Vampire in Control

by Dale Mayer

  “Headache?”

  Motre shrugged but he didn’t pull his hand down. “It’s getting better.”

  “Sorry, Motre.” He quickly explained the warning and hesitation to go further into the building. “Do you know how to get upstairs?”

  Startled, Motre nodded. “You want to check up there now?”

  He nodded. “We can’t go in that direction of the Main Hall. Something has gone wrong, and we need to know what we’re dealing with.”

  “I haven’t been up there in forever. Several ancients used to live there. But I don’t think they do now.”

  Cody wondered. “Except someone is up there. We saw them.”

  “Was up there.” Motre shrugged. “We don’t know anyone is there now.”

  “Let’s go find out.”

  *

  Rhia felt like this was a last stand.

  She stood in front of the others, Ian still holding her son behind her. Wendy was supporting Jared. They were a sad lot. And she’d had so hoped they could escape without attracting any further attention.

  But they’d come around the corner and there were four men filling the hallway – waiting for them.

  Damn.

  She was already tired.

  But not tired enough to lay down and let these asses walk all over her. She hadn’t come this far to lose now.

  She gave a fruitless look at the men’s faces in the hopes they weren’t here with ill intent. But of course, there was nothing to register but their anger.

  “There you are,” she said in exasperation. “About time.”

  The man standing slightly ahead of the other three vamps grinned – if that’s what the grimace barely covering the man’s teeth was called. “You’re going nowhere.”

  “Did I say I was?” She raised her eyebrow at him. “These men need help. I thought that’s why you’re here?” She frowned at them. “Hurry up. Both men are in bad shape. There should be beds already organized for them.”

  Two of the men in the back looked at each other. She knew she had them worried. But the big man in the front, well, he wasn’t too interested in listening to her. And the fourth man, he wasn’t looking at anyone. He looked more asleep than awake, but she got the feeling that he could be the most dangerous of all.

  If she had Ian and Wendy’s help, then this was doable. If she had to handle it all herself – not so much.

  But they had to keep Seth and Jared safe.

  *

  Sian sat down on the chair Serus pulled out for her. Her legs were shaky and weak, her belly roiling with the lack of blood. She was tired and sore but so damned relieved. She was safe again. Unfortunately, she had no idea who had grabbed her, so she had no idea who to guard against. She’d been on her way to the office where several people had come and gone. But who could have snagged her and carried her out? And how had they gotten her past the main room? Someone would have seen her being carried away.

  Surely.

  “Sian,” Serus asked her. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Now that I’m safe,” she said in a low voice, “I’m much better. Thanks.”

  “Well, you don’t look it,” he said bluntly. “But I’m hoping you’re well enough to handle the reins here again. It’s not where I want to be.”

  She tried to laugh, but everything ached. “But you’re such a great commander.”

  “No, I’m a commander in war. Not at communication central.”

  “But you do it so well.”

  “No, I don’t,” he said, his hands waving out in front of him. “I’d rather be strung up and flayed alive before I spend another day here.”

  She glanced around at her office. “I might be able to take the reins again, but not without help.”

  “And guards.” Taz stood in the doorway, his face glaring at her. “Lots of them.”

  Tears filled her eyes at his beloved face. She opened her arms toward him. “And I just might accept them.”

  “You will or you’re leaving town. That’s two attacks. Two more than your body should have at this stage. Our daughter needs to be safe.”

  His voice, hard and lethal, brought slow tears tracking down her cheeks.

  “She is safe. And she will stay safe.” But her voice trembled with the effort to stay strong.

  Taz rushed to her side. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He bent over and gently wrapped his arms around her. “Take it easy. I’ll leave the hospital and stay here with you if you won’t go home.”

  “I can’t go home,” she said, her gaze hot and wet, willing him to understand. “She’ll never be safe if we don’t finish this.”

  Serus, his voice at the doorway, snapped, “We will finish this.”

