by Dale Mayer
Unstoppable.
Closing her eyes, Tessa held Deanna in her mind’s eye and concentrated. That bitch might be in here with Tessa, but – in Deanna’s own words – there could be only one.
And she released the final hold restraining the fury and like an arrow pulled back taut, she let loose the rage on her enemy.
And collapsed.
*
Goran couldn’t wait for Tessa. She’d arrive as fast as she could to help her father. He knew that. That she wasn’t already here meant she’d found trouble of her own. And that girl could find trouble. How, he didn’t know. He raced down the stairs. Was it safe to go out the front door? Was it even nighttime? Could he fly? He was so twisted around and upset he wasn’t even sure what to do. As long as Serus lived, he’d be fine. But he had to make sure that happened. “Serus old boy, you’ve sure done it this time.”
To his delighted shock, a thin laugh swept through his mind.
I’m going to live. I don’t feel so well at the moment, but I’m sure it’s temporary.
“If you say so.” Goran wasn’t so sure. But the two of them had been through so much and had been close to death several times before. They’d survived then, and they’d survive now.
“Besides, I have to find Rhia.” Serus whispered.
Goran had completely forgotten his friend who was on a quest to save her son. Save Serus’s son. Goran was in doubt about the success of that venture already. It’s not like the boy had been coerced into doing all the shit he’d done. Yet he had been drugged then mind-controlled, so maybe… And what about Goran’s own son? If he could forgive Seth, Serus’s boy, could he forgive his own? Especially now that he was dead and gone?
Tyson had brought pain to a lot of people. Pain with no way to forgive or forget. But he hoped with a little time they could all move forward.
Except Serus needed help first. I’m trying to get Tessa to come and heal you.
“She already did, my friend. She actually pulled silver from my body and stopped the rot at the point of entry.”
Goran shook his head. How is that even possible?
I don’t know. She said something about a mix of energies and that the bullet took some of the leather from my jacket. That plus her abilities seemed to make the difference.
You need rest and time to heal. She’s nuts, but you’re still going to the hospital.
Hate hospitals.
Right, well, that was a slip of a tongue. It won’t be a hospital. I’ll take you to the Council Hall, let the doctors there take a look at you. You can reconnect with Rhia and Sian.
Good, he whispered. I need to find Rhia.
Yeah, Goran winced. Sorry.
I’ll find her. At least there I should be able to track her mentally. I’m no good to my daughter at the moment, so maybe I can help my wife.
Goran glanced out the windows along the long hallway. It was dark enough to fly. That was good. Hang on. We’re going now.
He pushed open the exit door, took a quick look around, then took to the air, easily carrying Serus. They had been surrounded by the enemy earlier but as far as he knew, the skies were free. He only needed a few minutes to get to the Council Hall this way. With any luck, they’d make it without being seen.
Now to get Serus where he could be helped. He glanced down at his old friend, hating to see the gray color seeping into his skin. Using as much power as he could, he sent the two of them on a hard and fast flight to safety.
*
There was something about this room. Shit. Knowing it was stupid but unable to help herself, Jewel pushed open the door and looked inside. At first glance it appeared to be empty. But…she stood in the open doorway and perused the dark space. There was nothing here. She laughed, relief washing through her. So it was all her imagination.
Better that than the alternative. She went to close the door when she realized how small the room appeared when compared to every other room she’d seen in the Council Hall. The others were huge. This one appeared to be less than half the size. Or were there two rooms here? She pushed the door open wider and turned on the light. The room was empty. And tiny. She studied the far wall, wondering if there was a second door. She turned off the light. A small bar of light underneath a section of the wall at the far corner said there was another door. And that a light was on in the other room. Curious, she checked the hallway, but she was alone. Stepping inside, she closed the door behind her and walked to the inside door. She put her ear against the wall and listened. An odd hum sounded from the other side.
There were so many things at this Hall that she knew nothing about, but what if there was stuff going on here that no one knew about? That noise…it was almost familiar.
She frowned and reached out… and pushed.
*
Rhia stood silently in the empty landing, her back against the closed door. She didn’t feel bad but she didn’t feel…right. Yet she didn’t feel wrong. Images and sounds whispered in and out of her consciousness. Like when she was looking for the right word to explain her thoughts but the word was just out of reach. Now there was so much more than a word missing. There were whole memories lingering on the edge of her mind. Too far to grab and haul in where she could see them better and too close that she couldn’t forget or dismiss them altogether. She knew they were there. She knew they were important.
But…she couldn’t reach them.
And they were about her son. About the orders to keep him safe. She’d sent him somewhere, or at least had tried to, right? Maybe? But had that order been changed, or had someone else sent him away anyway?
Losing Seth would be the end of her. The guilt of her own actions was a crushing weight she couldn’t bear. The disappointment, letting the rest of her family down, their lack of trust in her every move…no, she couldn’t live like that. She had to find him.
With a deep breath, she looked around. No one from the Council ever came down here to these levels. There was no point. These floors were empty and useless. There was no need of so much space. The Hall’s attendance was way down. Why was that? Where had the vampires all gone? She remembered thinking that their numbers needed to be replaced but hadn’t questioned why or what had happened to reduce their population.
