Deliverance (18 page)

Chapter 22

S
amantha couldn’t get enough of Nik. And not for the romantic reasons she had once fantasized about. It was simply because he was the only source of heat around for miles. Even though he was constantly snuggling with her and rubbing her extremities, her fingers and toes had taken on a distinct black color. Samantha had seen enough movies to know that she was so frostbitten that her toes and fingers would have to be amputated, but at the moment that didn’t scare her. She just wanted to be in someplace warm. She wanted to feel her nose and cheeks again.

She should be grateful that a group of human guards had come after them. Once Nik had killed all six of them, he’d stripped them of their protective gear and had given Samantha two layers to wear. But she could only fit one pair of gloves on her hands at a time. She rotated with another pair so that the gloves she wasn’t wearing would warm up inside her jacket. She also had three pairs of socks on, which helped a little with the large boots, but the few times she’d take them off by the fire, she saw the state her toes were in.

Nik stroked her back. “I should get more wood.”

She made a sound of protest and whined a little when he left their little shelter made from pine trees. Sighing, she rolled over to check the meat roasting over the small fire. It was just starting to sizzle, drops of juice and fat dripping onto the embers below. The smell permeated the place in a pleasant way.

If Samantha wasn’t so cold and achy, she might have been able to enjoy this experience. She and Nik were getting along almost like they used to. Nik went hunting every day, drinking blood from the animals he captured, then sharing the meat with her after it was cooked.

She noticed that he was warming up to her. He acted more and more protective of her every day.
Maybe being in the wilderness is bringing out the caveman in him.
She chuckled to herself at the thought. For some reason, she liked the way he took care of her, even if it was in a very old-fashioned manner.

The vampire crawled through the opening with branches filling his arms. The wood wasn’t very dry, but it burned well enough and created a nice pine scent in the steamy shelter. After Nik placed some of the logs on the dying fire, he came back and wrapped himself around her from behind while she faced the fire.

“Smells like our meal is almost ready.”

Samantha leaned back against him and closed her eyes.

“Sam?” he murmured.

“Hmm?”

“I think if you drink just a little of my blood it might heal your extremities.”

Bolting upright, she turned to glare at the vampire. “I will
never
do that again.”

“Even if it could save you?”

“Never,” she repeated. “I don’t care what the circumstances are.”

A low growl sounded in his throat.

The corner of her mouth drew up. “You sounded like a wolf just now.”

Nik blinked and then his eyes suddenly changed, as if they’d been out of focus but were back to normal. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t frighten you.”

Samantha waved the issue away with a chuckle. “Of course not. I know you’d never hurt me. It just threw me off.” She sent him a searching look. “It wasn’t like you.”

The vampire gave one of his rare smiles, but Samantha thought it looked forced. “Don’t worry.” He pulled her back into him. “We should get to civilization soon enough. Once we’re there, everything will get back to normal.”

Nestling into his warmth, she whispered, “What if I don’t want things to go back to the way they were?”

Nik’s arms tightened. “We both know I’m no good for you, Samantha. We’re like the forces of good and evil trying to come together.”

She scoffed. “Oh, please. You make it so much more dramatic than it really is. I’m immersed in this . . . other world whether you stick with me or not. I’m always surrounded by death and blood either way.”

Her visions of being Death came to the forefront of her brain. She had every impulse to tell him about them, but couldn’t bring herself to vocalize everything that had happened to her in the compound. Nik didn’t enlighten her on what had happened to him, either, and she wondered if it was some unspoken agreement to not bring any of that up.
Besides, if I tell him, he’ll probably just say it’s one more reason for us to keep away from each other.

There was a potent silence as Nik rose and walked to the fire. He grabbed their hot meal and used his hands to tear the meat in two. He set the food on some boughs to cool, then faced her. “Can you honestly tell me that the incident in South America didn’t bother you?” He wiped his greasy fingers over his blackened sweats. “Because if we stay together, there will be more situations like that. I may try to target people who do bad things, but I’m still killing fathers, brothers, sons. That will never change.”

Her stomach sank at the memory of that boy seeing his father dead and bloody. It had happened three years ago, but the image was still vivid in her mind. It was burned into her brain for the rest of her life.

“I know.” It came out softly, but she knew Nik could hear it. “I can accept that, Nik. I’m older now, not the naïve teenager I was back then.” Her voice got stronger. “I’ve even helped lure out Leisha and Liam’s victims. I’ve been an accessory to countless murders.”

