Velic Romero, an NHT, learns that there is no true freedom and that even partial freedom comes with a price. He’s forced to do the unthinkable, even for a vampire, and faces the hardships of being equal to humans. He fights for what he believes is right, but can he stand tall against those who own him?
Finn Kioskey, Velic’s shadow, and protection learn the true meaning of betrayal when he chooses orders over a friend and his ensuing guilt has him questioning not only his loyalty but also what it means to be a good man.
Lionel Armstrey, the head of the Illuminati, has the power and the means to destroy everything Velic holds close to his heart. His manipulation and tactics leave much to be respected, but will his undeniable threats finally break Velic’s vampiric spirit?
Dr. Danny Jarson, the creator of Illuminati technologies, has knowledge and charm, but is there hope for him in Velic’s heart?
Mrs. Armstrey, the head of the Illuminati Legal Services and daughter to Lionel Armstrey, is a powerhouse on her own, but is her advice truly in Velic’s best interest, or is it against him?
April 23, 2249, 8:00 a.m.
He woke up in a dark silver four-by-four CGE cell with no windows or a door as far as he could see, and he was chained to the wall with CGE chains. The flexible silver alloy was wrapped around him like a straitjacket, and he couldn’t move his arms even though he tried. There were braces around his ankles and a muzzle-like contraption around the bottom half of his face. The muzzle kept his mouth closed, and there were tiny hoops attached to his fangs. So if he tried to open his mouth, it would rip out his teeth. He couldn’t talk, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t break free because he couldn’t bust through it, and on top of all that, he was thoroughly naked. Everything was exposed, and as far as he could tell, he was underground. He couldn’t hear anything or smell anything, but he could see. His vision was beyond excellent, but there was nothing to look at except walls. The CGE jacket kept his arms wrapped, and it clasped around his hips, neck, and the middle of his back while the silver CGE chains didn’t allow for much movement, so he couldn’t sit, but luckily for him, his muscles would never get tired.
He didn’t give a shit about his predicament because he suffered a worse punishment already, and Blake was all he could think about. If he could, he would’ve gladly died with him, but instead, he was a prisoner. He doubted he would ever see daylight or ever get the fuck out for that matter, but he didn’t care or at least, that’s how he felt because at that point he wanted to be decapitated. It sounded like a great idea, but he didn’t think the humans would be so generous. He suddenly felt his cell move, and he realized his guess about being underground was right, but there was no noise as far as he could tell. His cell was moving at a fairly decent pace, but it took a minute to reach the top, and when he came to a stop, part of the CGE wall slid open. A bright light temporarily blinded him, and he closed his eyes, but he could smell the humans just outside the doorway.
There was the sound of paper on a clipboard and a man’s voice. “Unchain him.” An agent came in and punched in a code on the keypad behind his back while he blinked a couple of times against the light, but his eyes wouldn’t adjust. The bright light was affecting his eyes more than he thought, but he could hear the locking mechanism release the CGE chains, and he was free from the wall. Though not from his restraints. The agent clasped an SC (shock collar) around his neck, which would shock him if he didn’t cooperate and led him out of the cell with a long, thick CGE chain that was attached to it. He was like a naked dog on a leash, and his movements were limited. The braces around his ankles only allowed him enough leeway to take short steps, and the rest of his confinements kept him from doing anything else. He could feel his dick swinging in between his legs until he came to a stop right outside his cell, but he was surrounded by five more agents. His eyes weren’t adjusting, but he could make out the blurred shape of humans, and he could see he was in a hallway while the guy with the clipboard clicked a pen as he spoke. “Prisoner’s ID?”
An agent on his left looked at the imprinted numbers on his CGE jacket, and her monotonous voice was boring. “Prisoner 7639.”
He heard the guy with the clipboard write that down before the guy said anything else. “Let’s get him to Dr. Clansey.”
The agents tugged on the chain to make him walk and he did, but his vision was still shitty. They guided him down the hallway, and he figured there was something about the lights that was affecting his sight because with his eyesight, he should’ve been able to see by now, but he guessed the point was to keep him docile, disoriented, and handicapped from escaping or from attacking the agents. It was a smart tactic, but his treatment wasn’t something to be desired. He was forced along, unable to say anything, but he wondered what exactly they were planning on doing to him because if they were going to kill him, they would’ve done it already, and if they didn’t want to kill him, then what did they want? The hallway opened up into a larger room like a meeting area, and there were a dozen agents lined up like soldiers, but he could only see their blurred outline. They led him past the agents to a set of steel doors on his right, and the guy with the clipboard punched in a code on a keypad, on the wall outside the doors, and they silently slid open just like the one at his cell.
