Vampire in Conflict

by Dale Mayer

  "I heard about that ruckus." He turned back with a large needle in his hand.

  Cody was off that bench and backed against the door before the doctor had a chance to say a word.

  "No needles," Cody said tersely.

  "Oh stop. You're too old to be acting like a kid anymore," the doctor snapped. "I have to adjust that bone inside the wing."

  "No needles." Cody didn't give a damn what he had to do to his wing, he'd never let anyone come close with another needle in his life.

  "It's going to hurt like hell," the doctor snapped.

  Goran stepped in. "I'm on Cody's side. No needles."

  "Fools, the pair of you." The doctor shook his head. "I thought you had more sense."

  "I do," Cody said coldly, his eye on the needle. Damn, was he going to be suspicious of everyone now? Even the doctor he'd seen since birth? He wished he could see energy like Tessa could. Maybe she'd be able to see if the doctor was good or bad – that he couldn't pissed him off. Since they'd made it back from the mountain, Cody was constantly looking behind him, searching for the location the next attack would come from. He wondered how long it would take for that feeling to pass.

  Sleep had been hard to come by. He'd woken up a dozen times in a panic. Usually searching for Tessa.

  Wakefulness wasn't all that great, either.

  In the mine, he'd been with Tessa most of the time – unless one or the other had been kidnapped. After the first few days, they'd been together telepathically as well. That had been what had gotten him through the first day home. Knowing that Tessa had been there on the other side. They'd spoken sporadically – enough to stay in touch as their lives split in different directions. That she'd chosen to return to the human school blew him away. And kept their schedules out of sync. Finding time to be together was going to be next to impossible. He should be in classes himself, but his wing had been screaming at him and he figured there was something his body was trying to heal but couldn’t. His own father had suggested he come here.

  Thankfully, just then the doctor was called out into the hallway, giving Cody a chance to reassess. Now as he eyed the good doctor leaving, Cody had to wonder – just how good was the doctor?

  ***

  Serus grabbed the hair on the side of his head and pulled. "All right," he cried. "How was I to do anything? I'm telling you, you had to be there. Then maybe you'd understand."

  Rhia glared at him. "You let that…bad boy hook up with our daughter." She poked him in the chest. "I like Cody just fine. He's a good man – or he will be when he grows up – but she's…" Rhia poked his chest again. "Too…young."

  He threw up his hands. "And I'm saying she's not as young as she used to be. And Cody didn't do anything wrong."

  He glared down at the wife of his heart and had no idea how to make her understand. "What I saw happen over those few days between Tessa and Cody was…magical." He ran his hands over his face. God, he was tired. But this had been brewing since they'd met up safe and sound again after the mountain blew up and Cody had gathered Tessa up into his arms and hugged her close.

  Rhia had been brooding ever since. And although he was a warrior and braver than most men he knew, this wasn't a battle he wanted, and neither was it one he could win. Goran had slapped him on the shoulder and had wished him luck then taken Cody off to herd the injured vamps home.

  And had left Serus to deal with Rhia.

  Right about now he wanted to run away himself.

  "Damn it, Rhia." He glared at her, and then brightened when he realized what he had to do. "You need to talk to Tessa." He backed up, his face beaming with relief. "That's who you need to be talking to."

  "Serus, are you running away from me?" Rhia stalked closer, gearing up for a fight.

  "Honey, I love you. But I'm not the one you need to talk to." And he escaped to another Council chamber.

  The surviving members of the Council had been deep in talks since they'd returned home. Their numbers decimated, they were trying to sort out if other Councilmen had been involved or if they'd purged all the assholes.

  Councilman Adamson was leading that charge. He had what little was left of the evidence his longtime lover and traitorous bitch Gloria had left behind. Of course she hadn't intended for anyone to find the stuff, as she'd been planning on setting up shop somewhere else after killing Adamson and everyone else on her list.

  But that hadn't turned out so well for her. A savage grin swept over his face. Although sore and tired and feeling every year of his age, Serus went off in search of Goran.

  Serus, where are you? His old friend called.

  Coming your way. Where are you? Serus frowned. Suspicious now of everyone and everything, he hated the tone he thought he heard in Goran's voice. His own voice hardened as he said, What's up?

  We got trouble and could use your help.

  Chapter 2

  Tessa settled into her class routine by mid-afternoon. She'd been overwhelmed by some of the kids' overtures and then made decidedly uncomfortable by some kids who obviously wanted to be anywhere but in the same room with her. She realized that for all she'd been through, many of these people had only heard about the blood farm aspect and the vampires who'd done this. They'd associated her as part of the whole vampire group. And she was…but she wasn't one of those vampires.

  Her homework was done in five minutes flat. The rest of the class was struggling with the in-class assignment. She wondered if it was fair to be here. She couldn't stop the heavy sigh as she considered the problem. The kids needed to know that they were safe from her, and if her being here made them feel unsafe…then that wasn't good either. And it's not as if the schooling was hard. Maybe she would get a better education in a vamp school. She'd be more challenged at least. She didn't know what to do. At least in vamp school she wouldn't make the others feel bad. She was one of them.