She was so confused. And with her mind wandering from one direction to another, she had no idea if she was on the right track or not. But she had the vague idea of a plan in her head. An important plan. She pushed away from the door and headed to the exit. This was the first step.
*
Jared stared at the massive vamps in front of him. The words he was hearing weren’t computing. He was in the vampire Council Hall. He was with vamp friends who had helped him. Big strong vamps who were there to protect him And should have been safe themselves. Who were these assholes? Why had they attacked his vampire friends?
Ian and Wendy were still unconscious on the floor.
“Come along, Jared. We have a hook waiting with your name on it.”
His blood ran cold. He was not going back to the blood farm. He couldn’t. Not again. He’d see these guys in hell first. He had to. Jared shook his head. “No, you can’t.”
“We can do anything we want. In fact, we have been for a long time.” The massive vamp sniggered. “You are not going to stop us.”
“This can’t be happening,” Jared whispered in shock as he watched several males pick up Wendy and Ian and after carefully checking the hallway to see if anyone was coming, carrying them out of the room and down the hall to the exit. He couldn’t be taken prisoner. Who’d help Clarissa then? She’d been taken by those assholes and presumably to a blood farm too. And she’d been only trying to help. No, he couldn’t abandon her.
He was nudged forward.
“Move it.” The vamp nodded in the direction the others had gone.
Jared tried to pull back.
“Oh no you don’t.” The vampire snapped his arm forward. “You’re not going anywhere but where I tell you.”
�
��I don’t want to go,” Jared snapped. “I really hate you guys.”
“Yeah, like I give a shit.”
The large vamp grabbed Jared by his upper arm and dragged him forward. “You’re going one place and one place only. Back to the blood farm.”
“The blood farm is gone,” Jared cried out. “There’s nothing left.”
“There is always something left. Did you really think there was only the one blood farm?”
He’d known there were more but he hadn’t wanted to contemplate it. But maybe, just maybe, he could find out more. “How many are there?”
“Several. Enough for our needs, that’s for sure. But maybe not for the growing population…”
“We’ve done a good job decimating those up and coming numbers, too,” Jared sniggered.
“Yeah, you have,” the vamp growled. “But we’re building up more.”
“Trying to take over the world?” Jared asked.
“Going to take over your world. Humans are food. Need to be farmed properly. Bloody disgusting the way they live and reproduce. Should be shot. Every last one of them.”
Jared cringed inside. “They’re no worse than you.”
“Disgusting. We’re kings compared to you.”
“Kings?” he snapped. “Then why all the DNA modification if you’re so damn perfect?”
“Why? How about because we can? Because the technology is available. Because it’s at our fingertips, and who amongst us can resist the temptation to be bigger? To be more powerful. To be better in all ways.”
Jared could understand that much, but that was no reason to kill off the little guys. And he was running out of options. The red exit sign was just ahead. There was no one around to help him. No one to call out to. In fact, this area seemed as deserted as a ghost town. How could this be?
The Council Hall was the hub of the vampire world. It should be teeming with life. Instead, all the lower levels appeared to be collecting dust. He didn’t get it. There had to have been many more vampires here at one time. What happened to them all?
Then he didn’t have time to worry about the vampire society as he had more than enough vampires to deal with now. There were a half dozen at least. Between carrying Wendy and Ian and herding him, there were several others carrying large boxes. He wanted to know what was in the boxes but at the same time, he didn’t give a shit. He just wanted to find a way out of here. The man dragging him along like he was a two-year-old opened a vehicle and shoved him into the back of a van. He ended up on his knees on the floor beside Wendy and Ian, both still unconscious.
Gathering his wits, he spun around and shoved the door open. And met a fist head on.
It cracked against his nose and propelled him backwards into the van beside his friends.
“Now stay there.”
And the door slammed shut. This time, he heard several clicks outside the van door. They were locked in.
Chapter 2
Tessa peered through her eyelashes. Was she back in control? She hurt everywhere, but inside there was a weird emptiness. As if she’d burnt to a crisp and been reborn. There was even a leftover smell of ash.
Including a weird smokiness to the space around her. Was that inside her head or outside? She barely knew what had happened in this room but could see the events as they’d played out in Deanna’s hands. She’d killed Bart. Or had that been Tessa at that point? God, she’d been mad. Thinking in a red rage and not with her emotions under control. But she wasn’t sure it had been her. She’d felt her hands doing the act, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself from acting. Deanna? Maybe Tessa also hadn’t had time to save Lacy. That was even more devastating. She’d been beautiful and so young to have gone through so much. Innocent, she’d only wanted to help Deanna.
A tragedy. And one that Tessa wasn’t sure she understood yet.
It had been her intention to help, but somehow Deanna had taken over. And what exactly had Deanna done? It’s not like there was any part of Lacy living inside her…was there? Stumped, she considered that question and realized that it was all too possible. There was energy all around her. Anyone she touched would have left her energy here, so why not Lacy?
