A Phoenix Never Dies (Afterlife Book 6) Read online

  Sarah got up and followed him. He was right; as long as she wasn't focused on walking, it was no different than when she was an animal.

  Samuel offered out his hand -- her hand? -- and she took it.

  "Let's do it," she said. "Let's go play soldier."

  THIRTEEN

  Harper thought of Jeffrey, holding his class ring in one hand. She didn't know if the memento would help, but it certainly couldn't hurt. She thought of what she knew of him; that he'd been a college drop-out who'd been turned into a vampire. He was messy to a fault, and he had once betrayed Alec... and made up for it by saving Chloe.

  It was mostly silent in the room, other than Chloe's light snoring as she slept on the bed. No matter how hard she focused on Jeffrey, though, she couldn't seem to trance him. The worst part was, once she'd suggested it, she had known deep down she could do it. So why wasn't it working?

  After a few more minutes, she gave a frustrated sigh. "Bring him back in," she said to Conner.

  He went out in the hall, where Jeffrey was standing with Brittney. They all filed back into the room, looking disappointed.

  "Maybe this is a bad idea," Harper said with a tinge of resignation. "Even if I can do it, maybe I can't do it now. Maybe I need more time to practice."

  "I have an idea," Conner said.

  "What's that?"

  "Try it with me."

  "What?"

  Conner nodded. "Try it out with me," he said. "You know me a lot better than you know Jeffrey. See if you can do it with me."

  Before she could argue, he and Jeffrey left the room, closing the door gently behind them. Harper looked at the others, and they simply shrugged.

  "Might as well," Brittney said. "I mean, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. At least this way you'll know."

  "Alright," Harper said. She thought of Conner. She thought of his smile, his laugh, the way he was always so flippantly charming. She thought about the things she knew of him, and of the things she didn't know. Ileana, help me.

  Suddenly it was as though she was seeing through two sets of eyes. She could see the hotel room still, and the people in it. But on top of that was the hallway, where Conner was standing. He turned his head, and her vision turned with him. It was disorienting and nauseating. She almost pulled back, but then thought better of it. Instead, she closed her eyes.

  Immediately her own vision was cut off, and all she could see was what Conner was looking at. She saw Jeffrey standing there. He opened up his mouth to speak, but whatever he said was lost on Harper. She could see him, but she couldn't hear him.

  She frowned, keeping her eyes clenched shut. With a deliberate effort, she cleared her mind, and then opened it. Jeffrey's voice came sharp and strong. "Do you think it's working?"

  "I don't know," Conner said.

  "You can't feel anything?"

  Conner shook his head, nearly disorienting Harper again. She breathed in and out slowly, and then did her best to sink into Conner. Once she had, his movements felt like her movements. When he turned his head, she turned hers. When he slid his eyes down the hall, her own moved behind her closed lids.

  He turned his attention back to Jeffrey and Harper clenched her hands together, her nails biting into the soft flesh of her palms. She focused on the young vampire, and then she... well, it was accurate enough to say that she jumped. One moment, she was looking through Conner's eyes, and the next she was looking from Jeffrey's.

  "Let's go find out," Conner said.

  Together, they turned towards the door. Jeffrey reached out and opened it, and together they stepped inside. Harper looked at herself from Jeffrey's eyes, and saw that she was sitting rigidly, her eyes furiously shut, and her fingernails still digging into her palms. Slowly, she opened her eyes. That queer sense of doubling visions occurred, and she pulled back from Jeffrey's mind.

  "Well?" Conner asked.

  "I can do it," Harper said, blinking rapidly. She rubbed her temples, and took a deep breath. "I can do it," she repeated. "I did do it. For both of you. I can jump from person to person. That'll make it easy. If Jeffrey can get in, maybe I can jump to a guard, and then another... we'll be able to map out the place easily."

  Conner bounded forward and kissed her. Harper blinked in surprise and then returned the kiss whole-heartedly. Brittney let out a low wolf whistle and they pulled apart, Harper flushing brilliantly.