The agents took him down another hallway before taking a right at the end, and they went down the hall until they came to another set of steel doors on the right. The guy punched in his code on the keypad outside, and the doors slid open. Inside was a woman in a white lab coat, and the room was an exam room in the smallest way. There was an examination table to his left, a few counters to the left as well, a bathroom on the other side of the room, a desk to the right, and a tray beside the table with some kind of equipment on it. An agent tugged on the chain attached to the SC around his neck, and he reluctantly went forward until he stood before the long CGE examination table. Velic could see its blurred outline, and he heard the doctor’s softly spoken voice. “AA Bosh, it’s been a while since I saw you in my lab.”
AA Bosh held the clipboard in his right hand, and his broad smile was just for her. “You know, I meant to stop by, but then shit got busy.”
“Well, you should learn to keep a schedule. That way, you don’t miss other important things like a dinner date, for example,” Clansey said as she smiled at him.
Velic gathered that they were dating, which triggered a pounding pain in his heart because he thought of Blake while AA Bosh stepped in front of him. “I’ll make that up to you, but first”—Bosh tapped on his CGE straitjacket—“I need you to examine this prisoner.”
“Yes, I know.” Clansey went over to him, and Bosh backed out of her way, but his agents remained close at hand just in case. “Could you sit him on the table, please?” she asked the agents, and they removed his SC before helping him onto the table. “Could you lie back, please?” she asked him, and he cautiously looked her way. He wasn’t inclined to do what she wanted, but if he didn’t, he knew the agents would force him, and his eyes darted around, surveying what he could see of his surroundings before coming back to her. “Does he understand English?” she asked Bosh.
“Yes, and he speaks it too.” Bosh nodded to the agents, and they came forward to force him to lie down.
Clansey’s understanding tone stopped them. “It’s okay, I imagine he’s angry and probably cautious too. Could you remove his muzzle, please?”
Bosh was against it. “No.”
“Do you want me to examine him or not?” Clansey stubbornly locked eyes with him.
“Fine.”
An agent came up to him, unlocked the muzzle, and when it came off, he felt a little better before Clansey repeated her question. “Could you lay down, please?” He couldn’t use his arms to help him lie back, but his abs worked just fine. He hesitated at first but reluctantly laid back as she wanted, and she came around to stand next to his head. She grabbed something off the tray to the right of him, but he couldn’t see what it was and when she brought it in front of his face, he tried to move his head as far away from her as possible. She halted the agents with a calm look and patiently smiled down at him like they were friends. “What’s your name?”
Bosh read off his numbers from the clipboard. “He’s prisoner 7639.”
“No, I mean his real name.” Clansey ignored his careless shrug and focused on him. “What’s your name?”
Velic didn’t trust her, but at least she was treating him like an actual person instead of an object or a slave. “Velic.”
Clansey nodded and turned toward the others. “I’m going to need you and your agents to step outside.”
Bosh refused. “I don’t, fucking, think so. That vampire doesn’t have rights, and he damn sure won’t be getting any special treatment just because you believe he’s a person. Now, do your damn job and
examine him.”
“I am doing my job, and whether or not he has rights, I was authorized to examine the vampire. However, I see fit. Now, do your damn job and follow my order, unless you want to be thrown in a cell.”
“I don’t take orders from you, Dr. Clansey.” Bosh dismissed her but enjoyed her fiery attitude.
“No? Then you might want to take that up with the head of the Illuminati, but until then, get the hell out of my lab.”
Bosh eyed her for a couple of seconds before he conceded, but he wasn’t happy about it. “Leave the vampire with her.”
Clansey waited until they were gone before returning her attention to him. “I’m Dr. Clansey, and I’m going to examine you, okay?”
“Why?” Velic didn’t know what else the Illuminati wanted to know because they knew everything there was about vampires, and he wasn’t looking forward to having a human woman poke or prod him.
“I just have to make sure everything is in working order, okay?”
“It’s not like I have choice, do I? I’m naked, confined, and the threat of death is practically imminent. So even if I said no, it would be done against my will. So it doesn’t matter, does it?”
