by Dale Mayer
At his mollified look, she sighed and asked, “Where do we go from here?” She turned to Deanna. “Where are you planning to go now?”
Deanna stared at her. “I was going to go into hiding, but if you are all here, I suspect something major is going on.”
Serus spoke up just ahead of Goran. “We found several members of the German delegation upstairs, connected to several machines that we believe are pumping them full of drugs.”
“Believe,” she snapped, using that same autocratic voice that had terrorized everyone else at the Council meetings. “What do you know?”
“Not enough,” Serus answered readily. “Our own delegation has also been found connected to similar machines.”
“He was supposed to be back in a few days.” She glared at Serus as if he were responsible.
Tessa wondered at the razor–sharp mind and what conclusion she’d come up with after all this. How much did she already know? How much did she care?
There was an odd noise buzzing in the room. Tessa turned to stare at the Ghost. She reached for the door in her mind, but it remained locked. She couldn’t enter. The conversation was between him and Deanna.
Goran stepped forward. “I think the Nordic Council rep is up there as well.”
“Njordvik?” Deanna said incredulously. “No one could have taken him out.” She amended that with her next breath. “At least not easily. He’s over seven feet.”
“Exactly. And there are several of his clan up there as well.”
“What of the other clans?” the Ghost asked quietly. “That is three so far.”
“I know,” Goran said, his voice sharp. “We haven’t made it through the entire hospital yet.”
“I have a question, Deanna,” Tessa said quietly. “What about the women. Why are there only men here?”
Deanna frowned, but a light shone from the back of her eyes, giving them an odd feral look. “Interesting.”
“What is?” Tessa asked. She studied Deanna’s face intently. “I don’t understand.”
“What do men do that we don’t?”
Tessa frowned. “Not much.”
At that, Deanna snorted with humor. “Okay, so reverse that – what do women do that men don’t?”
Cody snorted. “They bitch.”
Deanna narrowed her gaze at him. “Men fight. Women don’t unless pushed to do so. They use words. Men use their fists.”
The group went silent as the truth of her words hit them.
“So they don’t need to enhance the women, just the males as they are the soldiers.”
“Exactly. There is also a surplus of males in our society, making them expendable.”
Tessa hadn’t thought of it that way. “That makes sense.”
“And the odd female who is caught in their net? Chances are they will be used for special projects. Use her for some kind of experiment.”
Tessa looked over at Goran and her father. “Would that fit Jewel?” she asked.
“Unfortunately,” Goran said. “Yes.”
“Does that mean that Jewel is in trouble still?” Cody asked. “That she might have been selected for some special project?” His voice hardened. “A project that may have already started?”
Deanna shrugged. “Depending on her genetics. If they have her DNA, they might want to test more drugs on her genetic line. See if her wings fly stronger, or weaker, or make her bigger, thirstier…” She glanced at the men, adding, “The options are endless.”
“But they’d have a program listing what had been done to her and when and why, surely.” Tessa nudged Cody. “We need to get our hands on those programs and patient files so we know what’s been done to our friends and family.”
“I wish David was here. He is the best at the computer stuff.”
Tessa understood. David and Ian were both techies. “We’ll have to do the best we can.”
“What are you planning?” Deanna asked curiously. “You can’t begin to fight them all.”
“No, and I don’t intend to. But you know who all the bosses are, and if we take them out, the underlings will be easier to control.”
Goran nodded. “I like that idea.”
“Of course you would. All brawn and no brains,” Deanna snapped. “Hortran, explain the system in place so Tessa can at least understand what she’s working with.”
The Ghost stepped forward, his voice hollow and faint, but the words were easy enough to understand. “They are operating in cells. Each with a blood farm connected to the other yet operating independently. You might cut off one head, but short of taking them all out, another will grow in its place.”
“How many cells?” Serus asked his voice cold.
“Five that I know of.”
“And Moltere’s Mountain? Was that one or two?”
Deanna laughed. “That was the main cell. You did well there. But now the other four cells are vying for top position.”
“Where are they?” Cody asked. “One is here at the hospital, I presume.”
“This is the smallest one. They do more experiments and selective processing to keep the supply fresh and the vamps coming in.”
“And the other three?” Tessa asked impatiently.
Deanna smiled, a secret smile twitching at the corner of her lips. “Where do you think?”
Tessa studied her. She thought of all the places they could be. “The mall.” she said suddenly. “Where Wendy was.”
Cody spun back to her. “Why there?”
“Because it leads to the underground city.”
“Underground city?” Goran growled while her father started at her in shock, his mouth working but no words coming out. Goran asked, “What do you know of the underground city?”
“I know that there is a large underground movement of vamps who wished we lived in the olden days. They would be prime buyers of the blood,” Tessa said coolly.
“You are right in that the underground city is a cell. They have a small blood farm there. Not enough to supply everyone, hence the need for more people and instant blood supply.” Deanna smiled, a movement that was both icy and terrifying. “The underground city is likely where they get their biggest pool of vamps looking to enhance themselves.”