  "So when do we want to do this?" Conner asked.

  "The sooner the better," Harper said. "We need Sarah and Samuel... where are they?"

  "The gym," Brittney said. "I'll go get them."

  She headed out, after giving Chloe a soft kiss on the forehead.

  Conner took Harper by the hand and looked over at Jeffrey. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. "We don't know what they're doing to vampires in there."

  "They could kill me," Jeffrey said. "That's the worst case scenario, and I've already come to terms with my death."

  "There are things far worse than death," Conner said.

  "Like what?"

  Conner just shook his head.

  "It doesn't matter," Jeffrey said. "I'll do it."

  "Look, you don't owe anyone anything, Jeffrey," Conner said. "Yes, it's true that you tricked Alec, but nothing came of it. They weren't able to kill us. And you saved Chloe. Anything you wanted to make up for, you've done that, tenfold."

  Harper nodded her agreement.

  "I want to make sure you know what you're getting into," Conner continued. "When I say there are things worse than death... there's torture. There's experiments. They could make you a lot worse. They could make the cravings for blood a lot worse. Could you stand that?"

  "If they do that, I'll kill myself," Jeffrey said. "I'll end my life before I let myself come close to harming someone again. Just the thought of it makes me sick inside. Alec was right; it's not who I am."

  Conner and Harper both nodded.

  Heather and Wren stepped inside the room. They held up bags of food. "Who's hungry?"

  As if on cue, Chloe sat up in bed. "I am."

  "I brought sandwiches, from the deli," Heather said. "I hope that suits everyone."

  "And I brought some juice and beer," Wren said, putting his bag down. "Who wants what?"

  "Sandwiches are fine," Chloe said. "Anything sounds good at this point. I'll take a beer."

  Wren pulled out the twelve pack and tossed one to Chloe, one to Harper, and one to Conner.

  Heather set the bag down on the small table in the room. She quickly began taking sandwiches out and laying them out. "Mayo? Mustard?"

  "Both," Chloe said.

  "Just mayo for me," Harper said.

  "I'll just have mustard," Conner said.

  "I'm not hungry right now," Wren said.

  Heather nodded, making the sandwiches quickly. She cut them up after with a plastic butter knife and passed them around. Harper ate hers rapidly, discovering how hungry she was as she did so. Apparently projecting herself into Conner and Jeffrey had taken more of a toll on her than she'd thought.

  After her first sandwich, she went over and made a second. This one, she ate more slowly, savoring every bite. She washed it down with beer, licking her lips after. Normally she wasn't a huge fan of beer, but this time, she really enjoyed it.

  "So, did it work?" Heather asked.

  Harper nodded. "It took a little longer than I expected, but yeah, I did it. We're golden."

  "Excellent," Heather said.

  "Great," Wren echoed. He popped open another beer and took a long draw from the can.

  For a while, they sank into silence, eating their sandwiches and drinking their beers. Harper wondered if the others were thinking about the base and the mission they'd soon be doing.

  Before she could think on it much herself, Brittney burst back into the room. "They're gone."

  "What?"

  "Who?"

  "Samuel and Sarah," Brittney said. She held up an envelope with the inscription to Afterlife and Serendipity. "
They've gone."

  Harper frowned, looking at the letter. "What's that? Where'd they go?"

  "They went off on their own to the compound," Brittney said. "At least that's what the letter says." She passed it to Conner. He read through it quickly and then passed it to Chloe. One by one, the letter made it's way around the room, and finally ended with Harper.

  She scanned it quickly. It had been written by Sarah. She and Samuel had decided they had a better way of infiltrating the compound, though they didn't give specifics. They urged the others to wait for information from them before attempting to go in themselves. There was nothing apologetic about the letter, no shame in leaving without a word. This irritated Harper. They were supposed to be a team.

  She supposed she couldn't blame them, not really. Alec had been the first to leave and break their circle.

  "Well," she said, slowly folding the letter up into a tiny square. "What now?"

