Page 25 of Almost Midnight (Vampire Detective Midnight #8)

CHAPTER 25

FUGITIVES

The explosion rocked the back of the van, making the metal and glass vibrate even though they were already out of sight of the long, white, Archangel building.

Nick turned to look.

He blinked and stared at the sight, slightly in awe at the fire and smoke he could see through the tinted windows at the back of the van. He frowned as a series of rolling explosions lit up the night sky after that first hard blast. The sheer size of the fire made his jaw tighten as the watched it rise. But it was the pure methodicalness that struck him the most, the rhythmic whump… whump… whump… whump of the obviously-timed series of booms.

Deep black smoke billowed upwards, followed by red and green fingers of a massive chemical fire. The glass on their van continued to vibrate and blur Nick’s view as he watched that bright line along the horizon grow and change colors.

They all knew from Kit and Wynter now, that Brick and Zoe’s vampires had been busy––much busier than Nick had realized while he’d been downstairs. Kit told them all about it while Morley screeched out of the Archangel parking lot, his foot flooring the accelerator about two seconds after Nick loaded Jordan and himself onto the van and shut the doors.

Zoe and Brick had definitely been more busy than any of them had known while they’d been planning this shit-show back at that monastery in the Cauldron.

The result of all of that busyness had been twofold.

One, they’d clearly set up a number of explosive charges all throughout the Archangel facility, including on the lowest floors. Two, and more significantly, it hadn’t only been Jordan who’d been freed from the facility that night.

While Nick and his people had been busy downstairs, Brick had brought in that whole other army of White Death soldiers to go through the entire building, floor by floor, cell by cell, to get out everyone they could.

Kit said she should have expected it, really, and Forrest Walker agreed.

They’d done something very similar at the prison facility on Madagascar.

They’d blown up every building they could find there, too.

It was turning out that this offensive by the vampires––or defensive, maybe, depending on your perspective––was something that had been in the works for some time. Zoe had clearly decided it was a fight she would continue well after Brick’s death.

Both of them seemed to believe it was a fight they could and should win.

“So it was Brick who killed those Yi fanatics by the Cauldron, after all,” Nick muttered, his eyes still tracing the details of the fire.

He glanced back at the others, and saw Morley shake his head.

“No,” the senior detective said somberly. “No, I don’t think so, Nick.” The older black man met Nick’s gaze, his expression grave. “Brick was pretty adamant it wasn’t them,” he added. “And honestly, I don’t know why he’d lie, when none of us would’ve been overly upset if it had been him. He really seemed to think the H.R.A. had done it. Said it was part of a broader strategy by the human racial authorities to turn public opinion against vampires.”

Nick thought about that.

It made a twisted kind of sense.

If the H.R.A., the I.S.F., the various regional military complexes, and the wealthiest humans across the globe had gotten it into their heads to enslave and/or eliminate all seers, hybrids, and vampires, once and for all, then it made sense they’d design some kind of rationale or justification for that. They’d want the public on their side.

They’d want to seem like they were doing it “for the right reasons.”

After all, they’d spent years trying to convince those same humans the races could live together in peace and harmony, so long as humans were in control.

“What changed?” Nick muttered, looking back out over the fires.

A silence fell over the back of the van.

No one answered him, but Nick didn’t know if that’s because they didn’t know, or if it was because they didn’t want to say what they thought out loud.

* * *

Jordan slept for roughly six hours.

They cuffed him to the side of the van anyway, just in case.

Nick didn’t exactly feel great about that, but he knew it was necessary.

They’d managed to get out of the area of the explosions and the Archangel site without anyone following them. They stopped well outside the secure area around the Archangel-owned facility, and Kit changed the digital ID on the vehicle in case they were still being hunted.

She warned them that changing digital plates could only be a temporary measure, particularly given everything that just went down; it would buy them time, but not more than twenty-four or forty-eight hours, she guessed.

They were in a parking lot now, in a shadowed area not far from the water.

Kit knocked out the one surveillance camera that pointed to this spot, and was monitoring to make sure no one noticed or seemed alarmed in an inset on her screen.

They also had sensors out looking for possible drones.

So far, nothing.

And hopefully Zoe would keep the authorities and the media and everyone else who might be hunting for them busy for the next six or so hours.

For now, all they could do is wait.

Nick looked around at everyone still left inside the van, pausing only for a few seconds on Damon’s slack face, and James Morley’s pale one where he slumped against the window by the driver’s seat, and Wynter, who was looking at him with a combination of worry, relief, and maybe a little like she wanted to smack him again.

Nick’s eyes finally stopped on Forrest Walker.

Nick was now glad as fuck they’d brought the hybrid with them after all.

He’d been the most vocal by far about his preference to leave Walker under that church in the Cauldron during the op, along with Charlie. Neither preference had been malicious; Walker wasn’t in the best physical shape, and neither was Charlie. Nick worried they might be feeding Walker, especially, back to his torturers if they all got caught.