“Yes, it does, it matters to me.”
“That’s bullshit, this place is bullshit, those agents are bullshit, and you’re a bunch of bullshit because you’re not a prisoner. You’re free, and as far as the Illuminati is concerned, I’m not a person.” “You’re right, but I still have a job to do. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I prefer to do it the easy way, but if it makes you feel better, I can call those agents back in. You’re choice?” Velic nodded in consent because she was a better choice than those agents. “Good, now, I’m going to start by asking you some questions, then
I’ll do a physical, and after that, you can get fed. Sound good?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Clansey turned on a handheld recorder on the tray.
“You stated that your name is Velic, correct?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your full name?”
“Velic Avaras Romero.”
Clansey nodded and went over to get the clipboard that Bosh had left before bringing a rolling stool over to sit next to him. “When were you born?”
Velic had been born three years before the Battle of Mohacs, which took place on the twenty-ninth of August 1526, and it was one of the most consequential battles in Central European history near Mohacs, Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of the kingdom of Hungary, led by Louis the second and those of the
Ottoman Empire. “November 2, 1523.”
“Where were you born?”
“Savato, Romania.”
“Do you remember when you became a vampire?”
“Yes, in 1551.”
How old were you when it happened?”
Velic’s tone was flat when he answered. “Twenty-eight.”
“Do you remember the change?”
“No.”
“Do you remember what you did after you became a vampire?”
“Yes.”
“Will you tell me?”
“I killed my best friend. Nix.”
“Why?”
Velic’s voice cracked a little in sadness. “I couldn’t control myself.”
“When you gained control over your urges, did you kill people?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Twenty-three thousand one hundred forty-six.”
“How many of them were men?”
“Twenty thousand eight hundred twenty.”
“How many of them were women?”
“Two thousand three hundred twenty-six.”
“What about children?”
“I never killed children.”
Clansey wrote things down as they talked. “No children. That means you have conscience.”
“Yes.”
“How many people have you killed recently?”
“I haven’t.”
“Why?”
“Once blood became easily obtainable at blood banks, I chose not to kill.” Velic remembered when Bernard Fantus in 1937, director of therapeutics at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, established one of the first hospital blood banks in the United States. It was a hospital laboratory that preserved, refrigerated, and stored donor blood; thus, Fantus originated the term “blood bank.”
“Did you have any jobs?”
“Yes.”
“Doing what?”
“Construction.”
“Where have you lived?”
“Several places.”
“Name one.”
“Detroit.”
“Ah, Detroit is an interesting place. In fact, the word ‘Detroit’ is French for ‘strait,’ and the French called the river le Detroit du Lac Erie, meaning ‘the strait of Lake Erie.’ A French explorer and nobleman by the name of Antoine de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founded Detroit on July 24, 1701.”
How interesting! Velic had known that. “Okay.”
Clansey moved on. “Did you have a significant other?”
“Yes.” Velic’s voice wobbled because he missed Blake.
“Who was he or she?”
“He, it was a he, and he was my fiancé.” Clansey remained professional. “What was his name?” “Blake.” Velic’s voice trembled when he said his name.
“Was Blake a vampire too?”
“Yes.”
“Was he captured?”
Velic furiously glared at her. “He was murdered by an ETF agent.”
Clansey paused before she offered her condolences. “I’m sorry.”
Velic didn’t believe her. “You’re full of shit.”
“I’m sorry for your loss and I—”
“Do you have any more questions?”
“Yes. If you were free, what would you do?”
Velic held eye contact with her, but he knew he wouldn’t kill her. “I would get as far away from you people as I could and live a peaceful, secluded life.”
“If you had the opportunity, would you kill me?”
Velic’s brows creased in thought, but truthfully, he wouldn’t. “No.”
Clansey believed him because there was too much heart in his eyes. “Well then, I guess it’s time for your physical.”
Clansey placed the clipboard on the tray and picked up a biomicroscope, or slit lamp, a microscope with a light attached, to examine his eyes. He couldn’t see what it was, but he stayed still, and when the light hit his eye, he jerked away as he roughly growled because of the burning pain. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
With his eyes closed, Velic snapped at her. “What the fuck was that?”
“It’s just a microscope and a light. I use it to view a person’s cornea, iris, lens, and vitreous.”
“It hurt my eye.”
