And every time they did, someone yanked them out of his mouth with silver pliers.
Pain was a valuable teacher, Reuben had said. His body needed to recognize the vampire infection as a threat to keep in check.
His humanity had been hard-won.
"You remember," Reuben said, reading Simon's expression. "How hard we worked to save you. To make you what you are." His expression softened slightly. "You're like a son to me, Simon. But that's exactly why I can't let you fall. The Organization has protocols for a reason."
Simon wanted to argue, but what could he say?
That he would rather stake himself than go back into the basement?
That seemed dramatic.
Especially now that the pills started working, dulling that ever-simmering rage deep inside him.
Slowly, the constant awareness of heartbeats faded to nothing. The sharp edges of everything softened.
And with that softening came clarity.
Of course Reuben was right. Vampires were threats. All of them. Charlie's helpless act was just that—an act. Simon had been foolish to fall for it, to let his guard down.
The lack of suppressants had obviously affected his judgment more than he'd realized.
"I'll handle it," Simon said, and the words came easier now. "The vampire will be eliminated."
"Good." Reuben pulled out a folder, sliding it across the desk. "Before you go, there's one more thing. We traced some of thosefalse intelligence reports about your target. The calls came from a specific location."
Simon opened the folder. An address, phone records, timestamps.
"A library?" Simon looked up.
"The Riverside Public Library, to be exact. Someone there has been feeding us false information about Charlie Dracul. Making him seem more dangerous than he is." Reuben's eyes narrowed. "Find out who's been messing with the Organization and eliminatethemtoo."
"Understood."
Chapter
Twenty-Three
By the time Simon made it back to Viktor's apartment building, his pills had fully kicked in. The city's assault of smells—garbage, exhaust, humans—became manageable background noise. Even the persistent pull in his chest that had led him to Charlie on that rooftop had gone quiet.
Good. He didn't need distractions.
He'd been given only twelve more hours to eliminate his target. He had eleven left now. The math was simple. His job was simple.
So why was he standing outside Viktor's door, unable to knock?
Because he still had not been able to de-mask Charlie. He had no proof that the vampire was just a predator putting on an act like Reuben claimed.
He had to see the truth with his own eyes before he could stake Charlie with a clear conscience.
Hewouldget to the truth.
His knuckles rapped against the door before he could second-guess himself again.
"It's open," Viktor called from inside.
Simon turned the handle, stepped into the apartment, and stopped.
