by Dale Mayer
The rest of them followed Cody. He'd be damned if he'd waste more time when Tessa and the elders could be having drugs pumped into them for hours on end. Unfortunately, Xana had insisted on staying with Cody.
Motre, David and Stephen were hot on his heels. Cody let his temper simmer. He needed that reckless edge to drive him forward.
He pulled the next door in the hallway open, damn near pulling it off the hinges. The room was empty. Knowing what to look for by now, he searched for other entrances and exits. Nothing. Unless there were secret ones, and there was nothing he could do about that.
He'd need Tessa to find those.
First, he had to find her.
Damn. He wished Xana had gone with the others too. There were far too many lingering looks, strokes on his arms and back, and knowing grins on David's face. Damn her anyway. He didn't want anyone to touch him but Tessa.
He stormed through three more room checks before he realized David was just waiting in the hallway with each one. He came out of the last room and stopped in front of him. Still bordering on simmering anger, he shoved his face into David's. "What's the matter? Can't be bothered to help find your family?"
David's gaze flared, then he said calmly, "I'm doing everything I can to find my family. At the same time, you appear to need to work off some steam."
Cody clenched his jaw and glared at his friend. "Do you know what they could be doing to our families while we're wasting time with all this back-and-forth bullshit?"
He waved his arm in the direction Ian and Jewel's group had disappeared.
"There is strength in numbers. Always before we've been picked off one or two at a time because we became separated from the group. There are more bad guys this time. We need more good guys to combat that," David said. "And no one is more concerned about my family than I am. I know your father could be missing, and for that I'm sorry."
Cody waved his arm again. "My father can take care of himself. I'm really worried about Tessa. She's been through so much. And I don't understand why she wasn't with us."
A mocking sniff came from Xana. He rounded on her and glared. She wiped the look off her face. Damn right.
"If it's the half vamp, half human of Serus's you're talking about," Motre said, "then chances are she's in a lab somewhere."
David's spine locked in place and an anger that Cody could totally relate to came over him. Cody studied Motre, wondering if he had any idea who his companions were.
"Yes, we are talking about that vamp," David enunciated carefully. "She is my sister. And slurs against her won't be tolerated."
Motre's gaze widened in shock. "Really? You're Councilman Serus's boy?"
Cody looked at him, narrow-eyed. "And I'm Councilman Goran's son."
Xana walked over to stand beside him. "What do you know?"
Motre shook his head. "Nothing. I had no idea. Sorry. I've worked for Councilman Bushman for a long time, but have to admit to avoiding the whole political issue as much as possible."
That made sense – kind of.
"You said a lab." David faced him, a muscle twitching in his lower jaw. "Do you know something we don't?"
The big vamp shrugged. "I don't think so. I know lots of people wonder about her genetics. If these assholes are doing genetic research, it makes sense to keep her in a lab somewhere so they can run tests on her."
Cody and David exchanged looks. Did they trust Motre? No. Did they need him? Yes. Had he said anything wrong? No again. But it was the way he'd said it that bothered Cody. Not exactly mockingly, but not neutral either.
He spun around and walked to the first door, tossing back, "Then let's find the damn labs."
They searched steadily for another half-hour. Finally, they came to a stop at the end of the hallway and more double steel doors. Not that Xana searched. She somehow managed to look like it was all too much effort. She did keep up, though.
They'd found nothing so far.
"Why don't we have cell phones, damn it? At least we could tell the others where we're going."
"The others should have been here by now," Motre growled. "Something is wrong."
"True enough," said David, "but remember – we have been moving at a steady pace forward."
"And if they are opening every door as they come to them as well…" Cody glared back the way they'd come. "This is ridiculous."
"But necessary," David reminded him. "We need to coordinate our efforts going forward."
Xana snorted. "And without any way to communicate, how do we do that?"
"I don't know." David glared at her. "There has to be people looking for us." David glared at her.
Cody thought about that. "There'd be a huge outcry if everyone here just disappeared overnight." Then he got it. "Remember what they did to Rhia? The vamps would be turned vampires – turned mentally. Then they would go back to their regular lives."
Silence.
Then Xana gasped, the sound so feminine, so delicate, all three males looked at her.
Cody eyed her in distrust. What was she up to? She looked up at him, those huge eyes so innocent and scared. But was she? Or was it all an act?
He wanted to believe she'd had a good scare though this mess, but that didn't mean it was enough for the cat in her to change her ways.
"That's just so not making me feel better." Motre stared at Cody, anger and disgust in his eyes. "What did they do to Rhia? I saw her leave on a stretcher but never heard the details."