  "What do you mean?" Heather asked. "We do it without them."

  Harper and the others frowned.

  "What?" she asked. "It isn't like they had a huge part in the infiltration anyway. It's mostly going to be Jeffrey and Harper doing the legwork. The rest of us can't really do anything until we get more information."

  "Yes," Harper said. "But when we go into the place we could have used their backup. They're our strongest fighters."

  "That's not true," Heather said. "I'm a strong fighter. I could kick Samuel's ass any day of the week. You forget that I'm a harpy."

  Harper shook her head. "Trust me, I didn't forget."

  "I'm with Heather," Wren said. "We do it without them. There's enough of us... I may not be as physically strong as them, but I have my own powers."

  "And thank you very much," Conner said, "but they're not our only strong fighters. I can hold my own."

  "Right, sorry," Harper said. "Yes, you're a decent fighter. But having Sarah and Samuel with us would have helped a lot when we get ready to go in."

  "That's if we can even go in," Brittney pointed out. "We don't yet know if we'll be able to get inside. Though it sounded as though they had some kind of plan."

  "Well they could have let us in on it," Harper said. "I don't like this. I don't like it at all."

  "I don't either," Chloe said. "But it looks like we don't have much of a choice in this matter. Let's get going. We need to find a spot near the base to camp out while Jeffrey gets taken in."

  Harper sighed. She really didn't like the idea of them splitting up like this. First Alec had left, and now Samuel and Sarah. Who would leave next? Conner? Chloe? No, they'd stay. They wouldn't abandon them. Brittney wouldn't either. She didn't know Heather or Wren well enough to say what they'd do, though.

  "Yeah," she said, though her heart wasn't really in the plan anymore. "Let's go."

  FOURTEEN

  The nurse returned. They'd had several conversation since their first one, and Alec had developed a kind of respect for the woman. She obviously believed in what she was doing, and nothing he said could convince her to abandon her morals and let him go.

  He'd found out her name was Alice Turner. She was thirty-two years old and had worked as a nurse for the last ten. She had met the doctor when he'd brought his son into the hospital after he'd first been turned.

  None of them had known what was wrong with the boy. He'd become almost deathly pale and stopped eating. He cried during the day, whenever he was out in the sunlight. He wasn't able to attend school because of how sick he was.

  He'd never asked for blood, but that was because he didn't know he was craving it. Instead, he'd ask for hamburgers and steaks and he'd eat a little bit of them and then give up, and lay back down. It was only during the night that he became active.

  When Alice and Bruce had finally realized the truth of the situation, they decided to work together to make sure he stayed healthy. They brought him blood from local banks, and they forced him to exercise and keep up with his schoolwork.

  "Good afternoon, Alice," Alec said. "Find anything interesting in my blood yet?"

  "Nothing yet," Alice said. "But we'll keep trying. I have a few questions for you after the last chemical compound we injected you with."

  Alec sighed. He didn't like being kept locked up in a military compound, and he didn't like being experimented on. He knew there was no way to cure vampirism, but he couldn't convince Alice of that.

  "Alright," he said, knowing it would do little good to argue. He didn't want to, anyway. He was tired of arguing.

  "How are your energy levels?"

  Alec considered this for a moment. "No change," he said. "I'm tired, but I'm not exhausted. I feel a little edgy, but I think that's from lack of exercise. Hey, say, do you have a gym here? I'd love to get on a treadmill and burn off a little of this excess energy."

  "Sorry," Alice said. "Doctor Larke believes that exercise might interfere with the test results. Of course, if we don't find something soon, I imagine we'll allow you to workout and see if that makes a difference."

  Alec frowned.

  "Have you had any strange cravings?"

  Alec blinked. "Actually, yes. I've been craving oranges."

  Alice made a note of this. "Just oranges?"

  "Yes," Alec said. "Think I can get one?"

  "Perhaps," Alice said, noncommittally. "We'll see. I'll ask the doctor. It's definitely an interesting note, though. It suggests that your craving specific vitamins that you aren't getting from the blood we've been supplying you with."

