Night Hungers (19 page)

~CHAPTER 20~

“Run it again. I don’t care what you think it will do to it, run the fucking test again.”

Simon watched as the lab attendant drew more blood from the breeder. It whimpered, but it no longer struggled like it had before. Of course, they’d cut it up pretty badly taking samples from it.

Simon never thought of the breeders as anything but ‘its.’ To him, they weren’t even human much less something he thought should have feelings, same with the donors. They were simply a means to an end and he meant to get as much out of it before he had to either kill it or burn its carcass to get rid of it.

When the vial was full, they both stepped over to the microscope and Simon watched as the lab boy put a small drop on a strip of glass. Why they had to draw so much blood for so little amount was beyond him, but then it wasn’t as if they didn’t have a near endless supply of the breeders. All he had to do to get more was go to the street corner, flash a twenty, and viola! More test bunnies. He nearly giggled at his own joke, but knew that this man, Dr…Dr. something wouldn’t get it. No one had the same sense of humor he did—the idiots.

The guy was shaking now. Good, keep them on their toes, Sherman had told him. A scared employee was much better than one that respected you, and a terrified one would get you the results that you wanted. Simon stepped away to pull out his little notebook.

He was going to write a book someday soon. It was going to be a Golden Globe winner for sure, he thought. He and Sherman were going to co-write it. He already had a title picked out:
Cutting Out the Fat.
Simon thought it was perfect and the little double meaning would be lost on all but the few whom where as brilliant as he and Sherman.

Simon thought again about this mentor. Where was he? And his money? They were getting into serious issues here. The lab boys were demanding paychecks that didn’t bounce and Simon needed to make a payment on the new computer. It was going to help him write the next greatest novel of all times. The lab boys weren’t too much of a problem; he just fed them to the donors when they got too demanding. Simon looked over at the idiot at the microscope. Maybe he’d be fodder next.

“It’s the same, sir. She’s not pregnant. And from these tests and the others, she won’t breed either.”

Simon cuffed him across the mouth. “I told you they are its or whatever their cell numbers are. I don’t want to know what their sex is, understand?”

“Yes, sir, but only women can breed. I just thought—” His scream rent the air.

Simon didn’t even realize that he’d picked up the scalpel until it was sticking out of the lab boy’s eye. Blood was squirting everywhere and the thing on the table tried to get away, it screamed and screamed. Simon snapped. He jerked it from the table and snapped its neck. Its screams were cut off abruptly.

Simon basked in the silence for several seconds as he closed his eyes and stood over the dead woman. When the lab boy whimpered Simon opened one eye, glared at him, and he shut up. It was suddenly all too much. This was all that woman’s fault. If she hadn’t taken his hand he’d be a great scientist now and not have to depend on the idiots he had now. He remembered that day as though it were yesterday.

They had all gone to the sublevels to get that one called Eight. It was time for him to pony up and give them the sample they needed. What did he care what happened to his sperm? It wasn’t as if he was going to ever get to fuck anyone. Why did they have to fight when they had to know that they would never win?

Tim had said that this was probably the last time they would try and get a viable donation from Eight. He’d said donation as if it had a choice in the matter of whether or not they took it. Simon felt the grin that always came to his face when he thought of Tim.

He was a force to be reckoned with. Of course he was a Grade-A Prick, but he was a forceful prick.

The second they got off the elevator they could feel the animals down there.

Especially Seven and Nine. They looked human, but they were all nothing but animals to him and the other men who worked there. When they stood in front of Eight’s cage a kind of energy poured from the cell next door and Simon, called Phillip back then, knew that Nine was up to its tricks again. Scott went to the door and pounded on it with a club

“Zulu Alpha Nine, you come out where I can see you now. Don’t make me have to come in there and get you again. I won’t be as easy this time.”

Scott turned to him and grinned. Scott was a sadistic bastard and he loved to cause pain to the donors. Actually, he liked to cause pain to everything, including his family.

