by Dale Mayer
"Shh. Listen," Cody said, walking to the open doorway. "What was that?"
"Huh?" David finally stopped shaking Jewel's shoulder and looked up. "What?"
"I hear footsteps."
"Good." The fire in David's eyes promised retribution. He shot up off the bed. "Let me at them."
"Wait." Cody grabbed him. "We need to know who it is first."
David refused to listen and shrugged off Cody's arm. He slid over to the doorway and waited beside it, a feral look on his face.
Damn it. Cody hoped the visitor wasn't one of their own. Glancing around, he saw Bart had taken refuge behind the blood cleansing machine on the other side of the bed. Even crouching down, he barely fit into the small space. Maybe he could be their secret weapon. Cody took a second look at Bart. Maybe not. Cody wasn't sure how to read him. He was an older vampire, but he didn't appear to be much of a fighter. Maybe he was really old. Then again, so was Cody's father and no one would never catch him hiding away from the action.
David held up a hand in warning. Cody slipped behind the door, eager tension radiating down his limbs. He glanced around. Jewel still lay unconscious on the bed, but her arm dangled off the side. Anyone looking in would immediately notice the lack of tubes in her body. Taking a chance, he stepped out from behind the door and tucked her arm against her side. He raced back to his hiding place and waited.
The footsteps moved down the hall at a consistent clip, then came to a sudden halt.
Cody peered around the edge of the door and met David's worried gaze. Had they given themselves away? Surely not.
The footsteps started up again.
Cody held his breath, flattening tight behind the door. The person stopped just out of sight, computer tablet in their hands and clicked a few keys. Cody figured he or she was probably entering information. He'd seen one of them do that very same thing earlier today.
A soft moan escaped Jewel's mouth.
Cody spun around.
She moaned again. Shit. Now she decided to wake up. Both sounds hung in the air like a baby's breath. Without warning, the technician outside the door appeared in the doorway. Cody recognized the white lab coat he glimpse through the crack behind the door.
"You shouldn't be awake already," a woman's voice said. "No, no, no. We can't have that."
Cody froze. No, it couldn't be.
The visitor approached the bed. A tall female vampire, stunning for her age.
Rhia.
***
Jared approached the cart with apprehension. Why had it been abandoned here? He had no idea where the driver might have gone. Weird. Then again, weird had become almost the new 'normal.' Just look at what had happened over the last few days.
The small white vehicle contained a series of stacked boxes. Jared eyed the writing on the side of the first box. It appeared to be a label stating the carton contained medical supplies.
"Why bring this stuff in through here?" he mumbled to himself.
Then again, the people who ran this place were vampires. Tireless and strong.
He stood with his hands on his hips. Where was the driver? This wasn't exactly a parking spot or a coffee station. As far as he could see, this section of the tunnel appeared to be no different than the others.
So why here?
He didn't know what to do. Riding would be nicer than walking but would the cart make more noise once it started to move? And would that alert anyone he really didn't want to see? Puzzled, he stood at the rear of the small vehicle until he figured out that it could go in either direction. Meaning he didn't know for sure which way it had been heading before it stopped.
Driving it would save energy, and right now, he needed that. So easy. Hopping on, he released the brake, and the cart trundled forward at a slow, steady rate. He wouldn't win any races this way, but at least he'd be rested when he arrived.
Wherever that was.
Jared let the cart putter along mile after mile. He'd yet to see anyone. There'd been no other doors or platforms. Why would someone leave the cart like this? It made no sense.
He chuckled. If only Tessa could see him now. He couldn't wait to see her again. She'd changed. Then again, so had he – hopefully for the better.
The vampire concept was still hard to accept, though. Tessa, his tall, graceful, understated and over brainiac lab partner from two years ago was actually a full-blooded vampire. Or was she? She did walk in the sunshine and she did go to a human school. They were so going to have to sit down and talk when this mess was over.
That last thought made him pause.
What was the chance they'd be embroiled in an all out war instead?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Grim faced, her jaw stiff and unyielding, Tessa forced herself to walk down the row of bodies. She could only function if she didn't look at them too closely. Their nakedness wasn't the issue, although it gave her more info than she wanted to know about human anatomy. And some of the uglier sides of it, too. Weird pools of bloody liquid had seeped in between the layers of plastic, and some of the wrappers contained a yellow liquid that looked way too similar to urine. She shuddered. This was all too gross and heartbreaking to deal with.
"Tessa, stay close."
"I am." She turned her back on the silent witnesses and asked her father, "Where should we start?"
He grinned. "How about where I left your mother?" He led the way to the series of rooms that Tessa vaguely remembered from earlier. As she past one long room filled with empty beds, her face hardened with memories from her last visit. She'd never forget this awful place.
