"So that's why she took him. My contacts informed me that Jack was dead, and that she had captured a new male. They weren't able to describe him apart from the fact that he looked just like me. I asked a few of my contacts to check if Mark was at home or at school, but it turns out neither of them are there. Rose and Joe appear to be on holiday somewhere, and Rebecca had allegedly run off with a new neighbour. No word of Mark. So I pulled every string I have and managed to track the new neighbour to this place. You?" he asked me.
"Me," I confirmed.
"Right. You and I will discuss this later. Where is Rebecca now?"
"In Russia with my Marcus and Julia. Marcus is my geneticist brother."
"Ah, I see. I'm pleased she is out of all of this, though by all accounts she could probably look after herself in a fight. Interesting that she was able to electrocute Jack. The only other time I've ever heard of anything similar was when Anne used to speak of her sister Elizabeth. It's apparently why Jack gave up and dismembered her."
He was silent for a few moments, and then he continued.
"I have come to request your help in getting him out. I know where he is being held, and I know roughly how many human men she employs, and how many vampire males she has. I could go in myself and attempt to extricate my son, but I am not convinced I would succeed, and too much hangs on this. We may only ever have one chance before she takes him underground forever, and I want to be completely certain of the outcome before I risk alerting her."
"Underground?" I asked. He'd mentioned that term twice now, and I wanted to know what he meant by it.
"Yes," said Hugo, "literally underground. He bought an abandoned World War Two bunker that was built by the US forces when they were here. All the female vampires are held there, along with their progeny. There are between thirty and fifty of them currently, and they are closely guarded by a select group of Jack's sons. It's impenetrable, and once they have Mark down there, he would have very little chance of escape, and we would never be able to extricate him."
"We were going to strike tonight," Fergus said. He had been uncharacteristically quiet during our discussion, but he seemed to come to life again, now that there were plans to be made and logistics to be worked out. "I know we have a lot to discuss, but right now they could be doing anything to that boy, and I for one would like him out of there as soon as possible."