Exsanguinate (38 page)

Everyone stood still as a statue. I looked at Sheridan, Torchy, Harris, Briggs, and then finally at the only person who might have answers.

Ludovic stepped towards me with his palms up. “Cheyenne, I am very sorry.”

“Sorry? You lousy piece of shit. Do you see what you have done to all our lives? Can you possibly imagine the sheer amount of grief and pain you have caused in thousands of people? How do you live with yourself?”

“I don’t. I’ve been numb for an awfully long time. That is why when I met Dakota, she changed something in me. I want to make things right, but I don’t know where to begin. But that is not the issue right now.” He swallowed hard and pulled an electronic tablet from his back pocket. The one he used to access the breeder’s records. “Regardless of what I’ve done, Khaldon speaks the truth. The Priestess records the video samplings and sends them to us for the chain of custody. The specimen containers are numbered and labeled for when they arrive here at the lab, along with the videos.”

“You honestly expect me to believe this crock?” I shook my head in disbelief. “Why would she do this?”

“Here, watch it.” He swiped on the screen and navigated to the breeding facility intranet website. Ludovic handed me the small tablet. “You’ll understand when you see it.”

My eyes widened with horrific shock at how this insanity could possibly be true. I looked at Khaldon. He didn’t meet my eyes. Everyone gathered closer to watch the video.

“She tells us how much Prophenol she uses on each donor.” Ludovic continued to describe the procedure as if he saw this every other day. “Then she tells us how much of the lunar Solunarae blood she used to keep them conscious, but still wild. They have no memory of what they do.”

Illuminated on the screen was a still image of Amicula and a test tube. I pressed the play button and what Ludovic explained was exactly what happened. Khaldon was tied to a vertical rack with a bench in front of it. His eyes glowed red.

I took in a deep, rushed breath.

Khaldon looked down at the ground and walked away from us. I stole a glance at him as he stared up at the sky. I had to finish watching this video. I had to understand.

My knuckles turned white as I held on to the tablet. Amicula placed a vacuum pump onto Khaldon and turned on a timer. Within seconds, the orgasm release was over. The pump sucked the semen and deposited it into a test tube. Amicula wrote on a sheet of paper. ‘Next deposit in seven minutes.’ There were two entries already on her list with exact times next to them.

“How many times has this happened?” Sheridan asked.

I looked over at Khaldon and then back at Ludovic.

“This was his second time, but there are two more videos. The latest one was three days ago when she drugged him at the bar,” Ludovic explained. “But he isn’t the only one. She does this to men all over the world.”

“Are you feckin’ kidding me?” Torchy exclaimed. “Blimey, how long has this been going on?”

“How many deposits does she normally collect when she does this?” I shook with fury.

“They have been doing this for close to five years now. Normally there are about four deposits per vial she sends.” Ludovic swallowed again. He looked over at Khaldon and pointed. “Khaldon is lucky. We’ve seen videos where the donor doesn’t have much to offer. Let’s just say she gets angry. We have videos of castration because the donor could not please her enough. The guy never knew what hit them. They would either die or wake up castrated. But they’re all on video.”

Khaldon had squatted with his head in his hands.

“Do not destroy this.” I handed Ludovic the tablet back.

“On second thought, give that back.” Sheridan snatched the tablet from Ludovic. “I need to know who is the father of whom and what. We need to try and help these guys as much as the women. They are all victims. I can’t believe how inhumane she is to people.”

“That’s because she isn’t human, Sheridan,” Torchy added. “She couldn’t care less what she does to them.”

I looked at Khaldon, uncomfortable and horribly angry with myself. I’d had defiled him in front of our best friends. He risked his life for me. There was no telling how many men he had killed here tonight to help rescue Dakota. He’d had been a pawn in this woman’s wicked games longer than any of us had.

What a terrible jerk I’ve been. I doubted him in his most vulnerable state.

I walked towards him, knowing that whatever I said most likely wouldn’t matter. I could never repair the damage between us now. He stood up, turned his back on me, and looked out over the water. I reached my hand out to touch his shoulder but retracted. He took a few steps away.

I’ll be surprised if he ever talks to me again.
How could I be so damn unkind? Why didn’t I trust him?

I reached out again and gently touched his shoulder. He grabbed my hand and pulled me in closer to him.

“I’m so sor …”

He turned around and shushed me with his finger. “Shhh … m’lady. Don’t. I would have done the same thing.”

He leaned down and put his forehead to mine. Tears escaped my eyes and dripped down my nose.

“I’m sorry, too. We’ll find a way to get through this.” He grabbed my shoulder and reached to lift my chin, forcing me to look into his green eyes, his face covered in his own tears. I wiped his cheeks and tried to smile through my trembling lips.

