A Perfect Blood

dismissed him. “Sir!” the one barked, and I squinted at the unfamiliar uniforms of the two at the radio. Clearly we weren’t in the hot zone yet, but the new uniforms and attitudes bothered me.
    I hung back, a question rising to pop against the top of my head, sending little tendrils of thought sparking through me. Expensive new equipment, unfamiliar personnel with a whatever attitude toward Glenn, only humans at the take zone . . . Glenn withholding something from Ivy.
    The silver doors shut, sealing off the last of the clean, bright light, and I shivered as I felt the underground take me. I took a deep breath, sending a thought out to make sure I could still touch a line. The energy tasted like books, and I imagined we were still in the semipublic areas.
    “What’s up, Rache?” Jenks said as he landed on my shoulder, and I smiled as if nothing was wrong.
    “Ask me later,” I whispered, squinting in challenge at the two radio guys before they turned away as one, heads close together as they discussed something. They weren’t FIB. I’d stake my life on it. I’d also stake my life on the fact that Glenn knew they weren’t FIB. So who were they and why were they here, the-men-who-don’t-belong?
    “Rachel,” Glenn said softly, and I jerked. “Do you want night goggles?”
    Shaking my head, I hitched my bag higher. “I’m good,” I said, my thoughts on that special flashlight of Trent’s. I had to get one of those.
    Glenn started down the hallway. “The stairs are this way.”
    Ivy and Nina pushed past me, clearly eager to bust some heads. Jenks had gone ahead to light the way, and the scent of vampire incense rolled over me as I followed, last in line. Nina was excited, and I breathed her in, enjoying it. It was a good thing I’d sworn off vampires or I’d be in trouble right now, walking in the dark with two of them. Nina smelled as delicious as Ivy.
    As if hearing my thoughts, Nina looked over her shoulder. A stab of fear slid to my middle, and her black eyes darkened. “Rachel?” she said in warning, and Ivy took her arm.
    “Isn’t she fun?” Ivy said lightly, trying to distract both Nina and Felix.
    My tension eased when Nina looked away. “I honestly don’t know how you do it, Ms. Tamwood. Most of my people would have succumbed years ago.”
    Jenks dropped back, lighting them with his silver dust. He’d heard everything with his exquisite hearing. “Ivy defines herself with her denial.”
    Nina looked at him in question. “Do tell,” she said, and I wondered how old Felix was if he was using one of Pierce’s phrases. “Nina tells me that Rynn Cormel has given you your blood freedom?” she asked. “Is that so?”
    Glenn had reached a fire door, the lock clearly having been broken recently. His face was troubled when we came to a halt before him, and I didn’t wonder why. I knew Ivy was holding Nina’s arm and flirting to distance Felix’s thoughts from me, but he might not. “We have to be quiet from this level down,” he said needlessly. “Rachel, can you still tap a line?”
    “So far,” I said, but one more stairway might put me below the easy reach of one. Good thing I still had my splat gun. And, ah, Trent’s charms.
    Glenn worked the latch, and the fire door opened, showing a dark stairway leading down. The air shifting the strands of my hair smelled of oil and canned meat. Jenks hovered uncertainly, finally moving forward to light the path as I followed Ivy down.
    The stairway was tight, more like an escape hatch than anything else, and I wondered if this was really a way out. I could understand it if this was a last-stand kind of bunker, but it would be a death trap if there was a real catastrophe—such as an invading force knocking at your door.
    We reached the end in silence, and Nina gently pushed open the second fire door. She looked too eager for my liking, but Ivy was nearby. Maybe the pain amulet she’d asked for earlier was for Nina after Ivy cracked her head open.
    “Saints alive, I’ve missed this,” Nina said as she slipped into an even darker hallway.
    “Easy, Felix,” Ivy whispered, her hand on Nina’s arm.
    “Dim the light, Jenks,” Glenn whispered as he followed me into the hallway, and I got a quick glimpse of a cylindrical passageway before Jenks landed on Ivy’s shoulder and his dust settled and went out. It looked as if the builders had simply set huge sewer lines and poured a flat floor in the bottom of them. Thick cords of