by Dale Mayer
“What are you going to do to keep them from moving back into this place – if you can actually get it cleared out?”
“No idea,” she answered cheerfully. “Not my problem.”
Cody laughed. “It might become your problem.”
“No,” she said calmly. “Someone else needs to take that on.”
“So delegate,” he said. “They listen to you. You can set up a team and set them on it.”
“They won’t like me making those decisions.”
“So? You’re in a special position now. You hold Deanna’s information. In theory, you’re the one with the most information. The vast wisdom of the elders.”
“Ha. Not sure how wise Deanna was. She made some shitty choices.”
“So have we, Tessa. So have we.”
She glanced at him. “Well, the one decision I want to finalize right now is the one that lets me leave this hospital. I’m starting to hate anything that stops me from doing or going where I want.”
Behind her, she overheard Motre and Serus discussing the attack on Sian. She couldn’t believe they’d been so brazen and had attacked Sian so close to the Council Hall. And what about Taz and Jared? She still struggled with the concept of Jared in the Council Hall. And she hadn’t even heard it firsthand from him. No, Ian had texted Cody. Like who’d have thought that a human would be allowed?
Things must be changing for him to be there. Then again, it was also overflowing with the intruders and foreign visitors. She’d like to be there herself. What to do with an empty building wasn’t her priority. Getting out was.
Motre had said he had the last of the injured vamps, but she couldn’t trust the enemy.
She pushed open the double doors leading to the first floor and walked through. The others followed. Ahead was a large group of vamps. A cry rose in front of her and they raced toward her.
The hallway was narrow here. There’d only be a skirmish up front, and no one else would be able to get into the action.
The group behind her groaned, and she could hear the collective back straightening and shoulder squaring as the fight approached. They might be injured and drugged and weak, but they were game. She could respect that. But they didn’t have to fight.
In fact, no one did.
She’d take them out before the first punch was thrown.
Just one of the benefits of having fought Deanna and won. She understood so much more.
In fact…she drew on Hortran’s bit of energy, wrapped it around her, and walked faster. Keeping ahead of the rest of her group, she added more wattage to Hortran’s old bits and felt herself power up. She almost laughed. The system he’d used to kill was so easy a child could do it. In fact, she’d been using a form like that to do her healing work.
The lesson always was energy couldn’t disappear. It could only change form. In this case, it was the energy of his enemies that kept Hortran alive.
And likely Deanna, too. Memories bounced inside her head. Of Hortran teaching Deanna. Of her practice runs that hadn’t gone so well. And her successful attempts.
Later, much later, she’d have to analyze how she felt about Deanna’s methodology for having such a long life, but at the moment she realized the trick was damn good.
Cody, stay back.
Like hell.
You need to. You’ll get caught in the backlash.
*
His footsteps faltered.
Good. Keep the others back too.
He instinctively threw out both arms to stop Serus and Motre from following too close.
Neither man appreciated it, sending him dark looks.
“Let us follow, Cody,” Serus said impatiently.
“You can’t seriously expect her to face them alone,” protested Motre.
Only Cody wasn’t listening. Instead, he was watching as the men approached Tessa and fell, dead or dying at her feet. She never paused or slowed down. She kept walking in a straight line, and the men peeled off on both sides and everyone – as if they hit a wall of energy as she approached – everyone at the right time – collapsed dead.
She walked to the end of the crowd, a sea of bodies at her feet, and turned. She had a big grin on her face as she said, “What’s taking you so long?”
With that, she spun around and carried on down the hall.
Damn, she was good.
Such class. He knew he looked like an idiot standing there with a foolish grin on his face, but it was hard to shake off the moment.
The others had no such problem.
“What did she just do?”
“Holy crap.”
“How did she do that?”
And from Motre: “Damn, that was fine.”
Cody laughed. “Hey, Tessa!”
She turned, a smirk on her face. “Yes.”
“You wouldn’t want to teach all of us to do that, would you?”
She laughed. “Sure. As soon as you can see energy, I can easily teach you this.” She waved her hands at the pile of dead vamps in front of her. “No problem.”
“You did that with energy.”
“Yep, now that I understand how Hortran did it.”
Then Cody understood. They’d been told a Ghost could kill by just walking past someone. “Are they dead?” He was in the middle of the row, walking slowly as he tried to see just how they’d been left. He nudged one, but there was no corresponding groan. In fact, there was nothing.
“I believe so. We should probably check, but we don’t really have time.” She shrugged. “Let’s get moving. Our men need some help.”
And she proceeded to lead the way, the group slowly picking a pathway through the debris she’d left behind her.
*
Serus had seen a lot of things in his life, but he’d never seen anything like what his daughter had just done. It was…scary. As if the men just brushed up against something lethal and never had a chance. He followed behind Cody, studying the pale faces around him on the floor. They didn’t look like they’d been burned or died in pain, but more like they were so tired they didn’t have the energy to live anymore.
