Chapter Forty-Eight
The blast had sent the royals fleeing past the body of Robert Mercer; Coraline quickly led her brother to a safe place in the underground.
"Coraline, what have you done?"
Lance was furious ... and ready to leave this hellhole of a City. But before meting out justice so long overdue, she would tell him now ... or wait for their sire to torture it out of her.
She started speaking, defiantly at first.
"I wanted to be human again."
He couldn't help the jibe. "For your pitiful Mick St. John?"
She glared at him. "Before you found me with Mick that night, I had been trying to re-engineer the compound."
"Yes, yes, I know, I was there. I saw your plants and animals in that lab, remember, sister? And you failed just as we've failed for the last three hundred years."
"We tried recreating the botanicals but there had to be something else involved and then Cynthia had a theory ... a theory that it wasn't just the botanicals. It was blood."
"Ah, the monkeys were test subjects. But that failed also. So?"
"When you broke in, I finally realized the only other way to find out was to take it to an expert in that field.
So I gave a small portion of the compound and some of my human blood to Dr. Werking, who at the time was the most brilliant blood analyst and geneticist alive. He developed BioNalysis Labs which became synonymous in cloning and he said he was close to a breakthrough in humans."
A voice broke in on her speech. Pierre had found them.
"You gave him our compound and when he couldn't find any volunteers to try it, he took it himself!"
Coraline nodded.
"He became hopelessly insane and started creating his beastly "experiments", didn't he?"
"The humans stopped him for a time." Josef walked in and added to the narrative.
"But they let him go on some sort of technicality.
See, old Alvin got himself an ace up the sleeve as all brilliant people seem to do. Seems he and his buddies were originally Baptists, part of the moral majority who had some power back in the late 90's, early 2000's. You know, the real fire burners. Hell and brimstone and the like. Before going insane, he was their very public leader and preacher. A sort of Billy Graham but worse.
Turns out those Baptists can be mighty fierce when you go against them and they committed a few major crimes which they proceeded to cover up with the help of Robert Mercer, up and coming young lawyer. But the one that concerned us was when they found out about vampires. And then formed The Legion to wipe us off the face of the earth."
Pierre snarled at Coraline. "You told him what the compound was for?"
"No, I didn't but he figured it out anyway. How was I supposed to know he would take it himself? It should have killed him."
Pierre snarled again. "Well, it didn't. Instead he came close to becoming a human immortal and that we could never have allowed. In fact, if he hadn't tried to create more like himself ... those poor wretches ..."
And it was left to us, with Mercer, to clean up the mess tonight."
Coraline said, "but they were just rogues anyway ... "
"No, Coraline, they weren't. Poor insane bastard. Werking had done it. He had found the way to return vampires into humans who would live forever."
Josef couldn't help himself. "Most of us vamps, if given a choice, wouldn't change a thing. But I do know one or two that might be interested."
Pierre shook his head. "Alvin Werking and his fledglings died tonight and his laboratory was destroyed. The Legion is without its leader and will no longer have any sway over the legal system to punish us. Robert Mercer is dead. The microchip ... Josef?"
"I will see to it that Logan destroys all information it contained."
And I ... I will tell Alison that Alvin Werking has died, carrying all his secrets of eternal youth with him and that she will not be allowed to carry on that line of work. It dies now."
Pierre took charge.
"Josef, bring Mick and Beth "up to speed", as they say. I last saw them - safe - as I was leaving the building. Beth and her friends appeared to have sustained minor injuries. You should go find them.
Coraline, I hope you don't mind but I had to destroy your little pet, Gerald. His placing Mick in silver chains at your request plus kidnapping Beth was really too much to allow.
Lance. Go back to France and take your sister. Our sire will not be amused. But he will be grateful that we have been successful in thwarting this threat to our existence. And I, for one, shall be more tolerant of her."
"But, Pierre, she is an admitted traitor."
"No, Lance. She simply was a vampire in love and wanted to please her husband.
You may not be able to understand that concept, but recently I have become well acquainted with it.
For I now have a human wife, and will do all in my power to please her. Within limits."
