Dark Vengeance

Chapter 5

Five

Hannah gently placed a vial into the remaining empty slot inside the storage container. ‘That’s the last one,’ she said, wiping her brow as she stepped back and gestured for Hanson to place the container into the cardboard box in front of him. While he taped the box closed, she surveyed the results of her and Justice’s labour.

Three boxes, each one holding a thousand vials to vaccinate the citizens of Harlington, weren’t nearly enough, but it was a start. She and Justice had worked for hours to get the latest batch ready for transport. When Hanson joined them, she’d sent Justice off to get a few hours’ sleep.

Justice had held up well, but had been unable to contain her yawns or hide the shaking of her hands as they painstakingly transferred the final beaker of the precious vaccine into the single-dose vials, making Hannah’s eyes water and weariness leach into her limbs. She’d promised to have a rest herself, as soon as the boxes were safely in the back of the truck the two of them were to ride in for the evacuation. As she turned to stare at the equipment adorning the benches lining the walls of the laboratory, she knew there was still too much to be done for her to take a break.

‘I can’t possibly get all of this packed up by dawn.’ She waved a hand at the apparatus used to extract the necessary antibodies from Jackson’s blood and the vats containing the base material Daniel had designed to carry the vaccine. He hadn’t lived to see a cure eventuate but spent the last years of his life making sure when it did there was a sure-fire way to administer it.

Hand to her mouth, Hannah remembered the countless hours they’d spent in this lab, working on the cure together. All her good memories of living with the Ward revolved around Daniel Zarb, his lab her sanctuary away from those wardens who hated having a half-breed living amongst them. Give her a week and she could make sure the contents of the lab, some of the equipment requiring delicate handling, would be packed up and ready to go. But the memories contained in this room could never be packed up and moved somewhere else, no matter how much time she had.

‘They’re bound to have a lab at Harlington. You’ll be able to mix up more vaccine when we get there. It’s a bigger town. They probably have even more fancy gadgets for you to play around with.’

Hannah shook her head at Hanson’s well-meaning words. ‘It won’t be the same. It will be someone else’s lab, and I doubt they’ll be happy with me showing up and taking over. Besides, no matter how many fancy gadgets it has, a lab is useless without the right ingredients.’

‘So, we take whatever ingredients we need and leave the rest behind. If they know what’s good for them, they’ll be bowing at your feet to get you to take over their lab. You’re the one who came up with the cure. You’re the one who is going to make their job that much easier. You’re going to be famous.’

Hannah didn’t want to be famous. She wanted Daniel back, to see him smile as his dream was finally realised. Once the wardens were able to roll out the vaccine to the other towns, humanity would finally be free of the freak virus and able to prosper and grow. Who knew what wonders they could accomplish once they no longer had to be afraid of the night? Instead of being segregated into human, warden, or half-breed groups, they could all be equal.

Not that she thought it would happen overnight. Having grown up surrounded by wardens, she knew how deep the prejudice ran. But if the ones in Brimfield could learn to embrace half-breeds as friends and allies, then it could happen in the other Wards too. But she inwardly cringed to think of the welcome she and the others like her were sure to receive when they first arrived in Harlington. It was all right for Jackson to proclaim them as members of his Ward. That didn’t mean the other Wards had to accept his verdict.

‘Hey, Han, it will be okay. You’ll see. This move is going to be the best thing for all of us. I mean, who’d want to stay in a town where the council plans on setting a handsome guy like me swinging?’ Hanson mimed having a rope around his neck.

Hannah glared at him. ‘How can you joke about something like that? Councillor Dillon wants to execute you and Jackson, and who knows what he plans on doing to the rest of us.’

‘That’s why you only pack what you absolutely can’t live without, so we can get out of here before he sends the hangman after me. I’m way too pretty to die.’

Hannah shook her head, a smile teasing her lips despite the horrible topic of conversation. He was right, though. She had to focus on getting out of there. No matter how bad the reception she and the other half-breeds were given in Harlington, it would be a lot safer for them there than it would be for them to remain in Brimfield.

If Councillor Dillon was anything like his son, he’d not be the type to let Hanson and the others get away with defecting to the wardens. He would do everything he could to make them pay for defying him.

As if Hanson sensed the direction of her thoughts, he clasped her hand and pulled her around to face him, wearing a serious expression for once.

‘We will make it out of this. We’ve got Jackson freaking Kyle as our fearless leader. He will not let anything stop him from getting Justice, you, and the cure to safety. You can count on that. And I’ll be right there to back him up. You don’t have anything to worry about. I will protect you.’ His green eyes were fixed intently on hers, and she unconsciously leaned closer.

The pupils of his eyes dilated, his grip on her hand tightening. Hannah sucked in a breath, her heartbeat accelerating when he lowered his head, a warm sensation washing over her.

A voice called out in the corridor, and Hanson jumped, stepping back as he released her hand. His gaze averted, a shaky smile curving his full lips, he said, ‘I have to protect you, right? You’re the only one who knows how to make the cure. Speaking of which, I should really get this stuff to the truck, seeing how it is precious cargo.’

Hannah nodded and dropped her eyes as she moved to the nearest bench, grabbing hold of the edge so he wouldn’t see how wobbly her legs were. Without another word, he scooped up the closest box and headed for the door.

Once she was alone, she let out a long sigh.

She’d thought he’d been about to kiss her. But that was crazy. He flirted with her, sure, but it didn’t mean anything. From snippets of conversations she’d overheard from his construction crew, she knew Hanson flirted with most women who crossed his path. It was second nature to him, whether he was actually interested or not.

From how fast he’d run out of there, it was clear he regretted getting caught up in the moment. He was not interested in Hannah, and she had to make sure her inexperience with men didn’t lead her to read more into his flirtatious ways than was really there.

By the time Hanson returned to collect the next box of vaccine, she was able to act as if the earlier moment had never happened.

It was better that way, for both their sakes.