by Dale Mayer
There was a shocked silence as Serus's face closed down. Tessa couldn't imagine a vampire being kept alive forever so they could use his genetic material whenever they wanted to.
She swallowed hard. "Does he know? Is he aware of what's going on?"
The vamp glanced down at her. As Serus's grip had loosened enough, he straightened his shoulders and readjusted his lab coat. "No, of course not. We might need some brain material, and who knows what a conscious awareness after decades of drugs would do to that. He's very valuable."
"Yes, of course," she whispered, hating the words that came out of his mouth. "Of course he is."
"And the other vamps? The other ancients? Are they valuable too?"
"If we had any, they would be, yes." He cast a considering look at Serus. "Will you donate your DNA—"
Her father's face went hard and flat. "No way in hell."
The vamp sniffed, lifted his chin. "It's for a good cause."
Tessa doubted it, but she was more concerned with his earlier comment. "So you have no other ancients in your labs? Or none that you know of?”
"Young lady, if I don't know about them, how could I possibly answer that question?"
Right. It was a stupid question. They were also wasting time. "So first you are going to show us where the humans are being kept for your experiments, and then you will lead us to where the vamps are 'volunteering' for their experiments."
The sneer in her voice elicited an instant response from him. His nostrils flared and his lips pinched together. "They are volunteers. And it will have to be vamps first as they are closer."
"Good. You won’t mind if we ask them ourselves." Serus grabbed him by the back of the neck and turned him around. "And don't try to sound any alarms or try to escape."
"Where would I go?" he said calmly. It was such a reasonable tone Tessa wanted to smack him out of his complacent world. He was part of this mess. The reason so many vamps had come to horrid ends.
She waited until her father and the doctor moved off in the direction he'd said to go then stared down at the vamp by her feet. Suspicious but not sure why, she pulled back and booted him hard.
A gasp escaped him.
"So you were playing possum."
She pulled out her stake and stabbed him in the shoulder. He exploded in front of her.
She straightened to find the doctor half turned, staring at her in horror. "Oh my God, what did you do? He was my colleague."
"Was is correct. What do you think all your experiments have been doing to us?"
He shook his head again in wild denial. "No. You must have attacked them. They are gentle. They are not killers."
That didn't deserve an answer.
Serus added, "They are killing every one of us they can."
"Only if you attacked them. They are programmed to survive."
Not strictly true, but Tessa thought it was close enough. "If this mine is the only life they've known, maybe the blast made them feel threatened. We found some growing – and before you have a hissy fit – we didn't kill them. The blast did that for you."
"Oh dear. Those were our maturing groups. They wouldn't have been ready for months yet. Some much longer. We'll have to start all over again." Distraught, he was almost running down the hallway.
Tessa kept to a safe distance behind him. She didn't know if he was as lost in his world to the extent that he appeared to be, but that still didn't make him a peaceful vamp. As far as she was concerned, they didn't exist.
The group that had attacked at Tyson's command had been anything but killers.
*.*.*
Cody wished he understood the mess of thoughts flipping through Tessa's head right now, but her emotions were all over the place and so were the thoughts. From the preoccupied look on his father's face, he wondered if he was talking to Serus. Or if Serus was in the same state as Tessa. Doctors, ashes, killers, and captives. It all rolled into a mess in his mind. He ran steadily behind his father, Goran's big coat flapping with every step. The only good thing about this trip was his energy and strength seemed to be rolling in strong and fast. It felt good.
Except he hadn't had a chance to test his wings. Somehow he didn't think they were fully healed. Rolling his shoulders to ease the stiffness, he said, "We have to get up a level."
His father's steps never slowed. He called back, "I agree. Do you see any way to do that?"
"No. Damn it." He hated being separated from the others. Something always went wrong.
"Well, they've captured a doctor. He's leading them—" Goran glanced over at Cody and read his face, "But then you know that already."
"Yeah, but I don't want them walking into a room full of volunteers. There's no guarantee they are drugged and unconscious. For all we know, they have a small army up there waiting for enhancements.”
Goran shuddered to a stop. "Look."
A door.
Cody approached slowly. "It's almost too easy.”
"Not if you think that they weren't expecting anyone else to make it this far."
"I suppose." He walked over, turning to look at his father, "Ready?"
At Goran's nod, Cody pulled the door open.
*.*.*
Rhia stumbled on the uneven ground. She glanced back for the millionth time as the group urged her on.
"Mom, we have to leave. There is no way to let them know that you are coming. That just makes it a bad deal all around."
"I could tell your father if I could get closer."
"And what good would that do? They are trying to find the survivors from the blast. You need to help us get out safely."
"I need to help them," she stated baldly and balked at being dragged one more step.
David ran a hand over her shoulder. "Mom, I know you're worried. I'm worried. But this isn't about you or me. It's about all of us."
She studied his face. "How can I reconcile what you are saying about Seth if I can't see his behavior for myself?"
"You'll see it later. Or if you are lucky, he will have reverted back to being the man we know. They all will." He motioned toward the unconscious vamps being carried by the soldiers. "And they all need help right now."
