by Dale Mayer
There was a shocked silence followed by a shout of joy and running feet. He’d barely turned to the sound when Tessa bolted from the shadows and launched herself into his arms.
“There you are,” she cried. “We’ve been so worried.”
We? David looked over his sister’s shoulders to see Cody sauntering toward him, a big grin on his face.
Tessa backed up slightly and spun to the side after hearing something. She gasped in shock. “Dad!” She launched herself into their father’s arms. David could only shake his head. A couple of weeks ago, this would never have happened. It was a good thing to see.
Cody walked closer. “What the hell happened to you?”
David winced. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure what was down here, and instead of meeting Motre and Ian up top, I decided to make a quick trip down.”
Cody shook his head. “And you never said a word.”
“The reception down here is crappy. No one can send or receive properly. It takes like ten minutes to send out a message if you’re lucky.”
Cody nodded. “I haven’t tried honestly. Been a little too busy.” David watched Cody’s gaze narrow as he studied Serus and the vamp he was holding onto. “Who’s the extra?”
“Who knows? He’s trying to save his skin by offering us information.”
“Hmmm.”
Serus stepped closer. “Cody, what took you so long?” His grin flashed deep and wide.
“Good to see you didn’t smash like a bug on your landing, sir. As Tessa was afraid you’d done.”
Serus gave her a startled look then laughed uproariously.
“Well, you didn’t answer when I called,” she said, flushing. “I was afraid you were seriously hurt or dead even.”
As he laughed louder, she added, “Obviously I knew you hadn’t died when we got here,” she said in exasperation, “But you were nowhere to be found.”
Still grinning, Serus reached back to tug the stranger forward. “That’s because we found this guy’s buddies. Only they weren’t very friendly.”
“But I am,” the stranger said. “Lamar is my name.”
David snorted. “Whatever. Let’s move. I’ve wasted enough time down here.” He looked up the long stairwell above him and groaned. “It’s going to take forever to get up here.”
“Wait,” Tessa said. “The Ghost is supposed to show us another way.”
“So was Lamar.” Serus shook his new friend hard. Then he stopped, glanced over at Tessa, and said, “A Ghost? Did you see one?”
Lamar cried out in fear as if the Ghost was going to come and get him personally.
“Yes,” Tessa said, “And Deanna.”
Excitedly, with Cody interjecting when she missed a point, she told them what had happened to them.
David, still standing on the second stair, stared down at her. “Really? So that really old vampire we found already dying was her husband?” At her nod, he whispered, “Holy crap.”
“She immediately knew it would have been Tyson that had attacked him.”
When his father was quiet, too quiet, David glanced over at Serus to see him staring at Tessa, a really odd look on his face.
“And Deanna talked to you?”
Tessa nodded. “Yes.” When he didn’t say anything, she asked, “Why?”
He shook his head in wonderment. “She doesn’t speak with many, and even then she only speaks with the elders.”
“There were no elders there.” Tessa shrugged. “Besides, she seemed to think I have some of her genetics in my blood.”
Serus frowned. “Some, but I doubt much. You must have caught her on a good day. She is one of the most powerful vamps of all time, and very cranky.”
“She’s also dying,” Tessa said.
“But is she?” Cody glanced over at her. “She’s old, but do you really think she’s dying?” His voice said he was doubtful.
David wished he’d seen her. Met her. She was a legend in her own right. “She likely still has another century or two left in her,” he scoffed.
Tessa stared at him. “No, I’d say days.”
“And you’d know this how?” Serus asked.
Silence.
“I don’t know. Something about her energy. It didn’t look…right?” She shrugged. “Not sure how to explain it. But it’s like the energy was fading. Not black like the energy of the enhanced, I saw no sign of that, more like a dying out. As if she was done. Inside and out.”
“She doesn’t want to live now that her husband is gone, that’s for sure, but I wouldn’t count her out,” Cody said.
“No, I’m not,” Tessa said. “She has something she wants to do. Something she needs to do, and it’s not revenge, but when she’s done, I suspect she will die.”
“She’s a tough old bird.” Serus snorted. “It will take a lot to kill her off.”
“Maybe,” Tessa admitted. “Her Ghost was as ancient a being as I’ve ever seen, too.”
“And that’s a second very odd fact,” Serus said, “I’m not sure I’ve seen a Ghost in many a century.”
“I never have,” David said.
“I got the impression they were rare now,” Cody said.
“And I got the impression he was in fact the last one.” Tessa said. “He’s supposed to meet us outside. Show us the headquarters the humans involved in the blood farm used. But…” she looked around. “I’m not sure where he is.”
The stranger started to shake. “If a Ghost is coming, I don’t want to be anywhere around here.”
“And why is that?” Serus growled, squeezing the man’s neck.
“He’ll kill me,” the vamp cried.
“So will my father,” David said calmly, “So what’s the difference?”
The man started to shriek loudly. Serus sighed and shifted his grip. Instantly the vamp went limp and silent.
“Should have done that in the first place,” he muttered. He glanced over at David. “Let’s go, son, you can lead off.”
