by Dale Mayer
"I'll go. You stay here and look after your mother." He took off after Goran.
Tessa spun and looked for her mother. Rhia sat on the last bed. Her hair hung lank, and her skin resembled parchment paper rather than the beautiful silky skin Tessa knew.
"Mom?" With David by her side, she approached Rhia warily.
Her mother never moved or acknowledged their presence.
Turning to Jewel, who'd walked up beside David, Tessa asked, "What has happened?"
"We don't know." Jewel shrugged. "When she woke up, she started laughing like crazy and singing for the longest time, then she suddenly went catatonic."
"That another vampire could do something like this to her is criminal." Anger flared in Tessa's gut.
Ian stumbled over to them. "She's probably going through withdrawal from the drugs. They've got some powerful narcotics here. I'm still trying to get my body to work right."
With a frown, Tessa nodded. She forced herself to turn away from her poor mother and looked to see who else was in the room. Bart, now that the danger had past, lay on his bed with his back to them.
"Is he..."
"Sleeping? Most likely." Ian grinned. "He's the funniest darned vamp I've ever met."
"Speaking of people, what happened to Jared?" Jewel stepped around David and met Tessa's eyes. "I've been scared to look out at those bodies, in case he's up there with them."
"I hope not." Tessa gulped and closed her eyes briefly. The acid in her stomach turned sour. "That would be his worst nightmare."
"Isn't it for all of us?" David said. "We argued about someone getting out of that damn tunnel for help, and I still think that's what Jared chose to do. But I can't be sure."
"There should be a mess of people showing up soon. I sent out a major alert before coming down here, and that had to be a couple of hours ago, at least."
David frowned and turned to her. "Human help or vampire help?"
She wrinkled her nose at him. "Everyone I knew on both sides. That way, at least some of those showing up will be on our side."
"Well..." He tilted his head. "Considering who the elders contacted, I don't see how it's possible for you to have called the wrong ones."
"At least humans will help their own people. Our people appear more concerned with keeping this quiet," Jewel muttered, falling silent as David squeezed her close.
"You noticed that, too, did you? She just said both humans and vampires are coming," Jewel said, then appeared to ponder that. "That’s unless they've started a war with each other on their way here."
*.*.*
Jared mopped his brow yet again and settled deeper behind the bush he was using for cover. A large group of young people, or vamps, had stopped their vehicle and gotten out not a dozen feet from him. Their voices talking excitedly over each other made it hard for him to understand anything they were saying.
He took another long, shuddering breath and then froze.
"Hey. Who are you?"
Jared started. A young male stood in front of him. A human. Jared closed his eyes in relief. He struggled to his feet as the rest of the group wandered over and studied him with suspicious gazes.
"Who are you?" another young male asked.
He swallowed. "My name is Jared. I escaped from a holding up the mountain."
"A vampire holding?" the same young man who'd found him asked, his voice rising with excitement. At Jared's nod, he continued, "We were just in a skirmish with a couple of them. There was a hell of a fight before they took off."
"Did you capture any of them?"
"No, two were fliers and they carried their friends away. Several other groups are out here, though, including the cops. They did some serious damage to the vamps and are scouting for more as we speak. They ordered us to return to the city, but we slipped past their guard and came on up." He grinned, smug satisfaction oozing from his tall frame.
Jared brushed the dirt off his jeans and walked down to where the other teens stood. There were four girls and five guys. He recognized a couple of them, but not on a first name basis. "What brought you out here in the first place?"
"We came to help." One of the girls beamed. "There're tons of us out here. Once word got out, everyone came."
"Heard what?" Jared frowned. "I mean, I'm delighted someone got the word out, but..."
"I'm Aaron. My dad is one of the cops handling the main road."
Jared swiped a hand through his hair. "So a rescue is happening. Thank God for that."
"Yeah." Aaron grinned widely. "Man, what's going on is like, really wild. Tessa contacted everyone. There’s been chaos – instant chaos!"
