by Dale Mayer
And his instincts were screaming at him to move. Giving in to his instincts, he jumped up, gave a strong pull of his wings, and cleared their heads.
As he went over them he caught the look on their faces – shock, and there it was, on the third vamp – anger.
*.*.*
Okay, this so wasn't good. What the hell made him think that hiding amongst the quasi-dead was a good idea? Except that maybe they wouldn't expect Jared to be here.
In the dark, all sounds were amplified. He swore he heard wings. Like what the hell? His eyes were slowly adjusting to the deep black, but he sure wished he could see in the dark like the vamps could. Human and vamp. So different. Yet as Tessa had proved – also so much the same.
He wished he could see her. Had seen her before he left. Had been able to tell her what he was doing. And why.
Not having gotten cell numbers from the other kids who'd helped him, he felt disconnected from everyone. When he'd met Taz, there'd been a rapport because the doctor was human. He understood what Jared had gone through and could possibly help his father. Although he hadn't sounded too positive about that. And if Jared was honest with himself, he didn't see much chance there either. But there were many young males that couldn't have been here for long. Surely they should be focusing on getting them out of here? Then again, an older male who hadn't been here very long deserved the same chance as the younger ones.
Damn, this place was making him crazy.
A heavy rustling sounded overhead. He ducked and crouched to one side of the row. So he wasn't alone.
He thought he heard whispers from the left. Damn it. Or was the sound coming from a couple of rows over?
Shit. He ran a shaky hand over his forehead. He so didn't want to end up in the wrong side of this war again.
Then he thought, no, he swore he heard a female voice.
He straightened and spun around in that direction. And heard it again.
Tessa.
Tessa loved the sensation of flying. Of course, special moments in Cody's arms weren't bad either.
Snort.
She grinned. You deserved that.
Uh-huh. Let's land and check on Taz.
Good idea. He should know what's going on.
Can you see his energy?
She twisted in his arms and searched the rows of bodies. "It came from the office there," she pointed, "And darted across to the main computer room."
"Then let's go there first."
She studied the energies as they came closer. "Wait. Oh my God. That's Jared."
Cody pulled up to hover in place. "Where?" he demanded. "He shouldn't be here now."
"I know. It's got to be him." She pointed below and off to the left. "In between the rows."
"What the hell." Cody said in a resigned voice. "I thought I finally got rid of that guy."
Tessa smacked him lightly. "Never. Jared is a nice guy. You just haven't had a chance to get to know him."
"Right. So not going there," Cody muttered.
She let that pass as he was landing gently at the end of the row where she could see someone crouched down low. "I hope he's not hurt."
Cody stayed suspiciously quiet. She tried to take a step and found the ground wavy. It was as if she'd been on a boat for so long that the ground didn't stand still when she finally hit land. "That's so weird."
"You get used to it." He grabbed her hand. "Come on. Let's check this out."
She squeezed his hand and approached cautiously. There was no reason for Jared to be here, but she couldn't mistake that energy signature. And it shone strong and bright. If he was injured, it didn't appear to be bad.
About ten feet from him, she could see him pivoting in the crouch position, trying to see what was going on around him while staying hidden.
"Jared?"
The figure jerked. Stilled. Then bolted to his feet.
"Tessa?"
"Oh my God. It is you." Tessa tried to drop Cody's hand but he didn’t let go. She shot him a startled look just in time to see a typical bored Cody look cross his face – the one he got whenever he didn't like what was happening.
She pulled him forward with her and stretched out her free hand to grab Jared. "It's so good to see you."
He stepped forward as if to hug her but stopped at the sight of her hand firmly held in Cody's. "Same here."
She smiled up at him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still in the hospital."
"Yeah, I was. Then in a halfway home because...well, I'm not sick but I can't go home either."
"And you came here, why?" Cody asked, his voice cool and cold.
Easy Cody. Jared hasn't done anything wrong.
Nor has he done anything right. He's put himself right back in danger.
But you don't know why.
She turned to Jared, realizing that he was staring at them curiously. With effort, she shook off Cody's hand and linked her other arm with Jared. "Why are you here?"
His face twisted with pain. Quietly, leading her and Cody through the rows, he explained. He came to a stop and pointed to a man hanging. "This is my father."
She gasped, tears coming to her eyes. She turned to Cody, reaching out for him with her other hand. He grasped it tight and tugged her close. She leaned in, accepting the comfort he offered. "How could they do something like this?"
She stared at the vast warehouse of hanging victims. "Do you realize how many families are affected, destroyed by what's been done here?"
"Thousands of people," Jared said, his voice cracking. He turned away, his head slightly bent as he struggled to regain control.
Tessa reached out and stroked his back, offering what little comfort she could. "Do you know how long he's been here? If he has a chance to survive?"
Jared shook his head. "Probably not. He's been here since I was just a little kid. But I'm not sure. Taz looked up his records."
"Speaking of Taz? Where is he?" Cody studied the darkened room. "And what the hell happened to the lights?"
