Sunfall Read online

  I smiled against her skin. “I know. But you give me so much, baby. I love you.”

  She pulled my head up. “Once this is all over, I want to go away. Just the two of us. Back to that cabin in the Catskills.”

  “That sounds wonderf—”

  A knock at the door interrupted us, and I reluctantly pulled away to answer it. Karma stood on the other side, and I could tell immediately that she’d heard some sort of news. Her jackal was close to the surface, and energy crackled around her.

  “There’s been a development.”

  We hurried into the basement, where Malcolm, Natasha, and Constantine were already seated at an oval conference table. A sliding glass door separated the conference room from a small chamber that resembled Hollywood’s portrayal of Mission Control, with several computer banks facing a large screen. I caught sight of Foster inside, hunched over one of the monitors. She was probably communicating with Helen, and I wondered what sort of political maneuverings were happening amongst the Sunrunners at this very moment, now that Tian was in Brenner’s custody.

  Malcolm didn’t waste a second. “Brenner just issued another ultimatum.”

  My pulse spiked. Brenner’s last ultimatum had nearly sent Helen to her death, and the one before that had nearly started a war between wereshifters and vampires. Alexa sat down, but I remained standing, palms flat on the table.

  “Brenner has declared his intention to release a biological weapon that will destroy all vampires. He hasn’t been any more specific than that.”

  “What does he want?” Alexa asked.

  “Surrender. Of the entire species. Every vampire who turns him or herself in will, he alleges, be spared.”

  “Spared. Right.” I shook my head. “He’ll either kill us on the spot or throw us into concentration camps.”

  “Agreed,” Malcolm said. “Helen has already disseminated her own message, urging no one to believe his offer to be merciful.”

  “Do we have any new intel on his possible position?” Karma asked.

  “We’ve diverted all available surveillance resources to inspecting data from satellites and recent flyovers,” said Constantine. “Hopefully, we’ll have a lead soon.”

  “In the meantime, take this opportunity to rest,” said Malcolm. “If we receive any promising intelligence, you will be needed to investigate.”

  Alexa rose and grabbed my hand, tugging as she moved toward the stairs. I paused on the bottom step and gestured toward the computer banks.

  “I should check in with Bridget. And with Olivia.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Half an hour, tops. Then we need to sleep.”

  “Babe, you should just go to bed now and I’ll—”

  “No. I’m staying with you.” Alexa reversed course but never let go of my hand. “We’re sticking together. Don’t argue.”

  Even with cheeks pale from exhaustion and dark shadows beneath her eyes, she was so beautiful. I didn’t want to be parted from her either, not even by only two stories. Wisely, I didn’t open my mouth—just squeezed her hand and followed her lead.

  *

  A sharp rap at the door woke me from a deep sleep. Alexa sat up next to me, but when she started to swing her legs over the side of the bed, I stopped her and went myself.

  “Who is it?”

  “Constantine. We need you downstairs.”

  “We’ll be there right away.”

  As I pulled on my clothes, I glanced at my watch. Almost two o’clock in the afternoon. Thankfully, our six hours of sleep had blunted the edge of my fatigue. My eyes no longer felt like sandpaper, and my mind was clear and sharp.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked Alexa as we left the room.

  “Better. Though I could have slept twice as long.”

  We found the conference room in much the same condition as we’d left it, except that now there were papers and photographs strewn all across the table. Constantine and Malcolm were conferring quietly at one end, and they looked up as we entered.

  “We received a tip about an hour ago,” Constantine said. “And it seems promising. Last night, a Canadian military plane on a flyover picked up the signature of what might be Brenner’s chopper, landing at an airfield approximately one hour’s drive from this location.”

  “Could that be the site of his base?” Alexa asked.

  “It’s possible,” said Constantine. “We obviously haven’t had the chance to do a deep analysis of the surrounding area.”

