twelve-digit security code being entered. Beside him, Behar stiffened, anticipation coloring his face like a mask. Lihter felt the same way. The day the girl had been apprehended in Frankfurt, Lihter himself had been in Paris, addressing the day-to-day tasks that occupied him as the Therian representative to the Alliance table—and ensuring that he wasn’t directly tied to the girl’s disappearance.
Now they were in the small Liechtenstein laboratory that he’d so carefully—and secretly—constructed overthe years. He hadn’t even seen the girl yet. His unexpected prize. His glorious reward.
The moment would be unforgettable.
The door opened, and four of his most trusted men came in, each carrying one corner of the hassock on which the girl lay, unconscious.
“You used enough tranquilizer?” Lihter asked. “Her resistance will be as abnormally high as her strength.”
“Could knock out five circus elephants with the dose we pumped into her.”
She lay on the hassock, her arms at her side, her eyes closed. Her hand was scarred where it had been cut, but was already starting to heal. Except for the ten hematite straps that crisscrossed her body and the IV tube feeding into the back of her hand, she could have been simply sleeping peacefully.
“Beautiful,” Lihter said, then caressed her face. She was young, only about eighteen, and in repose she looked as innocent as she was deadly.
“Remove the straps and the IV and put her in the room,” he said. He glanced at Behar. “How long will it take for the drug to wear off?”
“Without a better understanding of her physiology, I can’t be certain, but I’m guessing four or five hours.”
Lihter nodded, then glanced at Rico, his right-hand man. “Run a complete diagnostic on the system. Make sure all vents are opening and sealing properly.”
“Will do,” Rico said. The console phone, the hard line, began to ring. Lihter gestured for him to answer it, then waited impatiently for Rico to finish.
“Sir.”
“I also want you to confirm all monitoring equipment is calibrated. We’ll run the first test as soon as she wakes.”
“Of course, but, sir, our cellphone encryption’s been compromised.”
Lihter’s brows rose. “Has it?”
Rico nodded toward the landline. “That’s the word from your guy in the Alliance.”
A frustrating reality, but hardly crippling. “Make sure everyone on the team knows not to use cellular communications. Hard lines only. They disobey, they die. This operation is too important to compromise.”
“Yes, sir. Absolutely.”
Lihter nodded in dismissal, then moved toward the airtight chamber, with its two-foot-thick Plexiglas walls. A simple folding chair sat in front of it, and he took a seat. He didn’t care how long he had to wait. He would be the first thing she saw when she awoke.
And once she did, he would tell the girl all about the wonderful plans he had in store for her.
CHAPTER 10
Caris’s scent lingered in Tiberius’s office, putting him on edge, getting into his thoughts. His blood.
With considerable effort, he turned his focus to tracking down the kidnapped girl. He’d made a promise to Reinholt to help his daughter, and it was a promise Tiberius intended to keep.
He dug into the work and slowly Caris faded from his mind, replaced with notes about contacts, leads, anyone who might have known Reinholt or the girl.
One of the few solid pieces of information that Reinholt had provided was that the girl was a vampire, a fact that had raised Tiberius’s brow.
“I know,” Reinholt had said when they’d talked over the phone. “It is most unusual. But you see, it is for this reason I come to you. Unlike many of my kind, I do not distrust the vampires. And,” he added, “I do not believe that you will allow one of your kind to be taken by Lihter. Not if you can do anything to help it. Please, sir. Please help my Naomi.”
“How is it that you are a weren and she is not?”
He hesitated,
Now they were in the small Liechtenstein laboratory that he’d so carefully—and secretly—constructed overthe years. He hadn’t even seen the girl yet. His unexpected prize. His glorious reward.
The moment would be unforgettable.
The door opened, and four of his most trusted men came in, each carrying one corner of the hassock on which the girl lay, unconscious.
“You used enough tranquilizer?” Lihter asked. “Her resistance will be as abnormally high as her strength.”
“Could knock out five circus elephants with the dose we pumped into her.”
She lay on the hassock, her arms at her side, her eyes closed. Her hand was scarred where it had been cut, but was already starting to heal. Except for the ten hematite straps that crisscrossed her body and the IV tube feeding into the back of her hand, she could have been simply sleeping peacefully.
“Beautiful,” Lihter said, then caressed her face. She was young, only about eighteen, and in repose she looked as innocent as she was deadly.
“Remove the straps and the IV and put her in the room,” he said. He glanced at Behar. “How long will it take for the drug to wear off?”
“Without a better understanding of her physiology, I can’t be certain, but I’m guessing four or five hours.”
Lihter nodded, then glanced at Rico, his right-hand man. “Run a complete diagnostic on the system. Make sure all vents are opening and sealing properly.”
“Will do,” Rico said. The console phone, the hard line, began to ring. Lihter gestured for him to answer it, then waited impatiently for Rico to finish.
“Sir.”
“I also want you to confirm all monitoring equipment is calibrated. We’ll run the first test as soon as she wakes.”
“Of course, but, sir, our cellphone encryption’s been compromised.”
Lihter’s brows rose. “Has it?”
Rico nodded toward the landline. “That’s the word from your guy in the Alliance.”
A frustrating reality, but hardly crippling. “Make sure everyone on the team knows not to use cellular communications. Hard lines only. They disobey, they die. This operation is too important to compromise.”
“Yes, sir. Absolutely.”
Lihter nodded in dismissal, then moved toward the airtight chamber, with its two-foot-thick Plexiglas walls. A simple folding chair sat in front of it, and he took a seat. He didn’t care how long he had to wait. He would be the first thing she saw when she awoke.
And once she did, he would tell the girl all about the wonderful plans he had in store for her.
CHAPTER 10
Caris’s scent lingered in Tiberius’s office, putting him on edge, getting into his thoughts. His blood.
With considerable effort, he turned his focus to tracking down the kidnapped girl. He’d made a promise to Reinholt to help his daughter, and it was a promise Tiberius intended to keep.
He dug into the work and slowly Caris faded from his mind, replaced with notes about contacts, leads, anyone who might have known Reinholt or the girl.
One of the few solid pieces of information that Reinholt had provided was that the girl was a vampire, a fact that had raised Tiberius’s brow.
“I know,” Reinholt had said when they’d talked over the phone. “It is most unusual. But you see, it is for this reason I come to you. Unlike many of my kind, I do not distrust the vampires. And,” he added, “I do not believe that you will allow one of your kind to be taken by Lihter. Not if you can do anything to help it. Please, sir. Please help my Naomi.”
“How is it that you are a weren and she is not?”
He hesitated,
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