I lift my head and open my mouth to protest, but he pushes me down onto the mattress, firmer this time. “Injection number two. This will be more painful. Again, you’ll need to be perfectly still or you’ll risk an injury that we cannot repair.”
There’s a pinch, then an intense river of ice flows into my spine. Gnashing my teeth, I grip the sliver of a pillow under my jaw. The frost spreads down my legs and into my toes, up through my arms to my fingers, and into my head where a vibrant rainbow of pain flashes across my mind. Kael removes the needle and I finally allow myself to scream at the sensation of ice being injected into my marrow.
A cold sheen of sweat bursts out on my skin. “Something’s wrong,” I warn. “I feel strange.”
“It’s perfectly normal, I assure you.” He glances at his tablet. “Your vitals are within an acceptable range. Perfectly normal,” he repeats.
“Normal for whom?” I pant. “Have you actually tested this on someone?”
He scoffs, taking hold of the third and final syringe. “Of course I have.”
My extremities feel heavy, too heavy to lift. I lay flat, plastered to the bed and unable to move, unable to blink as he inserts the third and final needle.
Where the second injection was pure ice, the third injection thaws. For a split second, it feels nice, but then the warm, pleasant flush morphs into something punishing. My veins fill with fire. My skin sizzles and boils. The scent of burnt hair fills my nostrils. Even with the needle still in place and despite the risk to my spine, I scream. He removes the needle and the burning intensifies instead of abates.
I’m a raging inferno.
Is he turning me? Is this what turning into a vampire feels like?
His lips are near my ear. “The pain will ebb soon. You are an Asset. One of the best, but if you lose control, Victor will see you as a liability. And you know what he does to liabilities. Now calm down.”
He holds me to the hospital bed, the palm of his gloved hand pressing me into the thin mattress. Kael isn’t smothering me as much as he’s steadying me, keeping me still when all I want to do is tear the room apart, piece by piece.
He watches patiently, holding me still until the flame dies down to a flicker and then winks out entirely.
Once it does and I can breathe again, he lifts his hands and steps away.
Things go fuzzy. My head feels like it’s full of cotton.
I blink lazily until the haze clears.
My legs feel rejuvenated. The burning sensation is replaced with a new one; something even more intense, but far less painful. The muscles of my legs feel tingly and weightless, but strong. I feel perfectly fine. Better than fine. Pushing myself up, I watch Kael as carefully as he watches me.
“How do you feel?” he finally asks.
How do I feel? I feel like I want to jam one of those needles into his asshole. Into his eyeball…
He puts his hand out. “Eve. Calm down.”
“Humor me with an answer, Kael. How did the person you tested this on feel afterward?”
Kael swallows, taking slow, calculated steps toward the door.
“Titus and Abram will have the same upgrade?”
“Yes, and as long as your bodies accept it, you’ll be promoted as the top three Assets. You will be royalty among your peers. You will be who they all want to be,” he announces emphatically.
I run toward him, surprising myself when I reach him within a fraction of a second. My hair blows into his face from the speed I attained and stops abruptly. I can’t help but smile at his startled expression. “It worked.”
He tentatively smiles back. “It worked,” he echoes, almost as if he can’t believe it himself. “Faster than I would have ever imagined.”
“You mentioned other upgrades. There will be several more?” I questioned.
“Yes.”
“Then I highly suggest you come up with a way to make them less painful.”
He slides his eyes to the corner of the room where a camera is mounted, its red eye flashing steadily. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
“Do you have any idea how much power you could have if you stopped taking orders from others?” I whisper.
The glass door slides open and Maru steps into the room, looking warily from me to Kael. His features darken and he starts toward him. “What’s going on here?”
I grin at my trainer. “You’re going to love this.” I run for the door, but I approach so quickly, it doesn’t even sense me and I burst through the glass. Pumping my arms and feeling almost weightless, I run until I reach the training room. When Maru finally catches up, panting from exertion, I smile. “What took you so long?”
With his hands on his hips, he shakes his head. “Wow.”
Chapter Seven
Abram
I landed just yards from the shore, splashing into terrifyingly shallow water at a velocity and in a position that should have snapped my neck. It was the first thing I felt for when I breached the surface, as the memory of Enoch’s fangs tearing into my flesh came rushing back. Thankfully, my hand didn’t find mangled flesh. It didn’t come away sticky with blood, and the water around me wasn’t tinged red. My suit was shredded at the neck, but that was all. Somehow, I escaped. I survived. I made it home!
I slapped the water’s surface and let out a triumphant roar.
I’d never actually swam before, but since I could feel soft sand underfoot, I pushed myself forward with my toes and bobbed with the waves until I was in a more comfortable depth. Despite the coolness of the water, my skin stung. The impact of landing was harsher than I expected.
I’d have to find my way back to the Compound, traveling in the daylight and hiding at night to avoid vamps. Sure, staking a few would be easy, but if a hive attacked, I wouldn’t stand a chance on my own.
Large, gentle waves pushed and carried me toward the shore. The current was strong, but once I slogged out of it and waded in the surf, I rested my hands on my knees and thanked God he’d brought me through in one piece.
That was when it hit me.
I survived a vicious attack by one of the first vampires and survived.
The salt from the water stung my skin, revealing a myriad of scrapes and scratches I hadn’t known existed, but I was happy to be alive. I stood up and made my way across the sandy beach. My quads were cramping by the time I ducked into a grove of palms and fell to the ground to rest.
I didn’t jump from the turret; Eve did, and somehow, she dragged me through time with her. Which meant she dragged Titus home, too. The three of us were inexplicably bound to one another. I wanted them to break that bond by taking this containment cell out of my hand as soon as possible. Something to address with Kael upon my return, I decided.
I pressed my eyes shut, wondering what direction I should walk. Something was irritating my chest, so I pulled on the collar of my suit. My necklace lay warm against my skin.
The cross charm felt heated against my fingers, but the metal hadn’t broken. I pulled the chain out, arranging it on the outside of my suit.
I blew out a weary breath.
I can’t believe I made it back. I can’t believe I survived Enoch’s bite. My fingers curled into a ball. The top three Assets, the most technologically enhanced humans on the planet, had managed to kill exactly zero of the first vampires. We were rendered completely useless and ineffective, but in our defense, they were much deadlier than Victor and Kael realized. They were cunning liars who fed upon the weak. Beyond that, they were savvy and strong. Ferocious when provoked.