  Nestled against Taz’s big chest, she nodded. “Thanks.”

  “This isn’t your fight, Sian. It’s all of ours. We’re all affected. Everyone has been hurt by these bastards. And no one will come out of this unscathed.”

  Sian stared at Serus. He was so strong and determined. He’d been through as much as she had. More with the problems dealing with Rhia and Seth. And then there was Goran. Both ancients had lost sons. She could only hope they recovered. But if she lost her child, she couldn’t imagine trying to go on.

  Her spine stiffened. She’d be damned if she let any harm come to her daughter while she was still alive.

  “Go. End this. We’ll hold down the Hall.”

  *

  Goran didn’t want to go forward. Instinct was telling him to run.

  He turned back to look at the men behind him, trusting him yet at the same time not. They had no reason to follow him and likely wondered if he was leading them into a trap.

  Hell, that’s what he’d be thinking if he were in their shoes.

  But they didn’t appear to be considering that as an option.

  There was anger around him. They wanted a target and they wanted it now.

  “Let’s move on, Goran.”

  “There’s something wrong here. It’s too easy. I’m afraid it’s a trap.”

  Someone in the back sneered. “Yeah well, I’m not afraid. Let me at them.”

  A roar of assent picked up around him.

  The men wanted action. He understood, but he hadn’t survived for centuries for being stupid. Something was wrong. But being the only vamp at the front of several teams of military men who he couldn’t do anything to hold them back, well.

  With misgivings, all senses on alert, Goran crept forward.

  Chapter 15

  Tessa tried to take a step and couldn’t. Deanna didn’t want her to go upstairs. But why? She quickly told Cody. He stared. “What do you want to do?”

  “I want to go upstairs,” she snapped. “And I want to know what her problem is.”

  Motre stood off to one side. “Is she hiding something?”

  “Maybe?” She didn’t know. Right now she was pissed. She wanted to go upstairs, and she wanted to go upstairs now. That Deanna was doing something to warn her but not giving her a proper reason why was just making her angry.

  Deanna, what is wrong? Why don’t you want me to go up there? She stopped and closed her eyes, willing Deanna to speak to her. To give her the answers she needed. But Deanna wasn’t talking.

  “Nothing. Damn it. What does she want from me?”

  Cody followed Motre, staying close to her side. “Are you really sensing her?”

  “I don’t know,” Tessa said, frustration boiling over. “It doesn’t feel like before, so I don’t know. It’s all different. She’s gone, but there’s that little bit left. I can’t tell if I need to listen harder or if what she has to say isn’t as important.”

  “Or it is, but she no longer has the power to get her message across.”

  Tessa studied Motre’s insightful words. Unfortunately, they were concerning. Motre opened up a large double door set. From the outside, it appeared to be part of the same ornate trim and not doors. She smiled as it opened to a wide staircase. “Wow. I never saw this before.”

&
nbsp; “Neither have I,” Cody said. “But it’s cool. It’s twice the width of any other staircases in here.”

  “And very ornate.”

  He laughed. “I’m presuming that the ancients originally lived up here. It looks like the best of everything for them. Nothing scrimped.”

  “Back in the day when they were the elite.” She laughed. “It’s pretty fancy.”

  They started climbing. “I wonder how many people know about these steps.”

  “Not many. I’m thinking that whoever lives up here – if anyone lives here – likely has another entrance and exit. It allows them to move in and out quietly without being seen. To them, they might not even see anything wrong with that. Most vampires are loners. Private. If they could have a place like this,” he waved his hands to the rich paintings on the wall and the big windows, “then who wouldn’t want it?”

  “It’s familiar.”

  Cody stopped. “Sorry?”

  “It’s familiar to me.” Tessa stopped and stared up the long staircase and the massive windows. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Hmm. Back to that looks familiar part. Have you been here before?”

  “No,” she said positively. “I haven’t.”

  “Then…”

  “Deanna’s seen it before. That’s why. There’s something that hurts her – maybe wants to hurt her – up here.”

