Out of the Night (19 page)

No sooner had she finished me thought than Mac rushed them, moving faster than her eyes could follow. One second he was several feet away; the next he'd grabbed hold of her arm and spun her from the other vampire's grip with one hand as he plowed his fist into the man's face.

When everything slowed, Mac was still holding her hand and gazing at her with such a wild intensity, she no longer knew who was more dangerous—Mac or the two vampires.

He stood with his back to them, temporarily blocking her view, yet she knew he was aware of every move they made. Finally releasing her, he turned to face them.

Lanie heard Mac's growl begin low in his throat, and though she could no longer see his face, she imagined his lips curling back farther and the two front fangs gleaming in the greenish light of the hallway. She saw Burton's feral smile fade and his eyes widen—and thought that he'd finally noticed the change in Mac.

The sound of running footsteps, louder now, came to a stop not far away. "Nobody move," Dirk's voice shouted.

Burton glared at Mac. "This isn't over."

Then in a blur of movement too fast to track, the two vampires were gone.

Lanie had a clear view of Dirk down the hall, his gun still pointed at Mac, though she could tell the sudden disappearance of Burton and the other man troubled him. As he drew closer, she waited for him to lower his gun, but he didn't.

"Put the gun away, Dirk." Mac's voice sounded rough.

"I don't think so. Lanie, step back."

Not sure why Dirk was acting that way, Lanie moved closer to Mac. "What are you doing? You can't shoot Mac."

"What's going on here?"

Lanie's focus had been on Dirk, but at his words, she turned to look at the man beside her and saw the problem. Mac looked less like himself and more like the proverbial creature of the night, fangs protruding and eyes glowing a dull orange.

Although half afraid of him herself, Lanie took the step that put her in the path of Dirk's bullet. "I can't let you shoot him, Dirk. He's not like they are, no matter what he looks like now."

She stood very still, hardly daring to breathe, while the two men contemplated each other over her shoulder. When it seemed the silent battle would go on forever, she lost her fear and grew impatient. "Oh, for God's sake. Put the gun away. And you"—she swung around to face Mac—"you need to calm down because you're scaring everyone. Right now."

Mac turned those orange eyes on her, and for a moment she wondered if she'd been wrong about him. Maybe he was too far gone and she should have let Dirk shoot him. Then his lips relaxed and she thought she saw the hint of a smile. The relief that swept through her left her feeling weak.

When Mac's arms came up to envelop her, she went into them willingly, resting her head against his chest and wrapping her arms about his waist. He felt so strong and capable. It was hard to reconcile the vampirelike creature he'd been a few seconds ago to the caring, warm man who now stood stroking her back and whispering words of comfort. She felt him press a kiss to the top of her head before his arms pulled her a little closer.

"Someone mind telling me what in the hell is going on here?" Dirk's voice sounded closer. "Sorry, Mac. Just being careful."

Mac shifted her to one side so he could shake Dirk's hand. "I wouldn't have it any other way," Mac's deep voice rumbled in his chest beneath Lanie's head. "I'll explain everything, but later. What happened back at the reception hall?"

"They killed Rogers."

Lanie wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to stare at Dirk. "Oh, no."

"How?" Mac asked. Lanie knew he was wondering if he'd have to find a way to stake the body, to keep it from rising. He needn't have worried.

"When the emergency lights came back on, I found him on the floor with a table knife planted in his chest. They had to have come in through the kitchen, to do it so fast. Otherwise, there would have been too many people to get past. When they ran, I tried to follow, but lost them.
Then I heard the sound of voices and followed them here."

Lanie knew Dirk had questions about what he'd seen, but he'd wait until later for his answers.

"Who was that other vamp…" She cast a quick glance at Dirk. "Who was that other man?"

"Munoz," Dirk replied. "Hector Munoz."

"He one of yours?" Mac asked.

"Recent transfer. He's the one who disappeared in the jungle while everyone was out looking for Burton. Guess now we know what happened—he was working for Burton and went AWOL."

Lanie suspected there was more to it than that, but that conversation could also wait until later. They started walking back to the reception room, with Lanie still tucked beneath Mac's arm as he and Dirk talked.

