Vampire in Conflict

by Dale Mayer

  Tessa hated the confusion, but until this was sorted out, she had no plans to trust this or any other Councilman.

  The Councilman spoke up. "What secret weapon?"

  David opened his mouth to answer, but Cody jumped ahead of him and said, "He's joking, sir. He just means we were lucky. Fate or whatever you might want to call it was on our side."

  Tessa whispered to Cody in her mind. Thank you.

  No problem. I gather you think he can't be trusted.

  Until I know more, I'll reserve judgment. And that means I don't trust him. Yet.

  ***

  Rhia walked toward the Human Council offices, her coat over her head. It was piss poor timing with the morning sun breaking through. This was the last place she wanted to be. She should be home resting and enjoying time with her family. She hadn't heard from Goran or her kids. And that made her mad, too. She knew David would be levelheaded enough to keep on track, but with Cody and Tessa doing the courtship tango, she wasn't so sure. She remembered mooning over Serus to the point of losing interest in everything but that man. He'd been the only one for her even back then. Now centuries later, she couldn't imagine being with anyone else. Ever.

  She hoped for the same for them – down the road. As much as she wished it wasn't happening for another couple of decades, she also hadn't been looking forward to Tessa having multiple relationships and hurting over each and every one, either. Tessa wouldn't date just anyone. She'd have to care. And that meant she'd hurt when the relationship hit the rocks. And most would. It was ingrained into the vampire nature. But Tessa was different. And she'd hurt for everyone that came and went in her life.

  Yet she was starting with Cody.

  Rhia shook her head and tried to toss the worries over her daughter from her mind. Humans were cagey. They hadn't kept their spot on the food chain by being stupid. She needed her wits about her for the upcoming meeting.

  Like last time, Rhia wasn't coming with good news. That the two Councils had worked together well last time gave her hope. But then she'd been admitting failures amongst the vampire clan. This time, she was broaching failures in the human side of this war.

  She didn't think her reception would be quite the same. She turned to make sure Sian and Serus were behind her and watched dozens of vehicles pulling into the parking lot. Her nerves kicked in. She motioned to the others behind her.

  There were way more humans here than last time.

  Sian studied the new arrivals. "I don't know many of them."

  "I don't know any of them," Serus growled. "And I don't like being outnumbered."

  From behind them came a deep and familiar voice. Rhia was happy to recognize the same man they'd worked with last time. "I'm sure you couldn't be nervous physically, so I'm presuming you don't like crowds."

  Rhia turned and put a smile on her face. "Councilman Smithson, this is my husband, Councilman Serus."

  The Councilman's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. He held out a hand. "A pleasure."

  Serus shook his hand and nodded in return. Great time for Serus to turn reticent. She motioned to the crowd of humans walking up the stairs. "Why are so many here this time?"

  He sighed. "Because everyone has heard about the blood farm, so everyone wanted to be involved."

  Sian spoke up for the first time. "Let's hope they still want that when they find out why we're here."

  Within ten minutes, Rhia knew the answer to Sian's comment.

  They weren't.

  ***

  Jared did something he hadn't expected to do when in trouble. However as he'd texted David earlier, it seemed like the natural next move. He texted Tessa and her family for help.

  He couldn't decide why that was the right thing to do when the police were the obvious choice. Dead human should have meant human cops. But he'd met the human cops… and he hadn't been impressed. While he waited for someone to get back to him, he crept through the house searching for the other staff. It was possible there'd been a falling out amongst thieves and one had killed the other. In which case, the killer should have taken off – unless he wanted to appear innocent and went about his daily work as if nothing had happened. Jared closed his eyes against the headache from hell. He thought for sure this would be all over and life could return to normal. Instead, it appeared to be anything but.

  Yet neither could he connect this dead male with the blood farm mess. But could he disregard the possibility given the crazy talk he'd heard about a human uprising?

  He searched all of the nooks and crannies downstairs, even forcing himself to open closets and the pantry to make sure no one was hiding and that a second dead body wasn't hidden from view. He had yet to go outside and check the grounds. He figured he'd do that after he'd determined who and what was left in the house.

  There should be a good dozen guys like him here, so why was he the only one up? It was early, but not as early as it had been. He checked the clock and realized it was past 6:30 am. The place should be buzzing with people by now. He shook his head at the wrongness of the atmosphere.

  And wondered…nah, no one would kill everyone in this group home. Surely. Cause if that were the case, Jared would be dead, too.

  Still, he couldn't let the idea go as he crept upstairs to the first bedroom. He opened the door and found it empty.

  Relieved, he crept to the second one. Someone slept in their bed. Good. He went on to the next and the next. Half the bedrooms were empty and half were occupied. That might be normal. He didn't know. The first time he'd been here, the place had been pretty full, but he knew several were heading home. Some were being transferred to a different group home, and two were going to the hospital for more surgery. So it was possible that there were only a few people here again. With as many staff as they had, the house had appeared full. He just couldn't remember if that meant full with kids.