  And if that didn't beat all. She was finally realizing she was a vamp and belonged in a vamp school. Revelations flooded through her. In her old life, she'd been hiding away with the humans. She'd felt safe here. The humans didn't pose a threat to her. Not the same as her own kind did. But she wasn’t that same person.

  Look at the difference a week made.

  She'd waged war on her own kind only to feel a greater kinship with them at the end of it.

  She hadn't seen that coming.

  She checked her cell phone and smiled. The day was almost over. Good. It had been a very odd day today, and she couldn't wait for it to be over. She hadn't seen Jared since this morning's class. He'd been surrounded at lunch, regaling the others with his adventures. Not wanting to rehash any of it, she'd left him to it. She'd killed many people this last week. That was nothing to gloat about.

  Then again, she was female. It was men who loved war stories. She wished Catherine and Jill had been here today. But so far she hadn't seen them. She had texted them – still no answer. She had to consider they were still in the hospital or at home recovering.

  Maybe after school she'd walk by Catherine's house and see if she was there. She needed to know they were okay.

  The afternoon bell rang, and grateful this day was over, she went to her locker, put away her books, and walked out.

  No one spoke to her as she left.

  It saddened her. Jared had done a wonderful thing this morning, and she appreciated his efforts. People had been friendlier after but that had waned as the day went on. Or maybe as the excitement died down. She didn't know. School just felt different now.

  Tessa changed her direction and headed to Catherine's house. She lived with both parents and a younger sister. Surely someone would be home to fill Tessa in on her condition. The house was cold and empty looking as she approached. Curtains were closed as if the owners had been gone for several days. Her blood quickened slightly with nerves. Would Catherine's family know what role she'd played this last week? Would they care? Would they remember her as Catherine's school friend? Or would they see her as a vampire and hide inside?

/>   When no one answered the doorbell, she had to wonder if the latter wasn’t true. Damn. She walked around to the back of the house. How could she find out if they were home and hiding or if they were gone – and gone a long time if the overgrown yard was any indication? She frowned. Catherine's family was a closely-knit one. They did a lot of things together. Her father…she paused trying to remember what Catherine's father did. It had something to do in the medical field. She brightened. He should be able to help his daughter.

  Maybe they were all at the hospital – visiting Catherine. She spun around, wondering where the human hospital was. Jared would know. She pulled out her phone and texted him, glad to have his number back on her contact list. It was the first thing he had given her this morning after that little introduction in class.

  New phones had been the first order of the day for everyone, as promised by her father. Serus had been happy to hand them all over. Apparently these had nifty GPS trackers, navigational tools, and tracking systems. All kinds of things that she had yet to play with. Jared's response was immediate. He gave her the address. When she clicked on it, it gave her a map to get there from where she stood. Too cool.

  Then she received another text from Jared asking her why.

  She texted back, Catherine and Jill.

  No answer on that one. She turned around slowly, watching the map shift and change to accommodate her new position, and realized she was only a few blocks away.

  As she was in human territory, she didn't want to jump her way to the hospital. She'd likely raise alarms about another vampire invasion. It was a sunny day, and after the prolonged time in the mine, the warmth and brightness was welcome. For a long moment she tilted her face skyward and smiled up at the sky. Then she started walking.

  The hospital parking lot was stuffed with vehicles, and there appeared to be people rushing all over the place. Then again, there were a lot of victims from that last raid. Thankfully, Motre's group had managed to get them off the mountain before it blew up. She had no idea if anyone had gone back to the mansion or if that area even still stood. She'd like to think the army was dealing with that. And hopefully searching for human survivors from the blood farm.

  From what her mother had said earlier, Tessa had understood that the people were better off hanging until they could be helped properly. Not just unhooked from the machines and hope for the best. The mountain blast had taken the decision away from them.

  And there'd been hundreds of humans in need – if not thousands. The humans didn't have the infrastructure or the medical personnel in place to help that many people at once.

  She realized as she stood in the parking lot that she was avoiding going inside. Was she obviously a vampire? Her hair might give her away. She pulled it to one side and quickly put in a side braid. Maybe that would help. She was tall, but dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, she should look like she used to at school – and no one had known her as a vampire before.

  She straightened her shoulders and walked inside. There were people everywhere. She winced. So many hurt and hurting. Families sobbed in groups. Others stood silent and broken off to one side. In the middle of the melee, she found a familiar face. Taz.

  She made a beeline for him. "Taz?"

  Harried, he looked up, spotted her, and his face lit up. "Tessa!"

  The noise around them dropped away until she stood in a sea of silence.

  Ah hell.

  Was she famous here, too? Or maybe infamous was a better word.

  ***

  Cody walked off the pain. It had been hours…and still it damn near crippled him. Serus had come to help hold him down after he'd refused to be given a needle for the pain. He'd tried hard to take it in stoic silence, but damn…

  Shudders wracked his tall frame as another stabbing pain hit him. His shoulder also screamed in agony. He thought the doctor said a bone in his wing was damaged. If that was the case, then why was his shoulder hurting so bad? He'd never have sat down again to get that wing fixed if his father hadn't stood guard.

