Tainted Blood (Book 2)

10. Finally

"You're more like your mother than I thought. You'll do anything to help you get what you need. Even if that means whoring yourself out to vampires to get it." Brandon's last words to her still stung every time Olivia played them over in her head. She watched through the windshield of the car as Clark drained some poor girl. He usually didn't kill them, he wasn't that cruel. But tonight might be different. And she was surprisingly okay with it. She wanted him to be at his strongest, needed him to be. They were going to bust her mother out tonight.

Olivia could see Clark's chin and neck painted in crimson. Every time she watched him feed, Brandon's words would rip themselves from her memory and insert themselves in the forefront of her mind, where they weren't wanted. She'd been wondering if Brandon had been talking about her mother's blood bond to Abel. She couldn't imagine her mother getting involved with any vampire other than Abel, not with the way they had looked at each other. And she certainly couldn't picture her mother as a whore. But then again, she'd never pictured herself as a werewolf sitting shotgun in a vampire's sedan watching him drink the blood from a drunk girl's neck either. Funny how some things turn out.

Clark pulled back from the girl's neck, the look on his face was pure ecstasy. Olivia's chest grew tight with jealousy and anger. His eyes whipped to the sedan, staring straight through the heavy tinting, catching her eyes. She still wasn't used to him being able to sense what she was feeling. He stuck out one finger and beckoned her from the car. She obeyed like a good girl, her wolf protested this with a snarl. She could barely feel her wolf most of the time, but that was something to worry about after her mother was safe. She slammed the car door behind her and walked straight up to him. She made certain she didn't look at the girl. She knew how Clark worked, she had been with him for over two months now. He had shown her how he hunted. He would seduce the girls; more often than not, they thought they were coming outside for a quickie in his car. Just what a quickie entailed, was definitely not what they had in mind. So while they voluntarily came outside, the giving of the blood wasn't so voluntary.

"Want a taste?" he asked as he offered the girl's neck up like a fine wine. Olivia's glanced at the deep, swollen puncture wounds on the girl's neck and shook her head.

"I'm alright."

"As you wish." Clark pulled the girl's face to his own, "Go back inside and tie a scarf around your neck for goodness sake." Her face was dead as she absorbed his orders. The woman stumbled away from them, fumbling for a scarf in her purse. Clark spun on his heel, full of energy. His face was half painted in red, his teeth looked exceptionally white against the red. She was slightly sickened with herself for still finding him undeniably attractive while he was covered in the blood of a stranger he forced to give him blood.

"Should we get to it?" she asked, trying to ignore the nagging feeling in her gut.

"Yes." His hands gripped her hips and pulled her against him. She inhaled sharply as she smelled his arousal. His lips found her neck and she groaned as he slid a hand under her shirt.

"I meant–"

"I know what you meant," Clark hissed against her neck.

"I don't want you to go into a food coma." Olivia pushed him back at the shoulders and stared into his amethyst eyes.

"Fine," he whined as he dragged out the 'e'.

Olivia had dosed off at some point but woke as they pulled off the side of the road.

"Honey we're home," Clark sang to her. She stretched and intentionally whacked him upside his head. He gripped her hand and playfully placed his fangs on her wrist.

"Do you need any more?" she asked him. He stared at the blue vein running along the inside of her forearm for a moment before releasing her arm.

"I'm still quite full."

"Okay. Where is it?" Olivia asked as she looked around them. All she could see was dark landscape. Nothing that resembled any sort of lab facility. No buildings were visible in any direction.

"Just up over the hill there. I drove around the place three times trying to find the best place to enter."

"And?"

"There isn't one." She sighed and rubbed her face.

"What do we do?"

"Path of least resistance. We go up over the hill, run straight to the fence and hop it. Once we're inside we have to find a way to blend in."

"Cross that bridge when we get to it?" Olivia offered. Clark nodded. They moved quietly from the car, and up to the top of the hill. From that vantage point Olivia could see the shape of the facility quite clearly, it was a cross. Ironic, she thought, that religion would play any part in this. She was certain God would have nothing to do with the kidnapping and probable experimentation on supernatural beings. After all, He created everything and everyone.

"I'll boost you over the fence okay?" Clark spoke low, almost so she couldn't hear him. She nodded and they sprinted as fast as they could manage. She thanked God for not letting any of the moving spotlights hit them. The fence was much taller than she had previously thought. Clark grabbed her by the waist and all but threw her over. She landed with a thud on her butt, and before she could even think about getting up, Clark was there pulling her from the ground and throwing her against the side of the building.

"Guard uniforms?" Olivia offered quietly. She watched Clark weigh the risk and payout of this, he finally nodded. Clark pushed her against the building and held her there for a second. A clear signal for her to stay put. He disappeared around the corner for no more than two minutes. It was the longest heart wrenching two minutes of her life. He rounded the corner, completely dressed in guard gear except for the helmet. He held out gear for her and she dressed quickly. He placed the helmet over her head, shielding her face from view.

"Slowly," Clark said as she began to move with their normal urgency, "Move too fast and you give us away." She hated walking slowly. She was so close to finding her mother. Not to mention that her body was running on almost entirely adrenaline. Fear does that to a person. Clark easily traversed the building to find a door that would accept the key card he stole.

"Did you feed on the guard? Did they know where she is?" Olivia asked in a low tone. Clark just nodded. The nagging feeling in her gut stabbed at her again. She needed to find her mother and see that she's alive. That was all that mattered. Clark wove her through hallway after hallway, nodding at other guards as they passed. She cringed as she looked inside some of the glass boxes they passed. The poor creatures inside looked as if they would welcome death with open arms. She prayed and prayed with each passing box that the next would hold her mother.

Another set of doors to pass through, Olivia was lost. She couldn't tell what direction they were travelling in any longer. Clark still seemed to know where he was. She was thankful for the ability of vampires to see memories of those they feed from. She glanced up at Clark, shielded by the helmet, she couldn't get an accurate read of what his emotions were in that moment. She felt slightly guilty at what she had done while he fed from the girl in the alleyway earlier that evening. She had sent Brandon a text message with the address to where they were going and told him that was where everyone was located. She promised Clark she wouldn't tell anyone until they were safely out. But they couldn't save everyone. Brandon needed to know.

Clark stopped suddenly next to a box. Olivia choked her sob down. Her mother sat, straddling Kaleb, her face buried into his chest. She struggled to pull the helmet off. Kaleb watched the two guards in disguise, mostly uninterested. She finally pulled the stupid helmet off and his eyebrows shot into his hairline almost.

"Olivia?" Clark pulled his helmet free as well.