by Dale Mayer
"I didn't. You know the technique. She'll come out of it wondering if she fainted. That's all."
"But not the same as she was." He pursed his lips. "You know, I think we need to capture one of those bad guys and convince him to tell us what they did to her."
"Or even better – have him reverse what they did."
Cody curved his mouth in a hard, evil-looking grin and looked at David, and then they both turned to Bart.
He shuddered.
"Bart, you're on babysitting duty. No one comes in or out. Got that?"
The weasel-like, hunted look on the man's face turned Cody's stomach. Bart couldn't be trusted. The damn scaredy cat would run at the first sign of trouble. "Shit. That ain't gonna work, David."
"We don't have a choice. We can't take the women with us, and he doesn't want to get into any confrontations." He pinned Bart to the spot. "Right?"
"Who's going to force him to stay here once we're out of sight?"
A loud gulp slipped out of Bart's thick throat. "I can stay. I'm not a coward. I just don't like fighting. There's nothing wrong with that," he protested. "I'm not strong and healthy like you two. Besides, I don't have anything to prove."
Cody stared at him in disgust. They had no choice but see how Bart would do, though Cody hated leaving the women again. They'd been spending altogether too much time trying to find the members of their group, and now that they'd found two of them, he hated to leave them. But he couldn't let David go to war on his own. So Bart was it. The only security they had. He glared at the older man.
"Fine, but we'll be watching to see how you handle this. If you take off, we will find you."
*.*.*
Jared widened his gaze at the man standing in front of him. Christ, he was huge. The blinding light behind him kept his face in shadow, and Jared couldn't see his expression.
"You're late," he blurted out on instinct.
The stranger scowled. "True enough. The mountain road is a mess. I had to come in the back way."
Jared frowned. "A mess, how?"
The big man snorted. "You guys haven't heard the news, then. Geez, it's like a bloody war zone out there. Someone pushed a panic button. The company sent members to straighten out the mess. A small army of local humans is coming, and authorities on both sides are involved. It's chaos out there. I took one look and came in a different way. The others may or may not come. Things were getting rough."
Jared snorted, too, trying to keep up the act. "So, take them out."
There was the sound of grim laughter. "We may have to yet. Only I'm not talking about a couple of people warring out there. I'd say there are close to fifty, if not twice that. And someone brought guns to the party. Won't bother me any, but we need a bigger security force. Anyway, let me through. I have to give the company an update. They'll need to call in the army."
Jared stepped aside, and let the guy pass.
Still operating on instinct, Jared picked up the two inch pipe leaning against one of the boxes and swung it like he wished he could have done in little league.
The big man went down without a whimper.
Trembling, Jared dropped the makeshift bat. Christ, he hoped he hadn't killed the guy. Bending over, he checked for a pulse, sighing with relief when he found one. Walking to the open doorway, he glanced out. More tunnel, more carts. Where was the exit?
Walking back to the downed man, he considered his options. He couldn't let the guy wake up and spill his information to the company. The last thing the humans needed was an army of vampires on the defensive.
Grabbing the stranger by the ankles, Jared dragged him over to the side. Breathing hard from the exertion, he then snatched up a tape gun and wrapped the man's wrists and ankles together securely. Wouldn't hold him forever, but maybe long enough for Jared to escape. Next, he taped the guy's mouth shut. Looking around, he shifted several boxes to cover up the big man's presence on the floor. With him behind cover and subdued, Jared stood in the middle of the room and reassessed the situation. He wasn't sure how to keep the brute from escaping when he woke up. Jared had no way to keep him secured. He'd done everything he could. Time was now his biggest enemy.
Heading back to the open door, he checked the new tunnel. It was deserted, and moisture pooled under the cart parked out front. That told Jared where the man had been. Grateful to be pointed in the right direction, he headed off toward the outside world. And for the first time in days, he wanted to smile.
"Who did you contact, Tessa?" Her father stared at her, his bottom jaw quivering with tension.
