Firestorm: Heart of a Vampire #5 (10 page)

Sure, it was a part of life. But losing those she’d come to know or love during their short life spans still hurt.

Slipping back out into the hall, she realized the antiseptic odor clung to her now, as if trying to claim her—cleanse her.

Chapter Ten

E
ric watched Cat leave. Her face was pale, sweat beading at her temples as if she was fevered. He hurried out into the hall after her, gritting his teeth. He felt... worried about her. Something was wrong. “What is it?”

She moved further down the hall to a wooden bench and sank onto it. “Nothing. Doesn’t everyone hate hospitals?”

He followed slowly, catching the hint of pain in her voice. “Only when they have a reason to,” he replied cautiously.

“Well, I don’t. Guess it’s just common superstition.” She stared at him, her chin raised, as if daring him to argue.

He stepped closer, damn well taking her dare. “Look—”

The door opened and the doctor came out. “It’s not often vampires visit me. I’m Hippochras Argus. You can call me Parker. How can I help you?”

Eric stared at the doctor’s forehead.

“Ah,” the old man said. “Don’t worry. Between my glasses,” he tapped the frames, “and the special contacts I wear, you’ll be safe. I give you my word.”

Eric wasn’t one much to trust anyone, even if this man’s words rang with truth. He continued to stare at the doctor’s forehead.

On the bench, Cat gasped. “Your eyes are beautiful,” she whispered.

Unconsciously, Eric’s gaze met the doctor’s. His eyes were silver, as if circular mirrors ringed the irises.

Argus was still smiling. “Technology is wonderful these days. Makes me safe to be around others. Come, let’s retire to my office where we can speak in privacy.”

As he led them down the hall, Argus linked his arm with Cat’s.

Eric’s stomach churned at seeing the doctor touch her. He assured himself he was only concerned for her safety. He was her sitter after all.

“You wouldn’t believe the many years I spent alone, for fear of sending more poor creatures to their graves,” Argus said. “Now, I’m helping to save lives.”

Eric glanced sharply at the back of the man’s graying head. “You work in a morgue. They’re already dead.”

Argus craned his head in an eerie, inhumanly way. “I don’t sleep, boy. My second job is as a scientist. Do you know how close we are to finding cures for some of the deadliest diseases? My work here only enhances my understanding of how mortal bodies can become ravaged by those plagues.”

“Humph,” Eric replied.

Cat looked up at the doctor with admiration, making the roiling in the pit of Eric’s stomach flare even more. He ignored it, instead concentrating on the man in front of him.

Argus could act the kindly old grandfather, looking out for mortals, all he wanted. But the man was a monster, not even human.

And Eric didn’t trust him one bit.

In the office, Argus pulled out a seat for Cat, then rounded his desk and took a throne-like chair. “So, how can I help you?”

Cat started to speak, but Eric grasped her shoulder, squeezing lightly to urge caution.

She glanced up at him, mouth still open in surprise.

Eric said, “The werewolf Judge sent us regarding the recent murders. The Judge stated the two of you couldn’t figure out how they died.”

That should make Argus pause if he thought about harming them. All Arcaine knew the power of the Judges.

Not that the wolf would lift a hand to help them, but the doctor wouldn’t know that.

Except the sparkle in the man’s eyes and his sly grin said he did know. “Well, now,” Argus began. “I assume you’d like to see for yourself.”

Cat shuddered beneath his hand and Eric realized he was still touching her. And he realized it calmed him, helped him focus. That shouldn’t be. He dropped his hand, though when she shivered again, he immediately wanted to comfort her.

Trying harder to ignore the soft feelings stirring, Eric glanced back to the doctor.

The man was assessing them both, as if trying to decide how good a meal they’d make.

Eric almost reached for his axe for comfort, but restrained himself. “I would, yes. Cat can stay here.”

She jumped to her feet, flashing him an impervious, irritated look. “I’m coming too.”

Eric shrugged.

Argus grinned wider as he stood. “Well, then. The bodies are kept in a hidden basement room. Posterity, you understand. Allow me to lead the way.”

On the opposite side of his office, he tugged a hidden lever behind a set of filing cabinets. As if they were connected, they swung out, revealing a narrow opening leading to a descending staircase. The doctor flipped a switch, and light dimly illuminated the steps.

“Ready?” Argus asked, his tone challenging.

This time, Eric did reach up to rub the handle of his axe.

Oh, yeah. He was ready. He’d be ready for anything.

* * *

Cat stared into the shadows, a dark premonition creeping ghostly fingers up her spine. She didn’t want to go down there.

Dreaded going down there, though she didn’t know why.

But she wasn’t staying behind. These were her coven members. At the very least, she owed it to them to make this final trek, honor them with her presence, figure out how they had been murdered.

She stood, wobbling on her still chilled feet.

Eric grabbed her arm to keep her upright. “Are you all right?” he asked softly.

“Fine.” She grabbed his arm and held herself steady as she pulled off her heels, then left them on the chair. “Let’s go.”

Heading for the doctor, she waited for him to go first, then followed onto the stone steps.

The stairway seemed to only go down about two stories. But by the time they reached the brightly lit room at the bottom, she was chilled inside and out.

Not just from the cold, but from the dark wrongness she’d been feeling lately.

It was stronger down here.

Overpowering, undeniable.

And suddenly she was no longer getting warm, kindly feelings from the doctor, but something much colder. Predatory.

She was grateful for the warmth of Eric’s presence at her back.

The room was about twenty feet wide where the stairs ended, and stretched on about forty feet long. On the far wall, there was a closed door, with five silvery padlocks glinting along the frame, keeping it secured.

