by Dale Mayer
Then again, this Xana was an ex…so it hadn't worked out.
The playing field of young vamp relationships was wide open and very active. Games were played on a daily basis as everyone sorted out their likes and dislikes, current loves, and exes. Tessa hadn't reached that stage yet. And, given what she'd seen of those slightly older than her, she wasn't really looking forward to it. In truth, she would love to skip that stage altogether. Some vamps were incredibly cruel, and this relationship stuff was cutting ground for the female vamp teeth. But then Tessa wasn't exactly like the others.
She cared. And hurting someone else would hurt her. Having been the odd duck all her life, she didn't want any males only to consider dating her as a dare or a challenge. Now that would really suck.
Not being popular had made her stand out already – and not in a good way. But if she wasn't involved in the crazy relationships of the young and restless, then she'd stand out even more. Still, she refused to follow the pack. If she found someone she really liked who in turn liked her, then she'd date him. Jared was a perfect example. And she wasn't about to walk away from him yet.
And then there was Cody. Someone she wouldn't have expected to like her – like, as in like, her – even in her wildest dreams.
But if he'd started the mind link, maybe he did care?
Shivers of delight rippled down her back. But Cody could have anyone. He wouldn't bother with her. No, if he'd started the mind link it would only have been to help her out. She was David's little sister. He probably had an oversized sense of responsibility as David's best friend.
Right, that was it.
Besides, she had difficulty thinking of Cody initiating something so…so intimate.
Just the remembrance of him inside her mind made her shiver.
No, it had to have been the stress of the war they were involved in. It was the panic, it was the fear… Whatever it was, it made more sense that the mind link coming into being out of necessity rather than because she or Cody had wanted it.
Right?
So not!
It was…special.
And so was he.
*.*.*
Cody stared at the slammed door, then exchanged glances with David and Ian. "That answers that question. We're not alone."
"I didn't even see the door open. So someone opened it and then slammed it?" Ian held out his hands. "Like, why?"
"Maybe we should go find out," David suggested. "Do we want to run or attack?"
Cody snorted. "Like you need to ask that question."
The three males grinned, a sharp edge to their smirks. Cody's anger honed in on the door.
"Ah, guys – I hate to be the voice of reason, but do we really want to fight our way out of here when we don't know what is out there? For all you know, there is an army of those vamps waiting for us. We are only four." Jewel rubbed her temple. "We should at least check out what's on the other side of this door first."
David looked at her in surprise, then at the door, and back at her again. "Damn, if you aren't right about that."
"I don't know why this one is better than the other, but whatever…" With a flourish, Cody pulled the door open wide, turning to face her. "There, it's open. Satisfied?"
Ian choked, "Ah, Cody – you might want to take a look."
Cody spun around and stared. The room was full of beds. And people.
Everyone was hooked up to tubing and machines.
And everyone appeared to be a vampire.
Cody stared at the room full of his fellowmen and forced the bile back down his throat. Goddamn it. How had his people come to this?
"Oh shit," whispered Ian. "This is my worst nightmare back again."
"Hell," said David, "I never had a chance to get rid of it."
Jewel brushed past them and wandered down the aisle, stopping to look at each face. At one she stopped, and a hiccupping sound slid out.
"Jewel?" David walked up to her, sliding an arm around her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Her rapid head shake was the only answer. Then she pointed. Cody walked toward them, staring at the bed she'd picked out.
"Jesus. It's Councilman Bushman."
"What?" Ian ran up to join them. "Really? He was at the blood farm, too. I remember seeing him talking to Goran."
"They have him here. Then why not us?" David stared. He spun around. "Okay, so how many people here do we know? And how many can we place at the blood farm at the time everyone came to rescue us?"
They walked slowly up and down, talking as they came upon each person they could confirm as knowing or not knowing. They all had different family connections within the vampire clan, but most knew the same vamps as the others.
There were some vampires who were familiar but not identifiable if they'd been part of the blood farm rescue. Each vampire lay fully dressed on top of the pristine white sheets. Each had their right arm exposed, a needle taped to the wrist, and tubing going to machines parked at their sides.
They were all out cold.
Ian pulled a pen and paper out of his pocket and started writing down names. "We've confirmed six as having been at the blood farm. These last two," he motioned toward two hulking males at the end of the row, "I think I saw coming up with the councilmen. Maybe they’re guards, drivers, or something else. They do look familiar."
Cody stared down at the men. "They do. But…I'm not sure if we saw them at the blood farm or not. I think they were at the last council meeting. I believe they're security team members." But then, he hadn't taken note of everyone – mostly just Tessa, especially in that outfit she'd shown up in. She'd been more than enough to keep his attention. And besides, they'd assumed it was all over. They'd let their guard down and relaxed.
"That would make sense. But freaky." Jewel shuddered. "They should be our best trained men. How could anyone possibly overcome all these people at once?"
"Not all at once. They’ve picked them off in small, doable groupings and probably used drugs. Gas, even."
They all stared grimly at Cody.
