by Dale Mayer
"You could have told me," she muttered. "Looking stupid all the time isn't exactly a goal you know."
Cody and Goran both laughed. Cody walked toward her, his lethal grin making her heart beat faster. "That wild warrior woman look will never make you look stupid. And thanks for coming to our rescue. But as you can see, we got it covered."
In fact, three piles of ash burned around them.
She tilted her head. "Three?"
"Yeah, another one joined them from somewhere."
"Probably one of the guys who locked up Taz and the others."
Goran turned to stare back in the direction of the warehouse. "Did you find them?"
It was Tessa's turn to grin. "Sure did. And they are all racing to the surface of this damn place with strict orders to get off the mountain until they hear from us." She glanced over at Cody. "I sent Jared out too. It's really dangerous for humans in here."
He snorted and pointed to the ashes. "And for vamps."
Goran moved down to the entrance of the tunnel. "Let's get moving. I'm having a hard time hearing Serus in my head."
"That could be the damn tunnel and the sheer amount of mountain between the two of you." Cody led the way through the door, with Tessa close behind. Goran took up the rear position.
Cody looked down as he stood at the top of the stairs. "These steps go on forever. It's faster if we fly, but there isn't enough room to open our wings."
"I'll race you," Tessa said. She reached out and smacked Cody on his shoulders. "Tag, you're it." And she took a leap off the top stair and landed on the landing below then took off again. Using the longest jumps she could, she barely kept ahead of Cody racing behind her, who was laughing and swearing as he just missed her at every landing.
The stairs went on forever. She just kept extending her jumps until finally she could see the last one ahead. She was about to take the final jump that would take her to ground level when Cody grabbed her arm. "Shhhh. We don't know if there are more guards."
Startled, she pulled back and caught her breath as they waited for Goran to join them. By the time he arrived, she was feeling more or less calm from the rush of jumping so far. With a warning glance at both of them, Cody dropped lightly down the last flight of stairs. He walked the few steps to the doorway and put his ear up against the door. Then he shook his head and motioned for them to join him.
With the three of them in position, he cracked the door open just a hair, listened, then pulled it wide enough for him to look out.
Tessa waited impatiently.
Cody turned and opened the door fully. "There's no sign of them anywhere."
Crap. Tessa stepped through and looked first in one direction then the other. He was right. There were no obvious signs that her family had even been here.
Cody pointed to the left. "That's where Jared disappeared and made it out of here last time. I'm pretty sure that means our group would have been taken to the right."
"Why?" Goran frowned. "Does that go deeper into the mountain?"
"To another blood farm possibly?" Tessa murmured, staring down the track to the left. If Jared had left that way, it would be an easy way out. But her family was in trouble. Resolutely, she turned to the right and studied the size of the tunnel. The energy trails confirmed that a large group had travelled in that direction.
The tunnel was just barely big enough to fly in. "Well, we have the advantage here."
Goran looked at her. "In what way?"
"The tunnel is big enough that we can fly or glide and catch up to them faster."
Both men eyed the tunnel. "It would be harder work here, but still doable." Goran nodded. "I'll fly ahead and scout the tracks. See if I can find something.
"No," Cody said, causing both Tessa and Goran to stare at him. "I'll go. Then I can tell Tessa if there is a problem up ahead without having to come back."
Now she understood. "Good thinking. Go. We're right behind you."
Cody took off smoothly and flew forward with ease.
Knowing she was the weakest link, Tessa started off with her long ballet jumps. By the third or fourth one, she was covering twenty or more feet in a single jump. Goran hovered by her side.
Tessa, I can't see them.
Keep looking. They have to be there somewhere. Are there doors up ahead? Curves in the track? Any place they can go?
Not that I can see. I'm flying further ahead.
She shared Cody's findings with Goran.
He frowned and stared down the dark tunnel. "There has to be an end to this thing."
"But it could be ten miles or more." Of course that was likely to be an exaggeration but then again, maybe not. It was an old mine. How extensive were these things?
Tessa? I think I see something. The tunnel splits into two tracks up ahead.
She told Goran.
"Tell him to wait for us. We don't want him going off on his own."
She told Cody, listening as he laughed in her head.
That sounds like my father.
He's right. If you get into trouble, we're too far behind to help out.
She picked up the pace as much as she could without tiring herself out. There was no point in arriving at their destination exhausted. That wasn't going to help anyone.
Actually, I think you might be almost here.
In the darkness, she could see Cody racing toward them.
"Hey. How much further?" Goran asked.
"Not much." Cody pointed ahead. "It's right around that bend."
Three more glides and she was there.
"They've likely gone to the right. The tracks are much shinier, as if they'd been used more often." Goran said. "The tracks on the left are darker."
Cody turned to Tessa. "Do you agree?"
She stopped to study the tracks. She turned on both sets of vision and studied the tunnels. "Definitely the right. They can't be more than a few minutes ahead."
"In that case, we stay together."
Cody nodded. "Tessa, you set the pace. We'll keep up with you."
