Family Blood Ties Set - 3 books in 1

by Dale Mayer

  "They better have."

  Cody grimaced. "Maybe the medics will be there, too. I could use some food and rest, and I won't get either until we find Tessa. As soon as it's dark, I'm flying."

  "Hmph. Rub it in, why don't you?" Ian grinned at the old joke between them. Both fliers but Cody was faster and stronger.

  They hurried around the corner, with Cody leading the way. He slammed full into someone running and went down. The other person fell, too...so hard, his head actually bounced.

  Cody gave himself a shake and jumped to his feet.

  Ian laughed. "Now, that was like something straight out of a cartoon."

  "What the hell?" Cody stepped around the prone man until he could see the guy's face. It was Jared. "There's nothing to him. He hit me like a linebacker and bounced off. Like, I don't get it. What's he running from?"

  The answer to his question came running round the corner: Jewel and Rhia.

  Rhia cried out, "Oh, thank heavens you caught him. I didn't want to lose him again."

  "Why was he running?" Cody glared down at Tessa's friend. Apparently, Jared was still causing trouble.

  Rhia raised her palms and shrugged. "The medical team arrived, and Jared seems to think they're bad guys in disguise. He really took offense at Dr. Korner, the head of the team."

  "Offense?" Cody asked cautiously. He didn't know the doctor in question, but Jared had been through a lot. Might not take much to spook him. He'd been the only conscious human, surrounded by a pack of vampires – and that obviously hadn't done much for his comfort level. Exasperation laced his voice as he continued, "Let's get him back to bed. He's spent more time injured because of me than he has from the vamps that kidnapped him."

  "We won't hold that against you." Jewel grinned. "Although he might, when he comes to."

  "Yeah, he looks like the kind to hold a grudge." Cody couldn't do anything about the way Jared felt, but he could make the guy more comfortable. So he bent down, and with Ian's help, raised Jared onto Cody's shoulder. He carried Tessa's friend to his old room.

  A group of people stood outside the room, gawking at them.

  "Hi," Cody murmured as he passed them to lower Jared onto the same bed he'd been in before.

  Throwing a blanket over Jared, Cody backed up out of the way so Rhia could mother him again. That kid had to stop going against Cody. He might end up seriously injured one of these days.

  Accidentally, of course.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Tessa closed the phone and jammed it into her pants pocket. She didn't dare lose it. And she had to get moving. Her jumping was even worse than normal. Had to be the drugs still in her system. She'd made it into the trees for cover, but she was still way too high up the mountain. Coldness and fatigue had started to set in, ravaging her system. They had already affected her coordination, and now she'd slowed down. She needed to get farther away before a search party came looking for her.

  She sped up, running between the trees as fast as she could, hating every step. Her weird, crablike hop-jump movements had improved to the point that walking or running was a serious handicap when speed was the priority.

  Dare she try it again?

  She shivered, pulled the flimsy lab coat tighter around her shoulders, and decided she had to try. She wouldn't last much longer out here. With a deep breath, she marshalled all her strength, leapt to a shorter tree, and managed to get up about halfway. Struggling through the boughs to the other side, she half-glided, half-jumped to another tree, down about twenty feet. She made it, thank heavens. Not a great achievement, but she'd take whatever she could get. Another try, and another success.

  Feeling as if things were improving, she tried a longer glide, and then another. As long as she didn't focus on her weaknesses, she could manage. Grimly she held on and made a dozen good glides that were actually more jump than glide, but they still ate up some serious distance. Slowly Tessa's confidence returned, strengthening both her resolve and her jumps. Maybe she'd make it out of here after all.

  Then the swish of wings met her ears. Was that Cody? Her heart soared, and she almost laughed aloud with joy. Until she abruptly realized the wings came from the direction she'd fled. The enemy had fliers on their search team.

  Oh, no. The white lab coat that had given her great camouflage while she moved over the snowy ground was now a definite handicap. She tossed it onto the snow below the tree, curled deep into the evergreen boughs, and hid.

  Christ, she didn't need this.

  Yet she didn't have any choice. Then it hit her. It was daylight. How and why could a vamp fly in daylight? She'd thought she was the only weirdo in her vampire world, but...maybe she wasn't.

  The beating of the wings drew closer, and then swung over the tree. Keeping her white face hidden, she peeked upward to see not one, but two fliers circling the area high above her.

  They'd notice movement before color, so she stayed low and still. Her position might have kept her from being seen, but it didn't do anything to stop the wind from seeking her out. Shivers brought goose bumps over her arms, and her fingers turned blue. She turned her hand over and peered at it more closely. Well, maybe they weren't exactly blue, but her veins were blue and pumped at an alarming rate. She was so damn cold. Damn her family for not watching over her.

