness were changed, so vampires tended to be on the dark side. But we don’t have to be totally evil. You know what it feels like now to take a life. It’s good. But don’t kill pointlessly.”

“You’re not evil,” she said.

“Perhaps not now. But when I was first changed, I killed indiscriminately. And frequently. I fucking loved it.”

“Were you drawn to the darkness?” she asked.

“I was never a good man, but I didn’t consider myself evil. Then the Church took my wife, burned her at the stake as a witch. After that, I went hunting the darkness. They offered me a chance of revenge, and I grasped it.”

Revenge. She wanted revenge. For Janey and Tris. For her family. And it was so close now. She couldn’t let Fergal mess that up. “I’m going to find Fergal.” She’d ask him nicely and see if he wouldn’t open up, let her help him.

“Well, tell me if you find out anything.”

“I will.” Maybe.

“And perhaps it might be a good idea not to let your boyfriend tie you up again until you’re sure of exactly what he’s after.”