  “This is a thin lead,” Malcolm said. “We can’t attempt any kind of full assault until we get reinforcements. I sent out a mustering call to Headquarters yesterday, but you all know that we have no standing army. It will take many days for our people to gather. In the meanwhile, I want to send out a reconnaissance party now. Karma will lead the mission.” He looked first to Alexa and then to me. “Can I count on you both to accompany her?”

  “Of course,” Alexa said.

  “The object of this mission will be to determine whether this airfield is linked to Brenner, and whether you can discover any additional information about a potential base in the region.”

  “Where can we find the equipment we’ll need?” I asked.

  “Natasha will direct us to the armory,” Constantine said. “I’ll be coming with you as well.”

  Natasha led us through the computer room and into a narrow corridor that ended in a T. To the left, a staircase led up to the first floor of the house. When she turned down the short passage to their right and unlocked the small door at its end, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

  Three neatly organized rows of firearms stretched all the way to the back of the long, narrow chamber. The shelves that lined the walls were filled with equipment of all sorts: camouflage clothing, flak jackets, boots, canteens, night vision goggles, even satellite phones. As we moved among the inventory, I debated what kind of camo to use.

  “What time is sunset? Anyone know?”

  “Shortly before five o’clock,” said Natasha.

  I checked my watch again. “The earliest we’ll make it there is four o’clock. Let’s dress in blacks.”

  “Good plan,” Constantine said as he began to riffle through the clothing. “And I’m driving.”

  *

  Alexa and I took turns catnapping in the backseat of the Jeep, while the others remained awake and attentive in case of trouble. While no one expected Brenner to be searching for us now that he’d captured his quarry, we couldn’t afford any more setbacks. The journey passed quietly as each of us gathered strength for whatever awaited us. I couldn’t stop thinking about Tian and what Brenner might have planned for her once he’d taken what he needed from her blood. And did he already have a weaponizing mechanism? A bomb, perhaps? Or a way to infect water or air supplies?

  As I considered the possibilities, I found myself thinking about the problem not only as a potential victim and as a high-ranking member of the Consortium, but also as a scientist. Biology had been my first academic love. Until several months ago, I had been enrolled in medical school, committed to learning the skills I would need in order to study every aspect of the vampire parasite. Transitioning to a full vampire had altered not only my circulatory system, but also my priorities. For my entire adult life, I had tried to distance myself from my biological family, but the past few months had taught me that I had inherited my father’s skill in the world of high finance.

  Now that Alexa had brought me back, I needed to figure out where I wanted to focus my time and attention—if, of course, we managed to survive this latest crisis. She was napping with her head in my lap, and I dared to run my fingers through the dark hair that matched the color of her panther’s fur.

  When Karma instructed Constantine to pull off the road in five miles, I leaned forward to look at the topographical map she had pulled up on her tablet. She pointed to a spot where the contour lines nearly converged.

  “That looks like some kind of cliff,” she said. “We’ll leave the Jeep in whatever cove
r we can find and cross the remaining two miles on foot.”

  Alexa had woken at the sound of our discussion and she sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. When I squeezed her hand, she returned the pressure briefly before beginning to double-check her gear. She handed me a pair of night vision goggles and I settled them over the cap of my black knit ski mask.

  Constantine pulled off the road where Karma indicated, and I braced myself against the frame of the car as the snow tires lumbered across the ice and snow. Almost immediately, the land began to slope up, and he carefully maneuvered the Jeep into a small space between a large boulder and the rising ridge.

  Dry, icy air pierced my lungs as I opened the door, and I quickly pulled the ski mask down to cover my face. After collecting our weapons, we huddled around Karma and the map.

  “Once we’re over the ridge, fan out in increments of fifty yards. We’ll converge on this point here, which is the hangar.” She tapped her ear bud. “No transmitting unless it’s an emergency.”

  I flipped the goggles down over my eyes and fell into line behind Alexa as we began our ascent. Packed snow crunched beneath our feet as we climbed. The slope was steep, and within minutes I no longer felt the chill in the air. Clouds scudded across the sky, mostly obscuring the light cast by the half moon.

