by Dale Mayer
*.*.*
Serus froze. What the hell had happened to Goran? He reached out again in his mind. Goran?
No answer, but there was a hum, as if he was sending a signal and it was being received, but not returned. So Goran might be unconscious. Just as long as he wasn't drugged or dead. Serus knew the dangers in this war as well as Goran did, but they'd been friends for a long time, and losing him was not on the cards. Good friends were hard to find.
Serus's cell phone suddenly rang.
"Shit," he whispered, fumbling for it in his pocket. Why hadn't he put the damn thing on mute?
He didn't know if he should answer or not.
Giving in, he said in a quiet voice, "Hello."
"Dad!"
"Tessa?" Serus grinned, his heart warming at his daughter's excited voice. "Where are you? And are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm in the machinery or storage section of the blood farm. Dad, all the others are missing. I woke up in the middle of nowhere all alone." She was safe. As he listened to what she'd been through already, his anger grew. Goddamn it. These assholes were going to pay for this.
When she mentioned Bart, he had to warn her, "We don't know what side he's on. Don't trust him."
"I don't trust anyone anymore." After a brief pause, she asked, "How's Mom?"
"She's going to be fine. She's in the hospital. Sian is looking after her until your oldest brother shows up. Goran and I are back at the blood farm trying to figure out if those we left behind working have been taken captive."
She gasped. "Taz? Oh no. This is so wrong. I hope he is okay. I don't know where I am in connection to you, but somehow they managed to capture all of us."
Damn. "Tessa, things aren't looking good here. Stay away. Do you hear me? Go home if you can. Otherwise, know that I am on the way, but I have to help Goran first."
He closed his phone, grateful that Tessa was free and doing fine. Only Goran had just moved into dangerous territory.
Damn it all to hell – again.
He slipped forward, silent and cautious. That he couldn't see anything pissed him off. But he wasn't a hunter for nothing. Long before his people became more civilized, he'd had to hunt. He'd done it back then, and he could do it now.
He closed his eyes, his nostrils flaring as he searched for the animal that had dropped his friend.
That animal would die. He turned ever so slowly, sensing something coming out of the darkness toward him.
Large, male and…a vamp.
He crouched…and waited.
*.*.*
Jared walked the several street blocks toward Tessa's house. He didn't know her address. He didn't even have Tessa's last name to search for her address on the Internet.
He turned the corner and studied the large properties. Back from the main street, he'd obviously entered a whole new part of town. How had he not seen this before? The houses were dark, with reflective window coverings to keep the light out. The buildings were much larger than he was used to seeing. They were hidden behind massive hedges or fences and big steel locked gates.
There was no one walking around, either. Then it was daytime. How odd it must have been for Tessa to live in a human world being a vamp. He'd never considered the struggle she must have gone through on a daily basis.
Did her brothers go to vamp school at night as she went to her school by day? How did they do meals? Then again, the family were all vamps, so did they just drink a glass of blood together? But Tessa ate food, didn't she? Yes, she'd had popcorn at the movies. How odd. She must have an interesting life.
Maybe 'difficult' was a better word.
He'd never understood because he hadn't been privy to her secrets any more than she'd been privy to his horrible family life story. He wandered down the street, wondering how he could possibly find Tessa's house. It wasn't like there were mailboxes with the names of the inhabitants on them. And he didn't know Tessa's last name. Did she even have one?
But there was a mailman walking on the opposite street.
Jared crossed over and came to a stop in front of him. "I'm looking for the family of Serus, Rhia, David, and Tessa. Do you have any idea which of these houses is theirs?"
The other man's face lit with recognition. "Absolutely." He turned around, as if to orient himself, and then pointed out one of the biggest houses at the far end of the block. "It's the one on the corner."
"Thank you." And Jared meant it. "That's a big help." With a smile, he crossed back to the right side and picked up the pace. Tessa. Damn, it would be good to see her. Maybe even David. He'd looked to be okay. Cody was a different matter.
And hard on the heels of that thought, Jared remembered Cody's defensive possessiveness over Tessa. What was with that? Did Tessa have something going with Cody?
Or did Cody just plan for there to be something between them?
And how far along that path had Cody traveled?
Suddenly, the need to see her for himself became unbearable. He'd hate to lose her now that he'd finally connected with her again.
And he needed to touch base with her before Cody tried to cut Jared out of Tessa's life forever.
*.*.*
Cody automatically went into battle stance. Only he didn't know who he was fighting. "Uh, David? What's going on?"
David walked over. "Most of the group left to go get help."
"Really? But how and where?" Cody studied the group left in the room. "And where is Jewel?"
David shrugged, but dropped his voice slightly. "Apparently she went with them."
Cody and David stared at each other. "And Ian?"
David nodded.
Cody shook his head. "Shit."
His voice hardening, David asked, "You're thinking what I'm thinking?"
Cody lowered his voice. "There is no way Ian would have left willingly. Not without telling us."
He glared at the group gathering around them. "And what’s going on, were you guys to stay behind and take us out?"
