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Well, who have we here? Luke said, going to stand under the dangling man.
This is Carl, Damien said. He likes hitting things. In fact, I have just thought of
the perfect place for him.
Damien went into a room behind them. Carl levitated after him. The rest of them
followed.
Another set of wrist chains hung on the wall. Damien took one of the chains and
fastened it around Carl s wrist. Carl sank to the ground but he quickly got his feet
under him. He rushed at Damien, but the chain halted him.
Damien went to him and handed him a metal bar. Carl raised it to strike him, but
he ran into an invisible barrier. He tried again to strike Damien, this time harder, but
was again prevented by some unseen force.
Damien shook his head and sighed. I thought this would make you content, Carl.
You may use the metal bar to hit your chains until either the chain breaks or you tire of
hitting it.
Carl surged at him again, the effort making his face go red.
As fascinating as that might be to watch, I am afraid we have other places we must
go. You will, I am sure, excuse us. Come, gentlemen, we have overstayed our
welcome.
You-you, Carl spat. You freak. Faggots, every one of you. Your race is dead, do
you hear me? Now that we know about you, we won t stop until every last one of you
is dead.
Simon walked up and decked him. Carl went flying backward and ended in a heap
on the floor.
Simon turned and looked at them. Sorry, he said and shrugged. Luke and Aiden
burst out laughing.
Aiden went to him and clapped him on the back. It s good to see you, Simon. I see
you haven t lost any of your fire.
Sound punch, Luke said, still laughing. Thanks, I was getting tired of him. Is
there anyone left for me to pound?
Jacob went over to Eleanor. Why aren t you with Mike where you re supposed to
be? Don t you ever listen to what I tell you? I thought the plan was for you to stay with
Mike and yet here you are, in the thick of things. He took her by the shoulders.
Where s your gun? Don t tell me you left it behind.
She was about to give him a sharp retort when Luke spoke. Eleanor has come
through great peril to bear a message from Chris.
Damien came up to them, smiling. Eleanor, my dear girl. With all the commotion, I
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did not see you there. You never cease to amaze me. Thank you for coming to my
rescue. He kissed her hand.
David came to stand beside his brother. She took a good look at the two of them. It
was just as it had been with Sebastian and Samuel. If she hadn t known what David was
wearing, she would have been unable to tell them apart. They were exactly the same.
They were also completely healed.
What is the message? David asked.
For the second time, Eleanor told her story. When she was finished, Damien said,
How badly was Michael hurt?
I couldn t tell. I heard him moan and I think he was unconscious. The men had
orders to bring him back to the houses. They must be here by now. We should find him,
right away. Can you& ah& sense where he is?
Damien s eyes lost their focus for a moment. No, I cannot, he said quietly.
What does that mean? she asked uneasily.
Damien shrugged and shook his head. The men started moving to the door.
Jacob came to her. I m sorry, love. I shouldn t have been angry with you.
What does Damien not being able to sense Mike mean?
It means he s either deeply unconscious or&
Or, she prompted.
Or, he s dead, he finished.
No, she said emphatically. He was alive when they took him. Surely they would
keep him that way. For bait, if nothing else.
Jacob put his arm around her. I hope you re right, but you know Mike. Can you
imagine him letting them use him that way?
A sinking feeling settled in her stomach as she realized the implications of what
Jacob said. Well, maybe he s still unconscious from when they attacked him in the first
place. He did look pretty out of it when I left.
Jacob, Eleanor, come, Damien called from the other room.
As they entered the room, she saw the others straightening up. They were such a
tidy race. Luke, Aiden and Emil were checking their weapons. The Dyads moved the
unconscious men to one side of the room, arranging them in a neat row. They touched
each of them on the forehead, sending them into a deeper sleep.
There, David said. That should hold them for a few hours. He turned to
Eleanor. Did you say they made this drug from Con s blood?
Yes. He said they took his blood, altered it and re-injected it.
Chris is correct, then, Sebastian said. It will take all of us working together to
counteract a blood-born infection. Especially if it s mutated on a cellular level.
Best get to it then, Samuel said. He led the way up the stairs and the others fell in
behind him, with Eleanor again in the rear. They seemed to know exactly where they
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were going. She guessed being this close, they could sense Constantine.
At the top of the second set of stairs, they stopped. Samuel and Sebastian took a
moment to build their power. Eleanor felt it rippling against her skin. They turned and,
shoulder to shoulder, headed down the hall, with their partners closely following.
In the back, Eleanor couldn t see what was happening, but she heard shouts and
rapid gunshots, followed by more shouting and then, silence.
Hurrying to the end of the hall, she saw two men on the floor with spent bullet
casings all around them. In addition to the now familiar automatic rifles that everyone
around here seemed to carry, they also were equipped with tranquilizer guns. She
guessed what they were because Samuel was pulling a dart out of one of the guns. He
carefully broke it open and smelled it. This is different from what they were using to
guard Damien. I smell Con, but perverted, twisted into something vile. He yanked his
nose away and took a deep breath of fresh air.
David stepped up and took a whiff. Gods, he snarled and spit. Poor Con, to
have that running through his body.
Eleanor remembered the vial in her pocket. Here, look at this. Can you tell if it s
the same stuff? She passed the vial to David.
David opened it and took a reluctant whiff. Yes, it is the same twisted blood.
Where did you find it?
I forgot to tell you, there s a whole fridge full of it in the other house.
David looked at the others. It seems we have the beginning of another war. Will it
never change? He turned back to Eleanor. We will destroy it later. Let us proceed.
Emil tried the door but it was locked. Sebastian moved him aside and placed his
palm on the door. They heard a loud click and the double doors opened inward.
These guys are really handy to have around, Eleanor thought. Every five minutes
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