by Dale Mayer
“Yeah, we thought you were dead.”
“I thought I was, too.” He grinned boyishly as he stared up at Tessa. “I guess I was saved by an angel, huh?”
“Except,” Tessa laughed. “I’m no angel.”
“But you did save me, right?” Harry asked.
Tessa paused then shrugged. “I guess so.”
She finished doing whatever she was doing to his energy then stepped back. Immediately, Cody wrapped his arm around her. “Are you okay?” he asked in such a low voice Serus barely heard him.
“I am. Glad we got here in time.” She twisted to look out the doorway. “I guess we should check the other rooms in case there are other men who need help.”
Willingly, the other young men moved out of the way, only Tessa looked like she wanted to sit back down again. Cody said something to her that Serus only caught a few words of; something about using his energy if she was tired.
He had to stop and consider that. She had given some of her energy to this young man, Harry, who even now was sitting up and swinging his legs over the side. He’d obviously put it to good use, but who gave Tessa energy when she gave hers away? He walked over to stand in front of her. “Do you drain your own system when you do this?”
“I don’t think so,” she said, but the fatigue in her voice said something was going on.
“Maybe not,” Cody said, “but it does tire you out.”
“True.” She shrugged his concern off. “However, I recover fast.”
“Not really.” Serus frowned. “Can’t you find a way to not get so exhausted? There could be another thirty men in trouble here, you know.”
She gave him a wan smile. “I hope not.”
“That’s why you need to access some of my energy to help yourself if you need to,” Cody insisted. “I have lots, use it.”
“And mine,” Goran said, stepping forward. “I’m pretty damn sure every one of us would be happy to share. Just don’t get so worn down that you can’t heal.”
She smiled such a beautiful smile, Serus was shocked. She looked…stunning, and strong, and so angelic it made his heart hurt. How could he have fathered someone so special?
“I’m not sure how it all works yet. If I could use your energy when mine gets low,” she admitted. “That would be great. I have to see if I can figure that out.”
“If you can give him some of yours, I’m sure you’d be able to just reach out and grab some of ours,” Cody said, reaching out a hand to motion her forward.
Goran went out of the room ahead of them. Tessa turned, smiled at both men she’d helped, and said, “Take a few moments to get back on your feet. Your friends can fill you in on the mess going on.”
They both nodded, their smiles bright and adoring.
“Thank you so much,” Andrew said. “I appreciate it.”
“We both do,” Harry said. “I know I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for you.”
Serus watched as Tessa gained two more loyal admirers. At the rate she was going, Cody was going to be beating them all back with a big stick. He grinned. Damn right. The kid was going to have to work for his daughter. And so he should. She was a prize worth fighting for.
As the two young men followed Tessa’s progress out the door, Serus chuckled. They looked besotted. He caught Cody’s questioning look and nodded toward the men. Cody turned, saw the looks on their faces, but instead of getting angry, he sighed and wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders.
Serus chuckled louder.
Cody glared at Serus. “Why is this funny?”
“The sweetest fruit is that at the top of the tree,” he murmured to Cody as he walked past. Cody narrowed his gaze. “You just want me to sweat a little.”
“Nope. I want you to sweat a lot.” And he laughed and laughed.
*
“Are you sure?” Clarissa smiled hopefully. “I’d love the company and the help in finding Tobias. But I don’t want you to get into trouble with school.”
Jared snorted. “And that is so not an issue.”
“Are you sure?” she repeated, but her tone was light and breezy. He laughed. “So we’re going to the hospital?”
“That would make sense, wouldn’t it?” She frowned as they walked. He sighed happily. “It’s great that we reconnected.”
“I know. I was afraid that I’d never see you again.” She reached out and hooked her arm though his. “I do hope Tobias is fine.”
“I do too.”
“Was he awake when you saw him?” she asked. “Was he in pain?”
“No, he appeared to be unconscious.” He deliberately didn’t mention how Tobias was carried out.
“Oh dear.” She unconsciously squeezed his arm tight against her. “Maybe it was better that way.”
“As long as he is getting the help he needs.”
The walk went by too fast, and before long they were turning the corner to the hospital block. Sounds of ambulance sirens rent the air. He winced. Jared thought he’d never get used to the sound of those damn things. They always meant pain and anguish for someone. He just didn’t want that someone to be him anymore.
The hospital was a hub of activity. One he’d like to avoid but given the circumstances, it wasn’t possible. Neither was it sensible. He might be lucky enough to find Taz. Ask him some questions. Maybe find a private moment to ask him about his residence issues.
“Ugh. I hate these places. I was so happy to see Tobias in the home. It was always nice to see him there than at the hospital.”
“Did you get a chance to see him here?” Jared asked as he opened the front door for her.
“Yes, we saw him several times. He was on the second floor.” She led the way forward. “I don’t think he’ll be back in the same place, but it’s possible.”
“Do you want to check there first? Or should we go to the front desk and ask someone there for help?”
“Maybe.” She smiled. “That’s why I’m glad you’re here. We’ll figure this out together.”
