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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE 
FINN
Since Charlie is supposed to arrive today to bring me my much-anticipated limbs, Marcus went into work alone.
“You’re like a child on Christmas Day,” Orin says.
“I want my babies. I used to hate them, but man, I hate them more when they’re gone,” I say.
“Your robot limbs?” Rylee asks. She’s looking much better now with a healthy glow to her face and not as thin as she was when I first met her.
“Yes.”
“They’re so cool. I tried saving them by putting them in rice. It didn’t work but it would have been ultra-cool if it did,” she says.
The moment Charlie’s in the driveway, I’m at the door. She smiles as she sees me. “Wow, you’re more than eager.”
“Oh, my babies.” I reach for them, but she holds them just out of reach.
“Go sit down so I can check them over properly,” she instructs.
Grudgingly, I go to the couch and sit down where she checks over the caps then finally puts them on.
“I promise that I’m going to work on making them waterproof. But I’m going to need them longer than a few days to do so. So sometime that you have downtime and aren’t in the middle of getting abducted, trying to hunt down vampires, you know, all that jazz, let me know, and I’m going to modify them.”
“Thank you,” I say as I lower the leg of my sweatpants.
She gives me a warm smile. “Of course.”
I flex my leg and then my fingers before hugging her. “You’re the best.”
“You’re welcome,” Charlie says just as there’s a knock on the door.
Orin looks to the door before holding a finger in front of Rylee. “Go.”
Rylee knows the drill and quietly scampers off to her hiding spot as Orin gets up and heads over to the door before pulling it open. Outside stand Harris and the officer who was there the night Harris tried getting Marcus arrested, as well as another officer.
“Can I help you?” Orin asks.
“We’d like a word with Detective Hayes, is he here?” Officer Ridley asks. I don’t know the name of the man, but she’s at least a familiar face.
“Yeah, my doctor’s here and was helping me. You need something?” I ask, not bothering to tell them that Charlie was finishing up. It’s been long enough without my leg that it takes a moment to get over to the door.
“We’d like to take you in to the council for your statement,” Ridley says.
“I… already gave it,” I say, even though I’m sure they’re aware.
“From our team,” the other officer I don’t know says.
“And you are?” I ask.
“Officer Riggs,” he says.
“I see… okay. Yeah, I’d love to make a statement. Can’t right now with my doctor’s appointment, but how does… three o’clock sound?” I ask as my phone beeps. “This might be Marcus here.”
Claude: The council took Marcus in for “questioning.” When Marcus refused, they practically arrested him. 
Fuck.
Me: They’re here now. I don’t know what to do. 
Claude: I’m coming. 
“Nope, not Marcus. But I’ll contact him and—”
“We don’t need Detective Church,” Harris says.
“That’s fine, but I do. We’re positive someone is after me, and I refuse to leave the protection of the house without him.”
“You can either come in handcuffs, Detective Hayes, or you can come willingly,” Officer Riggs says.
I look at him in disbelief. “In… handcuffs? Excuse me? What exactly did I do wrong?”
“You abetted in the kidnapping of a young girl by the name of Rylee Johnson. She is still missing and according to her mother, Detective Church threatened her to learn of her whereabouts and was avidly searching for her.”
“What? Yeah, because he thought she could lead him to me after I’d been abducted. This… I will not leave here with any of you,” I say. “How the hell can I trust any of you after how erratic you’ve been? This is highly illegal as well.”
“We do not have to follow VRC guidelines,” Harris barks.
Officer Ridley looks uncertain. “Why don’t we meet at the VRC department? That would be a good—”
Officer Riggs puts his arm up to stop her and she looks more uncertain than ever. “Hayes, are you resisting?”
“This is ridiculous,” Orin growls.
“Sir, if you come any closer, I will have to arrest you as well,” Riggs says flatly.
I look back at Orin and shake my head because I need him to protect Rylee. “Fine, I will go to the council hall, but I need a moment for my doctor to finish fixing my prostheses.”
“We don’t have time to waste.”
“It only takes one minute and will keep you from having to carry me,” I say.
There’s clear irritation at this, but I go back to Charlie who fiddles with my arm. I flash her my phone about what Claude has said. “GPS?” I whisper, inquiring about whether they’re still active on my prostheses.