If she’d been inside that young woman, then she should now have bits and pieces of Lacy within her. Except she couldn’t feel anything. Was that after the purging fire? Or was it because there’d been nothing left of Lacy to absorb?
If that was the case, then Lacy had been just a shell and likely existing on Deanna’s energy. A neat trick on Deanna’s part. And not easy, but as Lacy was basically comatose, keeping her in that state wouldn’t require much effort.
Only this had been going on for years.
Deanna was powerful, as she’d proven already, but keeping that young girl alive for all that time? Why? What did Deanna gain from it?
And if Tessa couldn’t feel Lacy, could she still feel Deanna? Her eyes drifted close as she sent out feelers in all directions. She wanted to believe she was gone. Or at least been reduced so small in power to the point of no longer taking over, but she couldn’t trust Deanna. She’d been so damn sneaky before. And besides, with all the fire going on, where was Hortran? Had he disintegrated in that fire? Or had he some way to survive as well? In which case, had he saved Deanna? Or maybe vice versa.
Not feeling quite right but so damn happy to be back, she raised her hand and touched her temple. She could feel skin, soft and supple. It felt…with a surge of relief, she realized it felt normal.
She opened her eyes and slammed them close again. The room was so white… So bright.
She was in the damn hospital. The burning she smelled was from the last attack. The ash belonged to Bart. She frowned. He’d attacked her father. Yet she understood. He’d believed that Deanna had hurt his daughter. He was so focused on revenge…like Deanna.
And maybe like Tessa. She’d wanted to bring the blood farms to the ground and get her brother back. Seth was in danger. These assholes had caused her and her family untold pain and heartache, and it wasn’t over. The need to save her family, to put a stop to this nightmare, was overriding her judgement.
As Deanna’s emotions had overrode her judgement, too.
Tessa let her head, heavy and unwieldy as she struggled to ‘fit’ back into her body, roll to the side, her gaze falling on a beloved face.
Cody held his head in his hands. His body slumped at the end of the bed.
Had he seen this fight? She could remember hearing him talk to Deanna…vaguely.
His dejected look had her heart warming. God, she loved this man. “Cody?” she whispered his name into the empty room. He froze then slowly raised his head to look at her.
She smiled at him, her lips actually moving in an upward motion. “Hey?”
He frowned.
Not the reaction she was hoping for.
He moved closer, his gaze narrow, assessing.
“It’s me,” she tried to reassure him. “Honest.”
“Is it?” he said in a hard voice. “How can I tell?”
She frowned. “I gather you had a conversation or two with Deanna while she had me locked up?”
“You could say that. She caused a fair bit of damage in her little rampage.”
He spoke the right words, but not in the right tone. It was irritating but understandable. Still, she needed him to believe her.
“Well, I’m not Deanna.”
“You might not be right now, but that doesn’t mean she’s not lurking, ready to take over at any moment. She killed Lacy. Killed Bart…”
“I know. I could feel her actions, knew what she was doing, but couldn’t control my body. Couldn’t stop her.” Tessa swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up slowly.
“Prove it…”
She stared at him. “How?”
He stared at her. “Who was the human male we found when we were first looking for Jared?”
Instantly, the man’s name popped into her mind. She’d never been able to forget him.
“Wallace Carstairs.”
He leaned back slightly, surprised at her answer.
“Believe me now?”
He frowned. “I’m not sure,” he said grudgingly. “Maybe. You sound different.”
“Different how?”
“Younger? Normal?” Cody studied her face. “But Deanna fooled me, too.”
“Did she sound like me?” Tessa asked curiously. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Cody frowned. “Well, maybe not.” He leaned back. “Only maybe it was because of the confusion at the time. The utter chaos. There was no time to think. No time to figure out if there had been a different person speaking. I was expecting to hear you, so I heard you. Until I understood the words.”
That made a weird kind of sense. She stood slowly, her body achy and slow to respond. But it was answering her commands, so that was all good. She took a few shaky steps, trying to avoid the pile of ash that had been Bart. The bed was covered with Lacy’s remains, too. This whole place was a death trap. It was supposed to be a hospital, but instead it was a funeral home. It was all she’d seen since she’d been here. And she was so done with killing.
Except that didn’t mean she could stop just yet. It wasn’t possible until this war was over. In fact, there were several more traitors she had to take care of. She rotated her neck, turned, and faced the door. She needed her power back. That, along with Deanna, appeared to be long gone. And that was dangerous as hell.
She turned to face Cody, hating the distrust, the distance between them, and asked, “Ready?”
*
Cody didn’t know what to think. He’d watched Deanna take over Tessa in such a way that no one knew until it was too late. Tessa hadn’t even known until Deanna had her locked up. Then just as quickly as it started, the air calmed as if a breeze had blown through the room and taken all the old stale air with it, leaving something fresh and renewed in its wake.
Now that she’d managed to wrestle control back – if she’d managed to regain control – and that was a big if at the moment – was Deanna going to do that all over again? Because he didn’t know if he could trust Tessa again if that was the case.