She walked up to the reception desk and said politely, “Hi. A friend of mine was brought in early this morning. Could you tell us what room he is in, please?”
“Sure, what’s his name?”
Jared stood off to the side, not paying attention to Clarissa so he could check out if Taz was anywhere around. And sure enough, he was walking out of Emergency. “Clarissa, I’ll be right back.”
He raced toward the doctor and called out, “Taz!”
The doctor froze then turned around.
Chapter 16
Tessa strode down the hallway, Cody and her father on her heels. She was elated with having saved the young man, but she wished she understood how and why it had worked. As she didn’t know, she couldn’t count on it working every time. And she didn’t want other people to think she could.
The process was wearing her down. She hadn’t said anything to Cody because she knew he’d try to stop her. The drain on her own personal resources was hard – harder than she was expecting. She kept telling her vampire genetics to kick in and they had, to some extent, but not enough.
Surely there couldn’t be too many more men dying. It would devastate her to not be able to help those others because she wasn’t strong enough.
At the men’s urgings, she raced into the closest room. There were three men hovering over another man. Several more lay or reclined against the walls, looking alive but exhausted or still wiped out from the drugs. She headed for the man on the bed.
“He’s in a bad way,” Goran said. “Tessa, he’s our own Councilmen Bushman.”
She got the message. That didn’t mean she could do anything about his condition. The councilman looked familiar. She thought she’d seen him in the blood farm.
At her say so, Goran moved the others back and she dove in, sweeping away the black energy that choked his life force. She didn’t even know where the words she’d used came from, but it seemed to fit. She was neither a doctor nor a specialist in vamp
ire genetics, but somehow she’d become a specialist in energy.
There was a deep angry black lying against his heart, and that was the one killing him. She focused and pulsed lighter energy from her own system under the blackness. It gave his system something alive to use while she worked to cleanse that heavy blackout of his chakras. That was another word she’d read about somewhere that seemed to fit. She just hadn’t heard it often. Head down, she kept her eyes focused on the job at hand even as her ears heard muttering behind her.
“What is she doing?”
“How is this going to help our Councilman?”
“Did someone call for a doctor?”
It was getting irritating. She glanced over at Cody and rolled her eyes.
He grinned. “Everyone might just want to give her a little peace and quiet to work.”
“What work is she doing? This is not normal, Cody. I understand that you know her, but…”
“Isn’t that Tessa? David’s weirdo sister?”
As if everyone knew a line had been drawn, a pregnant silence that filled the room.
A couple of weeks ago she’d have been devastated. Right now? She’d let the others take care of this guy. When there was a shriek followed by a heavy thud against a wall, she grinned.
“This is Tessa,” Cody snarled. “She is David’s sister.” His voice rose in volume. “However, she is not a weirdo.”
Her father picked up the conversation. “And she is my daughter,” he roared. “That kind of talk will get you an ass–kicking like you’ve seen before.”
“Damn it, Serus,” Goran groused in glee. “How come you get all the fun?”
There was a rumble of raised voices behind her, but Tessa lost interest as she pulsed a little more energy into the man’s chest and watched it rise then fall…and then nothing. She pulsed a little more. Same thing. She frowned and shot a heavy bolt of energy into his chest and damn…he gasped, groaned, and opened his eyes as he gulped for air.
“Holy shit.”
“She did it?”
“What did she do?”
“I don’t know, but I’m a believer now.”
“Told you, man. Same thing she did to Andrew and Harry. Hell, Harry was fucking dead and she brought him back to life.”
Tessa reached down and helped the Councilman into a sitting position, shifting so she crouched in front of him. His face had a peaked look to it, but his eyes were bright. Clear. “Take it easy, your system is weak and still fighting off the drugs. You will need a day or two to recover.”
She glanced back at Goran, seeing the relief in his eyes. “Goran, he needs to be moved to safety.” She motioned to the hallways. “Same as the other two men. They need rest for their systems to recover.”
Goran nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
Tessa watched him face the group of young men.
“We’re going to split you into two groups. One group is going to take the three men that Tessa worked on – and any others she says needs to – back to Council Hall. The second group is going to run interference for the first group to make sure they get out of the hospital safely. Remember, you were all drugged and kept prisoner here. We trust no one who isn’t here working to free everyone.” He glared at them all. “Anyone not understand?”
There were no dissenters. Tessa held back a smile. Goran was the right man to organize a large group of rowdy males. This group wanted to fight back against what had been done to them.
She stood up and gasped as the room wavered. She reached out a hand.
A dozen hands reached back.
Cody was first. He wrapped a gentle arm around her. “Tired?”
“I’m okay,” she whispered.
He gave her a doubtful look.
In a stronger voice, she responded with, “I’m better this time. Is he the only one that needs help?”
“No. There are two more.”
She winced. “We’d better go then. I don’t know how long before I crash.”
As they walked out of the room, she heard Goran organizing the men into groups. She asked, “Cody, do you know these guys?”
He nodded.
