by Dale Mayer
David walked over with spare tubing from one of the machines. Within seconds, Xana's arms were tied in front of her.
Tessa stepped back, her eye on Xana's face. Xana stared at her, then she sneered, "What are you looking at?"
Tessa raised an eyebrow and gave her the haughtiest of looks. "I'm looking at a possible traitor. That's who."
Xana hissed.
Cody snapped his attention back to the two of them. "Xana," he warned. "That's enough."
"I'm not a damn dog," she snarled.
Tessa snorted. "Really? 'Cause that's what a bitch really is, and there's no doubting you're one of those." She caught Ian trying to hide his smile and David making no attempt to.
Xana cut her a look that would have dropped Tessa cold before this mess. Not now. Tessa had grown a backbone and Xana was just another asshole, true a female one, but the same as the rest of these losers.
Cody couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I want your assurances that you won't attack anyone here. I don't know what we're going to do with you. We have to figure out the drugs they gave you. Maybe find an antidote. But in the meantime, we need you to behave."
She turned her back on Xana and looked around the room full of beds and victims. Jewel walked over to join her. She gave a delicate shudder. "Yuck, and double yuck. A couple of these victims we just rescued today. Damn it."
"They were there with Jared at the end." Tessa tried to recall all the people she'd seen. She pointed at a young woman. "She was there, and so were these two."
"So, instead of letting the world know what was going on, rescuing and getting rescued," Jewel said, her voice thin with disgust, "all we did was supply the blood farm with new victims."
Tessa wanted to puke. Her stomach contents actually started to heave. Not here. She needed anger to keep going.
Xana mocked. "Look at you. You're such a baby."
That did it. Tessa took a deep breath, then straightened.
David walked to the opposite side of the room. "These ones are the youngest I've seen yet."
Tessa joined him, standing so she could see the victims' faces and gasped.
"Oh my God. There’s Catherine and Jill. They're my best friends." In reaction mode, and without any conscious thought of the repercussions, she ripped the needles out of her friends' arms. Blood trickled from the needle site. She collapsed on the side of the bed, stroking Catherine's arm, tears streaming silently down her cheeks.
A warm hand landed on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Tessa."
A faint shudder rippled down her back. "Did I cause this?"
"No." Everyone spoke at the same time.
She slumped in relief. "Thanks. But I'm not sure I believe you," she whispered. "If I hadn't come after Jared, how would they have found these girls?" She reached down to stroke Catherine's hair away from her pale forehead. "I can't stand to know they're here. We have to stop this. Who could do this to them?"
Cody answered with dark promise in his voice. "We'll find a way to stop this. It's not just you and your friends; it's also us becoming either slaves, lab experiments, or ashes."
"Or we join the dark side," Jewel stated quietly. "To stay alive."
That silenced everyone.
Tessa swallowed hard. She walked over to Jill's side and stroked her shockingly white cheek. "I'll do everything I can to stop this."
"And I'll help you," Cody said, his voice low.
Tessa smiled across the bed at him. She stood…and cried out as a sharp pain slashed across her neck. "What the…" She turned when her jaw was slammed hard, forcing her into the machinery connected to Jill. She struggled to regain her feet, her arms up protectively.
Xana, her fangs out and dripping blood, jumped her again, her arms slamming into Tessa's ribs. Tessa cried out as the bruises she'd already received were pummeled again.
"I heard the rumors about you and your human friends, but couldn't believe it. What a disgrace," Xana sneered. "You might have taken me prisoner, but I'm going to do the world a favor and take your life."
Still emotionally disoriented after finding her friends, Tessa recoiled defensively in victim mode. Realizing what she was doing, she struggled to shift.
It was take control or die.
Faster than she could inhale, her power whooshed back again. Like hell this bitch was going to take her out. She extended her nails and slashed back, catching and slicing skin and tissue.
Xana went crazy. She slashed and stabbed in a frenzy that had Tessa off balance and off kilter as she tried to defend herself.
In the background, she saw the others moving the beds out the way. Someone tried to grab Xana's arms and took the brunt of her temper when she turned on them in warning before spinning around and coming at Tessa again.
Then she saw the flash of silver and really panicked. Shoved in between two beds, she couldn't get her own silver stake out, not with Xana punching her, and attacking with a ferocity that she couldn't match.
Shit.
Just as she wondered if she was going to make it out of this one, Xana cried out, her eyes wide open with shock.
Then she burned to ash all over Tessa.
*.*.*
Cody stared at his ash-covered hands. He shuddered. He hadn't wanted to do that. He hadn't wanted her to die by his hands. He'd had no choice. She'd made sure of that when she brought silver into the fight. He'd tried to haul her back then she'd gone crazy as if knowing this was her last chance.
He lifted his gaze to study Tessa. She leaned against the white wall, her hand to her chest, gulping for air. She barely had enough room to stand with the machines dumped and beds askew.
"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice low, caring.
She opened her eyes and he saw tears. He opened his arms. She ran into them. He held her tight, his cheek against the top of her head.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He shook his head, tilting her chin up so he could look into her eyes. Inside, a curious tension coiled and tightened around his chest.
