A Night with a Vampire by Cynthia Cooke Page B

it’s working.”
    â€œGood. Now where do you think he would have taken her?”
    â€œNot far. Uncle Ben knew I was dying, but he didn’t know that I’ve changed in certain ways. Like my sight and my hearing.”
    â€œLike a vampire’s, eh?”
    â€œIt’s amazing.” Cayman sat up and swung his legs off the bed. “Let’s go get my sister.”
    Â 
    â€œUncle Ben, what in the world are you hoping to accomplish?” Xana asked, straining against the rope he used to tie her hands behind her back. She stared at her uncle, unable to believe the man in front of her was the same one who had bought her her first car and who had been there for her when she needed him.
    â€œI’ve spent my whole life mending these soldiers, doing everything I could to repair their lives. They come back from duty with a lot more than broken bones, torn ligaments and missing limbs. These men lose so much out there on the battlefields. And for what? Do you think anyone here even understands or appreciates their sacrifice? They deserve more and I can give that to them.”
    â€œHow? By turning them into monsters?”
    â€œBy giving them an advantage, by giving them more than armored cars and vests. With vampire DNA, they can see better, hear better, smell more. They will be faster, stronger, and—”
    â€œAble to leap tall buildings with a single bound. Do you not know how ridiculous you sound? People are dying. And it’s all because of you and your insanity.”
    â€œPeople have been dying for years but no one sees and no one cares.”
    â€œI understand. And it’s terrible. But these men chose their paths. The ones you’ve killed had no choice. The vampires you’ve infected with your virus are murdering people, and that’s on your doorstep. You have to stop this. You have to find a different way.”
    â€œYou should listen to her,” Cayman said, stepping into the room and leaning against the doorframe. He looked like Cayman, sounded like Cayman, but his eyes were a startling preternatural blue.
    Uncle Ben’s gray eyes widened. “How?”
    â€œHow did I survive when you, my dear uncle, left me for dead? A vampire saved me.”
    Uncle Ben was suddenly standing behind her, a scalpel held against her throat. “Give me that formula.”
    In a flash Uncle Ben was on the ground and Marius was standing behind her, undoing her ropes.
    â€œIf anyone is going to tie you up, it’s going to be me.”
    â€œPromise?” she asked with a wicked smile.
    â€œCan you two do that later? Frankly, it’s revolting,” Cayman said, and pulled his uncle up from the ground.
    â€œWhat are you going to do with him?” Xana asked Cayman.
    â€œI’m going to make sure his days of experimentation are over. I’ll stay here with him and help him destroy every bit of his data, everything he has on this project, and then he’s going to resign from the hospital.”
    â€œAnd if I don’t?” Uncle Ben asked with barely restrained fury.
    â€œThen you will have to answer to the hospital board and eventually the police for what you’ve done to me, and the other men in the next hall.”
    Other men ? “Will they survive?” Xana asked.
    â€œYes. I’ll make sure of it,” Marius said. “But right now, I need to get back to my home. I’d like you to come with me.”
    â€œCayman?”
    He nodded. “I’m fine. Go on. We’ll be busy here for a long while.”
    Before she could agree, Marius picked her up in his arms and the next thing she knew they were standing in the parking lot and her head was spinning. A dark sedan approached and the passenger window rolled down.
    â€œHere’s the formula,” Marius said. “I want an antidote and a vaccine by nightfall.”
    â€œI’ll see what I can do,” a gray-haired man with Coke-bottle spectacles said