by Dale Mayer
Jared stopped to peer at the computers attached to each male. There were no names. Just numbers. He focused on the faces. He ignored the vamps who'd driven up here with him. Not wanting to know what they were doing here. It was hard initially, but then he got caught up in his task and forgot about them for real.
He made it down four rows when he felt eyes on him.
He hunched his shoulders, crouched, and turned.
***
Rhia and Sian slipped down the back stairs of the hospital and left through one of the many delivery door exits. Rhia knew her energy was low, but didn't dare give herself any more time. She was a vamp. She could do this.
"I still don't think you should have left the hospital," Sian repeated once more.
"I got that." Rhia cast a glance around behind them. "But after finding my doctor on that damn list, I sure wasn't going to stay."
"Understandable." Sian added, "I copied it onto the flash drive, but now we have to keep both copies safe."
"And get them to someone who can help."
Sian walked at the same pace as the slower Rhia. "I have a few ideas. There were four council members not on that list, and I know one of the ancients personally. We need to get to them, make our case, and get their help. We have a war brewing and we need to have our side marshaled and ready to go before the other side counterattacks. They've been winning steadily. Enough is enough. We have to put an end to this."
"I know. My son and daughter are in that damn place."
Sian's phone rang. She peered at the caller display. "It's Taz."
Rhia smiled, happy to have any link with their team. But the smile left Sian's face almost immediately.
She waited for Sian to finish the conversation. When she closed the phone, Sian's face had sobered and deep worry lines filled her face. "Serus released Taz and the others where they'd been locked up. Serus and Goran have gone after the kids. Taz, of course, has gone back out to the warehouse."
Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Taz says things are really bad up there. They can't tell friend from foe. He said no one should go up there. It's too risky."
Damn. Rhia's heart plummeted. She'd just sent her oldest son into terrible danger.
Tessa stepped into line behind her father as he searched the area for vamps. She hadn't seen anyone yet. Not that she'd been allowed to enter any of the rooms they'd come upon. Like usual, she'd been relegated to being a…girl.
It both pissed her off and made her feel loved.
Cody walked up behind her. "Tired of being in the background again?"
She smiled. "It's a bit unnerving to have my role switch depending on the people I'm with."
"True enough." He slung an arm around her shoulders. "Feels good to know you can handle yourself when the need arises though, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," she murmured, "it does."
Just then, the elders walked back out. "This place appears empty," her father said.
"Does that mean that we can release the captives?" Tessa looked around. "Then maybe home? Fight the rest of the war from there."
"We have the captives located on the GPS," David said, holding up the phone.
"As this place is empty, let's do what we can for them and get the hell out of here." Cody wanted away from this place.
Goran added, "We came here to find you, so if we're all here, let's check on the others. I'd like to see this room full of drugged vamps so we can help our own people and determine who's on whose side here."
A plan in place, Ian used the GPS on the phone to guide them back to the room full of drugged humans. Checking out the energy, Tessa realized no one else had come by since she'd last been here. So far, so good. Maybe the other team had finally run out of bad guys.
After a quick check on the still drugged humans, Ian led the way back through the other rooms to where the vamps had been drugged. It was still empty. Or almost empty. They found Motre standing there, staring at the empty beds.
"Where the hell have you been?" Cody asked. He didn't know how Motre fit in here, but it was good to see him alive.
Motre grinned at them. "There you are. I've got the vamps in another place. Glad to see you're all doing okay."
He nodded to Serus and Goran. "Good to see you two."
"How is Councilman Bushman?" Goran asked.
"Awake and pissed." Motre's grin widened. "After we got separated, not by my choice, by the way," he rubbed his head and winced, "I decided to use the tracker and return to guard our people. Come on, I'll take you to the councilman. There are many of us up ahead."
They fell in behind him and entered the vast room to find they were surrounded by vamps. Motre strode ahead toward a door at the far end.
Tessa stopped to study the faces of those around her. Only they didn't look familiar.
Under her breath, as the color of everyone's energy swirled around her, she realized she recognized several from her treks to meet up with her friends and family. But none of them looked like allies. She whispered, "Shit."
She felt more than saw Cody's glance her way.
What's the matter?
They aren't on our side.
Are you sure?
No. But almost. And we're surrounded. So now what?
We kick butt.
***
Rhia slipped around the back of the huge mansion. Sian crept in behind her. Rhia's head still pounded and her limbs had a weakness she didn't like. She was getting stronger by the hour, but the hours had become too short and moved too fast. She had to get this information to people they could trust. And fast.