"How's the admiral?" Mac asked.

"I think shaken, but you'd never know it. He immediately took command of the situation. I left him issuing orders."

They walked into the grand ballroom to find it mostly empty. The band had packed and left, and the waitstaff was decidedly somber as they stood around, wondering what to do. A noise outside the door caught Lanie's attention and when she turned, she saw that the police had arrived.

Efforts had already been made by the guests to preserve the crime scene. What would happen, Lanie wondered, when they discovered that the prints on the knife belonged to a dead man?

She looked around the room, unable to stop herself, knowing she wouldn't find what she searched for. The one familiar face she would have liked to see again was not there. It was probably just as well. She didn't like the thought of her father being mixed up with Burton and his schemes.

The police interviewed the remaining guests and when it was their turn, Mac answered all the questions, avoiding any mention of Burton and Munoz by saying that he and Lanie had left the party early to be alone and then been trapped in the hallway when the lights went out. There was nothing the police could do about Burton and Munoz anyway. It was something that he, with Dirk's help, would have to take care of.

When they were finally allowed to leave, Dirk accompanied them back to their hotel. Once inside Mac's room, Lanie, still wearing Mac's jacket, kicked off her shoes and sat in the chair with her legs curled under her while Mac and Dirk got comfortable, taking off their ties and unbuttoning the collars of their shirts. Then Mac produced the bottle of tequila.

He poured out three equal glasses, handed one to Dirk and carried the other to Lanie. For several minutes, they drank in silence. Mac felt the other two watching him and could almost guess their thoughts. Dirk wanted to know what was going on, but he wasn't going to waste his time guessing if Mac already had an explanation. He'd wait until Mac was ready to share—no matter how long that took.

Lanie, on the other hand, was probably wondering how much of his humanity he'd lost in the confrontation with Burton. Mac wasn't sure he had a satisfactory answer for either one of them, but he knew it was Lanie's question that he dreaded the most.

Taking a seat on the bed so he could lean back against the headboard, Mac took another swallow of the tequila and let the warmth seep down his throat. Finally, he looked at Dirk. "I'm not exactly sure where to start."

"How about with how Burton faked his own death," Dirk said.

"He didn't," Mac replied.

"Come again."

"Burton was killed by a creature called…"

"El Chupacabra," Lanie supplied when he hesitated. "It was in the cage at the facility."

Dirk shook his head. "I was out there. The only thing I saw in the cage was—"

"The stone gargoyle statue," Mac finished for him. "That was it. Don't ask me how it's possible, because I don't know. During the day, it turns to stone. At night, it's alive and trying to suck the blood from your body."

Dirk glanced first at Mac's face and then at Lanie's, no doubt trying to judge whether they were telling him the truth. Mac remembered how hard it was for him to accept when Lanie first tried to explain it to him.

"So you're telling me this thing killed Burton and Lanie's father." Dirk waited until they nodded before continuing on. "Then who was that I saw tonight, because it looked like Lance Burton to me."

"It was."

This was the part that Mac hated to explain. He was grateful when Lanie jumped in.

"El Chupacabra's fangs are hollow, and it secretes venom into the prey when it bites them. The venom mixes with the blood and seems to have certain healing powers in humans." She paused, and Mac knew she was about to drop the first shoe. "When El Chupacabra drinks so much blood that it kills a human, it has also injected enough venom into the human that they are able to come back to life a couple of days later." She paused and then dropped the other shoe. "As vampires."

Dirk gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, right." He glanced from one face to the other, no doubt waiting for someone to tell him it was a joke.

"I didn't believe it either, at first," Mac admitted.

"Yeah, but come on. Vampires?"

"You remember the security recording? That was Burton and Weber—
after
they were dead—biting those men and drinking their blood."

"Vampires?" There was less laughter this time.

"And the men they killed rose a few days later as—"

"Vampires." There was no humor now in Dirk's tone, only skepticism.

"Didn't you wonder why all those researchers' bodies I asked you to burn had been staked through the heart, except for the one with its head blown off?"