I put my hands on both sides of his face and pulled him in to kiss me. He lifted me off the ground and held me tight. I cried out at the pain in my ribs, and he released his grip. We kissed with more passion than I had ever dreamed of in all my nights of gaming with him. Our salty, coppery tears mingled with our tongues as grief, relief, and exhaustion flooded through me. I wanted him so very much in my life. I couldn’t imagine life without him.

One day, I will kill Amicula and everything she has done to us!

* * *

A
fter we checked
on the breeder women inside and determined they were still safe, we looked around at the cleanup.

“What do you want to do with all these dead bodies?” Harris asked.

“There are two choices,” Khaldon answered. “We can call in the cleaners, but most of them are busy with taking care of the women we rescued yesterday. Or, we can call the ghoulies to come and take them away. Whichever way, we need to take care of them soon.”

“Won’t they just disintegrate when the sun comes up?” I asked.

“Not knowing who their vampiric fathers are, we have no idea about their dynamics or sun sustainability. If we don’t cut off their heads, or have the ghoulies disassemble them, the city of Orlando is going to have a murder of revenant vampires let loose on the population.”

Harris, Briggs, Sheridan, Torchy, and I turned to look at Khaldon. We couldn’t have timed our shock any better than a rehearsed Gregorian chorus. “REVENANT VAMPIRES?”

“
D
o
you mind if we turn off the TV for a while, Chey? I can’t keep listening to these global catastrophes. It’s nothing but fear porn.” Sheridan grabbed the remote and muted the CCNN channel.

“I know, but since we don’t have a clue about where Dakota is or if she escaped from that wicked wench, I’ve been scouring the headlines looking for where she might be attacking people for food. I want our little sister back. I miss that brat.”

She hugged me and patted my back. Her baby bump pressed up against me.

“I even have the headline news ticker on my phone to alert me if more than two bodies are found mutilated somewhere.” I pulled out my phone to show her. “ExsanguiNation pings me if it finds any blood demons, or if any case lots of Solunarae blood are being sold through the Super Market.”

“Listen, Chey, we’ll find her. It won’t be long now. If you keep watching this stuff though, you’re gonna turn into a paranoid fear junkie.”

“
Oookay
. Whatever. You’d be amazed at how many humans are killed every single day on this planet. It’s surprising we aren’t extinct.”

“Seriously, Chey? That can’t be healthy.”

“You’re right. It’s not good to bombard my brain with so much negativity, but I don’t know how else to find her. You’ve got your ways, and the guys have theirs.” I heard Beano kick over his empty food bowl in the kitchen. “Any one of us is bound to find a trace of her.”

Beano trotted into the living room with Stormaggedon on his heels. They sat at my feet.

“I guess you’re hungry huh, big fella? And you too, toots?”

Stormy lifted a paw to shake.

“You know, Cheyenne, we were supposed to take Daddy out to the Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving dinner today. Do you still want to go, or do you want to make something at home?” Sheridan looked at the circled date on the wall calendar.

Beano pulled the sad puppy dog eyes on me. “C’mon, Sher, let’s go to the grocery store. I need to get the pups some food anyway. We should start some new traditions with the new family. Why don’t we invite the guys over and have a nice dinner?”

“Sounds fabulous. Let’s go. I need chocolate.”

I grinned at her and grabbed my car keys.

An hour later and we had the fixin’s for a Thanksgiving feast that would make our mother proud. I never had a reason to own a formal dining room table, so Sheridan and I pulled out the old ping pong table that hadn’t seen the light of day since I moved. We draped a pair of white sheets over the top, added flowers with fall leaves for decorations and called it good. We now had a space large enough for all of us and the food.

One by one, the guys arrived and took their well-earned position at our humble table. We put everyone to work serving up the food. We loaded platters with smoked turkey and spiral ham. Torchy brought out the rosemary garlic mashed taters while Khaldon took out the green bean casserole and sweet potato pie. Daddy was right behind him with a steaming pot of grits and greens and a loaf of French bread. Briggs hogged the giblet dressing while Harris dished out the orange juiced yams. I completed the spread with my mother’s ambrosia recipe passed down from many grandmothers before her. Everything looked and smelled delicious.

I clinked my spoon on the wine glass to gather everyone around. “I’m not sure how you guys have done Thanksgiving in the past, but in the O’Cuinn household we each go around stating what we’re thankful for this year. There are a few obvious ones, of course, and this is the first Thanksgiving we’ve had without Dakota since she was born.” A silent, crimson tear threated to cascade down my cheek, but I held it back.

Already familiar with this little tradition, Harris started. “I’m thankful that everyone is alive, no matter in what capacity.”

“I believe I have found a new purpose in life.” Torchy raised his glass towards Sheridan. “And a new family if they’ll adopt me.”

