by Dale Mayer
She might have forgotten some things, but her heart hadn’t.
Now if she could only talk to him. See his face and know he was hers.
Then she’d feel better.
*
Jared woke to darkness, surprised he’d slept at all. He swore from the grittiness of his eyes that he’d not gotten a wink of rest, but apparently he had. He checked the time on his cell phone and realized it was just before five in the morning. He was loath to get up and take the chance of finding more dead bodies below. If he waited until everyone else got up, they could find the bodies this time. Presuming there were some. Still, he wished he’d slept longer. He’d prefer to not be awake at all right now. He was still tired, his body aching. From what? He’d done nothing out of the norm, so maybe just the restless night? As he lay there, willing himself back to sleep, he thought he heard stealthy footsteps out in the hallway.
He tensed. Was it just one of the guys going to use the bathroom at the end of the hallway or something else? It seemed as if the footsteps slowed outside his door. He studied the chair he’d jammed under his doorknob as an early warning system and waited, his breath choked back in his throat.
The steps, after what seemed like a long pause, moved on. He released his pent-up breath slowly, silently, as if afraid they could still hear him outside. If someone was using the bathroom, they’d have to come back the same way. For a long time he heard nothing, then what he did hear made his blood run cold.
The steps were heavy, loud and awkward. As if someone carried a heavy weight. A weight that was almost too much for one person.
A dead weight.
He shuddered and stared at the door, terribly afraid. And once again hating his choices. He slipped out of bed and raced silently to his door where he quietly removed the chair. When the person had gone several steps past, he turned the knob and opened the door a crack, just enough to peer down the hallway.
And watched as one of the orderlies carried Tobias around the corner, the boy’s limp body hung like a carcass over his shoulder.
Chapter 7
Tessa cast a glance over at the Ghost who stood, head slightly bowed, immobile in a corner. Was he sleeping?
Wanting to walk over and poke him, she instead turned back to Deanna. “Are you going to tell us who is behind the blood farm?”
Deanna shrugged. “I don’t know that he’s in charge. He’s also old. Almost as old as I am. He’d created the blood farm because he believed in the system. Not to harm the humans, but because they never mattered in the first place.”
Anger rippled through Tessa. “That’s not how the rest of us see it.”
Deanna bowed her head, then lifted it slowly as if the weight of her years made it almost impossible to do so. “No, you wouldn’t. But times have changed, and he hasn’t.”
She waved an arm around the room. “Lots has changed recently. And most of it isn’t good.”
“You said we were in danger,” Cody said, his tone impatient. “From what? You?”
Deanna laughed, or at least that’s what Tessa understood the wheezing to be. “No, if that were the case, you’d be dead already.”
Cody glared at her.
“No, Hortran here has found cameras in this place,” Deanna said. “They might have been here for a long time, I couldn’t say. But now that they have been installed, the game has changed. My husband didn’t put them in here.”
“How do you know?” Tessa asked, not sure she wanted to know any more about their strange marriage.
“I asked him,” she said candidly. “He was quite put out that our dungeon,” she gave a coy smile that had Tessa’s gaze widening, “had been invaded.” She turned to stare throughout the emptiness surrounding them. “He was investigating who did this, when…” she swallowed hard and said in an icy cold voice, “When he disappeared. I don’t know if he was called for an urgent matter or was taken.”
“Disappeared.” Tessa gasped. “Is he dead?”
Deanna gazed at her, sorrow and pain filling those black eyes. “I’m so afraid that he might be.”
“That would be terrible. Why kill him?” Tessa cried. “He’s old already. Why not let you both live out your lives until your time has come?”
Deanna stared at her. “I think that’s where the blood farm comes in.”
And Cody spoke up. “Right. Not the blood farm itself, but the experiments they were doing. They needed your husband’s – all the ancients’ DNA.” He turned to Tessa, “Remember, they had Moltere hanging and were looking for both our fathers…and you for just that reason.”
“Exactly,” Deanna said. She nodded toward the Ghost. “He is the last of his kind. They want him too. I am the last of my family line, although there are some of mixed blood below me.”
Tessa tilted her head and asked, “What is your family line? I’m not sure I know it.”
“Well, you should,” Deanna snapped, shifting her moods once again. “You are one of us.”
“What?” Tessa shook her head. “I’m a jumbled mix of too many things,” she cried. “I don’t belong anywhere.”
“You are wrong. It doesn’t show up in every generation, and lately it hasn’t shown up for centuries, but you definitely have Leant in you.”
Leant? “I think my great grandmother was a Leant,” she said slowly, remember something her mother had said last week. “But I know nothing about them.”
“Of course, your great grandmother was related to my sister, who’s been gone for a long time.”
“But still,” Tessa said quietly. “I am only a little bit Leant.”
“Maybe. But they want me. And if they can’t have me, they’ll take you. I know of no others showing the Leant heritage who is still alive. We’re a dying breed, our pure heritage diluted.”
“If this place is dangerous now,” Cody said. “Why are you still here?”
Silence.
Studying the wash of grief on the old woman’s face, Tessa understood. In a quiet voice, she said, “It’s because you hope he’ll come here, don’t you? That he’ll find you here. And if he doesn’t, you feel closest to him in this place.”
