The Recruit: Book Two (22 page)

“Does he now?”

“Yes.”  Alan said smugly. 

Douglas took a step towards him.  His body was swelling and
his eyes glowed fiercely at the psychiatrist as hair began to sprout on his
naked body.

Alan straightened in the chair.  “You’re not allowed to hurt
me.  Chen said so.”

Douglas didn’t reply and Alan gave him a look of contempt. 
“You’re just an old Lycan.  Hannah and Chen will be defeated by Samuel.  When Samuel
turns me I’ll be more powerful than you could ever dream of.”

As Douglas continued to swell, Alan laughed.  “Really? 
You’re not even a real Lycan.  You paint and you don’t even hunt.  You’re the pathetic
one, old man.  I’m not afraid of you.”

“You should be.”  Douglas growled.  He shifted completely
and leaped at the man.  Alan shrieked with fear as Douglas fell on him, teeth
bared and howling loudly.

“Tyrone, we are fucking lost.”  Luther stared down a hallway
as Tyrone looked in the opposite direction.

“We’re not lost.”

“Bullshit.  All of these fucking halls look the same. 
Hannah’s gonna kill us.”  Luther moaned.

Tyrone started down the hall and Luther trailed after him. 
“Where the hell are you going?”

Tyrone shrugged.  “Let’s see what’s down this way.”

“Jesus Christ.  We’re goddamn geniuses and we can’t find our
way around a secret underground facility full of vampires.”  Luther shook his
head as they crept down the hall.  “They’ll never let us into fucking Mensa
now.”

“I’m already a member.”  Tyrone tried a door on his left. 
It was locked and he continued on.

“What?  You joined without me?”  Luther gave him a hurt look
and Tyrone rolled his eyes.

“Now is not the time, Luther.  Besides, you only wanted to
join it for the chicks and they’re too fucking smart for you.  They’ll see
right through your bullshit.”

“Fuck you, Tyrone.”  Luther retorted.  “The ladies – “

“Love you.  I know, I know.  Give it a rest.”  Tyrone
advised as they rounded a corner. 

“You’re just jealous because – “

The twins stopped and stared in surprise at the two vampires
guarding a door on their right.  The vampires returned their look of surprise.

“What are you doing here?”  One of the vampires hissed.

“We’re looking for Taco Bell.”  Luther said cheerfully as he
and Tyrone reached behind their backs.  “Left or right, Tyrone?”

“I’ll take the one on the left.”  Tyrone replied.

The vampires glanced at each other and laughed.  “Do we turn
them?”  The vampire, his body covered in tattoos and piercings, glanced at his
companion.

The leech shook his head.  “No.  I’m hungry.”  He stared at
the twins, his nose wrinkling at their baggy shorts and Luther’s bright orange
Hawaiian shirt.  “Besides, there’s no way these two idiots are a part of the
program.”

“No need for name calling, you pansy-ass leech.”  Luther
said indignantly.

The vampires rolled their eyes and moved towards the teens. 
The twins backed up a few steps and Tyrone held up his left hand.  “Whoa,
whoa.  Let’s all play nice.  Me and my brother will just head back down the
hall.  There’s no need for bloodshed.”

“Shut up, you moron.”  The tattoo-covered vampire hissed and
shot down the hallway toward Luther.  His nails raked across Luther’s face
before he paused and gave Luther an almost curious look.

“You sure you ain’t seen a Taco Bell around here?”  Luther
asked as he twisted the stake he held in his right hand, deeper into the
leech’s chest.  Dimly, he was aware of Tyrone charging at the other vampire as
he leaned closer to the leech.  The leech exhaled loudly and he wrinkled his
nose at the vampire’s breath.

“Jesus Christ, dude.  Try brushing your teeth every once in
a while.”

“Please…”  The vampire whispered.

Luther shrugged and yanked the stake free before stepping
back.  The vampire crumpled at his feet and he turned his face away when it
exploded, coating his shoes and lower legs in blood and ash. 

There was a thin scream of anger and he looked up to see
Tyrone, the muscles in his thin arms bulging, pinning the vampire to the wall
with a stake embedded deep in its throat.

“Luther!  Stake, goddammit!”  Tyrone shouted.

The vampire thrashed and hissed as the skin in his throat
ripped with a wet, tearing noise.  Blood gushed out and Tyrone winced as Luther
bounded up to him and plunged his own stake into the vampire’s chest. 

The vampire collapsed limply against the wall and Luther
stared at Tyrone.  “The heart, you dumbass.  Remember?”

“Shut up!  He was fucking wiggling like a worm on a hook and
– “

They cried out in mutual disgust when the vampire exploded,
showering them with a hot spray of blood and ash.

