Legacy in Blood (Book 1 of The Begotten of Old Series) by Masha Dark Read Free Book Online Page B

was happy for her because their juvenile rivalry paled in comparison to the earnest affection they felt for each other.
    Marisa walked up to the glass isolation chamber where Ruslan lay.
    Many things had happened in her life to make her feel pain or sadness. But life in an orphanage had hardened Marisa. Later, she knew that she had a friend who would always come to her aid in her hour of need.
    But then…Marisa saw him. More accurately, what was left of him. Marisa fell to her knees and wailed. Without tears and without sound. She beat her fists against the glass, knowing full well that it was reinforced and that nothing would break it, and she shook with silent sobs.
    Frightened nurses ran up to her and Marisa begged them to open the door and let her into the chamber, although she also knew full well that no one would. After a short while a doctor appeared and ordered that Marisa be given a sedative. Two massive orderlies took her by the arms and led her away from the chamber where the thing that had been her best and only friend now lay.
    “Ruslan,” said Marisa, and the tears gushed from her eyes. For the first time in her life she cried for real, gulping down streams of her own tears…
    When Marisa came back to her senses, she discovered that she was sitting on a cot in the department head’s office. The personnel had tactfully decided to leave the young woman alone with her pain. Beyond the window it was already dark. Marisa felt dead tired, exhausted to the bone. There were also some strange sensations in the region of the back pocket of her trousers. A moment later, Marisa realized that this was her blackberry trying to get her attention, desperately vibrating. A new email.
    In the text of the email a certain sender Z, who Marisa knew quite well, informed her that hundreds of vampires had long been happily residing in one of the communities in the suburbs – the ghouls had arranged a coven there, or in modern parlance, a night club. They were, of course, as always, sure of their impunity and could not imagine that someone might betray the location of their lair.
    The tears in Marisa’s eyes dried instantly. She pulled a cell phone from her other pocket and dialed Pavel Volsky’s number. He answered in a matter of seconds.
    “Volsky here.”
    “Hi, Pavel.”
    “Marisa,” Volsky replied. “I heard about Rus. Please accept my condolences; we’re all very sorry. You hang in there.”
    News, the good as well as the bad, spread instantly within CRUSS.
    “Thanks,” Marisa replied dryly. “Tell me, are you and your team available right now?”
    “Well, I – yes,” said Volsky. “At least Arvid, Genaro, Okahito…”
    “How many men?” Marisa interrupted him.
    “Well, about twenty…but what happened?”
    “My informant sent me a tip,” announced Marisa. “We have a large sweep ahead of us.”
    “I see. How many?” asked Volsky in a businesslike tone.
    “Two hundred at the most,” said the young woman.
    “That’s not so many,” Pavel said. “We can take care of two hundred in half an hour. Ten for each of us. No sweat. They’re teenagers?”
    In CRUSS young vampires, those who were no more than one hundred years old, were called ‘teenagers.’
    “I suppose,” she replied.
    Although young vampires were considered comparatively easy prey, Marisa by no means shared Volsky’s good cheer.
    “Pavel, we need to hurry.”
    “Don’t worry, I get it,” Volsky assured her. “Take no prisoners, right?”
    Marisa just laughed spitefully in reply.
    “Okay, get on over here,” Pavel said, and he hung up.
    Marisa could always rely upon herself unconditionally. Just as she could rely on Ruslan. Somewhat less on Papa. Volsky was the next person after Goldberg upon whom Marisa could sometimes rely. But in this she was certain – she could rely on him to be ready for this operation. Sweeps were a passion for Special Agent Pavel Volsky and his team.
    The employees of the Homicide Division of CRUSS did