Free Hunting Daylight (9781101619032) by Piper Maitland

effects.”
    Jude fixed his attention on Lenny, trying to look attentive, but perspiration rolled down his spine, dampening the back of his shirt. He remembered that long-ago day when Vivi was born and the doctors were fretting over her high monoclonal antibody levels. He pressed his fist against his churning stomach.
    “The bats are dangerous,” Lenny said. “But you guys are witnessing an epic moment in vampirism. We are hunting daylight. Al-Dîn will find a way for us to walk in the sun. But to do this, we need to collect—and test—some big motherfucking bats. We plan to bio-engineer their monoclonal antibodies and make a serum. A twelve-hour injectable drug. One that will block photosensitivity. It won’t be a cure. But vampires can inject themselves as needed.”
    Lenny glanced around the room. “Any questions?”
    No one responded.
    “Meeting adjourned,” Lenny said.
    Hamilton touched Jude’s shoulder. “Are you all right, buddy? You look sick.”
    “No, I’m fine.”
    “I got to get going,” Hamilton said. “We’re digging near the river tonight. I’d run away, but Tatiana is sending her Congo cyborgs.”
    It was full dark when Jude walked back to his tent. He couldn’t explain why, but it felt bigger without Hamilton’s effusive personality, filled with menacing shadows and echoes. But Jude needed solitude. He opened the cooler and pulled out a bottle of AB. He lay down on his cot, uncapped the bottle, and took a sip.
    His daughter’s blood had high levels of monoclonal antibodies. And so did the bats that Al-Dîn was studying. If these antibodies held the key to day-walking, and if this knowledge was made public, then his child would be hunted—and experimented on.
    I’ve got to leave this camp
, he thought.
I want to go home and protect my family.
    A rustling noise came from the flap, and Tatiana walked into the tent, holding a lantern. “Do you have time for a private briefing, Dr. Barrett? Or may I call you Jude?”
    “Jude’s fine.” He put down his bottle and started to rise from the cot.
    “No, you’re fine. Stay there.”
    She set down the lantern and walked to his cot. Her gaze moved to Jude’s desk and stopped on the photograph of Caro and Vivi. “Is that your wife?”
    Jude nodded.
    “And your child, too?”
    “Yes.”
    “It’s unusual for vampires to reproduce. How did you manage it?”
    His pulse roared in his ears. He leaned forward and turned the picture away from Tatiana. “What’s the story on the bats?”
    “Don’t worry about them,” she said. “Lenny and I have everything under control.”
    “May I ask how?”
    She perched on the edge of his cot, her gaze lingering on his face. “Sorry, Jude. I don’t mean to stare. But your left iris is beautiful. All those brown specks in the blue. Are you just as unique as your eye color?”
    “No.”
    “I think you are.” She smiled, and her hand brushed over his trousers.
    He shifted his leg away from her. “Can we get on with the briefing?”
    “After
we
get it on.” She crawled across the cot and wedged her hand against his crotch. “I’m attracted to you, Jude. Do you feel it, too?”
    Yes, he felt it. But he didn’t want to. His chest burned, as if a scorching wire were twisting through him. He pushed her away. “You need to leave. Now.”
    “What if I don’t?”
    “I’m married.”
    “So?” She rubbed the heel of her hand between his legs, moving back and forth, tugging his zipper a little lower.
    “Don’t.” He scooted toward the edge of the cot and pulled up his zipper.
    “Come on, Jude. It’ll get your mind off your worries.”
    “I’m not worried.”
    “Right. Lighten up and have fun. Or you’ll end up like Dr. Walpole. A raving lunatic.”
    “So, how often do the bats attack the camp?” Jude asked.
    “Often. Sometimes they hit us in daylight.”
    Before he could respond, she lunged, pinning him against the mattress, stroking between his thighs, pushing against him with the flat