David quickly explained Rhia's changed behavior. "What was really scary was that it happened so fast."
"I was thinking about that," Cody interrupted. "Remember Rhia, Ian, and my dad had been taken captive earlier on. I wonder if they did anything to them then that made her later programming 'take' easier?"
David ran his hand through his hair. "Damn. I hadn't considered that. Did they say anything about being given a needle at the time?"
"Or maybe their drugs are just good," said Xana. "It's not like your mother is the most…stable of all vamps."
David glared at her. Cody quickly stepped in. "I don't remember them saying anything. The drugs did act incredibly fast. And," he shot Xana a scathing look, "Rhia is more stable than any female vamp I know."
Motre turned to the way they'd come. "What's the chance that's the same drugs that were given to me and the others?"
"Maybe. In your case, you're too big for that dose to have affected you that quickly. It might easily have affected some of the others, though."
"Shit," David groaned. "So, what's the chance there's an all-out war going on back there? What if the bulk of them had the programming 'take hold' and they attacked Ian and Jewel?"
"But we spoke with the other two that were waking up like Motre here," Xana said, exasperation in her voice. "They were fine."
"But they were big. Huge, like him." David motioned to Motre. "Their programming might not have worked in the short time they had the drugs before we unplugged them. The others were much smaller builds. The programming might have taken with them."
"Rhia is small," Cody said. "It wouldn't have taken much for it to work through her system."
"And it didn't." David's face twisted with understanding. "Remember, that was like twenty minutes only."
"And these guys could have been there with the drugs coursing through their bodies potentially for hours," Cody added, disgust lacing his voice. "We have no way of knowing."
"Then there is nothing we can do about it anyway." Xana looked down the hallway in the direction they'd been already. "This is silly."
"Hours would mean all but the biggest of them had enough time to be turned. Even worse – they could have the programming cemented in permanently." David stared at the ceiling. "That means Jewel and Ian walked into a war totally unaware and very outmatched."
"Except for my buddies," Motre pointed out. "They're big and very capable."
"Against what? Fifteen other people?" David shook his head.
Motre tilted his head. "I'd b
et on them even then. They're trained guards. They aren't that easy to take out."
"Sure, but they aren't looking at the others as the enemy. They'd be totally unprepared for an attack."
"Damn it." Cody stared at the way they'd come. "It seems like one step forward and several steps back." He turned and pounded a fist into the wall. "So not good. I want to make sure Tessa is safe."
"Tessa again." Xana threw her hands up in the air. "She's likely already drugged."
"We don't even know if she's here," Motre snapped, heading back the way they'd come. "She might've been killed on the spot. Had you considered that?"
Something deep inside Cody went cold. He stared at Motre, a bloodlust stirring. Xana's comment was nothing more than he expected from her. But Motre…
"There's no way she's dead."
Motre turned but continued to walk backwards. "What do you have, some kind of special connection to her?" He laughed. The sound joining Xana's cool amusement. "I doubt it. Not many vamps achieve that kind of oneness even after centuries of being together." He turned away, dismissing Cody. "And never some youngster like you."
Xana snickered and followed Motre.
Motre wasn't saying anything wrong, but Motre was wrong. He and Tessa did have some kind of connection. He didn't know what it was or how strong it could become, but they did. He stared at Motre's back. Now Xana was flirting with Motre. Good. Maybe she'd keep her claws off him.
David murmured in a low voice, "Ignore him. Ignore them both."
Cody shrugged, trying to shake off the taint. "They don't bother me." A lie, but still… "He's wrong. I'd know if she were dead," Cody said baldly. "I don't know why or how I'd know, I just do."
David's gaze locked on Cody's face. His face hard, his gaze delving deep into Cody's soul. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
Cody glared at him. "I don't know what I'm saying."
David wouldn't let it go, his gaze unwavering. Not that Cody could blame him. Not if their situations were reversed.
Cody wouldn't give in to the searching look in his best friend's eyes. He couldn't. He didn't know what to tell him. The situation was a mess. He followed Motre and Xana, picking up the pace. Obviously, they were going back to see what had happened to the others. Damn it to hell anyway.
David kept pace beside him. "Good enough. But when this is over, you'd better have something to say. That's my baby sister."
"When this shit is over, I'd better know what the hell is going on myself," Cody muttered under his breath.
Only David heard him. He sent a sharp look at Cody, then laughed. And laughed some more. "How the mighty have fallen."
Cody glared at David. "So not."
"Yeah?" David grinned. "Wonder what Xana thinks of it."
"Xana?" Cody glanced at David in surprise. "What's she got to do with anything? She broke up with me, remember."
