Days of Redemption (The Firsts Book 6) (11 page)

That must have been one fine-ass whisky to knock him on his ass like that!

Bryn groaned and pushed himself up off his bed. 
Bed?
 
Nay
.  He lay on a concrete floor, his wrists encased in thick bands attached to heavy chains
.   What the fuck?

He was just getting ready to settle Lauren in for her flight to Iceland.  What happened?  

The chains rattled obnoxiously as he sat up and tried to focus on where he was and how he’d gotten there.  But his mind was abnormally fuzzy.   Even following a long alcoholic binge, he was never fuzzy or hung-over.  Vampire’s systems metabolized anything quickly enough to forgo those sorts of problems.  And yet he still felt as if he was knocked on his ass.

Lifting his hands, he considered the overlarge links on the chains.   Good try, but he
would break these without breaking a sweat.

Only, after several strong pulls, he couldn’t. 
What the
fuck? 

Bryn looked around.  Even his vision waver
ed, but he could see he was in a cage, surrounded by many more.  The chains were long enough to allow him to stand, barely, so he pushed upright, surprised that the action exhausted him.

Scanning the other cages, he saw one near the back of the room with a woman
lying on a cot, long dark hair spilling over the edge nearly to the floor.

It took a moment to get the words out, but when he
did, he mustered up as much volume as he could.  It wasn’t loud, but he called out anyway.

“Lauren?   Lassie, are
ya there?”

At first she didn’t move, but then he saw the woman with the dark hair roll over and get up.  With relief, he closed his eyes for a moment, fighting fatigue to open them again. 
Aye, it was her, and she was all right.

“Bryn!
  Bryn, you’re awake.  Finally!  Are you okay?”

Lauren was at the bars now, her hands gripping the metal rods tightly.

“Aye, lass.  Where are we?  Nay, don’t tell me.  I
know
where we are.  We’re caught.”

“Yeah, we are.  But
you
shouldn’t have been.”

“True enough.  But I feel strange.  Tired, more so than I ever have been.  I can’t break these chains, and they’re child’s play for someone like me.  I think they’ve messed me up, lass.”

“How could they?  What could they have done?”

A pneumatic whoosh drew their eyes to the front of the room as the double doors opened.  Three men walked in, two with automatic machine guns held ready.

The man in the center was tall, slim, with a full head of snow white hair, and a beard that matched.   To make himself more of a caricature, his suit matched his hair.  He was smiling, his perfect teeth nearly as white as the beard.

He stopped in front of Bryn’s cage.  Holding his hands
up, he clapped them together in front of his lips.

“Now what could we have done to capture a big, dangerous animal like you, vampire?”
  The all-white man said through his fingers.  He’d heard Lauren’s question. 

Bryn looked at him, an OCD nightmare in white with the coldest pale blue eyes he’d ever seen.   He didn’t say anything because he knew the man had much more to say
, obviously pleased with his power to hold a vampire against his will.  Bryn thought,
enjoy it while it lasts, dead man walking.

The man in white stared at Bryn for a few moments longer before he turned his baby blues towards Lauren.

“Hello, little lady.  It’s time we finally met.  I’m Jacques Lamont, and this is my enterprise.  You are very familiar with my mission, traitor.  Now, I’m going to see to it you have a front row seat.”

Lamont
walked to Lauren’s cage.  Without intention, she backed away from the bars. 
Self-preservation
, she thought.  This man was going to rip her up.

Stopping in front of the bars,
Lamont put his hand up to the lock, fingering it.   “I can’t tell you how badly I want to open this cage and get my hands around your neck.  But, patience is a virtue, and you’re mine now, so I have all the time in the world.”  He glanced back at Bryn, then back to Lauren.   “
He
doesn’t.   He goes directly to research for an exploratory autopsy.”

Lauren’s blood ran cold. 
No!

“He had nothing to do with this.  Release him, and I will give you no trouble.”
  If there was any chance she could convince him to let Bryn go, she’d do anything.

“You won’t give me trouble anyway.  You’re a lab rat now.  Welcome to
my
world.  That’s not quite accurate, though, is it?  You’ve already been welcomed to my world, and you just spat on me for it.  You fucked me.”  He let his empty blue eyes roam over her.  “You’re not my type.  Too tall, too pale, breasts too small.  And you’re a whore.  I know you’ve slept with this vampire.  But I might have some men hold you down while I fuck you, just so you see how it feels.  Yeah, before we’re done, my face with my dick inside of you will be the last thing you see before I cut your throat.”