“I’m sorry. The lights in this building are designed to weaken your eyesight, but I didn’t think it would cause damage to your eye.
Now, I need to check to be sure because if it is, then I need to know so I can fix your eyesight.”
Velic blinked several times, but his vision had gotten worse. In one eye, he could see blurred outlines, but in the other, he could barely see anything like he was going blind, and he wasn’t looking forward to having it in his face again. “No.”
“I’m not going to use that light. I’m going to use this one.” Clansey clicked a button on the side of the biomicroscope, and it switched to a UV light. “This one won’t hurt, I promise.”
Velic laid still to let her look, which the light didn’t hurt, and he relaxed a little more before she went to his other eye. “You have perfect eyesight. In fact, it’s better than any animal or man, and the lights aren’t causing any damage. They’re doing what they’re supposed to do, and that’s going to make your eyes a little sensitive.”
“When will my eyesight get better?”
“When you return to your cell because darkness will reverse the effects.”
“Until I’m back in the lights again.”
“That’s correct.”
“That’s just fucking perfect,” Velic muttered.
“Now, let’s finish up with this physical.” Clansey examined him from head to toe, measuring his fangs, checking his neck, his ears, his shoulder-length tawny-brown, hair, his muscled legs, his feet, and his dick. She wore latex gloves, spoke out loud for the recorder, and when she touched his dick, he felt uncomfortable, which got worse when she talked about his soft eight-and-a-half-inch dick. She touched his balls, and the whole thing was an invasion of his personal space, but he didn’t move. “Could you stand up and bend over, please?” She stepped back to allow him room to do so. “Why?”
Clansey knew he wouldn’t like the answer, but she had to do it. “I need to stick a finger in your rectum.”
Velic didn’t know how to react to that one because he had never met a woman who wanted to willingly stick a finger in his ass, but aside from that, he was gay, and having a woman do that was weird. “What? Fuck that, you’re not sticking shit in my ass. I don’t care if you’re a doctor or not.”
Clansey patiently smiled. “Well, it’s part of my examination, and I need to make sure everything is—good and in working order.”
“As I said, fuck that.”
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You choose?”
The thought of having agents hold him down so she could stick a finger in his ass was not an option, but at the same time, he didn’t want her doing it. “Look, can we skip it or something because I know everything is working. Trust me.”
Clansey admitted to herself that his puppy-eyed look was adorable, but that didn’t negate the fact that she needed to do her job. “I have to do this.”
Velic gave her a short, bursting, growl with irritation but got up, and his hesitation to bend over was apparent. Before he did, though, he made sure he understood exactly what she was about to do. “So you’re just going to stick a finger in, and that’s it?”
“Yes, essentially.”
“Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean? Essentially?”
“Well, I have to do a digital rectal exam, and it will allow me to check the lower rectum, pelvis, and lower belly for any health problems.”
“Do you know how ridiculous that sounds because I’m a vampire, and I don’t get health problems?” Velic hated the idea of it, and he didn’t want to.
“I know, but I still have to check.” Clansey could see him debating with himself, but ultimately, he did as she asked. He bent over the table with difficulty because his arms were pinned under the CGE jacket, but his abs did most of the work. She came over to him and lightly touched his back before proceeding. “It’s going to be okay. I need you to stay calm and relaxed.”
“Yeah, relax while you finger my ass,” Velic sarcastically responded.
Clansey lubricated her gloved finger before bringing it to his hole, but she stopped short when he angrily growled at her. “The longer you fight me on this, the longer it’s going to take.” He forced himself to keep calm, relaxing his body, and he nodded. She gently inserted her index finger and he tensed up. “Relax.” He forced his body to relax again, and she probed a little deeper. She moved her finger around, determining the size of his prostate, feeling for bumps, soft or hard spots, examining the wall of his lower colon and rectum before she was done. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Have you ever had the opposite sex stick a finger in your ass?” Velic meant that as a rhetorical question, but she answered him anyway.
“Yes, I have, and I rather like it.”
Velic stood up with half a smile on his face. “I didn’t say I didn’t.”
“No, but you would prefer it if the same sex did it.” Clansey guided him to the height chart on the wall behind her by the bathroom.
“Yeah.”
“Fair enough.” Clansey guided him onto the scale beside it.
Velic’s curiosity got the better of him. “Are you and AA Bosh together?”