When Nine answered Simon felt a kind of fear run up his spine.

“Come in and try. I’m not bleeding this time and I’ll feed on your hot blood. I could always use a nice snack before I kill you.”

Simon believed it too. He nearly told Scott not to go in, but he was armed with a Taser and a gun. Simon gave him the thumbs up and watched as he entered the cage.

When he heard Scott scream then it abruptly cut off Simon knew a kind of fear that he’d never felt before. Suddenly, out of the cage came a huge panther, its coat a silky black and teeth that looked razor sharp.

As the cat leapt at John he pulled Eight in front of him. As soon as both men were down the cat seemed to push Eight away from her so that she could reach the neck of John. She bit down hard on his throat and tore it away.

With blood still dripping from her muzzle she started to track them, herding them, Simon realized, until they were standing close together. He could smell that one of them had pissed himself. Simon couldn’t blame him; he was nearly to that point himself.

Circling around to the right, the cat growled low and deep in its throat.

“You’ll back off, Nine; I’ll kill you if you don’t. I thought we were getting along so well for the past two weeks.” Simon tried to reason with her. He so didn’t want to die.

“Now, be a good girl and go into your cell and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

“Just fucking kill her,” Tim screamed at him. That’s when Simon remembered he had a gun in his hand too. “That’s what you’re supposed to do when they go bad. Kill her and get this over with.”

When Simon drew his gun to fire the big cat leapt through the air at him. Its jaws clamped around his hand and, with a hard bite, his hand came off with the gun still in his fingers. Blood spurted everywhere as it spit the appendage and gun out of its mouth.

Simon didn’t remember anything much after that. He tried to crawl away, but he knew that he had to stop the bleeding or he would die down there. And that cat would more than likely eat him. Wrapping his tie around his forearm Simon prayed that someone would find him before it was too late.

He was in a lab again when he woke, though not like the one he’d been in before.

There was an IV in his arm and his other, the one the cat had bitten, was wrapped in white gauze, blood spattered along it. He started to move and his body hurt.

“You’re going to feel odd for a few days. It’s the fae blood I had them give you. It’s made you an immortal. Not a true immortal like me, but one nonetheless. You’re very welcome.”

Simon looked over at the man in the large chair by the window. Sherman. Sherman had saved him. Then he realized what he’d said. “Fae? I’m an immortal? I don’t think…I don’t understand.”

“You were too near death for me to just let you lay there and try to make it to the hospital. And my mate was coming down the elevator. I had to get you out of there before she was able to make you whole and read your mind. If that would have happened then she would have known everything I have planned, and I can’t have that happen. No, this was better. You’ll be able to live a very long time provided that you don’t piss me off too much and we can work on the combination of DNA together.”

Simon looked at Sherman. Partners? He wanted them to work together as partners.

Simon lay back on the bed and looked at the man. Simon knew that he knew about as much about DNA research as any high school student. He’d only been pretending that he was helping when all he’d been doing was mimicking what the others had said when he was asked. But he knew that if he told Sherman this then his immortality and his partnership would be gone. Besides, he was making great money at fifty-two dollars a week, and maybe he could ask for a raise. A man making that kind of money in the thirties was either a bootlegger or a thief.

Simon nodded that he would help the other men as before. It wasn’t until days later that he found out that he was the sole survivor and that he would be the one running the lab. He’d been able to fake things along and even had Sherman bring in more lab guys.