“Are any of these men going to be there on Friday’s hangout?” she asked curiously.
“Likely all of them.”
“Well, maybe it won’t be so scary then. I’m no longer a stranger to them.” She laughed. “A weirdo, but not a stranger.”
“He’s going to regret saying that,” Cody snapped in a hard voice.
“Don’t punish him anymore,” she said quietly. “He didn’t know. He’s just saying what everyone else has been saying for years.”
Cody, silent at her side, walked her down to where several other men were waiting impatiently for her.
She smiled at them.
They smiled uneasily, their gazes shifting to Cody. “Cody? Is she the one? She’s just a kid.”
“Yeah, she’s the one.”
“And I’m no longer a kid.” She brushed past them, leaving Cody to the explanations. She couldn’t blame them. She was young. She was someone new to them and what she was doing was a kind of magic – but it was also new to her and she couldn’t give anyone an explanation. The more men she helped, the more she worried about the men she’d ignored in the morgue. Had she missed a chance to help them? Considering what she’d seen, she realized there’d likely been no live energy surrounding those gurneys. They’d been dark and heavy with the black rot of death.
In the next room, she stood, shocked to a standstill. There was a massive young vamp on the bed, his knees at the end and his lower legs hanging off the end. She’d never seen one so big.
“Who are you? We requested a doctor, not a child,” snapped a huge older vamp standing protectively in front of the collapsed male. She studied his features and realized they looked close enough alike to be family, quite likely father and son. She could probably check that information through their energy but honestly, she didn’t have time. The younger man on the bed had no time.
“I’m not a doctor,” she snapped, tired and fatigued and not up to warring with someone that probably outweighed her three times over. “I’m Tessa, and I’m what you’ve got.”
A guttural spat filled the room. Her jaw dropped. She didn’t recognize or understand the meaning, neither did she recognize the language. Talk about foreign dignitaries! What language was that anyways?
Cody answered in her mind. It’s Nordic.
Two massive men from the same clan approached.
Cody stepped in front of Tessa. Instantly the two men were on him.
She hissed, the odd sound filling the room.
Two more men approached her, intent on protecting their leader. She understood, but that couldn’t happen. She glanced over at the young man on the bed and sighed. He was already mostly gone. If she wanted to save him, she didn’t have time for this crap.
Shifting slightly, she could see the father guarding his son. “Okay, don’t call them off, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Lowering her hands, her claws extended inches past her fingertips. The men’s gazes widened, but they kept coming.
“Wait!” Serus shouted from the doorway. “Don’t attack her.”
Tessa laughed. “You’re calling out to the wrong person, Dad. You should be asking me to stop. Not that I will after they attacked Cody.”
The men launched themselves at her. She crossed her arms across her chest, bright red claws extended, and checked out their energy. She realized that given their size, her trick wasn’t going to work at the normal height. She waited until they’d almost reached her then crouched and jumped up as high as she could, then slashed her hands sideways into the energy over their hearts.
Both men stopped as if they hit a wall. The look of their faces shifted from anger to shock to horror then… nothing. They both collapsed.
“Shit.” Serus raced into the room. Tessa crouched, her breath locked into her chest, a feral grin on her face…waiting. Were more men
going to attack?
The massive male standing guard over the dead man started screaming and shouting in his language as men rushed towards them, but the noise was driving her crazy. For some reason, the tone and the decibel level was like a hammer going off in her head.
“Shut up,” she screamed at him.
Easy, Tessa, Cody said. Take it easy.
But the noise continued. Tessa reached out mentally and slammed a door on the man’s mouth.
I. Said. Stop. It, she screamed.
The man stopped screaming – the noise cut off like a knife. A blank look of shock filled his face and his gaze widened as he stared at her.
I’m here to save your son. But if you don’t want that, then I will walk out of this room now. She waited a long moment. But if you want me to see what I can do, call off your men, let Cody go, and get the hell out of my way.
*
Cody watched as the seven foot Nordic giant’s face went ashen and he slowly fell to his knees on the floor, face first. He turned to Tessa. She had her hands over her face, whispering, “Oh thank heavens.”
Tessa, he asked gently, hating the whiteness to her face and that horrible bruising around her eyes. She was paying a high price for helping these men. These strangers. And facing a difficult wall of rage, fear, and scorn. Once again, life had asked much of her. Did you do that?
She peeked at him between her fingers then gave a short nod. I don’t know what happened, but he was screaming and my head was hurting so I screamed at him to stop it – but I think I screamed in his mind.
He took a moment to assimilate that. So you did to him what Deanna did to you?
I think so. She nodded and dropped her hands. I didn’t mean to hurt him though. I needed him to stop screaming. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I’m so tired and everything is amplified.
Cody studied her, worried. She looked to be barely holding on.
“Tessa?” Serus asked. “Can you fix these two guys?”
She glanced over at her father, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes making Cody want to take her in his arms and hold her close. She was exhausted. Damn it. She’d worn herself down. Cody couldn’t imagine any other instance when Tessa would have snapped like that.
