by Dale Mayer
"Damn right. Hey. I can see you. How did you do that?" Surprised consternation colored her voice.
Cody glanced around at her and grinned as she imitated his movements and ended up kneeling too. Jewel was nothing if not competitive.
The grin fell off his face. He pivoted. His head swiveled. "Where's Tessa?"
Jewel gasped. "She's not here. Neither is our driver or the councilman."
"Oh no, not again," Cody groaned softly. Damn that girl anyway. She could get into more trouble than anyone else he knew. But under his irritation was a growing fear. There had to be a reason why Tessa had been separated from them.
"I wonder if they've hung the councilman up." Jewel's voice had dropped to an almost inaudible tone. "Like Moltere."
"I hope not. We have to keep in mind we have no idea which of the council members are on which side. Maybe Trondjent is one of the bad guys. That would help explain how we ended up here." He glared at the closed door in front of them. "We need to get the hell out of here." Those assholes had taken Tessa somewhere and he had to find her. And fast.
"Any suggestions?"
With a move learned at soccer practice a long time ago, Cody jumped up onto his feet. Now he could look down at the bindings on his feet. Knotted rope – not a heavy gauge, but tight enough to make it impossible to get his feet out. At a sudden movement behind him, he twisted around enough to see Jewel on her feet as well. She hopped toward him.
"My hands aren't very tight. Do you think you can undo them? I can't see them, but you can." She took several more jumps around David until she was in front of him. With little shuffling steps, she turned her back to him.
Reaching out, Cody tugged on her bindings. They were only closed with several half hitches at the end. Wiggling and twisting them, he managed to unloop first one, and then another. Before he had a chance to work on the third, Jewel had wiggled her hands loose.
"Now we're getting somewhere," he whispered savagely. "See if you can undo the bindings on your feet."
While she sat back down and went to work on them, Cody used his teeth on his own hands. His arms were loose in minutes. He joined Jewel on the floor and had pulled off the rope binding his feet by the time she was done herself.
"Good. Let's get the others untied. I want them awake and pissed."
Jewel ran to David while Cody started on Ian's bindings.
When Ian's arms fell back as they were released from the ties, he groaned. Cody slapped his hand over Ian's mouth to keep him quiet. Ian's eyes flashed open. Black and confused, his gaze landed on Cody before relaxing. Bending lower, Cody quickly explained. Fury lit Ian's gaze and his nostrils flared. "Untie me," he snapped.
"Almost done; hold on."
By the time he had helped Ian to his feet and turned to face Jewel, David was sitting up and untying his own feet.
"David, you okay?"
"I'm not going to be okay until I get my sister back and these assholes are dead," he snapped. "There is nothing else in my future but to make sure this stops happening." In a short, jerky movement, he threw the bindings from his legs to the far side of the room and hopped to his feet. "Let's go. There are some vamps to kill."
He strode to the door and turned, his body vibrating with tension.
Cody knew how he felt; at the same time, he knew Jewel was a different animal altogether.
He motioned to where Jewel stood – slightly off to one side, her shoulders drooping and her eyes downcast. She'd been a trooper, but she'd been exhausted even before this last mess. He didn't know how long they'd been unconscious, but it felt like months to him. And he'd woken up pissed…unlike her. She'd woken up plain scared. Anger was feeding his energy. Fear had drained hers.
David glowered at him, not getting it.
Cody rolled his eyes and motioned again. David switched his gaze from Cody to Jewel and back again. Then he caught it. He strode the few steps to stand in front of Jewel. He enfolded her in his arms and tucked her in close. He blocked her from the other two and whispered in her ear.
Cody watched as Jewel wrapped her arms tightly around David and burrowed deeper.
Did David understand how lucky he was? Not only did he have someone he cared about and that same caring was returned, but his relationship was open now. They didn't have to hide how they felt about each other. They could be together. It was a huge gift for them both.
It was something he didn't think he could have with Tessa. He doubted anyone would think it was okay. Not her father or her mother, and although David might be okay with his best friend being together with his kid sister, none of their peers would be. Tessa was young. Not super young, but a year or two younger than was comfortable. But that problem would resolve itself with time as she matured.
Still, he knew of no other comparable female. She'd become something he couldn't have imagined. He used to call her Tessy, and now he wouldn't dare.
Feeling foolish, but desperate for answers, he mentally reached out. Tessa? Are you there?
There was nothing in response.
Well, what did he expect? They could be separated by miles of steel and mountain.
He wanted her to be with him so bad and to know that she was safe and at his side. To spend time, real time, just the two of them – alone – together to find out if she felt the same way he did. Or was he destined to always stand on the outside of her world?
He'd hate that.
He knew the feelings had hit fast. Too fast, his father would say. But it had happened. Sure, maybe in another week he'd come to his senses and realize how foolish this relationship idea was…but not likely. This felt too real to be anything but right.
That didn't change the fact that they couldn't have a relationship like he wanted right now. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with her and, given her age and innocence, that was likely to send her screaming in the opposite direction. But he hoped not. And if David or Serus had any idea what was going through his head, they'd probably string him up in that damn warehouse themselves.
