by Dale Mayer
Goran swam through the currents. Water washed over his head and into his nose and mouth, filling his lungs. He was drowning…in something. He coughed and choked, gasping for air.
“Hey, sir, take it easy. We’re pulling tubes out to make it easier on you,” a strange female voice said.
He choked again as something was jerked out of his throat. He jutted into a sitting position, groaning. Opening his eyes, he stared at the female vamp in front of him, then collapsed back again. “Who are you?” he gasped in a raspy voice.
Then groaned at the pain in his throat. It felt like someone had jabbed something down there and drained all the liquid out. He could barely swallow. As he was sure he’d been drowning, how did that make any sense?
“Try not to talk. Your throat is going to feel pretty rough right now.”
He snorted but refrained from giving his usual tart response. It would just hurt him more. But as thoughts of fire started to fill his mind, followed by the sensation of drowning again, he had to know. “What happened?”
“You were in a bad car accident. The vehicle you were riding in was hit by a semi-truck.”
He lay there trying to cast his mind back to the event she was talking about. There’d been something about squealing brakes and screams, but he didn’t remember much more. “And the drowning.”
There was an odd silence. He turned his head slightly to see her face, but it was schooled into a professional mask. Damn, he should have been watching her face while he’d asked that question. “Where am I?”
She jumped at that question. “You’re in the Council Hall.”
“Well, thank heavens for something,” he muttered, already feeling his throat start to ease as the saliva slipped down his throat. In fact, most of him was starting to feel better, a long ways away from good…but he no longer wanted to roll over and die. He sat up gingerly, waiting for some body part to start screaming. But there was no more pain. “I feel great.”
She frowned. “You shouldn’t be moving so much.”
“Yeah,” he eyed her carefully. “Why not?”
“You’ve been unconscious for quite a while. We thought you might not wake up.”
With one last admonishing look as if that would make him behave, she walked out the room, her hands carrying a tray of whatever she’d taken out of his throat.
Why his throat? If he’d been unconscious, that didn’t mean he wasn’t breathing. Hating the panic slicking through him, Goran couldn’t resist checking his body a little more closely. No broken bones, no cuts or even major bruising. In fact, he didn’t appear to be injured in any way – except for a horrible headache. As he lay there, an angry ball in his gut forming, a large male vamp walked in. Dr. Hansen. Goran frowned at the man. “Why the tube down my throat?”
The doctor walked closer. “You were having trouble breathing. As you were unconscious and showing no signs of returning to us, we took a long term view and made sure to keep your airway open.”
“Then you didn’t drug me?” He studied the doctor’s face, looking for signs of deception. Signs of blood farm bullshit.
The doctor raised his eyebrows but answered mildly. “Your friends noted your fear of drugs on your file. I assure you, the only medication you were given was something you needed.” He motioned to Goran now. “As in I administered medication to wake you up.”
Goran glared at him. He didn’t know what to believe. “How did I get here from the accident?”
At that the doctor grinned. “You were brought here by your son and his friends.”
Oh thank God. Cody was safe.
“Apparently you owe your life to a certain young lady who can walk in daylight. She hauled you out of the truck and into the car before they drove you here.”
Tessa. Goran grinned. Damn, she was good people. He swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Where are my clothes?”
“You can’t leave yet. The drugs are unpredictable.” At Goran’s flat stare, he added, “You need to stay here for twenty-four hours to make sure there are no side effects.”
Goran was on him like a flash. He had his hand around the doc’s throat before he had the last word out. “Side effects? What kind of side effects?”
The doctor glared down at him and refused to answer. Goran squeezed his fist tighter.
“Goran?” Sian’s voice snapped at him from the doorway. “Stop that. He’s been helping you.”
“He gave me drugs and won’t tell me the side effects.”
Sian reached up and peeled Goran’s hands off the poor man’s neck. “How can he? You’re choking him to death.”
“Why the drugs to wake me up, and who okayed the drugs?”
“I did, and so did Serus. You needed to come back. We couldn’t just let you die from lack of sustenance, could we?”
Goran turned to look at her. She was good people too, but why the hell would she have okayed the drugs?
“Your system needed the shock. It had been under so much stress, so many injuries, that it was just floating. We needed you back so we could get you to feed.” She held up a large mug of deep dark blood. “If you’d stayed unconscious, we were going to have to force feed you, and as we tried that and it didn’t work out so well…”
“The drowning?” Damn.
She titled her head, her gaze widening in surprise. “Maybe that’s what it felt like. We had trouble with the feeding tube.”
He glared at the two of them. “I’m awake now, so no more drugs. Shouldn’t have been the need for any in the first place.”
The doctor stepped back, shook out his coat, and said, “Duly noted. Next time I’ll let you die.” He spun on his heels and walked out.
“Harrumph.” Goran stared after him, a frown between his eyebrows. “What’s his problem?”
Sian laughed. “Well, maybe that he’s been trying to help you and you decided to almost kill him as thanks.”
Goran slanted a sideways look in her direction. “Where are the kids?”