  Immediately, she chastised herself. That wasn't fair. She'd gone to sleep with them close by, and they'd assumed she was safe. She didn't know where the asshole who'd taken her had come from or how he'd managed to sneak her out past everyone. But somehow he had, and that's what counted. As long as the rest of her family hadn't been injured during her kidnapping, then all was good. And David had assured her that everyone was fine.

  She considered her location. Given the altitude, she could only assume she was high in the mountains behind the vampire lair. That she might have been flown halfway around the world wasn't something she even dared to consider.

  Searching the sky to be sure the fliers had disappeared, she made several more jumps. Her awkward, hard landings only highlighted how cold and numb her feet had gotten. Gritting her teeth and noting the clear skies, Tessa jumped again and again. Stopping and starting would be harder, so she kept her body moving.

  The cold wind bit into her face, freezing her delicate skin. The lab coat had offered one more layer against the elements, a thin layer, yes, but one she missed dearly.

  About a half hour later, she stopped to study the changes in the terrain. The tree line had opened up and there were more young growth trees and fewer boulders. Taking that as a good sign, she redoubled her efforts and stayed on the move.

  Several jumps later, three massive boulders, as tall as she was, offered her another place to hide.

  Her landing jarred her ankle bones and made her teeth ache. Groaning, she walked around the tops of the rocks and surveyed the world below. Still no sign of the fliers or of habitation. Not knowing if that was good or bad, she shook her head.

  Her phone rang.

  She pulled it out and read David's text. Where the hell are you?

  She snorted. Like she knew. Texting him back, she explained what she could and couldn't see and said fliers were hunting for her – in daylight.

  His panicked response came quickly, but didn't offer her any solution except to advise her to stay put until dark, when Goran and Cody could begin searching for her. David also told her that if she could give them landmarks of some kind, they'd at least know which direction to go.

  Tessa texted him all the information she could, but warned him she'd be miles away from there by the time darkness fell, because she couldn't afford to stay where she was. By then, all of the vampires would be out – the good and the bad – and she couldn't risk getting caught.

  She tucked her phone back into her pocket and once again gave herself a bracing lecture. Then she took off and jumped down the mountain.

  ***

  Jared woke up in the same damn bed he'd been in before, bolting upright and immediately checking for s
traps holding him down. Thank God. A heavy sigh of relief shuddered free. He wasn't restrained. Two young men stood just past the end of the bed talking. He studied them covertly. One he thought was Tessa's brother. The other, he vaguely remembered. Hadn't he hit that guy with a pole earlier during his failed escape attempt? He wrinkled his forehead, then winced as the motion brought the hammer in his head alive again.

  "Good, you're awake." One of the men walked closer. "Hi. Remember me? I'm David, Tessa's brother. So let's just get a few things clear. We've come to help you, not string you back up. I can see how you might not believe us, but we can't chase you down every time you slip into panic mode."

  "I hardly panicked," Jared said, widening his eyes. "And just because you say you're here to help us, doesn't mean the team is as well."

  The other vampire walked over. "Don't go knocking Dr. Korner. He's a very highly thought of physician in our world."

  "Right." Jared sneered at the other man's frown. "Like that matters to me. Who are you? Another member of Tessa's family?"

  "No. My name's Cody." He motioned toward Jared's bed. "And you're in the same bed again because you ploughed into me and knocked yourself out."

  Oh, no. Jared closed his eyes and groaned. "So that's what I hit."

  "He's a friend of the family," David offered. "He's been looking for you for days."

  "Tessa," Jared said, opening his eyes when he suddenly thought of her. "Any word?"

  "Yes, in fact..." David held up his cell phone, "she's escaped and is traveling down the mountain."

  "Good, she should be back soon then." Jared sat up and shifted to the side of the bed. A weird silence alerted him that something was off. "What? You have sent people to pick her up, haven't you?"

  The two men looked at each other.

  Suspicion formed a cold, hard knot in his stomach. "What aren't you telling me?"

  "Tessa doesn't know where she is. She's only been able to give us vague landmarks. Not enough information to pick her up."

  "What?" Aghast, Jared hopped to his feet. "You must have some idea where to look. She's all alone out there. The vampires are everywhere."

  "We know that, and we're doing all we can." Even Cody looked as if getting those words out of his mouth were difficult. "We have an aerial party going out soon."

  "I would think so." Jared turned toward the voices outside. "What's happening with those people? Anything?"

  David walked over to the doorway, looked out, and then turned back. "They're trying to sort out the computer readings on the individual monitors. It's not like they can disconnect everyone, to see who lives and who dies."

  "No. There's a complex system here."

  Cody nodded. "We came through a computer room on our way down." He pursed his lips. "As we have a couple of hours yet before I have to leave, why don't we go back there and check those computers ourselves and see what we can find?"

  "Sounds like a good idea," David said. "I think a couple of technicians are in there now. You stay here with Jared, Cody. I'll go and ask if we can help."

