by Dale Mayer
"Maybe, but it's still daylight and I can't go anywhere until the darkness falls."
"Then hide in the trees out of sight until you can go home."
"And you, what are you going to do?"
Rhia stared down at the entrance. "I'm going in. I am a councilwoman. Some of them will know that. That should protect me." At least she hoped it would.
"Then I'm coming with you."
Rhia started to protest.
Wendy shook her head. "No. I'm not going to be safe alone. If they find me, I can hardly explain my presence, and nothing has changed about my reason for coming in the first place. Ian is here. And I know he's in big trouble."
At that, Rhia sharpened her gaze. "What makes you think that?"
Wendy shrugged and stared into the garage entrance. "I don't know. It's just that everything feels wrong."
Somewhere in the distance, a deep rumble sounded.
"Sounds like a storm is gathering." Rhia motioned. "Come on then. Let's get inside."
The two hopped down to the lowered garage floor before walking to the steel door.
"For better or worse," Rhia muttered. "I will have my family back." Then under her breath, she added, "Or die trying."
Vampire in Defiance
(Book 5 of Blood Ties Series)
Dale Mayer
This was it. For Tessa. For Cody. For Jared. Her family. Her Friends.
Moltere's Mountain is collapsing. With Tessa, her friends and family still inside. Tessa won't go down without a fight...and she won't leave the others behind. But as she races to save everyone, time runs out.
Grounded with an injured wing, Cody wants Tessa to leave while they still can. But most of their friends and family are missing. And he fears the worst...
Jared had led the army into the mountain, only to find they were looking to annihilate all vamps, not just the bad ones. He can't leave his friends vulnerable to yet another attack But the mine is a death trap, and he could be the one that ends up dead.
The pressure is on – to save friends, family, each other – only the enemy is just as determined that no one survives.
Valley Publishing
Copyright © 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1927461-67-9
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidences either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to all my children, especially my daughter Kara, who started me on the road to writing Tessa's story. Enjoy!
Tessa stopped directly in front of Goran.
Serus frowned at her. "Tessa, this might not be the best time."
Goran stared at her, his jet black gaze shuttered and hard. Tessa took a deep breath and studied his eyes, seeing past the rage to the pain deep inside. There was so much hurt. But there was also anger. And she didn't know if any of it was directed at her. If it was, she needed to diffuse it.
She willed herself to get this right. For her sake. For Cody's sake. For Goran's sake. "I'm sorry."
Serus stepped up behind her.
Damn, her voice sounded terse. Cold. She winced. She hadn't meant it that way. She tried again. "I am sorry. I wish there'd been another way."
Clouds crossed his vision. He narrowed his gaze at her.
"But I had to." She added soberly, not able to hide her own pain. "He was trying to kill us all."
The room had gone deathly quiet.
She waited. They had to get past this as best as they could. She stared up at him, letting him see her own pain. Her own regret. Her own acceptance of his reaction.
The muscle in his jaw twitched as he continued to glare at her.
She waited.
His glare eased and a heavy sigh worked its way up from his chest. As he released it, some of the rigidity left his shoulders and eased the tight muscles of his face. He nodded.
"And he'd have succeeded if you'd been a moment longer," Goran announced, his voice gruff and thin with pain. "You don't need to apologize. You did what you had to do."
Tessa breathed loudly. She let her own strained shoulders ease. "I did," she said, "But I'm still sorry. He was your son and Cody's brother. I wish he'd been a stranger."
A ghost of a smile whispered across Goran's face. "In many ways, I guess he was."
"And in many ways, he wasn't." Serus pointed out. "We know there are going to be many more casualties before we're done."
Goran nodded, straightened his shoulders, and looked around. "And we need to stop this abomination. There's no way I'm leaving this nasty room and these...these things here to grow and come after us."
Cody stepped forward. "Is that what you want?" He waited until Goran turned to look at him. "I'm pretty sure they are all related to us."
A look of horror crossed Goran's face. "That doesn't make them family," he cried. "They are creations, test tube concoctions. Lab results. Not family."
Cody grinned. "Just checking."
Goran shuddered. "Do not joke about that.'"
Just then a louder rumble sounded. Tessa spun around. "Whoa. What was that?"
The others turned as the sound grew louder.
"I don't know," Serus said. "But it's not good."
Goran straightened and took several steps forward. "I want this place demolished. These...these things destroyed."
"We will. But it can't happen right now. We need to get out of here." Serus ran toward the door that Tyson had tried to escape through. "We have to go...and now."
David ran ahead, tugging Jewel’s arm to keep her close to him. "What do you think that noise was?"
"I don't know. But it can't be anything good. We're inside an old mountain, remember? Inside an old mine riddled with unstable tunnels."
Cody rushed up and grabbed Tessa's hand. "Come on. Let's go."
She tugged back, her gaze off to the side. "Not without your father."
