Forget About Midnight (27 page)

The group of agents ushered me into a lobby that was in much better shape than most of the bedraggled, rubble-filled building. Maintaining the abandoned appearance of the old, haunted hospital allowed the FPA to operate unnoticed. They made use of the top floor and the basement, leaving all floors in between exactly as they’d been for many years: haunted and in total disrepair.

They led me to a large, caged elevator at the back of the lobby. None too gentle, they shoved me inside, all crowding in around me with Briggs entering last. He hit a button that I knew was taking us to the basement. Not good.

The basement was the worst part of the whole building, and I hadn’t even seen all of it. It housed the lock up and the labs, not to mention the evil that lived in the land, getting inside the mind of anyone with any connection to the dark. Already I could feel it. Like a wordless whisper, it welcomed me back.

Being confined in the elevator with them all surrounded me with their human scent. Though my bloodlust had been appeased, part of me was certain I could kill them all without any power. The evil lurking in the building pressed close, encouraging me. Should I try? No, better to be patient.

Briggs was watching me like he knew my thoughts. “Let’s just all play nice, O’Brien, and nobody has to get hurt.”

“Well now, where’s the fun in that?” I bared my fangs and winked at the agent closest to me. He stiffened, maintaining his tough-guy stance, though he wouldn’t meet my eyes.

When the elevator stopped and the door opened, we were in a part of the basement I’d never seen before. Last time I’d been here, I’d come in on the opposite end of the maze of halls.

I was nudged, jostled, and guided out of the elevator into a lab. It must have been the same one Jez had told me about. The main area we stood in was large and white. It was filled with cabinets and drawers with labels marking what was inside.

A hallway led to separate exam rooms. Every door was closed. An alarm went off in my brain. What the fuck was Briggs up to?

Being cuffed didn’t affect my senses. I was able to feel the energy of another vampire behind one of those doors and something else that felt human but more. I was wary, but I wasn’t afraid. I’d been curious about what went on down here, and I was about to find out.

“What are we doing, Briggs?” I asked. “Am I receiving the grand tour?”

His eyes narrowed, and he shot me a warning glare. “Something like that.”

Ok, I got it. He needed to go through the motions as he would with any vampire in custody. I didn’t want to blow his cover, but I was not too keen on being a lab rat. In fact, I was very much against it.

“Room number three,” he barked. Briggs wasn’t much of a calm talker with his agents.

They herded me down the hall to room three, and I let them, until they pushed the door open and I saw inside.

It looked like a medical room from hell. A gurney-like bed took up the far wall. The restraints attached to it appeared to be made of some kind of heavy metal, more like chains than straps. Beside it sat a medical tray filled with tools: needles, scalpels, and other assorted devices I didn’t know by name.

“I don’t fucking think so.” I stood rooted in the doorway, refusing to take another step. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Briggs?”

Agent Briggs shouldered the guy next to me aside and took his place. “Just following protocol.” Then he pulled out a Taser and held it inches from my neck. “Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

I searched him for some kind of sign that we were still on the same page, but I didn’t find it. He was going to have to tase me then, because I was not going to be a willing lab rat.

“Fuck your protocol.” I regarded him with defiance, daring him to take this as far as he could.

So he did. The Taser hit my skin and sent wave after wave of electricity surging through me. It wasn’t my first time being tased by a man who needed a weapon to replace his balls. Being beyond human life and death made it easier to take, but it still hurt like a bitch. It still dropped me to my knees and left me feeling dazed.

A door on the other side of the room opened and in walked a man wearing a lab coat. I recognized him. He’d been helping two other agents interrogate one of Arys’s victims last time I’d been in here, when I’d come to find Kale.

“You,” I said through clenched teeth. “You just happen to be on my FPA hit list.”

The doctor paused, gave me a dismissive once over and reached for a syringe from the tray. He tore it from its packaging and shared a look with Briggs.

Several hands grabbed and pulled at me as the agents struggled to get me onto the gurney. I resisted by throwing my weight into those closest, knocking them down before turning to the others. One received a head-butt in the face that had his nose gushing. Another caught my elbow in the eye.

