Mod’s group was close to the surface now—less than a minute away by TINA’s calculations.

They’d taken a back way out of the compound through one of the secret entrances that only test subjects like Lock knew about. According to him, there should’ve been people here—guards and checkpoints, scientists and other personnel—but they hadn’t run into anyone else. They’d made the journey at nearly a full sprint, only pausing so that Lock could pry open blast doors with his bare hands.

The lack of resistance was making Mod nervous.

Then TINA finally revealed why.

TINA’s voice came through their earpieces. “Ichabod is waiting for you. He does not appear to be hostile. Outside, the Summit and the Brotherhood have surrounded the main compound and the side entrances.”

Even though Lock didn’t have an earpiece of his own, it didn’t stop him from overhearing TINA. He scoffed. “Good. I was getting bored.”

Athena replied, “Another reminder. We’re escaping. Not fighting.”

Mod ignored the comments. TINA was feeding more information to Mod and Arsenal.

In his HUD, Mod saw a low-resolution map of the surrounding blocks, complete with positions of the Summit and the Brotherhood’s forces. By focusing his attention, he could zoom in to get a slightly better view and information about the strength and capabilities.

The majority of their firepower lay with the Brotherhood’s forces. Each entrance of the Gnosis compound was surrounded by a mixture of rec, sec, and hec units. Mod’s group was about to exit through the Easternmost entrance—closest to the abandoned warehouses.

Thankfully, the Summit had brought a generalized force—super strength, telekinesis, elementalists, and mages. The majority of them were rated Class 2, which Mod’s group could easily handle. Only two were concerning—a Class 2 reality warper and a Class 3 psychic.

Mod’s group would be far enough away that they shouldn’t have to deal with the bulk of the enemies, so long as they moved quickly. At their exit point, Mod was mostly concerned about the lone hec unit and the reality warper, Invarius.

Most of the forces were congregated around the main entrance, but even those were close enough to be a threat. If Mod’s group was too slow, they could easily get overwhelmed.

All that assumed that they would make it out of Gnosis.

Mod, Lock, Arsenal, and Athena sprinted through the last sections of the underground. They passed hospital-like waiting rooms and labs, all of them hastily evacuated—papers were left out on desks, samples left out on tables. There were even fresh drops of blood on the floor. Mod’s group didn’t stop until they got to the final entryway. The hallway widened, and for the first time, they could see daylight peeking through the doors at the far end.

Ichabod waited for them. The most powerful vampire in Belport stood in the middle of the empty hall, silhouetted like a gargoyle in the harsh light. He stood with hands clasped behind his back.

“That’s far enough,” Ichabod said, his voice echoing down the hallway.

Mod skidded to a halt and raised his rifle. Arsenal and Athena stayed just behind him, but Lock took a defiant step forward.

His voice was cold. “You can’t tell me what to do anymore.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Athena threw up a barrier that spanned the hallway. “We don’t have time for this. We held up our side of the bargain.”

“Tell me, what part of the arrangement involved destroying laboratory ten, turning my vampire spawn to ash, or dissecting my hound? I believe the terms were ‘refrain from killing my subjects’ and ‘keep the damage superficial.’”

An uneasy silence settled on the hall. With it came the unsettling wave of pheromones that sent a shiver down Mod’s back.

His rifle didn’t waver. “We didn’t kill any test subjects. Maybe next time, don’t send monsters after us.”

Ichabod strolled forward, his face slowly emerging from the shadow. A flicker of emotion passed across his face. …A hint of a smile.

Mod recognized it, even before TINA’s voice came through.

“He appears to be joking with you.”

Ichabod brought his hands together in a slow ominous clap. Fangs protruded from his smile.

Lock shuffled uneasily. “That’s creepy. You need to work on that.”

The vampire’s voice softened. “Forgive me. It’s been a long time since I’ve had this much fun. I only wish that I could have seen you work. Pity the cameras weren’t working—that was your doing?”

Even though the air in the room had changed, Mod couldn’t bring himself to relax his rifle. “You’re not mad about the lab or the vampire spawn?”

Ichabod shrugged. “We can rebuild. As for the spawn, they have limited use and we can breed more of them. I’m more surprised about you, Lachlan. You’re doing very well without your restraints.”

Lock said nothing. He hadn’t relaxed either. None of their group had.

The vampire turned to Mod. “He’ll need monitoring, otherwise his regeneration will grow out of control.”

Mod glanced at Lock. “No worries. We’ve got stuff to keep him stable.”

Arsenal added, “I can always burn some of it off, too.”

Lock glanced between Arsenal and Mod with a mix of curiosity and concern on his face.

Mod replied, “You missed that too. She probably could.”

A loudspeaker announcement echoed from outside. “Attention Intruders: Give yourselves up. Come out with weapons down and powers disengaged.”

The announcement replayed, and Ichabod’s expression turned serious. “Summit forces and Brotherhood abominations have surrounded the block…”

Mod held up a hand. “We know. We’re going to run.”

A flicker of surprise passed across the vampire’s face and was gone a millisecond later. “Where will you go?”

Lock interjected, “Anywhere but here.”

Athena replied, “We have our own lairs.”

“Ah, I see.” Ichabod smiled. Then he stepped over to the side of the hallway and gestured for them to pass.

Despite the gesture of goodwill and even with Athena keeping a barrier between them, everyone in the group was on edge as they walked past the vampire.

Ichabod hadn’t moved, but his words to Arsenal still caught them off guard.

“I’m sorry about your father. I wanted to help Magnus that night they came for him…”

Arsenal glared back. “But you didn’t.”

“No. I didn’t… Do you know what endeared him to me? I asked him why he wanted so badly to change the world. He told me, ‘everything we do, we do for our children.’ He said your mother had told him something similar before she left. There are so few who care to look beyond their own lifetime. It was a gift to find a mortal whose sight was beyond his years.”

Mod had listened intently, but he’d just as intently watched the elder’s face. There wasn’t just a flicker of emotion while he spoke. For once, the expression lingered on his face—an earnestness that couldn’t be hidden or faked.

Ichabod may have lived for thousands of years, but in that moment he looked just as human as Emmett or Clara. And Mod thought he might’ve glimpsed why Venture was willing to work with a monster.

Arsenal’s gaze faltered before she steeled herself again. “Don’t forget the last part of our bargain—no one from Gnosis comes after us.”

Ichabod gave a single nod. Then the two groups turned to go their separate ways—the elder vampire walked back into the dark depths beneath Gnosis, and Mod’s group burst violently into the light.

~ ~ ~