Blood Type (Blood Type #1)(27)

“Hmm?” she asked, applying a new coat of blood-red lipstick.

“You couldn’t wait?”

She looked up at him devilishly. “Was I supposed to? I wanted a snack. It’s not appropriate in public.”

Harrington snapped his fingers at a passing waitress. “Get this girl a glass of water.”

She nodded and scurried away. The water appeared almost instantaneously, and Reyna gulped down as much as she could at once. Color gradually came back into her cheeks, and she seemed to be recovering from the traumatic experience.

“When do you think the Blood Census will go into effect, William?” Rowland asked. He threw his arm onto the back of Sophie’s chair, and she leaned toward him. Her neck was bare and she exposed it to him as if inviting him to feed at any time. Reyna pulled her dark hair forward over her neck protectively.

“As soon as we can get the executive branch to push it through. They’re sluggish, but I’m funneling the money into it so it’s not taking the unreliable tax dollars to get it going. Ideally within the next month. The president keeps saying six months at the earliest, but we all know that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Little puppet. I wonder what puppets taste like,” Cassandra singsonged.

    “He’s B positive, Cassie. No tasting for you.”

She raised her eyebrows. “If you’d get that damn antidote already, I could try anyone I want.”

“Antidote?” Reyna asked. Whatever that was…it didn’t sound like a good thing for humans.

Harrington looked at her in surprise. “All in testing. Attempting to replicate the universal donor. So we wouldn’t have to be as specific with subjects.”

“It’d be like the good old days, then,” Rowland said. “Une fête.”

Harrington laughed. “You have a feast already, Rowland. Enjoy your little Sophie.”

“Oh, I do,” he said.

“Why…why would you need that?” she couldn’t help asking.

“Full of questions, aren’t we?” Harrington asked. He fixed his steely gaze on her and she quickly looked down into her water. “I’m surprised Beckham allows you to be so inquisitive. He hates that kind of thing. Perhaps he just hasn’t…broken you yet.”

She shuddered at the word choice. Broken. Was that what he had planned for her?

“If you must know, I have a very rare blood type. Do you know what the rarest blood type is?”

Reyna cleared her throat. “No.”

“Rh null negative. It means that the individual is missing the entire Rh antigen group from the blood. No A, B, or O to worry about. A true universal donor. So few that only three others have been known to have the blood since I’ve been searching.”

    “Only three?”

“Indeed. Two are dead and one is dying. A universal donor would solve part of my problem,” he said, gesturing to his decrepit body. “We’re looking for a Permanent match for me, but investigating all options of course.”

“Well,” she said awkwardly. “I hope you find someone.”

He smiled that toothy grin again. “Me too, dear. I’m changing the world with this company. Employing more humans than ever before. Once the Blood Census is in effect, I’ll find the other Rh null subjects…if there are any others.” His eyes grew distant for a moment, and then they snapped back to their normal iciness. “I’ll find them.”

That was the moment Beckham appeared in the doorway like a storm cloud.

Reyna straightened in her seat at the expression on his face. He walked across the room like a tightly coiled spring ready to explode.

“Ah Beckham, there you are,” Harrington said.

“Excuse me, William. I need to speak with Reyna. Alone.”

She hastened out of her seat and followed him around the corner. He tugged her straight through the kitchens, out the back door, down a corridor, and into a dead end. Then her back was slammed against the brick wall. His fist connected with the wall behind her, and she felt the wall shudder. Debris floated onto her shoulders.

“You left,” he growled.

“I…”

“No.” He pressed his finger to her lips roughly. She stopped breathing and just stared up into his eyes as dark as night. Her body trembled under the feral stare. “You left without me.”

    The silence was weighted. All she could do was stand with their bodies nearly touching. His finger on her mouth. Her mind wandering to hellacious places.

“You are my Subject. Can you imagine what it was like when I found you missing? When you turned up with three of my kind?” She shook her head minutely. He bared his teeth to her, and she shrank back. “These are meant to drink your blood. To drink you dry until there is nothing left of your body but a dry corpse. We are killers. We don’t hesitate. Just because we’re wearing suits and seem more like you…does not mean we are like you. We are not like you. They especially are not like you. The only way you get to the top of Visage is to be fucking ruthless, Reyna. Do you understand?”

“You’re…scaring me,” she whispered.

“Good.”

He pulled away and ran his hands back through his hair, trying to pull himself together.