“I wonder. Those men are already living on the edge of life. They could just as easily be recruiting from the college and getting the smaller, less popular males from there. Offering them bigger muscles, more women and skills that would allow them to finally be superior to their peers.” Cody said. “That would make sense, too.”
“True.” Deanna dipped her head in acknowledgement. “The trouble with all the cells is supply and demand. As you took out the biggest supply, they are scrambling to set up new ones. Quickly.”
“Quickly? Where could they possibly find people to fill such a warehouse again so quickly?” Tessa turned to the drawers so full of bodies. “And if they needed people for the blood farm, then why kill these ones off?”
“Because it’s all about balance. They could afford to lose these people for their short term needs while having picked up equal numbers, if not more, for their long term numbers.” Serus strode forward to stand at Tessa’s side. “Right, Deanna?”
She shrugged. “I believe so.”
“And all the foreign dignitaries. Why are they being drugged?” Motre asked. “Do you know if they are willingly getting enhancements?”
“No, I doubt it. They are pure bloods – all of them. Like me, they don’t want anything other than pure strains to be born.” But she hesitated as if undecided. She took a deep breath. “What I don’t know is if this group had another motive. They might have taken down the entire conference. It wouldn’t have taken much, particularly if they had the men in place inside the organizations already.”
“So that our clan is the ruling clan?”
“Exactly.”
“Do you know if the blood farm extends beyond our borders?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard talk that each clan
has their own blood farms. Underground of course. And likely all connected.”
“We have to stop them,” Tessa cried.
“You can’t stop everything, and first you must stop what’s in your own backyard if you are going to bother.” She shrugged as if to say why you would do that.
She swayed suddenly. Hortran rushed to her side. She waved him off. “I’m fine. Just tired. I need to feed and I need to rest. Somewhere I will be safe for a long time.”
“And what will you do?” Tessa asked curiously. “Go to sleep for a decade or two and see who of us is still alive when you wake up?”
She heard her father’s quick intake of breath and felt rather than saw Cody take a step forward. She didn’t take her gaze off Deanna.
“I wish I could. But I doubt I have that many years left.”
“Not wanting to try your husband’s live forever drugs?” Tessa asked. “Or did you not know that he was working on one like that?”
“I knew, but it’s not stable. If it was safe, given my age, I might try it. But if they don’t fix it in the next twenty years, then who knows if I will be here by then?”
She walked slowly over to the double doors where they entered. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have places to go. People to see.”
“You haven’t told us where the other two blood farms are,” Serus said in a hard voice.
She smirked as she pulled the door open. “It’s not that hard for you to figure out. Shut this hospital down, then the underground city, and you’ll have no trouble finding the rest.”
Tessa, are you going to let her walk out without telling you what she wants from you, Cody whispered in her mind. Don’t you want to know?
Damn it, she did. “Deanna, why did you want to test me?”
Deanna froze. She bowed her head as if thinking. The Ghost walked closer, offering silent support. She looked over at Tessa. “I have a very important job I need to do. I won’t have time to make that decision when it’s time to do it. I’ll need to have the person I choose there at the time. Everything will happen fast.”
She took a deep breath. “It may not work at all. There can’t be any practice run.” She glared at Serus and Goran. “If I can make it happen, it’s important that I do it properly.”
Tessa shrugged, not sure she was bothered. Her life was crazy enough. “What kind of job? Why would I suit or not suit?”
“Ha. Curious, are you?”
“I am,” Tessa admitted.
“Good. Keep that thought and stay focused.” She stepped into the doorway, the Ghost running ahead and opening the door in front of them. “I might need to test my choice earlier than later. Stay alert.”
She walked out the door and disappeared from sight.
*
Cody watched the ancient woman leave as confident and strong as he’d ever seen. Even though they’d just released her from the morgue drawer. Not that she’d let them know too much information, just enough to keep them busy and the heat off her. But she hadn’t shared who the bigger bosses were, and more importantly, who had done this to her. And why. There’d been no explanation of the hate behind the act.
Plus leaving the group with such aplomb had her once again firmly in control. As always. He both respected and dreaded her. Although she’d done nothing to deserve either, he couldn’t help but think she’d been running circles around his kind since forever.
He was glad that he was too young for her. She’d have been hell on wheels in her prime. Eat up young males and spit them back out when she was done, regardless of the fact that she had a husband.
Cody didn’t want to know what she’d done to deserve such a fate, but he didn’t want the assholes to get away. He motioned to Tessa, “Shall we go, too?”
She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. “No point. She’s already gone.”
“I didn’t mean to follow her, but either we’re going back to our floor by floor search or we’re going back to the Council Hall.”
“Floor by floor search,” Motre spoke up. He’d been silent for most of the time spent with Deanna, but now he looked ready to get the hell out of there. He held the door open. “There are likely more delegates here. We need to segregate them. Move them to the Council Hall and put them under guard until we know what they are up to. Willingly or not.”
