Page 41 of Crimson Bond

“Maybe,” he said. “She might have suspected—and rightly so—that my plans had changed. But Sadie had a lot of enemies. Her sister was only one of them. The anti-vamp extremists are growing more and more aggressive, and they aren’t limited to one country. President Parker didn’t help things, though. He’s high on my list of likely suspects.”

“You thinkhehad her assassinated?” Larkin asked.

“I don’t know if he was directly involved or whether he inspired it, and it was just some nutjob who carried it out in response to all the fire-and-brimstone rhetoric. Either way, I’m betting that arson investigator’s report will turn up some accelerants. A ‘faulty wood stove’ right on the heels of a terrorist bombing is just too coincidental.”

“I’m worried about you now,” I told Larkin. “I don’t think you’re safe here. If someone followed Sadie, they probably know this lab is connected to her work.”

She grimaced. “I’ve thought about that. I even advised the other researchers and staff who use this building to take a few days off just in case. But I hated to stop when we’re so close. This is the culmination of my life’s work—it’s my masterpiece. And the Canadian government promised us a lot of willing vampire volunteers to test the formula when it was ready. I was just about to get the trials started.”

“How much time would you need for that?” Reece asked.

“A few weeks maybe? I mean, it would probably take only days to work, but I’d need to replicate the results in lots of vampires before it could be offered to the general public as a cure.”

Glancing over at Reece, I saw my grim thoughts mirrored in his face. “We don’t have weeks,” I told Larkin.

Imogen had made it clear if the two of us didn’t return—with haste—my friends Kelly and Heather would pay the price. They might be imprisoned or maybe even killed. Shane would definitely die.

If Sadie were here, she could have helped us think of a way around it. She might have even agreed to be part of our coup and replace Imogen as the queen of the Crimson Court.

As things stood, there was no other choice. We had to go back.

After a moment Reece said, “I know of a place with a large supply of test subjects. How soon could you be ready to travel?”

“The formula is stable enough to move now—all it needs is a cooler with some ice packs—but I’d have to leave all my equipment. It’s too much to transport on short notice,” Larkin said.

“Pack up what you can and be ready to leave at first dark tomorrow night. Just tell us what to do, and we’ll help you. Then I think all of us should get some sleep. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”

22

Good News and Bad News

Reece

Larkin went home to pack her personal belongings and gave us her address so we could pick her up at nightfall.

Abbi and I spent the daylight hours in a hotel. This time, we slept.

On the way to Larkin’s cottage that night, Abbi seemed consumed by her thoughts.

“You doing okay over there?” I asked. “Thinking about Sadie?”

“Actually, I was just thinking about Imogen. Do you really think she’s going to be okay with us bringing a vampire ‘cure’ to the Bastion? I know her, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t see vampirism as something to be cured. Shelovesbeing a vampire. If it wouldn’t mean the end of our food supply, she’d be happy for vampires to take over the entire world and let humans go extinct.”

“I think you’re absolutely right on that last part. As far as whether Imogen will approve of the cure or not, it doesn’t really matter. Whether she loves it or hates it, she’s going towantit—inherpossession. And you can bet she already knows about it. So we have no choice. We have to take it to her. Or else.”

“Larkin will be heartbroken if Imogen destroys the formula she’s worked so hard on. She called it her masterpiece.”

“I don’t see that we have any choice—not if you want Kelly, Heather, and Shane to keep their respective heads on their respective shoulders.”

“Point taken. Larkin can just recreate the formula... maybe. Actually I don’t know that much about science, so I’m not sure if that’s even possible.”

“We’ll have to take the chance.”

When we arrived at Larkin’s address, it was immediately obvious something was wrong. Her front door stood wide open, and the glass in it was broken.

“Oh my God,” Abbi wheezed.

We both got out of the car and ran for the cottage, calling Larkin’s name. Inside we found more glass on the floor and other signs of a struggle.

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