She nods. “Hold on one second. This isn’t working right.” She fiddles with it even though we’re both aware that it’s working fine. It doesn’t take long before Riggs gets irritated and pulls out some handcuffs. I honestly doubt he’s going to be fond of me going back for my gun and even if I did take it, he wouldn’t let me leave with it.
“That feels much better,” I say with a nod to Charlie before getting up and taking the absolute slowest walk to the door that I can manage. “Sorry, takes me a minute to get used to these again.”
They try to march me out to the car, but I remain slow and obstinate. And just as they’re putting me into the back, I hear a car pull up behind their two vehicles.
“Who the fuck is that?” Riggs asks, but before I can make up some ridiculous scenario, Alexei gets out of the car, pushes past Riggs and crams in, basically on my lap since Harris is on the other side of me.
“Sorry I’m late,” Alexei says.
“Get out of the vehicle,” Riggs demands.
Alexei glances up at him. “I would like to see you try.”
He looks nearly enraged as he slams the door shut and we settle into the back seat. I’m not sure where Claude is, but Alexei must have been closer. Officer Riggs gets into the front seat and starts to drive as Alexei pulls out his phone and begins to type: Council has Ender—
“What are you doing?” Harris asks as he holds his hand out for Alexei’s phone.
“This is a work phone; you do not have permission to access it, I’m afraid,” Alexei says.
“Give him the phone,” Riggs orders.
“You really want the phone?” Alexei asks.
“I do,” Harris growls.
“Fine, here. Catch.” Alexei whips it at Harris’s head hard enough that he barely dodges it. The phone cracks the window, and we all sit in silence for a moment.
“You just assaulted a member of the council!” Harris yells.
“No… I tossed you the phone you asked for. It didn’t touch you at all. I had no idea you didn’t know how to catch.”
“You will face prison time for this,” Harris threatens.
“Can’t wait until you attempt to get me tried for tossing a cell phone that you illegally demanded I give you. Sounds delightfully ridiculous,” Alexei says.
We fall quiet as I keep pressed in close to Alexei and try to debate what we’re going to do now.
I lean into him. “Please don’t get hurt because of me.”
“Moj zanuda, you’re ridiculous if you think I’ll just sit back and let them do what they want with you,” he says.
I squeeze his hand which is probably more affection than Alexei can handle but he gives me a determined look.
The moment we pull up to the council hall, I feel no more prepared than when we left. I’m marched out and the moment we’re out, Harris begins demanding that Alexei be arrested for physically assaulting him in the vehicle.
“What happened?” Officer Ridley asks as she hurries up.
“He tried killing me with his cell phone!” Harris claims.
“He told me to give him my cell phone, so I simply passed it over,” Alexei says.
Harris is over there like a game show lady waving his heart out at the cracked window. “This could have been my head.”
“Well good thing you’re a vampire, then,” Ridley says, sounding exasperated. “This is… I’m uncomfortable with how many corners we are cutting here. This is not even a legal… what is it? An arrest? What are we doing? I was told we were asking Detective Hayes some questions, and now we’re taking him in on refusing to comply… when he did comply… But we don’t take him to the department…”
“Officer, I’d be more than happy to answer your questions,” Addison says as she comes out of a vehicle that must have pulled in a little before us. Kaden is in the passenger seat and follows her while keeping his eyes on me.
“I’ll escort Finn inside,” Kaden says as he passes Harris and sets a hand on my back.
Officer Riggs puts an arm up so Alexei can’t follow. “Move your fucking arm or I’ll break it,” Alexei growls.
“Detective, I’d be careful,” Addison says. “I’ve heard some very interesting things about you. Things about your past that I’m positive you wouldn’t want the entire council to hear, now would you?”
That stills me but Alexei plays it off like he has no idea what she’s talking about, and I quickly realize I should too.
“This entire thing is uncalled for,” Alexei says.
“Come on, let them fight it out,” Kaden says as he practically drags me into the building.
“What the fuck are you doing, Kaden?” I ask.