When Sian looked down at her feet, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “Sian,” he growled. “What’s wrong?”
She winced. “Maybe you better sit down.”
“I’ll stand,” he snapped in an ominous voice, taking the mug from her. “Spill.”
And spill she did, giving him a few more details of the accident, even going so far as to show him the video that had gone viral of Tessa and Cody rescuing the vamps, then talking about David taking off, Ian and Motre in the hospital, Serus, Cody, and Tessa going after them all. And she ended with the worst. Rhia.
When he heard the last bit, he sat down on the side of the bed and finished his drink in silence. Finally, in a harsh whisper, he said, “Where does all this end?”
*
Jared scarfed down the beef and potatoes, wondering with half a mind if the food was poisoned. He sure as hell hoped not but for all the dead bodies he’d tripped over lately, death was hard to ignore. He also needed the sustenance. Not to mention being damn hungry. How Tessa survived on granola bars, he didn’t know. And blood. Lord, how could he forget that she drank blood?
Human blood.
Although according to what he’d seen, they fought against having the real stuff in a big way. Synthetic blood had long been the recommended source of food for vampires. Until you factored in the old way of thinking and that massive group of rogue vampires. Yeah, like he wanted to spend more time thinking about those assholes.
“Hey, Jared. You look like you could use another plateful.”
Jared stopped and stared at his almost empty plate. It had great flavor, and he was still hungry. “Umm, actually, if you don’t mind, I could use a second helping.”
He hadn’t even finished speaking when his plate was whisked away, refilled, and back under his nose. “Wow, thanks.”
“No problem. We take care of our own.”
There was an overly jovial note in the cook’s voice. Jared glanced up casually and tried to read the implication in the other guy’
s face. But it was hard. He didn’t know the people here. Not enough to understand the nuances in their voices.
“Right, Jared?” the cook asked encouragingly. “It’s important to stick together.”
Jared nodded, and the cook smiled with relief. Now if only Jared knew what the cook was talking about. And what Jared had just agreed to.
He’d just about finished his second plate when the manager stopped at the doorway. “Jared, you done?”
Jared swallowed hard and took the last couple of bites and nodded. He stood up with his plate, but the cook took it from him and nudged him toward the boss. “Go. I’ll clean this up for you tonight. You’ve had a tough day.”
Yeah, he had. But from the look on the manager’s face, Jared didn’t think the shit was over yet.
He followed the manager into the small office and took the seat pointed out to him. “Now, Jared, I just got off the phone with the police. I’d like to hear about what happened in your own words.”
Oh, that was a surprise. The police report wasn’t enough? Feeling like he was walking through a minefield, Jared carefully retold the same story he’d given the police. The manager frowned, never taking his eyes off him the whole time. Jared could just feel that probing gaze looking for something wrong in his story. A lie? Something to show him that Jared might have seen or done something other than what he’d said he’d done?
When he fell silent, the manager sat there, thinking. He pivoted a pen from end to end on his fingers. “Well, sounds like you had one hell of a day. It also presents us with some problems. As you no longer have any living relatives, that means you need to go into foster care.”
Jared’s heart sank. He hadn’t seen this coming. “Really? Why can’t I stay with friends for the next few months until I’m eighteen? That’s only like three and a half months.”
“With no parent or living guardian, by law you are a ward of the state now. That means a foster home.”
“Then I’ll stay here,” Jared said reasonably. At least here he could go to the same school. One day he’d just not come home.
“No, you can’t. We have kids in need here. It’s not a group home for healthy individuals as you know. It was a stopgap measure for you while the doctors kept you under observation.”
The manager leaned forward and studied Jared closer. “Are you experiencing any side effects from those drugs?”
Jared held his breath, considering. If he said he was, he might be able to stay here, but did he want that? He’d come across two dead men here and there was some kind of revolt going on. If he said no, then they’d ship him off to a group home – and who the hell knew where? He wanted to finish his term at school and then be on his own.
“No, I guess not,” he said. “Except the headaches. They are bad sometimes.”
The manager frowned.
“Headaches. That can’t be good. I’ve got two doctors coming tomorrow. I’ll get them to check you over. They’ll have the final say as to whether you stay or go.”
Jared stood up, already feeling the small satisfaction of being safe with a roof over his head and a full stomach fading. “Right. I’ll head up to my room. I’m really tired.”
And he made good on his escape.
Chapter 3
Tessa studied the energy pathways her father and brother had taken as she and Cody walked forward. From what she could see, they’d been on horizontal pathways, joined up, then joined by someone else – no, two someone else’s. She walked in a circle until she understood the pattern then turned back to Cody and explained. She pointed down the direction they’d gone. “They were taken this way.”
“Taken?” he asked, slowly staring in the direction she’d pointed. “We don’t know that though, do we?”
She studied the energy again. “The newcomers are behind them, pushing David and Dad ahead of them.”
“Damn.” Cody headed into the darkness. “I wonder if it’s the same group as from the blood farm.”
“I don’t know why it would be. The blood farm isn’t operational down here. In fact, this looks like it’s been deserted for over a century.”
