by Dale Mayer
Shit.
A communicator. Why hadn't they thought of that? This asshole was probably bringing reinforcements on them right now. Cody slammed into him from behind.
"Oomph."
Both of them tumbled into a heap. Cody struggled to find the device the guy had been using, but the asshole wouldn't just lie there quietly. He rolled and kicked, heaving the much smaller Cody up and off. Cody, his wings pinned safely back in place, slammed to the ground hard. Black spots filled his vision and he could barely take a breath from the last kick. And then the guy jumped him.
"Thought I'd be easy for a flier like you, huh?" The vamp laughed, his fingers squeezing Cody's neck as a coarse, harsh sound echoed through the cavern. "Well, you thought wro—"
Cody's fist connected with the protruding bones of the vamp's throat, sending him backwards. Quickly, Cody rolled over the vamp, pinning him beneath his body. He grabbed for the vulnerable spot on the guy's neck and knocked him out. Yet he didn't release the vamp, holding on to the spot for twice as long as normal. This guy had a neck like a damn hippo.
Groaning, Cody heaved himself up and off the fallen vamp – only to tumble down as the vamp pulled his feet out from under him. What the hell? Cody rolled, just catching a glimpse of something silver. He grabbed for the hand stabbing the spike toward him. Shit.
Gritting his teeth, Cody wrapped his legs around the other man's and rolled again. The vamp fell sideways, his elbow hitting the ground. It was enough. Cody slammed his wrist to the ground, knocking the spike free. He once again grabbed the guy's neck and held on. The vamp sagged. Cody snatched the spike and shoved it into his chest.
The vamp damn near blew up under him.
"Holy crap!" Cody rolled as far away as he could from the disaster happening beside him. The heat of the combustion still fanned his face and scared him shitless. This time was so much worse than the others they'd spiked. Why?
That was so not the end he was looking for.
He scrambled up. Hanging on to the catwalk, he bolted to the far end, then bent over to catch his breath. When there was only cooling ash, he slowly walked back. "What's the chance the communicator survived that?"
The spike was there, but it even appeared to have been affected, twisted and bent slightly. He didn't get it. This guy had been bigger, yes, but surely not enough to account for the higher, hotter conflagration?
What the hell were they doing to the vamps here? Something that powered them up? Or injecting them with combustible chemicals? How wrong was that? Carefully, he kicked through the last of the ash, his boot clinking on something. Excitement rippled through him as he bent and searched. A moment later he pulled out a blackened belt buckle. Hoping the communicator would be metal as well, he went back through the still warm ash with his gloved hand. A lump of something melted together from the heat caught on his glove. He studied it. But it was beyond recognition.
He pocketed it, grabbed the railing with his right hand and, with a last glance around, jumped over the side.
***
Jared wished he could have stayed at Tessa's house. He had no other place to go. He could go back to the home, but he'd always had this gut feeling that it was one step away from a prison. And if they wanted to, the authorities could keep him imprisoned here. He'd never seen any locked doors or signs of anyone else being locked up, but it wasn't a sensation he liked or could shake easily.
And, of course, after his lovely blood farm experience, the paranoia was even worse.
Yet, he'd asked to be taken back up to that damn place. Still, it wouldn't the same. The place was safe now. There were guards, council members, doctors – all there to help those poor people.
And he couldn't stand that his father might be up there. He wouldn't let him stay there. Death had more dignity than being a stuck pig for the rest of your life.
Anger burned bright. It helped keep the fear stomped down. Of course he was afraid. Terrified. But he refused to let that stop him. He had to go. And if there were other missing kids, maybe he could help them, too.
Nervous energy ate at him, making him doubt his ability to carry out his plan. If he could have stayed at Tessa's house it wouldn't have been too bad. But going back to her house gave him time to think…and back out. But that would be cowardly, and Tessa would hear about it through her brother.
Out here in the broad daylight it was easy to forget what that horrible blood farm had been like. But the minute that memory snapped back to his mind, all the same revulsion and despair rolled right back in with it. And made it easy to come up with excuses to not go back.
His stomach churned. He'd thought about getting something to eat, but was afraid he'd toss the contents back up as the trip approached.
And that just pissed him off. In fact, he was a bundle of nerves looking for something to hit. How had his world spun so out of control? He'd lost track of time. How long had it been? A week of his life? Not even. And yet, look how much had changed. And how much had remained the same.
His people still weren't there for him, yet he was going back to the blood farm with a vampire. Talk about things staying the same and yet changing at the same time.
Four weeks ago, he'd never have thought of being around vampires.
Then he hadn't known about Tessa. And he'd do a lot to be around her some more now. And just to be contrary, Sarah, the girl who'd sat on his lap in the car when he'd gone back to help Tessa…well, she was never far from his mind either.
