Night's Master (Children of The Night 3)

In moments, the second Werewolf let out a long wail that sent chills down my spine, and then he, too, collapsed.

I stared across the aisle at Susie. She lay on the floor of her cage, her teeth bared. She moaned piteously as her body convulsed.

In the cage beside hers, Cagin growled softly.

I glanced at the other two Vampires and then at Rafe. They didn't move, only sat there, unblinking. And then, one by one, they toppled sideways and lay still.

“Rafe.” His name whispered past my lips. He didn't seem to be breathing.

I watched with mounting horror as Pearl injected the two human males, and then one of her assistants unlocked the door of my cage. I stared at the needle in Pearl's hand, more frightened than I had ever been in my life.

I screamed, “No! Let me go!” when the two men grabbed me. Though there was little room in the cage to maneuver, I kicked and bucked for all I was worth in an effort to free myself, but I was no match for their greater strength.

Terrified and helpless, I stared up at Pearl. The needle in her hand looked huge and deadly. “Please,” I begged, “please don't do this.”

“I'm sorry, dear,” she said, and jabbed the needle into my vein.

I watched the sickly green liquid disappear into my arm. A burning sensation shot through me, and I went limp as the two men released me. My blood felt like it was on fire, my body felt heavy, numb. Helpless, I could only lie there, wondering if I was going to die like a lab rat in a cage.

As from far away, I heard Edna's voice. “It's obvious the formula doesn't work on the Werewolves.”

Pearl picked up a long stick and poked Susie with it. She didn't move. “Perhaps it was too strong, or we used too much.”

“Yes, perhaps,” Edna murmured thoughtfully. “We'll have to change the dosage and round up more subjects.”

“Yes, dear, I think you're right,” Pearl agreed. Removing her mask and gloves, she tossed them on a table.

“I didn't expect the results on the others to take so long,” Edna said. She peered into the cages that held the two human males. Like me, they lay unmoving and unresponsive when she poked at them.

“Why don't we go have dinner while we're waiting?” Pearl suggested.

“We might miss something.”

“Nonsense! The cameras are recording,” Pearl said, glancing up at one of the monitors mounted on the wall. “We can watch from the kitchen.”

“You're right, as always,” Edna said with a smile. She peeled off her gloves and removed her mask.

“Let's go, dear,” Pearl said. “Travis should be back by now.”

Unable to move, I lay there for what seemed like forever, only gradually becoming aware that some of the others were moving.

And then I heard Rafe's voice. “Kathy? Kathy! Are you all right? Dammit, answer me!”

With a great deal of effort, I managed to roll over so I could face him. “You're alive.”

He grunted softly.

“Are you still a Vampire?” Even as I asked the question, I wondered if I wanted him to be cured. I had fallen in love with a Vampire. Would I feel the same about him; would he be the same man, if he were human?

“I don't know.” Head cocked to one side, he touched his elbow to one of the silver bars that imprisoned him and quickly jerked away. “I'd say so.”

I was relieved and disappointed, but mainly glad that he was still alive, still my Rafe.

“Can you move?” he asked.

“I think so.” I sat up cautiously. The world spun around me for a few seconds before righting itself. So I could sit up. Big deal. I was still locked inside a steel cage.

Moving carefully, Rafe sat up. “Dammit.” He closed his eyes for several minutes. I could almost see him conquering the pain the silver caused him, feel the effort it cost him to gather his power and focus his energy. He stared at the lock on the door of my cage.

I held my breath, afraid to move or speak for fear of distracting him, even though I wasn't sure exactly what he was doing.

Several long moments passed into eternity and then, miraculously, the padlock fell open.

“Find the keys,” Rafe said. “Hurry!”

I found a set on the counter, near several bottles of serum. Grabbing the keys, I opened Rafe's cage. Moving cautiously, careful to avoid touching the bars, he crab-walked out of the cage. It took me several tries to find the key to the shackles that bound his hands and feet. My stomach churned when I saw the angry red burns at his wrists and ankles.

But there was no time to do anything about them now. I quickly unlocked the other cages. The two male Werewolves were dead. Susie lay unmoving. Her face was pale and sheened with perspiration, but she was still breathing.

As soon as I unlocked the door to Cagin's cage, he scrambled out and drew Susie into his arms. I freed the other two Vampires, then removed their restraints. I had the feeling they were both very young in the life.

“What now?” I asked when the last cage had been opened.

“We need to gather up everything we can find,” Rafe said. He pointed at the two human men. “You two, gather up all these bottles and anything else you can find.”

Without a word of argument, the two men quickly found a couple of empty wooden crates and began filling them with bottles of serum, along with the contents of the drawers and cupboards.

It took only a few minutes.

“Cagin,” Rafe said, “take everybody to my house. Kathy, go with him.”

“No way.”

Cagin looked at me. “You staying or going?” he asked impatiently.

“Staying.”

For once, Rafe didn't waste time arguing with me.

“Be careful, you two,” Cagin said. Opening the door, he glanced up and down the hall before leaving the lab. The shifters moved out behind him, followed by the Vampires and the two men.

“What are we going to do?” I asked.

“Look for the formula to that damn serum.”

“Do you think it's here?”

“I don't know.” He checked the drawers to make sure nothing had been left behind. “Come on, let's check the rest of the building.”

I followed Rafe down the hallway. He stopped at each room along the way to peer inside. Most of them were empty; two contained cots, no doubt for the guards. A third was the room where I had been held. The last room was an office.

Rafe went inside, and I closed the door behind us. Several large metal filing cabinets lined one wall. They were locked, but that was no problem for Rafe. I stood lookout while he went through the drawers, pulling out the files that looked promising.