"Tessa, huh?" Jared couldn't stop the grin from cracking his face in two. "She's been wonderful during this whole mess."
"Details. Come on, details!" They all chimed in.
Jared held up his hand. "I'll be happy to fill you in, but first let's make sure this mess is over. I know roughly where the blood farm is. I was hoping to bring help back."
Surprised shouts interrupted all around him. "Blood farm?"
"She was right? Oh, my God!"
"That's terrible."
"A blood farm? For real?"
After that, Jared couldn't get any cooperation until he'd filled them in on the details, but he kept those to a minimum. He tried to keep as many names out of the conversation as possible. Listening to their exclamations and cries was almost gratifying. In spite of his best attempts at humility, his chest swelled with pride. He'd gotten out. He'd escaped. Tessa had brought in a rescue team for him, and he could do the same for her.
When he fell silent, a moment of thick silence arose before one of the girls said in a sad voice, "It's just too horrible to think about. All those people up there. I can't believe it. I don't want to."
"Neither do I. All this was going on behind our backs, and no one knew."
"Jared? Do you realize how lucky you are to be free?"
"Yes. I sure do. If it wasn’t for Tessa bringing in her vampire family and friends, I'd still be in there."
Another long silence fell as the teens digested that.
Aaron coughed. "Wait a minute. Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Did you just say that Tessa – a girl whom I don't know, by the way – is...a vamp?"
"Yes." Jared winced. "She's my friend, and she's part vampire."
"Part?"
"Yeah, I'm not exactly sure how that works. I didn't even know about her vampire heritage before all this mess happened." Jared shrugged. "She's tall and slim and a little different, but she goes to my school, and we hang out a lot."
"Tessa? I know Tessa. She's a vampire? Really?" One of the other males, a redhead with a face full of freckles, stared at him in surprise.
The others had similar stunned expressions. One of the girls who hadn't yet spoken asked, "How can she be a vampire? I thought they couldn't do that whole daylight thing."
"Tessa does." Jared smiled. "She doesn't look like a vampire, either. Not really. But now that she's with her family and doing that whole vampire thing, she might look more like one."
"She doesn't scare you?"
"No. She led a small army to rescue me. After that, while her mother was looking after me, Tessa lay down on one of the beds to rest, and someone kidnapped her."
More exclamations filled the air. "You mean one of her own people grabbed her?"
"Yes. She got away and met up with her father and someone else. They fought off a group of people trying to get back to where I was. I decided to go into a tunnel we found and try to find a way out, while the rest of our group went to find the others and wait for her."
He shrugged. "I had a little trouble, but I made it. I'm just hoping she's okay now. I haven't seen her since I woke up." And honestly, going to find her now was the last thing he wanted to do. The thought of returning to the vampire holding ranked right up there with his worst nightmare. But Tessa needed him.
Aaron nodded
. "That's good enough for me. We need to go and help her."
"I wish I could." Jared ran a tired hand through his hair. "But without a vehicle to get us there, it's going to be tough. I've walked through miles of brush, and am not sure I can find my way back."
"We have two vehicles." Aaron turned and pointed toward a second car Jared only now recognized. "We'll drive you up."
"Now, that's more like it." Jared grinned. "If you're game, I'd like to find the authorities and make sure they get to the right location – not to mention showing them how to get into the damn place. It's full of tricks."
*.*.*
Cody walloped the flier hard across the side of his head. Even as the flier's head knocked back, he slashed out with his talons. Cody jerked back, and the talons caught air except for one sharp scratch. As Cody kicked out, the flier flew at Cody and slammed him into the wall so hard Cody heard a crack. It was so hard it also knocked Cody's breath out. He was only sure the crack had been the wall and not his spine when he sucked in a breath and didn't feel any pain.
Not wasting a second, Cody snapped his fangs forward and bit down on the flier's arm. With a roar, the flier wrenched his arm back, as a thin rivulet of red ran down his it. Cody spat out the bad metallic taste in his mouth.