Energy.
Had she stolen their energy from them?
Made them die because of it?
It was an odd feeling. He almost felt sorry for them. And he almost felt afraid of his daughter. He knew Hortran had somehow shown her how to do this, but she was becoming something he barely recognized.
He thought he’d hidden his confusion well, but Motre leaned over and asked, “What the hell just happened?”
Serus shrugged and explained what Motre had missed out on. The Hortran and Deanna mystery and what had happened to Tessa. Although he’d heard about that part through the grapevine, he hadn’t gotten all the details. The telling took quite a while, with Cody interjecting at various parts.
The group following behind listened in as their shock quickly turned to curiosity, demanding answers.
“Wow, I wish I’d met him. I’d heard about Ghosts but never actually thought to see one.”
“And chances are you won’t now either. I think Hortran was the last of his kind.”
“And you think he taught Tessa his tricks?” Motre asked. “Because that was seriously wild.”
“It was. She must have learned from him, although I don’t know how.”
Serus frowned. “How do we stop it from getting worse?” Serus muttered. Was this a problem, or was she capable of handling this Deanna mess? It was not what he’d hoped for his little girl. Then again, he hoped she’d just managed to have a somewhat normal life, knowing that being different had already cost her a lot.
He’d never considered a future like this. It worried him. Carrying Deanna’s knowledge was something others were going to covet. They’d want the information from her if they couldn’t get it any other way.
*
Jewel kept walking through the hallways. She was beyond lost. The damn Council Hall was a maze as soon as you got away from the main meeting area and Council cham
bers.
She’d taken a wrong turn and ended up at a dead end, and somehow in the retracing of her steps, she’d gotten even more lost. All the while the crying woman was in her head, something she couldn’t forget. If she could go back now, she would. And damn if she could find her way.
She stopped at the next hallway intersecting her path. Where the hell was she?
And why hadn’t she managed to find a phone yet? She could send out a call for help. If she’d had a phone, she’d likely have never left her room; she’d have waited for someone to rescue her. Now she seemed to be actually going deeper into the damn building.
Why did the Council Hall have to be so big?
Her curiosity piqued, looking behind because she really didn’t want to retrace her steps, she forged on. The hallway coming up looked promising. She peered around the corner, hating that she was so nervous but given what she’d been through, maybe that was normal.
The hallway was empty. More doors, but they were a darker color. Maybe older.
As she wondered what to do, one of the doors close to her opened.
She gasped and quickly pulled back behind the wall.
Had they seen her?
Shit. Her mind immediately asked, Why should it matter? She was lost. Not hurting anything.
Her heart pounded, her hands clenched, all the while her mind wondered if the newcomers could help her find her way back to the main floor. Or should they be avoided at all costs?
When no one barreled around the corner into her, she took a cautious peek. Two men strode down the hallway in the opposite direction. Two men so wide in the shoulders they almost touched the walls as they walked away.
She glanced at the door where they’d come from. It was slightly ajar.
Damn it.
Should she open it and look?
Nah. That would invade their privacy. So not a good idea.
Yet…
*
Rhia swallowed, her throat dry and hard. She’d been locked in and had yet to find a way out. She thought she’d brought her cell phone with her. She never went anywhere without it – yet it wasn’t here. She had to wonder if someone had come while she’d been out cold and taken it.
She’d woken up on the floor, sore, stiff, and physically exhausted. She’d also woken with a clear head. Just not sure which side she was on.
That she questioned that mental state at all said that she should be herself. Information and questions swirled through her head. Seth. Could she find out anything about her son? Had she shipped him out of town? Was he safe?
It took a long moment, then the answers started coming. The order to ship Seth out of the country. Germany. Reciprocal agreement.
Chaos.
Shouting.
Hitting send.
More arguing. Her frantic glance to see if the order had gone through.
Seeing the bar paused almost at the end… still going, going…
And the power going off.
She groaned. “Oh my heavens. Seth’s orders to move him never went through.”
The thoughts continued to control her mind as she considered the issue from every aspect.
It was all too possible that because of the power outage, her son was still here. Still a patient somewhere in enemy hands.
And it was all too possible that when the power did come back, that page might still be there. It wouldn’t continue to send, but someone else might have seen the order and completed the process.
Or not.
Either way, she now had hope. He could still be here. She’d hold onto that and she’d track him down.
First off, she had to get out of this room.
Renewed hope had her genes pouring energy through her blood, powering her muscles, and for the first time, stability to her emotions.
She could yet save her son.
*
“We need to follow that damn ambulance now,” Jared shouted. He ran his fingers through his hair, struggling to hang on to some semblance of control. They appeared to know the culprit vehicle. They had the damn GPS number to track it and they knew where it currently was. Why the hell weren’t they already there?