"Yeah, well, she might have another think if you're looking to hook up with the heroine of this big mess." David grinned. "My sister is going to be a hot commodity now."
He laughed – a little too loudly for Cody's comfort. "In fact, you're likely to have a hell of a lot of competition, too."
Cody shot a dark look at David. "Like hell I will."
***
Jared slid along the side of the house toward the front.
"What was that?" His aunt's querulous voice slammed toward him. "Did you hear something?"
"No. Better not have." But as his uncle's voice came closer, Jared knew he was walking to the window to check.
Shit. He didn't dare get caught. He bolted the few feet and jumped over the neighbor's hedge. Thank God there wasn't a fence on the other side of it.
"The bushes are moving, do you think someone was there?"
Jared huddled as low as he could, willing the hedge to stop moving. If his uncle came to check he'd have to book it…and fast.
"You stay here. I'll go take a look," his uncle ordered.
Shit. Jared crawled toward the back of the neighbor's property, careful to avoid touching the bushes. There were a couple of large trees up ahead. He had to get into those before his uncle showed up. He slipped behind the first tree as his uncle rounded the corner of hedge.
"Alice, did you see anything?"
"Nothing yet. You?"
Jared wedged himself between the tree trunk and the hedge running down the side of the property. Please don't let him walk this far down. Please. His uncle was inherently lazy. Jared had to count on him being too lazy to follow through to this extent.
Sure enough, Uncle Dexter kept talking. "If there was anyone here, they are long gone now."
"Well, it's not like you raced outside. You might have caught them if you had," Alice whined. Jared could picture her hanging out the damn window.
"Not likely," his uncle groused. "There probably wasn't anyone here in the first place."
But his voice was getting farther away. He was heading back toward the house.
"Now we'll never know."
His uncle said something in a snarky tone, but Jared had stopped paying attention to their arguing. He was too busy trying to get air back into his lungs as relief washed through him. The rigidity in his shoulders drained and he slumped. He wrapped his arms around his knees and tried to catch his breath. But he didn't dare relax. Giving himself a couple of moments to re-energize, he then snuck out from behind the tree. With one last look toward his old home, he dashed behind the neighbor's house, coming around onto the street again, this time heading away from his uncle's place.
Pulling his hood over his head, he stepped onto the sidewalk and walked away.
Where could he go?
Who could help him? He had to find his father. And if his father was one of the hanging dead, he had to save him.
If that was even possible after all this time.
***
Rhia woke up faster this time. Her brain was still foggy, but clarity snapped in better.
She opened her eyes. Seth sat at her side, working on his laptop.
"What?" she teased. "Am I dying or something? How often do I get to see you these days?"
"Not very often when you're off chasing bad guys through the woods." He frowned at her. "What were you all thinking?"
"That Tessa needed help. Did anyone fill you in?" She struggled to sit up against her pillows, so she could talk easier. Her firstborn was more like her own father. More emotionally distant – critical, even. She'd never doubted the caring bonds between them but had recognized a long time ago that he'd go his own way and wouldn't likely touch base very often.
David was different. Closer to her in personality and very loving. Tessa was like Serus, and neither of them would like hearing that. She smiled. That was okay. Tessa had proven herself these last few days. No one would call her a freak anymore. If they did, there'd be hell to pay for it.
"I had a short update from Sian before I sent her home," Seth said. "She tires easily these days. Probably more than she should."
"She's pregnant. It's goes with the territory."
Seth eyed her carefully. "Does it? And does the fact that her baby has a human father make a difference? Genetics are very important."
"Maybe a little," Rhia admitted. "But being pregnant is enough to wear any woman out."
"And yet you had three." Seth leaned back and asked, "Why was that again?"
Rhia wondered at her son's odd mood. He'd probably been hauled back from whatever intense project he'd been working on. He hated babysitting at the best of times; had fought to get out of looking after Tessa any chance he could. Sitting watch over his mother probably didn't hold much appeal either. She decided to address that problem directly.
"I'm sorry they called you. I'm fine. You don't have to sit there and babysit me."
He brushed her words away. "Not worth answering. I'm glad to see you don't look all that bad. I got the garbled panic button Tessa sent and wasn't sure just what had happened to who."
She laughed. "Tess
a's panic button. That sounds like her. She didn't know who to contact, so she contacted everyone."
"And made an even bigger mess of the scenario," he muttered. "Now, how are we going to know who is involved and who isn't?"
Rhia closed her eyes, feeling the fatigue wash through her again. "I don't know. I have to trust that we will. I can't go through another war like I already survived. It was bad then. It's liable to be worse now."