Damn it all. She wanted this mess over with. And her family home safe and sound.
"Is anyone there?" Sian whispered. "And why are we skulking around again?"
"Because we don't know who else might be here. We need to speak with Councilman Adamson only. Preferably in private."
"Right. He has no spouse, does he?"
"No. Or kids, as far as I know," Rhia murmured, struck by how different a life that meant. She had three children and Serus to fill her day. How lonely would her life be without them all? She couldn't imagine.
She returned her focus to the door at the back of the house. The house appeared empty. She hoped not.
Taking a deep breath, she rapped on the back door.
The door opened under her hand, the creak loud enough to make her jump. Sian's gasp had her looking behind. "Is there someone there?"
"I don't know." Rhia stepped into the dark interior, her senses on high alert. This could be a trap but no one, and she meant no one, knew they were here.
She walked through to the main room. Sian stepped in behind her. "Is the place empty?"
"It might be? Or," Rhia hesitated, "he might be hiding?"
Sian looked at her curiously. "And why would he do that?"
"Because of the times we are in. If he has any idea of the other councilmen's involvement, he might feel he is in danger."
A heavy brush of wings filled the air.
Rhia stiffened. There was more than one vamp landing. Were they good or….
"You enter my home without an invitation?" Councilman Adamson questioned, his voice lethally sharp. A second vamp landed at his side. Rhia studied her. She thought it was Gloria, the dragon lady who kept the council in line.
That could be a very good thing.
"We called out," Rhia said. "But as we couldn't be sure if you were home or not, we decided to come in and check."
"And what is so important that you felt you were justified in doing such a thing?"
Rhia exchanged a quick glance with Sian. She took a deep breath, pulled out the laptop, turned it on, and brought up the saved material. Giving him a hard look, she spun the laptop around and held the information up to him.
"This."
***
Jared watched as a man in a white lab coat stepped around the corner of the row. A human doctor. "What are you doing here?"
Jared tried to smile. "I'm sorry. I'm Jared."
At his name, the other man's face relaxed.
"You're the one that got away. I'm Taz, by the way. Tessa is a friend of the family. I was brought in to help these people out."
Jared relaxed. "Thank you. There was no one here when I arrived, and I was afraid something was wrong."
"Oh, we're here – just a few less than we started with. We were attacked and taken prisoner. Tessa's father and Goran came to rescue us."
"Oh, wow! I'd so hoped the bad guys were out of the picture now."
"I don't think so." Taz smiled. "How did you get here?"
"I came up with Seth, Tessa's brother, and four of his friends. They were already planning to come, I just hitched a ride."
"Really? There's no reason for any of them to be here." His frown flashed as he studied the area around them. "I'll need to find them and see what they want. They shouldn't roam around here freely."
"I haven't seen them since I separated from them at the exit over there." Jared pointed toward the way he'd come in.
"And why is it you came back?" Taz asked, his voice low, solemn.
"I have reason to believe that my father is one of the humans hanging here." He took a deep breath, adding, "And has been since I was little." He hated the pity and compassion that came over the doctor's face. Taz was a good man. And he'd know all the implications of what Jared had said.
"I'm sorry."
Jared nodded. He swallowed hard. "My uncle did it. He also sold me to the farm. I'm going to make sure he pays. I'd love to see him hanging up here." He motioned upward to the man hanging beside him. "Like this guy."
"No, you don't." Taz grabbed his arm and tugged him down the row. "Let's go down to the office we're using. There are computers there. Your father might be in the database. I don't know that they have any names there, though."
"That's why I'm walking the rows." Jared looked up and came to a dead stop.
Taz studied his face "What's the matter?"
Jared wasn't listening; his attention had locked on the face before him. Could it be? There was enough resemblance to his own face with an image overlapping of a younger uncle to make him recognize the family line. But it was that inner connection that made him sure. He could sense a connection. Sense a link between them.
It was his father. He knew it at a DNA level.
And it broke his heart to see this. To see the proof before his eyes. He dropped his gaze to the computer hanging on the front of this man's body. Number 97239.
"It's my father."
***
Tessa's head snapped back as a blow came out of nowhere. "What the…" Only she was knocked forward and into yet another blow. She went down…hard. Damn it, she was too tired for this.
Don't say that. Get up. Hurry. I can't keep them off for too long.
