Pete chuckled and closed the door. “Whatever you say, Millicent.”
“Lucky for you, you’re so damn cute,” Millicent muttered as she took the sample to the massive computer.
Olivia and Pete watched as she put the two swabs into a scanner and pushed several buttons on the touch screen. An iridescent blue light scanned the cotton swabs, and everyone’s attention switched to the center console as they waited for results.
“If your girl did it, we should find her DNA.” Millicent speared Olivia with a glance. “You took it directly from the wounds, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good girl. Still smart as a whip, and you’re pissing your time away in a nightclub,” she said on a sigh. “Pity.”
Millicent held her hands behind her back and kept her sharp eyes glued to the information in front of them. The three watched in tense silence as a series of numbers scrolled over the screen. The computer searched for a match as Olivia prayed it wouldn’t find one.
Pete was the first to break the silence. “So, there’s a record of every vampire in New York City?”
“You’re still thinking like a human.” Millicent snorted, snagged another cigarette from the pack in her pocket, and lit it. “Gotta think bigger, boy. We have the DNA of every vampire on the planet. I have the northeastern files here, but I can access the Presidium’s worldwide network, like I am right now. All new vamps have to be registered with their local records keeper within the first week of their new life, just like you did.”
“How many?” Pete asked casually. “Five hundred, a thousand?”
Millicent burst out laughing, but the laugh quickly turned into a choking cough.
“Why is that funny?” he asked Olivia, who hadn’t taken her eyes off the computer screen.
“Try over a hundred thousand.”
Pete froze. “What?” he whispered. “I didn’t think there were that many of us.”
“It’s really not that many compared to the millions of humans. The DNA of every vamp is in there, even the dead ones.” Olivia flicked her green eyes to him briefly. “Really dead. Y’know, turned to ash. How long is this going to take?” she asked impatiently.
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” The computer beeped loudly, and Millicent went directly to the control panel. “It’s done.” She punched a few buttons as the cigarette dangled precariously from her weathered lips. “Well, I’ll be strapped with silver.”
Olivia and Pete stared at the screen and moved closer.
“Your girl didn’t kill this kid.” Millicent pointed at the screen. “But neither did anyone else in our database.”
The screen blinked in bright red letters. Unregistered vampire.
Before anyone could say anything, the computer started beeping again.
“Hang on,” Millicent rasped. She punched a few more buttons. “We’re not quite done.”
Dread gnawed at Olivia as she waited for the infernal machine to provide more information. Moments later, her worst fears were realized when Maya’s identification card came up on the screen.
“The scanner found trace evidence of Maya’s DNA on one of the swabs.” Millicent stared at the screen with an unreadable expression. “It’s barely anything, and most likely left over from feeding on him. Pete said she drank from the guy all day off and on, so it’s not surprising.”
She stuck the cigarette in her lips and began tapping away again. Olivia stood still while keeping her eyes locked on the screen, and her mind raced with different ways to get Maya out of town and keep her out of the Presidium’s reach.
“Don’t go getting any funny ideas,” Millicent said as she gestured to the center screen. “According to this data, Maya’s DNA is only in trace amounts, and the bulk is from the unregistered rogue vampire. Maya didn’t kill him. Not enough of her DNA left behind.”
“Something tells me that Augustus will consider that semantics.” Olivia swore loudly and ran both hands over her face. “We have to find this rogue so we can match its DNA to the sample, get it to confess to killing Ronald, and then put it down before it causes more damage. Tracking a rogue vampire is a pain in my ass. The scent is crazy hard to pick up.”
“I’m gonna get this rogue’s DNA sample over to Xavier.” Millicent retrieved the swab and put it back in the tube, sealing it. “He’s been working on some pretty cool bioweapons, so this may be of use. Who knows, maybe he can come up with something that will help you.”
“Good idea, Millicent.” Olivia knew if anyone could find a way to use the rogue’s DNA, it was Xavier. He ran the Presidium lab and weapons division in New York and was always coming up with new toys for the sentry. He was one of the smartest, most ingenious people Olivia ever knew. Living or undead. “I’m going to need all the help I can get.”
“Let me take care of finding the rogue.” Pete put his hands on her shoulders in a brotherly gesture. “I’ll tell Augustus and the senators about the rogue. Shane and I will take care of it. Hey, you should be happy Maya’s off the hook. They’ll never know that we found any of Maya’s DNA.”
“Whoa!” Millicent extinguished her cigarette amid the pile of butts. “This information is instantly put into the worldwide database, so it’s not like it’s gonna be kept quiet for long. I mean, I’m not taking out an ad in the paper or nothin’, but eventually, Augustus could get wind of this.”
“What?” Olivia’s voice rose to hysterical levels. “Can’t you delete it?”
“Sorry, kid.” Millicent sat in her chair and put her feet back on the desk. “Records can’t be deleted once they’re entered. Amended? Yes. Completely deleted? No. I guess it’s a good thing you know the sentry who covers Manhattan,” she said with a smile and a nod to Pete. “You know full well that he’s the one who has to keep Augustus informed, and if you ask me, the best approach is to handle it head on. Tell him about the rogue vampire, and omit the bit about Maya’s DNA if you want, but don’t lie. All he’d have to do is check the database, and if he finds out that you lied, then we’re all dead.”
“I don’t want anyone putting themselves in jeopardy over this,” Olivia said firmly. “Maya is confined to the building until we take care of the rogue.”
“What’s this we thing you speak of?” Pete asked in a half-joking manner. “You’re not a sentry, remember? Just a private citizen.”
“Not anymore.” Olivia walked to the screen with Maya’s smiling picture staring back, and her voice dropped low. “Looks like I’m out of retirement. Unofficially, of course.”
“What are the human cops saying?” Millicent snorted and lit yet another cigarette. “I bet they’ll go right to serial killer.”
“We already had two detectives come by the club.” Olivia pointed at Maya’s picture on the screen. “Witnesses saw Maya flirting with him not long before he died, so they came to ask her some questions. We provided her with an alibi, but it’s still attention that we don’t need.”
“Just glamour ’em,” Millicent said sharply. “Shit.”
Olivia’s thoughts immediately went to Doug, and memories of that kiss in the alley came roaring back as heat flickered over her skin. She shut her eyes and attempted to will the feeling away, but it was no use. Her hands balled into tight fists at her side, and her slim frame shook with concentration. The image of his blue eyes filled her mind, and that’s when she heard it—or more to the point—heard him.
Eternity.
It was a whisper along the furthest corners of her mind, but there was no mistaking it. It was Doug, and he was calling to her from the dreamscape. That was new. Her eyes flicked open, and she found Pete and Millicent staring as if she’d clucked like a chicken.