“I am getting you away from them, obviously,” he says as he ushers me through the building at a quick pace. “They’re trying to get Marcus arrested, but at the moment, they’re not having a decent amount of luck. So just… sit tight, be quiet and stay out of the way, and hopefully Marcus will get out, get his ass in here, and take you home before they start all this bullshit interrogation stuff.”
“You and I both know I’m not here for interrogation,” I say.
Kaden watches me closely.
“Why did you attack me? What were you trying to do? Abduct me? Kill me? What do you want with me?” I ask.
He’s silent for a moment before he looks around. “Why… why is the office so quiet?”
“Don’t just… ignore me, I know you were there.”
Kaden grabs my arm, pushes open a door, and shoves me inside. “Just… stay in there, okay? Something’s not right.”
“You don’t say?” I respond sarcastically as I grab for him, hoping to get his attention, but as he twists out of my reach, my hand catches the edge of a jacket hung on the back of his door instead, knocking it down as the door slams shut and I’m left alone.
I wait exactly one second before I hurry over to the desk and pick up the phone. The call immediately begins to ring and Brooks answers.
“Brooks, it’s Finn. They have me at the council hall for some fucking reason. It’s a big mess. Do you know where Marcus is?”
“Shit… okay, I’m headed to you. Yes, Chief Burns and I are trying to get Marcus out. Doesn’t help that Marcus flung the man trying to arrest him across the room. Can you get out and just run?”
“I can try.”
“Please be careful, Finn.”
“I will.”
Putting the phone down, I step toward the door and my foot kicks something. I glance down at it as the keys skid about a foot, making me realize they must have fallen out of the jacket I’d knocked down. I have absolutely no idea what they’re keys to but there’s also a keycard on it and if they’ve locked me in, they might be of use.
The door isn’t locked, so I slip through it and step out into the hallway. There has to be a rear exit because going back the way I came makes me question if I’ll just run into Addison, Harris, or Riggs—all people I have no interest in ever seeing again.
Hurrying down the hallway, I come to a dead end with three door choices. The first is a supply closet, so I pull open the second which is an empty meeting room.
Trying the third door, I realize it requires a keycard. I have my doubts an exit would be through a door that requires a card, but when I hear noise bouncing down the hallway, I decide I’ll try my luck inside. I mean… they’re not going to fathom that I even have a way inside and might not check it immediately.
Passing the card over the reader, it flickers to green, so I pull the door open and immediately freeze.
“Definitely not who I was expecting,” Ender says.
The voices are getting louder, so I shut the door and look over at the vampire who is wearing vampire-grade cuffs that keep him attached to something even he can’t seem to break.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
“Oh? Simple, really. They want to know where Rylee is before they kill me. They can’t do that if I’m in prison, so if they keep me here, they can torture me some, starve me, and maybe I will give it up. But wouldn’t you know, I’d rather die than hand over what is mine to them. You must have snatched her up, you sly fox.”
“I asked Marcus to take her and hide her… I didn’t know who was on whose side yet.”
His eyes flicker down to the keys in my hand. “Oh? Joining my side, I see? You have the key.”
I glance down at the key ring. “You want me to let you go? Aren’t you just going to fucking… abduct me again and bleed me for your vampire child?”
“Has Rylee been sick?” he asks.
“No.”
“So then I don’t need you anymore. Let me go, and I’ll take care of your… council problem.”
“You’ll kill them?” I ask.
He grins at me. “I will kill every single one of them.”
“Not everyone deserves to die,” I remind him.
“You’re right. I won’t kill you. Happy?”
“Ender, please… you can’t just kill everyone.”
“Oh, you’re so innocent. You don’t understand that if you do not kill, they’ll stab you in the back. They’re outside the door. What are you going to do?”
Fuck. Fuck.
I don’t even need Ender to tell me they’re coming in because I hear the beep of the door.
“The round key,” Ender says.
“Fuck,” I hiss as I switch to the round key and jam it into the handcuffs. They release and Ender pulls free just as the door swings open and Riggs steps into the room.
Ender moves so damn fast I nearly miss him, but I don’t miss the spray of blood as Riggs’s head hits the ground. “Oh…” Ender moans as he licks the blood off his fingers. “Now who else wants to play?”
What the fuck have I done?