She didn’t ask.

To the far right, gurneys lined up against overlarge cabinets bolted to the walls. At the foot of each metal death bed lay smaller tables, covered in numerous medical instruments—syringes filled with different colored liquids, rope, wire, tubing, and bowls of various substances including one which looked like salt, and another with some sparkling blue powder.

“What is all this?” Eric asked from behind her, his voice breaking the silence and making her jump.

His hand brushed her back, as if in comfort. She forced herself not to visibly react as his warmth spread through her, making her feel safer.

If something untoward happened down here, she had plenty of her own weapons to deal with it. She’d probably be able to get out alive. With Eric along, not only did her odds go up, so did her confidence.

Which was strange. She wasn’t used to relying on other people. Hadn’t done so in a very long time.

Argus grinned again, sending ant-like chills prickling over her neck.

Beneath the mirrored contacts, his eyes narrowed as he stared at them. “The morgue beneath the morgue. This is where we bring those who humanity wishes to deny exist. Human fear is... adorable.”

“Adorable?” she repeated.

Argus continued to grin enigmatically.

“And the bodies? Are all of them vampires?” Eric asked brusquely.

Cat couldn’t believe so. Thirteen of the gurneys held body bags. But she only knew of six murders. The beating of her heart thumped in her ears. The constant ache grew as she was faced with those under her protection. Those she’d failed.

Argus didn’t answer, but headed for the bodies. He stopped at the first one, unzipped the bag to reveal the face and head. “Vampire.”

He moved around the metal table to the second body and did the same thing. Then the next. The first six were vampires from her coven. With each revelation, the pain of their deaths hit harder, fiercer. The guilt burned the back of her throat and turned her stomach.

Eric shot her a questioning glance and she nodded, blinking back the heat of tears.

With trepidation, her stomach sinking and roiling with nausea, she watched as Argus unzipped the seventh corpse, praying she wouldn’t see Abby’s or Jacques’ face beneath any of the remaining bags.

The seventh was another vampire, but no one she recognized. “Where did you find him?”

Argus didn’t glance up as he moved to the next table. “Swamp. You don’t want to see the rest of him.”

She glanced over the body bag, his words forcing her to realize the shape was irregular. Incomplete.

Her arm brushed Eric’s. She’d unconsciously moved closer to him. Thankfully, he didn’t back away. He stared at the newly revealed face on the eighth table.

“I believe this woman was a banshee-fey crossbreed,” Argus stated.

The woman’s hair and lips were tinged green, rather than the bloodless blue of the vampires. The tips of her ears ended in almost imperceptible points.

The next four bodies were shifters. Two wolves, a bear and a lion.

When Argus revealed the thirteenth face, Cat’s knees went weak. With a cry, she ran to the table, uncontrollably sinking to her knees.

Strong, warm arms wrapped around her, holding her up. Eric’s voice broke through her devastation, “I’m sorry, Cat.”

“Nina,” she said, her voice breaking. “You were supposed to have left town.”

Laying her cheek against Eric’s chest, she squeezed her eyes tight, but tears fell anyway. Her heart burned.

Eric rubbed her back awkwardly, but it helped.

She breathed in his scent, using it to force herself to calm. She could cry later. Right now wasn’t the time.

Slowly, she turned her head on Eric’s chest and looked at Nina’s pale face. Her cheeks and eyes were sunken, her lips dried and cracked.

“Do you know what killed her?” she asked, her voice only catching a little.

Argus stood on the other side of the gurney. “I am terribly sorry for the shock.” His eyes shone with sympathy, but she didn’t quite believe the truth of it. “We found her... what is her name?”

“Nina,” she replied, reluctantly stepping from Eric’s embrace. Cold hit her and she rubbed her arms.

Eric watched Argus closely. “So, cause of death?”

The doctor blinked, then nodded. “Oh, yes. Same as all the others. There’s nothing I’ve been able to find. No marks. She hasn’t been drained of blood, so no apparent cause for the dehydration. I’ve searched for signs of magic, different types of sorcery. There’s nothing that I recognize.” His eyes sharpened and he glanced at the smaller table at the foot of the gurney. “I’ve been around a while,” he said with a dry laugh. “I’ve seen a lot. But this... I can’t explain it.”

Cat wanted to scream. To cry. To throw all the things off the little table, smash them to bits on the ground. At the disappearances, these deaths. At her own helplessness.

But mostly, she wanted to claw the doctor by his throat—be damned he was a gorgon who could kill her, turn her to stone with one glance—and force him to tell her how her coven members had died.

She gripped her hands together, her nails digging into flesh. The pain pulled her mind from the brink.

As if sensing her inner turmoil, Eric grasped one of her hands, holding it in his own.

That helped even more.

Taking a couple deep, calming breaths filled with Eric’s scent, she looked away from Nina before she lost it. She was supposed to protect the girl. Yet another failure.

How many more would die under her useless watch?

“How can you not know who killed them?” Eric asked.

Argus shook his head as he assessed them sadly. “I don’t know that, either.”

Chapter Eleven

A
fter a few more unanswered questions, Cat headed upstairs. In the office, she slipped her shoes back on, then strode out and down the hall, nearly running. Eric easily kept up, but worried about her psyche. Pain and guilt radiated from her, so deep were her wounds, it was nearly agonizing from the shadows in her eyes.

“Will you be all right?” he asked quietly.

She laughed humorlessly, the sound making him cringe. “Eventually.”

Outside, the snow had stopped, and most of what had fallen had melted.

As they walked through the parking lot, Eric watched Cat. She was pale, her brows drawn. She worried her lower lip between her teeth, flashing a bit of fang every now and then.