That was fine with Simon. And the fancy new equipment was fun too.

~~~

Zane was moving the heavy engine to the belly of the SUV when Danny came into the bay area. He looked so relieved to be back to work that she smiled at him. The package that had been left at the garage had turned out to be nothing more than a sample someone had sent to her to try and get her to order their products. The
mechanic
had been just that, the mechanic that had worked on his car.

“The guy that owns this car called again. He is a real pain in my hind end. He’s claiming that you did something to his vehicle and that’s why the engine seized up. I told him if he had legitimate proof of the oil changes that he’d made then I would take full responsibility for the engine. Said he’d get back with me. What a wiener head.”

Zane burst out laughing. Danny never cursed. Not in all the time she’d known him had he ever said anything but “mother pots,” or some other version of that. To hear him say hind end and wiener head all in the same day was a rarity that she was going to savor.

The guy must have really pissed him off.

“I can have this finished by tomorrow afternoon, but if he is bitching about it that much, do you want me to stop?”

In a way she really wanted him to say stop, but it would drive both of them nuts to leave a job half finished. She knew that as well as he did. But he looked very tempted.

Finally he just shook his head and told her no. “If it ain’t ready when we said it would be then he may not pay anyway. If I have to sell it to recoup my money, that wouldn’t be ideal, but I could do it. Put’er in, Zane, and we’ll sort it out when he calls back.”

She agreed. People like the owner were always trying to take advantage of someone else and she didn’t want Danny to have to eat the cost of the engine. But he was right; a nice ride like this one, he’d have no problems selling for more than he had in it.

Zane was just finishing up for the afternoon when the phone rang in the office. She had never answered it before and didn’t even pause in her work when she heard it. Danny was still on it when her pager went off. Without glancing at the number, she went to the pay phone. Danny was walking toward her with a piece of paper in his hand when the man at the other end answered.

“I have a sanctioned job for you. The queen would like to know if you can meet with her before you leave to fulfill it? She said that it is very important.”

Zane took the sheet of paper from Danny and with a quick read, leaned back against the wall. Aaron MacManus needed to meet with her too. Would this life ever…well, it couldn’t now unless she could get the queen to—

“Do you think she could meet me at the MacManus’? I have to talk to someone there as well. And tell her that I have something I need from her, a…a favor.”

“Yes, miss, I can tell her that. She will not be overjoyed by it, but I will ask her.

Also, the package, would you like for me to send it to the master’s home? I can send it to either place.”

Zane was startled by the request. As far as she knew this man worked for the queen and was in that realm. That he knew the master was a little scary. But she didn’t have time to speculate about it now. She told him that would be fine and hung up. Calling the MacManus home proved to be a little more difficult.

“This is the MacManus residence, Mac MacManus speaking. How may I direct your call?”

The kid couldn’t have been much more than pre-teen. His mouthful of a greeting had startled Zane, so much so that she didn’t respond for several seconds and had the kid repeating his speech.

“I need to speak to…did your parents actually call you Mac as in Mac MacManus?”

She hadn’t meant to ask, but it was just too strange not to. He laughed at her question and told her that his real name was different, but they called him that for other reasons. She had to give the master points, he was being careful about using his and his family’s name.

“Good job, kid. Is your dad around? I need to speak to him. Tell him that he called and left a message to talk to me.”

“Sure. But he’s with my mom. They are having a…we’re not allow to tell people they are fighting again, but they are having a really loud discussion about my sister Li…my sister.”

The famous Lizzy, Zane was sure. She wondered if she really did make a noise like a car out of alignment when she didn’t get her way. Having met her mother Zane was sure she was fairly close. Zane waited until the master came to the phone. His voice sounded like he was still a little pissed.

“Miss Zander. I was wondering if you could please come by and talk with me for a few minutes after you finish work? I have a couple of things I’d like to discuss with you and a few more that I need to clarify. It shouldn’t take all that long.”

“Sure, and it’s Zane. I have to meet with the queen too so I hope you don’t mind that I’m meeting her there too. I need to…I have something I have to do later and it would speed things up if I didn’t have to go to Molavonta too.” She knew she should have asked first, but it had been a really strange call and then his note.

“Of course. I would imagine that you and Aiden have plans for this evening as well.

I remember when…hell, Sara and I still go at it like sex-starved maniacs. What time should I tell him you’ll be here?”

Zane didn’t even think about Aiden. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been on her mind all day, but she didn’t think about making arrangements with him or even telling him what she had to do tonight. She was still thinking about it when Aaron spoke again.