“Hard to say,” Cody said. “The hospital above is connected, so it makes sense that anything going on down here is too.”
She hated to think that, but it made sense. “Maybe David triggered a sensor when he opened one of the doors. Otherwise, why would there be anyone here on this level? There are what – forty, fifty floors above us?”
“Unless they were here for something else, guarding something?”
“And that just begs the question of what?” She searched the gloom around them. “There’s nothing here.”
She hated this. “We’re supposed to be helping free Jewel and Ian. Not getting caught up in these issues again.”
Cody stopped in front of her. “Can you text Ian?”
She pulled out her phone. “Here is a text from David. Saying where they are.” She looked around. “Which we know anyway, but they aren’t here now.” She studied her phone. “We have very limited connectivity.”
“Makes sense being so deep underground. It would also explain why David isn’t here when his text said he would be. Probably took a while to send.”
“I’ll send one to Ian regardless and let him know we’re at the bottom of the staircase and there are unfriendlies here too.”
She hit the send button and the tiny pinwheel started churning, but it didn’t send. Damn. She pocketed the phone and looked around. They’d been getting deeper and deeper into the empty building. It appeared to be made from rock and cement. Old, as in very old. “Maybe this foundation is older than what’s up top.”
“What difference does it make if it is? It’s still connected to what’s up above,” Cody said, almost absentmindedly.
“I’m just thinking that maybe whatever, or whoever is down here is old or has been here for a very long time. They may have been connected to what’s above at one time, but there is little to no energy coming down that stairwell, so they aren’t going up very often.”
“Unless they have an easier way of travelling.”
She frowned. “True. Very true. I wonder if they have another entrance.”
From behind them came a deep and very old voice. “There’s another exit. It helps us to avoid people we don’t want to meet.”
Cody and Tessa had both frozen at the sound of the voice. As one, they spun slowly around to see a very old vampire in front of them. He held up a finger to his lips for silence and motioned them off to one side. “You must go quietly in here. There are eyes and ears everywhere.”
And he moved to the left. “Come, follow me.”
And he disappeared into the shadows. Actually, it was as if the shadows closed around him.
*
Goran waited impatiently for Sian to return to ask about his damn clothes. Taking his off for a woman was one thing, having his clothes taken off him for a damn doctor to run tests while he was out cold was quite another. He still had his boxers on, but he was rather desperate for his pants.
She chose that moment to walk in.
He almost jumped her. “Sian, where are my clothes? Did you take them away?”
Sian frowned, looking around. He thought she’d been about to make some kind of stupid excuse to keep him there, but she’d surprised him again when she said, “They should be here.”
After a cursory glance around, she added, “There’s no reason for them not to be here.” With her hands on her hips, she said, “It’s not like this is a hospital, for crying out loud.”
With her help, they searched the room.
“Aha!” he said when he opened a bottom cupboard and found his clothes neatly stacked in the back. “Here they are.”
Sian stepped out while he got dressed. Which he did quickly. He opened the door to let her back in, but there was no sign of her. He waited for her to return. He would go out there on his own, but he wasn’t up to a session with the doctors telling him he needed to stay here. Scre
w that. He was leaving.
He’d called out mentally to Serus a couple of times, but there’d been no answer. He didn’t like that. It took a lot for their mindspeak to not work. And it usually meant one of them was unconscious. Now the last time had been his fault as he’d been the one out cold, but he was awake now and given that, where the hell was Serus?
A rap on the door sounded. He opened the door. Sian.
“Good.” He nodded at her. “Now where is everyone?”
Sian wrinkled up her face.
“No idea. Dr. Hansen isn’t around that I can see. He’s only here to help out, so maybe he left to get some rest.”
“Help out?”
Sian searched his gaze. “Remember all the vamps that you were supposed to be bringing to the Council?”
“Oh right. Forgot about those little shits. Are they okay?”
Sian shook her head. “No. One of the three you brought from the mall was killed in the accident. The other two men appear to be enhanced and are slowly dying. We’re trying to get what little information from them that we can.” She peered around the hallway then gave him the all-clear signal. “The young vamps are in bad shape, but they will pull through. One of them is Councilman Baker’s son, and he says they’ve all been forced to use enhancements or be killed.”
“No way. Not his own son?”
“Yes.” Sian shrugged. “They were told to think of it as an improvement.”
“Seems like lab rat type of experiments to me.”
Sian turned a corner. “Absolutely. I think the kids agree. Apparently it was more of a numbers game. Something to do with being short on manpower and needing more men. They weren’t given a choice.”
“Ha. So we knock out their clones and they just turn to their own families to build up their numbers. That’s just sick.” And disgusting. Goran made a mental note about Councilman Baker. He’d be sure to find the asshole and pay him back for getting his own son involved. “It’s not a shining hour for vampires,” he said quietly.
“No,” Sian answered. “It’s definitely not. Then again, the humans aren’t proving worthy either.”
Goran shot her a look. Delicately, he asked, “How is Taz?”
