The Rise of Vlad (The Seeker Series Book 3) (16 page)

The evening security guard waved from his perch behind a small, less than clean window. Smudges on the glass blurred his smile, but she couldn’t mistake the shiny gold tooth displayed so proudly from its position in the front of his mouth.

The door buzzed once, and a
click
told her the lock had released. She pulled it open and stepped inside.

“Hi, Willie. How are you this evening?”

Willie had been one of her favorite night watchmen. His uniform always appeared clean, neatly creased, and he smelled nice. The badge he wore shone perfectly to match the bald spot on top of his head. He had a toothy grin for everyone and a heart of gold.

“Doing good, Miss Abbie. What brings you out here?”

“Henry forgot an important piece of his work.” She held up the folded car registration before quickly tucking it into the pocket of her jeans.

“I hate it when that happens. My wife is always harping at me about how forgetful I’m getting. I reckon she’s right. It’s hell getting old.”

He glanced suspiciously at the pocket she’d tucked the paper into. “He must be working on something pretty big to bring you down here at this hour. It’s almost nine o’clock.”

Abbie inwardly groaned. She hated like hell lying to Willie, but left with little choice, lying was exactly what she did.

“He’s working on some antimicrobial susceptibility tests, and they called him in to straighten out a mix-up in results. It could be the fact that he used the gradient diffusion method instead of—”

Willie laughed, effectively cutting her off. “Okay, Miss Abbie. You lost me back at antimicro…something.” He waved her on. “Tell him not to work too hard.”

“Have a good night, Willie. Tell that beautiful wife of yours I’m ready for more of her fried chicken.”

“I sure will.” He beamed.

He touched her arm as she turned to go. “Wait. Dr. Sutherland left his dinner down here when he signed in. Do you want to take it up to him on your way through? If not, I can buzz him and let him know it’s here.”

Abbie ground her teeth. If he picked up the phone, Willie would spill the beans without realizing it. The man loved to talk.

“Yes, thank you. I’ll take it.” She caught sight of a keycard peeking out from under some papers on Willie’s desk and quickly snagged it when he bent to retrieve Henry’s dinner from under the counter. She stuffed the card into her back pocket.

He straightened and handed her the bag. “Here you go, Miss Abbie.”

“See you, Willie.” She winked at him and hurried off down the hall.

The cameras strategically placed along the corners of the ceiling made her nervous. If anyone involved in whatever Henry worked on recognized her, they would surely sound the alarm.

Abbie knew Winchester Industries pushed the limits and sometimes experimented with drugs not previously approved by the FDA. But whatever her father had rushed to the lab for had nothing to do with illegal testing. He wouldn’t have been asked to come back in for that alone. No, this was definitely something bigger.

To increase her chances of staying under the radar, Abbie bypassed the elevator for the stairs. Taking them two at a time, she stopped at the door to the second floor. With a slight tug, it cracked open enough that she could see into the hallway. She stood there for several heartbeats, listening for any sound, and then slipped quietly into the corridor.

Male laughter rang out up ahead, and Abbie stilled.
Damn. Are they guarding the lab
?

She glanced up at a camera in the corner. Monitors were installed in every office throughout the building, along with the security hub. The longer she stood in the open, the higher her chances were of being seen.

After a moment, the voices grew faint, signaling the men had headed off in the opposite direction. She blew out a breath she’d been holding and crept silently forward.

Noticing the door to the lab was closed when she rounded the corner, she quickly fished out the keycard from her back pocket and slid it effortlessly through the vertical groove situated next to the doorjamb. The green light activated right on cue, and she cringed as a
click
sounded loud enough to startle a sloth.

The predictable sounds of a lab in use met her ears as she eased the door open and entered her father’s domain. He obviously hadn’t heard the lock disengage over the consistent beeps and humming of the equipment surrounding him.

Abbie took in the room with a quick glance, noticing a big pair of feet hanging off the end of a bed her father stood next to.

Her heart began to pound as she crept farther inside. The closer she got the more confused she became. It was definitely a man lying on the bed; only, she’d never seen one that size in her lifetime.

A sheet covered his lower body from waist to ankles, leaving his upper half bare. His chest appeared devoid of hair and stood off the bed about two feet. He was massive and had to be at least six foot ten by her estimation.

Warmth enveloped Abbie as her gaze slid to the stranger’s face.
Beautiful would be a gross understatement.

He had a smooth, strong jaw that angled up to slightly pointed ears.
Pointed ears
? His dark hair lay haphazardly tousled on the pillow. Full lips and a faintly crooked nose made up the rest of his face. She wondered what color his eyes were.

Without conscious thought, she inched forward on shaky legs.
Why would they have him here? Is he sick? Contagious
? It didn’t matter as long as she could stand there and drink him in.