A
violent outburst exploded from Bryn, his growl rattled the cage bars.

Lamont laughed
, walking slowly back towards Bryn’s cage. “Roar, animal.  It won’t make any difference.”

“
Ya can’t hold me,” Bryn threatened, his voice suddenly quiet and more dangerous than the growl.

“You’re wrong.  See, your friend, the first blood vampire, from the Paris lab…we got some really good information from his, uh, project.  Oh,
you’ll say torture, but you know that’s relative, isn’t it?  The ends justify the means, that’s my motto.  The vampire survived, against protocol, but so did the intel.  We have a serum, designed by the best biological research teams in the world, and guess what, you hideous freak?  It works on your kind.  In fact, you’ll be pleased to know that you are the first test subject for the final batch of the serum.”

Lamont pressed his face into Bryn’s cage.  “And look.  It seems to be working very well.  So, I
own you, you motherfucker.  You feeling weak?  You bet you are. The injection we gave you ramps up every two hours, so it’s going to kick in again shortly and you’ll be flat on that floor again like mud on the bottom of my shoe.”

Lamont turned to go, then stopped and looked back.  “You are finished, vampire, as a race.  We’ve done it.  We’ve found a way to stop you.  Oh, it’ll be a bit bloody before it’s done, but you no longer have the upper hand.  You’re no longer the strongest thing on earth.”

The two soldiers followed him as he left, and the doors sealed closed.

Bryn pulled against the chains, as hard as he could, again and again
, until he bled.  He did not stop.

Lauren watched, helpless, as he desperately tried to be what he was, an indomitable force, the alpha male, the hero.  She watched blood drip from him to cover the floor until he suddenly looked at her,
his eyes showing panic she was sure was unfamiliar to him.  Then he dropped unconscious onto the floor again.

TEN

David called Dez as soon as he landed in Curitiba.

“What’s happening?   I can’t reach Bryn.”

Her voice on the other end of the phone wasn’t reassuring.  “I can’t, either.  I sent a team to intercept him and help him get the woman he was searching for.  Before they got to him, Bryn let me know he’d found her and was bringing her back to send her to safety, but he told me after he had her out of the country, he still needed my help.  I called my team to return home, then waited for him to contact me.  He hasn’t.  I sent my team back to the area we sent him to when he followed the GPS for his female’s location.  About two miles from there we found two men, shot to death, a single bullet, execution style.  I know he was planning to attack the vampire facility when he found it.  I think
they
found
him
, David.”

“How the hell?
  Bryn can’t be held.”

“You were.”

“Yeah, thanks for the reminder, but that is because a first blood was involved.  I can’t imagine another situation like that one.   All right, I’m coming to you.  I have Koen and Xavier with me if you have adequate facilities.”

“Absolutely.
  Come on, we’ll get you settled and work on location and strategy.  We’ll pull it off.  See you soon.”

Turning to the two men behind him, David looked at first one and then the other.   Although they had been raised together
in Scotland as brothers nearly a thousand years ago, Koen and Xavier were as different as night and day.   Already, this early in the mission, they were arguing.  

“No, we do not need to wait.  We go in, blow them away, like you guys did in Paris.  Fuck caution!”  Xavier
obviously had a problem with strategy, he just didn’t think it was necessary for such powerful vampires.

Koen pushed Xavier back. 
“You’re such a maverick, and you know as well as I do that half the time, you end up making more of a mess than you do cleaning it up.  They have Bryn and Lauren, and who knows how many other innocents.  We can’t risk them being hurt.”

“Ah, they’ll all be fine.  The assholes won’t even know we’re there until we blow through the place and end them.
”

Pulling his pack up as he headed toward
s the huge SUV they’d arranged for, David groaned.  Three powerful old warhorses, together, in one car on the same mission. 
This could not go well!

Koen
shoved their small packs into the back of the car, pissed when Xavier took shotgun next to David.  The man was just so
arrogant!  
They hadn’t spoken much for the past several hundred years and had only this past year started to rebuild their relationship.   It had been rough going.  So he closed his mouth and took a seat behind his brother.

David started the car,
hoping that getting some speed on might help blow off some of the smoke emanating from his two passengers.  Xavier smiled widely in victory.

