by Dale Mayer
Tessa smiled, dropped her brother's arm, and fell back to link hers with her father. The other two walked on ahead. "Yeah, I am. Just thinking about having the longest bath ever, followed by several days in bed."
"I understand." He patted her arm. "Sounds good."
"What about Mom?" She couldn't help worrying. The enemy had powerful drugs.
Serus twisted to glance at the stretcher coming behind them. "She'll spend a few days in hospital, until the drugs work their way out of her system. She'll be fine. She just needs time."
"Good." Tessa smiled with relief. "I'm really happy to hear that."
"I know." He squeezed her arm. "Sian is going to stay at the house with you while I'm at the hospital, and Taz works here." They opened the door to the garage. The floor was still down.
Tessa walked straight over to the far wall, waited until everyone was on, and hit the trigger to make it rise. Once on top, they sent the floor down to the ground floor level again for the others. Not that it mattered. They'd been moving people back and forth constantly. Once outside, Tessa was surprised to find it was dark out.
How convenient.
Turning to the others, Tessa caught sight of her mother on the stretcher, and her smile dropped away. The medical team loaded her mother into the ambulance while she stood quietly beside David and Jewel.
Serus walked over to them. "I'm going with her to the hospital." He wrapped her in a hug. "I want to make sure she settles in okay. You go home with David, and Sian will follow you. Get some rest. I'll be there soon."
David hugged Tessa as the ambulance drove off. "Let's go, Tessa. We'll catch a ride with one of the elders."
"Sounds good."
Within minutes, they were on their way down the mountain. In the backseat of the SUV, the warmth of the vehicle and the slow growl of the engine lulled Tessa into a peaceful state. She closed her head back and smiled gently.
It was over. Finally.
She closed her eyes and slept.
Hours later, she woke up and yawned. The vehicle had stopped. The darkness was absolute.
"Thank God," she said. "Are we home?"
She sat up and looked around. The vehicle was empty. Looking out the window, she didn't recognize her location. Where was she? She opened the door and stepped out.
"David?"
No houses were close by. In fact, she didn't see any other vehicles. And there were definitely no other people, either human or vampire.
Circling the SUV, she couldn't stop her confusion and rising panic. Where had everyone gone? Where was her brother? And what about Jewel? Ian? And oh, God – Cody?
"Hello?" She spun around and searched the darkness. "Hello? Where is everyone?"
Tessa wasn't in the wooded area she recognized from either the mansion or the mountain. In fact, she didn't recognize the area at all. The place had no trees, no hills and no mountains.
Where the hell was she?
And why?
Tessa stared at the complete change in terrain…and circumstances. On the horizon, a jet stream slowly dissipated across the sky. A long shudder rippled down her spine. This so shouldn't be happening. She should be back at home with her family and enjoying a well-earned rest. The danger…the nightmare…was over, right?
But it was so not.
She couldn't help it. Trying to fuel her anger to keep her fear submerged, she pinched herself. "Shit." As she glared down at the white, then dark, flushed skin at the point of injury, she realized what a stupid thing it had been to do. But, at least, now she knew. "So, I'm not dreaming this."
She turned around in a slow circle. "Maybe that's a good thing. 'Cause then this would be a nightmare, and I have had enough of those."
And as the morning light crept out from behind a cloud, she realized there were no piles of ashes either. So the others hadn't burned up either. Thankfully!
She ran her hand through her long hair, and then scrubbed her face. She might be awake but she had no idea what the hell had happened. She stopped. Keys? Were they in the vehicle? She ran to the driver's side and opened the door. Leaning in, she checked the ignition. The keys had been removed. That figured. She slid in anyway and dropped the visor, like they did in the movies, hoping to find a spare set, but found nothing. She checked under the seats and around the center console. Again, there were no keys.
So she wasn't going to be driving anywhere. She slid across to the passenger seat and opened the glove box. It was totally empty, not even insurance or registration papers. Hmm. Was the vampires' legal system different to that of humans'? If that was the case, so was their lack of regard for rules and regulations.
A more comprehensive search turned up a coat left behind by one of the others. She snatched it up before slamming the doors shut. There was no food, water, cell phones, or anything else of use. And there was nothing even remotely like a communication system. Some vehicles had onboard computers. If this one did, it had either been removed or hidden, because she couldn't find it. She couldn't even find a cell phone charger in the vehicle, and every vehicle had those in today's world.
The bottom line was she had no way to communicate with anyone.
Still, she'd been here before.
She held up the coat, trying to figure out who the owner was. It was long and black, duh, and way too big for her. She didn't think it could be David's, but maybe it was Ian's. She checked out the pockets. Empty. Inside, under the back collar, was a crest – Cody's family crest. She grinned, almost dancing in place.
Cody's coat. Perfect!
She slipped it on, feeling better already. She couldn't wait to see his face when he saw her in it. He'd always been so particular about this coat and with good reason. It was nice. But for her, it was a connection to her friends and family. And that it was Cody's, well, that just made it even more comforting.