She nodded and took a leap into the air. As soon as she landed, she immediately took off again.
Cody flew up beside her. "You can really cover some serious ground this way, can't you?"
"More and more all the time. I wasn't anywhere near as good at the beginning, but now..."
She warmed at the admiration in his voice. It wasn't flying, but it was what she could do and as her dad had kept up with Goran these last few centuries in the same way, she figured it would work just fine for her too.
It was Goran from behind her who sent out a gentle warning, "We need to keep quiet. I think I hear something."
And just then, so did she.
Voices.
She strained to make out the words.
She raced ahead, trying her best to land as soundlessly as possible. They had no place to hide. And no place to go if they were attacked. She shoved her fingers into her pockets and pulled out two spikes, one in each hand. She'd be damned if she'd leave any more asshole vamps alive.
Especially not ones that double-crossed them.
*.*.*
Serus tried to keep his shoulders down, his demeanor quiet and beaten. It wasn't that hard actually. The amount of silver they were all waving around might just be affecting him. They'd already come close to killing him once. A slash of silver had cut through his coat and grazed his skin. It was as if a poisonous arrow had scraped him raw. He wasn't dying. He knew his vamp genes would heal that eventually – but it was taking time. And time was one thing he didn't have.
They had to get out of here and he needed to be at full strength to achieve that. He'd managed to connect with Goran. The good news was that Goran, Cody, and Tessa were on their way. Tessa had also found the techs from the warehouse and had sent them to safety. Now why his daughter hadn't left with them was both agonizing and terrifying. He wanted her safe and away from here.
Still
, she was riding to the rescue once again. She'd like that.
He almost smiled, then remembered that he was supposed to be cowering in fear. Yeah right.
"God. Look at the old man. He's a broken down relic. Just like most of the ancients. Why do we keep them around?"
"Cause the boss said so. And you know what happens to those that cross the boss."
The first man gulped and pulled at the neckline of his t-shirt. "What about the girl? Do you think he'd let us have her?"
Serus felt David's back go rigid even as he felt Jewel's withdrawal into herself. He took a step closer to Jewel. These assholes were going to pay for that comment with their lives. If he didn't take care of it, he knew David would. These assholes couldn't be allowed to live and terrify their own species.
Centuries ago, there'd been an attempt to cull the vampires and keep only the purebloods. It was not that they wanted good vamps back then. They wanted ones of like mind. To that end, hundreds of vamps had gone missing in the span of a month. No one ever claimed responsibility or dared raise their voices but he'd always wondered. He remembered telling Rhia to keep a low profile. Even then, he hadn't been able to contemplate life without her. She'd been everything for him. And now he was blessed with three kids. That Goran said Seth was lost in this nightmare as well was just too much.
He didn't dare lose any of them.
The vamps talked among themselves, seeming not to care if the captives heard them.
Serus listened and planned. "See, the young one has more fire in his blood than the old guy. I say we should just kill him off. It will make the young ones much easier to handle."
"No, it won't. It will piss them off and we'll end up having to kill them just defending ourselves. We have to bring them all in."
"Talk." A different vamp on the right side of him spit on the ground. "That's all they do. How about a little more action?"
"I don't know. I kinda like this."
"Well, I don't. I'd rather have a good fight any day."
He straightened and walked over to the first guy.
Serus watched his movements. Then he heard Goran in his head.
Serus. Get ready. We're almost there. Three. Two.
Serus turned to look.
And the vamp who'd asked about keeping Jewel incinerated in front of everyone.
*.*.*
Cody shook his head. Tessa had turned into an aggressive vamp. That her chosen victim was the asshole asking about Jewel wasn't lost on him, but he figured David might have wanted to have that honor. But then he was too busy taking down the two vamps bringing up the rear to argue with her choice.
With the vamps turning to ash and being blown away by the wind, he turned to confront the rest. And stopped.
There was no one left. David was standing over a smoldering pile with smoke still floating around his arms. Ian and Jewel were still recovering from their fight, the two weaker ones sticking together and watching each other's backs. Both the ancients were huddled together at the other end of the tunnel, talking.
Tessa sniffed the air and grimaced. "I'm never going to light a fire and roast marshmallows again."
Everyone stared at her.
"Marshmallows?" asked Jewel. "What are those?"
Tessa threw her head back and laughed. "A human treat that they roast over ashes."
On cue, the group stared at the fiery ashes all around and groaned.
"Oh gross." Jewel made a retching sound.
Tessa giggled. It was a wonderful sound of resilience that never failed to entrance Cody. Yeah, he had it bad.
"Not over vamp ashes, silly," Tessa added, "over a fire made of wood."
"But why?" Ian asked. "I don't get it."
"Yeah, you'd really have to be there to understand." She smiled warmly up at Ian.
Cody realized how much of her life had centered around human activities. Human school. Human field trips. Human friends. What would she do when this was all over? Would she switch to vamp school? He was in university himself. But he thought she had one or two more years to go before then. He wished she was going with him to university. He was taking legal counseling so he could work with the Vampire Council. He had no idea what her plans for the future were. If she had any.
