Chapter 23 - The Vials

Xavier watched Damien and Nolan grab their faces, screaming as they fell to their knees. He quickly grabbed Luci and Alessandra and ran outside. The car that brought Luci and Xavier was waiting, and they all jumped in the back. Xavier told the driver to get them out of there fast.

He knew it would probably be faster if they ran, but Luci and her mother were in no shape to run at top speed. Xavier kept looking behind them to ensure no one followed them as they fled the area. He didn't know what was in the vials, but it obviously had a terrible effect on vampires. Some part of him hoped it killed Damien and Nolan, but he would never tell Luci that. No matter what he did, he was still her father.

"What did you put on Damien and Nolan? Whatever it was made me feel sick to my stomach when we ran past them." Alessandra was still trying to process everything that had just happened, but it was too much for her right now. She didn't know how the man she had loved for centuries could have been evil all this time, and she didn't know.

"Honestly, I don't know what it was. The people who kidnapped Luci had me get it for them from a safe in a hotel. When Luci was able to escape, I decided to hang on to the box so I could find out what was in the vials. Whatever it is seems to only affect vampires." Xavier looked at Luci, who was still shaken up. He put his arm around her and pulled her to his side.

"I have looked up to my dad my entire life. He has always been the one man I could count on before I met you. How could he be a monster all this time, and we didn't know?" Luci was still in shock over what had just happened. She couldn't understand what would make her dad so evil that he would sacrifice the lives of vampires, shifters, and humans for money.

"He had a long time to hide this from everyone. I don't know him, but for neither of you to know what he was doing shows how hard he worked to keep it from you. I don't think he would have told you now if you hadn't witnessed Nolan in New York." Xavier kissed Luci's forehead as she laid her head on his shoulder.

He looked behind them to ensure once again they weren't being followed. Xavier told the driver to take them to a hotel in Vancouver that had a lot of security. If Nolan and Damien came after them, human security wouldn't have a chance, but he knew they wouldn't want to make a scene either.

When they arrived at the hotel, Xavier paid the driver to go to the airport. He wanted to make it look like they had left Canada in case anyone saw the car. They rented a two-bedroom suite so they could all stick together.

"Alessandra, do you know anyone we can have run tests on the liquid in these vials? I want to do it without Damien finding out." They were all sitting in the living room area of the suite. He and Luci were sitting on the loveseat while Alessandra was in one of the chairs.

"There's a local lab that vampires use, but Damien knows about it because he has used it in the past. Let me think about who can help that he won't think of." They watched as she walked into one of the bedrooms. Luci looked up at Xavier with her big brown eyes filled with tears.

"What did that stuff do to my dad and Nolan? I didn't want to look, but I heard them screaming. Did you see anything?" Even though what her father had done was inexcusable, and she would never look at him the same. When she heard him screaming, it had hurt her heart.

"I couldn't tell. They covered their faces with their hands, but I heard a sizzling sound. If I had to guess, I think it was something that caused them to burn." Xavier had a feeling that if they weren't dead, they might at least be deformed, even if they were vampires.

Alessandra came back into the room and looked at her daughter lying up against Xavier. She was happy that Luci finally had someone she could love and trust. After the loss of Amelia, she didn't think Luci would ever accept her mate, but Xavier was one of a kind to break the ice around her daughter's heart.

"I had to lay down and rest for a few minutes to get my thoughts in order, but I have some good news. There's another smaller lab that Damien doesn't know about. My cousin Corrine operates it, and I think she can help us. It's not here, though; it's in Pennsylvania. Do you think we could fly there without being detected?" Xavier and Luci looked at each other and smiled.

"We have our ways of staying under the radar, Mom. When do you think we should leave?" Xavier ran his hand up and down her arm, making her feel warm and fuzzy from the simple gesture.

"Let's go ahead and leave now. The sooner we can get out of Canada, the better. Let me make a quick call. I'll be right back." Xavier walked out of the room and called his pilot to get his plane ready to fly to Pennsylvania.

After he was off the phone, he called the front desk to have them get a car to take them to the airport. Alessandra was impressed when they were driven to a private plane that was ready and waiting for them.

They flew from Vancouver to Pittsburg, and once they landed, Xavier had another car waiting for them. He also had phones for them; they were burner phones, so no one could trace their calls.

Alessandra called Corrine, who agreed to meet them at her lab even though it was the middle of the night. When they arrived at the lab, it was tiny, but Xavier didn't care as long as she could get them some answers.

"Corrine, this is my daughter Luci and her mate Xavier." Corrine was short with long, curly red hair, freckles, and big green eyes. Xavier was sure she was several centuries old, but she looked about twenty at the most.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Luci. Your mom has told me a lot about you. It's nice to see that my niece has such a fine mate." Xavier didn't have time for niceties, but he smiled and shook her hand.

"Hi, Corrine. I'm hoping you can help us. These vials have something in them that's toxic to vampires. I have no idea what it is or where it came from, but we're hoping you can help us." Xavier carefully removed the box from his pocket, and Corrine took it after putting on some thick rubber gloves.

"Follow me into my lab, and let's see what we're dealing with."

Corrine led them to a state-of-the-art lab with every machine one could think of. Luci, Xavier, and Alessandra sat on stools while Corrine got to work. She first carefully opened one of the vials, took out a long tube that looked like a dropper, and removed a small amount of liquid from the vial.

She then put a drop on a microscope slide and the rest onto a little tube that she put into a machine that spun it around. While it spun, she looked at the drop under the microscope and took notes. When the machine was done spinning, Corrine took the small tube out and started mixing drops of it with different liquids in other little tubes.

They watched as the liquid in the tubes changed colors as she added the samples from the vial. When she added a drop to the last tube, they saw the liquid bubble, and it made a hissing noise. Corrine stepped away and gasped.

"This is vampire acid. It burns us like fire, and using enough can kill us within a few seconds."