With an enraged scream, the older flier surged straight at Cody, too fast and too close to miss. Cody saw the victory and blood lust in the flier's eyes.
At the last second, Cody twisted sideways and darted away. His heart thundered so loudly, he couldn't hear his own gasping breaths.
The flier was coming at him again. As adrenaline surged through him, Cody once again jumped to the side. This time, he smashed his fist down on the flier's right wing, catching him just above the shoulder.
The flier howled. A fierce joy sang through Cody.
He had no time to savor the small victory. The flier's face contorted and darkened, and his eyes turned red. He looked more like a demon than a vamp.
Copying Cody's move, he thumped his fist down like a sledgehammer. Cody swerved and the closed knuckles just brushed his bicep.
Without taking a breath, Cody kicked out at the vamp's ribs. Even as the vamp howled again, the older man kicked back. His foot connected with Cody's left wing. A sharp pain seared through Cody's membrane.
While Cody's wing and body reverberated with pain, the flier attacked once more. The assurance of victory lit up his face again. As if he could see it and smell it.
With a sinking sense of horror, Cody knew the flier had centuries of experience Cody couldn't hope to match. The flier had more to lose, too and more to protect. This was his place, his food source, his secret.
All Cody had over him was youth and guile, and maybe that would save his ass if he hadn’t been so exhausted...
The sound of a second set of beating wings gave Cody another spurt of adrenaline. It also slowed down the flier, as he glanced behind him to assess the new threat. Cody twisted back, away from the flier's talons and fangs.
It was father coming to Cody's rescue again.
Cody was so damned glad, even as he hated it that he wasn't the one to take the flier down.
The flier turned to face Goran. Cody watched as his father attacked the other flier with teeth and claws, fueled by anger almost too horrible to look upon. Goran was showing the flier that he was nothing if not protective of his last cub.
And then, the flier kicked out and caught Goran in the ribs. Goran snapped back from the flier, but his face was clenched with pain. And Cody remembered Goran was already injured.
Shit. Cody retreated into one the large ducts that ran the length of the ceiling to catch his breath. He'd never tried maneuvers in such a tight space. His wings hurt. He touched one sore spot, and felt something sticky and wet. He pulled back and saw blood dripping from his hand.
His father grunted, and Cody swung his attention back to the two vamps. Goran was still holding his own at this stage. He was bigger than the flier and as seasoned, maybe more so. But it had been a long day for him and he was already injured.
The two men performed a macabre dance for supremacy; their flapping wings sounding like massive drum beats. Muted grunts and roars filled the air. The sounds mixed and blended with the smell of sweat and blood and... outright fear.
Cody didn't know anymore if his dad or the other vamp was winning. But anguish seared him inside. His dad couldn't last much longer. The flier was fresher and not as badly injured.
They had to find some way to take that guy down. His dad was doing the heavy stuff. Now it was Cody's turn to act – like right now.
Without wasting another second, he let himself plummet down. As if he were lifeless, he dropped like a heavy stone onto the asshole's back. Cody's muscle-packed body added force to the drop, and his own beating wings sent the enemy flier downward. They fell to the floor in a tangle of feathers and limbs.
Goran landed next to them, fatigue etched in every line of his body. He bent over to catch his breath. "Good, Cody. He's down. Pin his wings so he can't get into the air again."
Cody nodded, grabbed the downed man's wings, and pushed them closed against his back. Holding him tight, he caught his breath. Serus arrived, and within minutes, had the bigger vamp secured on the floor. Cody got up slowly and retreated, more tired than he could ever have imagined. That had been close – too damn close. "Dad, is he going to be fine like this?"
"For a little while, yes. He's stronger than the others, though. I don't want to kill him until we get some answers." He smiled up at this son, pride gleaming from his gaze.