Crap. Tessa bolted to her feet, desperate to shake the fog from her rattled brain. A flash of silver had her instinctively shifting and grabbing the hand behind it. She pivoted and stabbed with her own spike into the chest in front of her.
Ash floated down around her. She groaned as another vamp stepped up and took his place, a ferocious grin on his face. They'd started to look all the same. Mean, ugly, and way too happy to be here for comfort. She backed up a step and hit someone. She pivoted, spike between her fingers, her nails long and dripping.
And found Cody staring down at her. She grinned up at him, loving the surge of warm power arcing between them. Then his eyes lit up in horror. He snatched her up and stuffed her behind his back as the vamp she'd taken her eyes off charged.
And went down. She peered from around Cody's shoulder to see it vaporize in front of them.
"I'm never going to enjoy a warm fire again."
Cody nodded silently. "I hear you."
There. She gasped. David and Ian are in trouble.
Let's go.
And go they did, meeting vamp after vamp, delivering blows and kicks, and taking too many for comfort. Finally they were in the center, where David and Ian had backed up to each other, chests heaving as they faced the enemy encircling them.
An enemy whose numbers never seemed to dwindle.
Tessa and Cody immediately took their position next to them. Their last stand. She hated to have that negative thought. Especially at this moment, with the four of them down to the wire.
And surrounded.
"Where's Jewel?" David rasped, his voice low and hoarse and full of pain.
Cody answered, "She's with my father and yours."
Tessa couldn't see his face, but his relief was so strong she felt a physical wave as it washed over her brother. His whispered "Thank you" hit a heartfelt spot in her own heart. It also brought down how very real and deadly this war had become.
They were all going to lose someone before long. They had to. The war was too big and too harsh for them all to survive. She didn't want to lose anyone. She didn't want her way of life to die. And she didn't have a clue how to get through this.
Ready? Cody's voice filtered through her mind. His warm energy bolstering her flagging energy. "Everyone stay focused. We aren't alone."
She glanced over at him.
"This looks to be the last group. Motre and his group just finished and so have the elders. They'll attack from the outside. We just have to stay alive a little longer."
Ian's voice, exhausted but still game, said, "A little longer I can do. These bastards are tough, though. With them having spikes, it's all about speed. Get them before they get you."
David added, "We need a better way to attack."
Just as he said that, a wave of black filled the room. Cody swore, "Shit. More arrived."
"Ours or theirs?" muttered David.
Tessa turned to Cody. "Can you fly low and scrape the spikes along their backs? I can jump and get one or two, but if we split this up and attack on all sides…"
"Two in the air. Two on the ground. A scratch might not kill them, but it will slow them down a lot."
"Good. Let's do it."
Ready?
Absolutely. She'd rather go out in style, fighting to the end. And she'd rather die than face life without her family and know she'd caused their deaths. The guilt would be far worse.
One…two…
And they both took to the air. Tessa couldn't jump high from a standstill, but she gave it her best. She jumped up smoothly, then glided low. The silver spikes stuck out from between her fingers as she slashed and punched at the backs and heads of the group surrounding her brother. In a second wave, David and Ian came in low and dispatched the stumbling vamps.
Woot! Tessa pumped her spike-laden fist in the air.
That bunch is done. I'm going over to help my father. Cody took off to the fighting going on at the right, where the damn doors seemed to let in even more vamps.
Tessa landed and spun around to make sure she wasn't under attack, realizing David and Ian were fine. Ian was breathing hard but appeared unhurt. David raced over to Jewel, who struggled with one last vamp. David stabbed him in the back, the stepped over the still-firing ashes to tug Jewel in his arms.
On the opposite side, Motre and his men were dispatching the last of the vamps. Quickly, efficiently, and ruthlessly.
She closed her eyes and groaned as the last vamp fell. Then again, she was doing a slow slide to the floor herself. She wanted to giggle as her butt hit the floor. But there was just no energy left. And, from the looks of it, her friends weren't in much better shape.
David had his arms wrapped around Jewel, who appeared to be barely able to stand. But she wasn't ash on the ground, so all was good. At least, as good as any of them could be. She searched behind Jewel to find her father in conversation with Goran. They'd both been through so much, and for so long. She was amazed they looked as strong as they did.
Ian was on the other side, bent over, chest heaving from exhaustion. He looked wasted.
It was over.
It had to be. Surely they'd finally purged this farm of bad guys.
Surely?
It would be unbelievably lucky if they had. They were many piles of ashes, but she couldn't bear to think of anyone she knew as being one of them.