“Goddammit!”  Tyrone shouted as he wiped the blood from his
face.  “We really are fucking idiots!”

Luther used the inside of his shirt to wipe his face off. 
“C’mon, let’s go.”

“Wait.  Let’s see what’s in the room.”  Tyrone reached for
the door handle.  “They were obviously guarding something in here.”

“Probably another twenty fucking leeches.”  Luther
grumbled.  He raised his stake as Tyrone shoved the door open.

They peered into the room and Luther’s mouth dropped open. 
“Holy shitballs.”

* * *

“Chen, which way?”  Hannah whispered.  They had left
Richard’s office, Chen in the lead, and he was directing them deeper into the
facility.

Chen pointed to the right.  “We head toward administration. 
If Samuel didn’t get the information he was looking for from Richard, he might
try and find it himself.  Alan undoubtedly told him about the administration
wing.  We should – “

There was the faint sound of Douglas howling.  Hannah
whipped around, her swords clenched tightly in her hands, and cocked her head
as there was the fainter sound of screaming.

“Master?”  She looked at Chen uncertainly.

Chen gave her a small bitter smile.  “Keep moving, Hannah.”

She nodded and followed him quickly down the hall.  They
turned left and were just slinking past the main training room when a deep
voice called to them from the darkness.

“My friends!  Don’t be shy.  Come in.” 

Hannah and Chen stared at each other before Hannah squeezed
Chen’s arm and stepped into the room.  Chen was right behind her and he reached
for the light, flicking it on quickly.  The room was flooded with light and
Hannah blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the brightness.

She stared at the vampire standing in the middle of the
room.  He was smiling at her and he held his own swords loosely at his side.

“You must be Hannah.  I’ve been looking forward to meeting
you.”

* * *

“Close your mouth, Luther.”  Tyrone nudged his brother.

Luther closed his mouth with a snap and glanced at his
brother.  “I’ll take the one on the left.”  He said quickly.

“Goddammit!”  Tyrone muttered.

They stared for a moment longer at the two naked Lycans. 
Will and Constance were sitting in chairs.  Thick silver chains crisscrossed
their bodies and their hands were bound behind the chairs.  Their mouths were
gagged and Will growled at them from behind the gag. 

“Yeah, yeah, wolf boy.  Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” 
Luther said gleefully.  He crossed the room to Constance and untied the gag
from around her mouth.

“Hey, gorgeous.  Miss me?”

Constance pulled at her chains, wincing when they pulled
tightly against her naked torso.  “Will, I still can’t shift.  Can you?”

Tyrone had removed Will’s gag and he stared up at the teen. 
“Hannah!  Where’s Hannah?”

“Relax, she’s fine.”  Tyrone moved behind him and examined
the padlock that held the cuffs in place around Will’s wrists.

Luther eyed Constance’s naked breasts and she growled at
him.  “Eyes on my face, you little pervert.”

Luther grinned and moved behind her as both she and Will
yanked futilely at their cuffs. 

“What are you guys doing in here anyway?  It’s a full moon. 
Shouldn’t you be out murdering innocent deer?”  Tyrone asked.

“The leeches caught us.”  Constance groaned as Luther tugged
on the chains around her body.  “Christ, that fucking hurts.”

“Don’t worry, baby.  I’ll be gentle.”  Luther grinned.

“You’ll never get us out of these things.  The chains are
too thick.”  Constance twisted her head and glared at him.

Luther looked at Tyrone and shook his head.  “The hottie has
no faith in us, Tyrone.  You got the tools with you?”

Tyrone didn’t reply.  He was rooting in the front pocket of
his shorts and he grinned triumphantly when he pulled out two thin, steel
rods.  He handed them to Luther.  “She just needs to get to know us better.”

Luther snickered and knelt down.  He carefully inserted the
rods into the lock and wiggled them gently.  After a few moments of careful
concentration, the lock clicked open and he quickly freed Constance from the
cuffs.  He handed the tools to Tyrone and then unwrapped the chains from around
Constance’s naked body, dropping them with a heavy thud to the floor.

Constance stood and rubbed at her arms.  Luther could see
marks from the chains all across her body and she winced again as she rubbed
away the blood.

“Goddamn silver.”  She muttered.  She suddenly grabbed
Luther and planted a quick kiss on his mouth.  “Thanks kid.”

Luther flushed scarlet and stared at the floor.  “Uh, yeah. 
No problem.”

There was a heavy clink as Tyrone released Will’s cuffs.  He
removed them and unwrapped the silver from Will’s body.  “There you go, wolf
boy.  Good as new.” 