  At the top, we found ourselves standing on what appeared to be a broad plateau. I took up a flanking position to the right and focused on dividing my attention between my surroundings and the ground itself. If Brenner’s chopper had landed here, either he had some sort of base underground, or he had travelled elsewhere. Either way, the landscape might betray secrets.

  But as time passed, I saw no sign of any recent human activity. The only tracks I encountered belonged to animals, and none of the paw prints were large enough to be those of a wolf. After checking my GPS, I began angling my path more sharply toward the location of the hangar.

  The airfield was surrounded by a tall chain fence. I took off one glove and touched a single finger to the metal. When no current jolted through my body, I grabbed hold and began to scale it. The fact that it wasn’t electric didn’t mean it wasn’t somehow alarmed, but that was a risk we’d have to take. After several minutes spent crossing tundra, I reached a runway. It had been paved recently—the asphalt was laced with very few cracks—but I found no sign of tire tracks. No airplanes had landed since the last snowfall. Perhaps our analysts would discover activity if they looked at the satellite footage from earlier in the month.

  As I moved closer to the hangar, I concentrated on moving silently over the crusty snow. My feet didn’t hit asphalt again until I reached a large paved lot leading up to the hangar that loomed, dark and hulking, a hundred yards away. Several large vehicles were parked near the entrance, but my goggles had yet to pick up on any signs of life.

  Out of the corner of my eyes, I caught a flicker of motion—Alexa, also converging onto the building. I moved close to her as we converged on the nearest side of the building

  “Constantine and Karma went around the far side,” she whispered.

  I nodded. Ahead of us, the amorphous vehicles had resolved into two snowcats and a pickup truck. Wanting no surprises, I pulled out the Glock I’d commandeered from the outpost and leapt lightly into the bed of the truck. No one there, no one in the cab. Alexa shook her head as she peered into the first snowcat, and together, we checked the second.

  When I gestured toward the right, she nodded and took the lead as we headed around the edge of the building. This was the main entrance of the hangar, and its wide, open mouth had been sealed by a metal portcullis. Constantine and Karma met us at the far corner.

  “We passed a ladder to the roof,” Karma said, already in motion.

  She climbed up first, and I spotted her as she secured a rope to the ledge. The steeply sloping roof had been swept mostly bare by gravity and the wind, though a few stubborn patches of snow and ice clung to the flimsy surface. Clutching the rope in her hands, Karma stepped lightly across the flimsy surface.

  “Skylight here,” she murmured, and I relayed the message to the rest of the group.

  I tossed her my own rope, which she secured to a nearby air duct and then handed back to me. She pulled out her side arm and aimed it at the square of glass, then squeezed off two rounds in quick succession. I felt Alexa take hold around my knees from below.

  “Got me?”

  “Always.”

  Muscles straining, I belayed Karma down as quickly as I could. Once the rope went slack, I followed her. The interior was pitch-dark, but her body was illuminated by my goggles. She was crouched on the floor, and I rested one hand between her shoulders.

  “You okay?”

  “Fine. Trying to pick up a sound or scent.”

  “Anything?”

  She shook her head. Once the others had joined us, we fanned out and moved slowly through the hangar. I counted several shapes that looked like light aircraft in addition to two helicopters. Cabinets and shelves lined the walls, presumably filled with tools for repair. As I moved toward the back of the facility where a small space had been cordoned off for some kind of office space, I felt my skin prickle. This didn’t make any sense. Why would Brenner leave such a valuable asset unguarded?

  And then the world turned white as someone, somewhere, turned on the lights.

  Ripping off my goggles, I threw myself to the ground and began to roll, ears ringing from the burst of gunfire coming from somewhere ahead of me. Was this an ambush? Or had the guard of the installation somehow been alerted to our presence when we crossed the perimeter?