She was so young. He regretted that part. Only because he felt that by locking her to his side, she was going to miss out on so much. And a part of him didn't care. Right or wrong, he didn't want to let her go and find someone else. Or give her time to get to know her own mind.
Damn. He was a fool.
*.*.*
Now this was much better. Rhia strode out to the vehicle. The Human Council, once they'd realized she was serious, had gotten down to business. They'd pulled together some kind of secret service group and special army members. She didn't understand what their titles meant, just that they were loyal to humans and could be trusted not be corrupted over this process.
She had to trust someone. The teams were being assembled now. If need be, there were more of these groups around the world. But that would take time. And she didn't want to alert the vamp community of the widespread movement of humans. It was so much better to do this under their noses. If they learned of it, they might get the wrong idea and both sides would be facing a war for a totally different reason.
She waited by the vehicles, staring as the first rays of light peeked above the mountains. They had maybe an hour if they were heading to the blood farm. Although she wasn't sure that was the best place for them to be. More people rushing in without any warning could not be a good idea.
"Let's go." Councilman Adamson and Gloria got into the front seats of the SUV while Sian and Rhia hopped into the back. Behind the heavily tinted windows, they would be safe no matter which direction they travelled.
Sian's phone went off. She looked at the number and gasped in shock. "It's Taz."
"Finally," Rhia said, "Answer it."
Sian rushed to say hi to her love, then cried out at what she was hearing. The councilman waited for her to finish her conversation. But Sian was already dialing the Human Council leader.
Rhia listened in as Sian spoke on the phone.
"Jackson. I just heard from Taz. He says there were threats to do something to that whole warehouse. He didn't know if they were talking about gas or explosives, but make sure to warn your men."
"Explosives? Gas?" Rhia's stomach was ready to hurl. "That is not a good development."
Sian closed her phone and reached over to clutch Rhia's hand. "And it gets worse. Serus and his group, including David, Ian, and Jewel have been taken. Cody, Tessa, and Goran have gone after them."
"Deeper into the mountain?" Rhia asked, tears springing to her eyes.
At Sian's nod, she leaned her head back against the seat and tried to control her panic. "Did he mention Seth?"
The long slow sigh from Sian was painful to hear. "No. He never saw him, but he heard from Jared that Seth drove him up to the blood farm."
"Jared is there too?" Rhia asked, horrified.
"He's outside with Taz and the other human techs. The vampire techs were taken somewhere else."
Another problem to think about. "They will need to be picked up."
"They actually have a vehicle and are on their way down the mountain." Sian said, not looking up from her phone’s screen. "But Taz has not heard or seen anything of the others since Tessa released them."
Her lips pinned together to hold back the cries, Rhia swallowed hard and said, "What can we do to help?"
"Nothing. The human army is on the way," said Councilman Adamson.
"Doing nothing is not acceptable," Gloria snapped. "We are not useless and there is much we can do. I suggest we head to the first of those property listings. They are most likely storehouses or suppliers. If they fight, we kill them. If they want to talk, we imprison them and stop them from contacting anyone else."
Rhia brightened at that idea. "And we'd be cutting them
off at both ends." She turned to Sian. "What about you?"
"I'm in." Sian put her phone away and opened the laptop. "The first of the properties is about ten minutes from here."
"Councilman Adamson spoke up. I think we should bring in Councilmen Baker and Wilson. They will want to help."
"I'll call them", Gloria said. "I sent them an email earlier but we need backup now."
Tessa studied the group. Her father was hurting, but she wasn't sure what the cause was. Jewel looked like she was done. But then she'd been exhausted and worn out a long time ago. All that girl wanted was to get the hell out of here and never come back. It was the same thing Tessa wanted.
Except the vamps needed blood. But she knew none of them would avail themselves of any they found here. They'd gone without for so long that she hadn't worried about it, but now realized how fast it was becoming an issue.
"Any idea where you were being taken?" She asked Ian, who stood quietly beside her.
He snorted. "The bosses apparently wanted to talk to us."
"And where is that meeting supposed to take place?"
He opened his arms. "No idea. But they stopped here. We don't know if the others were coming to join us or if there is a doorway somewhere. You attacked before we found out anything more."
"Good. We'll be fine without them. The world is better off without those traitors." She sniffed in disgust.
"Yeah. Except this wasn't all of them. Several stayed behind."
She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Cody and Goran took care of them. And Jared and I found Taz and his group and they bolted out of that nightmare warehouse. They should be halfway down the mountain by now."
"You hope." David said, his arms wrapped securely around Jewel. "Jared's not very good at taking orders."
She frowned. "I'm hoping he did this time. If they are set to do something destructive with that blood farm, no one is safe." And that saddened her. "Jared came back because he found out his father is hanging there. He found him too."
Jewel spun around, horror on her face. "Please tell me you’re kidding?"