“Where’s Hannah?”  Will said again as he stood up.

“I told you, she’s fine.”  Tyrone replied.  “Listen, there
are leeches all over this fucking facility.  We need to get back to Hannah and
the others and get the hell out of here.”

“Where are they?”  Constance rubbed at her wrists.  They
were rubbed raw from the cuffs but already the marks on her body were starting
to fade.

“I don’t know.  Some room with a bunch of couches and
shit.”  Luther finally looked up from the floor.

“The common room.”  Constance said.  She gave Will an
anxious look.  “Will, we need to – “

Will shifted and bounded from the room.  Constance sighed
harshly and stared at the two teens.

“I’d offer you my shirt but it’s covered in leech blood. 
Not that we mind the nakedness.”  Luther’s cockiness had returned and he winked
at her as she rolled her eyes.

“Follow me and stay close.”  She instructed before shifting
to her wolf form.

She headed towards the door and Luther looked at Tyrone. 
“Best day of my life, man.  Hand to God.  Did you see her plant one on me?”

“Yeah.”  Tyrone said grumpily.

“Hottie’s got it bad for old Luther.”  Luther said solemnly.

“You wish.  You think – “

Constance barked sharply and gave them an impatient look
before disappearing down the hall.

“I’m going to marry that girl.”  Luther sighed.

Tyrone snorted.  “C’mon, you idiot.”

The two brothers followed the Lycan down the hall.

* * *

Hannah stared at the dark-haired vampire standing in the
middle of the training room.  Like all leeches, his skin was smooth and pale. 
His body was big and thick through the middle, his hair dark, and when he
smiled at them she could see his fangs gleaming.

“Hello, Hannah.”  He said softly.  His eyes drifted to
Chen.  “And you must be her master.  Tell me, how did you learn the art of the
steel?”

“My father taught me.”  Chen replied. 

“Why?”

“It was tradition.”

“Ahh, I see.”  Samuel glanced at his own swords.  “I myself,
did not learn the sword until after I was turned.  In my human life I was
nothing more than a laborer.  Are you surprised by this?”

“No.”  Hannah said shortly. 

Samuel laughed.  “Really?  You have no trouble believing
that a simple laborer could become the king of the vampires?”

“Is that what you call yourself?  A king?”  Hannah raised
one eyebrow at him.  “Do the other leeches believe you to be their king?”

Samuel shrugged.  “It is no secret that my kind has, shall
we say, issues getting along.  But when it becomes a matter of fulfilling our
destiny, we are quite capable of putting aside our petty differences.”

Neither Chen nor Hannah replied and Samuel sheathed both of
his swords before crossing his hands behind his back.  “Are you surprised that
we found the facility?”

“No.  We know about Alan.”  Hannah replied.  As one, she and
Chen moved closer to the vampire.

Samuel grinned at them.  “He’s been very helpful to us.  He,
of course, couldn’t tell us the exact locations of the other facilities but he
did help us take this one, and was very eager to tell us you were alive and
well.  It was very clever of you to fake your own death.”

He didn’t move as Hannah and Chen advanced towards him.

“Why didn’t you just come for me?”  Hannah asked.  “If you
wanted me so badly, why attack the facility?”

Samuel laughed.  “Not everything is about you, Hannah. 
Marcus’ obsession for you ran deep but I’m afraid mine is not as strong.  Not
to say that I don’t believe you will be very helpful to our cause – I know you
will be.  But what I want, what I’ve always wanted, is the location of all of the
facilities.  For centuries the humans have ruled – it’s time for a change. 
Over the last decade, we have steadily increased our numbers.  There are now
more of my kind than you could ever imagine.”

“And you intend to lead them all?”  Chen scoffed.  “This
uprising you’ve tried to create is pathetic.  You may have convinced a few
foolish leeches into following your command, but do you really believe that the
leeches across the country will just blindly follow you?  I can see why you
were nothing but a laborer.”

Samuel’s upper lip raised and he snarled softly at Chen. 
Hannah raised her swords as Samuel’s fangs lengthened and his hands clenched
into fists.  His eyes flashed and he took a deep breath before unclenching his
fists.

“I was going to turn you but your smart mouth has changed my
mind.”  He snapped.  “Instead, I’ll make Hannah watch as I slice you apart -
limb by limb.”

He grinned coldly at the two of them.  “Besides, we
leeches
are not nearly the dumb animals you believe us to be.  Do you not understand
that we have spent years planning for this moment?  Once I discover the
location of the other facilities, it will only be a matter of time before each
of them falls.  There will be no one left to protect the humans from us.  The
humans, and any other creature that does not align themselves with us, will bow
down before us.  We will be gods.”