Daniel turned to face the cowboy. “You heard my father’s orders. Hands off our hostage, Mr. Hunt. We need him to appear in good health when we turn him over to his associates.”
“I won’t mess up his face. He’ll still look good,” Leroy offered. “Can’t answer for how he’s gonna feel though.”
Daniel adopted a menacing tone. “Mr. Hunt, unless you wish me to report your insubordination to my father, you’ll do as you’re told.”
“Alright. Don’t get your pinfeathers ruffled.” The cowboy held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Boy, I tell you what. You’re makin’ me pine for the days when you was just a pasty-faced runt scared to say ‘boo’ to his own shadow.”
“We all change,” the scion observed coldly.
“Not me,” Hunt countered. “I like myself just fine as is.”
“What a pity,” Daniel murmured. “In any case, thank you for your assistance. I’ll take it from here. You may show yourself out.”
The scion turned his back and opened the door, leaving Hunt to grouse and retreat the way he came.
Erik limped into the room and immediately sank into an easy chair. “That’s the most walking I’ve done since the night of the break-in,” he admitted. “How long ago was that?”
“Almost a month,” Daniel said, closing the door. He took a seat on the edge of the bed.
The thief surveyed the room. “As prison cells go, this is pretty cushy. A double bed with a dresser and my own private bathroom. Hey, there’s even a telephone.”
“It’s an intercom system actually,” Daniel countered. “It will get you as far as the kitchen in case you need food or some other help. Since this suite of rooms was designed for visiting archwardens, it’s considered guest quarters. I’m going to tell the kitchen staff that you’re working on a confidential project for my father and nobody else is to know you’re here. That ought to keep Joshua out of your way. I’ll also tell the staff that you’re to be treated as a guest but mustn’t be allowed to wander freely through the compound. Hence the locked door.”
“How are you gonna keep the kitchen workers from blabbing? You told me yourself that the rumor mill in this place works nonstop.”
Daniel smiled thinly. “As the scion, I have the power to threaten them with immediate excommunication. Trust me, that’s a fate worse than death to the Nephilim. They’ll obey my orders to keep silent.”
Erik raised his eyebrows. “Seems like you thought of everything.” He transferred his attention back to his surroundings. “Does Hannah have a set-up like this?”
“Hannah’s room looks about the same, but there’s no intercom phone. It wouldn’t matter anyway since she hasn’t spoken since her return.”
“She hasn’t talked? Why not?”
“It’s a ruse to deflect inconvenient questions. Of course, she speaks to me all the time, but the rest think she’s afflicted.”
“Smart kid.” Erik nodded approvingly. “Speaking of smart, you did one hell of a job getting me out of that mess in your father’s office. I owe you bigtime.”
Daniel felt pleased at the compliment, but his mood immediately shifted to one of deep gloom. “You can pay me back by telling me what’s going on in the secret lab. To the rest of the Nephilim, that place is just a rumor, but you’ve actually been inside.”
Erik rubbed his forehead, apparently trying to recollect what he’d seen. “It’s a high-tech operation. Aboud has been creating a supercharged strain of plague. Something that’s impervious to any known vaccine.”
“Plague?” The scion’s tone was skeptical. “As in the Black Death?”
“A variation of the same virus. It’s called pneumonic plague because it goes airborne. You inhale the germs, and you die ugly in a matter of hours.”
“But you lived.”
“Yeah, lucky me.” Erik chuckled sardonically. “While I was out of commission Aboud said he tried to kill me six ways from Sunday, but apparently the vaccine formula he initially gave me did the trick. So, here I am.”
“What’s the purpose of it all?”
The thief shrugged. “I’d guess your father is planning to turn the plague loose on somebody. The vaccine is probably for the errand boys who’ll be distributing it.”
“This is insane.” Daniel raked his fingers through his hair. “Who is he targeting? He can’t pick a fight with the entire world. That would be madness. All the super-powers would rain destruction down on the Nephilim. Even my father can’t want that.”
“I never found out who the target is,” Erik admitted. “I don’t think Aboud knows either.”
Daniel stood and began to pace fretfully. “It looks like my librarian friend Chris was right about everything. I thought he was being an alarmist when he said my father was planning a war. Then I saw with my own eyes that the satellite compounds have been turned into armed fortresses. And now you’re living proof that the secret lab exists. What am I going to do?”
“For starters, you can stop wearing out the carpet,” Erik observed.
The scion plopped down on the bed and stared at his captive blankly.
Erik winced with pain as he sat forward in his chair. He gazed at the scion earnestly. “Daniel, if a war really is coming, you might start by picking a side.”
“That’s just what your friend Cassie said when we were trapped in that cave in Sudan.”
“She isn’t wrong about that or about much of anything else.” Erik gave a wry grin. “Of course, I’d never tell her so because she’d never let me hear the end of it.”
“But he’s my father.” Daniel pleaded for understanding.
“You wouldn’t be the first kid to walk away from a bad home life,” Erik consoled. “Maybe it’s time to cut your losses.”
The scion gave a deep sigh. “Let’s just say that, for now, I’ll do what I can to help you. In any event, defying my father outright would be madness.”
“Agreed.” Erik nodded. “You’re far more useful as part of his trusted inner circle.”
“We need to figure out what his plan is before someone gets hurt.” Daniel was speaking half to himself. “And