"Everyone," she replied defiantly. She'd known her decision wouldn't be popular. She'd jumped over their heads and ignored their authority – and they were the elders, after all. Still, someone had needed to do something. "We are well past the point of trusting the vampires here, and in my opinion, the more the merrier. Only humans know what's best for these poor people. So I emailed Taz, too."
Goran roared, muting his voice only on seeing Serus's hard look. "And you might have started another blood bath."
"Then I'm sorry, but we can't live in the past. So far, we haven't done anything for these people. We've only brought in more of the enemy to fight against us." Stiff-backed, she faced them both down. Hating their criticism, yet knowing she deserved some of it, she accepted it. But that still left the fact that someone had to do something.
She didn't want to alienate them, but her frustration grew until, suddenly overwhelmed, the valve holding the emotions in check suddenly blew.
"I had to do something," she shouted, throwing up her hands. "We're past the point of keeping this 'our' little secret. Our people need us." She glanced at the three people in the beds behind her. "And those poor humans," she continued, nodding toward the ghastly vision, "need their own people. We aren't covering this up."
"Not now, we aren't. Don't you think you could have discussed this with us first?" Serus's temper added an abrasive edge to his voice that made her want to her run away.
Tessa had spent her entire life obeying that tone of voice, but not this time. She straightened and stuck out her chin, trying her best to remember the generational gap. "When? When I was struggling to escape? When I was trying to make my way down the mountain? When they attacked us up top, or perhaps when they attacked us on our way down? You two like to talk. I like to act."
Her father remained silent.
Her spine vibrated with tension. This was too important for her to back down. She'd tried that route, and she hadn't liked it much. "Speaking of which, is Ian going to wake up anytime soon? Or are we going to leave him here and come back later – hoping they don't move him in the meantime and we lose him again?"
"I don't know." Stiff-necked, Serus glared at her. "What do you think we should do, Miss Genie-with-all-the-answers?"
"I think we should try to wake him." She tossed her long hair in a move that even she knew was a mannerism similar to one her mother would have made. "We need every available person on our side."
Walking closer to Ian, she reached down and smacked him hard on the cheek. Her frustration caused her to use more force than she had intended, and she immediately felt remorse.
Then he groaned.
She hit him a second time.
His eyelids fluttered open. "Whaa...at–"
"Hey. It's Tessa. Wakey up time! Enough of sleeping for you." She grabbed his shoulder and shook it to keep him from closing his eyes again. "Come on, Ian. Wake up."
"Okay, okay. Jesus." He struggled to sit up, but his left arm crumpled and he fell back against the pillows.
Merciless, Tessa smacked him again, this time on the shoulder. "You need to get up. Now. You have to walk off the drugs."
"Drugs?" His flat black eyes drilled into hers. "What do you–"
"You were taken prisoner, drugged, and hooked up to one of their damn machines."
"Jesus." Ian rolled his gaze toward the machine, and his eyes widened as her word
s registered. He bolted from the bed, swaying unsteadily as he scampered to lean weakly against the far wall. "So...they got me? They were going to hang me up?" Looking for answers, he swept his terrified gaze from Tessa to Serus to Goran.
Tessa shrugged. "I don't know what they were going to do. I just know we found you before they could do anything else."
"Who are they?" He stared at the people still in bed. "Where's Jewel? I was with her. What happened to her?"
"I don't know." Tessa frowned and shook her head. "We haven't found her yet."
He stiffened and turned to face the elders. "What about the others? Have you found any of them?"
"Not yet." Serus shook his head. "We found you first."
"Let's go, then." Ian stumbled to the door and out into the warehouse. His face turned green at the sight of the people hanging. "Which direction?"
"Left. We're moving left."
He lurched for several steps.
Tessa winced. They wouldn't be able to sneak up on anyone with him around. "Maybe you should wait here with the others until we come back."
"No." His eyes widened in revulsion. "We go as a group, or not at all. I may never close my eyes again."
