by Dale Mayer
“Everything.” She gave him a shaky smile. “Where does this go?”
Cody read the buttons on the panel in front of him. “It offers fifteen floors and the parking level.”
“Go to the parking level first.” Serus said. “Let’s make sure we know where we are.”
“Done.” Cody hit the correct button, reaching out to tug Tessa closer. He didn’t know what was bothering her, but he wanted her close.
The doors slowly slid shut, and with a noisy groan, the elevator started to rise.
*
Goran hated the fatigue rippling through his body. That last fight had been too close. He couldn’t help but wonder how long they could keep doing this without losing one of their friends and family.
“What’s the matter, Goran? You’re getting too old for this shit?” Motre laughed at his own joke.
“Who the hell isn’t?” he muttered, glaring at the man he was proud to have fighting at his side. “I’ve had enough of this whole damn mess.”
“I hear you there.” Motre reached over and smacked Ian on the shoulder. “What about you? You’re just a little kid yet, you should have lots of fighting spirit in you.”
“I do,” Ian snapped, “But I’m not into war. I’ll be happy to get the hell out of here. I’m all for blowing this whole building up.”
“And the vamps within?” Motre asked curiously. “Are you ready to blow them all up too?”
Goran watched Ian struggle with his emotions. He understood. There were innocents in there, but there were way too many bad guys too. When did the good outweigh the bad?
“I say we release the ones we can and then drop the entire building.”
“And that’s the end of it?” Motre pushed. “The end justifies the means?”
Ian dropped his head. “I wish. But I doubt it.”
“We still have the human element to deal with.” Goran filled them in on what Sian had told him about the humans.
“They shouldn’t be our problem,” Motre argued. He stopped and sighed, “But as long as they are dealing in human flesh and supplying them to the vamps, they are our business.” He glanced at the other two, “So what – are you ready to clean out another floor?”
“Want to – no. Need to…” Goran nodded. “Yeah, we need to. Time to make another dent in their numbers.”
Silently, the three pushed open the double doors and walked through.
*
Wendy looked up from her spot on the couch, sorting through the list of humans that they’d received from the Human Council. Rhia reclined, weak but aware on the opposite side of the room. Sian had just arrived. She held out another sheet.
“Can you cross reference these names against the list you have? We’re sorting through the files from Gloria’s laptop, looking for names to match to the blood farm victims and cross–referencing with the ones Taz has identified at the hospital. Most are in drug–induced comas and aren’t likely to pull out of this, but if there is any way to know who we have, how they arrived at the blood farm, then we need to know, especially if the humans sold their own kin.”
Wendy swallowed and accepted the sheaf of papers. “That’s disgusting.”
“It is, but it’s human nature – apparently.” Sian looked over at Rhia’s sad face and added, “I’m not sure it’s all that much better than our own. Look at what we did to each other.”
“I’ve been trying not to,” Wendy said. “But then I think of Jared and what he went through…”
“Exactly.” Sian frowned. “Do we have an update on him yet?”
“I don’t have one. I don’t have his number.” Unfortunately. She’d have texted him a long time ago if she could have. “Tessa will.”
“And have we heard from them yet?” Sian pulled her phone out and looked to see what texts she had.
“No,” Wendy said in a low voice after taking a quick glance at Rhia. “Nor from Ian.”
A grim look on her face, Sian nodded. “Not surprised. All hell is breaking loose and we’re in command central again.”
“I was in the trenches last time,” Wendy said half–jokingly. “As much as I want to be in the middle of it, I’m actually happy to be here.”
Rubbing her slightly rounded tummy, Sian nodded in agreement. “There is much to be said for doing our part from here.”
*
Serus watched Tessa stand at the front of the elevator. It was bothering her for some reason. More than usual. Considering the amount of deadly things she’d been through in the last couple of weeks, it intrigued him. What about this elevator bothered her so much? And why?
Just then the door opened.
He was watching her face and saw the last thing he expected to see. Relief.
As they exited the double doors, he asked her, “What were you afraid you’d see?”
She half laughed. “Snow.”
Serus winced, remembering her trip down the mountain after escaping her captors the first time. The underground parking lot was dark. He flattened against the first barricade and surveyed the area. There were a few vehicles entering and another leaving, but he couldn’t be sure who was driving, and they were far enough away that they weren’t likely to be driving toward him. He hoped. He glanced around to see if anyone walked from the building out to their vehicles. But there weren’t any that he could see. He could see the name on the glass doors up ahead. It looked like where he’d entered earlier. He searched the area and smiled. His car was just where he’d left it. He walked over to it and dumped the unconscious vamp in the trunk. Lamar wouldn’t escape that. Then he called the Council Hall to come and pick him up. Once done, he took another careful look around.
“Dad?”
He nodded. “Looks clear.”
They walked toward the underground entrance of the hospital. “Plan of action, Dad?”
He grunted. “Why ask me now? You three seem to be acting on your own these days. Maybe you should all fill me in.”
“I want to go and get Jewel,” David said.
