by Dale Mayer
"I remember a couple of the men that were there. I'll write them down, too." Goran's face turned grim. "At this point I don't trust any of the information we're getting."
"We need more help. Sian saw a lot of who was there. She should be part of this."
"Have her contact the humans' police. See if Jared made it."
Serus opened his phone. "Ah, hell. I hadn't even considered the humans. What if the damn assholes picked them up for fresh blood for the farm at the same time?"
"Don't go there yet." Goran moved over to the window. "We have to stop this from happening again. We had those damn kids saved. I even stayed behind to make sure they all got out before coming straight here."
At that, Serus glanced over at his friend. "And you didn't pass their vehicle?"
There was an odd silence. Goran shrugged. "I didn't look. I'd come out hours later. They should have all been home safe. I didn't see any vehicles, but I wasn't looking for any either. I flew straight here." He pounded his fist into his other hand. "Damn it, we didn't have a chance to get them new cell phones. They still can't contact us."
"I was trying to not focus on that. Let's remain positive."
Rhia shifted in the bed, then raised an arm and rubbed her eyes. "Serus…"
"Honey?" Serus reached over and captured her hand. He held it close. "How are you feeling?"
She tried to open her eyes, but gasped with pain. "Hurts."
There were no lights on in the room. This was a vampire center, after all.
"It's probably the drugs," murmured Goran.
Serus nodded. "You've been hurt. Don't try to move yet."
"Hmmm." She rolled over onto her side. "Don't feel so good."
"No. But you're going to be fine now." Serus cradled her hand in his, watching as she yawned and snuggled deeper. And went back to sleep.
"At least she sounded better." Goran said from the other side of the bed. "Normal, even."
"Compared to her behavior at the blood farm, yes. Is she back to true normal? She wasn't awake enough to be sure."
A heavy sigh gusted from Goran's barrel chest. "What do you want to do?"
"Find the kids." Serus stared down at Rhia's pale face. "But I hate leaving her. Who can we trust?"
A commotion at the door had them both turning. At the raised voice, Serus rolled his eyes. Gittora. "Shit." Rhia's oldest sister had heard the news. Trust that bitch to come.
"Maybe she can sit with Rhia?"
"Or maybe she'd poison Rhia herself."
Goran snorted in agreement. "Then who?"
With a quick glance at the still empty door, Serus quickly opened his phone and called. "Sian, can you come to the hospital? Guard Rhia. Gittora has arrived, but—"
Sian immediately said, "I'll be there in ten. Don't leave Gittora alone with Rhia."
Serus nodded, relief washing over him. "Right." He hung up the phone, quickly relaying the conversation to Goran just as the scratchy voice slammed at him from the doorway.
"You didn't even call me, Serus. Rhia is my sister, after all. I should have been told first. Not your crony here," she said, her scathing voice slicing into both of them.
Goran straightened. "Wow, I'll have to talk to security about letting you in."
"Your security would never keep me out." She glared at him as she stalked over to Rhia's bedside.
"As Rhia is doing fine, there was no need to worry you," Serus said smoothly. He stroked Rhia's hand and kept a firm position on that side of the bed, refusing to give Gittora his spot. Gittora walked around to the other side and glared Goran away. Serus almost smiled. Those two had a major hate thing going on for centuries.
But then, everyone hated Gittora. Like Rosha, Rhia's other sister, Gittora made enemies and kept them.
"I heard wild rumors of drugs and blood farms and various attacks on our young vampires. I also heard that several of our people are missing." She lifted her cold gaze to pin Serus in place. "What do you know about that?"
Serus was no fool. He hadn't survived this long without understanding that the females of his species were the more vicious. His beloved Rhia was different. But the rest of her line were the worst he'd ever met. This sister topped the cake.
"Nothing," he answered smoothly. "Rhia isn't dying. I'd have called both you and Rosha if she were." He gave her a hard look. "Not sure that you'd show if she were anyway. You're not close. So why are you here now?"
Goran sucked in his breath, his wary gaze switching from one to the other.
Gittora smiled. It was all Serus could do to hide the shudder wafting across his skin. She was so cold. So cutting. So without a care. Soulless.
At that word, everything went on alert. Could she be mixed up in this mess?
But Gittora settled back slightly. "I came because I heard Rhia was in the hospital," she snapped. "As I can't remember the last time that happened, I figured it must be serious."
Her words were correct. The delivery of them made his skin crawl. But that was nothing new. He'd tolerated Rhia's family for centuries, but there was no love lost between them. That alone made him want her to be part of this blood farm mess. But just wanting it didn't make it true. And he'd hate for Gittora to be behind Rhia's drugging. The two sisters had their differences over the years, but this would be a monumental betrayal.