  His phone beeped. He checked his messages. Tessa. He grinned. Gotta love having a gorgeous girl talking to you whenever you called. Her response. Oh hell no. Get out.

  And he realized that she was right. If there was hell going on here, he'd not only be caught in the crossfire but he'd also likely become a victim.

  And he echoed Tessa's words. Hell no. He grabbed his pitiful bag of stuff including all his schoolwork and crept down the back door. The security alarm wasn't on. He frowned, quickly texted that to Tessa, and slipped out into the back yard. And promptly tripped over a second body.

  Ah shit.

  ***

  Wendy dashed into her vehicle and struggled to fit the key inside the ignition. She thought she'd lost the two men following her, but she didn't know for sure. She'd crept through the parking lot, which was full, thank God, and snuck up to her car. Now she lay sideways across the seat until she could get it started. But she couldn't see. She dropped the keys. Shit. She scrambled to find them, taking several tries before snatching them up. Her fingers shook so hard she couldn't fit the key into the ignition. Closing her eyes briefly, she struggled to take a deep breath. She needed to get herself under control. Ian needed her help.

  And damn it. She needed help. If she didn't make it out of here, it would be over for both of them.

  And no one would know what had happened.

  Finally the key slid in. She turned it and cried when the engine fired up. "Oh thank you. Thank you, thank you," she whispered.

  Sitting up cautiously, she took a quick look around then reversed the car out of the parking spot. She wanted to race out of there as fast as she could, but she didn't dare take the chance that she'd bring unwanted attention to her vehicle. If they found out what car she was driving, they could track her down.

  At a sedate pace, she drove the car to the exit. The sweat dripped from her palms, making the steering wheel hard to hold. She also couldn’t control the small gasping cries that escaped her mouth. As she pulled out onto the main road, she heard shouts behind her.

  She sucked in her breath and gunned it. Gravel spit out behind her as she ripped down the r
oad as fast as she could push the engine. She figured she had a couple of minutes, but that was all and that was only if there were no fliers outside. It was overcast, but the sun was cresting the horizon. Some vamps could navigate at this hour. Enhanced ones definitely could. She'd heard about those experiments from David. If there were enhanced fliers out there, they'd be able to track her to her home. Just the thought sent chills down her back.

  Where could she go? Where could she get help? Where could she hide and stay safe?

  Nowhere. If they'd gotten her name, there was nowhere safe for her anymore.

  And she burst into tears.

  Chapter 9

  Tessa stared at her cell phone. She couldn't believe what she was reading. "Jared has found a second body! He tripped over it while slipping out the back of the building."

  "Really?" David shook his head. "What are the odds?"

  "Not good ones." Cody read the texts over Tessa's shoulder. "What the hell is going on?"

  "Why are you concerned with a human finding human bodies?" Councilman Adamson's voice came from the darkness at the other side of the room. He walked toward them, an odd look on his face. Tessa studied his features and realized he was really curious. Like her father, he was old. Like seriously old. He'd lived through centuries where humans were prey, as if they were ants scurrying about their day. He really didn't understand.

  She waved her cell phone around in her hand and said, "He's a friend. A human friend. And he's in trouble. He warned us that several of the people in the house he lives in are gathering to discuss annihilating vampires. After news of the blood farm got out, many became afraid and angry. Some consider us the enemy and those that lost friends or family – they want revenge."

  "And what the devil does that blood farm business have to do with this body?" Adamson asked. "Or even you?"

  "Maybe nothing and maybe everything, because this nightmare is not over. You want it to be over so you can move on. But for many of the humans, they can't until they get closure."

  "Well, they need to," he snapped. "We all lost loved ones. The only thing left to do is let this die down so we can forget about it."

  Tessa studied him. Old and tired, he looked like he was done with the world. As if his longevity was a burden now and death a welcome release. And she understood. He'd loved Gloria. Maybe as her parents loved each other. If one of her parents had died, they'd have done everything they could to make the killer pay. They'd have wrought a terrible price for messing with their loved ones.

  In Councilman Adamson's case, he'd killed Gloria himself. He'd already gotten his revenge. There was no one else to blame. Nowhere to direct his all-consuming anger. That there'd been no other choice didn't help. Gloria had been trying to kill him. And that betrayal was eating at him. He had no recourse for the pain in his soul. He'd already meted out the only punishment he could. And it wasn't enough. He wanted Gloria back, but he wanted the woman she had been or the one he thought she'd been.

  And that was never going to happen.

  Taking a chance, she said, "You can't take back what Gloria did or what you had to do, but you can help stop her poison from continuing."

  He hissed and drew himself up tall and deadly, his eyes glowing with hate. "You dare talk to me about that? About something you know nothing about?"