  She felt Cody’s gaze but refused to meet it. How could she explain without going and accessing Deanna’s memories? Memories she didn’t want to access. She was scared to go there when she wasn’t sure what had happened to Deanna. It felt like her presence was growing now. Getting bigger. Gaining in power. And the thought terrified her.

  After all she’d seen and done, to think of Deanna gaining a foothold in her life and locking Tessa up again indefinitely was the private horror she’d been enduring in secret.

  Not in secret.

  This time she did look at Cody. You knew?

  I could feel it, he said calmly. And it’s a fear that I recognized as it mirrors my own. He reached out and grabbed her hand. All the more reason to go upstairs and find out what bothers her here.

  And the others?

  Motre called up from behind them. “I hear voices in the Main Hall. I’m going back down to see what’s going on.”

  Tessa hesitated. She hated the idea of them splitting up, but she could hear voices too. Not angry confrontational voices. More conversation tones. So no fighting. But if she went back to the Main Hall, she’d have trouble escaping again. And she really needed to find out what was up here. There was a secret up here. And it related to Deanna. She snorted. Even if she did try to access those memories of hers, she wouldn’t be allowed to. That was walled off. Private. Something she didn’t have to try to know it wasn’t going to work. In her mind’s eye, she could see the filing cabinet locked and wrapped in chains. To not be opened – ever.

  Well, Deanna might be able to keep her out of that set of memories – but she wasn’t going to be able to stop Tessa from climbing up the Council stairs to the penthouse apartments.

  Who was up there?

  Sensing that Motre wasn’t heading into any danger, she gave him a bright smile and turned to run up the stairs lightly.

  Cody, as always, or rather, even more so now, was close behind. Beast ran at Tessa’s side. At the top, she stopped and looked around. Beast growled, a low and hostile sound coming from the back of his throat.

  She reached down a hand to calm him. She had no idea what was up here, but someone was.

  And he stood in front them.

  Only Tessa didn’t recognize him. No one could. Not even a mother would acknowledge that face. She stopped and stared and realized something else. This man’s energy wasn’t black with poison. He was deformed from some other cause. He wasn’t young like her and Cody, but not as ancient as Deanna. Yet he appeared older than the ancients.

  She took a step forward, plastering a smile on her face.

  He held up a hand. “Stop. You are not welcome here.”

  “Why?” Tessa asked, studying him playfully. She was sure she’d never seen him before. Yet he seemed to know her. “Who are you?”

  “It matters not. I know who you are – what you are. The what you are is not welcome in my presence.” For all his disfigurement, and she couldn’t quite see how bad it was, there was an aura of power around him.

  “Who are you?” Cody asked. “Why do you have a problem with her?”

  “She is Deanna’s vessel, and while I don’t wish to kill her at this point, there are many of my friends who would do so instantly,” he said coolly. “I can’t protect her or you for long.”

  Tessa slowly drew herself upright. She could feel the anger, the injustice of it, inside. Deep-seated rage, pain, and…wow…fear.

  Deanna was terrified of this man for some reason.

  “Why do you hate her…me,” Tessa asked quietly. “What did she do to you?”

  He stopped and stared. “Why don’t you ask her?”

  No, Deanna screamed, her voice blasting through Tessa’s head. I won’t talk about it.

  “She won’t talk about it,” Tessa said sharply, hating the uncontrolled edge to Deanna’s anger. She was still too powerful for comfort. “But I can feel her anger and pain.”

  “Pain?” he mocked, his eyebrow shooting up. “She is not in pain. Hasn’t ever been in pain in her life. She wouldn’t allow it. She was the queen of all she commanded.”

  “And you,” Cody asked his voice hard. “Who are you to her?”

  The man gave a laugh that sent chills running down her back. “I’m Victor, her one and only son. And the one person she tried to kill and…failed.”