Clansey took note of his weight, minus the weight of the CGE jacket, and answered him, “We’re working on it.”
“It must be hard, considering he’s an asshole, and his views about vampires differ from yours.” Velic knew a guy like that too, but the only difference between Bosh and Damon was the fact that Damon was a vampire.
“Yes, we have our differences, but he’s a good man at heart like you.”
Velic was beginning to like her as an equal, and even though she fingered his ass, he could see them being friends, if he was ever given the right to have rights that is. “How do you know that?”
“I can see it in your eyes.”
Clansey directed him back to the table and turned off the recorder. He stood to the left of it, watching her go to the lab, doors and she informed Bosh that he could come back in. She grabbed the clipboard, wrote down a note or two, and held it out as Bosh walked in with the other five agents. “And?”
“He’s as healthy as a vampire could be.”
Bosh nodded, and one of his agents replaced the muzzle, the SC and Dr. Clansey gave Velic an apologetic smile. “I’m sure I’ll see you again, but until then, AA Bosh will take you to get fed.”
“He’s going back to his cell.” Bosh stepped aside as his agents headed toward the lab doors with him.
Clansey immediately blocked their path because she was trying to do what was right. “AA Bosh, you can’t just neglect him as you see fit.”
Bosh gripped her arm to pull her out of the way, but she yanked her arm out of his grasp. “I checked on your authorization, and yes, you may be in charge of his well-being, but I’m in charge of the rest. Now, step aside or you’ll end up in a prison cell.”
“This isn’t right, and it damn sure isn’t humane!” Not only was Clansey angry, but she appeared to be on the verge of slapping him.
“Vampires don’t have rights! He’s a prisoner and nothing else! Now, move out of the way, Dr. Clansey!” Bosh grabbed her arm again and pulled her out of way.
“Please, Derrick!” Clansey begged. She knew she could get into trouble for using his name, but she couldn’t have him do that to Velic.
Derrick stopped; turned to look at her, and her pleading brown eyes got to him. He briefly glanced at the agents because he needed a private word with the good doctor. “Leave the vampire and step outside.” After the agents left, he laughed with frustration because he couldn’t understand why she was so persistent on believing vampires were people, and he calmly spoke to her. “What is it with these vampires that has you so upset about how they’re treated? Does a naked vampire turn you on, Marsha?”
Marsha slapped the piss out of him. “Don’t, Derrick. I’m against anything that mistreats another being, and Velic is no different.”
“Oh, so, you’re on a first-name basis with him?”
“That’s his name.”
“You’re fucking frustrating. I mean look at him, how could you possibly think he’s a person like you or me? He’s a walking disease that’s worse than AIDS, and do you honestly believe, if he was free, that he wouldn’t kill you, me, the other agents, or anyone else who got in his way?”
“You’re wrong and he wouldn’t.”
“How do you know? How do you have so much belief in a species that none of us fully understand?”
“Because no one else will give them a chance! All you and everyone else care about is destroying those that are different! You don’t know him! You don’t know if he has likes, dislikes, feelings, or even if he knows how to make the right choice because none of you will get to know him! Or any of the others! You just want to kill, kill, and kill. It doesn’t bother you that you nearly wiped out his entire species or that he loved someone or that it hurt him to watch your agents murder the one he loved because your selfish, and all you can see is the black or white.”
“He doesn’t even breathe, Marsha.”
“Why does that have to define if he’s alive or not? Clearly, he can walk, talk, run, jump, fight, love, hurt, and make choices. Doesn’t that make him like us? Doesn’t that count?”
“The Illuminati disagrees.”
“I know, but does that mean you have to be coldhearted too? You can’t show him mercy, compassion and understanding?” Derrick agreed that she had a point, but he also had a job to do. “I have to take him to his cell, Marsha.”
“I know, but you can at least make sure he gets fed.” Marsha looked up at him, searching his eyes, and she knew what he was going to do.
Derrick grasped the chain attached to Velic’s SC and gently tugged for him to follow. “Until next time, Dr. Clansey.”