“Koen, how’s Alisa adjusting to vampire life?”
  David tried to distract them from their competition.

“The woman is amazing.  She’s brilliant, and quick, and makes everything look easy. 
She’s all I knew she would be and more.  My life stands better than ever in all my years.”

Xavier nodd
ed.  “I can vouch for that.  He’s been a miserable sot for a lot of that time. 
Nasty
temper.  Prone to outbreaks of vengeful spite.  You wouldn’t want him near your daughter, that’s true.”

David barely saw the punch to the back of Xavier’s head as it sailed past the seatback.  Xavier pitched forward, cracking his forehead on the dashboard.  When he sat back, his forehead bleeding profusely
, he was grinning.  “Sorry, bro.  Knew that would piss you off.  Just in a mood to do so.   Remember some of those early battles?”  He balled up a paper towel to hold over the cut.

Koen sat in the backseat in the dark, smiling too.  Xavier was an ass, but he loved him.  He’d forgotten how much he had missed him in all the passing years. 

He gave Xavier’s headrest another punch, much softer this time. “Yeah, I do.  But keep the reminiscing to a minimum.   Neither of us have time for a mortal injury right now.”

“Aye.
I agree. So, who is this woman we’re heading to see?”

David adjusted the GPS. 
“A friend.  More Bas’s than mine, but we’ve met a few times.  She’s vampire,
made
, but has some unusual skills.  She’s a telepath.  Reads, mostly, but can send or receive in some cases.”

“Handy skill.
  I’ve only come across that a few times in all my years, but only first blood.  It takes a lot of power to enter someone else’s mind at a level deep enough to read their thoughts.”

“She’s good.  You’re
right, it’s a handy skill if you’re in battle.  And we may be.”

“No.  We’ll take them.  Three first bloods, we’re too powerful.  
Impossible for humans to defeat.”

David said nothing, well aware that impossible things often happened.   “We’ll take her team with us, just in case the facility has any surprises.  It didn’t last time, but they didn’t know we were coming.  They
’re likely to be ready this time.”

“Not to worry.  I hope this vampire is prepared for the appetites of three first bloods.  I could use a hearty meal and a willing woman.”

“I remember,” Koen said.  “You’re insatiable.  Dez won’t disappoint.  So get what you need, and get some rest today, because tomorrow, we go.”

Finally pulling up to
Dez’s home, they thought the same thing that Bryn did, that it was an unremarkable homestead for a vampire, and seemingly, poorly secured.  Once they stepped inside, they knew they were wrong.

Waiting for Dez, Koen looked around.

“Nice, I like the finishing touches.  Bas said they’ve been friends for centuries, and this woman has always been there for him.  She always comes through.”

“Is she comely?”

Koen shook his head.  Xavier had always had a two-track mind, sex and fighting.   Fortunately, sex came first.

“She’s comely,” Koen assured him with no elaboration.

“Hmm,” Xavier grunted.   Koen was large, but Xavier actually topped him by about two inches in height, and a few around the arms and chest.  It never stopped them from wrestling when they were lads, and even though Xavier was bigger, Koen often won. 

When Dez walked in a moment later, Xavier drew himself up to his full height.  

“A glorious Amazon,” he said as he swaggered forward to meet her, and as soon as he came close, he pulled her hand up to his lips.

Dez yanked her hand away.  “You might want to control that urge, if you’re fond of
living.”

Xavier backed slightly. 
“Worthy of the Amazonian legend.  I apologize for my forwardness.  It was unwelcome.  For now.”

David intercepted Dez as she began to move away.

“Forgive him.  We don’t take Xavier out in public too often, he’s like a poorly trained dog.”

Koen laughed.  “Dez, we’re just here to help take that research facility apart.  Xavier is my brother, and yeah, he’s a
n ass, but he’s harmless.”

Xavier shook his head,
grinning.  “Nay, my brother has no idea how dangerous I am.”

“Not to a beautiful woman.  Look, truce, okay?  God, Xavier, I’d forgotten you can’t be trusted around women.”

“They fascinate me.  Always have.  I’m immortal and I still don’t think I have enough time to make love to all the women I desire.”