He wandered into a corner grocery store and stopped in front of the granola bars. Tessa always had her pockets stuffed with them. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea. He couldn't eat right now, but in a couple of hours he was liable to be starving. Decision made, he picked up a selection and added a couple of chocolate bars.
Back outside, he ripped open one chocolate bar, tossed the wrapper, and downed the treat in a couple of bites. He still had several hours to waste. He could go to the mall and hang out. But he didn't want to face more questions and explanations. There was a certain comfort in being with people who'd known what he'd gone through. Who didn't look at him oddly. Who had seen and experienced much of what he had.
In short, people who understood.
Decision made, he started back to Tessa's house.
He'd wait there.
***
"Rhia, have you got any idea where Serus may have stashed the computer that Serus recovered from the blood farm?"
Rhia opened her eyes, hating the weakness still paralyzing her limbs and the fog still invading her mind. She hated knowing that her own people had done this to her. And that she was essentially a prisoner while everyone else tracked down her family.
She shifted in her bed and studied her sister. It had to be the tenth time she'd asked a variation of that same question.
"Gittora, I told you no. I wasn't awake when I arrived here and I don't know what he might have done with it. I only have your word that he even had it."
And computers were so not his thing. But if they had taken it from the blood farm, he might have stashed it to keep it safe. And possibly here. But she couldn't look for it with her guard in place.
"Damn, Rhia. We have to find it."
The words sounded right. The tone of voice didn't. Her sister was getting pissed. How interesting. She eyed her carefully. "And why is that?"
Her sister looked up, narrowed her gaze, and frowned. "So we can help, of course. If you want to have an end to this and your family home safe…then we have to do our part."
She stared at her sister. The sister she'd had a love/hate relationship with for centuries. For all they'd forgiven and made up these last years, she could never quite trust her. There was always that sense of something sneaky going on. What if her sister was part of the organization behind the blood farm? And if she was, well, Rosha was even meaner than Gittora. And if they were…
"I doubt Serus took any computer." She smiled, a vague, drugged-looking smile, she hoped. "He knows nothing about them."
&n
bsp; "But David does?" snapped Gittora.
"But David hasn't been to the hospital. Has he?"
Her sister tapped her fingers on the small swing table at the side of Rhia's bed. "No. He hasn't. Damn it."
She spun on her heel and walked to the doorway. "I'm going to make a phone call. Don't try anything."
Rhia's mouth dropped open. Don't try anything? Did her sister really say that?
She'd no sooner gotten the words out of her mouth when Sian walked into the room, a big smile on her face. "Hey, how are you feeling?"
"I've been better." Rhia quickly explained what just happened. "Am I a prisoner, Sian? Are you?"
Sian shot a quick look at the doorway. "I'm not. At least, not yet. We have to get you out of here." Lowering her voice, she added, "And the computer."
Tessa waited. She'd have only seconds to act. In this game of kill or be killed, time was everything.
The other vamp laughed. "You're just a slip of a girl." He puffed out his chest. "Like, what's with that?"
"I've gotten separated from my group," she said in her best feminine voice as she watched his rooster show. Were all male vamps the same? Stupid. Though there was nothing stupid about her brother…or Cody.
He snatched her arm and tugged her forward. "A likely story. Come on, my bosses are going to want to see you."
He walked fast, dragging her along.
She wanted to kill him now, but if the bosses were close by… They were the ones she really wanted.
Timing was everything.
She let him drag her along, her eyes darting from side to side, trying to see everything. If they came upon any more vamps, she'd be outnumbered and in even bigger trouble. But so far, so good. He led her around more stacks of boxes and machinery. Still playing dumb, she asked, "What is this place? Some kind of storeroom?"
He snorted. "So not."
"Oh, I get it. It must be like a train station thingy. In between various warehouses or something."
He glanced to the side to shoot her a disgusted look. "Yes. Of course. Do you see a train here?" He shook his head, muttering, "How friggin' female."
"So then it's part of the supply line for the blood farm," she said coolly, her voice cold and thin.
He came to a dead stop, pivoted, and snapped, "What the fuck do you know about a blood farm?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I know that's what's here and you're moving goods of some kind. What?" she snapped at the look on his face. "Can't I see where my food is coming from?"
He reared back slightly. "Oh, shit. Are you part of that quality control group that was supposed to stop by?" He narrowed his gaze. "No way, you're too young."
She summoned the most arrogant of looks and nodded. "I'm with my father." She wondered who was in the quality control group. If she could find out, they'd have more to go on. And have a chance of stopping this travesty.
His demeanor changed; he shifted from shock, to fear, and then was apologetic. Absolutely fascinating. "Ah, hell. I'm sorry. I saw you there and figured you had to be an escapee." He looked bashful. "I hope I didn't hurt you."
