Chapter Twenty

"The only stable emotion is hate." — Adolf Hitler

Jasper's grin widened. "I knew you'd see reason."

Her body taut with rage, Heinkel glared at him, wishing she could convert her hatred into a weapon; then she would show this bastard the agony of defeat. As it was, though, she could do nothing but fume. Revenge would have to wait. "Just give me the file." She had to get out of there before she did something she'd regret. Even though Heinkel knew that attacking him again could mean the deaths of Ana and the children, it was all she could do to restrain herself.

Jasper nodded at Alice, who rolled her eyes before shoving the papers into the backpack she held; Heinkel winced at the sound of paper tearing. If they kept that up, the file would be useless by the time she got it. "Did you really think it would be that easy? Before giving you something so valuable, we require something in return—a show of faith, if you will."

Heinkel scoffed. "I never go back on my word." Well, not unless she had no intention of keeping it in the first place, but they didn't need to know that.

Jasper shrugged. "Be that as it may, you seem to have a habit of betraying people—how do we know you won't decide to double cross us, as well? Think of it as a safety measure."

"Screw this." Heinkel growled, doing her best to ignore her pounding headache. It wasn't even eight o' clock yet and already the entire day had gone to hell. This was the reason she wasn't a morning person; nothing good happened before six a.m. "What do you want now?"

Alice giggled: a sound that grated on her already-raw nerves. "You're such an obedient dog—I bet you'd make a wonderful pet! When Leo's finished with her, do you think he'll let me have her?"

Leo? Was she referring to their boss? Heinkel scoured her memory for a cardinal with that name but came up empty. Her frustration mounting, her hands curled into fists. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. No doubt their employer was using an alias, the coward.

Jasper frowned. "You already have enough toys."

Alice pouted: looking like the child she was for the first time. "But they're so boring! Most of them don't even scream anymore."

Heinkel's skin prickled; suddenly, it felt as though the temperature in the room had dropped several degrees. Seems I've underestimated the brat.

Jasper sighed, one hand pinching the bridge of his nose; it seemed Heinkel wasn't the only one with a headache. "If you're so set on having her, then go ask him. I'm just your handler, after all."

The girl grinned, but there was nothing childlike about her expression now. Instead, she reminded Heinkel of a cat who'd caught the proverbial canary. "Sure you can manage things on your own?" Her sugary sweet tone failed to disguise the malice lurking beneath.

Jasper scowled. "I'm not the one you should be worried about. Now beat it; the adults have business to discuss, and you're in the way."

As they bickered, Heinkel's fear faded, replaced by a rage that threatened to devour her. How dare they act as though she were nothing more than an object, to be used and discarded as they saw fit? In her desperation, Heinkel had believed herself prepared to bargain with these evildoers, but she realized now that she'd been wrong. After all, Christ himself had refused to betray his beliefs even as He suffered untold agony on the cross. To retreat in the face of adversity would brand her a weakling and a coward: someone unworthy of the name Wolf. Heinkel would have to find another way to obtain the file.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Alice huffed, "Fine. I was bored anyway. But before I go…" Jasper muttered something that sounded like "not again", but the girl ignored him.

Gripping the Archivists' neck, she twisted the purpling flesh as though it were modeling clay. Skin tearing and bones snapping like twigs, the now-headless corpse exuded a smell that made Heinkel's stomach clench. Holding her trophy by the hair, Alice turned to face them; Jasper wrinkled his nose as Heinkel swallowed down the bile clawing its way up her throat. What was this girl? Surely she couldn't be human; no ordinary person had such incredible strength. And yet, neither was she a regenerator—there was a scratch on her left hand. So what was she? And how had she become such a monster?

"See you later." Humming an off-key version of "Ring Around the Rosey", Alice vanished into the labyrinth of bookcases. Her footsteps were soundless, so Heinkel had no idea if the girl was merely pretending to leave in an attempt to lure her into a sense of false security—had they seen through her act already?—but it didn't matter. This was the only chance she'd get; and Heinkel wouldn't hesitate to take it. She may have had no chance fighting them both, but now that it was just her and the regenerator, her odds of winning had improved significantly.

After all, working with Anderson had taught her more than a few things about his kind—starting with the fact that, while their healing abilities were almost infinite, certain injuries were harder to recover from than others. And unlike her former mentor, most regenerators didn't have supernatural strength; they were ordinary people with accelerated healing abilities.

If the same was true of Jasper, it might be possible to wound him seriously enough that he'd be temporarily incapacitated—and therefore, unable to prevent her from escaping with the file. But how? And what would Heinkel do once she'd escaped? Tempting as it might be to flee the country without looking back, she couldn't leave Ana at the mercy of these monsters…

Focus.

She inhaled, banishing all thoughts from her mind save those of the opponent in front of her: an opponent with a smug expression and no idea that Heinkel was about to annihilate him. Ah, how she'd missed this. At Hellsing, she was forced her to restrain herself, lest she wound the tender sensibilities of her new "comrades" or stain the organization's supposedly sterling reputation. But now, away from prying eyes, Heinkel was finally free to let loose. Holstering her gun, she cracked her knuckles, adrenaline replacing her previous exhaustion.

This is going to be fun.