“
Ughh!”  Dez coughed out.  “Let’s call it a day.  I have three rooms underground, behind that door.  The elevator will take you down, or you can use the stairs.  The first three doors to the right, pick whatever room you want.  If you’re hungry, my staff will feed you.  If you need a good screw, well, you’re fucked for now.  My girls have gone home.”  Dez looked at Xavier.  “I’m
not
calling anyone back.  You look capable of taking care of that yourself.”

Xavier drew his lips together
, his hand dropping to the front of his pants.  “I understand.  I’ll take the food.”

Dez stared at him for a moment, hesitating.  He was sexy as hell.  It struck her she should take him up on the offer since she hadn’t let any man inside her since Zach left.   The big first blood was tempting, but she still wasn’t ready to take another lover. 
Fuck Zach for trapping her!

“Fine, I’ll let them know.  David, Koen, good to see you again.  We’ll ta
lk at nightfall.”

After she’d gone, the three men took a seat at the large round table near the front of the dining room.

“I’d still like to have her,” Xavier said suddenly.

Koen reached for a bottle of bourbon on a counter behind him. 
“Doesn’t look like she’s on the menu, brother.”

Taking the tall glass filled with the bourbon that Koen had poured for him, he took a long draw.

“Aye, she’s not.  I guess I’ll just have to settle for a good day’s sleep.”

Lights were low
to simulate night below ground, and Kalia was on the move again.  She’d finished with her day job, and although typically it was the time of night she ate and then wandered around the facility to check on everyone, tonight she had one goal.  She wanted to see if she could help the vampire get free.  He was integral to her plan to see if their combined efforts could overcome security here long enough to get the residents to safety. 

Right now, that was all she wanted.   Eventually, she planned to come back and destroy the place and
members of the society who justified these torturous studies.  But now, she just needed to figure out what they’d done to the big vampire, and how to help him.

Striding purposefully through the quiet corridors, she thought about the chance that she could finally go home.  None of her kin knew where she had been this past year
and she knew they would be grieving since they likely thought she was dead.  Many of her kind had been killed over the past century, leaving fewer of them than ever before in history.  Her people had been challenged in bearing new Totem offspring as well.  If things didn’t change, the decline in numbers and the few births would end her race within the next few centuries.  She drew a deep breath as she arrived at the main holding facility on lower level four.   Pausing before she entered the double doors, she vowed that
she
would not be one of those casualties.

Now, standing
in front of the vampire’s cage, she dropped onto her haunches again and reached in to touch his hair.  With the second collapse, he’d fallen forward enough she could reach his forehead. 

Why was he still sleeping?
 
Whatever the research doctors had developed must be powerful indeed to keep a vampire sedated this long.

Kalia hated to see
such a magnificent creature caged like that, not that her heart hadn’t been hurting for every resident since they let her out of her cage.  The entire time she’d been here, there had been no vampires.  This serum was incredibly dangerous.

Turning, she looked at the woman at the other end of the room, who stood silently at the door of her cage, watching Kalia.

“He’s still unconscious,” Kalia said to Lauren.

“
I know.  I don’t know what to do.  I can’t let them kill him, Kalia, he doesn’t deserve that just for trying to help me.  Does he look okay?  Is he still breathing all right?”

Kalia paused and
watched Bryn’s chest rise.  After she sighed, she walked to Lauren.

“He is.  I’ve decided that I’m seizing the opportunity to try to get us out of here.  But we have to get everyone out, you understand?  I’m not leaving the other residents.  If they
were to decide this place isn’t secure, they’ll kill them and burn this place down.  I know this man Lamont.  Grade A asshole!  Ambitious, arrogant, mean.  And a lousy fuck.  He’s the one I want to kill, although torture would be better.  He deserves it, but he’s not worth the time.  I have an innate power that, when conditions are right, allows me to enter someone else’s consciousness.  I’m going to try to mind-walk into Bryn’s subconscious and wake him.  It might work.”  She paused again.  “Probably won’t, but I’m going to try anyway.”

“Good.  It’s a chance.  And
I agree, everyone goes.”

“Okay, then.  Stay silent.”

Back in front of Bryn, Kalia closed her eyes and cleared her mind.  Slowly, she let her consciousness wander to the man lying only inches from her.  Her body collapsed against the side of the cage, her hands coming up automatically to hold onto the bars.

He resisted in spite of the drug that forced him to remain asleep.  He felt her, held her away,
then finally succumbed to her mental insistence when he recognized her.  Bryn let her in.