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Part 5
Elisa Hunter circled the bas-relief Romanovsky Gate like a predatory cat sizing up her prey. The stainless steel vault was unnaturally quiet, the lighting antiseptic and harsh.Arranged in a triangle around the centrally positioned Gate were three tall metal devices that looked rather like something a minimalist sculptor would piece together from brushed aluminum and chrome. They were products of the DH Group’s R&D labs and modern quantum physics, the latest in adaptive magical-field nullifier wards. Able to modify their nullification fields with the speed and accuracy afforded by modern semiconductor technology, they were far more effective and reliable than any ancient artifact Giles or the Watchers could have dug out of their dusty collections.
Magic had met the twenty-first century. After all, what was magic but physics that played by a slightly different set of rules?
Her cellular phone trilled loudly in the vault’s silence.
She answered it with a curt, “Hunter.”
“Ma’am, we have an intruder in the building.”
“Route the security feed to the vault please, Mr. Bruckner.”
On the wall opposite the vault entrance, a flat panel display came to life, showing a color image of a man sneaking down a hallway on the top floor. Probably used a power saw to get through the roof and bypass the alarms, thought Hunter. But there were plenty of alarms in the DH Group operations center, and this man had tripped at least one of them, probably a motion sensor.
“I’ve dispatched security …” began Mr. Bruckner.
“Belay that order, Mr. Bruckner,” Hunter interrupted. “As long as he doesn’t do any damage to any systems, let him find his way down here. Unlock all the security doors between him and the vault. Keep your people on alert, though. Just stay out of his way.”
“But, ma’am …”
“No buts, Mr. Bruckner. Good work.”
“Thank you ma’am. Bruckner out.”
Hunter moved to the room’s massive door and keyed a sequence of numbers into the keypad on the wall next to it.
“Voice match, begin,” came the female voice of the DH Group’s central computer.
“Hunter, Elisa. Security pass-phrase: ‘Trust No One’.”
“Voice match confirmed. Thank you Miss Hunter.”
Within the door, Hunter heard large bolts click back, then the whole circular portal swung slowly and silently outward onto the darkened lab beyond.
She moved back to the Romanovsky Gate, slipped her .45 semiautomatic handgun from its shoulder holster, thumbed the safety off, and waited.
* * *
Angel knew something was wrong. It didn’t take a genius. For whatever reason, he was being forced along one particular path through the DH Group building. No guards had tried to stop him. No audible alarms had been tripped. Someone either wanted him there or was setting a trap. Either way, at this point he didn’t see much choice. He needed the Gate, and the Gate was somewhere in this building. No choice at all.
Pushing through yet another conveniently unlocked security door, he entered a lab of some sort. He slipped through the shadowed room, past the computer workstations endlessly cycling their mesmerizing screen savers, past electronic test benches and arcane diagnostic equipment. At the far end of the room, open and much too inviting, was a large vault. Within stood the incongruously archaic shape of the Romanovsky Gate, bathed in severe fluorescent light.
Too easy, he thought. Way too easy. But he could hardly turn back after coming this far.
His instincts were confirmed when he reached the vault door and one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen stepped into view, pointing a semiautomatic directly at his heart.
* * *
“Hello, Angelus,” said Hunter to the man framed in the circular doorway of the vault.
Angel’s gaze went to the handgun aimed at his chest. “I prefer Angel.”
“I imagine so. You don’t know how many times I’ve been this close to killing you over the years.”
“Who are you?” asked Angel.
Hunter smiled. “Someone who would have put an end to you long before letting your very considerable masculine charms get to her. I’m Elisa Hunter now. In the past, I’ve been known as kensai Hideyori Yojiemon, Seamus Black, Morgan Rutherford, Kwan Li — the list goes on.”
“The Dark Hunter,” said Angel. “I thought you were a myth.”
“I like ‘legend’.”
“If you’re holding a gun on me, then you know I’m not a vampire anymore.”
“I know, but I wonder if that matters to all the people you’ve murdered over the centuries.”
“Probably not. I can’t change that. But I can try to save someone now.”
Hunter slid the .45’s safety back on and lowered it to her side. She very conspicuously did not put it back in the holster.
“We’ll see about that. You were in Hell for over ten years. How well do you know the Pandemonium area?”
“Well. I spent four years there,” said Angel.
“Good. That answer just kept you alive and earned you a spot on the team. We’re going after your girlfriend and we’re going to give Hell a little wakeup call while we’re at it. If you’re up for some payback, welcome to the DH Group, Angel.”