“Come, human,” Ender says. “What are you waiting for?”
I swallow the lump in my throat and step over Riggs’s body as I follow Ender, knowing that I might have made the biggest mistake of my life. “Do not hurt any of my people. Please.”
“And what do I get in return?” he asks.
“I fucking protected Rylee when I didn’t have to. You get that,” I growl.
He grins at me. “Fine.”
We head down the hallway as a vampire sees us and rushes toward us. This one, Ender doesn’t immediately kill. Instead, he grabs and bites into him. The man cries out and tries to struggle, but Ender tears away from his throat and spits the blood onto the ground.
“There’s something wrong with his blood,” Ender says before chucking him.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
The man scrambles away as Ender looks around. “Why’s it so quiet? This place is never quiet.”
“That’s what Kaden said.”
“Hmm… ah well,” he says. “I guess less slaughter, which is never as much fun, but we’ll make do.”
And then he sees someone at the end of the hallway that he chases after. Before I get far, I hear a scream from the direction the fleeing vampire had just gone. Pushing open the door he’d gone through, I peek inside a moment before the vampire shoves past me, rushing back into the hallway. “He killed them all!”
He killed them all? Ender? But Ender’s only been loose a minute, and I’ve been with him the entire time.
I walk into the room filled with cubicles and step around the corner where I see a woman slumped down in her desk, head on the table. Moving up to her, I can’t see anything wrong with her, but a person doesn’t lie like that when alive.
Not wanting to touch her and disrupt evidence, I take her stapler and tip her head just a little to see if I can find where she was hurt, but I see no blood on her at all.
That’s when I notice another body, just a little beyond where I stand. This woman is lying on her back, eyes open. Kneeling next to her, I check her neck for bites, but she’s clear of wounds. She appears to be a vampire, so could her body have healed itself before she died? But then what would have killed her?
“Finn!”
I turn quickly and realize I’m not alone. Relief floods through me as I see Marcus standing in the doorway I’d just come through.
“Marcus?” I say as I rush over to him. “How the hell did you get here?”
“Don’t… don’t worry about it,” he says, which makes me really worry about it. “I see Ender is here.”
“Yeah… I maybe… let him go and probably shouldn’t have,” I admit. “But he didn’t kill these two… I don’t know what did.”
Marcus stares at the bodies for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t smell blood.”
“Right?”
“Come on, Finn, let’s get the hell out of here. We can worry about it later.”
He wraps an arm around me and pulls me out into the hallway. “Marcus, something else is going on here. Kaden was also surprised by how quiet it was. Do you think… there are more people dead like them? But if there are… how the hell did they die?”
“I don’t know,” Marcus says as he hurries me down the hallway.
He must hear something because he pushes me through a door into a different room. Or maybe it’s because of who might be in the room.
“Kaden, you just spend your life trying to fuck me over, don’t you?” Marcus asks.
Kaden looks up from where he’s staring down at a man lying dead. “My wife was ill. All I wanted was to cure her and Addison said that she knew of a man who could. What kind of luck is it that the person ended up being yours, Marcus?”
“I’m not some fucking… cure-all,” I growl. “I don’t even understand it myself. And if you needed help for your wife, why not just come to me? How did you know what I could do?”
“Landall told me. I guess he knew how much Watson was protecting you. And when he’d been trying to get back on Ender’s side, Miller had told him. But I don’t fucking know what to believe anymore. All I fucking know is that Addison claims that there are two people who can help us. There are two people who will make it so the vampires don’t have to live in the shadows anymore. The child and you, Finn. And I guess now that we know the child’s mother is alive, there are three. And I will do whatever Addison asks to make that happen. Even if I have to betray you again, Marcus.”
“I should have let you die,” Marcus says.
“You still can,” Kaden says as I hear a noise behind me as the door opens and Addison steps into the room.
“This is all your fault,” Addison growls at us. “They’re dead because of you.”
I can’t help but wonder what else Ender has done, but what was I supposed to do? Just stand there?
Kaden rushes forward as Marcus pulls me back out of harm’s way. He snatches Kaden by the throat, crushing it and throwing him. He’ll heal too quickly, but it gets him back for now while I really wish I had my goddamn gun.
