Darkest Night. Will Hill

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      “What?” he managed.

      “I’m not going to tell you what Larissa and I discussed,” said Valentin, his tone softer, kinder than it had been. “It was a private conversation, and it’s none of your business, to put it bluntly. But if you think I manipulated her in some way, then I don’t think you know her very well at all. And if you think this is all about you, then I would suggest you need to get your ego under control. There are things that happen in this world that have nothing to do with you.”

      “Did you tell her to leave?” asked Jamie, his voice on the verge of cracking. “Just answer me that. Did you tell her to go?”

      “I won’t tell you what was said, Jamie, no matter how many times you ask.”

      “I know you have a house in New York,” he said. “Larissa’s chip stopped transmitting over the Atlantic. Is that where she is? Did you send her there?”

      “Please, Jamie,” said Valentin. “This desperation is undignified. The Security Officer has the addresses of all of my residences, including the house in Manhattan. I’m sure that will be the first place they look for her.”

      “You talked to Angela about this?” asked Jamie. “She knew Larissa was gone?”

      Valentin nodded. “We spoke about fifteen minutes ago. Do you know what her answer was when I asked her why she was so keen to find Miss Kinley?”

      “No,” said Jamie. “What did Angela say?”

      “Her exact words were, ‘She’s our most powerful weapon.’”

      “So what?”

      Valentin smiled softly. “So maybe she didn’t want to be,” he said.

      Jamie grimaced; it felt like he had been punched in the stomach. He stared silently at the old vampire for a long, empty moment, then turned away without a word and walked back down the cellblock.

      He stood in the airlock, his shoulders slumped, his head lowered, his eyes closed. When the gas cleared, the outer door slid open, and he stepped out. He stood still, trying to compose himself, to slow his racing mind and think, think about what he should do now. In front of him, the metal doors of the lift parted silently and Kate appeared, her eyes wide with worry.

      “Jamie?” she said. “Are you all right?”

      He shook his lowered head.

      “Jamie, look at me,” she said, stepping forward and taking hold of his shoulders. He did so, and saw concern in her eyes, saw clear, bright love. “What did you do?”

      “Nothing,” he said. “He wouldn’t tell me what he said to her. Wouldn’t tell me where she is. He knows, though. I know he does.”

      Kate winced. “I’m sorry, Jamie,” she said.

      He forced a tiny smile. “Everyone’s sorry. Me most of all.”

      “You can’t make this all about you,” said Kate, her tone suddenly strict and forceful. “She’s a grown woman, not a petulant kid. She wouldn’t leave the country just because the two of you had a fight.”

      “That’s how it feels,” said Jamie.

      “I’m sure it does,” said Kate. “But you know how she’s been since she got back from Nevada. You know she hasn’t been happy with Blacklight, with what she was expected to do. She had doubts about it all, Jamie, serious moral objections to this whole thing. Maybe they got too much for her.”

      “Maybe,” he said, as a lump rose into his throat. “But what if our relationship was one of the things that she thought it was worth sticking around for? What if it was why she was still here and I took it away from her?”

      Kate stared at him, and said nothing.

      “She’s gone,” he said. “What if she doesn’t come back, Kate? Where does that leave us? Where does it leave me?”

      Kate stepped forward and wrapped her arms round him. Jamie let his head rest on her shoulder, but as he allowed his eyes to close he was acutely aware that she had not answered his questions.

      A deafening crackle of static burst out of the speakers set along the corridor walls; the two friends sprang apart as Angela Darcy’s amplified voice replaced it.

      “This is a Priority 1 announcement,” said the Security Officer. “Please direct your attention to the nearest screen.”

      The Level H atrium was one of the few places in the entire Loop that didn’t contain a single wall screen. Jamie silently screamed at the Department’s apparent refusal to allow him even a single uninterrupted minute to himself, and pulled his console from his belt. He accessed the Blacklight network as Kate stood beside him and peered down at the screen, the look on her face suggesting that she was asking herself the same question that was filling his own mind.

       What now? For the love of God, what now?

      CIVILIAN MEDIA EXTRACT

      Ref: 399252/F

      Source: The Manchester Post

      Date: 2nd May

       EXTRACT BEGINS

       PM CONFIRMS EXISTENCE OF BLACKLIGHT

       John Ballance, Political Editor, Westminster

      In a specially convened session of the House of Commons yesterday afternoon, the Prime Minister confirmed to packed benches that the secret organisation commonly referred to in the press as Blacklight is real, and enjoys his “full faith and confidence”.

      Reading from a prepared statement, the Prime Minister confirmed that the clandestine unit is officially named Department 19, and that its operation is overseen directly by his office and the senior hierarchy of the Ministry of Defence, placing it in a similar position to the SAS and SBS – a military organisation with the same levels of secrecy as the Intelligence Services.

      Calls by backbenchers for Department 19 to be subject to greater transparency and accountability were given short shrift by the Prime Minister, who stated that the organisation must be allowed to continue unheeded with its remit of protecting the public from threats relating to the supernatural.

      The Leader of the Opposition criticised the Prime Minister’s statement, claiming that “it raised more questions than it answered”, while a senior government backbencher was quoted by the BBC as saying that, in his opinion, “a secret military organisation with an all-too-real licence to kill conducting operations against British citizens is incompatible with a civilised democracy”.

       EXTRACT ENDS

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