Dirk glared at him. "I thought you were working through some anger issues. Didn't seem like a good time to ask a lot of questions, if you know what I mean." He heaved a sigh, ignoring the look Mac shot him. "Okay. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I buy into this vampire theory—that explains why Burton and Weber are vampires. What about Munoz?"

"You told me you found his shirt, ripped and bloodied," Lanie said. "I think he must have found Burton and the chupacabra first." She turned thoughtful. "I think the chupacabra killed him, not Burton."

The two men stared at her and she quickly went on. "From what I've read, the creature that arises when a vampire kills a human is one step further removed from his humanity than the creature that results when a chupacabra kills a human. The vampire-created creature is, one assumes, less in control of his actions. Munoz seemed to know what he was doing at the reception hall. That's why I think it was the chupacabra that killed him."

It seemed logical to Mac, and his assessment of Lanie rose yet another notch.

"So what's the story with you?" Dirk asked finally, staring pointedly at Mac.

He'd expected the question, but wasn't sure how to respond. "The best theory we've"—he pointed to Lanie and himself—"been able to come up with is that when the chupacabra attacked me, it injected enough venom into my system that I was affected. The restorative powers helped me heal at a much faster rate."

"But there have been other changes," Dirk pressed.

"Yeah."

"What are they? The teeth, obviously," Dirk said, gazing at Mac closely. "I saw that back at the reception hall, and your eyes, they were glowing. What else?"

"I guess speed and strength," Mac replied. "Although I don't know how I compare to the vampires. We've yet to have a real showdown between us. Oh, and a sensitivity to light."

"But you can go out during the day." It was a statement, not a question. "I saw you at the airfield when you came by to make arrangements to have your plane brought over."

"I can go outside," Mac agreed, "but I'm definitely more tired during the day, and I have trouble functioning. At night, though, I'm full of energy."

"What about Burton and Weber? Can
they
go out in the day, or will they torch up like in the movies?"

Dirk was looking at Mac, who turned to Lanie. She shook her head. "We don't know the answer to that yet."

"Vampires drink blood, don't they?" Dirk continued. "I saw it on the tape. What about you?"

Mac exchanged a quick look with Lanie, who blushed and seemed to become preoccupied with studying the glass in her hand. He sighed as a fresh wave of guilt hit him. "I don't know."

Dirk stared at him, his eyes narrowing. "How safe are we"—he pointed to Lanie and himself—"in your presence?"

Mac fought his irritation because he'd already proved with Lanie that it was a valid question. "I don't think you need to stake me just yet, but I trust you'll know if the time comes." He'd sounded sarcastic, but knew Dirk would take the statement literally.

Silence fell as they each became lost in private thoughts. When Mac finally glanced around, he noticed the glasses were empty. He knew he could use a refill because what he'd had so far wasn't helping much. He climbed off the bed and grabbed the tequila bottle, refilling Dirk's glass. When he crossed the room to offer some to Lanie, she shook her head.

"What about something else to drink?" he offered. "Water? Coffee?"

"No, thanks. I'm fine."

He smiled. "Lanie, you can barely keep your eyes open. Why don't you go to bed?"

She sat up straighter and scowled at him. "I'm fine, really."

Mac decided not to push. Instead, he poured himself a drink and sat back down.

"Mac, what happened at the reception?" Lanie asked.

He stared at her, confused. Then he realized that she was referring to what had happened before Burton and Munoz had appeared. "It's hard to explain. Suddenly I felt this tingling along my spine, a sense of foreboding. I don't know. I can't explain it."

"But it was strong enough that you felt we needed to leave."

He studied Lanie's face, wondering what she was getting at. "Yes."

She waved a hand dismissively. "I don't know what it means. I just thought it was curious. There was something else I wondered about. Why did Burton stab Rogers?"

"Probably because Rogers is the one who came forward and got this whole inquiry going. Burton felt that Rogers betrayed him and wanted a little payback."

Lanie shook her head. "I mean, why stab him? Why not bite him and drink his blood?"

"Not enough time," Mac said.