Page 145 of Winterfall Destiny

I’ve never visited a morgue but shouldn’t bodies in coffins fill the space with an unpleasant odour? This place smells staler than the rest of the building, the air heavy with the odour of rusted pipes and decaying wood, but not the stench I’d expect from dead bodies.

“What the actual fuck?” asks Ash, not moving from the foot of the stairs.

Only Andrei and Tobias approach the nearest, simple polished wood with the blank silver plaque attached. The coffin’s nothing like the polished ones I’ve seen on TV shows—an economy version? I quietly laugh at my sick thought and Jamie frowns.

“No, I’m not about to get hysterical. Are the coffins empty?” I whisper.

Andrei points. “That one isn’t.”

I swallow hard again at the answer I never wanted. “And the others?”

Andrei wanders along, tapping his lips as he does as Tobias steps up to join him. “These six hold bodies.”

“What?” I ask hoarsely.

“I’ll stand watch at the top of the stairs,” Ash announces, averting his eyes. “Someone has to, right?”

“Of course, Ash,” says Tobias and nods at him. Poor Ash can’t get upstairs fast enough, and I’m about to suggest that wan-faced Jamie follows him.

“Why would Gabriella store human bodies under a theatre?” asks Jamie.

“Not humans. Well, not anymore. At Gabriella’s, I met her new staff, at least one recently turned. Me and Tobias sensed younger hemia in the catacombs.” His eyes lift to Jamie’s. “I guess Gabriella’s new creations weren’t for personal use. Either that or she has a high staff turnover.”

“Andrei,” I say as he adds to my horror. “Don’t joke.” Wrapping my arms around myself, I back away, sorely tempted to join Ash on the stairs.

“Can you sense if any have the blood?” asks Jamie.

“Not sure,” replies Andrei.

“Don’t do that!” I half-shriek when Andrei slides a lid from one of the coffins and peers inside.

Andrei leans over the coffin and touches the corpse’s head. The not corpse. “Vamp blood but not Gabriella’s Special Brew.” I breathe out in relief when he replaces the lid.

“These are turned humans?” I ask. “New vampires?”

“Not quite,” says Tobias as he examines the contents of the neighbouring coffin, something I’m a hundred percent not doing.

“How old are the bodies?” Jamie asks him.

“A day or two.”

I glance between them in bewilderment. “How long does it take for a human to become a vampire?”

Andrei shrugs. Shrugs. “If they survive, anywhere between two to four days. These are fresh. A day at the most.”

“Omigod.” I swallow down the urge to vomit, almost too scared to ask the next question. “The stacked coffins… are they empty?”

Andrei wanders over and places a hand on the side of each. “Well, they’re not all full. Tobias?”

“If I were a turned human and woke up as a vampire inside a coffin I’d freak out.” Complete understatement. “Whoever put these… people in the coffins surely won’t leave them here?”

Andrei sits on a wooden chair with metal legs that’s set between the coffins. “No. But Gabriella has to put the changing bodies somewhere before they return to life.”

“What? Like randomly move coffins full of bodies across the city?” scoffs Jamie.

Andrei pulls a face. “Sorry if I don’t know the logistics.”

I steady myself on the wall, the windowless room becoming more oppressive by the moment.

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