He’d intended to go back and pick Walker up after they’d freed Jordan, assuming they pulled it off, but now it was looking less and less likely that they’d ever make it back into Manhattan, not just tonight but very possibly ever -ever.

Nick glanced at the hybrid now, and found the man looking back at him.

For a few seconds, neither of their expressions changed.

Walker looked exhausted, and like he was in a lot of pain. Nick found himself wondering if anyone thought to bring a stash of painkillers with them, to make sure Forrest would have more when his last big dose wore off.

Unexpectedly, while Nick was still assessing the other man, Walker smiled.

It was a small smile, a weary smile, but Nick found himself smiling back.

“You’re sure they’re not going to drown us when they get here?” Nick grunted, resting his arm on the back of his seat. “We’re a fuck of a lot bigger group than what they bargained for, aren’t we? And we’re not exactly Mi6.”

Forrest continued to smile, but a faint sharpness rose in his eyes that Nick read as wry amusement. “I think they’ll make an exception,” he said. “Just this one time.”

Nick’s left eyebrow rose. “Oh?”

“Yeah.” Forrest cleared his throat. “I might have told them you saved my life. That you and your friends are the only reason I’m alive. And that you’re the ones who sent the vampires to Madagascar to get me out of that hellhole.” Before Nick could answer, Forrest shrugged and went on in his posh-sounding English accent. “It’s essentially true, mate. Brick likely would’ve gone down there and ripped the place apart, regardless… but he got me out because of you.”

Nick grunted. His own voice turned wry.

“Did you happen to mention you were only in there in the first place because of me?” he asked.

Forrest smiled wider. “I might’ve left that part out.”

Nick nodded with mock thoughtfulness, but couldn’t quite stop the smile tugging at his lips. “Got it. So you’re still coming with us, then? All the way, I mean? You still want in on our crazy suicide plan?”

Relief made Walker’s face relax, as soon as he seemed to understand what Nick said.

“Yeah. I thought I would,” he said. “No objections?”

Nick shook his head, feeling his own shoulders relax.

“None at all,” he assured the other man. “It’s a relief, honestly. I wouldn’t feel right leaving you here.” He paused. “Do you have anyone? Anyone else you’d like to bring with us, I mean?”

A flicker of surprise touched the hybrid’s eyes, then his gaze sharpened. “Maybe. In England. You don’t mind that, either?”

“Of course not. Not in the slightest. We have to go there first anyway, right?”

From the driver’s seat, James gave them each a brief glance, then snorted.

“I see you’ve started talking in code to this one, too,” the gray-haired detective scoffed, motioning at Walker. “I guess that means he’s one of us now.”

Nick glanced at Wynter then, and saw a softer emotion in her eyes. She looked touched, or maybe relieved and touched, that Nick and her ex-husband were finally connecting.

Still holding her gaze, Nick nodded belatedly to Morley’s words.

“Yeah,” he said, matter of fact. “I suppose it does mean he’s one of us now.”

A smile quirked Wynter’s mouth, even as she mockingly raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?” she said teasingly. “Well, isn’t that interesting?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Nick scoffed.

Still, he looked at her carefully where she slumped against the van wall.

She looked exhausted.

Despite her smile, which looked genuine, she looked on the verge of collapse.

It hit Nick that none of the humans or seers in the van right now had really slept that he’d seen, not apart from a few short naps that afternoon, right before the op, when they were still in the monk’s caverns below that church in the Cauldron.

Nick doubted Wynter had slept even then.

For that matter, he had no idea how much any of them had slept for the past week. He’d been unconscious in that meditation cell for at least a few days, but he still wasn’t sure exactly how many days, and he had his doubts Wynter had been sleeping through every night during that period, either.

He still had a lot of questions.

He realized, in some surprise, he also might have some answers.

Maybe now was as good a time as any to start telling someone besides himself what he knew. This seemed to be the group now.

This was all that were left of them.

This was the family of theirs who’d survived.

Anyway, they had time to kill.

He’d already told them, briefly anyway, as they were driving away from the burning Archangel building, that Brick had strongly implied another portal still existed.

Now, Nick cleared his throat.

He began to speak, loudly enough that all of them would hear him, but not so loudly it would call attention to any passing drones. Something about his tone must have made them realize he had information to convey, because they immediately turned to listen, adjusting their seats so they could watch him while he spoke.

Walker, who still sat across from James in the shotgun seat, shifted sideways and delicately adjusted his leg. Morley moved his back closer to the dashboard, so he could see Nick without having to turn his head. Wynter moved her back to the base of Morley’s chair. Kit did the same on Walker’s side, and so did Charlie, who sat by the van’s wall, a few feet out of range of Jordan. Nothing could be done about Jordan himself, of course.

Nick would have to talk to him later.

For now, he at least needed to tell the rest of them.

They all seemed to know that, whatever this was, it would take some time.

“I told you about the portal Brick mentioned before he died,” Nick began.

He cleared his throat again, and glanced around at all of them.

“I want to tell you everything he said,” he went on cautiously. “Before we talk about what it means. But there are some other things I should explain to you all first…”