Chapter Eighteen

How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? – Sophie Scholl, anti-Nazi political activist

The bullet hit the floor with a metallic clink, the man's flesh knitting together until there was no sign of the wound other than the hole in his robes and the blood pooling at his feet. He chuckled at Heinkel's expression. "Being a regenerator does have its perks."

Shit.

The sun had hardly risen, and already things were to going to hell. Thiswas why Heinkel wasn't a morning person; nothing good happened before eight a.m.

For the second time in as many minutes, Heinkel found herself wishing for backup. On her own, she didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning this fight. Not only could her opponent survive almost any injury, he'd annihilated a squadron of elite soldiers like it was nothing. Distasteful as it was, her only option was to retreat. After all, she'd be no good to anyone dead.

"Who the hell are you? And what do you want?"

Even as she spoke, Heinkel edged backward, eyes scanning the room for anything that might help her: a weapon, a possible escape route, a potential distraction. Unfortunately, there was nothing but books and more books. What she wouldn't give for Seras' ridiculously oversized cannon! It might not kill the regenerator, but it would do some serious damage.

The man smirked. "You may call me Jasper. As for your second question…my master has a proposal for you."

"Tell your master he can shove it up his ass." This psycho was even stupider than he looked if he thought Heinkel would listen to anything he had to say.

Jasper's face darkened, but before he could reply, a girl's voice giggled, "That's not very nice."

Materializing from the shadows, the child stood with her hands clasped behind her back as she examined Heinkel with piercing blue eyes. The girl wore a white frock reminiscent of a First Communion dress, her hair in pigtails. At first glance, she could have passed for one of the orphans under Ana's care. But her eyes were different from other children's: cold and lifeless.

Jasper scowled. "I thought I told you to stay out of this."

"Don't be so grumpy. I've been looking for a new toy, and she looks perfect." The girl grinned. "Will you play with me, Miss Wolf?"

The sight of her smile made Heinkel's fists clench. "I'll pass."

Who were these people? No agents of the Vatican would stoop to slaughtering their comrades in arms—particularly in such a brutal fashion. But only a select few knew of the Archives' existence…Which meant their "master" must be a member of the Church's inner circle.

How could she escape them? Heinkel's head spun as she tried to think of a plan—any plan at all. But her mind remained blank. Running wasn't an option, given that she was sandwiched between her opponents (besides, Jasper was now blocking the path to the elevator). She could attack them head on, but her bullets had little effect on the regenerator; and she had no idea what abilities the girl possessed. Heinkel swore under her breath.

This day is getting better and better.

Oblivious to her inner turmoil, Jasper frowned at his companion. "You'd better restrain yourself, Alice. We can't afford a repeat of last time."

She pouted. "But you said—"

"Never mind what I said. His Eminence wants her alive—for now, anyway."

"Fine." Still pouting, the girl ran one finger down the Archivist's cheek as casually as though she were touching a doll rather than a corpse. It came away sticky with blood, but she didn't seem to mind. When she noticed Heinkel staring, Alice beamed. "She wouldn't cooperate, so I had to get a little rough. I thought she'd never tell us where the file was!"

"The file?"

Heinkel hardly heard herself speak, still struggling to comprehend the realization that someone so small and fragile looking had inflicted such damage on another person. She knew better than to underestimate her opponents, but Heinkel had never expected something like this. How had someone so young become such a monster?

"That's right." Alice clasped her hands together, her smile angelic. "The one you came here to steal. If you want it, you'll have to do what we say."

"How do I know you're not lying? Vatican agents are trained to withstand even the harshest torture. The Archivist would have died long before she gave you any information."

Jasper shrugged, unfazed by her skepticism. "You have every right to be suspicious. However, I assure you our methods are very…persuasive."

Darting a glance at the Archivist's mangled body, Heinkel felt doubt beginning to erode her certainty. Still… "If your 'methods' are so effective, why aren't you using them on me?" These two didn't exactly strike her as the bargaining type.

Jasper sighed. "Much as I would like to, we've been ordered not to harm you."

Alice snickered. "Silly Jasper! She can't spy on the Protestants if she's dead!"

Now it all made sense. Rather than punishing Heinkel for cooperating with the enemy, it seemed their master wanted to capitalize on the situation. Too bad Heinkel had no intention of working for him. Still, it wouldn't hurt to hear them out, if only to buy time.

"You want me to spy on Hellsing?"

The thought filled her with disgust. When she brought down Integra, it would be on her own terms. Heinkel certainly didn't need any assistance from someone who had no compunctions about ordering his subordinates to murder their fellow Catholics.

"As you can imagine, our master was delighted to hear that a Catholic had infiltrated Hellsing—and not just any operative, but the Wolf herself. His Eminence requires certain information on the Protestants: data you, as a member of the organization, should have no trouble accessing. We will give you the Millennium file in exchange for this information."

Heinkel sneered. "Tempting as your offer sounds, I'm no rat."

Alice's eyes narrowed, her innocent expression morphing into something dangerous. "I wonder, would your comrades agree? After all, you have no problem cooperating with heretics."

"Shut up, you damn brat!" Heinkel snarled, already regretting her decision not to attack the girl. Caution be damned; she was this close to pumping the kid full of lead.

Jasper chuckled. "No need to be angry. After all, Alice is only speaking the truth. As an excommunicant who consorts with unbelievers, you've fallen from God's favor. Your blackened soul is consigned to the depths of Hell. Help us, and you regain the Lord's blessing. Don't you want to spend eternity in heaven?"

"Or we could send you there right now." Alice's words were belied by her innocent expression. "That would be way more fun!"