  *

  Cody stared at the deformed male in front of him. “Son?” He shot Tessa a sideways glance. “Did you know?”

  “No,” she said in a low voice, “And Deanna is getting angrier and angrier.”

  The man in front of them laughed. “Of course she is. My dear mother made a lot of enemies, and I’m one of them.”

  Cody watched him narrow-eyed. There was something going on beneath the surface.

  Tessa? What are you getting over this situation?

  I don’t know. She’s so angry. As in her energy is building—.

  As in taking over, he interrupted in alarm. You said…

  I know what I said, she snapped, her breath harsh and choppy as she struggled with the inner onslaught. This man…he is her son, but she doesn’t really know him.

  How? he barked. Did she raise him? Lose him? What’s going on? You have the memories, so access them. This is important.

  I’m trying, she cried. But she’s blocking me.

  Cody struggled to keep his face calm and controlled. This man, whoever the hell he was, was studying Tessa with a hawk’s intensity. Feral. He asked, “How is it you live up here?”

  “Well, my dear mother arranged it of course. Been here since the building was erected.” He smiled. “She owed me.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, she did try to kill me.”

  “For a good reason, maybe,” Tessa said, her words struggling to be understandable. “I think you tried to kill her.”

  “Sure. But only after she tried to get rid of me at birth. That’s always good for a mother-son bonding.”

  Shocked, Cody asked Tessa, Is that true?

  I don’t know. There’s so much rage in Deanna right now that I can’t tell. Under the anger is pain. So maybe and maybe not. There are layers of deceit and anguish I can’t see through.

  “I made sure to celebrate your demise, dear Momma.” Victor smiled, a cruel edge to his mouth. “And not even at my hand.” This time there was real humor in his voice.

  “Deanna says that’s not true,” Tessa said. “That you did have a hand in her death. That you’ve tried multiple times before your ceasefire and when she was at her weakest, you took her out.”

  The vamp’s face turned icy cold, his misshapen features turning ha
rd and ugly. “Well, isn’t that nice to see she’s still spouting lies and deceit even at the end.” He laughed. “I hadn’t planned on airing the dirty laundry but if she wants to get it all out…” He shrugged. “So be it.”

  He walked to the windows on the far side, the moonlight shining into the room. That’s when Cody noticed the harsh limp, the wings. They were likely somewhat functional but he wasn’t just deformed, he was disabled. What the hell happened?

  Not sure, but I think there might be some truth to his words.

  “She was young, about to be married. Only she found out she was pregnant.” Victor said. “She tried to get rid of me before my birth. Then as the wedding was cancelled due to her carrying the offspring of another, she gave birth then tried to kill me again.”

  He turned to face them, the moonlight highlighting the scars on the face, the bone structure that wasn’t quite right.

  “And of course she killed my father. But I was saved by an old vamp who had known of Deanna’s pregnancy. She spirited me away to the other side of the world. It was centuries before I understood the real story.” He glared at Beast, whose low howl was climbing in volume. “I found out on Nan’s deathbed. She told me what had happened. I made it my life’s quest to make Deanna pay for what she’d done.”

  Cody had to wonder if any of this was true. Had Deanna done that? Even for a vamp mother, that was cold. “And yet you didn’t succeed?”

  “No.” He stared out the window. “With time, the necessity seemed to not matter anymore. And with Nan gone, I was alone. When I’d finally found my mother, she’d married and moved on – happy to be childless.”

  Tessa, can you see his energy? Is he telling the truth? Is any of this real? Or more lies to make us believe something he’s not?

  I’m not sure, but I can’t hold on. She gasped with the effort to retain control as the waves from inside slammed to be released. She’s so angry. She wants to speak.

  “No! If he thinks Deanna is in control, he’ll try to kill you.”

  *

  Rhia bared her teeth and crouched. As a last stand, it wasn’t much, but she had to fight. Had to survive. Or all of this was for naught, and she couldn’t let that happen. Not to her boy or her children’s friends that were helping.