"You and me both." She understood. "All right. Let's go find the others."
He took several more staggering steps before her father stepped up, slipped beneath Ian's arm, and wrapped his arm around Ian's waist. "Come on, son. We'll give your body time to acclimatize as the drugs leave your system."
"Thanks," Ian muttered. "Hate to think about what sort of shit they shoved into my arm."
"The same shit they shoved into everyone else's arms," Goran muttered, bringing up the rear. "What, do you think you're special?"
He might be crusty and in pain, but he was still strong, and Tessa had to admire Goran's perseverance. Even injured, he kept on coming – regardless.
Ian twisted his head to glare at Goren, and his gaze fell on the man's shoulder injury "What happened? Did someone attack you?"
"No." Goran's testy voice crackled, echoing in the huge space. "They got in my way."
Tessa kept her grin to herself. "We should have company soon. Let's see if we can put a stop to this war before it escalates."
"War." Her father narrowed his gaze at her. "Do you think anything we're doing in here right now is going to affect the war? This is only a small setback for these people. The war is so much bigger than you can imagine."
"Then it's good more people know about it." Tessa refused to back down. "It's about democracy and upholding our Council. This can't be shoved back under the rug while these guys go underground for another fifty years and become even stronger. This has to be crushed now."
"You're still in school. Just a kid." Goran snapped at her. "You don't know how hard that will be."
"No, I don't. But I know a hell of a lot more now than I did a week ago." She halted. "Wait. Do you hear that?"
The small party stilled, listening.
"I can't hear anything," Serus said.
"It’s singing. I thought I heard someone singing." At the weird sidelong looks she received, Tessa actually wondered if maybe she'd only imagined the sound. "Okay, so maybe I was wrong."
Goran shook his head.
Tessa took another step and heard it again. "It's coming from up there."
She quickened her pace, and the singing stopped. Warily, she approached the next open doorway, her dad at her side.
"Mom? Jewel? Oh, my goodness." Tessa ran inside. "Are you okay?"
Serus rushed to Rhia's side. Tessa stopped and studied her mother. The woman in the bed looked like her mother, but... Rhia smiled, then continued to sing aloud, oblivious to the crowd crushing through the doorway.
Jewel sat against the head of the bed and grimaced. "Please make her shut up. She's been like this for the last half hour. I asked Bart to silence her, but he stuffed some earplugs in his ears and went to sleep." She pointed toward a bed on the far side of the room.
Tessa shook her head at the old rotund vampire snoring heavily on top of the blankets on the spare bed. "Who's he?"
"Apparently, Cody and David left him in charge." The disgust in Jewel's voice was evident as she stared at Bart. "Can you believe it? Just wait until they get back."
"Cody's all right?" Goran's husky voice, thick with emotion, interrupted her.
Surprised, Jewel focused on the elders. "Apparently, they both are. I vaguely remember seeing them, but the drugs were still affecting my mind. According to Bart, the two of them took off to go hunt bad guys. Rhia is still under the influence of some kind of weird drug. She won't shut up. She just kept talking and talking." Jewel rolled her eyes. "Then she started singing."
Serus shook Rhia's shoulder, but she wouldn't stop singing.
Tessa walked over to her mother, rested a hand on her shoulder, and shook it gently. "Mom? It's Tessa."
Rhia stopped singing and turned to look at her, a silly smile on her face. "Hi. Have you taken care of those intruders yet? They're causing us some trouble."
"Rhia, honey," he said, sitting on the bed beside her. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" She frowned and shifted her gaze from him to Tessa.
Tessa studied the ties keeping her mother secured to her bed. "Did David do this?"
"What?" Rhia looked at Tessa struggling to undo the straps. "Oh, yes. He did – he said something about it being for my own good."
As the straps dropped away, she rubbed her sore arms. "Thank you, dear."
Then she smiled. A smile so bright and empty, Tessa's stomach sank, and she couldn't stop herself from backing away. Serus shifted his gaze from his wife to his daughter.
