Immortal Unchained(85)

"Towers and gatehouse?" he asked with interest.

Sarita nodded. "Aside from the guy in the gatehouse, there were four towers. One on each corner of the fencing around the labs," she said succinctly. "There were two men in each tower. But they were more interested in staring at the buildings inside the fence than anyone coming from outside." She paused, and then said, "Now that I know about the people they've kidnapped, I suppose their job is really to watch for possible escape attempts rather than intruders getting in." Her mouth twisted slightly. "I did think when I saw it that the setup looked more like a prison than labs."

Shaking her head, she said, "But while there are lots of men around, like I said, his security is a joke. At least by the labs. The guy in the gatehouse was watching porn. I just walked right past him. And the guys in the towers didn't notice me walking to the buildings until I was halfway to the first one. I was inside before they could climb down the ladder to the ground." She paused and said, "He may have more people inside the buildings, though. In fact, I know he has at least one other person working with him. His assistant, Asherah," Sarita said and then added, "She was a tall blond Amazon, cold as a fish and snarky. Didn't seem to like me much."

"Impossible," Domitian said softly and Sarita grinned at him in response. He smiled back and then said, "Tell me about Dressler's labs."

Sarita nodded. "I only saw the first room of the building closest to the gate. But there are several buildings. From the helicopter I counted six in the fenced-in area and one outside of it. They look like army barracks, long low, narrow metal structures with only one door each on the end facing the gatehouse. No windows that I saw," Sarita added grimly and then said, "I think the one outside the fence is probably the barracks and mess hall for the security guys. A bunch of them would come up at meal times to collect the food, but they took it back to that building to eat and then returned the pans and stuff after."




 

 

She paused, thought for a minute, and then shrugged. "That's all I know."

Domitian nodded on a sigh. It would have to be enough.

"But we can't forget to mention the gilled man to your uncle," Sarita added suddenly. "There might be more like him out there. In fact, now that I think about it, there most likely are. That is probably how your uncle and that Santo fellow as well as the others were dragged off the boats and disappeared without your sister and the other pilots seeing."

"Si." Domitian nodded slowly. That made perfect sense. They could easily have been shot with a dart and dragged over the side, pulled down into the depths and dragged away by one of the creatures he'd killed on their way here. They could have dragged the immortals all the way to the island without surfacing and not killed them. The nanos would simply have gone into a sort of stasis and then activated again to repair things once oxygenated blood was available again. He doubted that had happened, however. Some of them had been taken so far from the island that traveling back and forth would take too long. There must have been boats around, out of sight, waiting for them to bring their quarry.

"Warn them about winged hybrids watching from the air too," Thorne said.

Domitian glanced to him sharply, but he wasn't being sarcastic.

Raising an eyebrow, the man asked, "Did you think I was the only one?"

"Actually, I did," Domitian admitted with a wry twist to his lips. "There are others, though?"

Thorne nodded. "They only fly at night. Probably because El Doctor doesn't wish them to be seen, but sometimes they fly out quite a distance over the ocean."

"Are there other hybrids I need to warn them about?" he asked.

"I'm sure there are many variations," he said grimly. "However, since I do not go to the other side of the island . . ." He shrugged. "I'm afraid I can't help you."

"Of course," Domitian said and nodded thoughtfully. He'd just have to warn them to keep their eyes open.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I'm ready for bed," Mrs. Dressler announced brightly.

"Me too." Sarita's grandmother stood, hesitated and then bent to kiss Sarita's cheek shyly before saying, "You should sleep too, Chiquita. You have been up all night."

"Yes, abuela," Sarita said softly, her hand rising to touch her cheek where her grandmother had kissed her.

"I'll walk up with you after I see Elizabeth to bed," Maria Reyes added with a smile.

Domitian saw the way Sarita's eyes softened and realized quite suddenly that she hadn't had the softer influence and affection of a female in her life for a very long time, not since she was thirteen. This must all be a bit overwhelming for her in some respects.