Chapter Sixty-One
This lab opens into a huge room. Probably thirty by fifty feet and at its center is a cylindrical multi-tiered storage compartment with an assortment of tissue samples and–oh my god–those are fetuses.
“What the fuck, Morgan!?” Michail lifts his gun. I know him. He’s thinking about lighting this whole place up.
Can’t say I disagree with the sentiment.
“Over here,” she says, moving to a wall of freezers at the far end of the room. “That other cooler is used regularly and it isn’t good for samples. It introduces thermal cycling stress that can denature the cells.”
I glance at her sharply. For someone who isn’t ‘involved’ in this company she seems to know a lot about it.
“These are the deep freeze coolers. -135℃.”
She said she wasn’t but… “You sure you aren’t a part of this?” I ask her.
“I have degrees in psychopharmacology and biochemistry.”
“Beauty and brains,” Michail mutters.
And magic. Can’t forget that.
I notice Morgan doesn’t really answer my question. Maybe she isn’t involved now, but at one time or another, she was tangled up in this.
Michail has an insulated bag for the transport and canisters of Liquid Nitrogen in the semi so we can maintain the temperature on the way home. The Nitrogen had been shockingly easy to obtain from a local store. Apparently it’s a popular addition in cocktails these days so all the cool clubs were using it to create that smokey cauldron effect in drinks.
Morgan dons gloves to remove the samples and efficiently loads them into the bag, which Michail immediately seals and conceals in a wrap belt around his midsection.
“Set the charges,” I tell him.
That whole ‘special delivery’ from the West Coast pack… yeah, we’re going to put that to good use. I don’t know if Alpha Eric was aware of what’s been going on in his backyard, but we’ll do our part to stop it.
I watch Morgan carefully as Michail positions the C4. Right on top of huge canisters of Hydrogen gas and Liquid Nitrogen.
Morgan’s expression reveals nothing. I’m not sure how she feels about us destroying these labs, but on principle, we can’t let them have this kind of data. They can’t get away with what they’re doing.
Jacob, I call to him, mind to mind. Access the mainframe and wipe any evidence you can.
Of our egress? I’m already on it.
I don’t care about that. Of the research. If they’re storing records–I want them destroyed. Wipe this whole place clean if you can.
I highly doubt it would be that simple, and surely they have backups in place to prevent exactly this scenario–we do.
“Let’s move,” I tell them.
Michail nods excitedly.
I try to conceal my excitement.
In those vials…is the chance to save my niece.
We run out of the lab and along the corridor.
Declan, where are you?
He doesn’t reply, but I do see him pushing through the double doors at the end of the opposite hall. He’s carrying something–a woman.
Michail growls fiercely.
Behind Declan, two other beings are hunched over and walking very slowly.
They’re vampires and they’re emaciated.
My gaze swings to Morgan. Her lips are pressed into a thin line and her eyes glisten.
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