Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles (27 page)

The gray suited man looked annoyed.
 
He was taller than almost everyone here, his whip-thin body only making him look taller. His hair was almost white but his face was unwrinkled.
 
His dark blue eyes took in Marcus and Alec and then dismissed them.

“Silas, you remember Senator Taylor,” the man’s voice was higher than what Alec had expected.

Senator Taylor started speaking before the tall man was finished, causing him to narrow his eyes and glare at the senator.

“My son is in there with that crazy man,” he practically spat out.
 
“What do you and…your
people
plan to do about it.”
 
The Senator was obviously speaking of the vampires, but how did he know about them?

“Senator, we are working on it currently.
 
We will update you on any progress,” Silas said smoothly and calmly.
 
Alec wasn’t sure how he remained so calm in the face of so much anger.

“Let me tell you something,” the Senator said jabbing two fingers in Silas’s direction.
 
“If any harm comes to my son, you and your kind will regret this.
 
I’ll cut off funds for your little projects so quickly…” He didn’t get a chance to finish, as the tall man rounded on him.

“Do you really think it wise to threaten us, Senator?”
 
His gaze was heavy and full of meaning as he glared at Senator Taylor.
 
“Especially knowing what you know about us?”

The Senator didn’t even flinch.
 
“All I know is Chris is all I have left.
 
If anything happens to him it won’t matter what you do to me.
 
And if I come up missing or die under mysterious circumstances…well let’s just say you won’t like it.”
 
The Senator turned and stormed off into the crowd.

The tall man glared after him for a moment and then turned to Silas.
 

“Handle this,” he spat at Silas.
 
He too turned and followed the senator through the throng of cops and FBI agents.

Silas just shook his head.
 

“Who was that?” Alec asked.

“That was Vincent VonBell, Protectorate of Illinois.
 
Charming fellow isn’t he?” Silas said and then returned to the FBI van with all the electronic surveillance equipment.
 

As they walked up, Agent Fells said, “We are prepping an agent to go in.
 
We will have communication with him through an earpiece.
 
We can hear what is being said and communicate with him.
 
He’s going to act as the ‘vampire’ representative and try and diffuse the situation from the inside.”

“Do you think that wise?” Silas asked frowning.

“What do you suggest we do, find a real vampire to send in there?” Fells scoffed.
   
“We’re too far away from New Orleans.”

Marcus took Silas’s arm and lead him a few steps away.
 
“Send me in.”

Silas thought about it.
 
“It’s too dangerous.”

“I’ve handled things like this before,” Marcus said adamantly.
 
He had?
Alec thought to himself.

“I’m not afraid of you being able to handle yourself.
 
I’m worried about how long this standoff might last.”
 
He shook his head again.
 
“You can’t take the chance that this might last until sunrise and be trapped inside with a madman.
 
If you suddenly disappear to find shelter, what’s that going to do to his mental status?
 
And then there’s the silver to worry about.
 
You won’t be able to get close to him.
 
We can’t risk it.”
 
He sighed heavily.
 
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to send an agent in either.
 
If the man is crazy that’s one thing.
 
But if he really does know something about us and he feels tricked, he could kill everyone in there.
 
The fact that he mentioned being protected by silver makes me think he may know something.
 
We need more time and information.”

Silas approached Agent Fells who was talking to the man that was getting ready to enter the building.
 
Their heads were together and they were strategizing.

“Agent, I need you to stand down.
 
You are not to send that man in.”

Senator Taylor was standing by and suddenly stepped forward.

“Why aren’t you sending one of
your
men in?” he asked significantly.
 

“There are extenuating circumstances that prevent that,” Silas said smoothly.

“I don’t need to tell you again what’s at stake here if you fail.
 
There’s more than one way to open a can of worms,” he said glaring at Silas.
 
Alec wondered what the threat was and what the senator was talking about.

“Senator, I will not warn you again.
 
You’ve made your last threat,” Silas said dangerously.
 

“Send one of your men in.
 
Now.”
 
The Senator couldn’t meet Silas’s gaze for long and dropped it to the ground.

“I’ll do it,” Alec said quickly.
 
What the hell was he doing?
 
He’d volunteered without even thinking about it.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Silas said slowly looking at Alec.

“Give us a second,” Marcus said and motioned for Alec and Silas to step away with him.

“Listen, Alec is fast and strong and even if this lasts through till sunrise it won’t affect him.
 
He’s the only option we have.”
 
Marcus bit his lip waiting for Silas to respond.
 

“He’s not trained.
 
He’s not ready for something like this,” Silas said shaking his head.

“I’ll have one of those ear bud things so you guys can listen in and instruct me.”
 
Alec didn’t really want to go in there, but he had offered and couldn’t back down now.

“This is not a good idea.”

“This is the only idea that makes any sense and has any chance of succeeding.
 
There are lives at stake here Silas.
 
We don’t have another option.”
 
Marcus knew he had a valid argument, Silas just needed to see it.

Silas thought quietly for a moment.
 
Alec wasn’t sure if he wanted Silas to go along with the plan or not, and waited on pins and needles.
 

“Fine,” he said reluctantly after a moment.
 
“You listen and do everything we say.
 
You understand?”
 
He narrowed his eyes at Alec who nodded.

The three joined the main group and instructed them of the new plan.
 
Alec was introduced to the men and women present as Michael but Silas never explained who he was or why he was there.
 
Alec wasn’t sure what sort of authority Silas had over these people but they followed his orders.