"That is so not good." Jewel's voice rose in horror. "What hope do we have of overcoming these assholes if they have that kind of equipment, the required personnel to do all this and the technology? "
"That brings us back to the same problem of logistics." David's tone dropped. "It takes a huge organization – well run and even better funded – to pull this off in the short time they had."
"When did they first know we were onto them?" Cody asked. "I knew I shouldn't have let those two guys leave back in the beginning. But Tessa had collapsed. I let them go to protect her. If those two guys went to their bosses then, they could have started damage control immediately and pulled together a contingency plan if we had blown their operation apart."
Ian looked at him and to the other men in the room. "There's only one female here, on the last bed."
"That's what was bugging me. How could I not see it?" Jewel gasped. "There are no females here."
Cody strode toward the last bed, taking time to look at the faces, trying to memorize the placid features. "Do we know her?"
"Ah…yes." Ian said uncomfortably. "It's Xana."
Cody and David spun to look at him. Cody blinked. "What? Why would she be here? She wouldn't have come to the rescue at the blood farm. She doesn't do anything for anyone."
Jewel walked down the end of the row. "Do we leave her?" Making a sudden decision, she went to pull the needles from Xana's arm.
"Wait."
Jewel jerked toward Cody. He ran down toward her. "You might harm her." He arrived to find the needles in Jewel's hands, Jewel's surprised face staring at him. "Or not." He shrugged, turning his attention to Xana. Her long red hair fanned out on the pillow behind her. Even unconscious, she looked model perfect. "I don't understand why she's here."
"She had to have been there with the others and got taken out as part of the group." David wandered around the space. "It's weird
. There are doors at either end. We can only go one way."
"I doubt that one locked door can keep us in here. The locks were built for drugged-up patients, not pissed young male vamps." Ian snorted.
"They wouldn't be so stupid. These rooms are all connected for a reason."
"Yeah, like a production line. You finish in one room and graduate to the other." And that was the sort of concept to make anyone sick. Cody walked to the end door. It could lead anywhere. Or perhaps they were being pushed into a specific direction. By locking the first door, they were continuing to move in the only way forward. How many of these damn doors could there be in this fun house? And where in all of this was Tessa?
He cast a last glance at the rows of comatose vamps.
He could only hope she wasn't hooked up like these vamps. Unfortunately, he might already be too late.
*.*.*
Jared ran down the stairs, still trying to pull his t-shirt over his head. He stopped at the living room entranceway to run his fingers through his hair. Damn, he hoped it was Tessa. He sauntered into the room.
And then stopped short.
A woman older than he was expecting faced the window. A looker, maybe – if you liked them older – but she was not Tessa.
She turned to face him. And he then recognized her. It was his aunt.
Anger rose up his spine in a tsunami wave. After what he'd been through, how dare she come here?
Her smile faltered. "I didn't know. Honest."
He frowned, the anger still alive and churning in his gut. He didn't know who to believe any more. Who had known? And who had participated? Or if anyone willingly had done so… Maybe it had been random or maybe not. But he highly doubted anyone in his family had given a damn. He'd only seen this woman a dozen times in his life, and had spoken to her maybe on half of those. She'd never cared before, so why should she now?
"Really?" His scorn lanced her. Jared couldn't help it. Cynicism lived inside him. Maybe it always had. But not to the extent it lived there now.
She winced, took a deep breath, and said, "The authorities contacted your uncle. He called me and asked me come here. He wants to know that you are safe."
"Like hell he does. He probably wants to know if the goods are in decent enough condition to resell."
She gasped and froze. "You can't possibly think he sold you to those…those vampires?"
"Why not? He's always hated me. He’s always looking for the next buck to buy another bottle. He wouldn't care what happened to me, especially if he could get a dollar for his efforts."
"That's not true," she cried out, her hand clasping to her chest. "He's not been a great father figure, I know." She held up her left hand, as if to stop his words, while talking faster over his snort of disgust. "But he'd never have done anything to deliberately hurt you."
"Like hell." Jared knew his uncle. He'd seen the sideways glances, the assessing looks in the background. "I just hoped to make it through high school before I had to leave. But no, he wouldn't even give me that."
"The authorities said you'd implicated him in this nastiness." She shook her head violently, her hair clip falling to the ground. "He'd never do that."
Jared watched as she bent and picked it up. He didn't know if the experience of the last week had opened his eyes or if that had just tainted his perspective, but nothing she was saying in any way made him even reconsider his uncle or her, for that matter.
"Why are you here?" He walked over to stand by the window, but not taking his eyes off her. He didn't trust anyone anymore. "I haven't seen you in what, a year?"
She flushed. "You're right. I haven't been very involved in your life." She held out her hands, palms up. "I have no excuse, but to say that it was easier to avoid my brother and his heavy drinking than to deal with it."
"Now, that much is probably true."
Her flush deepened, a hint of anger shining in her gaze. "I didn't come here to argue with you."
"Good. So why are you here?"
"The authorities are asking questions." Her tone turned mocking. "You've become a bit of a celebrity overnight, according to the media."