"They should be around here somewhere," Goran said, as he and her father opened a series of doors. Unfortunately, each one opened only to reveal an empty room.
"At least, this is where I thought we left her." Her dad frowned. "Can you get through to David at all?"
Tessa had actually forgotten to try. She pulled out her phone and quickly sent her brother a message, telling him where they were. Damn, her battery was almost dead. "Done."
"Good. Let's keep looking." Leading them in single file, with Goran bringing up the rear, her father continued down the right side of the warehouse.
They found no one. At all.
Her heart sank. "Dad? Where could they be?"
"I have no idea," Goran answered instead of Serus. "But I don't like it."
"Me, either." Tessa turned to study his grim face. Pain had set in, deepening the wrinkles around his mouth. She winced. "You know, we should be able to find something around here for pain, if you want us to look."
"I don't need anything." He glared at her, something akin to horror filling his eyes. "Especially not from here."
She shrugged. "Okay. I wouldn't either." She turned her back on him and eyed two doors up ahead. "I remember this area. Didn't we find Jared somewhere around here?"
"Yes, I think so." Serus walked over to the first door and pushed it open. "It's empty now, too."
"Did you expect anything different?" The cold, sarcastic female voice sliced through the room. "We're not just sitting back drinking coffee."
Tessa pivoted. She didn't recognize the young blonde. Her pale features weren't normal for a vamp. Her nametag read Cathy. "Where is everyone, then?"
"Two of the men are working on the computers, two are working on the machinery, and I'm doing the computer monitor numbers and readings. I'm not sure about the others, but they're around, I can assure you."
Her voice, so smooth and assured, drove Tessa nuts. It had that same haughtiness she'd come to associate with vampire arrogance.
"Good." Serus stepped up beside Tessa. "We'd like to find Rhia. Can you tell us where she is?"
A subtle ripple moved over the young woman's face. She hesitated.
Tessa narrowed her gaze. "Yes?"
"She wasn't feeling well. I think she's gone to lie down. She said something about being a little more worn out than she'd expected to be."
"She wouldn't go lie down. It's not in her nature."
Serus frowned and looked around. "Where is she?"
"I think down at the far end." Cathy motioned to the right. "Do you want me to show you the way?"
"No." Tessa hadn't meant the word to come out so abruptly, but the last thing she wanted was to have this woman go with them. She contemplated trying to take her out right now. The men didn't seem to have the same instinct screaming at them she did. Tessa was sure Cathy wasn't on their side, only she had no concrete proof. "We'll be fine. Thanks. I don't want to pull you away from your work."
"Not a problem. It's not like these people are going anywhere." The woman's tone and smile didn't match.
A chill slid down Tessa's spine. Eager to get away, she walked over to her dad. "Let's go. She needs to get back to work."
"Thanks," Goran said, nodding at Cathy. Then he stepped in line behind Tessa and Serus.
Cathy reached out and snagged Goran's arm. "Wait. Let me look at your shoulder."
"No!" Tessa spun and put herself between them. "He doesn't want any help."
The other woman gave her a look of acute dislike. "He could use a shot. It won't hurt him, it will help heal him."
Tessa raised an eyebrow. All of her instincts screamed for them to get away, and yet Goran hadn't moved. She nudged him toward her father. "He'll be just fine."
"You're making a mistake."
"No, we're not." Walking behind Goran, she glowered at the other woman, who held a hypodermic needle. "Use it on one of those poor people. I'm sure they'd like to be pain free."
"They don't feel anything," Cathy spat.
Talk about creepy...
Keeping a wary eye on the blonde technician, Tessa caught up with the elders. Once they were out of ear shot, she said to Goran, "That needle wasn't going to heal anything. You were liable to end up hanging like the others."
"I wasn't going to accept that shot," Goran protested. "I was being polite when you shoved me away. She was only trying to help."
"Help, my ass. That shot would have done something you didn't want done," Tessa said darkly. "She was up to something. I'm sure she's one of them."
Serus stopped. "If she is, we need to take her out."
"How can we do that?" Goran protested. "All she did was offer me a shot for pain."
"Seriously?" Tessa rolled her eyes. Goran was a smooth ladies man and always went out of his way to woo his next girlfriend. He didn't see women in the same light she did. She knew just how devious and deadly the females of her species could be. "She was trying to whittle down our numbers. Right now, she's warning them we're on our way. Of course, they already know that because of the cameras. Those assholes are hiding around here somewhere, planning to jump us as soon as they can."
Serus shot her a look of concern. "Cameras, needles...when did you become so smart?"