Deanna raised her gaze. “Yes and yes. I can’t sense his life force anymore. The mindspeak is quiet. I’m afraid he’s gone. And if he is…” Her smile grew cold, hard… “Everyone who comes down here might be the one who planted those cameras. Everyone that comes here is suspect. Anyone could have something to do with his death.” Now her gaze turned lethal sharp as she studied the two of them. “Including you.”
*
Cody glared at the old woman playing games with them. “Well, we didn’t have anything to do with it. I haven’t seen anyone close to your age, and I have no idea who might have killed him.”
Deanna never took her gaze off Tessa.
A heavy silence filled the air. Cody looked from one to the other, wishing he understood the heavy undercurrents going on between the two women.
Were they speaking telepathically?
“Tessa?”
He studied her face, her gaze locked on Deanna’s.
“What did I miss?”
Tessa tore her gaze free and took a deep breath. “There was one old ancient…”
“Really? Where, when?”
She winced. “Think power struggle. Think of your brother. In the mine. We found him dying.”
Cody cast his mind back. There’d been so many. And he remembered the wizened ancient who’d been attacked by his young apprentice – Cody’s brother.
“Oh no.”
She nodded. “Maybe.”
She turned back to Deanna. “He was one of the top bosses with the blood farm, wasn’t he?”
Deanna dropped her gaze. “Yes, but he was fighting against the testing. He wanted to see vampires returned to pure bloodlines, like he was. Not the monstrosities that they were working on. He knew his time was up in many ways, but he’d been trying to stop the clones. He wasn’t against the DNA database. To him, that was just good sense.”
She stared moodily at the two of them. “He’s dead then? You know that for sure?”
“Yes.” Tessa said gently. “We did not kill him. He said he’d been attacked by two young vamps possibly following orders by his upcoming—”
“Tyson,” Deanna growled, rising up from her seat until she towered above them. “It was that little prick, wasn’t it?”
Cody stiffened.
Tessa answered. “Yes, we believe so.”
“My love thought it might happen, but not this soon. I will have my vengeance. He will not live through this night,” She spun to face the Ghost. Her face worked with the emotions and confirmation she’d expected but had hoped not to get. Her mouth opened to issue orders to the Ghost, who was now awake and ready.
“Wait,” Cody said. “The job is done. He’s dead.”
She froze. Her body vibrated with unnamed emotion. Slowly, she turned back to Cody. “Did you do it?”
Now what the hell was he to say? He wished he’d done it, but he hadn’t. As this woman was already unbalanced, if the truth came out, would she take it out on them?
Then the decision was taken from him.
Tessa took a half step forward and said, “No. He didn’t. I did.”
Deanna stared at her in shock and anger, then the anger faded and a weariness like he’d never seen replaced it.
“Then I owe you.” She collapsed back in her chair as grief rolled through her.
Tessa stood quiet, as if not sure what she was to do or say.
Cody knew she’d killed Tyson out of necessity and had hated doing so. She didn’t want to be thanked. He asked, “Can you tell us about any of his colleagues? We’re trying to clean up the group so that humans can live free again.”
Deanna wasn’t so lost in grief that she didn’t snort at that.
“Mayhap you should look to the humans involved,” she said with a heavy sigh. “My love always said that he was going to keep an eye on the humans. He worked with one or two he didn’t trust. And several he said deserved to be strung up in the very farms they were profiting from.”
“A bit of superiority in that attitude?” Cody asked, his voice hard.
She gazed at him. “Meaning that he could laugh at others profiting? Except you must remember, we’ve been drinking human blood since we were born. This was a simplistic system that’s been tried many times over the centuries.”
“Times have changed,” Tessa said smoothly. “I call many humans as my friends.”
“Really?” The concept appeared to be odd to Deanna. She raised her eyebrows. “Whatever. I wouldn’t trust any of them.”
“The question is, can you identify some of them for us to capture?” Cody asked.
She nodded, looked over at the Ghost. “Hortran can take you to their headquarters. As they use fake names, the ones I know them by won’t help you.”
Tessa started. “Thank you, that would be helpful.”
“Go now. I’m getting very tired.”
No, not tired. Cody studied her face that was ravaged by emotion, the tsunami of grief no longer capable of being held back.
It was definitely time to leave.
Cody turned to face the Ghost. Only to find he’d disappeared. He turned around, looking behind him. When there was no sign of him, he turned back to Deanna.
“He’ll meet you outside.” And she turned away.
Dismissed. Tessa reached out for Cody’s hand to find it already reaching for hers. The door between them clicked open. Tessa smiled at him. They walked straight back, expecting to see the Ghost arrive from somewhere. But the further out they walked, the less they saw. It was back to the mirage of the cement building.
“Creepy. You’re right on that point.”
“Yeah, but did any of that make any sense?” Tessa asked. “It’s weird, like we’re peeling back layers. It seems the more problems we solve, the more we find.”
“Dad. David.” She came to a dead stop.
