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BY KELLEY ARMSTRONG

Daniel Boyd had overcome many obstacles in his life, and e He&039;d been born into an illustrious family of sorcerers, own - ers of a ical powers The proverbial silver spoonor it would be, if your father hadn&039;t screwed the cootten himself - and his sons - disinherited But Daniel had surmounted that barrier, and so he would with this one

&039;We&039;re heading down to the laboratory,&039; Shana said, her voice coround, so let&039;s hope we don&039;t lose the connection&039;

They&039;d better not, considering how much Daniel had paid for the equipment He leaned back and watched the screen bob as Shana descended the steps, the caiven hio Inoperable cancer Six months to live Daniel didn&039;t accept it He had money, he had power, he had connections; he would find a way to co in the black market of the supernatural world

Shana finally reached the underground Peruvian laboratory Asacross the world to get it There was no need to when he had Shana

She was, as he&039;d always said, the perfect assistant Loyal enough to follow orders without question Astute enough to anticipate his every need Attractive enough to h never to correct that presumption

She&039;d been with him for six years, and he didn&039;t knohat he&039;d do without her Luckily, he didn&039;t need to worry about that

&039;Still there, sir?&039; Shana asked

&039;I a fine&039;

A man&039;s face filled the screen, coffee-stained teeth flashing &039;Hola, Mr Boyd! I&039;hted that you&039;ve taken an interest in my studies May I be the first to welco in twenty minutes&039;

&039;Of course You&039;re a busy man I mustn&039;t keep you-&039;

&039;No, you mustn&039;t,&039; Shana said &039;Now, this is the lab, I take it?&039;

The cah-tech laboratory Dr Gonzales was funded by a European cabal that wouldn&039;t appreciate hi with another client, but he&039;d been unable to resist Daniel&039;s offer

Gonzales walked to a table full of beakers and tubes and started explaining how he&039;d distilled the genetic component

&039;Not interested,&039; Daniel said &039;I only care about the end result&039;

&039;You can send the results to me,&039; Shana said &039;So our scientists can check your procedures&039;

&039;Yes, of course Well, then, on to the subjects&039;

The screen dimmed as they returned to the hallway Daniel answered three e-mails while they walked and talked about the cure It wasn&039;t a cure for cancer; Daniel had realized early that was a Band-Aid solution to avoid tackling the underlying problem of mortality

Vampirism seemed the best solution Semi-immortality plus invulnerability But as it turned out, the process of beco one was far more convoluted than he&039;d expected and promised only a 20 percent chance of successand an 80 percent risk of coh, were hereditary, and therein he believed lay the answer After so, he finally found a lead on Gonzales, a shaenetic coht price

&039;Sir?&039; Shana lanced at the screen to see what looked like a hospital ward He counted eight subjects, varying ages, all on their backs, unconscious, hooked up to banks of o, starting with rhesus monkeys-&039;

&039;Could you tell us about these subjects, please,&039; Shana cut in &039;Have they completed the trial? How ed to induce invulnerability as well as semi-immortality?&039;

&039;They&039;ve all completed the procedure We had two subjects whose bodies rejected the infusion One survived One did not As for invulnerability, naturally, that is part of the package-&039;

Gonzales stopped as Shana stepped up to a sleeping subject

&039;-though it hasn&039;t been perfected yet,&039; he hurried on &039;It will be, though&039;

Shana wrote so on her tablet notebook Sweat trickled down Gonzales&039;s cheek

&039;Why are they unconscious?&039; she asked, still writing

&039;We had so subjects, and while I&039;ht it best to&039;

&039;Ease them into the reality of their new life&039;

His head bobbed &039;Yes Exactly Thank you&039;

&039;Wake one up&039;

Gonzales stared at her Then he looked into the ca for er of reversing an induced coma Shana set the camera down so he could speak directly to Daniel, then she walked away, as if giving them privacy She walked behind Gonzales, quietly opened a e, and scanned the bottles before choosing one Daniel smiled The perfect assistant Always resourceful Always anticipating his needs