“And I’m here to help get them all free,” Tessa piped up.
“We need to meet up with Motre and Ian.” Cody strode forward ahead of them to pull the door open for him. “That’s where we need to start.”
Serus glared at him. “I can open my own doors, thank you.”
Cody’s eyebrow shot upward. Tessa slipped around him and entered first, called back a cheery “Thanks” to Cody.
Serus rolled his eyes at the kids’ antics. That he agreed with Cody was beside the point. It would never do to give the arrogant pup any more reason to inflate his ego as it was.
“So, Dad, we’ll defer to you.” Tessa spun and flashed her grin at him, her eyes alight with love and laughter. Damn, she was a special kid.
But there was no way he was going to be able to get control of her now. The genie was out of the bottle, and she’d proven to have magic none of them could match. In fact, she was the treasure promised by the genie. Whoever caught that genie and won Tessa as the prize would be the luckiest man alive.
That it was likely Cody was still something he was struggling with, but given the way life had shifted these last few days, he might just be good with that.
At least this way he’d be around to make sure Cody took care of his little girl.
Or else.
*
Jared slipped around the corner and walked casually through to the kitchen. There was no sign of anyone. The lights over the stove appeared like a bright beacon in the dark gloom. There was the green light on the coffeemaker. He walked closer and touched the pot, swearing as his fingers came in contact with the hot glass. So they were expecting to be up long enough to drink a pot. Or had gotten up so early as to start the day.
He wondered about that. When he’d gotten up last time, there’d been only dead people around. No one else had been awake. At least not that he’d seen. He tried to come up with an excuse to being up so early in case anyone caught him. It was half past the hour now. If it w
ere six, he’d have no trouble. Before then was a different story. He vaguely remembered hearing a house rule about up by seven but not downstairs before six. He walked into the big room they used as a dining room. It was empty and clean, as it had been left last night. He carried on into the big living room that functioned more as a game room.
It was also empty. Everything had been turned off for the night. He frowned and searched the rest of the downstairs, avoiding the manager’s office. The big window leading to the backyard and the wrap-around driveway was on his left. There was an ambulance parked. His heart pounded. Is that where Tobias was? Had he needed an ambulance? No, he tossed that idea away. If that had been the case, he’d have had a stretcher to take him away, not tossed over an orderly’s shoulder like he’d been.
There was no one in the cab of the ambulance. Should he look?
He had to know. He opened the side door leading to the large garage and slipped out. It was only after he entered the garage that he remembered the security system. He looked up, but it wasn’t even on. Which meant someone had turned it off for the ambulance driver to enter. He walked to the door on the far side, leaving the big garage doors down. They made a racket when they were being raised.
Out at the ambulance, he raced around to the far side to look in the window. A male was there strapped into a stretcher. Jared checked the passenger door and it opened under his hand.
He slipped inside.
He had to know if Tobias was dead or alive.
As he made his way to the back where the stretcher sat, he heard voices coming toward him.
Shit.
Chapter 9
Tessa strode ahead, coming to a sudden stop at the stairway that had given them so much grief. She peered over the railing to see the depth of the building. How odd that they’d gone all the way around in a circle coming up in that old elevator. That it even worked had been amazing. She headed up the first set of stairs, the others following close behind.
“Tessa, we have reception again. I’ve texted Motre to see what floor they are on.”
“Great.” Turning the corner to go up the next flight of stairs, and pulling out her own cell phone. She grinned then frowned at Jared’s text waiting for her. She gave him Sian’s number and told him to contact her as she was easier to get a hold of her than Taz. Raising her gaze from the others all checking their phones. “David,” she asked, “what floor is Jewel on?”
“She was on nine. They might have moved her now.”
“Motre just responded saying they are on the eleventh floor – and…” Serus’s voice rose in shock, “Goran is with them!”
Tessa spun around to see Cody frozen a step below her. She squeezed his shoulder as she asked excitedly, “Really? He’s awake?”
“Apparently not only awake but in fighting form.”
Cody looked at him, a puzzled look on his face. Tessa wondered what the problem was.
“You didn’t sense him, sir?”
Serus glanced up, frowning. “I hadn’t tried in a long while as we were so far down I figured, like our cell phones, there’d be no reception.” He grinned at that last bit.
Cody laughed. “True enough. It will be good to see him on his feet again.”
“Then let’s get moving and find them. Level eleven then?” she asked as she continued the slow climb. She wasn’t tired, but she was starting to hate stairs of any kind.
“Nine,” David said. “We get Jewel then we meet up with Motre.”
“And then what?” Serus asked, his voice flat. “Leave with the ones we came for or clean house?”
There was a long silence only broken by the sounds of the footsteps hitting the metal stairs. Tessa was interested in hearing David’s words. As much as she wanted to go home, they were in a position to do so much more. “While we have access, we need to contact Councilman Adamson and Sian to see how the others are. And how their plans are moving forward.”
“I already have,” Serus growled. “Wendy is watching over your mother, who is awake and back to herself with a few missing spots in her memories.”
