Live Free or Die Complete Series Boxed Set: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series Hayley Lawson (ebook reader play store .TXT) 📖

Afana’s bitterness left a nasty taste in his mouth. Every waking moment he cursed the vampire who had cured him of his leukemia and given him what he thought of as his new disease: not being able to walk in the daylight.

Afana detested the knowledge that he was as much a prisoner in this bunker as any of his cattle. He wished he could go outside himself and round up the people he needed, but if he had been able to go out into the sunshine he wouldn’t have needed these people at all. He longed for the day when he found a cure for the disease that kept him out of the sun.

Other vampires can walk in the sunlight. Why not me? Afana’s hands clenched tight at the thought of the others’ freedom. Why them? He slammed an angry fist down, denting the metal countertop. The force of his outburst rattled the equipment on the counter, startling Robert.

Robert glanced at Afana but quickly looked away again.

At least one of my cattle knows how to behave.

Afana examined the specimens in the lab room. Robert had done a good job of securing them. They were bound upright to vertical gurneys; the thick straps fully restrained them and prevented their struggles. Leather gags had been shoved into their mouths for them to bite down on as the experiments were performed on them. Afana didn’t want to be distracted by their screams.

Still, their terrified eyes were somewhat soothing to him. He followed their panicked gazes over to where Ivan’s head sat in a container of ice on one of the silver metal tables and smiled.

“The good news is that the disease isn’t airborne,” Robert told him.

Does he think that I am an idiot? “Of course it isn’t airborne,” he snapped. “If it had been, this whole level would have been affected.” Robert cringed at his mistake, but Afana wasn’t done. “You’re not working with your usual idiots, start acting like it.”

Before he was turned into a vampire Afana had worked as a scientist, so being in a lab made him feel a bit like his old self. He found it hard to remember the days before he had been turned. It had been so long ago—two hundred and twenty-seven years, to be exact—and Afana didn’t want to remember the pain he’d suffered as a human.

It made him thirsty.

Robert made his obeisance and pulled on a pair of latex gloves. Afana watched with disdain. He didn’t bother to take a pair for himself. Even if he had wanted to wear them it would have been impossible, since his hands were too big and too rough to fit into them without tearing the thin latex. Normally when vampires were turned they stayed at the same age they had been as long as they continued to drink human blood. Unfortunately for Afana that hadn’t been the case. His aversion to sunlight had left him with no choice but to become his own lab rat. However, all of his experiments had failed. His attempts to avoid the enmity of the sun had left his body toughened and scarred – more closely resembling rock than skin. The monster he was on the inside was now visible to all.

Afana nodded at Robert and flicked on the music. The vampire enjoyed listening to opera when he was working. He hummed along, the strains of Music of the Night blocking everything else which allowed him to focus.

General Murray used the code Afana had given him for the doors to take his son Martin and Advisor George through the levels. First, they would repair the cameras on Levels Four and Five—both male levels—then they would go down to Level Six where the women and kids were kept.

They’d been ordered to escort Advisor George through the bunker to fix the cameras, and he was to come back alive—which George was making incredibly hard since he’d done nothing but piss them off with snarky remarks from the moment Afana’s gaze was no longer upon them.

General Murray wished he’d never brought Ivan’s head to the damn advisors, but he knew he’d had no other option—now every step he took was watched by the advisors and Afana. Well, at least they would be when the cameras were repaired.

He was surprised that Afana had allowed his son to come with him; it was against protocol. Fathers and sons weren’t allowed to be together on assignments since this kept men from trying to leave the bunker. Afana had a hold over the men—their family bond. It was a testament to how severe the situation was, Afana would never usually be so lax.

The only good side of taking Ivan’s head to Afana was that it had been tested for all known diseases, including Ebola, and scientists had said that everyone from the upper levels was in the clear. Murray did his best to ignore the nagging voice at the back of his mind. If the disease isn’t one we know about, how do they know we’re in the clear?

He felt bad for Knuckles and Tank. He knew that if they weren’t infected with the mysterious disease already, they would be before the end of the day. He knew this because Advisor Jerkins had told him what Afana had planned for the pair after they had brought them upstairs to the lab.

General Murray squared his shoulders at the door to Level Four. Going through Level Two and Three had been easy, as these were the levels the advisors and generals lived on. They had all followed Afana’s orders to go to their sleep areas without question.

Level Four was a different kettle of fish altogether.

General Murray stopped Advisor George’s progress with an arm across the advisor’s chest. “I think it would be better if we lead now.”

“Well, just walk quickly. I don’t want to be down here any longer than I need to be,” Advisor George grumbled, falling back as the