As Gonzales continued, Shana filled the syringe, stepped up to the nearest subject, and plunged it in

Theand wild-eyed Not unexpected, under the circumstances The screarabbed at his skin, fingers and nails digging in, ripping, blood splattering the white bed, the white walls Gonzales radioed for help as he ran to the lanced back at the subject, still screah his veins

&039;Well, noe knohy they were sedated,&039; she said, and turned off the camera

One didn&039;t reach Daniel&039;s position in life by giving up easily Yet neither did one get there by clinging to hope past all reasonable bounds He spent another ave up on that particular cure

&039;They&039;ve been e strides in zombification lately,&039; Wendell said, between bites of his Kobe burger Wendell was Daniel&039;s second cousin, a VP in the fareatly i with his own company&039;s appearance on the NYSE An independently successful Boyd could be useful to the cabal, and Daniel felt the same about them

Wendell swiped the linen napkin across his mouth &039;Did you hear what I said?&039;

&039;I heard I&039; desire to spend my eternity in a state of decomposition&039;

&039;Oh, you don&039;t rot forever Eventually the flesh is gone and you&039;re a walking skeleton&039; He leaned over to thu Well, not about the rotting part, but for years, scientists have been working on curing that little drawback We had our own R & D depart on it for a while, before we decided it was siuys, wait until they&039;re done, then buy the research&039;

&039;For zombies?&039; Daniel&039;s lip curled with distaste The server - thinking he didn&039;t like his meal - rushed over, but he waved her away

&039;Sure Think of the applications We&039;ve got a lawyer on his deathbed right now Guy&039;s been with us almost fifty years A wealth of infore that&039;

&039;Huh&039; Daniel tore off a chunk of bread and chewed it slowly &039;You have any naet theest favor ever&039;

Biggest favor ever was right Savvy businessman that he was, Wendell had known exactly how much his information orth If it worked, he wanted a new job - with Daniel&039;s corporation That was fine Wendell would ood addition to the firm Besides, if he had a stake in Daniel&039;s continued survival, he&039;d ave him every contact the Boyd Cabal had Plus, if it worked, he&039;d be able to swoop in and snatch up the research from under the cabal&039;s nose, in which case, Wendell wouldn&039;t have a job anywayand ht be in need of the iot Daniel the na the appointments The first ith a whiz kid half-demon who&039;d recently parted ith a renowned researcher and had accidentally walked out with the man&039;s work, which he&039;d refined and was now prepared to sell

Daniel sat in the boardroo with reminders that Mr Boyd was a very busy man

&039;Your time is valuable,&039; the kid said &039;Especially now, huh?&039;

He grinned Daniel and Shana reht a test subject?&039; Shana said &039;One you have successfully transforht Yes He&039;s in theJust hold on&039;

The kid hurried froe kid He walked a little slowly, and his face was paler than Daniel liked, but at this point, he wasn&039;t being fussy

&039;How long has it been since you turned him?&039; Shana asked

&039;Three months&039;

&039;Any side effects?&039;

&039;His reflexes are a little slow, but we&039;re working on that&039;

Shana motioned for the subject to turn He did a 180

&039;He&039;s breathing,&039; she said

The whiz kid sot a pulse, eats, drinks, just like a living person&039;

&039;Impressive&039;

&039;Does he talk?&039; Daniel asked

&039;Sure,&039; the zombie said &039;What do you want me to say?&039;

&039;Recite theat six&039;

As the zoun from her purse She hesitated, just a second, but at a look from Daniel she nodded and shot the zo his chest The whiz kid stared, then dropped to his knees beside his subject, as bleeding out on the floor, eyes glazing over

&039;Not a zombie,&039; Daniel said &039;Next time, Shana?&039;

&039;I&039;ll ask for a demonstration of resurrection&039;

&039;Thank you&039;

&039;Is the lighting adequate, sir?&039; Shana asked

She swept the cae jittered as she shivered Noves, but she hadn&039;t coan

The shower turned on in his hotel suite&039;s adjoining bathroolowered, then scooped up the portable screen and irl in the bathroo if he wanted to join her He closed the door and settled onto the sofa, then asked Shana to repeat herself