Nik’s face burned red and, for a moment, Samantha actually was scared of what she saw in his expression. It was fierce, as if he were about to spring forward and attack at any moment. But he just stayed crouched by the cooling meat. “It’s not right for Leisha to pull you into her hunts.” He said it quietly, but with a coldness that made Samantha shiver.

“No.” She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I chose to participate. I wanted to help.”

He crept toward her until their faces were almost touching. “You didn’t want to help,” he accused. “You wanted to play pretend. You want to believe that you’re some hardened badass like Leisha, but I know you, Samantha.” His finger appeared out of nowhere and lightly stroked her chin, down her throat and along her collarbone.

Heat pooled in her stomach and her breathing felt unsteady.

His face softened, along with his tone. “You’re a generous, soft-hearted person. You want to see the good in everyone, Sam. That’s not a bad thing. Don’t fight who you really are.”

Samantha’s chin trembled. “You haven’t been around, Nik. You didn’t see me grow up these last few years. You don’t know me as well as you’d like to think.”

Nik leaned closer until she could feel his breath brushing across her lips. “You know better than to lie to a vampire.”

Samantha could smell his breath and had a sudden impulse to taste his tongue. She’d never been so attracted to anyone else. With their heads so close together, she remembered how wonderful his kisses had felt. Parting her lips, she inched forward, watching his eyes. She could see he felt their chemistry. Her lips met his and he tasted just like she remembered. She deepened the kiss, thrilled by Nik’s passionate response. His arms pulled her close and he took over, angling his mouth over hers.

Moaning into his mouth, Samantha burrowed closer, opening to him as much as she could. The kiss lasted for several heaven-filled moments before Nik pulled slowly away. His gaze penetrated her in a way that made her feel lightheaded.

“Food’s ready,” he murmured.

They didn’t talk as they ate. Once they finished, Nik pulled her into his arms again. Samantha enjoyed how he much he wanted to touch her lately.

“We should get moving,” he suggested as he stroked her back. “We’ve got about seven hours until sunrise.”

Chapter 23

L
eisha felt practically suffocated during the long flight. Her disguise was as an older, ailing woman. The combination of padding and latex made things pretty uncomfortable. She had used the same disguise as before for Tafari. Rinwa was wearing a long, dark brown wig and was sporting the colored contacts she happened to already have in her things. It was strange to look at her daughter and see dark chocolate eyes instead of Tafari’s silvery blue ones.

Liam was in simple, child-trendy attire. The only thing she put on him to change his features were sunglasses, so no one could remember his dazzling green eyes against his mocha skin. He snuggled into Leisha at the beginning of the flight, but must have heard her thoughts of how hot and uncomfortable she was. He switched seats with Rinwa and asked Tafari to tell him more stories of Africa while he leaned into his father’s side.

The turbulence and recycled air didn’t help Leisha’s discomfort, and she felt her shoulders easing as soon as she stepped off the plane. She was still stifled within her costume, but at least she wasn’t packed in like a sardine with a hundred other bodies anymore.

It was a cinch to get the rental car, since all the arrangements had been made online. Rinwa opted to drive, a determined challenge sparkling in her eyes. Leisha understood as soon as they drove outside of town. The roads were packed with snow in the late evening.

“One nice thing about being here is that no one questions the rental of a large, all-terrain vehicle,” Rinwa commented as she pulled off the road and headed toward their destination. If the icy roads had been difficult, getting off of them was almost impossible. Several times the back wheel got stuck and Leisha had to go outside and push.

The going was so slow that they didn’t reach the area of the compound until three in the morning. Leisha had removed all the latex coating her skin and had pulled out the weapons that had been hidden within their luggage.

Rinwa stopped the car and Leisha got out so she could see and hear better.

The hum of electricity sounded in the distance where she surmised the facility was. Light treads in the snow indicated wildlife creeping around here and there, but the vampire could detect no sentries keeping guard.

Leisha climbed back into the vehicle, grateful that the heater was on high. “We’re clear as far as I can see. Maybe we should stop about fifty yards from the building and I’ll check again. Just to be sure.”

From the back seat, Tafari glanced over at Liam. “Can you read anyone’s mind?”

The boy shook his head. “I can’t feel anything out there, either.”

Lips pursed to the side in puzzlement, Rinwa shift gears and continued forward.

When they were closer to the compound, Leisha got out again and listened. After a few minutes, she sat back in the car and reported, “There’re definitely people inside, but none of them seem to be very active.”

