At that moment, Bravi and Arlonne quietly returned to the cavern, obviously finding no other Bureau personnel on their scouting mission. Bravi joined us, and Arlonne hung back closer to the other vampires. She seemed intrigued by the interaction.
“Roxy, you’ve been keeping me awake with your yelling since basic training,” Zach croaked with a wry grin as he limped in. “Thought I was finally safe, but it seems not.”
Gina flew over to help him, but he was steady enough. He took her hand and placed a swift kiss to the back of it, giving her a reassuring look. I gave a relieved inward cheer. He seemed much better than earlier.
Roxy opened her mouth, some smart retort ready on her tongue until she saw the dressing peeking out of the tear in Zach’s pant leg.
Following her gaze, he lifted bandages away from his right thigh and showed off his battle wound to the four captives. Gina and I had applied the stitches last night. The area was still an angry red, with a tinge of brownish-yellow from the iodine, but it wasn’t bleeding.
“This was from a Bureau agent when everything went down,” he said. “A Bureau agent very intent on killing not only the vampires we swore a treaty with, but also me and Lyra and Gina and the captain.” He stuck the dressing back down. “The only reason any of us are alive is because of the vampires.”
“I have hard evidence from the Bureau itself,” I said and pulled the blueprint along with the report from my gearbag. My composure wavered as I clutched the building plans. I had been taught there must be honor in war to counteract the destruction it so often brought. The fact that my uncle—the same man who had reminded me of this in a grave but proud speech when I got promoted to first lieutenant—actively supported this kind of atrocity rocked me to my core.
I gathered my emotions while Gina held the report for them to read. Then, while I gestured with the blueprint, I explained in more detail what we knew. “That report is about the efficacy of hydrogen cyanide over two carbon gases. The Bureau never wanted the vampires to survive. They built new homes for them, but they all form an interconnected gas chamber. I overhead my own uncle talking about their plans in a meeting with the board.” A hard knot settled in my stomach as I pictured Uncle Alan’s face. A man I used to trust with my life.
“Gas chamber?” Colin echoed with horror.
I tapped the illustrated system that showed the way gas would move throughout the entire area. Stunned belief dawned on Colin and Louise’s faces.
“I heard my uncle say it himself. Extermination.” A disgusted shiver ran down my back.
Roxy glowered. “I don’t believe it. You could have gotten that anywhere.”
“Neither do I,” Grayson piped up.
Are you kidding me? I wanted to scream but knew that it would only make things worse. What evidence did they want? For me to wheel my uncle in for a full confession complete with slideshow presentation?
“Why would they lie about something so extreme?” Louise asked in a firm voice. “You would be crazy to make that up. Lyra isn’t crazy.”
“It’s written on the page,” Colin added. He tore his gaze from the blueprint with a shudder. “The Bureau was leading them to slaughter.”
At that moment, Laini approached with Dorian.
“Was it the phone?” she asked. The four captives turned to her as best they could in their restraints. “Is that how you found us?”
I was grateful for her arrival. It was time to steer the discussion back on track.
“Don’t say anything,” Roxy said hotly to the other three.
“If they don’t talk,” came an oddly chipper voice from the other side of the room, “I’d be happy to help.”
I turned to see one of the twins, her eyes gleaming with a twinkle of pleasure. These twins gave me the absolute creeps.
“Or we can leave them for dead,” she said, with emotionless eyes and a small smile on her face.
“No,” Laini and I said together. Sike took a threatening, protective step in front of the captives while Dorian placed himself between the vampires and the humans.
“No one will be harmed.” Dorian sounded like a three-foot-thick brick wall of no, and he looked just as solid. Even given the seriousness of the moment, I felt the gravitational pull of his strength. I shook off the distraction and stooped down again to meet Roxy at eye-level.
Roxy raised her eyebrows.
“Come on,” I said. “You may not always like me, but we’ve gone through enough together that you trust me.”
She gave me a stony look that suggested she did not, in fact, trust me.
“Albany, New York. One of our first expeditions together.” I said. “I saved your butt from a redbill when you forgot to take the safety off your gun. I’ve got your back.”
With a begrudging sigh, she nodded slightly. My shoulders lifted with relief as she spoke.
“I know that,” she said, her posture becoming a little less hostile. “Look, they only sent us four to survey the scene before the Bureau brings in the big guns to rescue you guys. If my hands weren’t tied, I’d be doing air quotes around rescue, okay? They sent us because they figured we were less likely to get killed by either you guys or the vampires. Well, the vampires they know about.”
Her confession caused a moment of silence. My heart stirred with the hope that we might be able to work with Roxy’s team. She took a deep breath and continued.
“We were supposed to get the lay of the land and then report back. The Bureau had a general location, but they had no way to know what kind of base the vampires had set up. They put me in charge since you were gone, Lyra, which,” she shrugged, “wasn’t as satisfying as I was hoping it would be.”
“How did they find us?” Zach asked, leaning against the wall to take the weight off his leg.
“I’m not sure how they tracked you guys,” Roxy replied. “They will have searched the personnel database, so if your phone is registered with the Bureau, they probably found you that way.”
“Aye, it’s a useful tool,” Bryce echoed. “But I always make a point of keeping my personal phone off the database.”
“It must have been the old phone,” I muttered, futile guilt washing over me at the flicker of pain my words caused in Dorian’s face. “I hadn’t gotten around to registering my new one. Man, I knew they could work fast, but being on the other side of the Bureau’s intelligence is terrifying.”
Gina and Bryce nodded beside me. If the Bureau was onto us, we would have to move quickly.
“Are we still waiting for anyone to come back in?” I asked Dorian.
He nodded. “The earlier scouts are still out there.”
“Do you have rations?” Gina asked. “If we can’t leave immediately, we may as well eat while we have the chance.”
Louise nodded. “We brought day rations in our gear bags.”
“If you haven’t torched them yet,” Grayson grumbled.
In a few minutes, we found the rations and divided them, drinking deeply from the canteens Dorian and I had brought back from the spring. The measly supplies failed to inspire much optimism, but they were something. The captives had eaten before they left, according to Louise, but I made sure there was enough left for them. If they came with us in the end, we might need the provisions. We ate enough of the nutrition-packed granola bars to restore our energy, but my stomach yearned for more. My father’s lemon butter pasta wafted into my mind, making my stomach growl, but I pushed the thought away. We were in survival mode.