He turned to look at her. "What?"
"Your father. Look." She pointed to where Goran was busy trying to destroy some kind of panel on the wall. "I think he wants these things destroyed more than he wants to get out of here safely."
Cody groaned. "We don't have time. We have to go."
"I know, but look at him." Tessa studied Goran's face. "He looks possessed."
"He is. Tyson created all this," Cody swept his arm wide, "Using my father's blood. Tainting it in a way. He's not going to be able to live with himself if Tyson's creations survive."
"Can't we take care of it later?" she cried out. "The others are ahead again."
"Go. I'll stay here and help him."
"No. Not again." She shook her head. "He needs to come with us. We need to make him understand." A louder groan swept through the mountain, sending shivers down her spine. "And we need to get out of here, now!"
Cody rushed over to his father. "Dad, come on. We'll come back and take care of this later. But something is happening, and we have to leave."
Goran looked at Cody; Tessa could see the black tormented look in his features.
"Goran, please. There is something happening to the mountain. Either the vamps are blowing something up, or there is a quake or something. It doesn't matter. We have to get out of here. Please."
Goran shook his head. "No, you go. I have to make sure these things are destroyed."
"And do you have to kill Cody while
you're at it?" Tessa cried. "You've lost one son. Do you want to lose another?"
His eyes widened in shock. "No. Go. Run to safety. I'll stay he—"
"No!" Both Cody and Tessa shouted. They each grabbed one of Goran's arms and dragged him out of the room. "We can come back later. We have to leave before we're all killed."
Just as Tessa finished speaking, a horrible groaning sound came from – everywhere. She cried out. "Hurry. The mountain is coming down."
Then she was swept up into Cody's arms and with Goran flying at his side, they raced down the corridor in the wake of the others.
Tessa clutched at Cody. Panic kept her breath locked into her throat. They weren't going to make it. She knew it inside her.
"Stop thinking like that. We've been through so much and survived that I have to believe we'll make it out of here."
She didn't bother answering him. They'd caught up to the others. She pointed to a black entrance up ahead. "There. It could be a way out."
Cody swooped into the big room, leaving the others slightly behind.
Frantic, she searched for a way through.
Dirt fell down on them, small stones bouncing as the mountain rippled all around them. More dirt fell, then more rocks. Cody darted and swerved, trying to get to the wall on the far side. She buried her face against his shoulder, fear clutching her heart.
She couldn't have imagined this. Not after all they'd been through.
A huge boulder hit Cody and he reeled from the blow. He cried out. They started to slip sideways.
She gasped as his left arm fell away useless She grabbed his shoulders. "Cody! Oh my God. Are you okay?"
He obviously wasn't. They were still falling.
"I can't hold us up," he gasped, "My wing." Small rocks showered down on top of them. Tessa struggled to help Cody correct their path, but he was too big to hold up. She was losing her grip on him.
Then something hit her on the shoulder and they both lurched to the side. Cody crashed into a wall and fell from her grasp. He tumbled to the floor below.
Tessa cried out. Cody!
She jumped toward him.
Cody, talk to me. But there was no answer.
Something smashed into her back and sent her tumbling in his direction. She cried out in agony. Dirt fell down around her as she twisted in a freefalling motion. Then the mountain gave an almighty shrug and sent a huge cascade of rocks down on top of her.
And she knew no more.
Tessa couldn't move. Neither could she open her eyes. But she could sneeze...and cough...and sneeze some more. With every movement, pain radiated from her chest to her toes. Toes she felt all too well. Damaged toes. Damaged leg. Badly damaged knee.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
She tried to assess the damage. Obviously she was still alive, but given the little bit she remembered prior to this moment, she wasn't sure that was a good thing. Buried alive sounded like another living dead scenario – especially considering her long lived vampire heritage.
Then she remembered her friends and family...and Cody.
Cody? Can you hear me? Cody!
No answer.
Maybe he was like her, caught somewhere between awareness and unconsciousness. Or worse.
Panic set in and brought her screaming back to her physical reality. And the pain. It streaked throughout her body and ripped the foggy clouds away from her mind. She cried out as millions of sharp pinpricks covered her legs, her back, and damn...her head. She'd been fighting for days and now she felt like she'd been the loser of a mega battle. Oh wait, she was – Mother Nature had given her ass a major butt kicking.
Still, as she vaguely remembered the blood farm vamps' earlier innuendos about something big about to happen, she realized Mother Nature might not have had anything to do with it.
Cody? She reached out mentally again, hoping to sense him. Sense anyone. But found nothing on that level. It was like she existed in deep space completely surrounded by...emptiness.
She coughed again to clear the dust from her lungs. She had to hang on tight to her emotions, or she'd break down and lose what little strength she had left. Now if she knew the others were alive...
Cody? Can you hear me? Please be okay.