She snuggled deeper in to the coat and leaned against the vehicle. Should she wait around for the others to come back? That was presuming, of course, that they'd just gone for a walk and had left her behind to sleep. And if they had, she just might kill them when they got back. Letting her rest was one thing, but forcing her to wake up alone was a totally different issue. They could at least have left one person to stay with her.
Then there was that nasty suspicion that they hadn't walked away of their own free will.
That scared and puzzled her. Why leave her behind? She doubted anyone who cared enough to take her friends by force would give a damn about letting Tessa catch a few more hours' sleep.
Besides, there were no energy signatures walking in any direction. There were puddles of it outside the vehicles as if they'd been standing around before taking off – and leaving her behind.
Tessa admitted to being confused and, stupidly, hurt. She hadn't been wanted. Like, what was wrong with her? But that thought was just silly. After all, she didn't want to be taken. And, of course, if her friends had been forced to leave, maybe being left behind was a sort of kindness.
Too confused to sort through everything and without enough information to actually comprehend it all anyway, she tried to put the issue away.
She studied the odd terrain. She'd thought the snow-capped mountain had been disturbingly scary at the exit to the blood farm last time, but here there were no trees, no buildings, and no signs of life at all. In fact, there was nothing. It was like a deserted wasteland. And maybe because she felt so exposed, she found herself wanting a place to hide. But there was only the vehicle.
She couldn't ever remember hearing about such a place in school. But then, rogue vampires and blood farms hadn't exactly been part of the school curriculum either.
Her father had always told her that book learning would only help so much; that it was no replacement for real life experience. She gazed up at the blue sky and murmured, "Well, Dad, how do you feel about that now? And what's going on with Mom?"
The sound of her own voice was both soothing and lonely.
Damn. Why didn't she have a cell phone with her? Her father should know by now that she hadn't made it home. It was daylight. They had to be worried about her.
Daylight! She spun around. Of course! The others couldn't stay out like she could. Maybe they'd gone into the trees for cover or flown somewhere else. Sure. That must be what had happened. They hadn't really left her alone. No, they'd only left her to the last because she could stand in the sunshine.
She wondered how far they'd have had to travel to get to safety away from the sun. But why hadn't they stayed in the vehicle? Maybe it had broken down? Run out of gas? She didn't know, but surely any number of things could have gone wrong with it.
If the others were close by, maybe she did have a way to communicate…
She paused. It had only happened that once or twice before when she'd been really tired and really stressed. Still, it was worth a shot. Resolutely, she closed eyes, and called out. Cody.
No answer.
Cody, are you there?
Nothing, no response. What was going on? Her eyes opened. What else did she expect?
He wasn't standing beside her like the last time. Her parents had had trouble communicating across distances, too. And when deep underground, even more problems existed.
Tess…a!
Goosebumps rose all over her body. Had that call been inside her head? Or had he called in some weird whisper? Had it even been him? She spun around. "Cody? Is that you? Where are you?"
There was no answer. Either the call was inside her mind or out.
"Cody?" She walked around the SUV and studied the land with a new eye. Seven people had made a lot of disturbance. She didn't know their driver or the councilman who'd been with them, but her father had trusted them to keep his family safe. Given this blood farm mess, she imagined her father would trust a lot fewer folk now.
The ground was hard, with little bits of grass and brush growing around, but it hadn’t been obviously trampled down. And that didn't make sense. As an afterthought, she bent to look under the vehicle. Nope, no one was there.
Damn it, Cody. Where are you?
On the heels of that question, she swore she could feel eyes on her. She spun around and searched…everywhere. But there wasn't even a cloud in the sky to hide behind. With no trees, or structures, if someone was watching her, then they had to be invisible. And didn't that notion give her the creeps? Still looking around, she couldn't shake off the disturbing feeling that she was being observed.
Tessa looked up at the sun. She had to accept that her friends weren't coming back any time soon. In fact, chances were good they weren’t able to. She had to do something. She'd already done that whole stay-in-one-place thing, and so far that hadn't worked out so well.
But leaving meant possibly going in the wrong direction and, damn it, she was tired of this crap. She bent down and studied the ground. She opened up both her visions, human and vampire, and walked around the area, focusing on where the others had exited the vehicle.
At each open door, there was a long, wide puddle of energy on the ground. She'd initially taken it to have been several people having stood around. But giving it a closer look, she had realized it was most likely from someone having fallen out of the vehicle and crumpled to the ground.
Alarm bells rang in her head. She couldn't think of anything that would have had that effect but drugs. Something else might have gotten one or two of them, but not all of them. And surely not gotten Cody? He'd been in the front seat with the driver and the councilman. But his energy lay snugged to the ground. He'd collapsed and stayed there.
It took a long time, but she finally sorted out the puddles. Mixed into the energy of her friends, she counted three other sets of vampire energies. They'd circled the SUV and had apparently collected everyone else and then taken off.
Yet again she asked – why not her?
Had they assumed she was dead? If they'd gassed the inside of the vehicle and she'd been sleeping, she might have gotten a stronger dose than the others. She might have looked dead to them then. And then there were her weird genetics. Maybe the drugs hadn't affected her as badly as the others. Or maybe she'd been affected much more. If they'd wanted to see if she survived, they'd have taken her with them – or left someone to watch over her. But they hadn't.