  The scent of blood filled the air and saliva flooded my mouth. Behind me, I heard a groan followed by the sounds of snarling as someone shifted. Praying Alexa hadn’t been hit, I pushed hard off the floor and landed in a low crouch. A man stood in the doorway of the office, a machine gun raised to his shoulder. Even as I watched, its barrel swung toward where Karma was partially concealed behind the wing of a biplane. Before I could reach for my weapon, he fired and hit her in the legs. As she dropped to the ground, the air around her began to shimmer.

  In an instant, my Glock was in hand. But as I raised it and aimed at our attacker, I heard a small, plinking sound behind me, like a screw rolling across the floor. I ducked and spun, only to find nothing but empty air. Cursing beneath my breath, I turned back to the shooter and fired twice quickly, hoping at least to distract him enough for Karma to gain the advantage.

  But before I could tell whether either of my bullets had flown true, a heavy blow struck the side of my head. Pain blazed through my skull and I staggered to the side, crashing into the wall. Moments later, a spear of agony lanced through my calf and I crumpled to the floor. Ears ringing, vision blurred, I caught a flash of motion to my left and squeezed the trigger again. A low grunt, followed by a string of what sounded like curses in a language I couldn’t understand, gave me hope that I’d found my mark. And then pain shot through my chest as someone’s foot connected with my rib cage, over and over and over until every tortured gasp for air sent spikes of agony radiating throughout my torso.

  Someone grabbed the back of my jacket and hauled me across the floor. Over the ringing in my ears I heard a loud grinding sound from above and then the whirr of rotor blades displacing air. My left leg burned as I was dragged up some kind of ramp and then dumped onto a metal floor. When I tried to take stock of my surroundings, my blurred vision sent nausea spiraling through my gut. Was I in the chopper? Where were they taking me? Why hadn’t they simply killed me? And where was Alexa? Was she safe?

  The sensation of rising. Ears popping. Low, guttural voices speaking…what? Some kind of Eastern European language, maybe? The pain lashed at my body like a riptide, pulling me under only to toss me back onto the jagged shore of consciousness. Bloodied and broken, curled into a ball with my injured leg awkwardly outstretched, I could retain no sense of time. Whether minutes or hours had passed before we began to descend, I couldn’t tell.

  When
the chopper finally touched down, its landing jarred me and a groan escaped before I could seal my lips against it. Again, I was seized and dragged along the ground. Every inch forward was a world of agony, and I clenched my teeth to stop myself from betraying any weakness.

  Only when my captors halted did I dare to open my eyes. I was lying on my back on some kind of gravel surface, out under the night sky. Hulking shadowy figures stood in a ring around me, but I was unable to focus on their faces.

  All I could think was that I didn’t want to die like this. I would not let them have the satisfaction of defeat. I would not quit. I would not lie down. Fighting through the pain and nausea, I pushed myself up on one knee, determined to fight. The dark forms above me laughed.

  Their ranks parted, and a man stepped into the middle of the circle to loom over me. I couldn’t see his eyes, but his smile was cruel, and in one hand he held a gun.

  “I’ve waited a long time to make your acquaintance, Valentine,” he said.

  A flash of pain struck my temple, streaking across my battered consciousness like a deadly comet. And then my world went dark.

  Chapter Fourteen

  My head reverberated with sound, light, and heat. Through the painful din, I struggled to latch on to something, anything that would anchor me in the maelstrom. Flames. I remembered flames—the fire from the spotter plane’s crash along the lakeshore. The freezing water. Gunfire in the hangar. A spear of agony in my leg. The cruel face looming above me.

  I was alive. Badly injured, but alive.

  When I opened my eyes, the light pierced into my brain like nails and the room spun in a blur, driving bile up into my mouth. Slamming my eyelids shut, I swallowed quickly and focused on taking slow, rhythmic breaths until the nausea subsided. Wherever Brenner was keeping me, the air had a stale and antiseptic taste to it that reminded me of every hospital I’d been in. But I couldn’t rely solely on my sense of smell to gather enough information for me to figure out how to escape. Taking another few deep breaths, I opened my eyes to take in the barest sliver of my scenery.