Darkness Rises(64)

Damn. Krysta wondered how that would work. Would the soldiers volunteer to be infected? Would they even understand what they would be infected with? Would they know, going in, that they would be killed a year later? Or would that caveat be kept from them?
“I think we all know what happened,” Roland spoke again, “why mercenaries have risen against us once more.”
“Not really,” Étienne said.
Several others nodded. They truly seemed baffled.
Roland shook his head. “Isn’t it obvious? Someone at the network betrayed us.”
Chris slammed a hand down on the table. “Bullshit!”
Krysta jumped.
Unperturbed, Roland returned his irate stare. “One of your mortal pets decided a billion dollars in his bank account sounded pretty damned good and sold us out. Probably one of your techno-geeps.”
“Geeks,” his wife murmured, chewing her lower lip.
“Fuck you, Roland! My people are handpicked and loyal to the core. You have no reason to doubt them beyond your massive paranoia and I’m sick of you trying to dump that shit on my doorstep!”
Roland’s eyes flashed amber.
Krysta’s heartbeat picked up nervously.
Étienne reached across her lap and rested a hand on the thigh farthest from him as though readying himself to sweep her behind him if all hell broke loose.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Sean palm a dagger under the table.
Oh, crap.
Roland leaned forward. “I doubt everyone because of what you call my massive paranoia. Experience has taught me that even those I trust the most could stab me in the back. And have. However, I doubt your people and think them responsible for this new threat because it is the only plausible explanation. No one else knew. No one else could gain access to the tranquilizer, of which you keep a substantial supply at network headquarters. A network employee or employees, therefore, must be responsible.”
Judging by the looks of things, Roland wasn’t the only one present who thought so now that he had suggested it.
Chris was furious. “That isn’t the only explanation. Maybe one of the memory wipes didn’t work.”
“The memory wipes worked,” Seth said. “Had Étienne or Lisette handled the memories, then I would be concerned.”
Krysta looked at Étienne, who shrugged. I told you there were limits to my telepathic abilities. I am only a couple hundred years old.
Uh-huh. Just a couple, she thought back to him. A veritable infant.
His lips twitched. But he kept his hand on her thigh and didn’t relax.
“However, David and I handled it,” Seth continued. “Any memories we bury never see the light of day again.”
Jenna slowly raised a hand.
Seth smiled. “Yes, Jenna?”
“I’m confused. Do you erase the memories or bury them?”
“We bury them. Truly wiping them or erasing them can cause brain damage and scarring.”
“Oh.”
Roland leaned back. “And thus my point is proven.”
“Well,” Chris said, “we must have missed something on the technical side. A laptop or a DVD or an exterior hard drive one of the mercenaries took home.”
David shook his head. “We searched their minds before we buried the pertinent memories. If someone so much as wrote themselves a note on a napkin and took it home with them, we found it and destroyed it.”
Even though Étienne thought Chris wanted to interrogate her, Krysta actually found herself feeling sorry for him. The blond looked both furious and crushed at the idea that one of his own people may have strayed from the fold.
“Look into it,” Seth told him. “It’s the most logical hypothesis. Someone at the network must have taken information to another mercenary group and sold them the tranquilizer. Narrow down the possibilities.”
Stone-faced, Chris nodded.
“Seconds,” David said, “make sure your immortals have an ample supply of the antidote and don’t let them leave the house without it.”
The mortals around the table nodded.
Seth leaned back. “Immortals, start carrying your infrared goggles and scopes again and check periodically for heat signatures in shadows even your acute vision cannot penetrate. If you are struck with a dart, get the hell out of there and call your Second. The younger immortals among us should consider returning to hunting in pairs. For now, I leave the decision up to you. That will change if another mercenary attack ensues.”
Bastien cleared his throat. “We should also step up our attempts to recruit vampires.”
“What?” Krysta blurted, then flushed when everyone looked at her.
“The ones who have not yet entirely lost their sanity,” he clarified. “We can’t risk the mercenaries getting their hands on the virus by capturing a vampire, so we must convince the vampires we’re the lesser of two evils and see if we can’t bring them over to our side.”