Or had they? She'd already had that horrible feeling once before. The very thought of it gave her the heebie-jeebies. She couldn't help but glance over her shoulder.
If they were watching her, what were they looking for? Not nothing – that idea was just stupid.
And the idea of her friends being captives again made her want to puke. Speaking of which, her stomach didn't feel bad at all. She could use some food, but she didn't feel sick or anything. If she'd been drugged, wouldn't the drugs have left her with after effects? On the other hand, she'd been groggy when she'd woken up. She'd taken it to mean she was still sleepy, but it most likely was the lingering effects of the drugs.
A bit of a headache, maybe, but that was all. And a sore arm. She rubbed her upper left arm. There was a redness to it. But it was probably from the way she'd been sleeping.
Tessa tilted her face to the sun and closed her eyes. Which way to go? The energy signatures didn't move from around the vehicle, so the only way her friends could have been taken was up.
Well, she could only go up so high and then she’d have to come back down. Fliers would be able to go a long distance before they'd have to come down. She should have seen the energy signatures if they'd done that. Oh yeah, with so many people flying at once that would show as a huge streak in the sky. But…if they'd left hours ago, it would have dispersed quickly with the winds.
That jet stream when she'd woken up – now where had that been? She spun around and retook her earlier position from when she'd exited the vehicle. She faced the direction and studied the sky with both sets of visions. There. Above and across in a pale, dissipating slash was the energy she'd been looking for.
Without a second thought, she set off.
*.*.*
Cody shifted his sore body and winced. Instinctively, he hunched against the pain ruffling across his wings. Sharp stabs of pain lanced through him, slamming his eyes shut before they had opened too far. "Shit." At least, he thought he had said that, but his voice, rusty and damaged, came out in a small, tinny sound. He shuddered – only that movement was also weak, barely enough to register. He tried to shake his head, but everything appeared to move in slow motion. His head swam with the movement. He groaned softly.
What the hell had happened to him?
"Cody," a softer, raspy female voice whispered beside him. "Is that you?"
His heart leapt; he barely held back the instinct to turn around. Tessa? No. "Jewel?"
"Yes." She coughed softly, as if trying to clear her throat. "What happened, do you know?"
"No idea. Are we alone?" He tried to open his eyes, but they weren't willing to cooperate. He tried to lift a hand to rub his eyes, only to find his hands bound tightly in front of him. "We're tied up?" It finally registered. He shifted upwards, his abs crunching instinctively to lift his shoulders. And couldn't. He fell back down on the floor. "Jesus. I can hardly move."
"Same here. David is still out cold."
He froze. David… Jewel… "Oh shit. Jewel, please tells me that Tessa is here."
A long silence, then she answered in a small voice, "I can't see her. Ian is behind you. He's still asleep too."
"Asleep my ass; he’s unconscious maybe, drugged, yeah, but asleep? So not!" Cody lay there for a moment, trying to process everything. "What about the driver and Councilman Trondjent? Are they here?"
"I don't know. I can't move to see."
"Don't move. It hurts like hell."
"I know." She choked back tears. "Is this never going to end?"
"Yes. It. Will." He bit off the words, temper building. But be damned if they didn’t have to go through yet another round first.
This time, however, give him a little leeway and he'd make sure no one was left to tie him up ever again. He'd kill every last one of those assholes.
Jewel sniffled quietly in the background, and that made him angrier. Tessa had better be here. If she wasn't, he'd kick her ass real good when he found her. And find her he would. He had to. But first they had to get free.
"Jewel, from where you're lying, can you see anything else about where we are?"
"No. Just that we're in a white room. There is a door on the side, but it's closed.
He forced his eyes open. White walls. White floor. White ceiling. His blood ran cold. The goddamn blood farm...
How could this be? They'd driven a long way from that place. He tried to recall the last thing he remembered from the journey. He had checked on Tessa in the back seat to find her sleeping like a baby. He remembered there'd been a problem with the heater. It had started smoking. He didn't remember much after that.
What was the chance the smoke was actually gas?
Anger built up in him like he'd never felt before. He might not be very old himself, but the blood of his ancient line swam through his body, and it smoldered now, ready to flare into life at the first opportunity.
He reined it in for the moment.
"Have you seen anyone?"
"No," she whispered. "But I'm so afraid they'll return any moment."
"Right." He snapped to attention. "Let's take stock. Are you tied up? Hands? Feet? Any injuries I should know about?"
In a slightly stronger voice, she answered, "My hands are tied behind my back. My feet have been bound with something that's too damn tight for comfort. And there's some weird stuff on my eyes…" Her voice broke off then. She took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and continued. "As I can see clearly, I'm hoping that's only minor. David's eyes look as if he's been crying heavily, and there's some dried stuff on the surface of his eyelids. He's also tied up but appears unharmed."
"Good." Cody bent his knees and, in one heavily muscled move, rolled up and onto his knees. He bowed his head, waiting for the fog to dissipate and the pain to ease back. His feet were killing him, but it was nothing compared to his wings. "Someone is going to pay for this."