Page 68 of Wolf Trap

“Well…” I stood next to Hakon. Lycaon looked over my shoulder at the paperwork that Hakon was wading through.

Placing my finger on the document, something caught my eye. “Belladonna is used in products in small doses. Motion sickness, arthritis pain, colds, nerve problems. It is toxic, as you said, and has side effects but is safe in minute doses. But, hey, what’s that?”

He picked up the pile of documents and dumped them to the side.

Hakon’s voice quietened, “British water... Looks like... hello, what’s this?”

Holding up the paperwork, the font at the bottom of the page was smaller. It was a signed contract.

“The names, look there’s Mattie’s name. Mattie Grande. One of the shareholders. Belladonna, water...”

Letting out a huge sigh, Lycaon turned away. “They’re putting it into the water supply. In small doses. Back in my day, it was also known as a hallucinogen. It’s all about control. They’re controlling their food source, or at least the vampire’s food source and subduing the humans. Slowly intoxicating them, not enough to kill, but to...”

Hakon burst out, “Yes! Enough to placate them. Perfect for an immortal government, a change in power. Very clever. Humans on tap! And the poor mortals would never know. Everyone needs water.” Wide-eyed, he stared at Lycaon, thenme, his jaw slack. “I doubt any mortals know of this. Brilliant! I mean...”

I glared at him. He replied, “No, I don’t mean actually brilliant. It’s just, well, who would’ve thought it, eh? Still, what the heck are we going to do with it? I mean...” he turned away, walking to the door.

I followed him. “There must be a source here somewhere, a source that leads to the water table?”

“Stop!” Lycaon’s voice was deep. “Yes, it sounds plausible. But we came here for a reason and right now, that reason is to blow this place up. Though,” he frowned, “I doubt this is the only place they have.” Lycaon picked up the paperwork with Mattie’s name on it. “Come on, whilst we wait for Austin and Anthony to get back, let’s see if we can find something with Mattie’s signature on it, and anyone else’s at that.”

I strode back to him. “Good plan.”

As we were looking through the documents, a door scraped open. It sounded like it came from above us, then footsteps clanking down the metal stairway.

“Oh shit, hide!”

We glanced around furiously, but there wasn’t anywhere to hide. The desk was propped up against the wall, and the foot well underneath it was, well, tiny.

We all stood behind the door, cringing and hoping that Austin and Anthony wouldn’t walk back through the corridors at that moment.

I put my hand on the gun that Lucius had issued me, though we only had thirty of the bullets he’d made, we did have other bullets that he’d cast spells on.

The footsteps got louder, Hakon leaned around me, nodding to Lycaon who nodded back.

Fear trickled down my back, whoever was coming smelt of blood and earth, but no other sounds and my veins felt like fire whipped through them.

19

LAST EXIT FOR THE LOST

Shouting resounded outside in the corridors amongst a sudden hammering of gunfire. More boots stomped down the metal stairs, and a surging of energy swelled through me, like a tide crashing into the shore. I gulped, my fingers gripping the handle of my gun. I found myself with my back against the wall, edging to the doorway and peering out.

Hakon whispered urgently, “What the bloody hell is going on out there?”

As the words came from his mouth, a vampire flew through the open door, tumbling over, then crouched, his wide eyes as red as coals.

“Aw, bleeding heck.” Hakon leapt across the doorway, Lycaon stepped to my side, one huge arm over my body keeping me pressed to the wall, whilst his free hand pointed a gun to the entrance.

I saw Hakon signal to the vampire to move away from the entrance. He scurried, eyeing me and Lycaon, shock on his white face, his jaw slack as he tried to make sense of the situation.

We heard one voice louder than the others, “Let him be, he can’t get far. Lock down the place. He’ll soon come back when he’s hungry.”

“No, we should kill it, and drag its carcass back!”

The first voice boomed, “Leave it. Get the others. They want to begin shortly. It’s our orders.”

Boots on the metal grating stomped louder. “He went in here!” As the figure stepped through the door, Hakon holstered his gun and at the speed of light, snatched the guard, claws extended and sliced open his neck. Not wasting blood, he was feeding on the guard within seconds.

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