Memories of him falling from her grasp caused a light film of cold sweat to pop up all over her skin. She hadn't been able to hold on to him. He'd been too big. Too heavy. She'd been injured and hadn't been able to hold on tight enough.
If he'd died because of her... Tears threatened. Impatiently, she brushed them away. She didn't have time to waste. He could be still alive. They all could be. The others had been just that much further behind them in the tunnel. If the tunnel had held.
She tried to take a deep breath. That brought on a major coughing spell. Damn, that hurt. Finally, she collapsed back against the rocks and opened her eyes.
And realized she wasn't even at ground level. She was lying on rocks, surrounded by rocks, and covered by rocks. In effect, she'd been buried alive, sealed inside a hollow in the middle of the rocks. She surveyed her prison. Cracks of light shone through in odd places so the rocks hadn't completely obliterated the cavern. That was the good news. With all the rocks flying around she was lucky she'd only been tossed around and bruised up. She didn't think she’d broken anything – except maybe her leg, only she didn't want to look too close. But...her hand had completely healed over as well.
How long had she been unconscious?
She could have broken and healed a dozen bones if she'd been out long enough.
Crap.
*.*.*
Cody tried to roll over and jolted awake as pain streaked across his wing. He cried out and collapsed back down, waves of agony rippled continuously down his body. Shit. The same damn wing he'd injured before
When the pain finally eased, he slowly lifted his head and realized he had only inches of clearance before his head cracked into stone. His wing, stretched out beside him, was pinned under an even bigger boulder. At the sight of it, he remembered.
The cave-in. His brother. Tessa!
He groaned. He'd fallen with her. Instead of saving her, he may have killed her. Panic surged through him. Tessa? Tessa!
Cody? Is that you?
His heartbeat calmed. Thank God she was alive. Tessa? Where are you?
Not sure. Under a mess of rocks. And injured.
He gasped. Badly?
Don't think so. Just my leg. A huge rock is balanced on several rocks above me and I'm jammed in below.
He lay back down in relief. Oh, thank God.
After a long pause she asked in a timid voice. Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I dropped you. I wasn't strong enough with my injured hand to hold us both up after a big rock slammed into us.
That wasn't your fault!
But I couldn't save you, she cried.
He gave a short laugh. And I've been thinking the same about you. I carried you into the middle of a cave-in where we were both injured.
So you are injured! Her horrified gasp ripped through his mind loud and clear. He wanted to lie and say he was fin—
Don't bother. Now how bad is it? I'm searching for an exit out of my prison.
Be careful, he warned. Any movement could bring those rocks down on top of you.
I know, but lying here forever doesn't sound like a nice way to spend eternity. She almost smiled at the thought. Almost. What about the others? Have you heard anyone call us? I wish we could talk with them.
That would help, but no, I haven't heard anything.
Can you move? she asked.
No. My wing is pinned by a large rock.
Oh no, she cried out. That's bad. Can you move the rock?
He glanced up at the huge boulder and groaned. I don't think so. It's huge.
Then I'm coming to you.
No! But he was too late. Tessa, in her typical take charge and forge ahead regardless style, had left his mind.
And left him feeling lonelier than ever. Christ, he hurt.
He tilted his head and listened intently.
Someone was calling for him. And it wasn't Tessa.
"Cody!"
*.*.*
Goran did a slow wide sweep over the rock pile below him. Dust swirled, hiding much from his view. The cavern ceiling still held, but it's as if it had shed an inner skin and dropped it all to the floor below. He should have waited for the dust to settle, but he hadn't been able to. Serus watched from the tunnel entrance with the other kids while he did a flyover.
It looked bad. Not a sign of them anywhere.
He'd already lost his oldest boy. He couldn't stand to lose Cody, too.
Serus called out to him. "Any sign of them?"
"Not yet. But they might be anywhere," Goran yelled back. "The dust is making it hard to see."
"Cody fell off to the left," David yelled. Goran hovered in place and turned to look at David. He pointed in the direction David had said. David nodded. Goran swooped down and studied the fallen rocks, searching for anything that would indicate his boy and Tessa were alive.
There was nothing.
As he turned to do a wide sweep off to the left, he heard someone. Or something. He dove lower and landed on a huge boulder.
Serus's voice immediately jumped into his head. Careful. They could be under any number of rocks.
I know, but I needed to stop and rest for a moment. He hated to admit it, but he was feeling like crap.
I hear you. But we're going to feel a hell of a lot worse if we can't find our kids.
I thought I heard something here.
What?
Not sure. If you'd be quiet for a moment maybe I could find out, he answered, exasperated. Serus went silent...but stayed in the background. Goran didn't need to look over at the mouth of the tunnel to realize that Serus was staring at him something fierce. As if by will alone, he'd have Goran find his daughter.
They'd decided that it was too unstable for Serus to land his jumps on the rocks, but things appeared to be calming down. The dust was settling.