“I trusted you to ensure they would travel to the precise moment I chose, yet they did not arrive.”
“Yes, but –”
“So why should I believe you now?” Victor continued unabated. “When you say Eve is most likely dead, and Titus and Abram are probably alive, why should I trust what you’re saying?” Victor stopped pacing and stared at Kael with his brows raised.
“Something must have gone wrong,” Kael supplied weakly.
A loud ping came from Kael’s tablet, followed by a rhythmic beeping noise. “What was that?” Victor asked.
“It’s…Eve.”
“The same Eve you presumed dead only seconds ago? That Eve?”
“She isn’t dead, after all. Her vitals are registering now, and they’re strong. She’s alive.”
Victor was about to explode. “Where is she?”
“They – I don’t know, sir. I can’t trace them.”
“Kael,” Victor said calmly. “Find my Assets and deploy the clones.”
“I think sending the clones now would be a mistake, Victor.”
Victor gave him a placating smile and then asked, “Remind me…Who is the commander of our military, Kael?”
“You are,” he gritted.
“Who do the clones answer to?”
“They answer to you,” Kael said, straightening his thick glasses.
“And to whom do you answer?” Victor asked.
Kael pinched his lips before saying, “I answer to you, sir.”
“Good. Now deploy the damned clones.”
“All of them?”
Victor braced his hands against the table. “All of them. And you’d better follow my instructions to the letter this time. They better land when and where we discussed. And if I find out they didn’t…”
Kael picked up his tablet and pushed back his chair. “You’ll what? You can’t do any of this without me. Maybe you should remember that.”
My brows rose right along with Victor’s as Kael stormed from the room.
That was two days after they jumped. Now, check this out… Yarrow typed.
A second video popped onto the screen. Thousands of Eve’s clones stood in formation in an endless sea of neat rows. Though they were clones, they didn’t appear robotic in the slightest. Each one looked like Eve on the outside, but to the careful observer, there were differences. Some looked angry, while others gave me the impression they were just doing what they needed to do to get by. Each held a wooden stake and went through defensive stances and drills, thrusting their stakes in wide arcs, then plunging it into the air in front of them. They repeated those motions over and over as sweat poured off their temples and soaked columns down the backs of their identical shirts.
Out of sight of the camera, someone shouted commands into a microphone. I couldn’t place the voice, but then the video changed to a raw feed from the ground.
“We have to get this shot right, or Victor will have our heads,” a male voice instructed. “Do it again. From the top.”
A woman stippled gray powder onto the face of a male. When she was satisfied with the tone of his skin, he snapped a set of fake fangs onto his canines. “Do they look okay?” he asked the woman anxiously.
“Ferocious,” she deadpanned, staring at the sky. “Can we hurry up? It’s almost dusk and the real vamps will be out soon. I don’t want to be on their menu.”
The camera jostled in the videographer’s hand and then went still. It panned in on a seemingly-unsuspecting woman, sitting innocently on a park bench. She held a pink leather leash as her small brown dog sniffed something in the grass at her feet. Suddenly, the ‘vampire’ attacked. She screamed, pretending to fight him off and putting on a pretty good show, slumping down on the bench as he drained her. Her arm gradually went limp and the dog tugged his leash out of her hand and ran away as the vampire continued to feed. A swoosh sound was loud on the feed as a net landed on top of the fake vamp’s head. He struggled vainly to free himself, but of course he couldn’t. Just then, Victor’s soldiers appeared and pretended to stake the monster. One recovered the dog, petting him and telling him it would be okay. The dog leapt from the soldier’s hand and sniffed the feet of his owner, who stared up at the camera with sad, wide eyes.
That was so fake, I inwardly scoffed.
A new video emerged. This is real.
I saw Asa’s face first. A vampire hive was attacking the occupants of an apartment building. I realized with a jolt that the video feed was from a camera across the street. The video was being recorded from within someone’s home, and by an amateur, given the way the person zoomed in and out with shaky hands. Asa ran into the building and dragged a vampire out, staking him as he pinned him to the street outside. Enoch emerged with another, holding him still while Asa staked the cursed creature.
Wait – they’re helping the humans? Saving them? And slaying vampires?
Is your mind blown? Because my mind is blown, she typed. Keep watching.
Asa cupped his hands around his mouth, calling out, “Victor Dantone does not have your interests in mind. He sent these creatures to attack you tonight. We know the videos they show you. We’ve seen the propaganda. Victor is a liar and a murderer. Anyone who would like to truly be safe is free to join us. There is a safe haven for humans just beyond what you call the Dead Zone. We will provide food, shelter, and clothing to any who want to come, but you must go with us now.”
The brothers waited in the street. Only two humans joined them, but neither Asa nor Enoch attacked them. Instead, Asa and Enoch led them down the road, into the Dead Zone and supposedly to safety.
I rubbed at the scruff on my chin, unable to think of anything to say but, “Wow.”
There’s more, M. A lot more than I can show you.
I need to go back for her, I typed. What are the chances of getting tech?
She remained silent for several minutes. Done, but when I leave here, I want to go to the Haven the vampires mentioned. I retraced their broadcast feed and hacked into their server. It’s real, M. Once we do this, it’s the safest place to be.
The device held a single stored number. I clicked on it and typed a message to Enoch. I need help.
He replied immediately. Name it.
Titus
“Whose house are they burning?” Eve asked when we reached Asa in the front yard.
He turned to her with a stony face. “Enoch’s.”
“Only because he’s not home,” Terah supplied from behind us, rubbing some sort of salve on her hands. “Any coward can burn a house down while there are few to fight the fire. Let them come here and find what flames truly feel like on tender flesh,” she growled.
We tore our gazes from the blazing inferno of Enoch’s home when someone screamed from inside Asa’s house. The upper floor window exploded and flames licked out, flicking toward the roof and feeding from the air. Fire sprouted in Eve’s room. Despite our enhanced speed, the curtains were gone before we reached the porch. The window in the room beside hers exploded, shards of glass raining down onto the grass below. Dark smoke billowed on black tendrils into the air.
Fire roared and crackled contentedly as it consumed everything in its path. Asa pulled water from the well as fast as the chain allowed, while Terah ran to gather buckets from the cellar. As soon as two of them were full, Eve grabbed the handles and sprinted inside. She only made it halfway up the staircase before the intensity of the flames stopped her in her tracks. Throwing the water over the flames, I watched as the wood sizzled, already charred from the strength of the blaze. I was right on her heels as Eve turned and raced back to the well with her buckets. Terah charged inside right as we ran back out.