“You still don’t sense anyone outside or standing guard or anything?” Rinwa asked.

Leisha shook her head.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Tafari murmured.

Liam sat up a little straighter. “That’s a quote from Star Wars, isn’t it?”

No one answered him as Rinwa drove the car all the way to the entrance. “May as well make things easy for us if no one’s around, right?” she said as she parked.

They lined up in front of reinforced glass doors, Liam between Leisha and Tafari while Rinwa covered their rear. Leisha was almost overwhelmed by the smell of residual smoke.

Mixed memories of being taken by Samantha’s father and then her recent torture from the immortals swirled within her, but Leisha didn’t have time to reflect on them. “All right. Let’s hope Samantha is in here.” She turned and opened the doors.

She hadn’t heard anyone in the lobby from the outside, but she still held her gun in front of her, making a quick perusal of their surroundings. The receiving area looked the same as any she had seen at wild forest reserves.
Except this building is way too big to pull off the cover of a forest reserve.
The power was off, but backup lights kept the place dimly lit. Then there was the problem of the place appearing to be deserted. The front door wasn’t even locked, and it was the middle of the night.

Leisha motioned for everyone to follow as she headed toward the reception desk. “Rinwa, can you figure out what floor Samantha might be on?”

Her daughter sat in front of the computer and typed away while the others kept an eye out.

“The best I can find are numbers for test subjects,” Rinwa announced after several minutes. “There are three floors of subjects. First one begins at level twelve.”

They moved swiftly to the elevators and Liam jumped ahead. “I’ve never pushed the button to an elevator,” he said eagerly.

Rinwa and Tafari burst out with guffaws while Leisha felt a moment of guilt.
Has the poor boy never ridden in an elevator?
She smiled at him and nodded for him to push it.

A ding chimed almost immediately and they stood in front of the doors with the up arrow pinging above them. When the doors slid open, Leisha blinked at the empty space before them.

“Where’s the car?” Rinwa stepped closer to peek up the elevator shaft.

Liam turned to Leisha, the corners of his mouth downturned. “Do you smell that?”

“Yes,” she confirmed. “Smells like there was a fire. A large one.”

Gesturing to the door on their right, Tafari smiled at Leisha. “At least this place has stairs.”

She returned his grin and walked over to the stairs. She could smell some charred remains in the stairwell, but the scent wasn’t as strong.

“This certainly doesn’t bode well,” she commented as they began their ascent.

“You’re saying it that way so I won’t make another Star Wars comment,” Liam joked.

Leisha could see he was trying to lighten the mood and she reached over to ruffle his hair. “Yep. You guessed it, but then again, it’s easy for you since you can read my mind.”

He giggled with genuine amusement before sobering as he looked up. “Even though I can hear hearts beating above us, I still can’t read their minds.”

“You probably need to be closer.”

The boy didn’t reply but continued up the stairs with the rest of the group.

Their footfalls echoed softly, but in the absolute silence of the deserted building they felt like drum beats to Leisha. The scent of smoke, burned plastic, and charred flesh grew stronger and stronger with each floor. By the time they reached level twelve, it stung all the way to her sinuses.

Tafari was the one to lead as they explored the floor. From what Leisha saw, the place had the look of a regular hospital, some sections partitioned by curtains to give the illusion of privacy to patients. The air was muggy from, Leisha assumed, the overhead sprinklers.

“Guess the fire didn’t spread here,” Rinwa commented. “It must have started on a higher level.”

Tafari grunted his agreement.

Leisha angled her ear to the side. “Maybe that’s why there are people alive here.”

Tafari spun and met her gaze with wide eyes. “Where?”

Liam pointed to the left and they moved down the hallway. More smells assaulted Leisha as they walked. Body odor, urine, and feces were the strongest. Liam put the collar of his shirt over his nose.

The patients were clustered at the end of the corridor. Some of the curtains were drawn to hide them, but most were out in the open, laying on their hospital beds. They were all men, and the majority of them were unconscious. The ones who were awake didn’t even stir when the small group entered their line of vision.

“Oh, gross!” Rinwa put her hand over her nose.

Tafari moved slowly toward the first of the men. “These people were left for dead.” He peered at one man who had his eyes open. “Sir, can you hear me?” He waved his hand in front of the man’s face.

The man didn’t move, his brown eyes as dull as his unwashed hair.

“What are we supposed to do about them?” Rinwa asked. “It’s not like we can fit them all in the car and drive them to a hospital.”