“Kaden, if you need help, we can help you. Why go this far?” I ask. “Why help them?”
“Because I have nothing else left! My wife is dead. I have nothing. I have nothing left to give. But they’re trying to make a difference. We vampires get pushed around and shoved back, and it’s time for them to stand up. It’s time for them to take control, and when we do, you slaughter them all?”
“We didn’t kill any of them,” I say. “None of this would have happened if it weren’t for you guys. Landall and that woman wouldn’t have been killed if you hadn’t attacked me. The group that Landall was with wouldn’t be dead if you and your group hadn’t taken a child that didn’t belong to you.”
“You don’t understand the power we have. The power we should be allowed to control, Finn.”
He rushes for me, but I step away from him as Marcus grabs him.
“Don’t kill him,” I shout.
Marcus doesn’t seem overly convinced by that idea. “He needs to die.”
“Just… don’t,” I say. “We’ll arrest him—”
“He’s a member of the council. He’ll keep getting away with it,” Marcus growls as he holds Kaden up in the air.
“Marcus, why have you forsaken your own kind? We could control this world,” Addison says. “And instead… you kill your kind.”
“We didn’t kill them,” I yell, but she ignores me, like I’m not even present for any of this.
“You have the answer to our struggles right before you. That man there has the answer to creating true vampires. Vampires that don’t need humans to survive. Vampires who can finally set this world right. And you refuse? You would prefer to be cut down and regulated? You think the council has true control? Who stands at the top of the council but a group of humans?”
Marcus shakes his head. “Finn is not a fucking… science experiment. You will not control him or use him or whatever the hell you want.”
She laughs mockingly. “Once you’re dead, I can do with him as I plea—”
“Dear god, does that woman ever shut up?” Ender asks as he tosses her lifeless body to the ground. “Finnigan, you were taking me to my daughter. Oh. One more to kill.” He locks his eyes onto Kaden before flickering them to Marcus. “Or are there two?”
“I will never give you Rylee if you hurt Marcus,” I say as I step in front of Marcus.
Ender stills and listens for a moment. “Sounds like the VRC just rolled in. Answer where she is now or I will just start killing.”
“I’ll bring her to you,” I say. “Tonight. Meet me at Elms Park at ten.”
“And if she’s not there…”
“You’ll kill us all, I get it.”
“Good,” he says as he leaves the room.
Marcus growls. “I want to kill him.”
“I know,” I say. “I’m sorry.”
Since that doesn’t appear to be an option, Marcus turns his sharp eyes onto Kaden instead but before he can slaughter him, Brooks and Chief Burns rush into the room.
“This man is under arrest,” Marcus says as he shoves Kaden toward them, probably because he knows he’d likely kill him if he didn’t.
“What the hell happened in here?” Brooks asks.
“A question everyone is wondering,” I say. “A group of dead vampires. No blood drained. Nothing appears wrong with them that I can see, but I didn’t want to move anyone to examine them. When Ender tried drinking from one, he said his blood tasted wrong.”
Marcus wraps an arm around me and pushes past them without another word, telling me that I’m done with this conversation.
“Have you seen Alexei?” I ask.
“He’s fine.”
“Okay. Good. Are you okay?”
He doesn’t look okay. “Irritated.”
I squeeze his arm. “I know. I’m sorry.”
He takes a deep breath and holds me tightly. “The moment they arrested me, I knew they were coming for you again.”
“It’s okay. I set a crazed and murderous vampire loose to protect me,” I say with a grin.
Marcus shakes his head. “Only you.”
After Marcus calms down, Brooks comes back to inform us that they’ve found seven dead who hadn’t been killed by Ender. All seven of them looked perfectly fine, all seven were vampires, and all seven showed no signs of the typical ways a vampire would die.
With the hope that an autopsy will tell us what we’re missing, we’re told to head home. Honestly, that’s fine with me. I’m just pleased we aren’t being blamed for it. Ender will probably take most of the blame and the fact that the council was crooked will get swept under the rug. Seeing as Harris is the only member left and no one quite knew his involvement, I’m curious to see how his interview goes, but I won’t hear about that until later.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR 
MARCUS
“I get to go with En?” Rylee asks as she nearly vibrates in the back seat between Alexei and Claude. She’s hopping around as I contemplate how stupid I am to be involved in this. What happens when Ender gets what he wants? He’ll have nothing to keep him from attacking us.