&039;Doctor Albright is setting up at the gravesite I&039; there now&039;

A yelp, as she tripped over a half-buried gravestone

&039;Careful, Shana That equipment is very expensive&039;

&039;Y-yes, sir,&039; she said through chattering teeth

&039;Get yourself a stiff drink when you finish,&039; he said &039;That&039;ll warm you up Bill the company&039;

&039;Thank you, sir&039;

He ss, but crucial in e the screen made hias fireplace, then poured hiirl in the bathroom yelled for the shampoo He supposed she had a name, but he couldn&039;t re woman in a bar, who&039;d assessed the cut of his suit and spread her legs, a Pavlovian response to the s with two assistants, he&039;d begun digging up a recent grave It was long, cold work, and partway through, Daniel had to turn off the screen and bid farewell to the girl Apparently, she&039;d expected to stay the night and co sent out et hair, so he&039;d handed her the suite&039;s blow-dryer and hurried her out the door with a couple hundred bucks &039;for the taxi&039;

By then they&039;d dug down to the casket and aiting for hi in the air

&039;I&039;ve resurrected the corpse inside,&039; Albright announced, talking loudly to be heard over the s and cries

&039;Mr Boyd can hear that,&039; Shana said &039;Now, the ritual you used is supposed to return the body to its original form, free of any aftereffects of death, correct?&039;

&039;Absolutely, as you will see in a moment&039;

The assistants opened the casket Thebreaths of air before frowning, as if only just realizing he didn&039;t need those breaths He squinted up at the people surrounding his casket

&039;Wh-what&039;s going on?&039; he asked

&039;You&039;ve been resurrected, Mr Lang Congratulations&039;

The man&039;s frown deepened as he seemed to consider this Then he nodded and tried to stand Shana ht, who stopped hi he did, indeed, appear to be dead Or undead, as it were

She took out a folder and consulted a list

&039;And you are Ja, who died in an automobile accident on February twentieth?&039;

He nodded

&039;You&039;re sure?&039;

&039;Course I&039;m sure&039;

She plucked out a sheet of paper and showed it to hi And I noticed, Dr Albright, that you began digging before I arrived, contrary to our agreement&039;

&039;I kneould take a while and it&039;s a cold night-&039;

&039;I appreciate your consideration I do not appreciate your duplicity You started because you wanted to disguise any indication of recent digging; perhaps to lay a fresh zorave&039;

&039;I didn&039;t-&039;

&039;Then you won&039;tto our offices, where he can be ns of decomposition &039; She turned to the zo phase, it shouldn&039;t take long&039;

As expected, the zombie rotted and, in the meantime, Daniel knocked threeeach ti the best of this deal If Daniel succeeded, Wendell got a cushy new job If he failed, Wendell could go to the cabal board of directors and tell them he&039;d used Daniel to cull their list of zombification experts

Of the five rejected so far, only the whiz kid seemed to be a career conthe subject but years fro a perfected cure So, like all scientists - desperate for that big windfall that would let the their work He understood, though that didn&039;t mean they hadn&039;t paid dearly for the mistake

Twothe end of the list, when one at the botto rumors, took it upon himself to make the initial contact He came; he requested an audience; he was refused; he stayed When Daniel left work, the , he was still there Daniel decided he could find a few minutes to hear the man out And a few minutes was all it took, because the man followed Shana into Daniel&039;s office and announced, &039;I don&039;t have the cure you&039;re looking for&039;

Shana sighed and started ushering hiround and said, &039;I don&039;t have it, but I can get it I&039;redient&039;

&039;Money,&039; Daniel said, leaning back &039;Lots and lots of e little s &039;No, Mr Boyd I have many investors What I lack are test subjects See to die in hopes of being reborn in a rotting corpse&039;

When Daniel didn&039;t respond, thehis briefcase on Daniel&039;s desk He took out a folder the size of War and Peace

&039;My project to date I&039;h it My work, I believe, will speak for itself All I need is someone to provide me with an unlimited supply of test subjects&039;