Damn him for being an idiot; a lovesick idiot. He shuddered. That "love" word again. That was just freaky. He hadn’t planned to fall in love for a long time, not until he'd sown a lot of wild oats and checked out a lot of options. Although there weren't tons of available women in the vamp population, the ones that were…were really available.
And he couldn't think of any he wanted like he wanted Tessa.
Damn him for being such a fool.
"Yo, Cody. Are you there?"
Cody blinked. Ian grinned at him. "Hey, Casanova, do you want us to leave you here to ponder the big issues in your life while we go hunting?"
Cody narrowed his eyes at his friend, shot David – whose grin said he knew exactly what Cody had been thinking about, but maybe not with whom – a dirty look. He strode to the door and flung it open. "Let's go kick some vamp ass."
*.*.*
The sounds of the busy clinic faded into background noise as Serus stared down at his wife. Anger still vibrated at the thought of his own people drugging and trying to reprogram her mind. It had been a long time since he'd had to deal with threats to his family. Now it all came rushing back. He'd survived any number of wars and, as time had passed peacefully, he'd become more complacent with every year that had passed. He'd settled down, had kids, and turned into a softie. Well, enough of that. In his day, he'd commanded many warriors.
And he could do so again.
In fact, he was itching to do just that.
"She's going to be fine, Serus," Goran placed a strong hand on his shoulder and gave it a light shake. "Let her rest. The doctors are running their tests, and you know that will take time."
"I know. But she's been out for hours, almost for the full night. It just angers me that we're back to the same damn place we thought to have left a long time ago. Why is this all happening again? It was one thing that Rhia and I were fighting back then. Now the kids are involved. They are fighting ou
r war. It's like we didn't do the job properly the first time and our kids are forced to clean up our messes," he growled. "I won't be able to live with myself if we lose any of our own."
Goran shook his head. "I doubt the kids would agree with you. And remember, we'd assumed we'd put an end to this a long time ago. Instead it just went underground. I want to know who is behind this mess. When I thought it was Moltere, I had an enemy to focus on. Now it's like anyone and everyone is our enemy and that, well – to use the kids' term – sucks.
Serus smiled at that. "When I saw Moltere hanging there as the product of his own creation, I couldn't help but think he got what he deserved. Talk about justice."
"True enough, but I still wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Better to take him out to the sunlight and kill him off, it’s cleaner that way. This 'hanging around for eternity' stuff…so not my thing."
"It has to be one of his cohorts to have gotten that close to him. Moltere was always a cagey bastard."
"And no one else would know about the blood farm or get away with hanging him up."
"But why hang him up? Was it as an example to the others? It's not like he has any useable blood."
"He must have something they want, but what?" Goran held out his open hands questioningly.
"One of the kids said something about creating vampires and needing the blood of the ancients to do experiments with. Moltere is an ancient. So maybe it's his blood that is turning out these new vamps. They aren't bad for a first copy, but nowhere near as good as real ones."
"And what's the point of creating more stupid vampires? Don't we have enough already?" Goran said with a small smile. "At least they should improve the model."
"Actually," Serus said quietly, "I think that's what the plan is. Imagine if they have your blood, my blood, Moltere's blood, and any number of others’ blood with different genetic abilities, and now pull them all together into one vamp. We'd have that whole super vamp concept again."
"That wasn't Moltere's thing. He wasn't into experiments. He was into controlling the human population as a long-term feeding ground."
"But this isn't Moltere anymore. Moltere might have done all the hard work getting this organization set up and profitable but, with the infrastructure in place, any number of other, more devious plans, can be carried out. The labs, the DNA testing, the blood cleansing, the hospital facilities – they’re all perfect for that super race bullshit again."
"And who the hell would want that crap? We're perfect just the way we are." The disgust in Goran's tone made Serus grin at his old friend. Goran's ego had always been healthy.
"Cody proved himself out there these last few days."
Goran puffed up with pride. "Damn right. He's a good kid."
"He is that. All the kids did well but too bad about Jacob."
"Damn traitor," Goran said, anger spiking his voice.
"And we need to find out who Jacob hung out with. Start tracking these bastards back to the source. We have several of the top henchmen in custody, but…I doubt they'll talk. Being long lived, they know they'll get found out and taken out eventually."
"I want a few minutes with that damn flier Cody was doing battle with. He's the one that's going to know something. Those guys were supposed to be taken to the council lockup for questioning."
Serus turned to him. "You didn't recognize him, did you?"
Goran shook his head. "No, and that's not good. I swore I knew every flier out there. So that's where I'm heading next."
"As I said, it's a whole new game now."
Goran's face hardened. "And we've got a whole new team this time around."
He was referring to the kids instead of the trained fighters they had had last time. Serus knew it, but hated the reminder…and the comparison.
"The kids did beautifully, but…"
"But they're still kids," Goran finished.