Something the bitch was perfectly capable of.
"Ohhmph." Smash. Tumble. Groan. Tessa cried out in panic as her legs pumped hard, trying to keep her on her feet as the force propelled her forward.
"Ah, shit." Again, she wasn't thinking. She should have landed and lifted off immediately. And suddenly she found herself airborne again…and soared! The energetic force propelled her way further than she'd have guessed.
"Yes!" she laughed as her jump crossed half the field and removed much of the force from her fall. She landed, a little hard, but immediately lifted off again and soared another amazing distance. Finally, she could slow enough to land and walk a few feet before finally coming to a dead stop.
She took several more steps, then crouched to rest and catch her breath. That had been a rush. Not one she really wanted to repeat any time soon, but if that's how fliers felt every time they flew…wow. What an incredible feeling.
With her nerves steady again and her breathing more or less normal, Tessa walked toward the small village off to the left.
She slipped behind the first set of trees and surveyed the cluster of buildings. The windows were covered to almost black. So, a vampire holding. Damn.
Where the hell was she, anyway? And how come there were so many vampire holdings hidden away? The very concept of a hidden holding just made her think of the assholes who'd been screwing her life up lately.
There was no sign of anyone out of the buildings. But the windows were a dead giveaway.
Time was running out. It was getting harder to see the trail and, with the sunlight, the rest of the energy would be even harder to see. She jumped to the top of the nearest tree, picked out her next spot, and glided across, keeping as low a profile as possible. Now, if she could land as smoothly as her father, she'd barely disturb the trees. Instead, the tops swayed and shook with her erratic movements. It took time, but she eventually worked her way around the small village to the far side. And found the house where the energy stream dissipated.
So, whoever had been at the vehicle had landed here. She studied the area, searching for any other energy patterns. And found none. If the vamps had come here, they were either still here or had left by a different method.
Shifting her gaze slightly, she could barely see the shimmer of other energies melting into the mix. Cody's shone – weak, but threaded through the stream.
Her heart lightened.
He was here. She could sense him. Her gaze widened as she realized the truth of that. She couldn't actually hear him or see him, but there was a feeling of connectedness. She closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could. Cody?
Nothing. Except…maybe a warming se
nsation. But maybe not. Damn.
She didn't dare worry about all the reasons why Cody might not be able to answer her. If she did, fear would drop her to her knees.
She shivered in the tree. Why didn't she have a cell phone? Well, she did, but…the damn battery was dead. She needed to be able to call her father at least. Did he have any idea that they were missing yet? And what about her mother? Had those damn drugs left her system yet?
Still, it was David, Jewel, Ian, and Cody that worried her right now. They'd been with her when they'd left the blood farm. They should be with her now. She was damn tired of waking up alone.
Her eyes widened. And she grinned.
And didn't that bring up a whole slew of possibilities. Damn Cody for taking over her thoughts and stirring up her hormones. She'd believed Jared was the love of her life until Cody flew in and stole a piece of her heart – or maybe the whole damn thing. She hadn't had time to sort through her feelings for the man.
He'd gone from being the irritating friend of her older brother to being a cohort in this mess, and then to something…so much more. She just didn't know how much more. And what was with that whole mind link thing? She could almost fool herself into thinking it had been her imagination. Almost.
For all she knew the mind link had been an aberration. It wasn't something she could control. And if she couldn't control it, then maybe it had been caused by something other than her own actions.
And didn't that stop her in her tracks.
Had Cody brought the mind link into existence? No way. He wouldn't do that. He didn't care. Not like that.
Did he?
She gulped and tried to turn the issue around and examine it from as many perspectives as she could. That she was looking for confirmation of something she couldn't possibly confirm didn't matter.
Besides, hadn't she heard something about Cody having a girlfriend? Her mind went into overdrive, trying to pull every little word she'd heard back out of her holey brain. No, now she remembered. He'd had a girlfriend. Xani…Xana, that was it. A redhead. "'A stunning redhead"' was how David had put it once, a long time ago. Of course she would be stunning. In the way of vamps, all women were stunning. And there was no way Cody would bother with anyone who wasn't as gorgeous, as…perfect as he was himself.
Then again, this Xana was an ex…so it hadn't worked out.
The playing field of young vamp relationships was wide open and very active. Games were played on a daily basis as everyone sorted out their likes and dislikes, current loves, and exes. Tessa hadn't reached that stage yet. And, given what she'd seen of those slightly older than her, she wasn't really looking forward to it. In truth, she would love to skip that stage altogether. Some vamps were incredibly cruel, and this relationship stuff was cutting ground for the female vamp teeth. But Tessa wasn't like the others.
