Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“You’ve been with them though, this whole time, right?” Her face brightens. “You must know so much more. I would love to sit down with you and record your—”
“I don’t think she’s ready for that yet, Astrid,” Evie says.
“Oh.” She laughs nervously. “Of course. Sorry. I just get a little carried away when it comes to knowing about them. I’ve done all the research I can, really. I interview soldiers and civilians remotely when they’re waiting in the virus quarantine areas. I’ve compiled a lot of data that way. I’ve also gotten a few reports from some of the military doctors who’ve studied materials from the skirmishes.”
“Materials?” I raise a brow.
“Body parts. Vampire body parts,” she amends. “They’ve examined them, though apparently they degrade quickly, and if they’re exposed to sunlight—well, you know what happens.” She lowers her voice. “I’ve heard we have prisoners. Vampires. Live ones. If I could just talk to one of them, I feel like I’d be able to get a better handle on their motivations, on a lot of things, really. The soldiers deny that they have prisoners at all, but there are rumors that they’re doing experiments.”
I give Evie a questioning look. “They’re experimenting on vampires?” I don’t like the sound of that. Not one bit.
She frowns. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve heard the rumors, too, but none of that data or any evidence has ever made it here. Not even the samples they’ve taken from the body parts. I guess they don’t clue us in since we’re only here to work on a vaccine. I know for sure there are other labs deeper in the base, other scientists—mostly military—but we don’t cross paths with them, and they certainly don’t share information.”
Eradicating the vampires, experimenting on them—what are we becoming? Or is this what we always were?
“Sorry.” Another nervous laugh from Astrid. “Like I said, I get carried away when I’m discussing them, and I’d really love to hear about your experiences.”
“It’s all right.” I give her what I hope is an encouraging smile despite the misgivings her information has cemented in my mind. “I’m kind of on a tight deadline right now, but once I’m past that, I know just the place for you.”
“A place?” She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
“Yep. A library filled to the rafters with books, plenty of them about vampires. You could research there for the rest of your life and never get to the end.”
Her eyes grow huge behind her glasses. “Are you serious?”
“She is,” Evie says.
“How do we get there?”
“We don’t. Not until this war is over. But if it ends, and we win, I’ll take you there.”
“I—I don’t know what to say.” She stands and grabs her notebook. “I’ll definitely take you up on that.” She hurries to the door.
“Astrid?” Evie calls.
“Yeah?”
“Did you come here for a reason?” she prompts.
“Oh.” Astrid gives her a sheepish smile. “Yes. I just wanted to let you know that um—” She scoots back to Evie, then drops her voice to a whisper I can barely hear. “My roommate is sleeping at her boyfriend’s tonight.” She goes back to the door, more of a sway in her hips than before.
“See you later, Astrid,” Evie calls, a wolfish smile on her lips.
“Bye.”
The moment the door closes, I give Evie a wry look. “You’re hooking up with the nerd?”
Evie tosses her blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’m a nerd, too, so it works perfectly.”
“Robbing the cradle, too. She’s what, thirty?”
She feigns a look of befuddlement. “Tell me, how old is Valen, exactly?”
My lips twitch. “Touché.”
“Next time, try not to insult her right off the bat. Ease her into it, eh?” She spins back to her computer.
“Ugh, that was kind of the worst. Got reacquainted with what my foot tastes like. Do not recommend.” I open the binder again and continue my search for the proteins I’ll need for the poison. My thoughts keep going back to what Astrid said about experimenting on vampire prisoners, but then I get a flash of Whitbine’s house. The dead women that lined his walls, the organs in jars. Monstrous things. I give up on the catalog and sit back, rubbing the heels of my palms in my eyes.
“You okay?” Evie asks.
“Yeah. I think I’ll stretch my legs. Be back in a few.”
“Okay cool.”
I head out of the lab.
The soldier assigned to my door stiffens, pretending he hadn’t been leaning against the wall.
I roll my eyes at him and walk in the direction of the cafeteria, or where I think it is. The corridors down here are as much of a maze as the Dragonis Manor. I traded one underground labyrinth for another.
The soldier follows, annoying me at every turn.
“Ma’am,” he calls from behind me.
I stop in the middle of the hall as a few people pass by, all of them dressed in military gear. “What?” I call.