  ***

  Cody stood aside as David left.

  Jared stood up slowly and followed him to the doorway. He stopped there and peered out after Tessa's brother. Cody studied his reaction. The guy really wasn't happy with his situation. Not that Cody could blame him. He wouldn't like to end up as a human experiment, either. No. What really bugged him, was that this was the guy who had taken Tessa to the movies. As in a date – kinda. What could she possibly see in him? He wasn't a football jock, or a debonair, president-of-the-student-Council kind of guy. No. He was just...normal. Cody shook his head. Females.

  He turned to study the room he and the others had assumed was a patient area, and suddenly remembered the doors he'd checked after Tessa had gone missing. Unable to explain why, he felt compelled to open them all over again. With a quick glance at Jared to make sure the guy was still standing, or leaning rather, against the door he strode to the back of the room and opened the first one.

  The door hid a supply closet of some kind. Just like before, uniforms and bedding in neat stacks filled the shelves along the walls. He turned his attention to the second door in the back left corner.

  That door opened to reveal a small, empty room only large enough for storage. Still, instinct prodded him to step inside for a more in-depth check. Once in the room, he turned around slowly and found yet another door he hadn't been able to see from the open doorway. This wasn't a storage room; it was a small landing.

  Releasing the first door, he opened the second one. Jared called after Cody, asking what he'd found, but Cody ignored him; his gaze riveted on what was right in front of him.

  A stairway.

  ***

  David's phone pealed as he walked toward the computer lab. Reading the text, he changed direction and hurried to where his parents stood in heavy discussion with the others. He cried out, "I just heard from Tessa."

  At Rhia's excited shriek, he held out his cell phone and showed her the text.

  "Still traveling down the mountain," Rhia read aloud, barely holding back a sniffle. "She's all alone out there."

  Serus wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "She's a tough little nut. She'll be fine."

  "Jared's up and moving around, too, Mom."

  Rhia turned at the sound of her name and looked at David blankly for a moment. Then she brightened. "Oh, good. I'm glad he has no lasting damage."

  "He's still weak, though."

  "That's most likely due to the drugs." Rhia frowned. "That's one of things the doctors are trying to sort out right now. Apparently the drug cocktail was individually tailored for each person."

  David deliberately averted his gaze from a young woman suspended in front of him. "I hope the doctors can save them."

  "I do, too," Rhia said softly. "I'd hate to think of Tessa being strung up at a different facility."

  David froze, the color leaching from his face. "Surely they wouldn't. They couldn't!"

  "Why not?" Jared asked bitterly as he walked over to join them. "Because she's a vampire? Well I got news for you, they're not all that picky."

  As if on cue, the entire group spun to look at him.

  Goran marched right up to him. "What do you know about that?"

  "Not much," Jared shrugged. "I never thought you vampires had any blood to give. But the techs mentioned some other elements they needed to isolate for something they were doing and said the best source was vampires – preferably, old ones," he added with a raised eyebrow. "Whatever that means to you."

  "Old ones? Or ancient ones?" Serus's voice dropped to a deadly overtone of stealthy intent.

  Jared retreated a step, then stiffened. Anger washed over his features. David had to admire his gutsiness. His dad had been known to send men running from the room.

  "I don't know," Jared snapped.

  Goran and Serus exchanged grim looks, and David could only guess that with this news, the threat against them had moved to a whole new level.

  Human victims were one thing. Vampires were another. A game changing scenario. They'd seen Darren, Moltere, but had thought those two had been targeted. Not widespread harvesting.

  "Mom, I'm going to check with the computer techs to see if there's anything I can do. I'm feeling pretty useless at the moment."

  "Don't bother." Ian walked up to him. "I just checked with them. We're not even allowed in the room. Like we're punk ass kids and don't know anything."

  David grinned at the disgust in his friend's voice. Ian was a computer whizz. The techs should make good use of him. "Guess they don't want us learning more than they do."

  Rhia smiled gently. "I'm sure they know what they are doing."

  "Yeah, probably."

  David studied Jared's face. Disgust and disbelief shone from his eyes. Jared didn't believe in the team at all. David considered their conversation, then turned to stare in the direction of the computer lab. Alone inside that room, the techs could do anything they wanted to wi
th the information they'd found – including hiding or deleting information they didn't want accessed. Of course, that would only happen if they were the bad guys. He trusted the vampires he knew, but hadn't recognized any of the team members and couldn't get that sliver of suspicion out of his mind. Damn it. What was the chance that Jared was correct?

  With a frown, David shook his head. He didn't know what he could do to allay his suspicions. Then he thought about the computer systems he'd seen in other rooms. One had appeared to be a server room. A perfect place to investigate further.

  He sent Ian a message with his eyes and gave a slight nod in the direction of that particular room.