Jared shrugged. "Damn if I know on both counts. We were in with the medical computers when the room went black. He was concerned about the monitoring system and was checking something, then all of a sudden he bolted out of the room. I never did see where he went."
"And you haven't seen him since?" Tessa asked. "'Cause that's not good."
"I know. I came out because I was afraid to get pinned down in the computer room in case this power outage was another attack."
Even now he searched the room warily. "I wish I could see in the dark like you guys can."
"Yeah, but it's not that great a help right now as there's nothing to see," said Cody.
And he was right, but vamps could see what there was and she knew the humans would only be seeing shadows at this point. "What about the other people working here?"
"Honestly, I haven't seen anyone but Taz."
"And he seemed normal when he was with you?" Tessa asked curiously. "According to our fathers, they rescued a huge mixed mess of vamps and humans, including Taz, earlier when they first arrived. Took out a bunch of bad vamps in the process. Then they came searching for us."
Jared turned to study the two of them. "Were you two captured? Again?"
Cody bristled at the last word. "It's not like we did anything stupid to get caught."
Jared just looked at him.
"Easy Cody. Jared wasn't saying that."
But Cody wasn't having any of it. "Sure he was. And we did just as much as he did to get caught."
Jared turned on him, his shoulders squared and jaw jutting out.
"Oh shit," she muttered. "Come on, you two. This is the wrong time and place for a fight, okay? We've got other things to worry about."
The two glared at each other. Tessa stepped between them. "Enough already."
He shifted his gaze to her, his eyes warming with humor. "Yes, dear."
Jared made a strangled noise and T
essa realized he hadn't seen her since his rescue and lots of things had changed in the meantime. She shot Cody a disgusted look and turned to deal with Jared. "Hey, it's okay. Let's go find Taz."
He studied her face, looked as if he wanted to say something, and closed his mouth again. He hooked his arm through hers and walked her toward the end of the row.
"Smart boy," Cody muttered behind them.
Be nice, Tessa admonished him mentally.
Why? The guy's a prick.
And you're acting like a jealous teenager.
Jealous? There was a long pause in her head. I know I said I wouldn't push you and I'd give you time to decide what you want but...is there a reason for me to be jealous?
What? No! She stopped and turned to look back at him. The cold look on his face chilled her inside. I'd never do anything to make you jealous. You know that, right?
Jared jerked on her arm lightly, trying to get her to move forward again. She resumed walking by his side but waited anxiously for Cody's response.
I don't think I could stand it if you did, he growled. That was Xana's favorite trick. She did everything she could to make me jealous. He took a deep breath. And I hated it. Hated that feeling and even more, I hated knowing she was doing it on purpose.
Tessa didn't know what to say to that. After a long moment, she said, Is it wrong to be happy that she's dead? I don't think she was a very nice person.
His tired laughter rolled through her mind. No, she so wasn't. And no, I don't think it's wrong to be happy that she's gone. It saves us from trying to fight her again.
Yeah, there is that point. I'm tired of fighting these guys. Or girls, in Xana's case.
Jared spoke up. "Are you two talking to each other?"
She looked at him and sidestepped the issue. "Why on earth would you think that?"
"I don't know. There's a weird hum going on. And you're got a really preoccupied look on your face."
Preoccupied. She had to wonder just what the others saw when she and Cody were talking to each other. It had to look odd.
Then again, that was nothing new.
They reached the end of the row. Tessa peered around the corner. Energy floated gently on the ground but it was starting to disperse already. So no one had travelled down here in the last few minutes. In fact, she only saw Jared's energy as he made his way through the rows.
Twisting her head slightly, she said, "It's clear. Doesn't look like anyone has been through here since Jared."
They stepped into the wide hallway and walked toward the computer room where Jared had last seen Taz. At the darkened doorway, Tessa studied the energy. But she couldn't see much that was new. "I only see older energy here. There's nothing new since Jared left."
"So where is everyone then?" asked Cody.
"Good question." Tessa studied the surrounding area, searching for energy pathways. "They all have to be here somewhere."
"Why?" said Jared."
"Because we didn't arrive alone either. The two of us flew in, but we have groups that split up to sweep both sides of the warehouse. We were hoping to find the bad guys before they even knew we were here."
Jared looked around. "Then where are your groups?"
Cody groaned. "That's the thing. They should be here by now."
Tessa shook her head. "Maybe not. We flew, and that is so much faster."
"But you forget, we went to that suspended office first, then circled around. Something must be wrong." His worried tone had her stopping to study his face. He was serious.
"Damn. That means both groups met up with trouble."
"Or one went to go help the other."
"And how would they know the other group was in trouble?" Jared asked curiously.
Cody snorted. "Mindspeak. Both our fathers can communicate that way."
"And would have called on each other only as a last resort," Tessa reminded him.
"True. But that doesn't change the fact that one group has run into trouble. Or most likely both groups."