She took a deep breath, her thoughts conflicted. There was no way she'd listen to them about her son. She knew him. Inside and out. Just like she knew David. He was worried. For her. For his brother. And his father and sister. But he also needed to get Jewel outside. She looked bad. Like really bad. And…Rhia narrowed her gaze to study the smaller woman's face. She appeared...different than when she'd just come upon them. Alert. Not as tired. Almost waiting in readiness...
She spun around to study Ian's face. Damn. He looked the same.
If these two flipped...
"Mom? What's going on?"
She swallowed and motioned to Jewel's face. Her alabaster skin was turning gray. Her mouth was almost colorless, but her eyes, it was the change in her eyes that worried Rhia. The sweet-exhausted-just-want-to-go-home-and-have-this-over-with attitude was gone. In its place...Rhia watched in fascination as Jewel’s gaze hardened, darkened, and flattened.
"Shit." She didn't think, she just reacted to the threat. She jumped Jewel, knocking her back several steps while the others scattered.
"What the hell!" David rushed to Jewel's side, but Rhia beat him to her. She picked her son up and tossed him back several feet while her other arm reached out and clasped Jewel's neck. Into the one spot her husband had shown her a long time ago.
Jewel dropped to the ground.
"What did you do?" David yelled as he ran to Jewel's side. "Are you crazy?"
Rhia closed her eyes, hoping against hope she hadn't been wrong. But how was she supposed to explain it to her son?
Then she didn't have to.
Ian exploded.
He threw Wendy off to the side and jumped David.
Chaos exploded on all sides. The army moved in to restrain Ian.
Rhia caught a glint of silver as she tried to get close enough to grab Ian's neck and put him out, but the fists were pounding and bodies were being slammed down. One human went flying, then another.
She saw an opening and waded in. Grabbing Ian, she knocked him out in seconds.
Then she stepped back to survey the damage.
David was on his back, groaning. "What the hell happened?"
"I'm going to assume that it was a cumulative effect of the drugs. At least I hope that's why they just flipped and went batshit crazy on us," Wendy said, staggering over. "I don’t want to believe Ian would hurt me otherwise."
"He wouldn't." David struggled to his feet. "I never saw it coming. They'd have taken us out before I understood that they'd turned on us." He shuddered, a visible ripple of emotional pain that started at his head and worked its way to his toes. "I'm sorry, mom."
"No. I'm sorry. I didn't have time to explain. It just happened to fast.”
"Well, maybe you could explain now. Because we have no idea what the hell just happened." Two of the soldiers stood up. One was still unconscious on the ground. The injured man they'd been trying to help out of the tunnel sat on the ground and stared. "I don't get it. It's like they were time bombs set to go off at some signal."
"That's possible, but more likely they were affected by the drugs in the blood we drank."
The men's faces twisted in revulsion. "You drank blood?"
David ignored them. He was a vampire. What did they expect?
He turned to face his mother. "We found a lab housing 'growing' younger vamps. We stayed there because Tessa and Cody were so badly injured." He held up a hand to stop her exclamation. "They needed a place to heal. There was a lot of blood around and none of us had fed in a long time. We were exhausted. Some of us were worse than the others. Ian and Jewel grabbed and drank complete bags of the damn stuff. I only had a half and even that was too much. I fell into a deep sleep."
"You're thinking the blood was drugged?"
He shrugged. "There was no way to know for sure. Tessa believed it was. She refused to have any." He stared around the room. "And maybe she was the smarter one after all."
"But why at the same time? Jewel is much smaller," Wendy asked.
"Yes, but Ian drank two bags." David ran his hand over his head, his features twisted with fear. "He was pretty wasted."
"And the one starting to turn could have accelerated the other's progress." Rhia reached out a hand. "What a mess. Is anyone else hurt? Like seriously hurt?"
"Tony over there is still out cold, but other than a few more bruises, we're fine." The human asked, "Did you kill them?"
"No. They are my children's friends. I couldn't do that. They are unconscious and if we are lucky, they will stay that way. At least for a while."
"Good thing you came with us. We can't handle all of these unconscious people without you." David stared down at Jewel, a terrible look in his eyes. "God. I feel so bad for her. I should have warned her about the blood."
"If she needed to feed, it wouldn't have mattered what you'd said to her, she wouldn't have listened."
She watched him crouch down to stroke Jewel's cheeks. "She'll be fine, David."
"I know she will be eventually. This has been incredibly difficult on her."
"Hell. It's been brutal on all of us."
Rhia studied Wendy crouched beside Ian. They were coupled up as well and she hadn't even seen it. They were all so young. She figured it would change and possibly break apart over time like so many young relationships, but it appeared that this last week may have cemented the relationships. Staring down at her son's bent head, she asked, "Jewel's really important to you, isn't she?"
David stiffened slightly then relaxed. He gave a broken laugh. "Very." He turned to face her. "We’ve kept it to ourselves for so long. Not on purpose, but because it was special."
Wendy piped up. "Same here. It's private. We hadn't wanted to share. And at the same time, we didn't want to have it change by letting others know. We'd get bugged, some might laugh, so we kept it quiet." She smiled at David. "But we thought you two were a couple."