"Hey, we're not the bad guys here," one vamp snapped. "We're also victims."
But Cody wondered. The vamps left behind were all fit and decent-sized. How did he know that these were the same vamps he and his friends had found unconscious with needles in their arms? Turning slightly to Motre, he whispered, "Do you recognize any of these guys? Were any lying in the beds beside you?"
Motre stared at him, and then his gaze chilled with understanding. He pivoted and ran his gaze over each and every face of those in the room. He grunted in a hard, low voice, "No."
"So the councilman and other drivers, the security team members…none are here?"
Motre shook his head. "No."
He straightened, appearing to grow larger as Cody watched in awe. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Motre glared. "Hell yes." He turned to the others in the room. "You are the assholes that put me in here."
And the room erupted in chaos.
Two vamps bailed David while Cody was out of range. Then he couldn't help him anyway, as several vamps had jumped him.
But Cody had had that early warning. He jumped, spread his wings slightly, and got high enough to slash out with his right boot, taking the closest vamp out with a hard kick his throat. The vamp fell back, choking on blood. Cody landed, spun, and connected his right fist with the next guy's jaw.
He was grabbed from behind; his neck caught and twisted to the right, his throat open and exposed. Cody bent and flipped the asshole over his back on to floor. But the guy had a hold of Cody's wing. Wrenching himself free hurt it. Damn it. He stomped the guy's hand to make sure he couldn't grab him again and followed that up with a hard stomp to the vamp's neck.
Breathing hard, he straightened up and looked around.
And then he grinned. David had one of his attackers in a headlock. He looked up, caught Cody's gaze, his own hard and furious, and twisted the vamp's neck hard.
It wouldn't kill him, unless h
e was one of the turned vampires, but he wouldn't be going anywhere for a long time.
The crack was loud enough for Motre to spin around. When he saw David had broken the guy's neck, he nodded, took the last two vamps under his arms, and slammed their heads together hard.
Then he tossed the two men onto the heap in the middle of the room. Motre had done a lot of damage.
"What happened to the three vamps we tied up and left behind?" David asked.
Cody frowned. He'd forgotten them. "I suspect at this point they've been released and are now hunting us."
Motre glared at the pile of vamps. "I want to kill them all."
"Go for it," David said, "but I don't have time. They've taken everyone that was good and hauled them out of here, hoping to catch us like they did. Now their numbers have been halved."
Cody tossed open the door that was slightly ajar to find the hallway white and empty again. "They could've taken them anywhere."
"Not quite," Motre said, pulling out a small disc from a shirt pocket. "I was supposed to get a new one of these but hadn't gotten to the clinic yet. However, the councilman did. His has had his implanted under his skin."
"A tracker!" both Cody and David cried in unison.
"Excellent." David walked closer to see the small beeper in Motre's hand. "Can this track your boss?"
"Supposed to be able to but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet." Motre played with the small buttons on the tiny instrument. "Damn thing is so small."
"But gotta love the technology." Cody wondered how much time it would have saved them if Tessa had had a damn tracker. "Is yours the same as this one?"
"Mostly. It's supposed to be connected to his. Then, if we became separated, we could find each other. This way I can find him, but because I don't have the other half implanted yet, he can't find me."
"And that finally means something has gone our way." Cody laughed. "We can see them and they can't see us."
With big grins, Cody and David walked toward the locked door. Motre stayed behind, playing with his tracker
"Come on," urged Cody. "We have to go."
Motre nodded, glanced down at the heap of vamps, and frowned. While David and Cody watched, Motre checked who was left alive. He put out a hand each on two vamps and pressed against their throats. In a move reminiscent of Goran and Serus, he then did something else that they couldn't quite see. He straightened, looked at the two of them, and jutted his jaw out aggressively. "Now we don't have to worry about being followed."
Cody stared at David. They both raised an eyebrow, each knowing what the other was thinking.
Thank God Motre was on their side.
They were even more grateful when Motre approached the locked door and kicked it open with one jump.
Perfect. They were free.
But outside, there was no sign of Xana.
Tessa felt so much better after connecting with her father. Knowing her oldest brother was going to the hospital to protect her mother made her feel even better.
She grinned as she closed her phone. Then she stopped. Who else should she call? She actually had a phone. Realizing Bart was watching her, she held up her phone. "Do you need this? I have to contact several other people."
He shook his head. "I'm not calling anyone. I'd just as soon you'd all go away and leave me alone." He nodded toward the phone. "Besides, I hate that thing. People can get a hold of me and ask me to do things." He grimaced. "I just want to go home."
"You're really a loner, huh?" She studied the phone, wondering if she could keep it.
"The further away the better."
She gazed at him. "So, how and why did you end up here?"
"'Cause I'm an idiot," he growled. "My buddy wasn't in any shape to take an emergency response call, so I came in his stead."
"But you just said you prefer being alone, so how come you have a buddy? And not being in any shape probably means you two were drinking on top of it. How does that work?" She crossed her arms and scowled. There were secret depths to Bart that she couldn't quite figure out.
