LITMIR.BIZ

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and slowed his descent, his arms wide, his eyes blazing. He landed silently in front of a door marked with an H and hauled it open.

      He emerged in front of the airlock that controlled access to the long supernatural cellblock. He pressed his ID card against the panel beside the airlock door and waited as it slid slowly open. As the billowing cloud of gas passed over him and the inner door opened, he allowed a brief smile to rise on to his face; part of him had suspected that Kate would have already disabled his access, given that there had been no doubt where he was going.

      Jamie exited the airlock, took a brief moment to compose himself, and strode towards his destination; the fourth cell on the right, the home of Valentin Rusmanov. Kate’s voice shouted in his head as he approached the ultraviolet wall that enclosed it, pleading with him to stay calm, to not do anything stupid, but he barely heard it over the torrent of furious panic that was roaring through him.

       What did you do, you old monster? What did you say to her?

      He stopped in front of the purple barrier and looked into the cell. Valentin Rusmanov was sitting in a chair near the back of the room, his legs crossed at the ankles, a paperback book in his hands. He was looking directly at Jamie.

      “Lieutenant Carpenter,” said the old vampire. “What an entirely expected surprise. How are you?”

      “What did you say to her?” growled Jamie. “Tell me right now.”

      Valentin got slowly to his feet, stretched his long arms above his head, and regarded him with a wide smile.

      “I assume you are referring to Miss Kinley,” he said. “In which case, I’m sorry to have to disappoint you. I don’t disclose the content of private conversations.”

      Jamie took a step forward, his eyes flaming red. “What did you do?”

      “I did nothing but listen, and talk,” said Valentin. “I assume she has left this charming facility?”

      “You know she has,” said Jamie.

      “Actually, I didn’t,” said Valentin. “Might I enquire as to why you are so clearly angry with me?”

      “Why?” asked Jamie, his voice a low rumble of thunder. “Why the hell do you think? She came down here to talk to you and twenty minutes later she disappeared halfway around the world. That’s why.”

      “I see,” said Valentin. “You have my sympathies, as I have no doubt you will miss her greatly. But if you are blaming me for her departure, then I’m afraid you are somewhat overestimating my influence. I would suggest you consider why Miss Kinley might have wanted to leave, why she might not have been entirely happy with the status quo. I suspect that will be a more productive use of your time.”

      “Everyone thought you’d changed,” said Jamie. “You’ve been down here for months like a rat in a cage, telling us to believe you, telling us that you’re on our side, but you’re not, are you? You don’t give a shit about anyone apart from yourself.”

      “I think Miss Kinley would disagree with that assessment,” said Valentin. “Maybe you should ask her. If you ever see her again, that is.”

      The old vampire’s words cut through Jamie like a scalpel. He stared at Valentin, hatred pumping through his veins, filling his body with fire.

      “You disgust me,” he growled. “I thought you were better than this. I trusted you.”

      Valentin’s smile returned. “Silly boy,” he said.

      The fire inside Jamie flickered and died, replaced by a misery so overwhelming it almost drove him to his knees. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, trying to squeeze shut the chasm of loss that had yawned open in his stomach, to push it closed and down and away.

      “Jamie.”

      He didn’t move; he focused only on the pain, on the grief that was threatening to paralyse him.

      “Jamie. Look at me.”

      He took a deep breath, raised his head, and opened his eyes. Valentin was standing directly in front of him, the ultraviolet barrier all that separated them.

      “What?” he managed.

      “I’m not going to tell you what Larissa and I discussed,” said Valentin, his tone softer, kinder than it had been. “It was a private conversation, and it’s none of your business, to put it bluntly. But if you think I manipulated her in some way, then I don’t think you know her very well at all. And if you think this is all about you, then I would suggest you need to get your ego under control. There are things that happen in this world that have nothing to do with you.”

      “Did you tell her to leave?” asked Jamie, his voice on the verge of cracking. “Just answer me that. Did you tell her to go?”

      “I won’t tell you what was said, Jamie, no matter how many times you ask.”

      “I know you have a house in New York,” he said. “Larissa’s chip stopped transmitting over the Atlantic. Is that where she is? Did you send her there?”

      “Please, Jamie,” said Valentin. “This desperation is undignified. The Security Officer has the addresses of all of my residences, including the house in Manhattan. I’m sure that will be the first place they look for her.”

      “You talked to Angela about this?” asked Jamie. “She knew Larissa was gone?”

      Valentin nodded. “We spoke about fifteen minutes ago. Do you know what her answer was when I asked her why she was so keen to find Miss Kinley?”

      “No,” said Jamie. “What did Angela say?”

      “Her exact words were, ‘She’s our most powerful weapon.’”

      “So what?”

      Valentin smiled softly. “So maybe she didn’t want to be,” he said.

      Jamie grimaced; it felt like he had been punched in the stomach. He stared silently at the old vampire for a long, empty moment, then turned away without a word and walked back down the cellblock.

      He stood in the airlock, his shoulders slumped, his head lowered, his eyes closed. When the gas cleared, the outer door slid open, and he stepped out. He stood still, trying to compose himself, to slow his racing mind and think, think about what he should do now. In front of him, the metal doors of the lift parted silently and Kate appeared, her eyes wide with worry.

      “Jamie?” she said. “Are you all right?”

      He shook his lowered head.

      “Jamie, look at me,” she said, stepping forward and taking hold of his shoulders. He did so, and saw concern in her eyes, saw clear, bright love. “What did you do?”

      “Nothing,” he said. “He wouldn’t tell me what he said to her. Wouldn’t tell me where she is. He knows, though. I know he does.”

      Kate winced. “I’m sorry, Jamie,” she said.

      He forced a tiny smile. “Everyone’s sorry. Me most of all.”

      “You can’t make this all about you,” said Kate, her tone suddenly strict and forceful. “She’s a grown woman, not a petulant kid. She wouldn’t leave the country just because the two of you had a fight.”

      “That’s how it feels,” said Jamie.

      “I’m sure it does,” said Kate. “But you know how she’s been since she got back from Nevada. You know she hasn’t been happy with Blacklight, with what she was expected to do. She had doubts about it all, Jamie, serious moral objections to this whole thing. Maybe they got too much for her.”

      “Maybe,” he said, as a lump rose into his throat. “But what if our relationship was one of the things that she thought it was worth sticking around for? What if it was why she was still here and I took it away from her?”

      Kate

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