Addict (Hunter #2)(50)

“The mad professor’s in his lab,” Kim cracked as she pointed the way through the apartments. This particular unit was two apartments connected through a short hallway. There was a living area for Henri and Kim attached to the small hospital the complex maintained. “Hugo’s in there, too. They’ve been chatting all morning about how fabulous you are. It’s like you’re a rock star.”

“More like a…” Liv began.

I knew where that was going and elbowed her. Liv managed to shut her mouth.

“I’ll try not to sing,” I promised Henri Jacobs’ companion.

“Kelsey.” Henri walked out of his lab dressed in his customary slacks and dress shirt, but minus the coat and tie. He’d exchanged them for a heavy apron and surgical gloves. He was far more animated than I’d ever seen him. His face was lit up with what I would have called glee. “You’re just in time. I was about to begin my autopsy.”

I was so glad that I didn’t have Lee with me. It had been a close thing. Mia’s mom, Sarah, had shown up to take the kids to her apartment with the promise of movies and hot chocolate. Lee had tried to explain that he had work to do. Before I could set him straight, the blonde girl had given him a pointed stare. Needless to say, Lee was watching movies and I wasn’t having to argue about taking a nine-year-old to an autopsy. It was good to know there was one person in the world who could control Lee Donovan-Quinn. While Lee would have wanted to join me, I had no such problem with Liv.

“Um, Kels. Maybe I should sit this one out.” She turned a rather sick shade of green.

“Why don’t you sit with Mrs. Jacobs?” I offered. “Did you talk to Alan at all last night?”

The companion nodded sadly. “I stayed with him for a few hours. I’ve been with Henri long enough to have picked up some nursing skills. He was pretty out of it, but I’ll tell you what I remember.”

“Excellent.” Henri practically shooed them off in his excitement. Dude really liked autopsies. “Come, come, we are waiting on you.”

I gave Liv a wave and followed the vampire through the short corridor that led to the hospital.

“We?” I asked curiously. Marcus was out and Sharpe wasn’t an academic, so he should be safely in a dead stupor by now.

“I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our team,” Henri said as we passed through stainless steel swinging doors. The smell of formaldehyde assaulted my senses.

“Wow, that’s a ridiculously strong odor,” I complained as I entered the small room that was currently serving as a morgue. I couldn’t miss the dead body on the table. Hugo was asleep at the desk, his head laid across his arms. He muttered some very British things in his sleep.

Academics are different. On almost every level, they prove a bit strange in the vampire world. There are different classes of vampires, but mostly this describes the vampire in terms of strength and power. The majority of the vampire ranks can be placed in a category called the warrior class. In the warrior class, there are subclasses with the power to call wolves or some other wereanimal. There are warriors who can fly and some who can shift their shapes. There are other classes. Just a few months before, I’d met a magician. He could form illusions so real you would swear you can touch and taste and smell them. I had, up to this point, avoided the class known as the primals. These were vampires whose DNA got screwed up and when they turned, they regressed into something ancient and terrifying.

For the most part, all of these classes follow certain rules. During the day they’re in a dead stupor, unable to walk, move, or communicate. It’s when they’re vulnerable. If you were in the room with one, you would swear you were viewing a corpse. Not so with the academic. For some reason the academic needed no such rest. When they slept, it was in a normal human fashion. Marcus often woke up looking for his share of the blankets because I was a cover hog. For Hugo Wells, it meant talking in his sleep and snoring lightly.

“Ignore him,” Henri said with obvious affection for his friend. “He’s always required his beauty sleep. Me, I can go for days when focused on a problem.”

That was when I noticed the new guy. He was tall and lanky, with dark-blond hair that reached to his shoulders. His back was to us, his head moving to some music only he could hear. Henri slapped him upside the head, and the man turned around.

“Hey,” he complained, pulling out his earbuds. He had a phone in his hand. I could hear the music from across the room. It sounded a lot like complaint rock. You know the type. It’s a lot of whiny boys talking about how girls don’t love them. It made me want to claw my ears off.

“Casey, you must pay attention,” Henri said with a frown. “We have a guest.”

Casey turned to me, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was looking at a brand spanking new vampire. That dude had likely turned in the last year or so. I would have pegged his age at around twenty, but unlike Donovan, who exuded power, this one was full of the raw idiocy of youth. He also dressed like an emo disciple. He had on a black and purple striped hoodie and jeans that really needed to be pulled up. I appreciated the Converse, but everything else about him was way too Hot Topic for me.

“Now we’re talking, Henri.” Casey turned on the charm, which for him included what I think was supposed to be a seductive smile. “Hello. It’s so nice to get a girl in here. It’s a complete sausage fest, if you know what I mean.”