Page 26 of Sergi (Of Blood & Dreams #7)
Chapter Twenty-Five
The sound of pounding boots grew closer, and though I wasn’t far from the director’s office, it wasn’t worth the risk, and I slipped into another room. I expected a lab, but instead of test tubes, microscopes, and a laptop running data, this room was filled with filing cabinets.
Curious about what might be in the files in this day of databases, I opened a couple to find reams of notes that appeared to be the results of various experiments. Most of the handwritten notes were unreadable, with scientific terminology and acronyms I didn’t understand.
The information was useless. While it might be readable by more knowledgeable people, Sergi couldn’t walk through the Carpathians with a backpack of paper files. I might not be able to understand the files, but I did note the date—1947. I scanned files in several cabinets. The dates were scattered, but I didn’t find anything later than the 1990s. This room held the data on everything they’d done in this facility from its conception up until computers. I guess they’d never gotten around to converting them.
The hallway had grown quiet. Thankfully, someone had shut off the alarms. I raced past a few offices before running into the director’s office, surprised the door was open. But if he had been in the office, I doubt he thought of anything more than getting to the command center or a panic room.
Before I shut the door, I heard a distant shot followed by howls. Not just one wolf but several. They might have been the ones who delivered justice to Leonard. There would be a great deal of atonement being served today.
I leaned against the closed door and scanned the room. It was messier than the last time I’d been here. I ignored the lab side. It was obvious the director was dabbling with something, but I had enough samples. And his written notes, even recent ones, wouldn’t be enough.
What I needed were files like the documents I’d just reviewed in the file room. Data that identified all the experiments being run and their purpose—their end game.
I slid into the director’s desk chair and snorted. The vampire must have been too terrorized by the alarms to do anything but run for safety. He seemed the twitchy type. He didn’t even take the few seconds required to shut down his laptop.
All the better for me. No password required. I wasn’t a computer geek, but I knew my way around them. The best place to start was the files directory. There were hundreds of folders, most with nondescript names. I kept glancing at the door, concerned the guards would start going room by room to search for lab staff and shifters.
My knee bounced as I scrolled up and down the list of folders and, once again, had to force myself to breathe and calm down. I moved the mouse to the top of the folders, and rather than quickly scan, I read each folder name out loud, letting it sink in. I almost laughed when my cursor fell on a folder marked BPX.
I opened the folder and found numerous files that consisted of dozens of spreadsheets and data tables. This was what I needed. What Sergi needed. He might be long gone now and, with any luck, was racing down the mountain to contact his House. It would be days before someone came, but if I could save the data, there was a chance I could keep it safe until help arrived.
I searched for a USB drive, but the desk was so messy it was like searching for a specific seashell on a mile-long beach. Every drawer was like the junk drawer everyone had at home. There weren’t any in the center desk drawer, and after searching the drawers on the right, I found several in a box at the back of a drawer on the left side.
I grabbed one, and after three attempts because my hand wouldn’t stop shaking, I pushed the drive into the slot. When the contents of the drive popped up, there was already a folder on it. It was labeled SMP, with the last active date from a month ago. The ticking clock in my head said to ignore it, but my gut said something else.
I clicked on the folder to open it, and a knot gripped my stomach as my wolf scratched to be let out. To hunt. To kill. I didn’t have to scan the list of files to know what they were about. Several of them clearly stated “shifter” in the file name.
I closed the folder and started transferring the BPX file. There would be plenty of time to review the SMP files once it was in safe hands. I groaned when the pop-up message showed five minutes to complete. It was an estimate and might finish sooner. Was luck still on my side? When my bouncing leg increased its rhythm, I jumped up to work off my pent-up energy.
I had finished my second long pace across the room, stopping to check the transfer status at each turn, when the door opened. I swung around, expecting to see one or two guards, but it was a single male that filled the doorway.
My heart hammered at the sight of him, and I took a step back. I should have hidden under the desk while waiting, not paraded around, knowing guards were roaming the halls. The male took two steps inside before stopping to scan the room. His sinister smile was enough to make my insides melt.
Gheata. The torturer.
Once he was satisfied we were alone, he walked toward me as I moved away, taking one step for each of his until my back touched the corner of the desk. I didn’t dare look at the computer. Not that it mattered anymore. I could shift, but it would take too long. Even though the power of the Alpha ran through me, which reduced the time to shift, the male staring me down wasn’t some lab tech with illusions of bravery.
This was a stone-cold killer.
“Where are you going, little wolf?” The male’s tone was menacing but held a hint of humor. His head tilted to the side as he considered me. “I know you.”
He took another step but stopped, quite aware that he blocked my exit. He’d left the door open, but any wolves that had been on this floor should have evacuated to the second floor once they’d completed their search for other shifters.
