Operation Read Free Page B

answered Dimitri and he found himself snickering at his own response. “Yet, we have been through a lot old friend haven’t we?”
    “Yes,” Iliga agreed and he gave Dimitri one of his rare smiles.
    “We should go and feed,” said Dimitri as he rose. “Everyone is hungry.”
    “Your troubles are our troubles,” Iliga said as he placed a hand on Dimitri’s shoulder. “Andre and I want to get back to our home as well. The girls have a place with us. They need us and there is nothing for them here. We will find a way to make it work.”
    “I fear we may have done ourselves in,” said Dimitri. “I always cautioned Josip not to display his abilities openly. I warned him that he would only draw the attention of the curious. And here I have done just the same. I should have left them.”
    “It will work out,” insisted Iliga. “We have safeguards enough.”
    “Let’s hope you are right,” said Dimitri. “If not, this underground shelter may become our own crypt and we will never leave.”
     

C HAPTER F OUR
    As Christina returned to her underground sanctuary at the abandoned Naval Station, she was feeling quite pleased with the way things had transpired with Commander John Reese at his home. The information that he had on other vampires, everything General Stone had insinuated before she killed him, was foremost in her mind but it would take time to get it out of him. She could take it from him, but that might leave gaps, posing an unnecessary risk she did not want to take. At least not yet. She had time and lots of it. She was having fun with this role. Her introduction had even included a flirtatious advance on her part and yet she had not found the part difficult to play. The ease of it surprised as well as frightened her.
    Her fear was that her actions might bring back the dream. The dream that she did not like or wish to live through again. Those dreams had stayed buried in the past and she liked it that way. Some memories were best forgotten; especially those of a woman that she could not be anymore.
    Arriving at her secure bedroom, she removed her clothes and dropped them on the floor heading for the bed. As she crawled under the cool sheets, she closed her eyes and relaxed in the safety of the protected room. As she began to quietly slip toward sleep, she entered that place somewhere between wakefulness and utter relaxation of the mind. Unknowingly, her hand rose to her face and her fingers traced along the contour of her lips remembering the kiss with Reese. They parted and a smile settled in their place as she drifted off to sleep. But that smile was wiped away as the dream that she feared returned.
    ***
    T HE Y EAR 1800
    Christina staggered through the woods. She felt cold and hungry. Her face was dirty and tear streaked even though she could not cry anymore. She stopped, looking back one last time in the direction from which she had come. She would never return to her family and lover, for they had cast her out from her home and from her life. One foolish mistake had cost her everything. One foolish mistake caused by love.
    She hated the sound of that word. Love. What had it gotten her? Cast out, scorned, shamed and hated. What had been painted and imagined as the best thing in life, the most important thing in life, was the instigator of all her problems. She hated the word and all that was associated with it. She would never love again. She would never trust anyone ever again.
    Darkness settled quickly upon the woods and with it came the cold of night. When it became too dark to see anymore she sat at the base of a large pine tree, resting her back against the trunk and closing her eyes. She wondered if tonight would be her last. She hadn’t eaten for days and felt weak. More importantly, she saw no reason to go on. No matter where she went, they would find out about her. That was the way towns were. News was news, regardless of what it entailed. She listened to the sound of the woods as they too