Jared looked at her. Had he slept for that long? What media? Of course, after Tessa's panic button, so many people had ended up at the blood farm in the end that he could well imagine the sensational journalism going on right now. He just hadn't contemplated his role in it all. Damn, he hoped they were leaving Tessa alone. She'd been through enough.
"Now your family is being investigated. Surely you don't need to be 'someone' so badly that you have to throw suspicion on those who raised you?" She straightened up, a determined look coming into her eye. "I want you to tell the police that you were wrong about your uncle's involvement."
What a shock. Not! He glared at this woman who knew nothing about him or what he'd been through. "No. I will not. As far as I'm concerned, there's a damn good chance my uncle did sell me to that damn blood farm. And even if he didn't, I'm sure he wasn't worried about finding me after I went missing."
"He believed you'd run away," she cried. "You can't blame him for that. You two were always fighting."
"And that's where you're wrong. I never fought with him. I left early in the morning, went to school, went to work, and then came home again. I avoided him like the plague."
"And he avoided you. He probably didn't even know you'd gone missing."
And that stopped Jared. Damn. That was all too possible.
*.*.*
Serus strode toward the underground hospital parking lot, worry eating away at him. Sian would guard Rhia. The two were closer than sisters. Not that that was a good comparison, given Rhia's sisters. Vamp females, exotic and sexy, were lethal in many ways. He'd been blessed to find Rhia centuries ago, and even she'd mellowed since then. Having their kids had improved her heart. Those vamps without families lost what little bit of humanity was ever in them.
Gittora was a prime example. But Sian was a match for her. She'd keep Rhia safe.
Goran strode at his side. Serus could feel his old friend watching him, studying his face. They had known each other for so long, their thoughts usually blended together on the same topic and they’d come up with the same answer.
"We're going back to the blood farm," Serus said, his voice calm and determined. "And we have to retrace the route the kids took."
"Not just the kids. Two more councilmen and their drivers are also missing."
Serus didn't respond. His jaw locked. Damned if this wasn't going to be an all-out war before the week was out. That was fine with him. His family was at stake as well as his way of life.
There were a few vamps worth saving. The ones who'd taken his kids were marked for death. He'd do that job personally.
"Have you spoken to Taz at all? Has he been warned?"
Serus glanced over at Goran. "Sian couldn't get through. She's going to keep trying. The last thing she'd allow is to have Taz strung up again."
Goran nodded. "That doesn't mean there is anyone left at the blood farm on his side. Being human, he can't defend himself at all."
And that was the crux of the matter. Humans were vulnerable in a way vamps never had been. Sian and Taz had been to hell and back already. When Taz had gone missing decades ago, Sian had found him in the blood farm that had caused the last war.
"We need to get there fast." The more he considered it, the worse the whole scenario became. He couldn't believe that everyone at the farm had been taken out, but the possibility was all too likely.
"Do you want to drive or shall I?"
Serus weighed the options. He was tired but angry. "You drive. I'll make the calls."
"Yeah? Who is there left to call?" Goran grinned. "I think Tessa has contacted damn near everyone."
"Not quite." He'd been thinking about it and pondering their options. They'd lost a mess of good vamps last time. Many of the others had become sick of the fighting, and had taken to the far corners of the
world to heal and recuperate. He'd lost touch with many of them. But that didn't mean they weren't all out there and still capable of beating the enemy to the ground once again.
Still, it had been brutal last time and their losses had been heavy. These vamps had aged since then. They may have lost their will to fight again.
And they may have gained the taste for blood.
That was a personal choice every vamp had to deal with. Each person had to take the moral stance that they were comfortable with. But harvesting blood from animals, humans included, wasn't the same as harvesting from humans hanging like the living dead with no quality of life.
He wanted to get Seth involved. His son would know a whole different group of people. And then there was Goran's oldest son, Tyson. Maybe he'd help.
Blood banks had been voluntary years ago. Then the humans were paid to donate. That had worked to a certain extent, with synthetic blood being the latest and longest lasting solution. But now the blood farm thing had reared its ugly head again. Human greed might even have helped it to flourish. It was a common weakness in the species.
For the price of protection, they'd sell their enemies, neighbors, and even family members.
Wasn't that what Jared had suggested? That his uncle might have sold him to the blood farm? And if there had been one case of that happening, then…
Tessa glided to the tree closest to the house which was deep in the trees, with covered windows, dark on the outside, dark on the inside. There was also a hill behind it, right behind it. She eyed the hill suspiciously.
Given what she'd been through, that wasn't unexpected.
Still…she jumped down and approached cautiously. They could have cameras on the outside to monitor any approaching visitors. She hoped not. She hadn't been that quiet or stayed that hidden. Maybe this was just a small family holding.
She slipped up to the back of the house and flattened herself against the wall. The sky had darkened with black clouds. That should make it easier to see the energy signatures in the sky, but they'd spread on the winds. There was so little energy left that she couldn't pinpoint which of the houses they'd gone into. There wasn't any energy traveling behind the houses, either. Wherever the vamps had landed, they'd stayed.