His approval stroked the ache in Cody's poor back. Whatever else this mess had been, it had shown Cody what he was capable of doing. Vampires were known for their hunting skills, but centuries of peace hadn't done much to train the young ones. He couldn't help but love the way instinct flowed through him now. Blood pumped through his chest, and even exhaustion couldn't blunt the fierce warrior spirit rising within him after having caught his prey.
"We did it," he crowed jubilantly, pumping his fist in the air.
David smacked him on the back. "Good job. We make a hell of a team."
"Is everyone else okay?" Cody spun around and grinned at his best friend. "Tessa? Your mom? Jewel?"
"Hey...like, don't ask about me. Who cares if I'm fine or not?" The humor in Ian's voice belied his peevish words.
Cody couldn't resist clapping him on the shoulder. "Glad to see you have your wits about you again."
"Hey, what was that for?"
"For being an ass." Jewel grinned at him.
"We're all here at the same time. Is this possible? That we're together?" Tessa stepped forward, but her initial excitement had worn off, leaving her pale and shaky looking.
Cody studied her. She really didn't look so good, except of course she also looked unbelievably good. Then, she had just busted her ass to rally everyone to find Jared, and look what she'd been through since then. Maybe, with just a little bit of luck, this might all be over now, and she could go home and rest.
He lowered his voice. "Tessa? You okay?"
Cody walked over to stand in front of her. Ignoring everyone's surprised looks, he tugged her into his arms and gave her a warm hug. He couldn't help closing his eyes and loving the feel of holding her tight. Shielding her from the others, he whispered against her hair, "Are you going to make it?"
"Yes." Pulling back slightly, she whispered, "I'm fine."
"Hell no, you're not." He studied her bruised looking eyes, the absence of the normal, rosy flush on her cheeks. "But only so much can be done to change that at this point."
"Exactly." Her smile widened, and her gaze brightened. "And I am fine, just really tired."
"With good reason."
He turned to face the group staring at them with curiosity, but kept his arm firmly around her shoulders. Cody didn't understand the need to keep her so close, particularly with everyone watching, but he didn't plan to let go of her
now. He wasn't trying to make a statement or anything; he was only helping a friend. And if he told himself that often enough, he might believe himself. "What's next, people?"
"We have to find Jared," Tessa said.
"Oh, not again." He groaned and closed his eyes. "Are we really back at the very beginning again?"
Tessa pinched him.
Cody glared at her, but tightened his arm around her shoulders and refused to release her. "Hey."
"You deserved that. No, we're not back at the beginning. We've come a hell of a long way. However, you lost Jared. Do you realize I haven't even spoken to him yet? He was unconscious when they kidnapped me, and I haven't seen him since."
Her tone of voice made the hair on the back of Cody's neck stand straight up. If he had anything to say about it, she wouldn't ever see Jared again.
Whoa! Keeping her close was a whole different thing from staking a claim. She was still young, too young for him. Right now, the rest of her family considered him just like an older brother. If they had any idea about the thoughts circling inside his brain, they'd take him out where he stood.
"Is there any way for us to contact Jared?" Serus asked, studying Cody and Tessa.
Tessa rubbed her eyes. "Does he have his cell phone? What about the vamps we just took out? Do they have phones on them? We could use them ourselves, you know. My battery has finally died."
"I told you to save your money and get one of those new ones that never die," David said, poking fun at her.
"Like hell you did? And how good would that have been down here anyway?" she shot back.
"Enough." Serus glowered at them both. "Quit your bickering. When we get out of here, I'll buy you both the latest cell phone."
Tessa brightened. "Yay!"
"You deserve it for what you've been through these last few days."
"We all do," Cody muttered, "but that doesn't help us find Jared."
"More importantly, we need to do something for Mom." David's reminder sobered the group.
"What now, then?" Ian shifted unsteadily. His shakiness reminded Cody just how embattled they all were. His dad had been injured before coming to his rescue, and now he, too, looked ready to drop. They were a long way from the heroic group that had started out on this rescue mission.