She felt sick to her stomach. “How could I forget?” she cried out. “We must go back and ask Deanna about them.” She didn’t give him a chance to argue; she turned and raced back. Cody pounded the cement behind her.
They raced back the way they’d come. She stopped a moment later. “Surely it was here, wasn’t it?”
They were standing in the same place where they’d spoken to Deanna. She turned to glance at Cody for confirmation. He walked around and appeared to fix his gaze on a mark on the dirt wall he’d seen earlier. “Yes, I think it was.”
“If it was, where are they?”
*
Goran smacked Motre on the shoulder. “Let’s go. There should be a mess of people out here that need saving.”
The look on Motre’s face was scary at best, but it was definitely heartwarming for Goran. He did love a good fight. And there were a few due to come. Like himself, Motre was looking forward to it. He looked at the crumpled doctors. “We need to secure these men. Make sure that they can’t come after us.”
Motre’s grin turned ferocious. “Vamps don’t need doctors.” He pulled something out of his pocket and stabbed the remaining men.
Ash filled the small room.
Goran watched as some of the savagery retreated from Motre’s face. With his sleeve covering his face, he choked out, “We’re all good then?”
Motre nodded.
Ian walked over the door and after a quick look at the other two, he opened it. They filed out to the silent hallway and quickly checked the rest of the rooms. There were a few men, drugged and unconscious, but that was all. They unplugged the men from machines and undid all the restraints. They couldn’t wake the men, so they left them alone to rouse when they could. And they headed back out to the hallway. And proceeded to the next floor.
It was a systematic search they had down pat by the time they made their way back across that floor. Goran was primed for a fight, and he couldn’t find one. All they could see were drugged vamps. Just the thought made his stomach cringe, but to know that they were all here and kept prisoner where they should have been safe just made him angry. He stepped back out to the hallway ready to open the next door and hoping for something more violent when he came face to face with several vamps. Men in lab coats. Large men. As in too large men. They had to be enhanced.
He grinned. “Finally. A worthy opponent.”
They reached into their pockets, intent on pulling something out. He didn’t dare give them time to use whatever they were planning on using. He cried out a war cry and jumped the first man, a fist jabbing in the closest man’s jaw. The man stumbled back, but he didn’t go down. His head barely shook from the blow. But the unholy grin on his face was terrifying.
“What the hell are you?” Goran cried out.
“I’m the wave of the future, old man. Any day and time, you can come and fight me.” And he dropped whatever had been in his hands, reached out, and punched Goran.
It must have been due to his earlier injury that had his body being picked up as if by a huge cannon ball and tossing him ten feet down the hallway. He lay there stunned for a long moment. He could hear sounds of a fight going on around him, then a cry and the sound of another body landing beside him. He looked over to see Ian, crumpled and unconscious. Damn.
“What’s the matter, old man? I thought you wanted to fight.”
The snigger was the final straw.
Old man? Goran felt that same old bitterness rise up from where it normally lay quiet and calm inside. He said, “Old man?”
He bounced to his feet. The man had turned partly away from him, giving him his back. Dismissing him. “I’ll have you know,” he said, “That I’m not even close to being an old man.”
And he launched himself onto the mammoth–sized vamp’s back and found the spot on the back of the neck. The man collapsed to his knees, but he wasn’t down and he wasn’t out. He roared as he fought against the hold.
Goran squeezed tighter. It was hard to hit the sweet spot with so much oversized muscle in the
way. He looked around for a weapon, but there was nothing.
And caught sight of Motre suspended off the ground, held in a death grip by the other man. There was no help for it. Goran bent his head and used his fangs to hit the sweet spot. Just like that, the huge male was out. Goran got up in time to see Motre’s legs kick the air in a macabre death dance.
Goran launched himself on the back of the second man and bit him in the neck. He roared like the dying bull he was then dropped like a mountain, Motre still clutched in his hands.
Motre crashed to the floor and lay there gulping like a fish, staring up at the ceiling. When Motre could finally speak, he asked, “What the hell are these guys on?”
“I don’t know,” Goran replied. “But I want some.” He collapsed to his knees beside Ian. He checked, grateful for the pulse beating strong in the kid’s neck. He sat beside him to catch his breath. He motioned to Motre. “If you want to finish them off, I’d really like to not have to do that again.”
“With pleasure.” Motre scrambled to his feet, pulled the stake out of his pocket, and turned both men to ash. As they lay burning, a weird hissing and awful smell taking over the air, Ian woke up choking and gasping for breath. Goran dragged Ian, Motre hobbling slowly behind him, to the stairwell where the air was fresher. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’d say we got our asses well and truly kicked.”
“Not so,” said Motre. “We’re alive and they aren’t.”
“True. But it was close. Too damn close.”
*
David turned from the vamp in disgust. His father could deal with him. He was more concerned with finding his sister. And there was no sign of her.
He walked around to the other side when he heard murmured voices.
“Shh,” he hissed to his father. Serus immediately froze, every inch alert. He grabbed the other vampire by the back of his neck in warning, leaving no doubt what his fate would be should he displease Serus.
David slipped back into the shadows, straining to hear the conversation, the tone of the voices. And then he knew. He smiled. “Tessa?” he called out. “Is that you?”