Alec was told to hold his arms out and a bulletproof vest that said ‘FBI’ was placed over his head, the front and back of the vest covering him.
 
An agent began buckling and cinching the vest closer to Alec’s body.

“I don’t need this,” Alec said and started to go on, but Silas gave him a look and then looked at the humans significantly.
 
Alec shut his mouth and allowed the vest to be tightened without further comment.

A female agent with blonde hair walked up to him then and handed him a tiny ear bud.

“Place this in your ear, which ever you feel more comfortable with,” she said and examined the results.
 
“Good.”

In Alec’s ear he heard a man’s deep voice. “Can you hear me?
 
Test, test.”

Alec nodded and then realized what he’d done.

“Uh, yeah,” he responded.
 
Very professional.

“Good.
 
My name is Agent Burk.
 
We will monitor your progress and conversation from here.
 
Mister Montgomery will also have a mic and give you instructions as needed.
 
Is everything clear?” the voice asked.
 

“Yes,” Alec said taking a deep breath.

Marcus pulled him aside and placed his hands on Alec’s shoulders.
 
He looked directly into Alec’s eyes as he spoke.

“You can do this.
 
Just remain calm, don’t overreact or panic and use everything that I taught you.”
 
He made sure Alec understood.
 
“I’m sorry I talked Silas into this, but you are our only option here.” Marcus was watching what he said since Alec’s mic was on.
 
Alec nodded that he understood.

Marcus tapped his ear.
 
“I’m wearing a listening device as well.
 
I will hear all that happens in there.
 
Be safe.”

Alec nodded.
 
He understood his friend’s concerns.
 
Now that he was here, he was scared and didn’t want to go through with it.
 
Alec was struggling to keep his abilities on.
 
He was burning blood and was trying to hold onto that feeling of
more,
but it almost slipped away from him several times. Thankfully his thoughts and his heart calmed down and quit racing.
 
He had faced bigger and badder enemies than this guy.
 
Well, sort of.
 
The only problem was, now there were a larger number of victims.
 
It wasn’t just
his
life in danger.

Silas, Marcus and the hostage negotiator started instructing Alec on what to say and do.
 
They explained how the process worked and how to best diffuse the situation in order to get the hostages out.
 
Alec listened, absorbing all they were telling him and prepared himself mentally.
 
He could do this.
 
All he had to do was follow their instructions.
 

The phone rang and the negotiator picked it up.
 
Alec heard both sides of the conversation and knew it was time.
 

“Be careful in there.
 
Use what Marcus has been teaching you.”
 
Silas looked Alec directly in the eyes when he said this. Of course he knew Marcus was trying to teach him to use his abilities.
 
He was pretty sure nothing got past Silas.
 
He shook the hand Silas offered.

Marcus was next.
 
He hugged Alec unexpectedly and Alec hugged him back.
 
Alec wasn’t exactly sure what was going on but he didn’t want to let go.
 
He felt strangely secure with the other man’s arms wrapped tightly around him.
 
It was a strange sensation but Alec finally released his arms from around his friend.
 
“You can do this.
 
Just stay calm and listen to what we tell you.
 
You’ll be fine.” Marcus flashed his cocky grin.
 
Alec nodded and grinned back.

Alec had heard the conversation that had taken place over the phone but let the agent explain to him what was going to happen next.
 

Alec looked at everyone one last time and walked to the double doors.
 
The doorman was standing there with the key, just like the negotiator had explained.
 
The doors were unlocked and opened.
 
Alec entered and then the doors were closed and locked again.
 
The doorman and Alec both walked through and into the lobby of the hotel, where two men waited.
 
One was dressed in a guard uniform and the other was dressed head to toe in black, a black ski mask covering his face and of all things was wearing sunglasses.
 
Alec was afraid then that the man was crazy.
 
In his right hand, he carried some sort of semi-automatic weapon.
 
He was also covered in silver crosses, some large some small.
 
They were hanging around his neck, from his clothing and from his belt.
 
He looked like a jewelry salesman on crack.

The hotel lobby was opulent with cream-colored marble floors and gilded mirrors and pictures.
 
The walls were a golden brown and were warm and inviting.
 
But Alec didn’t’ really have time for any of that.
 
His attention was on the masked man before him.

“That’s far enough,” the man said holding out a gloved hand.

The security guard came up to him then.
 
He was in his thirties and seemed to be fit but with a thick body.
 
His dark hair was wet with sweat.
 
He told Alec to hold out his arms and started patting him down.
 
The man was thorough.
 
He checked inside Alec’s vest, which tickled a little and every other conceivable place he could hide a weapon.
 
The man had even gotten a good feel of Alec’s crotch to make sure there was nothing hidden there.
 
He looked at Alec apologetically and then reached up and pulled the earpiece out of his ear.
 
Damn! Alec thought.
 
Now what was he going to do?

“This is all he had on him,” the guard said taking the tiny ear bud back to the masked man.
 

The man took the tiny thing in his gloved hand and said, “Nice try,” and dropped it on the floor, grinding it under his heel.
 
Not good.

He motioned with his gun for Alec to come closer and instructed the doorman and the security officer to get back on the floor.
 
They knelt, crossed their legs one over the other and put their hands behind their head, just like everyone else that was kneeling on the floor.
 
He pulled out a metal cylinder with a red button from a pocket on his side, flipped a switch on it and pressed the red button on top and held it.