Jared shook his head. "I'd so hoped that everything would have been dealt with already. I asked your brother about it, but he really didn't say much." He frowned. "Come to think of it, maybe I didn't ask him. Seth sure doesn't talk much does he?"
"Seth? You came here with him?" Tessa asked in shock. "Why did he come?"
"He didn't say. In fact, none of them talked much."
"Them?" Cody asked quietly. "Who else came?"
"I have no idea. But we drove from Tessa’s house, then we stopped somewhere along the way and these three young vamps were waiting for us on the side of the road. Really weird. They got in and we drove up here. We separated at the entrance. I focused on finding my father so I have no idea where they went. And Taz found me not long after. He wasn't happy to hear about Seth and the others though. He was quite worried. Said it wasn't safe here."
"And it's not," Cody added. "We're still trying to get away from these assholes. Adding new guys that don't know the score can get them killed. In fact, there's no way to know if they have been hurt or not."
Tessa shuddered. "I haven't seen Seth. I've seen his energy, but I couldn't make sense of it. Now I'm just scared that he's heading into a trap. He might have come at Mom's urging to make sure we're all fine but he's not going to know what side is doing what. And anyone who doesn't know him is going to take him out."
"Yeah, there have been so many attacks the feeling is more like if you're here and not one of us, then you’re one of the bad guys." Cody added.
"At this point, no one is going to ask questions. They are just going to kill," she cried out. "We have to find them. Help them."
"Hey, they seemed to know where to go just fine. I certainly didn't get the impression that they'd never been here before. They came to the garage and down the hallway as if they knew exactly what to do."
His matter of fact delivery in no way eased the impact of his words. Tessa's mind raced for answers. Raced for an understanding that was reasonable and so not the instant one that came to mind.
Easy Tessa. Cody's warm comforting voice slipped into her mind. We don't have the facts at this point, so let's not jump to any conclusions.
Easy to say that, but my mind is already all over the place. How would he know about this mountain? Even if he'd been told about the garage, that doesn't make it easier. He'd have fumbled, looked around, maybe even asked Jared.
I know what it sounds like when you first hear it, but we can't jump to conclusions, he stressed. This is too big and too important for that. You know Seth. It's not likely he'd be involved in this.
No. She smiled, relief washing through her. He wouldn't.
Unless his friends had gotten him into it?
That sent shards of ice through her veins. Damn. She struggled to remember tidbits of conversation these last few months. But she couldn't lock onto anything. Nothing specific.
But there was a sick feeling in her stomach. Either way, Seth being here was bad news.
And that the others still hadn't met up was another bad sign.
In fact, this whole final segment of their journey was starting to look like seriously bad news.
"We need to find the others."
"I'll scout around." Cody unfurled his wings. Jared took a hurried step back.
"Jesus," he said just beneath his breath.
"It's okay, Jared." Tessa turned to Cody. "Be careful."
He nodded. I will. And you keep your pretty face safe too.
And he took off.
*.*.*
Jared studied Tessa's face, watching the emotions flit across it as Cody took to the air. He didn't particularly like that lost look. As if she was about to be separated from her best friend. And from what he'd seen, there was more than just friendship going on. And that couldn't be good. He didn't know how he felt about her but knew he wanted them to have a chance.
He could hardly compete with some guy that could pull
out a set of wings and fly through the air. He didn't know how many vamps could fly, but he hadn't seen anyone other than Cody and his father. So they had to be rare.
Great. The oh so much older and protective Cody could fly. That would make him a god in women’s eyes. And it was something most guys would kill for.
He was only human. How could he compete? And did he want to? Hell, he'd always thought of her as his girl, but they'd only gone to the movies as part of a group. A night that had ended in disaster.
Since then, she had been the light that kept the darkness at bay while he endured all the torment her people inflicted on him. No, not her people. No matter what the vamps had done to him and to these other poor victims, they could never be in the same category as Tessa. She'd been the only one that had come after him. The only one who'd cared enough.
So the question really was – did she care for him? Or did she care for everyone and he was nothing special in her eyes?
And wasn't that a depressing thought?
"Let's go back to the computer room. See if we can learn anything useful."
Jared started at her voice. She was all about business now. Had he imagined her melancholy over Cody leaving? God, listen to him. He was starting to sound like a girl, worrying over everything. Pathetic.
Resolutely, he turned and followed her into the room.
*.*.*
Rhia stared moodily at all the members involved in heated arguments. Everyone agreed that something needed to be done, but so far no one had any idea what to do. Ideas were tossed into the ring and trashed immediately.
For the first time, she understood her daughter's constant complaints about vampire meetings. Lots of talk and no action. This time she was the one waiting to get out of here with a plan of action. But no one knew what to do.
"It was a mistake to come here."
Silence.
It was as if she'd shouted the words at them.
One by one, the humans drew back and glared at her.
"Really? And why is that?" said the leader, anger cutting through the suddenly thick atmosphere.