The agents took control of him once he was outside the lab, and they followed Bosh down the hall, to the left, until he stopped at another pair of lab doors on the left. He punched in his code on the keypad, and the doors slid open. They led him inside, and there was a CGE chair in the middle of the room. The blurred outline of it didn’t appeal to him, but the smell of blood did, and he could make out the outlines of the fridges lined up along the walls while Bosh pointed to the chair. “Take off his muzzle and strap him in.” Two agents sat him down while another went around the back of the chair to enter in a code which three golden energy straps locked around his neck and chest and over the braces on his ankles. Bosh came into his obscured view, holding a bag of O-positive blood, and he handed it to a female agent before flipping through the papers on the clipboard. “I’m going to review Dr. Clansey’s report with you, and then,
I’ll let my agent feed you. Understand?”
Velic understood, but he also understood that the good doctor had a lot of influence over him. “Yes.”
“Good, now, it says your name is Velic. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“You weigh 210 pounds?”
“Yes.”
You’re 6’4”?
“Yes.”
“It also says your gay. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
Bosh handed the clipboard to an agent on his left while he antagonistically sneered at him. “So what does that make you? The catcher or the pitcher?” None of the agents made any remarks, and they were as silent as a mute monk. Velic burned with outrage. “How the hell is that any of your business?”
Bosh came right up into his face, placing his hands on the arms of the CGE chair, and his antagonistic sneer was still etched across his mouth. “Everything about you is my business because as you know, you have no rights, and until you answer my questions, you won’t get fed. No matter how angry Dr. Clansey gets. Now, answer my question. Are you the catcher or the pitcher?”
Velic wanted to snap his neck. “I’m the pitcher.”
Bosh chuckled at him and backed away. “Well, Mr. Pitcher, do you at least suck dick?”
Velic growled and struggled against the restraints. “Fuck you!”
Bosh just laughed. “Easy there, Pitcher. It’s just a question, but since we’re on the subject, how do you manage to suck a dick with those fangs?”
“You fucking asshole!”
“Okay, okay, enough about your sexual preferences. Why don’t you tell me about your fiancé, Blake?”
“You should know! Your agents murdered him!”
“Oh, I know we murdered him, but that’s not what I meant.
I want you tell me more about him as a vampire and as your lover.”
“Why?’
“Because you won’t get fed if you don’t.”
Velic hatefully sneered. “Then let me fucking rot in a cell.”
Bosh’s demeanor suddenly changed, and he waved his agents away. “Give us a minute.” There was a softer side to him when his agents left that wasn’t there before, and he scrunched his forehead in thought like he was debating on something. “I’m sorry about your fiancé, and I’m sorry about the way you’re being treated, but the fact of the matter is, I have orders I have to follow. Now, I can make your stay as comfortable as possible, but you have to cooperate.”
“Why? So you can make jokes and antagonize me?”
“No.” Bosh locked his serious brown eyes with him.
Velic knew he was telling the truth. “Fine.”
“Do you want to tell me about Blake?”
Velic didn’t want to share anything about his fiancé because he wasn’t ready but also because he wasn’t sure he could trust him. “No.”
“Fair enough,” Bosh called his agents back in, and one of them made a small puncture in the blood bag. The female agent stuck it in his mouth and let him suck away, which took him less than a minute to drain it, but he could see it wasn’t enough. “Give him another bag.”
The female agent, who fed him, spoke up. “Sir, that’s against protocol.”
Bosh leveled his steady gaze at her and knew she was right, but he outranked her. She was 5’7” with long blond hair that was tied in a tight bun behind her head and her trained blue eyes were waiting on his orders. “What’s your name?”
“Anelia Brisk, sir.”
“Okay, Agent Brisk, I want you to listen very closely to what I’m about to say because I outrank you, and your only job is to follow my orders. Now, if you disobey my direct order, I’ll have you locked away in a deep, dark cell. Do you want me to do that, Agent Brisk?”
“No, sir.”
“Then give him another bag.”
“Yes, sir.”
Brisk went to a fridge, removed another O-positive blood bag, and punctured it before she put it in Velic’s mouth, which he sucked it down in less than a minute. “Put the muzzle back in his mouth and let’s escort him back to his cell,” Bosh said. Velic’s sated eyes thanked him as Agent Brisk, and another agent fit the muzzled contraption in his mouth. They unstrapped him from the chair and took him to his cell, but Bosh was the one to chain him back up. He dismissed his other agents, against protocol and leaned in the cell doorway. “Velic, if it’s worth anything, I hope the Illuminati changes their mind about you and gives you your freedom.” He knew that was a long shot to hope for, but he stepped back and watched the CGE door slide shut.