Her father must have sensed her approach. He stiffened a second before spinning around. “What are you doing here?” He seemed more nervous than angry.

“I could ask you the same thing. What’s going on, Henry?” She nodded toward the incapacitated stranger taking up far too much bed.

“You have to leave. Now.”

Anger surged. “What is that man doing here? This isn’t a hospital, so don’t bullshit me.”

“Honey, please. You’re not supposed to be here. You need to go home. Now. I’ll explain it all in the morning.” He glanced toward to door several times as he spoke.

“Not until you tell me the truth.”

He took a deep breath and pinned her with an impatient stare. “Fine. But then you must go.”

She raised an eyebrow.

Chapter Two

Abbie stared at her father as he attempted to explain away the man’s presence with some fabricated tale.

“This is all I know. It…” Her father took a deep breath and started again. “It washed up on the beach a few hours ago. Newman called me in to run some tests before they extradite the corpse to Area 51.”

“Wait.” Abbie held up a hand when he would have continued. “Newman, the CEO of Winchester Industries? And
it
?”

He hesitated. “It’s not human, Abbie. I don’t know what it is, but I need to get these samples taken before the crew from Area 51 arrives. You have to go. No one else is to know about this.”

“Not human? That’s impossible.” Other than the stranger’s size and pointed ears, he appeared the same as any other man. “And how did he get here?”

Henry turned to a computer near the head of the bed and tapped a few keys. The screen came out of hibernation within seconds to display what looked to be a chest X-ray.

“Someone ran across the thing on the beach. Apparently it drowned somehow and floated up on shore. Local PD had the creature sent to the morgue, and Newman had it delivered here. He told the police this was a Hazmat situation and needed ‘
him
’ contained until they cleared the scene. No one questioned Newman since he owns the hospital and this lab. The cops had no idea it was an alien.”

“Why would they think he’s not human? Did the coroner open him up and find a little green man in residence?” She would have rolled her eyes if the situation didn’t already resemble a
Twilight Zone
episode.

“Come look at this.”

Abbie stood next to her father to gaze at the unbelievable evidence of a six-chambered heart. It took a moment to register what she was looking at, but there was no mistaking it.

“How is that possible? I’ve never seen anything like it. Do you know what this means?” Her voice sounded strained to her own ears.

“Neither have I. And it doesn’t mean anything to us. Once it leaves here, we forget it exists.”

“But, Henry—”

“No.” He glanced at his watch. “The crew will arrive in less than three hours to retrieve it, and then I develop amnesia. Do you understand?”

“We have a little time before they get here. Show me please? This is too amazing to be true.” Several questions ran through her mind at once. She couldn’t voice them all.

With a click of the mouse, another image appeared. “Do you see that?” Henry pointed to an object on the screen.

“Yes, what is it?” She leaned in to get a better look.

“The equivalent of lungs.”

“But what is that?” She indicated something winged that grew from the sides of the organs.

“They’re gills.” His voice took on an awed tone, which she could understand. She was in the same frame of mind.

“It can’t be.” The evidence of it mocked her from inches away.

Henry glanced up at her. “They’re gills, I tell you. I saw them on the back side of his ribs. His arms cover most of them and they wouldn’t be noticeable to someone that didn’t know what to look for.”

“Do you realize what this implies? Gills for God’s sake.”

“I’m seeing similarities to humans, amphibians, reptiles, and fish here, Abbie. The heart of a fish only has two chambers, one to receive blood and the other to send it out to the rest of the body. A human heart has four.

“Notice that our blood leaves the lungs and enters the heart, while a fish’s blood leaves the heart and enters the gills. And take a gander at this.” Henry clicked the mouse once more.

“What in the world?” she breathed, studying the image before her.

“It’s the digestive tract. I would give anything to be able to dissect it.”

His excitement at the possibility of a dissection disturbed her.

Abbie glanced over at the
it
in question, and something tugged at her emotions. Some kind of beautiful creature had washed up on the beach only to be violated and sent to a place few had ever witnessed.
Area 51
.

She shuddered and turned back to the screen. “Have you ever seen anything like this before? And why six chambers instead of two or four?”

“I don’t know why the six chambers. I understand that an octopus, squid, and cuttlefish have three separate hearts, so perhaps it has to do with evolution.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he continued. “I studied tissue samples taken from an unknown subject many years ago, but I wasn’t told its origin. And it had blood. This subject doesn’t. Well, not enough to fill a teaspoon, at any rate. And there are no wounds that it could have bled out from.”

“What?” Abbie was sure she hadn’t heard him right.

“Come here and I’ll show you.” Henry took up residence on the left side of the bed as she rushed around to the right.

He lifted the creature’s left arm, turning the hand so she could see both sides. “We attempted to draw blood here first. Nothing. Not a drop could be found.”

