The Vault (A Farm Novel) by Emily McKay Page B

down. He would have someplace safe where he could ride out the storm. Someplace with a generator and locks and . . .” I look up at Sebastian. “Someplace exactly like your underground lair.”
    He gives an exaggerated wince. “I rather think ‘lair’ has a nasty, unpleasant connotation, don’t you?”
    “Really? What term do you prefer?”
    “Personally, I like ‘vault.’”
    “Okay then. If this was your house, where would your vault be?”
    “In the basement, of course.”
    “This is Texas. No one has basements.”
    He gives me a beleaguered look. “Have a little imagination, will you? If you’re an immortal vampire with limitless resources and all the time in the world, you can have a basement if you damn well want one.”
    “Oh. Good point,” I grumble. “Okay, let’s go find it, then.”
    Sebastian dismisses me with a wave. “Well, then, run along. Find the lair of the evil vampire.”
    I want to growl at him again. This being-treated-like-a-naughty-child bit is really getting old.
    Despite that, I do exactly as he says. Chuy and I run through the first floor again, this time opening all the interior doors, looking for a stairway leading down. I find it in the center of the house, just off the kitchen. A set of stairs that indeed lead to a basement. It reminds me eerily of my Nanna’s basement in Nebraska—only a lot cleaner. There’s a workbench. Enough tools to fix or maintain anything my very unmechanical mind could imagine. Cleaning supplies line the opposite wall. And tucked into the back corner is another door, from which I can hear a faint electrical hum. Though the door looks like it’s made of wood, it makes a hollow, metal sound when I knock on it. To the side of the door is a rectangle that opens to reveal an instrument panel almost exactly like the one at Sebastian’s.
    Sebastian’s waiting for me at the top of the stairs. “What did you find?”
    His voice sounds strained. He’s hunched over and leaning heavily on the cane, like an old man.
    “Apparently, all evil vampires use the same security company. The setup is nearly identical to yours. Hand and retinal scanner.” I stop just a step shy of him. “Will they work now that he’s dead? If I go outside and bring his body back in, would that do it?”
    Standing above me, Sebastian is dimly backlit and it’s nearly impossible to read his expression. “Possibly.”
    I nod. “Okay then.” I push past him out into the kitchen and toward the front door. I pause only long enough to collect the weapons I’d selected earlier.
    “Aren’t you going to ask me?” Sebastian says from behind me.
    I turn to see him standing in the hall, leaning his shoulder to the wall. “Ask you what?”
    “If my system will operate once I’m dead. If you can merely bring back my hand and my head and get into my vault.”
    I ignore him and sling the bow back over my shoulder.
    “Going out there for Roberto is a very stupid idea,” he says. “So far, the Ticks are keeping their distance. You shouldn’t antagonize them.”
    Hand on the doorknob, I ask, “Then what should I do? Let you starve?”
    “There’s an attached garage and probably a dozen gassed-up cars. If you were smart, you would kill me now, take my body, and drive all night to reach Genexome.”
    “Clearly hypoglycemia is making you irrational. I’m going out. I’ll get his body and we can get you some food.”
    “No,” Sebastian says. “Not now.”
    “Not now? Then when? You need to feed or you’re going to die.”
    “It’s dusk. The Ticks will just be coming out.”
    “I’m not afraid of them.”
    “Not afraid of a swarm of hundreds of Ticks? You’re strong, Kit, but everyone has their limits.”
    “I’ve fought Ticks before,” I point out.
    “Not this many and not at once. No. Better to wait until morning, after they’ve stumbled off to find nests. Any that are still out will be weaker during the day.”
    “I’ll be weaker, too.”
    “But you have the