A Shade of Vampire 31: A Twist of Fates Read Online Free

the illusion.
    I couldn’t imagine that they lived here full-time. Perhaps they had homes elsewhere, in other parts of the world that were less ravaged by Bloodless and supernaturals. Other parts of the world where the IBSI had less of a hold. It was hardly a coincidence that the country with the fastest rate of Bloodless infection was the United States. The bastards were deliberately keeping them at large.
    I found Dr. Finnegan’s apartment on the second floor of the third block. The surname was pinned outside the door which, strangely, was ajar. Who leaves their door open at night?
    I moved inside in my subtle form so that I would not make any sound and stood at the end of a dark hallway. The door at the end was also slightly open, and through the crack spilled dim orange light. I heard murmuring. The murmuring of a woman. And sobbing?
    I hurried ahead, through the door, and arrived in a sitting room. A middle-aged woman in sky-blue pajamas was kneeling on the ground in front of two men in black uniform. IBSI security. They held guns aimed at her, even as she pleaded, “Look, I told you why I did it! It was Atticus’ son who called for the information. It was to save my boss! What else was I supposed to do?”
    “You were supposed to follow the protocol,” one of the men said coldly. “I’m sure you remember the oath you took before joining the lab team.”
    “Y-Yes. Of course.”
    “What was it?” the second man asked. It was sickening how goading his tone was as he towered over the desperate woman.
    “Never breathe a word of the antidote, under any circumstances,” she whispered.
    “Then I’m sorry, Doctor…”
    She threw herself backward against the sofa and scrambled to get up. “Please. My child. He’s asleep. I’m the only one he has.”
    “We’ll take care of him,” a guard assured her.
    As the two men stepped forward to grab her, I let my instincts take over. Assuming my physical form, I grabbed the nearest objects to me, two identical glass vases. Holding them aloft, I brought them crashing down against the back of the two men’s skulls in quick succession. They jerked forward, losing balance.
    One of them had been knocked out by that blow alone, while the other was a little hardier. I was sure that he was seeing stars. Before he could fire his gun, I snatched it and smacked the butt against his forehead. That caused him to join his colleague in unconsciousness on the floor.
    The doctor let out a whimper as I turned on her. She darted for the door and ran through a doorway, slamming it shut in my face as I followed her. She had entered her child’s bedroom, I assumed.
    I clutched the doorknob and pushed. She was pressing her weight against the door. Although it would’ve been easy for me to force it open, I didn’t want to frighten her any more than she already was.
    “Doctor,” I hissed. “I’m a friend of Lawrence. I’ve come to get you out of here.”
    “Who are you?”
    “Benjamin Novak. Cofounder of The Shadow League. I’ve come to offer you sanctuary on our island. You and your child.”
    I heard her exhale sharply. “What do you want from me?”
    I clutched the handle again and pushed, testing my leeway. She wasn’t pressing so hard now. I eased it forward, and she let me push it open wide.
    Her face was pale, her thin hair clinging to her sweaty forehead.
    “Come with me now,” I said, gazing at her steadily. “There might be other guards around.”
    She still looked distrusting, but she would’ve been a fool to delay our leaving any longer. If she stayed here, she knew what her fate would be. For her and her son’s sake, she had to trust me. She moved over to a bed in one corner of the room and gathered a sleeping boy into her arms whom I guessed to be about four years old. He unglued his eyelids and murmured an inaudible question.
    She hushed him before hurrying to my side.
    “How do we get out of here?” she asked.
    I took the boy from her and propped him against