Replica(87)

Elena’s blood coursed through my veins; she was far older than me, which meant she’d given me a powerful tool to help Rachel succeed in her quest. I would be able to withstand sunlight in limited exposures.

The satellite phone in the Humvee rang as we settled in, and we stared at it as if it were a bomb.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, it’s just a phone.” Rachel grabbed it and put it to her ear. The voice on the other side was all too clear, and his words were the bomb we’d feared.

“Ah, Rachel, lovely to see you’ve survived.”

Hades. I knew it from her thoughts.

“Not like you were much help.”

“I did my best. I even sent you a lovely gift made of silver. Did you get it?”

She tightened her grip on the phone, and I held my hand out. “Let me.”

“Good luck, he’s a slippery fucker.”

He tsked on the other side of the line. I pressed the phone to my ear. “Hades.”

“And who is this? Wait, let me guess...Lea, perhaps? The vampire gone rogue, killing her own kind in the hopes of redeeming an unredeemable soul?” He laughed, but it didn’t bother me.

“And you would be Hades, the scientist Stravinsky wouldn’t turn into a vampire?” It was a guess.

He sucked in a sharp breath. “Bitch.”

I smiled. “Every day. What do you want?”

“You need help. And for a price, I can give it.”

I motioned for Ivan to start the truck up and move forward. “I don’t think we need your help.”

“No? What about Stravinsky?”

I yawned into the phone, making sure that he heard it. “He and I came to an agreement.”

“What?” He stuttered the one word.

“Yes, not that it’s any of your business. But I do have something in mind for you, if you’re willing to meet with me and Rachel.”

Rachel tipped her head and I tried to convey the message of what I had in mind. Hades was a loose end—a man who would go to whomever he thought would help him acquire his goals. And like Victor, his goal was simple. Immortality.

“I assume you’re close?” I yawned again.

“Very.”

“The village?” I motioned for Ivan to slow the truck.

Hades was silent. “What are you offering?”

“Exactly what you want,” I purred.

“The next village over.” He gave us coordinates and I hung up the phone.

“What are we doing?” Rachel leaned forward and planted her hands on the dash. “The fucker led us on. He gave me just enough info to get me in and killed, and not much else. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have anything on Stravinsky now that the facility is gone.”

“She’s going to kill him, aren’t you?” Antonio settled deeper into seat.

Rachel shook her head. “No, she’s not.”

I couldn’t help but grin. There was a benefit to having Rachel in my head. No more back and forth about truth and lies. She grunted but didn’t disagree.

“I intend to make him forget everything. To send him on a new path so we don’t have to deal with him again. My guess is he was using us to show Stravinsky that he could hurt him in a bid to force the vampire’s hand. It didn’t work, and now he wants what I can give him,” I said. “Loose ends kill people. I won’t have Hades getting in our way or worse, siding with Stravinsky again.”

It took us an hour to get there, and the sun was bright enough that I wanted nothing more than to curl up in the back of the truck. But we had to deal with Hades first.

The village was empty of people and several of the homes smoldered with a thick black smoke. Nothing moved—there weren’t even any stray chickens pecking at the dirt.

“This isn’t Stravinsky’s doing, is it?” Ivan asked.

“No, this is the war,” Rachel said, her voice soft. Ivan parked the truck and we climbed out. I let Ivan lead, Rachel and I followed—side by side—and Antonio brought up the rear.

Ivan didn’t knock on the door, just shoved it open and grabbed Hades while the scientist screeched at the top of his lungs. Two werewolves leapt from the shadows of the room.

Ivan took one.

Rachel and I took the other. The fight was intense, brief, and over before it had really begun.

I gave Ivan a nod of thanks as he threw the two bodies outside. “I wasn’t going to kill you, Hades.” I stepped toward him. “But I think I’ve changed my mind.”

I grabbed him and bit into his neck, draining him down. With it I saw his memories and thoughts. How the blood cells in the suicide pill had been derived from what Stravinsky had mistakenly believed was the last witch, and how Hades had discovered that Rachel was connected to the Sangre de la Bruja.