Blood Hunt (Blue Blood Babies sequel!)

Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Twenty-nine

“Alfie!  Alfie, you can’t!  You promised!”  Anna trotted after me, voice high-pitched, screeching.  I did my best to ignore her.  It was hard, though.  She was yelling right in my ear, my hand wrapped tight around hers as I stormed along, keeping her close to me.  She didn’t want to go, was absolutely furious at me for going back on my word, but I was just going to have to live with that. 

“Alfie’s right, Anna,” Maggie was out of breath, jogging to keep up with the length of my strides.  “This is too serious not to tell.”

Anna ignored her, concentrating all her efforts on trying to pull me to a halt.  The lack of drugs must have had an effect on her, though, because it was easy to resist her struggles.  I set my mouth grimly, kicking open the door to the building, leading us out into twilight on the base.

I paused for a moment just beyond the doorway.  Where would I find Ryan?  I didn’t know much about his duties; about what it was he actually did on the base.  I could just go straight to the Lieutenant, but if I was honest I was a little afraid of his steely aura.  I’d rather have Ryan as a buffer if I was going to be hauled up in front of him again. 

“Where do you think he’ll be?” I asked Maggie, my eyes flicking across the buildings in front of me as if he’d magically appear.

“I’m not sure,” she said slowly.

I shifted from foot to foot.  Melissa was back inside.  She’d probably know where Ryan was, might even have a number for him, but she and Connor were “busy”.  No, that wasn’t it. I still didn’t fully trust her and even now, when I really needed her help, I was reluctant to ask for it.

“Let’s try the gatehouse,” I said, my feet already turning in that direction.  “If he’s not there, they might at least know where to find him.”

The air was heavy with moisture as we set off across the darkening base.  Some of the shallower puddles had already evaporated but the road shone jet black under the harsh yellow floodlights.  There weren’t many soldiers milling about at this late hour, but, though it meant we were less likely to be challenged, I didn’t like the quiet.  It was eerie.  I kept expecting it to be filled with something unpleasant.  The sound of gunfire.  Or screaming. 

I was relieved when we rounded a corner and the gatehouse stood before us.  A car was just ghosting off into the night, the barrier lowering to once again bar the way.  The soldier on duty loitered at the side door, scribbling something on a clipboard.  He looked up suddenly, some sixth soldier sense telling him we were there. 

“Oi!” I saw him frown across the distance.  He pointed the clipboard in our direction.  “Oi, you three!”

I had a sudden irrational desire to leg it, but I reminded myself I had a legitimate reason to be there.  Instead I walked towards him, towing Anna along, Maggie now also trailing behind me.  As I got nearer I realised it was Ryan’s friend.  Steven, I remembered his name suddenly.

“What are you doing out he?” he asked sharply. 

“Is Ryan here?” I called out, embarrassed that my voice broke a little.  I tried to clear my throat quietly.  “We need to speak to him.”

“This is an army base,” Steven told me angrily.  “You can’t just walk about!  There are security procedures to be adhered to.  Wander into the wrong area, you’ll end up getting shot!”

As if to prove his point, he rested his hand on the gun slung across his shoulder, an automatic rifle.  I stared at it for a heartbeat, then made myself meet his gaze.