"What's wrong with her?" He stared down at Rhia's face. "Rhia? Are you feeling okay?"
"Of course I am." She sat up and stretched her arms high above her head. "I'm Rhia." She beamed at him with that same empty look. "What's your name?"
Tessa and her father stared at each other in shock.
"Do you not know who I am?" he asked, worry accenting the fatigue on his face.
Goran and Ian hobbled closer.
"How about us?" Goran asked. "Do you know us?"
Rhia stared at Goran, and a heavy frown creased her forehead. Then she switched her gaze to Ian, and her eyes widened.
"Traitor!" she shrieked. "You're one of them."
She flew off the bed and attacked Ian. Standing close beside him, Goran stumbled backward.
Serus snagged Rhia up in his arms. "Stop that. Don't hurt him. He's been hurt enough."
She shrieked and fought like a madwoman. Tessa stepped away in fear and anger as the woman who looked like her mother fought with her father. And unfortunately, she was winning.
Tessa's dad didn't want to hurt her.
Shit. Tessa stepped up and pressed down hard on her mother's neck in the same knockout hold her dad had taught her a long time ago. Rhia collapsed in Serus's arms without making a sound.
"Damn it." Serus stared at his daughter, and then at his wife, horror rippling across his features. His eyes turned black with disbelief. "What did you do?"
"You know what I did. You're the one who taught me." Exasperated, Tessa pointed at the bed her mother had just left. "Lay her back down. We can't have her screaming like that."
"Hey, there! What's all this ruckus about?" Bart blinked at Tessa and yawned. He turned to stare at Rhia. "Her again, huh? Well, at least she's out now. Can that woman squawk, or what?" He rolled over again as if to fall asleep again.
"Hey. Don't go back to sleep. Where did David and Cody go?"
"They're hunting for the other team members." Bart twisted around and met her eyes. "Don't know how long they've been gone." He closed his eyes and settled back down.
"Don't worry about him. He's harmless." Jewel shifted on her bed and stood up carefully. "I was ready to walk out of here and find David myself, but I'm still not all that steady on my
feet. And I didn't want to leave Rhia alone."
"No." Goran shook his head. "She shouldn't be left alone. I don't know what they've done to her, but...it isn't good."
"Come on, Goran. We need to find the others." Tessa led the way back to the doorway. "Dad?"
Keeping silent, Serus stared down at his wife.
"Serus?" Goran said.
"What did they do to her?" He lifted his head and stared at the others.
Tessa winced at the broken look on his face. "Dad, we'll figure it out. But first we need to find David and Cody. Bart and Jewel will watch over her."
He nodded but couldn't tear his gaze away from his unconscious wife.
Goran stood at the open doorway. "Serus, let's go. We can't help her right now."
"Ian, why don't you stay here with the others. Regain your strength and be here just in case…" Tessa walked back to lay a hand on his shoulder. "Mom will be fine a little longer. Lock the door behind us."
She glanced over at Ian and Jewel, relieved when they both nodded.
"We'll mark the door so we can find you again, and we'll be back real quick," she said. "With any luck, the boys will be back here before we are." Turning to Ian, she added, "Don't let anyone leave. Do you understand? We're coming straight back."
"Go. We'll be fine." He lay down and struggled to get comfortable in one of the empty beds.
Goran tugged on Serus's arm and pulled him away from Rhia. Tessa walked over and snagged his other arm.
"Come on, Dad." She let go of him as they reached the door. "Time to find the assholes who did this to Mom."
That did it. Fire blazed in his eyes, and he strode out past both of them to lead the way.
*.*.*
Jared walked toward a light shining up ahead. He seemed to have been putting one foot in front of the other for miles. He couldn't image what time of day it might be, having been underground for days, or maybe even weeks. Why hadn't he asked what day it was, anyway? For all he knew, he'd been held prisoner for months. No, surely not. Tessa had gone looking for him right away. It had only been days, then.