Guns were drawn, equipped with a handy crossbow feature just for vampires. What a bunch of damn babies. They had been improving their weaponry, but it would only get them so far.

“Are you gonna shoot me, Briggs?” I demanded, advancing on him.

He didn’t fight back as I backed him up against the door we’d entered through. He held up a hand to calm the agents ready to plug me full of crossbow bolts.

“We just want to take a little blood, O’Brien. That’s all.”

“Just a little blood, huh?” I sneered into his face, seething. “Does that exchange go both ways? Seems only fair.”

My gaze dropped to the pulse in his neck. I watched it beat beneath the surface of his smooth, dark skin. He had left this part out of our discussion two nights ago. How convenient for him.

“It can,” he said, surprising me. “You want blood, I’ll give it to you. Take your pick.” He gestured to the room full of men. Some of them were visibly shaken by this while others remained stoic and silent.

I shook my head, unimpressed. “No deal. If you want my blood, then I want yours. Fair trade or nothing.”

The idiot doctor made the mistake of thinking I was too focused on Briggs to notice him creeping up behind me. He might have gotten the drop on me once, but I’d changed since then. That wasn’t going to happen a second time.

I whirled to face him before he could plunge the syringe into me. Grabbing hold of his arm, I slammed it down so the needle stabbed into his thigh. Then I got both hands around his neck and squeezed.

It happened so fast. Bones broke beneath my hands. His breath choked off, and his face turned red. I flung him backward so hard he fell over a chair and hit the floor flat on his back. His dead eyes stared up at the ceiling. That was easy. Too easy. Not quite enough satisfaction in that one. Oh well. Briggs never should have left my hands in front of me.

“Hold your fire,” Briggs shouted. To me he held out a hand, like he was pleading with a rabid dog to calm down. “Alexa, if you want to see Juliet then you better learn fast how to fucking cooperate.”

I wanted to hurt him so bad I vibrated with the strength it took to keep from rushing him. “I need to fucking cooperate? I’m not the one treating you like a science experiment. Take me to my sister now, and I’ll do my best not to kill anyone else.”

He shook his head and gave me an imploring look. He wanted me to be on my best behavior so we could play out our little ruse, if indeed he still intended to hold to that, and my antics were making that hard for him. Too bad. Briggs never should’ve tried a stunt like this. No good would come of the FPA having a sample of my blood.

“Sir?” A young, twenty-something agent spoke up. “Should we just tranq her?”

I raised a brow and awaited Briggs’s response. He looked tired and somewhat defeated when he nodded and waved a dismissive hand.

“What the fuck, Briggs?” I hissed, betrayed and livid that he would treat me like an animal. I wasn’t surprised though.

“There’s enough in that shot to take down an elephant,” Briggs said, nodding to the tranquilizer gun the agent held ready. “Or a vampire. You’ll sleep it off within an hour. We’ll talk then.”

Rage exploded out, but there was nothing I could do with it. “You pathetic little man, I am going to fucking kill—”

I never got to finish that threat. A tranquilizer dart in the shoulder flooded me with a dose of sedatives that would have been lethal on anyone with a true heartbeat. My vision blurred, and my tongue grew heavy. Seconds later I was out.

My head felt cloudy when I came to. Gradually the haze began to clear. My anger, however, had not faded, and I sat up with a growl to find that I was no longer in the lab. Briggs had taken advantage of having me unconscious and put me in a room built for containing people like me.

I was alone, but a guard watched me through a small window in the door. He pulled out his phone, most likely reporting to Briggs that I was awake. My wrists were still cuffed, and I was splayed awkwardly on the bed in the corner of the small room, as if I’d been haphazardly tossed there.

“That motherfucker,” I seethed as I took in my surroundings.

The room was not so different from the one Kale had been held in. A bed and a small desk with a lamp accounted for all of the furnishings. The walls were solid stone. Though I couldn’t hear anyone on the other side, I could feel them. Werewolf. But not Juliet. The opposite wall felt like nothing. Nobody was in there or perhaps there was no cell on that side. For, minus the bars, this room was a cell.

