Chapter 374
“Dad?” Brandon asked again, hoping Elliott would say yes and let him get the second round of Transformation serum. I saw a flicker in Elliott’s eyes once more, like he was considering it.
“I don’t know, boy,” he said, defeat setting in. “Let me talk to your mom.”
Instantly, Brandon’s mood brightened, and I thought about how unfair that was. His mom was supposed to be the crazy, abusive one—but she was likely to say yes to this because she had already basically turned Brandon over to his dad. My mom was the one at headquarters where she could actually see how much of an enhancement the procedure created. And she would absolutely say no.
Aaron moved the conversation forward, talking about how we would attack the four bands of Vampires as soon as Jamie was done with the procedures. Once I realized they were talking about how all of that would go down, I tuned back in. Maybe there would be another opportunity if I played my cards better.
Jamie was saying, “We still have the makeshift hospital ward set up in the tagging facility. I think there are about fifteen beds in there. I should be able to handle the room at capacity. I’ll get Martin and the other Healers to help, and Kathy can assist, too, since she’s got nothing else going on these days.” Kathy was the one I’d brought Bonnie to, one of the Guardian’s who’d gotten her throat ripped open because the baby Vampire I’d trusted had turned out to be a monster. I felt terrible for her and had already apologized and made her a batch of her favorite cookies. She said she knew it wasn’t my fault, but I still blamed myself for the horrible events of that night. Hearing Jamie bring them up again made it difficult to concentrate, but I did my best.
“Are you sure you can handle all of that?” Aaron was asking him. “What if something goes wrong?”
“All I’ve had to do is monitor. We should be good.” Jamie was confident in his statement, and I was convinced there really was nothing to be afraid of. Sure, the procedure clearly hurt like nothing else. I remembered my sister crying and how red Elliott’s face had gotten. But it wasn’t going to hurt anyone; I was sure of it. “I’ll do everyone else first, and then if you’ll let me, once they’re awake, I’ll go.”
Jamie sure has a way of slipping things in there. I thought Aaron was about to agree, but the office door opened, and the doctor was left without an answer once again.
I turned to see Alex escorting in a short man with dark hair and a mustache. I recognized him now that I saw him again. I’d met Schmitz when the Roatan Guardians had first arrived. He was very quiet and hadn’t said much. To look at him now, it was clear he was terrified and really didn’t want to be here at all, even more so than Alex.
“Pardon us,” Alex said, giving a regal little bow. “This is my good friend Michael Schmitz.”
Aaron was up and around the end of the table faster than my eyes could track him, which made me long for that sort of power once again. “Yes, of course,” he was saying, shaking Schmitz’s hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
The newcomer released Aaron’s hand, still looking terrified, and then took the seat Alex had occupied earlier as Aaron moved back to his own chair. Alex took up a position next to the door, like he was guarding it or trying to leak into the wall, and I did my best to forget he was standing there.
Schmitz squeezed his elbows together on top of the table as if he was willing his arms not to shake. “Alexander said you might have some questions for me?”
“Yes, we were hoping you could help us. We know that Holland is somewhere near Linz,” Aaron explained, “but we don’t know why she’s there. Giovani went there, too, right before he traveled to Philadelphia to create Gibbon in an attempt to destroy Cadence.” Ah, more good memories. The day I almost died.... “Do you happen to know why Holland might be in that part of Europe? Is there anyone you can think of she might be visiting? Or a location she might be staying at for some reason?”
As Aaron spoke, all of the color in Schmitz’s face slowly drained until he was almost as white as the sheets of paper in front of me. “Linz?” he asked. Aaron nodded, and Schmitz took a few deep breaths before reaching up and running a hand through his thinning hair. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone who is practically immortal look so frightened, not even when faced with a vicious Vampire.
“What is it?” I asked quietly, wondering how much longer we could all stare at each other.
He swallowed so hard I could see the lump in his throat from the other end of the table. I glanced over at Elliott, and even he looked concerned. That didn’t sit well with me, and I was glad when Brandon’s hand slid down to my knee beneath the table.
Schmitz cleared his throat, and when he began to speak, his voice was shaking. “Back in my day, there was a legend about a mysterious creature who resided in the hills near the small town of Klet.” I knew that Klet was a mountain near Linz because of the work I’d done to find Giovani. “Even though most of my family had Transformed as young as possible, none of us were ever foolish enough to wander alone in those woods. They said....” He paused again, his eyes glancing around the table, catching each of ours for a brief moment before moving on. “They said that the monster who lived there had a way about him, that even if you were a Guardian, he had powers that could influence, powers that could destroy. I never actually knew of anyone who saw him with their own eyes, but the legends went back to well before my great-great-grandparents’ time.”
Everyone was quiet as we considered what he was saying. Was this even possible? Could a creature like that even exist? It was clear to me why Holland would be there if what Schmitz said was true. If she could find someone that powerful, someone who could potentially wipe out Guardians, that creature would be invaluable to her. She wouldn’t need Hines any more. It was no wonder Giovani had been there, too. He must’ve been looking for the same monster.