Tessa snorted. “I can imagine.”
“No, not the way you’re thinking. Although she doesn’t remember how she was drugged or when, she’s also unaware of what arrangements she made for Seth.”
Tessa spun around. Cody, who was behind her, grabbed her arms to help steady her.
“Dad, if she doesn’t remember, how can we find him?” she cried. “He’s been through so much. We have to stop them from making the drugs and brainwashing permanent.”
“Sian is working on it, Rhia is trying to regain her memories, and we have to trust the Councilmen are trying to clean house – on both sides.”
They ran up the next few flights of stairs as Tessa pondered the mess. “I never made it to the school to ask the principal to warn the kids either.”
“Sian is trying to work something out.”
“I should have gone.”
Her father growled behind her, “No. You won’t be dealing with the humans again for a while.”
There was an odd note in his voice. Odd enough that she slowly turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?”
He glared her and slipped his phone into his pocket. “Nothing.”
She stopped, making everyone else stop, too. “Dad?”
“I thought we were in a hurry.” He started to walk around her, but she stepped in his way.
“Except that something is wrong and you’re trying to hide it from me.” Oh no. “Is it Jared? Has something happened to him?”
The others gasped and looked at him expectantly. Serus rolled his eyes. “No, nothing is wrong with Jared. At least as far as I know.”
Tessa had barely given Jared a thought until she’d just seen his last text, looking for Taz’s contact information, but that could have been sent hours ago as he should be sleeping at this hour. She glanced up at her father and caught that bit of relief in his eyes. She narrowed her gaze. “What is it about the humans you are trying to avoid talking about?” She sharpened her tone like her mother always did and said, “Spill.”
“Nothing,” he glared at her, but then his gaze slid away.
“Aha,” she crowed. “You are hiding something.”
She crossed her arms and refused to move.
He threw up his arms. “It’s nothing.”
“Good, then you might as well tell us.” The others circled him.
“It’s just that they want your help again.” His gaze whispered between Cody and her and back again. “They want you to determine who is enhanced and who is poisoned.”
“Really?” She didn’t know what to think.
“They are calling Sian constantly.” He sighed. “She’s trying to dodge them, but they are persistent.”
She frowned. “We can help.” She looked over at Cody. “Right?”
“It’s your call. I’ll help sort; you just tell me which ones to coax into the right groups.” His feral grin said all too clearly just how much he’d enjoy it.
She eyed him carefully. “Nicely?”
His gaze widened innocently. “Of course.”
“No. There are too many of them. They don’t want you to just sort a few of them; they want you to look at each and every one of them.” Serus shook his head. “It will be too big a job.”
“Sis, he’s right. There are too many.”
“But if she could,” Cody said, “It might be the way to clear out the problem of the humans once and for all. We could pull them in groups in a big hall and do a few thousand at a time. She would just have to motion which goes left and which goes right.”
“And the odd cases?” Serus snapped. “Remember her trying to figure out why each of those men had been poisoned?”
Tessa sighed. “I’d like to be able to help. I’m just not sure I can.”
“Exactly.” Serus swept past her. “Now forget about it. We have a job to do and we need you to be focused.”
She would focus on the job at hand,
it was suicide not to, but she’d never forget. There had to be something she could do.
Cody grabbed her hand, squeezed it, and pushed her up the stairs.
*
Cody watched Tessa move ahead of him. She’d almost caught up to her father. He wondered if she’d push the issue right now. He hoped not. Serus appeared fairly adamant at this point. He understood Tessa wanted to help and he’d go with her, even though it would likely take days. They had to find a way to speed that up. He just didn’t know how. He watched David and Serus jump up to the next landing and stop.
David said, “It’s the ninth floor.”
“Good.” Tessa looked longingly up the next couple of floors. “Where are Motre and Ian now?”
Serus pulled out his phone and tapped out a message quickly. “We’ll wait here until I hear back, oh—” his phone beeped. He read out the message. “They are on the tenth floor.”
“Maybe we should get them first. If they are almost done, we could join up before going through this floor.”
Serus nodded. “That’s probably a good idea.”
“No. We can’t.” David shook his head violently. “We don’t know what’s happening to Jewel. They can meet us here.” He opened the door.
Cody groaned. “Serus, make sure you tell my father. Although if they are fighting, maybe just send a text.”
But Serus was already texting. Cody didn’t even know if his father was in good enough shape to mindspeak, but of course he had to be in the middle of the fighting. And Tessa being Tessa had bolted into the hallway in David’s wake. And Cody was damned if he was going to be left behind. He raced up the last couple of stairs and pulled the big door open. He slipped inside, hearing the metal door clang behind him. He hoped Serus was coming soon.
Tessa and David had raced down the hallway. He could see them striding ahead of him. There didn’t appear to be any staff visible. How could that be? Weren’t hospitals full of them? Frowning, a last glance behind him, he raced behind Tessa. That girl could get into trouble like no one else.
He had a whole lifetime of trying to keep her out of trouble. He hoped.
Are you coming, slowpoke?
