we hit them now. So we followed the men toward the back of the house. When we knew they were headed for the garage, we shifted into high gear.
We dodged into the dining room, slipped out the poolside doors and raced to our car. Still holding hands, we swept through the night like a couple of phantoms, Vayl's power pushing us so our feet barely touched the ground. I'd never felt so strong, as if all the complex systems that allowed me to exist were working with such perfect precision I could perform miracles if I wanted to.
Nifty Gift
, I thought. If Vayl's ferocious grin was any sign, he thought so too.
I'd left the car unlocked just in case. My keys were in my hand almost before I thought of it, and within seconds we were rolling down the driveway.
"No lights in the rearview," I said.
"Good. Do you know where you are going?"
"Yeah. One of the neighboring houses is vacant. The drive's open, but there's a row of pine trees near the road that screens the rest of the yard and the house. We can wait there."
"Excellent work, Jasmine." I nodded my thanks, pressing my lips together to keep myself from grinning at the compliment.
The guards at the gate waved us through without even a second glance. I made a left as if I was headed for the interstate. When the gate had disappeared behind us I took the next right and killed the headlights. After some high speed, highly illegal driving, I hit the driveway of the empty house, drove into the grass and behind the trees. With my night vision activated I could easily see Assan's mansion and, moments later, the headlights of a vehicle began to close the distance between the house and gate. Vayl didn't tell me it was all in my hands now. Even though I'd screwed up less than an hour before, he still trusted me to know my job. I liked that about him.
My hands were wet on the wheel as I pulled back onto the street. Following taillights is easy in a low traffic area like Assan's neighborhood. It gets a little more challenging on the interstate, but Assan's vehicle, an extended-cab Dodge Ram the color of strawberry Pop Tart filling, was tough to miss. Too bad this virus bombshell had blown our original assignment to shreds. I could've taken him out on the Interstate and no one would ever have known it wasn't an accident.
Ten minutes later we'd followed the Pop Tart truck to an abandoned air force base. As soon as we could, we ditched the car and headed toward a congregation of sightless buildings gathered in the empty compound. A hundred yards from Assan's truck, we grabbed cover among the jungle of shrubs and tall grasses that edged one of the base's old helipads and watched the two men exit their vehicle. The vamp leaned on the hood while Assan went to an electric pole where he fiddled inside a large gray box. Seconds later a ring of red lights came on and less than five minutes after that I heard the rhythmic thump of helicopter blades spinning overhead.
I tensed with expectation as the copter touched down and a couple, one large, one small, wearing black jumpsuits hopped out. They crouched low as they hurried toward Assan's truck. Moments later the helicopter flew away and our four subjects made their own exit. I sat in the weeds and watched them go, trying to come to some practical conclusions.
Okay. So we have two new vamps named Svetlana and Boris arriving the night before the final test of a virus that mutates and is capable of purge-like deaths. Hey, maybe it's not all that bad. Maybe the Russians are computer geeks and the virus is just a big, bad worm. I wish. I really, really do.
We gave Assan, his buddy and the Russians just enough lead-time that they wouldn't see us pull out behind them, and hoped their next stop would lead us to some answers that didn't include the phrase, 'end of the world as we know it.'
----
Chapter Four
One of my worst childhood memories is of sitting at the kitchen table of our tiny house on the base at Quantico. I was crying so hard my favorite
We dodged into the dining room, slipped out the poolside doors and raced to our car. Still holding hands, we swept through the night like a couple of phantoms, Vayl's power pushing us so our feet barely touched the ground. I'd never felt so strong, as if all the complex systems that allowed me to exist were working with such perfect precision I could perform miracles if I wanted to.
Nifty Gift
, I thought. If Vayl's ferocious grin was any sign, he thought so too.
I'd left the car unlocked just in case. My keys were in my hand almost before I thought of it, and within seconds we were rolling down the driveway.
"No lights in the rearview," I said.
"Good. Do you know where you are going?"
"Yeah. One of the neighboring houses is vacant. The drive's open, but there's a row of pine trees near the road that screens the rest of the yard and the house. We can wait there."
"Excellent work, Jasmine." I nodded my thanks, pressing my lips together to keep myself from grinning at the compliment.
The guards at the gate waved us through without even a second glance. I made a left as if I was headed for the interstate. When the gate had disappeared behind us I took the next right and killed the headlights. After some high speed, highly illegal driving, I hit the driveway of the empty house, drove into the grass and behind the trees. With my night vision activated I could easily see Assan's mansion and, moments later, the headlights of a vehicle began to close the distance between the house and gate. Vayl didn't tell me it was all in my hands now. Even though I'd screwed up less than an hour before, he still trusted me to know my job. I liked that about him.
My hands were wet on the wheel as I pulled back onto the street. Following taillights is easy in a low traffic area like Assan's neighborhood. It gets a little more challenging on the interstate, but Assan's vehicle, an extended-cab Dodge Ram the color of strawberry Pop Tart filling, was tough to miss. Too bad this virus bombshell had blown our original assignment to shreds. I could've taken him out on the Interstate and no one would ever have known it wasn't an accident.
Ten minutes later we'd followed the Pop Tart truck to an abandoned air force base. As soon as we could, we ditched the car and headed toward a congregation of sightless buildings gathered in the empty compound. A hundred yards from Assan's truck, we grabbed cover among the jungle of shrubs and tall grasses that edged one of the base's old helipads and watched the two men exit their vehicle. The vamp leaned on the hood while Assan went to an electric pole where he fiddled inside a large gray box. Seconds later a ring of red lights came on and less than five minutes after that I heard the rhythmic thump of helicopter blades spinning overhead.
I tensed with expectation as the copter touched down and a couple, one large, one small, wearing black jumpsuits hopped out. They crouched low as they hurried toward Assan's truck. Moments later the helicopter flew away and our four subjects made their own exit. I sat in the weeds and watched them go, trying to come to some practical conclusions.
Okay. So we have two new vamps named Svetlana and Boris arriving the night before the final test of a virus that mutates and is capable of purge-like deaths. Hey, maybe it's not all that bad. Maybe the Russians are computer geeks and the virus is just a big, bad worm. I wish. I really, really do.
We gave Assan, his buddy and the Russians just enough lead-time that they wouldn't see us pull out behind them, and hoped their next stop would lead us to some answers that didn't include the phrase, 'end of the world as we know it.'
----
Chapter Four
One of my worst childhood memories is of sitting at the kitchen table of our tiny house on the base at Quantico. I was crying so hard my favorite
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