  The good doctor thought he'd stood by ready to hold Cody down, but it was more to protect Cody in case the doctor was one of the assholes.

  Now the two men stood to one side deep in discussion. He heard snippets. Something about Rhia. Tessa. Then he heard the word pissed.

  Cody massaged his shoulder, mentally telling his vampire genes to kick in and heal his system - like now. Another of Tessa's habits he'd picked up. After a few more moments of walking and waiting, the pain had eased noticeably. Maybe there was something to Tessa's techniques.

  Instinctively he went to speak with her and had to stop himself. She was at school. And that had to be tough. He admired her for returning. For refusing to let that fear of how she'd be treated get to her. She could defend herself from any physical attack as she'd proven many times this last week, but he knew verbal attacks would be a different case. She wasn't used to that and had a tendency to hide inside. It was her instinctive response, honed after years of rejection.

  He wanted the Tessa he'd found this last week to be the one the rest of the world saw.

  That might be difficult.

  Hopefully she'd look around at the humans and the school system and realize she didn't belong there anymore. That worked for him. He wanted her on a vampire schedule. He was selfish, wanting her to spend time with him, and that was going to be damn hard to do if she slept all night and went to human school in the daytime.

  For the first time, he found his inability to walk in daylight restrictive. When he lived with others who moved in moonlight, it wasn’t a bother. However, with Tessa, he wondered if she'd be happy living in a dark world. She, of course, could live in light and dark, but she also got to go outside in the sunlight. He wouldn't be able to go with her.

  He turned to face his father. Goran had changed this last week. He was older, stronger, more appreciative of what he had, and more aware of what he'd lost.

  Cody hadn't processed his loss yet. Or the ramifications of his brother’s actions on Cody's own future. That Tyson, his older brother, had been one of the main forces behind the blood farm made Cody cringe inside and yet he hadn't had anything to do with it. Tyson had besmirched their good name. And damned if that didn't feel wrong. He hadn't realized how traditional his views were or how well tradition sat on his shoulders. He'd have laughed it off before. Now having experienced firsthand some sidelong looks and whispers behind him, he had the barest understanding of how bad the situation could get.

  He straightened his back. He refused to let others opinions impact him from doing what was right. He had real friends. The others could go to hell.

  There was still so much he didn't know about what had happened to the others when they had been separated. There'd been no time to fill in the gaps. He had few details of what had happened on the ground at the end. Even Jared knew more having been with David when Gloria had been killed. Such a horrible time. He was grateful everyone had made it out, but the cost had been high. Too high.

  He still couldn't forget the sight of Tessa boldly jumping off that cliff, two vamps gripped in her hands. She hadn't had a hope in hell of landing that jump, and she knew it. But she'd done it anyway. She might have made it if she'd been alone – might have – but being Tessa, she wasn't going to leave anyone behind. He broke out in a cold sweat just thinking about it. Damn that girl.

  He already missed her. He hadn't seen her all day. How were they going to do this? Serus might accept them having a relationship, but he wasn't at all sure Rhia would. It was different having a son over a daughter. Plus Serus and Goran had seen their relationship develop. Too fast to be comfortable for any of them, but not one person that had been there could doubt the sincerity or the strength of their bond.

  Somehow Rhia was going to have to deal with it. He had no plans to stay away. Or even wait until tomorrow to get his Tessa fix.

  As they walked down the hallway, he heard more rumbling behind him. The ancients. He sighed and turned to fa
ce them. "Okay, what's the matter now?"

  Instantly, they both straightened and gave him a superior look. His father said, "We weren't speaking to you, Cody."

  "No, you might not have been, but you were speaking about me."

  Goran drew himself up to his full height and looked down his patriarch nose. "Were you listening in on our conversation?"

  "I didn't have to." Cody laughed. "You just answered the question yourself. So like I asked earlier, what's the matter now?"

  His father slid a look at his old friend Serus, then shrugged. "You might as well tell him. He's going to need to be prepared."

  Cody took several steps toward his father, his stomach sinking. Now what? Hadn't he had enough trouble for a lifetime?

  He glanced over at Serus. He respected both men. He'd given it to them all his growing years, but this last week they'd earned it and so much more. At the moment though, something big was bugging Serus. And that couldn't be good. He asked quietly, "Serus?"

  Serus flinched then sighed. "It's Rhia. She's not real happy about you and Tessa."

  "Ah hell." Cody stared at him then asked cautiously, "Not happy? As in how not happy?"

  "As in she'd likely rip your throat out if you come near Tessa again."

  ***

  Rhia paced the private room. Her best friend sat complacently by her side and let her rant.

  "My God, Sian. She's only sixteen."

  She spun around to glare at Sian when she remained quiet. "Did you hear me? She's only sixteen."

  "Almost seventeen if I recall correctly," Sian said quietly.

  Rhia threw up her hands. "We live to be thousands of years old. What's a few weeks?"

  "If you put it that way, what's a few years? It’s just a blip on the screen of life."

  That did it. Rhia could feel her temper building to the point that she didn't know how to contain it. She stopped at the black curtain covering up the massive windows in front of her.