"I'm the one who's sorry. I should have done that the first time. But…"
Tessa wiped at the tears, then asked for the answer he wasn't sure he had it in him to give. "But what?"
He dropped his forehead to rest it on hers, his voice a soft whisper, a confession asking for forgiveness. "I cared for her once. I didn't want her to die by my hand."
That confession was hard, but it was much harder to look into Tessa's eyes and let her see the truth of the words. He didn't want to hurt her, but neither was he willing to move forward in a relationship with lies and deceit between them. He'd had enough of that with Xana. It was to be honesty all the way this time. If she couldn't handle it, he needed to know that right now.
The coil of tension tightened. He caught his breath, staring into her eyes, trying hard to read their depths.
"I'm sorry that you had to. But I'm not sorry that you did."
He blinked. Then he gave her a long, slow smile. The coil held tight.
"And the rest?" he asked quietly, waiting to see if she was old enough to deal with it.
"It's over," she whispered. "And I'm sorry for you that it didn't work out."
That's not what he'd expected to hear. "Really?"
She tilted head and gave a small laugh. "No. I'm glad that it didn't work out, but I am sorry you were hurt over it. And I'm definitely not sorry the bitch is dead."
The coil inside paused…waiting.
"And why is that?" He couldn't say why he kept digging, prodding, except he needed something from her and he hadto have it.
Voices reached into their privacy, coming closer. They were out of time.
He needed her to say it. He needed that assurance.
Her voice slipped into his mind. And you can have it. Any time, any place. I'm here. Waiting for you…
And she smiled a full-blossomed smile of promise.
The knots loosened…and he could breathe aga
in.
"Hey, you two. Do you think we can get moving now?" David's curious voice reached in and disturbed their warm bonding.
Tessa smiled at him. "If that means going home, then I'm all for it."
"I'd really like to go home, too," Jewel said with feeling.
"As much as I'd like to," David said, "we have the elders here, a lot of victims that need rescuing, and some bosses to kill."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Ian motioned around him. "At this point, I'm open to just about anything."
Tessa stepped back slightly, Cody's arm still around her shoulders, as she thought about what she'd seen so far. "Back at the place where I met up with you was an observation room. At the time, no one was in there. Councilman Stenger might have been the one boss the vamp was talking about, but there could be more. He said there was a big meeting with investors. So there could be several bosses up there."
"Then that's where we start," Cody said. "Let's hope the investors are there. We need to find out who they are."
"What about these people?" Jewel motioned to the room full of drugged victims. "We can't just leave them here like this?"
"We aren't splitting up again," David snapped. "Besides, what about all the vamps we freed the first time? Where are they? We could use their help now."
The five of them exchanged glances, no one knowing the best way to proceed. Then Tessa remembered the cell phone she'd given to David. She held out her hand. "Let me have the phone."
"Phone?" He looked at her blankly, then remembered. "Oh, shit."
He dug into his pocket and pulled it out. Flipping it open, he grinned. "Hey, the battery is working."
She held out her hand. "Give."
He rolled his eyes and handed it over. "Just don't go sending out another mass email. Look how that ended up."
"I won't." She glared at him.
"Who are you calling?"
"Dad." She opened it up and texted her father. Where are you? I've found David and Cody. All fine.
David's eyes lit up. "How can we hook up with them?"
Ian laughed. "Give me the phone and I'll send them our GPS location. We can even mark this location so we can come back and rescue these people later."
A few minutes later, he handed the phone back to David. "Good," Cody said. "Let's go to the observation room and find the bosses." He grinned evilly. "I think it's time we all had a little talk with those investors"
Damn right. Tessa led the way back. She crept around the last corner, where the cavern opened up, and pointed out the observation window high up the cliff. "It's empty."
Cody's warm breath stroked the back of her neck, sending shivers over her skin. She swallowed hard and tried to focus on the area around them. "There's been no one this way since I was here last."
"Good enough. Let's go."
"Wait," Jewel said from somewhere behind Tessa. "How do we get up there to check?"
"I'll fly up and take a look," Cody said. "I might be able to get in that way, too. See if we're alone or if there is an army up ahead." Without giving anyone time to argue, he took off from a standstill so close to Tessa that her hair lifted with the powerful pull of his wings. She so wished she could go with him.
He spun around in surprise and looked down at her, then shook his head and gave a second pull of his muscles, sending him flying high upwards.
With the others following behind, she raced below Cody to the point where she'd first seen her friends escaping from the weird tunnel rooms. She kept both her sets of vision on, looking for new energies to have crossed her tracks. If anyone had been out here, she needed to know.
"Let's go through there." Tessa pointed down the tunnel. "There should be a door leading up."
Because she couldn't see Cody anymore, she asked, Are you okay?
I'm fine. Just about at the observation level. So far, no sign of anyone.
Stay there. We'll join you in a few minutes. At least, she hoped they would. Everyone was searching for the access to the upper level.
Ian found the door first. "Here it is."
With a wide grin, Ian led the way through. Tessa wanted to be last in line but David wouldn't let her. He herded her and Jewel together. "I'm not letting you get separated again. So keep up with Jewel."'