Sheridan blushed and raised her glass to meet his toast and request.

“What are you thankful for, Briggs?” I asked.

“Old friends, new friends, and treasured times to come. Next year Dakota will be sitting right here next to me.”

I smiled at him.

“I’m thankful we uncovered a global plot and can hopefully put an end to the madness,” Khaldon said and he kissed my cheek. “Not to mention that I finally have m’lady here, live and in the flesh.”

“Good recovery, Khaldon.” Harris elbowed him in the ribs.

Daddy leaned over the back of his chair before he sat. “I’m thankful all my daughters are alive and there’s a grandbaby on the way.”

I patted Sheridan’s growing bulge.

Everyone’s eyes were on Sheridan. “Wow – that’s a tough one for me this year. I have a lot to be thankful for, but to be painfully honest, I’m thankful to be able to wake up. I’ve been afraid to fall asleep for fear of the coma again.”

I squeezed her hand and tipped my head towards her.

“What are you thankful for, missy?” Sheridan tipped her head back toward me.

“I’m thankful for each of you. Without you, we wouldn’t be sitting here today being thankful for anything.”

“Hear, hear!” Khaldon raised his mug.

We took our respective turns clinking everyone’s bottle, glass, cup, and mug. I didn’t own a twelve place setting of china or stemware either so our beverage assortment matched the ping pong table perfectly.

“I would like to hold a moment of silent prayer that our beloved Dakota will be found and will come home soon,” my father said and grabbed the hands of Torchy and Harris beside him.

The rest of us followed suit holding hands around the table.

My prayer was simple.

I pinky swear promise I will find you again and bring you home. May the Gods and Goddesses, above and below, give us all strength.

“Okay – let’s attack!” I grabbed the steaming plate of buttery mashed potatoes in front of me and spooned a monster size portion onto my plate.

Sheridan sat with her hands in her lap. “Ya know, three weeks ago, I never would’ve believed in supernatural creatures that walk among humans, much less thought I’d be pregnant. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this craziness. How did this happen to us?” She reached out to pluck the turkey leg off the platter as Harris whisked it away.

“I know, right?” I took a piece of bread. “Never in a million years would I have believed the Red Man from my dreams could change me forever.”

“There’s something that I need to tell you girls and I just can’t seem to pull it up out of my mind,” my father said. “I dream about it almost every night, but when I wake up - it’s gone.”

“It’s all right, Daddy,” I said. “Maybe one day you’ll remember. Don’t let it worry you.”

He grimaced and shrugged. “Can you pass me the sweet potatoes?”

“Has anyone thought about how we’re going to find Dakota?” Briggs scooped up the grits and greens. “Can you pass the hot sauce, please?”

I handed him the bottle.

“Thanks. We should set up a battle plan soon,” Briggs said.

“You’re right. I’ve been going over different scenarios in my head, but we should write it down.”

Torchy reached for the cranberry sauce. “Could we map it out in a simulator? There’s an API program that will enable us integrate with Google Earth’s 3D renderings, and we can recreate where she’s being held.”

“That’s a perfect idea, Torch. After we digest, let’s work on that tonight. We can create various scenarios to determine how to infiltrate different types of places. This time we won’t be fighting a Battle Kroc of Doom, but rather more dragons. You guys will be instrumental in helping us prepare for the unexpected.”

Khaldon set his glass of pomegranate bloodwine on the table. “I’ve been practicing with Ludovic. Hopefully, he’ll improve at communicating with her. If Amicula had her way, he’d be toast, and we’d be SOL in finding Dakota. Whether we like it or not, we have to keep him safe and keep him close. We have no idea when Amicula will send dhampirs out to get him or any of us. We need to start training everyone in weapons and combat.”

Briggs added, “I don’t think we should share our plans with Ludovic, though. I don’t trust the bastard, especially after he ratted us out.”

Harris squirreled a spoonful of stuffing in his cheek before he spoke. He pointed towards the kitchen with his fork. “How much longer are we going to keep Ludovic tied up in the chicken coop?”

I shrugged. “Not sure. Until we can secure a better place to keep an eye on him, that’s where he stays put.” I reached for the salt and pepper. “This way Padme has complete surveillance on him at all times and we can be notified immediately if he moves. Plus, it’s a little satisfying, don’t ya think?”

Sheridan grinned and passed the ambrosia salad to me. “What I want to know, Cheyenne, is when did our virtual game become such a reality?”

* * *

Meanwhile, deep within the Amazon Rainforest ...

Q
ueen Civetateo reread
the emessage from her niece. She drummed out an irritated cadence on the window sill with her fingernails. Abruptly she turned to her trusted councilor. “Aisling, if I had known your daughters were going to be this troublesome, I would have captured them myself. Find a way to clean up this mess, before I do!”