"Exactly. Speaking of which, have you heard from any of them yet? They should be at home asleep." Serus pulled out his cell phone and called home. "I'm glad Sian is staying with them. But there's a part of me that would prefer an armed guard just to make sure."
"Yeah, Cody hasn't checked in either. I told him to call as soon as he got home."
"Sounds like the orders I gave David. Poor Tessa, she needs to sleep for a week at least."
"She's something- – never thought she'd turn out like she has."
Serus didn't answer. The phone was ringing, but no one was answering. "They aren't answering the house phone."
"Course not." Goran shrugged. "They probably all crashed."
"They should have called first."
He'd hung up and gone to redial when the phone went off in his hand. "Sian, I’ve just tried to call the house."
Sian's musical voice came through clear. "Sorry, I didn't manage to catch it before you hung up. I just woke up from a nap. You have to remember that I don't move quite as fast these days."
Serus grinned. "You haven't even begun showing yet. You should be running marathons."
"Sleep marathons, maybe. So, what's the update?" she complained. "I was expecting the kids hours ago."
Goran and Serus stared at each other. "You left before the kids – right, Sian?"
"I came home right after Taz got busy. Figured I was in the way and could do more here on the computer. I've been working at your house with a couple of the council members, waiting until the kids got here. Shouldn't they be here by now?"
They should have been. But now Serus knew they weren't going to be. Not any longer.
"Sian, they should have been there hours ago."
Tessa refused to let her aching legs or pounding head stop her from finding the others. She stretched her jumps out as far as she could go, landing and taking off in one smooth motion. The jet stream was almost gone, but she could still see the faint impression in the sky. Fliers could move so much faster than she could. And they had had a head start. A big one.
She couldn't help but worry about her parents. Had the ambulance made it to the hospital, or had it been hijacked as well? Just how big was this conspiracy? Had they created enough bad vamps to take everyone out? If so, that was beyond crazy.
Her people would need to find and destroy the source of these creations…and the creations themselves. That anyone could design a vampire or create an improved version…unbelievable. That they'd done a piss poor job of it made her happy, but those guys weren't far off the real thing. It definitely gave her concern. She'd taken out a half dozen herself, or possibly even two or three times as many. She hadn't exactly stopped to count.
Then again, her legs were turning into rubberized stumps. An improvement in strength and speed would be a big help. What if they'd improved the design with the next batch?
She stopped for a short break and bent over to catch her breath. Why was this so hard today? When she and her father were trying to find Moltere's hideaway, she'd gone from treetop to treetop easier than this. Maybe the drugs were slowing her down. What was it her father had said? Something about 'stop trying so hard? Breathe and relax.' She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and repeated both actions. As she exhaled, she lifted and glided – this time going twice the distance of her other jumps.
Cool. She did it again, and again. She laughed, the joy of accomplishment rushing through her. This was so much better and easier on her, too. In that lighthearted space, the first since she'd woken up alone, the world shifted much faster. She crossed miles and hardly noticed.
In the distance stood a bluff of some kind, black and imposing against the horizon. She needed to get to the top of it, where she could look around. By the time she reached it her legs were killing her. The height of the bluff appeared daunting. Standing with her hands on her hips, she assessed the problem. Damn. It was almost a mountain in itself. That figured. She took a deep breath, and then jumped upward to the closest landing spot. Then she jumped crisscross a little higher, slowly zigzagging her way
to the top.
Finally, she reached the highest point and had a chance to rest.
As far as she could see, the terrain continued with a hard, rocky surface – similar to a mesa, except not volcanic rock. Nothing much appeared to grow here. There was a single desperate bush, bits of grass poking up through the caked ground in the odd spot, but little else except for a second bluff further along. And beyond that…the ground showed a strong line against the horizon. A drop-off, maybe? She had to get there to find out. At least it was in the direction of the fading vampire jet stream.
The second bluff was closer than she'd first realized. It only took her another ten minutes of steady gliding to reach. Of course, she'd started with the advantage of jumping off the top of the first. And what a rush that had been.
She climbed the shorter bluff in two jumps and stopped to survey the new vista. The bluff perched on a cliff edge. Down below – a long way below – she could see a small village.
Finally, signs of life. But was it human or vamp? And was it good vamp, bad vamp, or designer model vamp? She grinned at the term. That's what the idiots were. Fakes. Seasonal Fashionable. So not.
The jet stream appeared to come down in the same area. That was good enough for her. Her friends were close by. She could almost feel them.
Cody, I'm coming!
She laughed. Boy, was he going to be pissed if she rescued him.
With a deep breath, she backed up several feet, then took a running jump and soared off the cliff. She opened her arms, Cody's long black coat floating behind her. She tilted her face to the sun and let herself fly.
The glide went on forever. She loved the experience…until she realized the ground was coming up a little too fast. The closer she got to the ground, the more she realized this wasn't working out quite the way she'd figured. She was actually flying…or 'falling' was a better word.
Shit.
The angle was all wrong. She wasn't going to be able to glide down, she was going to hit…hard.