"The cameras were there when we first arrived, remember? They know exactly where we are. I wish we had an idea of how many we're fighting down here." She added, in a snappy, irritated voice, "Cathy's definitely one of them."
"Let's get your mother and your brother and get the hell out of this looney bin." Serus studied the area around them as if trying to determine where to go next.
"If that woman is one of them, then we should go back and incapacitate her." Goran refused to take another step. He stuck out his jaw. "She seems so innocent. She could have blindsided the others."
"Go for it, if you're up to fighting her." Tessa looked at him. "She looked battle ready and had that needle hidden in her pocket. All she needed was to get one of us away from the others."
Serus shook his head at his old friend. "Depends on how badly injured you are, Goran. If she gets the drop on you and jabs you with that needle, then you could be in real trouble. Who knows what's in it?"
"I'm not injured that badly," Goran protested again. "Come on, my ego can't take much more."
"What if she's already managed to hook up with some of her group? Then you're up against how many?" Tessa marched forward. "Every time we split up, we get into trouble. I say we stay together."
"Since when did she get to be boss?" Goran grumped, but there was no heat in his voice.
Tessa grinned. "Since you became injured."
Serus chuckled. "Apparently, she's growing up more vamp than human. All orders and sass."
"Like hell. Besides, this is only a minor wound."
By the time Tessa reached the far side of the bloody building. She felt as if she'd walked miles already. The cool temperature was also getting to her. Just as she had done outside, she wished she had on another layer.
She went to take another step, Serus grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. "Shh."
"What is it?" she whispered. She couldn't see anything. Serus pointed down the line of bodies ahead of them, where someone stood half hidden between the rows. She couldn't tell what the person was doing or if they were working or hiding. She crouched down and peeked below the bodies. Two sets of legs.
Tapping her dad's calf, she motioned for him and Goran to take a look. Both men crouched down beside.
"Think they're waiting for us?" she whispered.
Serus nodded, then glanced over at Goran. Seconds later, with a grim look, Serus motioned for her to stay behind. He and Goran took off in a casual walk toward where the two stood out of sight.
Tessa chewed her bottom lip and waited. She blinked, and was surprised to see both elders already on their way back toward her, with big smiles on both their faces. Surely they couldn't have taken down the vampires that fast. From their smirks, they were obviously very proud of themselves.
Shaking her head, she waited until they reached her. "Please tell me you at least checked their faces to see if they belonged to the original team, or if we need to worry about more people than we originally thought."
Rolling his eyes, Serus grinned. "Yes, they were two of them. Satisfied?"
She smiled reluctantly.
He pointed toward a hallway in front of them, with two closed doors they needed to check. She shuddered. Who knew what might be behind them?
Goran walked over and opened the first one. Nothing.
Then he opened the second door.
***
Cody slammed the door shut behind the new arrival.
"Mom?" David asked hesitantly. "Is that you?"
"Oh." She spun around in shock. "I didn't see you two there. How are you, David? Did you have a good nap? I hope Jewel's still asleep. The poor dear is so tired."
She looked like Rhia, her voice sounded like Rhia, but the words coming out of her mouth...hell, no. No way was that David's mother.
Cody looked sideways at David, who stood with his mouth open and his eyes rounded.
"Mom, are you feeling okay?" David asked. "You aren't acting like yourself."
"Of course I am." She fussed over his clothing, straightening his shirt. "What are you talking about?"
David shook his head slowly. "Who are you, and what did you do with my mother?"
"David..." She frowned. "That isn't funny."
"Ya think?"
Cody studied Rhia's haughty features closely, checking for dilated pupils, marks, anything that would explain her odd behavior. Drugs had to be responsible. With her isolated, maybe now they could get to the bottom of this. Only, she was a formidable opponent, drugged or not, and David wouldn't be able to grapple with her. She might act odd, but she was still his mother.
"Stop it," she said, her exasperated tone showing a slight hint of the old Rhia.
David perked up. "That's better. You almost sound like yourself."
Cody nodded toward where Jewel slept. "What did you give her?"
"Some drugs to help her sleep. She wasn't making any sense. I could only think she was suffering from sheer exhaustion. All that worry is for nothing, you know. Everything is fine here."
"Fine?" Cody asked cautiously. "How is it fine?"
She pivoted so fast, he stepped back. Yeah, she was still a vampire. A dangerous one.
"I don't un
derstand why you're upset," she said. "Jewel and Ian carried on quite a storm, talking about conspiracies and bad guys, blood banks and a whole mess of garbage."
"Blood banks. She thought there was a blood bank here?" David studied his mother carefully. "As in maybe that has something to do with all those bodies out there?"
"Well, of course it does. Obviously, we're going to have to move those poor people."