Replacing the arm, he gripped the subject’s chin next, tugging it to the side for her inspection. “One vein runs along here, from jaw to the bottom of the neck. Dry also.”

“But— ”

“I’ll come back to that. There’s more.” He dragged the sheet down to a small pink vertical scar on the creature’s abdomen. “Impossible,” he gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Her gaze flew to her father’s face.” Henry had significantly paled.

“I made that incision less than an hour ago. It’s nearly healed already. The thing is dead. I don’t understand.”

“Are you sure he’s…gone?” Abbie couldn’t bring herself to refer to him as
it
.

“No heartbeat.” Henry laid two fingers on the creature’s neck. “No pulse. It’s dead all right.”

“So how did he heal if he isn’t alive?”

“I don’t know. I was able to remove a very small sample of something resembling blood from the stomach cavity, but it wasn’t in any of the A, B, O, or RH classes. It’s an anomaly.”

“Perhaps you should try giving him a universal donation to see what happens? I mean, if he healed, he has to be alive.”

“He? It’s not a person, Abbie. And I’d thought of that. I was just about to try it before you snuck in here and gave me indigestion. I’m running out of time. I want you gone before that crew arrives.”

“Then let’s hurry. I’ll help.”

He shot her an impatient glance. “So damn stubborn.”

“Yet another thing I inherited from you.”

“You’re not too old for me to turn over my knee, young lady.” He spun on his heel and left the room.

Abbie took advantage of Henry’s absence to study the beautiful creature before her. His wrists and ankles were strapped down with leather cuffs attached to bands that disappeared beneath the bed.

He looked very much alive to her, with color in his cheeks and his lips slightly parted. She was certain his mouth had been closed only moments before.

Her fingers shook as she reached toward him. She gently pushed his top lip up with her thumb. “Holy shit,” she whispered, jerking her hand back as if burned. He had razor-sharp incisors where his eyeteeth should have been.

When nothing untoward happened, Abbie slowly leaned in again and froze. Heat instantly surrounded her upper body. She felt a soft tugging sensation that left a tingle in its wake. Her muscles relaxed without effort as something unseen moved up the sides of her face.

A deeply accented voice invaded her mind. “
Open
.”

Abbie knew she should run, but the allure of the command was more powerful than her fear.

She allowed the warmth to pull her closer, never taking her gaze from his mouth, until she half lay across his massive chest with her arms on either side of his shoulders.

A gentle pressure wrapped itself around her mind, and she found herself inching toward his parted lips to hover slightly above them. His breath mingled with hers, and she breathed him in.
He’s breathing?

Abbie felt as if his very spirit entered her body, traveling down her throat and circling her chest. The pressure continued to slide through her stomach and grew in strength as it reached her abdomen.

She had no desire to move even if it were possible. Her insides turned to liquid, and she exhaled softly into his mouth only to draw him in again.
He’s alive
…

Abbie shifted on his huge frame and stroked her fingertips down to his wrists. Though no pulse was evident, she could feel his energy, his breath teasing her lips.

On instinct, she gripped his hands and slowly turned them over until she was palm to palm with him. A gentle electrical current traveled up her arms, tingling, throbbing, as if it had a life of its own.

An image of herself as a child coming awake on the beach while waves washed over her legs suddenly flashed through her mind, and she jerked her head back.
What the hell?

The pulsing continued through their points of contact while Abbie held her breath, lowering her face close to his once more. Another jolt entered her palms.

“Salutem.”

Where had she heard that before? She recognized it as the Latin word for greetings.

Images and voices began swirling together in a multitude of color and sound, leaving her helpless against the onslaught.

“Abbie, did you know that dolphins can communicate with humans?”

A groan slipped from her parted lips, full of pain and sorrow.
Mother.

More current slid from his hands to hers.
“Salt from his tears.” Water. Coffin. Death.

“
No,” she softly moaned.

Sand. Her lungs hurt. Heat snaking through her arms and legs.
“
Salutem.” Blessed darkness.

Abbie heard a keening sound and realized it came from her
.
She slowly removed her shaky hands from his and brought them to his face. “It can’t be.”

With unsteady fingers, she rested her thumbs on his eyelids and gently lifted. A soft gasp escaped as she stared into the emerald-green eyes of a dream she’d thought long forgotten.

Memory was swift and strong, and she clung to it like a life raft on a raging sea.

She’d wondered a thousand times about the day they’d buried her mother, when the teenage boy with the strange accent and rare-colored eyes had magically appeared to save her life.

The memory had faded over the years until she’d convinced herself it’d all been the imagination of a child who’d recently suffered a trauma.

Abbie couldn’t believe the boy from her dreams was actually real and strapped down before her now.

She forced herself to break the connection and stand on legs that felt too weak to hold her up. His warmth abruptly disappeared, leaving an ache and emptiness in its place that was staggering.