Because so many vampires liked to talk and talk and talk before actually doing something. He didn’t know how Taz could stand it. He glanced over at the older man to see him, head resting on his crossed arms, eyes closed.
“Is he really sleeping?” he asked incredulously.
“Don’t forget he works all day and it’s his sleeping hours right now,” Sian scolded. “And he’s used to us.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to say that was impossible; no one could get used to this.
He slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes. There had to be a way to get to the ambulance. He could drive. Did Wendy have a vehicle? He cast a sideways look her way.
She was staring at him.
He lifted his eyebrows in question.
She motioned to the doorway.
He glanced around the room, but no one was paying any attention to him. He got up and casually walked out to the hallway.
Wendy joined him. Glancing behind as if afraid they’d been followed, she whispered, “I just heard from Ian. He thinks he’s found the men from the monitor room.”
Jared’s eyes widened. “What?”
He looked around. Had Ian been out searching the whole time Jared had been stuck here at Wendy’s side in this damn meeting? And even if he had, what did that have to do with the ambulance he needed to find? Chelsea’s time was running out.
“Where is it?” he asked in a low voice.
“Downstairs. Like way downstairs.”
He shot her a long look. “I had no idea that there was as much downstairs as there is to this place.” Torn, he admitted, “I was just thinking about borrowing a vehicle and chasing that damn ambulance down myself.”
She grinned. “I figured as much. Come with me to Ian and we’ll check this out. If it turns out that we are wrong, then we’ll go with you to check out the ambulance trail. Ian has wheels we can use.”
He brightened, then his mood dimmed as he thought of something else. “Wait, what if we find the room with the monitors?”
“Not sure.” She shrugged. “If it looks dodgy, then we’ll turn it over to security and let them deal with it.” She added, “Then we’ll go find the ambulance.”
Jared took a final look at the room full of conversationalists and realized this was likely the best offer he was going to get all night.
“Let’s go.”
Chapter 15
Tessa heard the mutterings behind her. She didn’t know what to tell them. Things were easier for her now. And bigger. That didn’t make them better.
She didn’t want anyone to see her as any odder than she already was, but it was likely too late for that stage.
Especially after this.
Still, it had been totally cool to see Hortran’s trick in action.
Trying to shuffle off the sense of being looked at differently, she strode ahead. The men had been clustered around this end of the hallway. And she wanted to know why.
There were several doorways up ahead.
She stopped at the first one.
Interesting. It was empty. She went to the second one. Also empty.
The windows on the left showed the dark night dotted with heavy gray clouds. The moonlight peeked through. The hallway itself was gloomy.
The atmosphere strained.
Too bad. She sighed and settled a mantle of indifference on her shoulders. She couldn’t help being who she was.
And you shouldn’t have to.
Cody’s voice, as always, brushed through her mind like a warm hug.
Thanks. I guess that last display pushed them over the edge.
Just some of them. The others are still trying to figure out how to get you to teach them. And you just shot up off their respect meter.
Really? She laughed. Good to know. I always wonder when it’s too much and I go from
something cool to something ugly again.
Never.
She glanced behind her to see him rapidly catching up. She held out her hand, loving the strong secure grasp as he connected. He tugged her backward into the circle of his arms.
From against his chest, she motioned to the closed door in front of them and said, “This is the last room that they were either protecting or just accidentally standing around.”
“I doubt they do anything accidentally.”
Stepping back slightly, she pushed the door open. And damn if Bart didn’t bolt to his feet.
“What are you doing here?” Cody snapped from behind her. “I thought you were after the other canister and the assholes that were part of that delivery team.”
Bart’s face turned ugly. He pointed at the almost empty bed on the side of the room holding the two canisters. “Both are here.”
Tessa heard them arguing, but her gaze had landed on the beautiful, delicate-looking vamp female on the bed.
“She’s so pretty,” she exclaimed, walking closer.
“She is.” Bart stepped forward, stopping her forward motion.
Tessa studied Bart. This wasn’t the same who-cares-what-the-world-is-doing Bart she’d first met. Neither was this the one that she’d seen get irate over the drug canisters. This was a different side to his personality altogether.
She puzzled on it, her gaze going from his surly but ready to do battle look to the young woman in the bed.
And she knew.
With a heavy sigh, she asked, “Is this your daughter?”
Bart’s glare deepened, but he never volunteered an answer.
“Can’t be,” Cody said. “Bart said his daughter died after that encounter with Deanna.”
Tessa nodded quietly. She could sense the sadness inside the big man. The pain. “She did die – in a way, didn’t she, Bart?” She nodded to the woman. “Has she been like this since that incident?”
As if understanding Tessa wasn’t there to cause more damage, and maybe the compassion in her voice was enough to soften his stance, he nodded. “She never woke up again.”
Tessa could hear her father’s shocked gasp beside her. The men in the back crowded around, wondering what was going on. From the murmurs deep behind her, she realized some people were filling the others in on the story.
