With that, Krys exited the vehicle and stalked up the dark road. He lifted the back of his shirt and hid the small wooden stake before quickening his pace to a light jog.
Atticus muted his phone and turned the brightness almost all the way down. He had a group text ready to go and only needed to send the message. After putting the phone in his pocket, he shadow walked past Krys. When he neared the turnoff, he ducked into the woods and traversed the grove of trees. Shadow walking in darkness allowed him to move quickly and fluidly, and he had mastered this skill. Gravity didn’t pull him down as he gripped the piney tree trunks, making less sound than if he were walking across the decayed forest floor.
He crouched on a limb when he caught sight of the building. Three vehicles were parked on the left, out of sight from the road. He didn’t see nor hear any sign of guards outside. The only heartbeats within distance were coming from smaller mammals. The security lights and cameras positioned around the long metal building provided plenty of light for Krys to outrun the Vampire if he needed to, but that would only take him as far as the road.
From what they knew, three guards were inside the building at all times. The Vampires they’d exterminated rotated shifts with the others. Based on what Lucian could gather from the textmessages, one usually stood outside, but right now they were short-staffed. Lucian parsed through a lot of messages on the confiscated phones, so between that and the information Atticus extracted from the one Vampire, they knew that two scientists worked the night shift.
As the minutes ticked by, Atticus surreptitiously shadow walked around the building at a safe distance. No sounds came from within, so it was possible they had soundproofed the building. The structure only had one door.
He positioned himself behind a tree with a clear vision of the entrance. When Krys approached at a light jog, Atticus held his breath for a long time until his heartbeat slowed. A Vampire’s heart could stop beating, and they could survive being underwater or buried without falling unconscious. Not everyone had the strength to endure it, but their magic protected them. Only beheading and fire were guaranteed deaths. That wasn’t to say going without oxygen didn’t hurt, but Atticus had learned to block pain and the urgency to breathe.
Krys strutted up to the door and knocked hard, then paced in a circle. After a minute, he banged on the door again. “Is anyone in there? I need some help.” Then he started complaining to himself about his flat tire and no towing company nearby, which was a smart tactic. “All I need is a phone,” he muttered.
The moment the door opened and a man stepped out, Atticus sent a one-word text message to his employees that simply read: Proceed.
“Hey,” Krys said, out of breath. “Thank God someone’s here. My car hit a pothole up the road and it fucked up the tire. I don’t have a spare.”
The pale man canted his head. “And what do you presume that has to do with me?”
Krys chuckled and put his fists on his hips. “My ex threw my ass out and didn’t give me all my shit, including my phone. I’mnot asking to come in and bother you or nothing, but if you could call a tow service, I’d appreciate it. I think it jacked up the rim.”
Atticus sharpened his hearing. Someone inside was telling the Vampire at the door to get rid of the guy.
Krys took a step back and caught his breath. “If there aren’t any towing companies around here, I can just call my brother to come get me. It’ll be quick, and I’ll be out of your hair. Walking around in these woods is creeping me out, you know? It’s dark as hell out here, and I’m pretty sure I heard a bear or something.”
The Vampire cursed under his breath and stepped farther out. When he reached into his back pocket to retrieve his phone, Atticus rocketed toward the open doorway. Krys reached behind his pants and then staked the Vampire in the chest, silently catching the man before he hit the ground.
Atticus stopped at the doorway and looked inside. Insulated foam covered the walls and ceiling, and the building’s length measured roughly three hundred feet. The enclosed rooms on the left caught his attention as he counted ten doors. A man in a white coat rolled backward in his office chair from one of the many dividers on the right. His countenance was more bewildered than alarmed.
The enclosure at the opposite end concerned Atticus. Someone could barricade themself in there, and he wasn’t certain if the door was thick steel.
A Vampire leaped over a metal platform directly above him.
Instead of running, Atticus jumped up in an aerial assault, and the two men collided.
Atticus and the black-haired oaf hit the floor. The man struck him in the face, but their proximity prevented either of them from landing a crippling blow. Atticus punched him in the ribs, breaking them. Since Vampire healing magic worked fast, he slammed the guard’s head against the floor.
The Vampire bucked, and Atticus flew into the foam-covered wall. He jumped to his feet to face his enemy. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Krys fighting the two medical workers.
Atticus worried most about the third guard or any others that might be on-site.
The guard lunged, but Atticus was quick on his feet and unleashed a vicious blow to the man’s back. He attempted to break the Vampire’s leg with a hard kick, but his opponent spun out of the way.
Atticus wished briefly that he’d brought impalement wood, but the risk of it being used against him was too great. A quick glance around didn’t reveal anything he could use—everything was metal and plastic.
This guy was a fighter but wasn’t as strong as Atticus. Still, when the Vampire shoved him fifteen feet across the room, it knocked the wind out of him.
Atticus ripped a metal leg off a small chair and threw it so hard that it blurred through the air. His attacker couldn’t move fast enough, and the metal leg speared him through the stomach. Blood sprayed out his back and onto the floor.
Seizing the opportunity, Atticus grabbed a mop by the wall and snapped the handle free with a stomp of his foot. He charged at the Vampire, who was preoccupied with removing the metal from his stomach.
A man bellowed from across the room. Krys growled savagely but was still in human form and clearly had everything under control.
Atticus held the mop handle like a shovel, then drove it beneath the Vampire’s chin and into his skull. The guard fell on his butt, waving his hands frantically. With Vampire strength, Atticus twisted his neck and pulled his head away from his body.
He took note of red gasoline canisters near the shelves filled with food and marched down the center of the room. Hesearched the work areas to the right, which were equipped with microscopes, refrigerators, cabinets, large monitors, computers, and other medical equipment. Tiny vials of liquid filled a cart.
He passed a deceased lab worker, but before moving on, he knelt by him and sharpened his hearing in search of a heartbeat. Once Atticus was certain the man wasn’t alive, he continued his search.