“Rylee, I need you to do me a favor first, though,” Finn says. “You’re going to stay with me until we’re done talking. Then you can run over to him, okay?”
“Hmmmmm, FINE.”
I’m not quite sure how well she’s going to listen, but I give her the benefit of the doubt—she seems to like being involved with whatever Finn gets up to.
So when we arrive at the park and get out, I snatch her up and decide to carry her.
“FINN, FINN. Why’s the evil one carrying me?” she whines while looking at me in horror.
“Aww, do you want me to hold you?” Claude asks.
“Finn, the weird one wants to hold me now. Finn!” Rylee cries.
Claude gasps. “Weird? Fine. Alexei can hold you.”
She slowly looks over at Alexei and her eyes go even wider. “FINN, the eviler evil one wants to hold me!”
“This is so you can’t run,” I assure her.
“FINN, I’m being kidnapped!”
“Marcus, that isn’t helping,” Finn says, but he doesn’t make me give her up as we head into the dark park. It doesn’t take long before I see Ender casually walking our way.
“Ender!” Rylee cries, looking absolutely gleeful to be in the presence of that monster.
“How cute you look with a child, Marcus,” Ender says.
“Ender, I want to talk before we hand her over because once you have her… we have nothing to hold over you,” Finn says.
“Get talking,” he says.
“Do you know what happened to the people who were dead? You were there, did you hear anything?” I ask.
“Those people are the ones who took Rylee from me and made her sick,” he says. “Maybe they got to experience it firsthand.”
“I don’t understand how you make a vampire ill,” I say.
“I don’t know either, but what I’m saying is that if Finn hadn’t healed her, maybe she’d have ended up like those men and women,” Ender says. “Sadly, I might have killed everyone who had an answer for you. I’m not actually sad, in case you’re confused.”
“Kaden’s still alive,” Finn says.
“I wonder what Kaden’s role in it was, though. And whether or not he’ll talk. To me, he reeked of pawn,” I muse.
“You know Kaden is merely a dog sent to fetch and retrieve whatever is wanted,” Ender says. “I guess the only upside is that you don’t have to worry about what they gave Rylee that made her ill. The person who did it to them is likely the same person who did it to Rylee and they’re dead.”
“What if they’re not?” Finn asks. “What if there’s someone left?”
“Then you find them, and you kill them. Now give me my child,” he orders.
“How do I know I can trust you to not come after us again?” Finn asks.
I don’t believe we can trust him at all. It’s why I’d suggested to Finn that we simply kill Ender when he came for the child or at the very least arrest him, but something about Finn told me he wasn’t going to do that. He simply told me that people change… and that he’s afraid this isn’t the last time we’re going to have to rely on the murderous man.
“Don’t ever come back,” I growl. “If you ever come back… if you ever look at Finn again, I will kill you.”
He smirks at me as he holds his arms open for the child that I put on the ground. “I look forward to it.”
Rylee is ecstatic as she races over to him and dives into his arms. He’s grinning, quite pleased with himself as he holds her. And with that he’s gone.
“Something that can kill vampires, eh?” Claude says.
I glance over at him. “What if it didn’t die off with Addison? What if this idea that Finn and Rylee can be the answer to true vampires has spread?”
Finn shrugs. “Then we deal with it. It’s kind of our thing, right?”
“Hmm…”
I make my way back to the car and sink down in the driver’s seat before looking over at Finn. “Did we just make a mistake?”
Claude shuts his door. “Honestly, I think this just puts into perspective Finn’s ability to con even a crazed murderer into trusting him.”
“Am… Am I supposed to feel proud? I feel confused,” Finn says. “Is that a good ability?”
I sigh, because of course Finn would be able to do that. “Just… don’t ever trust him, you hear me? He would kill you without qualm if the thought struck him.”
“I won’t,” Finn assures me.
The drive home is quiet. I think none of us really know what to say or do. The council is in turmoil, and the VRC might face consequences of what happened depending on whose side they’ll take.
What a shit show.