But he didn’t. He was helpless. So helpless.
It wouldn’t happen again. Seth might have been bullshitting the lawyer just now, but he wouldmakeit true. No more sitting on the sidelines. No more getting left in the dark. Seth might not have been a fighter, but so what? He knewpeople, and he would use that however he could. He would protect himself. He would protect Riley.
Eventually someone came to draw his blood again. Seth let him, although he was surprised his blood didn’t sizzle in the tubes with how fired up he was.
He still couldn’t tell how much time was passing while he wasstuck in this cell. It felt like days, but that was probably the boredom talking. Things dragged when there was nothing to do.
At one point the lights flickered, and Seth heard hurried steps and murmured voices. Which, if he could hear them at all through the soundproofing, must have meant they were louder than murmurs.
What would happen to him if the power turned off? Would that see-through wall open for him? Or would he be locked inside in the dark?
Seth could guess the answer, and it wasn’t the one he wanted.
Some time later Mr. Perkins was at the door again. He didn’t look quite so smug or unconcerned anymore. There were tight lines around his mouth and a vein pulsing in his forehead.
He looked pissed, actually.
“Tell me what other supernatural entities you know.”
Seth was sitting cross-legged on his cot, where he’d been counting the ceiling tiles. It had been as boring as it sounded. He cocked his head at Mr. Perkins’s audacity. “Um. No?”
Mr. Perkins stared at Seth, then tapped the glasses covering his eyes. “You see these? Every member of this facility has a pair, or goggles of the same material.”
That was true, from what Seth could tell. The two lab coat goons who’d drawn his blood so far had been wearing goggles. Seth had assumed it was in case they accidentally hit an artery and sprayed blood everywhere. Maybe that didn’t happen in real life, but it had been his best guess.
Still, why Mr. Perkins felt the need to keep Seth updated on the fashion choices of his institute was a bit of a mystery.
“These protect against compulsion,” Mr. Perkins explained impatiently. “A benefit of our research so far. We can’t be compelled, and we have tranquilizer guns that can put a vampire down in less than three seconds. Any rescue attempts will be futile, I assure you.”
Seth bit back a small grin. “You’re really riled up right now, aren’t you?”
Mr. Perkins’s eyes flashed fire, but before he could respond, a new guy showed up. This one wasn’t in a lab coat or a suit. He looked almost like he was military, all dolled up in beige fatigues.
Of course they had a private militia at the billionaire research facility. Why not?
“Sir,” the guy greeted Mr. Perkins respectfully. Seth almost expected him to salute.
“What now?” Mr. Perkins snapped. “How can three vampires—two mothers and achild—be giving you this much trouble?”
“Sir, there’s someone at the door. The, um, front door.”
Mr. Perkins turned to face the newcomer fully. “There’s someone at the front door of the secret research bunker,” he repeated.
“Yes.”
“Subdueit,” Mr. Perkins hissed.
The faux soldier cleared his throat. “Well, sir, she’s not an ‘it,’ is the thing. She’s human. One of the local population.” He lowered his voice and leaned in, but Mr. Perkins still had the intercom button active, so Seth could hear his every word. “A minor, sir. She said she’s writing a school report and has questions for the facility.”
Violet.
Seth knew it without a doubt. Violet was here.
What the fuck? Seth’s confusion was mirrored by the mystified look on Mr. Perkins’s face, although that was soon washed away by the sheer rage that swept over the lawyer’s usually bland features.
“You allowed a localhigh schoolerto slip onto the grounds? To find theentrance?”
It was the first time Seth had heard him raise his voice. It was incredibly satisfying to think Violet was the one who’d made it happen.