“How many men are you expecting to find?” Serus asked, leading the way back to the elevators. “Twenty is doable, forty or up to sixty is not.”
“We can move them in relays.”
“Then we need men.”
“Councilman Adamson could help,” Cody suggested. “At least for manpower. He’s also a friend of Councilman Bushman, who was supposed to be in the conference.”
Motre agreed. He stepped into the elevator and stood at the very back. Cody and Goran entered. Tessa was last. Cody reached out a hand. “It’s okay, Tessa.”
“Is it though?”
But she entered and stood close to him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her back against his chest. He dropped a kiss on her ear. She turned slightly in his arms so she could see him. And gave him that smile. His insides melted a little more.
I’m fine.
Are you though? he asked quietly.
Yes, but her smile was tired, sad.
He leaned his head against her and just rested like that until the elevators came to a gentle stop. The double doors opened and the men started filing out.
Cody waited for Motre to walk past him. He reached up and grabbed Tessa’s face with both hands and lowered his head.
*
Wendy studied the text that Tessa had sent.
She’d forwarded texts from Jared.
She understood the text, she just didn’t believe it. She opened the door to the hallway, wondering if Sian was around. She could just forward it to her and hope that she knew how to help find Jared’s friend. The thought of the blood farms recruiting anyone else for their new blood supply requirements made her stomach knot. She’d seen the horrors from Moltere’s Mountain and to consider that there were others – that had been hinted at – but not confirmed – made her skin crawl. Those teenagers who rescued them were her age. Human or vamp, it didn’t matter – they were young people trying to have a life. The damn assholes were putting a crimp in everyone’s plans. She looked back down the other way and sure enough, there was Sian racing toward her.
Wendy held up her phone.
Sian mimicked her actions. “I have Tessa and Jared’s messages now, too. I just got the text about the missing ambulance – did you?”
“Yes.”
“Why would they take a kid out of the home in the middle of the night?”
“I don’t know, but I think that if he didn’t show up at any of the local hospitals, private or public, we have to assume something bad has happened to him.”
Wendy snorted. “I assumed that as soon as I heard he’d been taken out while sleeping.”
“And over a man’s shoulder instead of carted out on a gurney.”
“So…?” Wendy took a deep breath and voiced her worst fears. “Are we thinking blood farm?”
Sian shrugged. “Not for sure. They might be part of an experimental group. We don’t know for sure what Tobias was doing at the home in the first place. We already know that place needs to be shut down. We can’t prove it, but I believe Jared’s story that he found two dead men there. Bodies that no one else saw.”
“Damn. So they are using the home to find victims for their purposes?”
“It could be worse. Those people in the home could be ongoing experiments.”
Wendy stared at her. “That’s horrible.” It was, in fact, much worse, but words failed her. She shook her head mutely. “How can we find out?”
“I’m going to give you access to some databases and see if you can track down the ambulance. Who owns it, who used it on the day in question. If there is a driver listed. Etcetera. There could be even a pick up and a drop off point.”
; Wendy brightened. “I’d like that. I’d love to be able to nail this guy.”
“And hopefully recover those kids.”
Wendy smiled grimly. “Even better if we can catch the assholes that did this to them.”
*
Goran grinned as he caught sight of his boy staking his claim. Not that Tessa was doing any fighting. She was looking all too happy to be in Cody’s arms.
Good boy.
He chuckled as he walked back to the ninth floor. One below where they’d been last time. Serus went to turn around and check on Tessa and Cody’s progress, but Goran hooked his arm around his and led him forward.
“They are coming.”
Serus grumbled but walked forward. “Yeah, before or after he kisses her.”
Goran’s laughter rippled free. “They are who they are. And it’s going to be good to watch them grow together.”
“Says you.”
They were so engrossed in their conversation that Goran didn’t realize until it was too late that they weren’t alone. He looked up in surprise to see several vamps relaxing along the walls. His steps slowed. “Well, well. Who do we have here?”
*
Jared picked up his pace, trying to stick to the one side of the sidewalk, and made his way to the school. His mind churned. His gut was twisting with what he’d learned about his aunt. He desperately wanted a chance to study the papers and see what else he could find out. He wanted someone in the legal world to help him out. He needed help, and he didn’t know how to get it. Surely there was someone he could trust in the human realm. Maybe Taz knew someone? Would Tessa? Or would it be out of her league? What were the chances that a vamp would know a human lawyer?
“Damn.” There had to be a way forward. There had to be someone out there.
“Hey, Jared.”
He spun around to see Clarissa running to catch to up to him. “Hey,” he said, “I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Yeah, I was going to bring Tobias some of his work from school. But they said he wasn’t doing well this morning.” She frowned. “He looked so much better last night and when he asked for it, I thought I’d drop it off on my way to school.”