He glared at her. "None of your freakin' business."
"True enough, but it doesn't exactly make you trustworthy."
"I'm not trusting. But I am trustworthy.
"Says you." She snickered and turned away to study the huge room. "So, how do we get back to where the action is?"
"You have to be with those kids? Darnedest ones I've ever seen for looking for trouble." He snorted. "Why would you want to find the action?" He turned to walk away from her. "That's just stupid, that is."
"Because they captured my friends and they are turning vamps into guinea pigs – whether they want to or not."
He turned back. "I know vamps are being drugged, but how do you know what they are doing to them afterwards?"
"Because I had a fight with one." She quickly explained what the dying vamp had said to her.
"No." Bart shook his head. "They wouldn't do that."
Her voice hard, she said, "I wouldn't have believed it myself. But they are doing it. This guy could walk in indirect sun, but once in full sun he died a slow, horrible death."
"We aren't supposed to be day walkers. They're messing with our basic genetics to change something like that." He eyed her suspiciously. "And you killed them both?"
She shrugged. "I shoved the needle into the one and the sun took care of him, but the sun caught the second when I was out cold. He was too far gone to help when I found him."
"And you stayed and talked with him?" He shook his head. "You should have killed him outright. Would have been kinder."
"I couldn't," she admitted softly. "I tried to help him. Thought if I could get him out of the sun he'd heal, but I couldn't move him. He was huge." She sighed. "And he was dying. He told me what he'd been through before he died."
She stared up at the ceiling for a long moment, hating the tears welling up. There hadn't been anything she could have done and, if circumstances had been different, she'd have killed him herself. But that didn't change how bad she felt.
Pushing the heavy emotion away, she pinned Bart with her gaze. "I need to find my friends before they become the next experiments. You appear to know this maze. Give me the layout of this place and where are we in relation to that damn blood farm."
If she could find her father and Goran, she'd finally have someone to watch her back. As she studied the rat Bart, his eyes darting in all the corners as if weighing up his options to run, she realized even if he were on her side, he would be of no help. She'd never be able to trust him.
He'd take her out if it meant saving his ass.
It was something she'd have to keep in mind and so she’d not even give him the chance.
"So?" she prodded. "Point me in the right direction."
The relief that washed over his face made her laugh. "No, I don't expect you to come with me. Heaven forbid that you should do anything to help anyone else."
Bart glared at her. "It's not my fight."
What could she say to that? She stared at the oversized, elderly vamp in front of her. He was something she didn't recognize. She knew most vamps had a code of honor and sometimes it was a little hard to tell just exactly what it was – women being the worst in that regard.
"So you say. And that's fine, as long as you don't sic any of the other team on me. If you leave well enough alone, fine. If not, I'll come back and find you."
He held up both hands. "Whoa. I'm not looking for trouble. I won't send anyone after you if you forget you ever saw me."
She gave a curt nod. "Deal. Now, where the hell is the rest of the farm?"
"That's the trouble. I'm thinking there are a couple here, plus labs." He motioned at the machinery surrounding them. "This is too much blood. There has to be more supply feeding into it."
"How much of the place have you explored?"
He frowned. "Not much. When I slipped away yesterday, I followed the machinery
to this depot."
"Have you seen any other vamps?"
He shook his head. "Hell no."
"Tell me what you saw on your way."
He gave her a description of the machinery, hallways, and rooms he'd passed. She asked a few more questions, then brought up the one issue she didn't plan on letting him argue about. "I need to keep the phone."
"I don't think the reception is any good in here unless you turn it off when you're not making a call. Otherwise, it's going to keep trying to connect. That will kill it." He nodded to the phone still in her hand. "Keep it. If it gets you away from me and won't lead anyone back here, I'm all for it."
"You're so helpful." She didn't bother snorting. He wasn't worth the effort.
She spun around to stare the closed doors. "Is there another way out of here?"
As if realizing he'd be rid of her soon, Bart's face lit up. "Follow me." He turned and walked between two large containers taking her into the back.
She followed him cautiously, still not sure if he was going to suddenly spin and attack. If he was really that scared of getting into the war, it almost made him more dangerous than those vamps who'd already picked a side. How far would Bart go to avoid getting involved?
With her out of the way, who'd know he was here?
And what was he doing with all the machinery? Just hiding? Or making sure it all worked properly? She only had his word for his actions.
Still, he appeared to be taking her to the closest exit as fast as he could. At the back of the warehouse, and after ten minutes of working their way through the machinery, he brought her to a small door. He stepped aside.
"This is the best way out of here."
She eyed the eagerness on his face. Was he that happy to get rid of her or was he sending her into a trap? Without his phone, he couldn't call and warn anyone, but it didn't mean there wasn't another way for him to communicate. In fact, there was probably some type of in-house communication system installed. It was too big an operation not to have something.
With a last look at him, she pushed it open. Did she have any choice? Not really.