She didn't dare show any weakness. Keeping to the well-known female vamp characteristics, she sneered. "Good thing. I have my own bosses to report to."
"Aw." He kicked his feet out like a little kid. "I'm sorry. Really. It's just things have been kinda crazy these past couple of days. I don't know who is who anymore."
"Then maybe you should explain further and I won't put any mention of this in my report." She slapped her hand impatiently against the inside pocket.
"Report?" His gulp was audible to her ears. Sweat even appeared on his brow. "Oh, please don't. Vamps have died here for less. Please, I'm sorry. I'm happy to tell you anything you want to know."
She gave him a sly smile. "Good. My superiors are very interested in hearing what the hell has been going on here. So far, we're getting mixed information."
He nodded quickly. "That's because we lost some of the supervisors in the recent snafu, and that's caused a bit of reshuffling. Lots are trying to take advantage to climb up the ladder. See, I'm not like that. I like being one of the workers. I don't do politics."
Whether he was here on his own free will or not, he was obviously terrified of anyone finding out he'd done something wrong. The bosses in this place appeared to run it based on fear. And that wasn't good. Everyone was always out to better their lot and, in the vamp world, that usually meant taking out the competition – one way or the other.
"And do we know yet who caused all the chaos?" She desperately tried to keep her tone neutral and professional. When he didn't answer immediately, she pursed her lips and raised her haughty chin to look down at him in that way her aunt always did to her.
Immediately, he opened his mouth. "No. That's the problem. The bosses think someone was sold to us as a way to slip a spy in. Then, once here, called in the forces."
She gulped softly. "Interesting method."
He nodded rapidly. "And it worked."
"But that meant they'd have known about the blood farm first to have even attempted such a thing."
"Exactly." He opened his arms wide. "I've been saying for years that it's better to stay small and exclusive than to get so big that others take notice. But will they listen to me? No!"
She nodded. "I'll put a note of that in the report."
He grinned. "Hey, thanks. Appreciate it." He glanced around furtively, "Come on, I've got something I want to show you." He turned and motioned down the hallway. "Back here is where they do the stuff they don't want anyone to find out."
With that he bolted down the hallway, leaving her no choice but to follow.
***
"We should have found the others by now," David said, his voice tightly controlled. But the muscle running along the side of his jaw said the control was a thin mirage. He was pissed. And worried.
Cody couldn't blame him.
Motre didn't waste time on emotion; he just growled at everything. But a big and older vamp like him…had to have seen a lot in his lifetime.
"Motre, do you remember the last war my father was talking about. With Moltere?"
"Every vampire alive today remembers it. It was relatively minor, but we don't forget things like that. Divided the species pretty good."
"What about the Enforcers? Did you know any of them?" David piped up. "If we could get their help, our numbers would improve."
Cody snickered. "Not if your dad was correct. He said they were most likely to be the main consumers of this blood."
Motre stopped and turned to stare at Cody. He shook his head in a slow movement that made Cody think he was pondering a weighty subject. "Couldn't be. Most were on the blood side last time. But I doubt they'd be there again. We took out a lot of them back then. The others swore allegiance."
David stilled. "To who? Maybe they swore allegiance to this." He waved an arm around the room. "If they are sworn to protect the wrong person, or if their leader got in on this mess and dragged them into it, we couldn't trust them. But if they are on the good side…well, we could use all the help we can get."
Motre turned back to yet another closed door in front of him. "I don't believe they'd be in on this," he said stubbornly. "They're good guys."
David looked at Cody and raised one eyebrow in question.
Cody shook his head. He didn't know what Motre's connection to the Enforcers was, but Motre felt strongly about it. Cody didn't trust anyone anymore. Based on what the ancients said, there couldn't be much good to be found following that pathway. He followed David into the next room. The door slammed behind him and something heavy jumped on his back.
"Shit."
David spun around in front of Cody and cried out, "Jewel. Stop, it's Cody."
Jewel either wasn't listening or didn't believe him, because those claws dug in.
Cody swore, "Shit. Jewel. Stop it." When she didn't release her grip and, even worse, the claws started to cut, Cody began to get pissed. He reached up and g
rabbed Jewel, pulling her down and forward over his shoulder so she tumbled to the ground in front of him.
"Don't hurt her," David cried out, running toward her. He had almost made it when Ian came out of nowhere and jumped David. Cody groaned. "Not this shit again." He used his father's hold on Jewel and put her out, then grabbed Ian from behind and knocked him out the same way. "How do they do that? Our friends are all of a sudden our enemies."
The two looked down at their friends, unconscious on the ground. David crouched over Jewel. "She doesn't look so good. She's been drugged."