S-272 and Carlos would know I hadn’t made it back to the second floor, but they wouldn’t sacrifice the pack. The odds would be against them. It didn’t matter who my uncle was. They would only mount a rescue if there were a reasonable probability of success. The stakes were too high. The shifter race was in jeopardy.
“You’re the little wolf who cleaned the cells.” His expression turned hard. “You cleaned the traitor’s cell.”
I assumed the traitor was meant to be Sergi.
“Why are you here, little wolf? Why would you be on this level at all?”
I considered the question. Maybe I could talk my way into a holding cell. At least I’d be alive, but for how long?
“I clean the labs.” I kept my head lowered and my voice small. Let him think I’m weak.
He nodded. “I remember now. Level three in the morning and labs in the afternoon. But why would you be here in the director’s office?”
That was a good question, but at least we agreed there was a reason for me to be on this level.
“When the alarms went off, I ran like everyone else. I didn’t know where to go that would be safe.” I barely whispered my response, knowing he would still hear it, but with my wolf snarling at him, I wasn’t sure I could pull off shaky and intimidated. I should have been terrified by this male who had a good foot in height over me, but my survivor’s instinct wouldn’t be smothered.
Not this time.
He chuckled. “Well, it looks like this room wasn’t the safe harbor you were seeking.” His eyes roamed over me, and lust filled his eyes. Really? The shifters were uprising, and he thought now would be a good time for rape?
Maybe he’d just drag me to a cell for later, once he stopped the wolves. I pushed his threat aside, though it gave me one opening. I backed up until the desk was between him and me. I glanced down long enough to see the file transfer had finished. Now, all I had to do was grab it without him seeing. Yeah. No problem.
I scanned the desk for a weapon and spotted exactly what I needed. He’d easily dodge it, but it might get his eyes off me for long enough. When he took a step toward me, I grabbed the brass award sitting on the corner of the desk. I had no idea what it was for, only caring that the object, not much bigger than a softball, was hefty enough.
I threw it, aiming for his head, and while he easily ducked it, he took his eyes off me to watch its trajectory. I grabbed the USB and stuffed it in my pocket, underneath the bulky package of vials.
He moved faster than I expected for someone of his size, even if he was a vampire. He came at me from the left, and I waited until he rounded the corner of the desk before I raced for the door. I was halfway to it before he grabbed my lab coat and yanked me toward him.
I screamed as he swung me around and pushed me until my back hit the edge of the desk. He leaned his body into mine.
“Where did you think you could run to, little wolf?” He bent and sniffed me. “Did you know the smell of fear invigorates me? And yours will make this so much better.”
Great. Not just a vampire, but one with a freaky kink. When he moved to position himself between my legs, I did what any self-respecting female would do—I kneed him in his junk.
My wolf was riding the surface, eager to shift, and the power she gave me made the slam to his privates hard enough to make him step back, howling with rage. I was sure to pay for that, but for now, it was a sweet moment.
I shoved him back and took three steps to the door before he caught the damn lab coat again and hauled me back. With my feet still stable beneath me, instead of fighting his pull, I forced myself backward and slammed into him and followed it with a stomp on his instep.
His curse showered hot breath on my cheek before his grip on me loosened, but once again, he grabbed me with another hand, and this time, he threw me against the desk, bending me over the top of it.
Something stabbed my cheek as my head landed on the desk. I dragged my hands over the desk as if trying to gain my footing but searching for anything to fight back with. He only had one hand on the desk, his body pinning me to it, while his other hand fumbled for his zipper.
My fingers grasped something slick and pointy. A letter opener by the feel of it.
He pulled my hair back as I continued to struggle. “The more you fight, the angrier I get. I’ll still get my pleasure whether you have broken bones or not.”
Maybe, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. I gripped the letter opener and, with one quick thrust, slammed it into the vampire’s hand.
He howled with rage and, with a forceful yank, pulled me away from the desk and tossed me across the room. I hit the side of the island with enough force I heard glass rattle, and something heavy hit the floor. My back screamed with pain, and I crawled away, trying to get distance between us while getting my feet underneath me.
He was on top of me before I gained a foot. I twisted to face him, hoping to find an opening, but he pulled me up by my hair and slammed a fist into the side of my head. I went limp from the pain. He grabbed my arm, pulled me up, and threw me again. This time, I hit the bookcase, and it knocked the wind out of me.
He went for my hair again, and I tensed, letting my body sag. It wasn’t difficult. Pain radiated from every part of my body, and my vision blurred. He managed to grip a handful of hair and half-lifted me, but his hand suddenly released me, and not expecting it, my head hit the floor.
I only had a moment to see another guard pulling him off me before everything went dark.