"I am," she muttered, shooting him a look of disgust.
Turning around, Tessa found Jewel waiting for her. But there was no sign of Ian. He'd gone on ahead. "We need to catch up to him."
They picked up the pace and followed the trail to an open doorway. "Where's Ian?"
"He's here."
Cody's voice surprised them. Tessa walked over to join the two men as they stood in front of the huge observation window. "Can you see anything?"
"Lots, but no vamps."
"Great. Another dead end." Tessa walked over to search the vast space before them. She quickly explained what the vamp had said about the meeting and offices.
"Great. Sounds like they're prepping for a big influx of new blood." Jewel walked closer to David and into his open arms.
"Human and vamp," said Ian in disgust.
"Too bad we don't have a way to destroy this place. It would only set them back slightly, but at this point I'd like to inflict as much damage as possible."
They had turned to head back down the way they'd come when something caught Tessa's eyes.
"Wait. There's someone down there."
*.*.*
Serus's phone beeped again. He opened it to find a message and a GPS location. He laughed. "We have smart kids. They've just sent us their location."
Goran slapped him on the shoulder. "Now that is more like it."
Serus turned to study their surroundings, then headed toward the machinery at the back. "Looks like we have to go this way."
"Then lead on." Goran kept pace. "I'd be more than happy to get the kids and get out of this place."
"You and me both."
It took a good half-hour to make their way to the back of the equipment room where they found a small connecting door. "I presume this is how Bart snuck out last time."
"Bart, that loser. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have a half-dozen bolt holes here."
Serus nodded as he opened the door and led the way into a small tunnel, which led to more rooms and still more tunnels. All the while, he kept track on his GPS.
"We're getting close."
He took one more turn and found himself in a huge cavern. They'd been traveling through this mine for what felt like hours. "Damn it, Goran. How big can this place be?"
"Apparently, bigger than we thought. I figured we'd never get out of that damn corridor room. It reminds me of the old trains." Goran straightened his back. "I'm going to take a look and see if we're alone."
"You do that." Serus pointed up the high wall in front of them. "Maybe start up there."
Goran nodded. "Consider it done." He took a deep breath, unfurled his wings, and lifted high overhead.
Serus watched his friend soar up, and then hover in the air.
Goran motioned toward the far wall. Serus studied the huge expanse of stone. It was hard to see anything that far away. There. He froze, his gaze locking on the large opening high up. What was that?
Goran gestured again. Then Serus heard him in his head, There’s the kids! I can see Tessa and Ian. And yes, both Cody and David are here. Serus, we’ve found the kids!
Serus laughed, joy welling up from deep inside as the weight he'd been shouldering fell off. He jumped to top of a stack of building materials and soared high overhead for the observation room. He landed high on the open ledge.
And then grinned delightedly at his daughter.
Tessa squealed and ran toward him. He hopped down and opened his arms. "Hey, kiddo. Am I glad to see you?" She hugged him fiercely. As she went to step back he grabbed her up and twirled her around before placing her back on the ground. "Finally, we are all together again."
David walked closer. Serus reached out and snagged him for a quick bear hug.
"Is anyone hurt?" Goran asked Cody as he landed at Serus's side. He walked over to Cody and gave him a quick one-arm hug. Cody shook his head. "Ian and Jewel were shot up with drugs again, but they seem to have worked clear of that now."
"I'm fine, sir." Ian shook his head. "Except for the damn drugs still pumping through my system."
Serus grinned. "Sir? I think you can call us by our names after all this chaos, Ian."
Ian straightened up, a big grin on his face. "Thanks."
"Jewel? How are you doing?" Goran asked. Serus turned to look at his son's girlfriend, appreciating her valiant but tired smile.
"I'm holding. I'd prefer to be home, but things are so not fixed here."
David stepped in to explain about the other kids they'd found and the room full of drugged vamps. "I'm not sure what to do at this point."
Tessa stepped slightly back from her father. "We're up here because one of the vamps told me there was a boss about to have a big meeting with investors here. We've already taken out Councilman Stenger, and Councilmen Bushman and Trondjent are drugged back in the room with the other vamps." She blew out a gust of breath that raised a few strands of loose hair.
Serus studied his daughter. She'd been to hell and back and damned if she didn't look the better for it. She stood tall and confident. Sure, her shoulders slumped with fatigue, but she was holding up. It was good to see. He'd like to take the credit for her genes, but in truth, he had to admit she was the spitting image of Rhia – in face and in character.
She was doing him proud. Hell, she was doing herself proud.
Then her words hit. "Councilman Stenger? Really?" He glared at David. "Are you sure?"
David nodded slowly. "Very. And you won't be asking him any questions about it, either." He held up the silver spike in his hand. "They all have these, and now we do to."
His tone grim, Goran said, "If Stenger is involved, then so are Councilmen Mendes and Thompson." His glare deepened. "Bastards."
Serus hated it, but his friend was correct. "But that also means Councilmen Wilson and Adamson will be on our side. They despise Mendes and Thompson, who are long-time cronies of Stenger's."