Out of the darkness came a long hollow cry. “No. You must not go up there.”
*
Rhia woke slowly. It seemed to be all she did these days, waking up and trying to assimilate her surroundings with her pothole memory banks. Still, she came to faster and more alert than she could remember doing in a while. Thank heavens. She had a lessening of the brain fog she’d been fighting. She thought about her son Seth, wondering what she could possibly have done to him. She understood she’d done it for his own good – but what did that mean? Especially in her drug–induced mental state. And where had she sent him, if she’d sent him anywhere? Maybe she only thought she had done so. Maybe he was still in whatever was left of the blood farms – like the hospital. That made her sick to her stomach. How could she have trusted those doctors? She lay back down on her bed. Her mind swelled with confused memories. Had she trusted them? She must have. She’d been there. Gitorria and Rosha had both been there earlier. They must have trusted the men too. Was her family in on this? Who could possibly have drugged her again – and how?
She hadn’t eaten anything or drank anything that she knew of.
It boggled the mind to think she’d been so susceptible.
So vulnerable that she’d have been slipped more drugs.
It made her sad.
And it really made her angry.
*
Jared stared out the doorway to the now–empty hallway. Should he sneak downstairs and try to help the kid? Did he even know which boy it was? He’d thought from that quick glance that it was Tobias, but had it really been him?
He turned to look down the other end. He cast his mind over the bedrooms to the side and mentally tried to match up the glimpse he’d caught to the kids he knew here. Then he realized that the door at the end of the hallway was open. That was Tobias’s room. He was sick but getting better. At least that’s what Clarissa had said last night. Was that only last night? He hoped so. The days were all mixed up. He couldn’t remember what day it was or what date it was. Bu
t Tobias had been in good shape last night when he’d seen him.
He had to make sure. He tiptoed down the hallway to Tobias’s room. And found it empty, the blankets tossed to the floor.
Confused, Jared wondered if the boy had any medical treatments happening at nighttime.
Damn it. He walked quietly to the top of the stairs and cocked an ear. There were voices talking quietly downstairs. So now what? He crept down a few stairs, hoping to hear things. But the sounds were no clearer. He crept lower to the corner and peered around. He could see the manager talking to another man he didn’t recognize. There was no sign of Tobias. He couldn’t go any lower without being seen.
Tilting his head, he waited, trying to hear the conversation.
“Tonight…”
“Delayed…”
“Not sure this is a good idea…”
“Bosses don’t care. He’s not sick, and the kid’s not…”
Jared tried so hard to hear…he’s not what? But he couldn’t hear anything else. The two men moved further away. He thought about the layout of the downstairs and figured they’d likely gone to the office. But where was the kid? He had to find him.
At the bottom stair, it hit him. What was he going to do if he did find Tobias? If he was unconscious, Jared was hardly going to be able to carry him away. And neither could he do much against the manager and his cohort in crime. But damn it, he had to do something. The kid could be taken anywhere and they’d never know.
The voices rose in anger.
“I understand that, but we promised them a quota.”
Quota? As in needing to supply a certain number of what? And then he knew. Bile rose up his throat, threatening to choke him.
They had to supply a quota for the blood farm.
Chapter 8
Tessa turned at the raspy sound of the Ghost’s voice. “Where should we go then?”
“I will take you to the other exit.”
She started forward and stopped when her father grabbed her arm. “Who speaks?”
Silence.
Tessa whispered loud enough for her group to hear but hopefully not loud enough for the Ghost. “He’s the one we told you about.”
Her father let her arm drop. She watched as he peered into the darkness. “I can’t see him.”
“I think that’s the point,” David said in a low voice.
Tessa strode forward. “Hortran, why shouldn’t we go up?”
“They are waiting for you.”
“Ah, that whole camera thing.” Cody caught up to Tessa. “Makes sense.”
“Hey, I wasn’t looking forward to going up those stairs again anyway,” muttered David. “If you can’t fly, walking would be a bitch.”
“There is another way, but you must hurry,” the voice called back, faint and distant. Tessa groaned. “You guys have no idea what it’s like to follow Hortran. David, the stairs will start to look mighty good in a few moments.”
Cody laughed and took off. Tessa, already knowing what was to come, took long springing steps to keep up with him, but not so fast she couldn’t stop if she saw a wall coming.
She focused on keeping the Ghost’s faint energy trail in front of her. As usual, he was so far ahead he was hard to see.
“Can you still see him?” Cody asked.
“Yes, he’s still ahead.”
“Who is this guy?” David asked from behind. “How can he possibly move like that?”
Tessa was about to explain when her father did. She looked at him to make sure he wasn’t getting as tired as she was, not surprised to see him jumping in long lean graceful steps, the unconscious vampire over his shoulders.
“The Ghosts were known for being the best hunters. Their speed and ability to disappear into the surroundings is what gave them their name.”
“Then if they were so good, why aren’t there more of them?” David asked.
“There were never many of them to begin with. They were so good at what they did, all their genetics went into their skill rather than in another generation.”