Liam gestured back the way they came. “There are medical supplies over there. We could try to revive them, but I don’t think it will help.”

Looking over at her son, she studied his unreadable expression. “Why not?”

“Because their brains are muddled.” The boy’s eyes were full of old sorrow. “I think I can’t read their minds because they’re so close to death.”

Leisha leaned over and pulled him into her arms. “I’m sorry you have to see this, Liam.”

He hugged her back, but when she pulled away, she was surprised to find his expression amused. “I’m okay, Leisha. Trust me, I’ve seen much worse.”

Her brows furrowed together at the cryptic comment, but didn’t say anything

“I can get flashes of thoughts from the man on the end.” Liam continued, pointing to one of the drawn curtains, one of the last beds in the row.

Following his direction, Leisha and Tafari walked over and pulled the partition back.

The man in that bed was in just as bad of shape as the others. His hair was gray and his face lined. He looked like he was sleeping fitfully but didn’t have the strength to actually thrash about. Leisha thought there was something familiar about him, but couldn’t decide if they’d met before.

Tafari reached out and gently shook his shoulder. “Sir? Can you hear me?”

The old man’s eyes jolted open. He looked panicked until his gaze rested on Leisha. Then his body relaxed a fraction, as if all the fight just melted out of his body. “You,” he rasped.

Leisha studied his arctic blue eyes. They were cloudy, as if he had glaucoma. Yet there was something about them . . . She gasped at the realization. “You can’t be Mason, can you?”

A small smile twitched at his lips. “Glad you know me. I’d hate to think you forgot about the man whose daughter you took.” He wheezed at the end of the sentence.

“But, how did this happen?” she asked.

Liam appeared suddenly and helped Mason drink a sip of water from a bottle. Leisha wanted to ask the boy where he’d gotten it, but Mason started talking again.

“It was your blood. It’s damned us all.”

Leisha and Tafari glanced behind them at the other men. “You mean these people aged drastically as well?” her husband asked.

Mason nodded slightly. “At first, we were invincible. The feeling of power, of immortality . . . we loved it.” He reached for Liam and the boy helped him drink some more. He cleared his throat loudly before continuing. “We were the super soldiers that I created. We served our country, knowing we were the ultimate elite.

“But after a few short years, we started to get sick. Many of my men went off the deep end and attacked at random. We had to put them down. But the rest of us, we just lost our energy. We stopped sleeping, couldn’t bring ourselves to eat.” He touched shaking fingers to his face. “And as you can see, we were depleted of life in general.”

“Interesting,” Liam said, his head tilted to the side. “So Leisha’s blood gave you extra powers for a while, but the price was that it took all of your life span to accomplish it.”

The dying man waved an arm. “I know I could fix this if I had time to study it, but my protégé will have to carry on the work.”

Leisha raised an eyebrow. “If I have anything to say about it, there won’t be any more work . . . or experiments.”

He ignored her comment. “Is my Samantha here? Have you brought her to me?”

“No, we didn’t bring her to you,” Leisha stated harshly. “But we are here to get her.”

If possible, Mason’s skin paled. “What do you mean,
get her
?
Why would she be here?”

“She was captured, along with a horde of vampires, and brought to this facility,” Tafari answered.

The old man’s eyes brimmed with tears. “She might still be alive. I have to believe that she survived.”

“Survived what?”

“The vampires broke out about a week ago.” He coughed a little, and motioned for Liam to give him more water. It looked as if he continued to age right before Leisha’s eyes. “They slaughtered most of the staff until the security team bombed the floor they were on.” Mason cleared phlegm out of his throat loudly. “Those idiots. They ended up killing anyone that was on the floors above as well. But I heard a bunch of the vamps escaped anyway. Any human survivors have been sent to Quantico for debriefing while that trash roams the planet once again.”

Liam gave him a considering look. “You don’t seem to mind that you and your men were left here to die alone.”

Mason managed a half shrug. “We’re dead anyway. It’s only a matter of time. Now that they’re not feeding us, it will happen sooner. Most of us want that.”

“It’s a pretty nasty stench that you’re having your last moments in,” Rinwa said. Leisha looked over to see that her daughter had a bunch of supplies in her arms.

“So that’s what you’ve been up to?” Leisha asked.

Rinwa grimaced. “I got most of what he was saying while I explored. Sounds like we’re going to need some supplies if we’re going to try and track Samantha in the wilderness.”

“We will need a lot more than just food,” Tafari stated.