He grinned. "It was hard at times. Cody knew, so I figured Ian did too."
She nodded. "Yeah. After Cody broke it off with Xana. I wondered who he'd be with next, but so far he's single."
There was a funny silence. Rhia looked at David's bent head and then over at Wendy's curious face. Jared spoke up for the first time. She'd almost forgotten about him being there.
"He's paired up with Tessa now. Bonded, I believe David said," he commented dryly.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rhia caught David hunching his shoulder.
Wendy laughed. "No way. That's so not possible." She shook her head. "Cody has dozens of women after him."
But Rhia watched her son. His bent head, his stiff back. "David," she said in an ominous voice. "What do you know that I don't?"
*.*.*
David slowly lifted his face to look into his mother's frowning face. "It's not for me to say."
She narrowed her gaze, temper lighting the depths. Yeah, that wasn't going to wash. He asked, "Have you spoken to Dad lately?"
Her gaze deepened, darkened. "No. I haven't been able to. What happened?"
David fell silent. What could he say? She'd have to find out sooner or later. His father and Goran had handled it relatively well. His mother... yeah, that was a whole different story. And he didn't want to be the one to bring on the storm. Damn Jared. Then in all fairness, he wouldn't know to keep off the subject. Plus as he might still be hoping to win Tessa back, it made sense he'd bring it up.
Rhia spun around to pin Jared in place. "What do you know?"
"Mom. It's not our place. You will find out eventually and there are a lot of explanations to come, but could we focus on the issue at hand and get these people to safety. Obviously Ian and Jewel need medical attention, as does the human. The ins and outs of our relationships are not the prime concern," David snapped. Then he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, but you should not hear this from us."
An uneasy silence surrounded them as she contemplated his words. She glanced at Wendy then over at Jared, opened her mouth, and then snapped it shut. "Fine. But you, young man, have a lot of explaining to do."
She reached over, grabbed Ian, and tossed him over her shoulder. Then she snatched Jewel off the ground and threw her over her other shoulder.
Ignoring the jaw-dropping stares from the humans, she said, "Let's go. I don't have time for this."
With her spine stiff and straight, she strode ahead of the rest of them.
"Jesus, she's strong." Jared whispered in awe.
"Well, the temper is giving her extra strength right now, but yeah, she is." David strode after her. Wendy ran to catch up to him and asked, "Were you serious? Is there something going on between your sister and Cody?"
"You have no idea." He shook his head. "Honestly, so much has happened, I don't believe it all myself. It's going to be a hell of a shock to my mother, so please don't bring up the subject again."
"Fine, okay." She took a deep breath. "But first answer me this." She spun around to read his face. "You said they are bonded? For real? I thought that was a rumor."
"So did I, but it's not. It's for real. And for better or for worse – Cody and Tessa are bonded."
Tessa didn't like the doctor or what he stood for. His morals and ethics made her sick to her stomach. To think that people like Jill and Catherine, Jared even, were just animals to him was disgusting. He was the animal. Obviously it was just a short step to culling their own people. How gross was that? She knew from her human history class that people had been doing it to their race since forever, but she'd never seen or heard of vamps doing it to their own people.
More fool her for being so blind.
Not blind. Young. All species cull their own. Whether to remove the ill or aged, all animals tend to get rid of dead weight, Cody said
gently.
That's an awful way to look at the world.
Don't knock me for it, knock Mother Nature. It's her system, not mine.
Well, it sucks, she argued. There's no way that someone who's old and has contributed to the society should get knocked on the head because they are slowing the pack down.
But it's the law of the fittest, you know that. You don't have to like it, but...
And these assholes? she asked, Why should they be the ones to say they are the rulers and everyone they deem unworthy should be killed off, hung up for lab tests, or enhanced? she snapped.
Hey, I agree with you. Don't get angry with me. I'm on your side.
Sorry. She groaned gently as she rotated her shoulders. They are starting to piss me off.
Yeah, I noticed. Oh wait – yes - Dad found a door! Cody's voice rippled through her mind with waves of excitement. Hopefully it will take us to your level.
Be careful.
Always. And his voice dropped out of her head.
Damn. Why hadn’t he told her what was behind the door? Dropping away like that was just creepy.
Cody? She asked cautiously. No answer.
Double damn.
She rushed up to her father. "Can you hear Goran? I was just talking to Cody. He said he found a door and then he disappeared."
Her father gave her a worried glance. "I was just talking to Goran, but he left too."
She pursed her lips, checking out the doctor's face to see if he knew anything, but he didn't appear to understand what they were talking about. Or wasn't letting on if he did. His nose jutted out at a snobbish angle.
"Maybe they went behind another stone wall and we just can't get through."
That made sense. Particularly if they were in another stone type of passageway.
She glanced over at the doctor again. "Do you know Seth?"
The doctor glanced from one to the other. "Who?"
"Seth. He was just here in this area a few moments before us. He was with us, but then we lost him."
The doctor shrugged. "That's easy to do. Unless you have GPS or blueprints, this place is a death trap." He spoke the way he walked, a sharp rhythmic staccato.