Free Scarlet Assassin by Isabella

hug and rocked her. “It’ll be fun, I won’t embarrass you like Dorothy did.”
    Hmmm. That’s what you think. It never works out that way when sexy, debauchery is involved.
    When Daph set her mind on something, she rarely let it rest. So how was she going to get out of this? The thought of seeing Selene again had its merits, even if she watched from a distance. Selene would never have to know she was even there. Enough of the club was kept in deliberate darkness that she was sure she could hide. What was she thinking? This was creepy, provocative, and not something she would do, but the more she thought about the club and it’s dark, sultry owner, the more she wanted to see her again. Not talk, just see.

 
    Chapter Ten
     
    “So, what were the results of the new blood tests?” AJ leafed through the folder. She pulled out a spreadsheet and ran her finger down the page.
    “Well, Ms. Lockwood, the results are promising. It’s the strongest concentration yet. A small amount can be reconstituted to almost ten times. The transfusion process has no effect on the blood. It’s really fantastic and will save lives in the field.”
    “Interesting…the purity?” AJ studied the next sheet and then tossed the folder on her desk. Picking up the tin of red capsules, she moved them around and paused to focus on her lead researcher, Dr. Francesca Swartz. “Have we tested them in a real environment?”
    AJ had been pressing her researchers to develop a stronger, purer blood concentrate. They had been working on something stronger to sustain her longer, to avoid feeding on warm human blood, or at least warm blood. The product she bought for research was passable, but it hindered her ability to be more mobile. She’d conditioned herself to stop feeding, but in a crisis, she found the cravings difficult to ignore, and lately the De Marcus situation had put her in crisis mode.
    “The purity is almost ninety percent when reconstituted. As for testing, we’ve completed baseline testing and we’re ready to move forward with the military research center. They’ve expressed an interest in taking it into the field.” Francesca read through her notes. “Since this is a purer version of what they’re already using, we’re pretty confident that they’ll just replace the current supply with this.”
    AJ liked Dr. Swartz. She was a research genius and AJ swooped her up as soon as she graduated from Harvard Medical School. AJ had been aware of the blood experiments Dr. Swartz did at the Thorndike Laboratory at Harvard. It had taken some convincing to get Francesca to reconsider the offer made by the Blood Center of Wisconsin, but money was no object for AJ and she wouldn’t take no for an answer. The deciding factor had been a state of the art lab with the latest equipment and no budget. All things that kept most labs mired in fundraising and partnering with big businesses to get the much-needed money for research.
    “This is great news, Dr. Swartz. What’s the production schedule looking like?” AJ counted ten capsules in her hand. With the new formula these might last her twenty days. If she rationed them, they could last longer. 
    “These take longer to process. The potency makes it critical that we don’t skip any critical steps.”
    “How long?”
    “If we have a steady supply of blood, we can probably produce…one hundred capsules per batch.”
    The intercom buzzed. “Ms. Lockwood, You have a visitor.”
    “I don’t have an appointment now do I?”
    “No, you don’t have anything else on your calendar for today.”
    “Then tell them to schedule an appointment,” AJ said, turning the intercom off. The intercom buzzed again. “Yes.”
    “I’m sorry Ms. Lockwood, she said you need to see her now.”
    Selene pushed past Maggie and into her office. She started to speak then appeared to stop when she spotted Francesca.
    AJ watched with curiosity as Francesca flushed and then cast her eyes down, avoiding Selene’s