No marks marred my veins, but I knew they’d taken my blood. The knowledge of it left me with a sick sensation. Blood like mine could be more than dangerous in the hands of the government. It could be a weapon. I remembered that Arys had said Briggs wanted me for a weapon. If I could not be made into an FPA weapon, perhaps that was his next best option: creating one from my blood.

I sat down in the desk chair after turning it to face the door. Then I waited. Briggs came quicker than I’d anticipated. After exchanging words that I couldn’t hear with the guard outside, he let himself in. So they’d done some soundproofing as well.

The guard stood watch outside the door, ready to enter if I gave him a reason to. I sat there staring at Briggs who rested his hand on his gun.

“You’re a real piece of shit, you know that?” I greeted him with a snarl. “My sister is way too good for you.”

“You left me no choice,” he said, remaining near the door. We both knew how fast I could get out of the chair and snap his neck. He was taking a big risk here. Of course, we both also knew that he was supposed to be my way out, so he was safe, for now.

“No choice? You had no choice but to steal my DNA without my consent? Fuck you, Briggs.”

He fixed me with his well-practiced, no-nonsense, Fed stare. “I’m not here to discuss our methods with you. I’ve reported your arrest to head office. It’s official. They will be releasing Juliet once the paperwork goes through.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s here. Several doors down.”

“I want to see her,” I demanded.

“Of course you do. And you will. But not until after I can get you out. If she comes to see you and then you somehow escape, it’s going to look like she had something to do with it.”

I couldn’t argue with that. “You still plan to let me out?”

Briggs shifted his gaze just enough to make me suspicious. “I said I would. But I didn’t say when.”

I was on my feet so fast he took a step back, putting his back against the door. “What the fuck does that mean?”

He drew his gun but held it at his side rather than pointing it at me. “It means that you may have to stay a while. At least until I can find a way to spring you without causing undue suspicion.”

“Um, no.” I shook my head and laughed, filling the room with venom. “I’m not going to just hang out here waiting for you to decide it’s a good time while you torture and test me in the fucking meantime.”

“It won’t be like that. I’ll make sure of it.” Briggs cast a glance at the guard who watched us intently through the window. “You’ll just have to trust me.”

I clasped my hands together in order to keep from wrapping them around his throat. “I don’t. I never will. If you think keeping me here is going to help you recruit me or brainwash me or whatever you do to get my kind to work with you, then think again. I’d rather be dead than work for you.”

A muscle twitched in his jaw, an unconscious reaction that confirmed what Arys had said. That was exactly what Briggs wanted. “You know, Alexa, virtually all of the inhuman agents we have here came to us seeking employment. That may be hard for you to believe, but it’s true. In fact, almost everyone here has some kind of paranormal history that led them to this occupation.” He shrugged, leaving it to me to accept or not.

My curiosity was piqued. I studied him, searching his dark eyes. “Oh yeah? So what was it that brought you here?”

His expression hardened as Briggs sought to throw a mask of deception over the truth. But it was too late because I’d already seen it in his eyes. Briggs wasn’t just an agent with a hard on for the supernatural. There was something more going on with him. How did I not see it before?

“I didn’t come to talk about me,” he said. His posture stiffened. I’d made him uncomfortable.

“So? Tell me anyway. Make yourself relatable, and maybe we’ll get along a lot better. I mean, you’re sleeping with my sister. We could end up being family. Might as well share what it is that makes you more like us than you want to admit.” My smile must have looked as vicious as it felt because Briggs responded with a scowl.

As we stood there staring at each other, I got the sensation of a ghost-like hand on my arm. Nobody was there, and I did my best to ignore the unseen apparition. The place was filled with them.

But then it whispered in my ear, so quiet I had to strain to hear. ‘He’s a dreamer. Afraid of himself. Afraid to sleep in the dark. So he works the night away.’

A dreamer? That could be interpreted a few ways. I didn’t react to the voice. It could have been a long-dead occupant of the hospital or even the evil entity that fed the energy here. Paying attention to it would only encourage it, and I didn’t need that shit getting inside my head.