  Alec shrugged. "I ate a balanced diet before this," he said. "Eggs, fruits, vegetables, meat... I could kill for some chicken or fish."

  "I'll see what we can do," Alice said. "Now, have you felt anything strange? Sensations, I mean?"

  "No."

  "Muscle rigidity? Trembling? Knee bouncing?"

  Alec shook his head. "None of those."

  "Abnormal bruising on your fingertips or toes?"

  "Nope."

  "Can I double check?"

  "Feel free."

  Alice pulled back the sheet that was covering him. He was dressed in nothing but boxers and a hospital gown. She pulled the hospital gown up a little and observed his toes. Then she checked his fingers. "Can I check your reflexes?"

  "Sure."

  They went through the usual pattern. Alice checked all of his reflexes, looked at his tongue, checked his strength, and then stood back. "And your ability to transform?"

  "Same as ever," Alec said.

  "I thought as much," Alice said with a sigh.

  "You don't really believe in this, do you?" Alec asked. "You don't believe we're going to find a cure."

  Alice shook her head. "Of course I believe we will. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here. We're going to find a way to make you normal again. Human again. Then you can grow, and age, and live a real life."

  "I was leading a real life before you took me," Alec said. "Maybe it wasn't normal, not to you, but I had a life. I had friends that were more like family, I had a job, a career, really, and guess what? Being a vampire helped with that."

  "Yes," Alice said. "You've said as much. But you can't pretend that you'd rather be a vampire than a human. Think of all it's cost you."

  Alec frowned. She wasn't referencing Ileana... or Harper, but that's where his mind went. If he hadn't been a vampire, he could have been with Ileana. He could have been with Harper. They could have grown old together, had a family, and lived their lives.

  Is that what he wanted? Did he secretly hope they'd come up with a cure? He didn't know, that was the truth of the matter.

  Before he could follow this line of thought, the door to this room opened and three muscular men stepped inside.

  "What's going on?" Alice said. "I'm with a patient right now, gentlemen."

  The tallest, strongest looking man shook his head. "Doctor Larke has decided to take a more active role in the testing of this particular subject. He has ordered us to inject him with AX2."

  "What?"

  The man
nodded.

  "I can't allow that," Alice said. "That hasn't been tested and we know that it causes inhumane pain on the subjects that have been injected with. Alec has been nothing but cooperative and--"

  "--Are you suggesting to go against the doctor's orders?" the man asked.

  Alec studied him for a moment and decided these three men were definitely military. He wouldn't be able to reason with them the way he had with Alice. They would follow orders, that was all.

  "Of course not," Alice said.

  "Then you will step back and allow us to inject him."

  "But..."

  "But?"

  "I'm sorry, Alec," Alice said. She left the room, leaving him alone with the three men.

  "So this AX2," Alec started to say. One of the men cut him off.

  "Don't speak to us, vampire."

  Alec recoiled. "Friendly lot, aren't you?"

  The first man ignored him, stepping up to where his IV was. He pulled a syringe out, and injected it directly into the IV line.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then it felt like his body was on fire. He was burning from the inside. It got worse and worse with every second that passed. He gritted his teeth against the pain, telling himself he wouldn't scream. He wouldn't give them that satisfaction.

  Then the burning sensation changed; morphed, you might say. It became a tearing, ripping sensation, in every single one of his muscles. He felt like he was being torn apart at the seams. Despite this resolution to not scream, he opened his mouth and let out a cry of pain.

  "More," the second man said.

  The first man looked at him, then pulled out another syringe.

  Alec turned his eyes to the man. He might have begged, if he could find his voice, but he couldn't even do that much. Another scream tore from his mouth, louder and harsher. Soon, he would lose his voice.

  But it wouldn't be soon enough.

  FIFTEEN

  Sarah and Samuel entered the compound using the uniforms they'd stolen from two higher-ranking officers. They both knew it was risky; there would be information the man and woman would have that they wouldn't, but both of them felt it was worth the risk.