She cared. And hurting someone else would hurt her. Having been the odd duck all her life, she didn't want any males only to consider dating her on a dare or as a challenge. Now that would suck.
Not being popular made her stand out already – and not in a good way. But if she wasn't involved in the crazy relationships of the young and restless, then she'd stand out even more. Still, she refused to follow the pack. If she found someone she really liked who liked her, then she'd date him. Jared was a perfect example. And she wasn't about to walk away from him yet.
And then there was Cody. Someone she wouldn't have expected to like her – like like her – in her wildest dreams.
But if he'd started the mind link, maybe he did care?
Shivers of delight rippled down her back. But Cody could have anyone. He wouldn't bother with her. No, if he'd started the mind link it would only have been to help her out. She was David's little sister. He probably had an oversized sense of responsibility as David's best friend.
Right.
Besides, she had difficulty thinking of Cody initializing something so…so intimate.
Just the remembrance of him inside her mind made her shiver.
No, it had to have been the stress of the war they were involved in. The panic, the fear. Whatever. It made more sense that the mind link came into being out of necessity rather than because she or Cody had wanted it.
Right?
So not.
It was…special.
And so was he.
***
Cody stared at the slammed door, then exchanged glances with David and Ian. "That answers that question. We're not alone."
"I didn't even see the door open. So someone opened it and then slammed it?" Ian held out his hands. "Like, why?"
"Maybe we should go find out," David suggested. "Do we want to run or attack?"
Cody snorted. "Like you need to ask."
The three males grinned, a sharp edge to their smirks. Cody's anger honed in on the door.
"Ah, guys – I hate to be the voice of reason, but do we really want to fight our way out of here when we don't know what is out there? For all you know, there is an army of those vamps waiting for us. We are only four." Jewel rubbed her temple. "We should at least check out what's on the other side of this door first."
David looked at her in surprise, then at the door, and back at her again. "Damn, if you aren't right about that."
"I don't know why this one is better than the other, but whatever…" With a flourish, Cody pulled the door open wide, turning to face her. "There, it's open. Satisfied?"
Ian choked, "Ah, Cody – you might want to take a look."
Cody spun around. And stared. The room was full of beds. And people.
Everyone hooked up to tubing and machines.
And everyone appeared to be a vampire.
Cody stared at the room full of his fellow man and forced the bile back down his throat. Goddamn it. How had his people come to this?
"Oh shit," whispered Ian. "This is my worst nightmare, back again."
"Hell," said David, "I never had a chance to get rid of it."
Jewel brushed past them and wandered down the aisle, stopping to look at each face. At one she stopped, a hiccupping sound sliding out.
"Jewel?" David walked up to her, sliding an arm around her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Her rapid head shake was the only answer. Then she pointed. Cody walked toward them, staring at the bed she'd picked out.
"Jesus. It's Councilman Bushman."
"What?" Ian ran up to join them. "Really? He was at the blood farm, too. I remember seeing him talking to Goran."
"They have him here. Then why not us?" David stared. He spun around. "Okay, so how many people here do we know? And how many can we place at the blood farm when everyone came to rescue us?"
They walked slowly up and down, talking as they came upon each person they could confirm knowing or not knowing. They all had different family connections within the vampire clan, but most knew the same as the others.
There were some vampires that were familiar but not nameable or identifiable if they'd been part of the blood farm rescue. Each vampire lay fully dressed on top of the pristine white sheets. Each had their right arm exposed, a needle taped to the wrist, and tubing going to machines parked at their sides.
They were all out cold.
Ian pulled a pen and paper out of his pocket and started writing down names. "We've confirmed six as having been at the blood farm. These last two," he motioned toward two hulking males at the end of the row, "I think I saw coming up with the councilmen. Maybe guards, drivers, or something else. They do look familiar."
Cody stared down at the men. "They do. But…I'm not sure if we saw them at the blood farm or not. I think they were at the last council meeting. I believe they're security team members." But then, he hadn't taken note of everyone – mostly just Tessa. Especially in that outfit she'd shown up in. She'd been more than enough to keep his attention. And besides, they'd assumed it was all over. They'd let their guard down. Relaxed.
"That would make sense. But freaky." Jewel shuddered. "They should be our be
st trained men. How could anyone possibly overcome all these people at once?"
"Not all at once. Picked them off in small, doable groupings. And probably used drugs. Gas, even."
They all stared grimly at Cody.
"That is so not good." Jewel's voice rose in horror. "What hope do we have to overcome these assholes if they have that kind of equipment? The required personnel to do all this. The technology. "
