Adam raised his hands. “Everyone, I’ll answer as much as I can, but please, one person at a time.” He swallowed, still sweating like a pig. “As I said earlier, Sam is evil, but there are many others like him roaming the planet. They’re predators. High up on the food chain. Would you want to sit next to one in a restaurant? Or have your child go to school with one?”
The asswipe was controlling the narrative quite well, instilling fear in the minds of whoever was watching and listening.
An idea occurred to me but was quickly squashed when two people came into view behind Adam.
Two lingering questions were answered. Rianne Aberdeen and Matthew Costner were alive. Holy fuck! Both were dressed in black suits and white shirts as if their attire was the uniform of the day. Rianne had a shaved head like she was in military boot camp, and Matthew appeared to be happy, as if he was proud to be part of the team.
The five of us swapped what-the-fuck looks with wide eyes and open mouths.
“Are they your prototypes?” Tim Cox asked.
From my vantage point, I was having a difficult time grasping that Alia Costner’s son had been kidnapped by Roman Brown. Matthew smiled at the camera as his blue eyes sparkled.
I checked on the others next to me just to be sure they were breathing.
Sawyer was frozen solid. Tripp’s bronze eyes were wide as he glued his gaze to the screen. The muscle in Webb’s jaw was like a jumping bean on steroids. As for my old man— well, his fury was rattling that table in front of us.
As for me, I was numb. Every limb on me was locked tight.
“This isn’t happening.” Webb shook his head hard, strands of his brown hair coming loose from his low ponytail.
“I wonder if Rianne was injected with Carly’s SS2 serum?” I asked.
“Maybe we’re about to find out,” Sawyer murmured.
I had to sit down, so I dropped into one of the seats in the front row.
Sawyer joined me. “There’s no coming back from this.”
We’d hidden our existence from the world ever since our species evolved long ago. Sure, we had humans who knew about us, worked with us, kept our secret—and for very good reasons. Chaos being the top one. History was about to be made but not in our favor. From this day forward, the landscape of the world would change and become dark and dystopian. Humans would run and hide. Others would form massive armies of hunters. And still others, the curious ones, would want to study us or even want to become vampires.
My dad was an ice sculpture, his shoulders hunched to his ears.
Tripp and Webb sat down on my right.
The media went silent.
“Before we demonstrate,” Adam said. “I want you to know that you’re safe. It’s also important to note that this young man and woman signed up for this program of their own free will. We haven’t forced them in any way, and we can prove that with the contracts they’ve signed.” Adam whispered to Rianne and Matthew before Matthew traded places with Adam.
I had to give Adam props for having the balls to use the media as a weapon against us. Or maybe I should be giving Roman the credit. After all, he had a twisted mind and loved to fuck with people’s heads. The criminal vampire was an intelligent adversary. He held several degrees in the fields of chemistry, law, and business. He’d even worked for a pharmaceutical company that made one of the raw ingredients in some drug used in operating rooms.
“I would bet Roman’s calling the shots,” I said. Adam had looked to Roman a couple of times for either encouragement or approval. “Roman told me he had his own plan brewing. This is it.” I would bet my vamp ass I was right.
My dad crossed his arms over his chest. “Doesn’t matter who’s running this horror show. I can’t fix this. The council can’t either. And I doubt the Secretary of the Navy can. If anything, the secretary might wash his hands of us.”
“And I will be blamed,” I muttered. I was reaching for straws, but I wouldn’t put it past the ancient elders to somehow blame me or use me as a scapegoat. As an elder himself, my old man would never let that happen, but if he was voted down, I was screwed.
Webb leaned close to Tripp. “Once this is over, pull out our emergency plan. We’ll need to start with the families on base. Let’s get them moved to a safe location. Also, call the team in from West Virginia. There’s no point in monitoring activity at that facility. We need all hands on deck here.”
We had a disaster preparedness guide ready in the event something like this happened. We’d been fortunate that we had never had to flip that switch.
“Before we push the emergency plan button,” my dad said. “I need to talk to the council. But start getting things in place. And definitely bring our men and women in from West Virginia. Also, engage Viking II, and we’ll need the help of the Special Forces.”
“Sir, we need to alert the supernatural community,” Tripp said. “It’s not just vampires in this war anymore.”
“For sure,” Sawyer said. “My mom knows a few witch covens.”
Webb sighed. “First and foremost, we deal with our own on this base. Their safety is our priority. I’m sure news like this will spread like wildfire, which means supernaturals will find out before we have the chance to talk to them.”