“And now they are almost all gone.”
“A dying breed, like many other genetic traits,” Cody said. “Deanna said something about him being wanted by the blood farm people.”
“Of course,” her father said, “with those genetics, they could make vampires move faster than ever, and the ability to disappear like they do would be tempting for any vampire.”
“If he’s the last one…”
“Even if he’s not, he’s the only one I’ve seen in over a century.”
Tessa hated to think that Hortran’s people were all gone. “He was with Deanna. Friend, mentor, or slave, I don’t know, but there was no question he was loyal to her and her alone.”
“Then let’s hope she’s friendly with you and Cody as this Ghost has the ability to kill you just by walking past you. Something to do with his energy.”
“Energy?” Tessa’s steps slowed. Deanna never had explained that aspect. “He works energy?”
“I’m not sure how he does it.” Serus laughed but it was grim, hollow. “Maybe similar to what you’ve been doing lately with your slicing movement.”
Tessa wondered. “If he does, I’d really like to talk to him about that.”
Her head filled with Deanna’s voice. He won’t talk to you. He won’t talk to anyone but me.
Is he not the one that called us to follow him?
Yes, but he won’t speak of other things.
Can you help? Ask him to speak to me about his ancestors. I can do so much, but I don’t know why and what else there might be yet to learn, Tessa cried in her head. She hoped no one else understood that she was speaking telepathically to Deanna – especially Cody. If he understood, he might try to stop her. Still, having a conversation with Cody and Deanna was next to impossible. She gently closed the door to Cody. She recognized the confused glance he sent her, but she wasn’t about to stop and explain.
You should keep that door closed. Don’t be so open, so vulnerable that you can be attacked.
Cody would never attack me, Tessa said. I know he wouldn’t.
You are too trusting. Like a child.
To you, I am. Is Hortran helping us right now?
He is. Careful where you go – there are eyes and ears everywhere.
Why are you helping us?
It’s you I’m helping. Her strident voice rose to the point of making Tessa wince. No one else.
And…you didn’t answer why?
“Tessa? Are you okay?” Cody asked at her side. She puffed her breath in and out and gave him a reassuring smile. “I will be when he stops.”
Cody laughed. “He’s much slower this time.”
“Yeah,” she puffed. “But then so are we. I’m assuming that’s why.”
It is. Deanna said. He could leave you all in the dust.
And back to that question, Why are you helping me?
You’re being tested.
And with that, she disappeared.
“Is that Deanna again?” Cody asked.
She nodded. “But she’s gone now.”
Knowing he was going to ask anyway, she explained Deanna’s short message. “I just don’t understand why she’d be testing me.”
“Neither do I, but I don’t like the sound of it.”
She shot him a long look. “She hasn’t done anything but help us.”
“I don’t know if she can be trusted.”
“The Ghost would say she can be.”
“For him, I’m sure she can be,” Cody said. “Obviously there was a lot of trust and loyalty between them. They are also both very old and likely to be coming to the end of their road. We can’t say for sure when or what method that road will be. We have to remember her husband was one of the big bosses from the blood farm.”
True enough, and Tessa hated the reminder. “True. Even if he wasn’t interested in the genetic modifications and enhancement they were doing, he was quite happy to run the blood farm.”
“You know something, with all the experiments they were working on, I wonder if they found a way to stop vampires from dying at all. Just because we live for thousands of years, we do still die…”
“And maybe they were working on something like that. Her husband might have seen that as a viable experiment. No way to know. He’s gone, and she certainly won’t tell us.”
Hortran stood in front of them.
Tessa could make him out in the darkness, but she didn’t know if the others could. She heard the rest of her family come to a halt behind her.
“Is this the exit?” she asked him. He nodded and pointed to the left. She could see light ahead.
“Go now.” The Ghost stared at Tessa. “Deanna will see you later.”
And he stepped back deeper into the shadows and disappeared.
*
Cody watched as the man vanished. The group walked forward to where the Ghost had stood, realizing he had really left. Somehow. He turned to Tessa. “Do you see his energy?”
Tessa frowned at him, then realizing why he wanted to know, took a slow look around. She shook her head. “It was faint to begin with, now it’s dissipated completely.”
“He couldn’t have just vanished like that,” David exclaimed. “Surely they aren’t real ghosts.”
“No. But they are damn good at what they do,” Serus said.
“Nice to know they are aptly named.” Tessa motioned to the exit. “Let’s go.”
Cody led the way, his mind churning. If the man had the ability to disappear like that, he could understand how valuable they’d been in the wars. And why the enemy would target them. It hurt to think a whole species of vampires would become extinct. But maybe, the Ghosts were an ancient people with ancient thinking. Maybe it was time for the younger generation. And new thinking.
Ahead of him was a steel wall. And wouldn’t you believe it. Elevators.
David crowed. “Yes. This is so much better.”
Cody punched the buttons and the double doors opened. He stepped in and to the side, waiting for the others. Tessa was last and looked hesitant.
“Tessa? What’s wrong?”