  Cody and David stepped up beside her. David said, "Yes, she does. So do I. And Cody. We were all her victims. I was there at the end when you killed her but if you hadn't, I would have."

  "Just like we killed the other Councilmen involved in this mess. But it's not over," Tessa said coolly. "If you aren't going to step up and deal with this mess and clean out the dregs of those responsible, then we have to."

  "How dare you call me out on this?"

  Tessa glanced behind her. The front door was closed and although there were three of them, she didn't think they were going to get out without a fight. She resisted the urge to back up. Retreat wasn't an option here. Where the heck was Goran? They should have told him where they were going. "We didn't come here for a fight. We came to you for help."

  "You are nothing and know nothing." His voice trembled rage. "You haven't even lived. How could you possibly understand?"

  The front door burst open behind them. As one, they spun around as Goran charged, anger rippling across his face. His gaze swept across the three of their faces, as if counting to make sure they were all fine before settling on Adamson.

  "And me, Adamson?" Goran snapped. "Do you think you are so special that no one else knows your pain?" He strode forward. "Including me?"

  Surprised by Goran's unexpected arrival, Tessa wasn't watching Councilman Adamson's face when Goran spoke, and she was sorry she missed seeing that initial reaction. It might have helped her to understand the man more. As it were, it was as if seeing Goran's pain had drained the stuffing right out of him.

  "You can't hide away from this one," Goran said. "I went to the Council looking for you. They told me they hadn't seen you since the mountain collapsed. Or shall I make it plainer – since you killed Gloria."

  Councilman Adamson turned away, his shoulders slumped and his head bowed.

  His grief was palpable. Tessa hated to see him in pain like this.

  Really? Why? Cody said derisively. I got the distinct impression he was about to do some serious damage to us.

  We were pushing into his hideaway. Backed him into a corner. He was just lashing out like any animal in pain. She kept an eye on both Goran and Adamson. The differences just underlined what was wrong with Adamson. "His energy is definitely black. I just don't know if it’s something other than those nasty drugs. Or if he was given them unknowingly over time."

  David caught her low whispered words, shooting her a surprised look.

  So did Goran. He spun. "What did you say?" he bellowed.

  "Really Goran, we're all in the same space, I'm sure yelling isn't required," Councilman Adamson's voice sounded irritated and weary. Tessa figured that was better than not caring about anything.

  "Tessa?" Goran waited impatiently.

  She wasn't sure how to bring it up, but somehow he had the same black energy she'd been seeing at the mountain. "I know that this will sound insulting and I don't mean it that way, but your energy has the same blackness in it that the men on the vampire drugs had."

  There, she'd done it. And damn if she didn't back up several steps as she waited for him to blow. After all, she'd accused him of possibly being one of them.

  He stared at her. In a conversational tone, almost as if he were talking to a dimwitted child, he said, "My energy? What are you talking about?" He glanced over at Goran. "I understand this is Serus's daughter and that's she's…troubled, but surely you don't let her go around talking like this?"

  David snarled. "She's not troubled. And if she says your energy is full of blackness, then it is. I can't see it, but that doesn't mean it's not there."

  "So what if it is? I'm depressed. Black sounds like a great color to me."

  "And drugs?" she asked determinedly. "Are you taking enhancement drugs from the blood farm?"

  Insulted, he curled his lip, prepared to blast her, when Goran stepped in. "She means it, Adamson. She's never been wrong yet."

  He frowned, his gaze going from one to the other. "Seriously?"

  As everyone nodded, he threw up his hands. "No, I haven't been taking any of those damn drugs. Why would I? Like Goran, I am one of the oldest ancients alive today. One of the originals. I don't need enhancements," he spat out.

  Goran looked down at Tessa. "Then what is it?"

  Tessa sighed. She figured she knew, but saying so was going to deliver another blow to a man that looked like he'd received too many already. "Is there any chance that Gloria might have been giving them to you somehow without you knowing?"

  He glared at her.

  She rushed in to add, "Any special blood she's been treating you to? Any medications she could have tampered with? Any creams, lotions you might use on a regul
ar basis?" She winced at all the males looking at her in shock. She rolled her eyes, "Yes, I know that isn't likely, but Gloria was female and she might have given you all kinds of things that I don't know about. Are you sure there wasn't anything she made for you on a regular basis that you used or consumed?"

  Silence.

  He tilted his head then shook it. "I can't think of anything. I'm not on medications, and that whole concept disgusts me. I'd never have taken anything willingly. No." He shook his head. "You are wrong."

  But she wasn't. She knew that. She tried once more. "No special drinks that you shared together?"

  He frowned and glanced at the kitchen. "We often had blood coffees together."

  Tessa winced. It was popular drink amongst the older set, but she couldn't imagine it for herself. "And who would make it?

  "Normally she would. It's not hard. We kept the coffee in a special jar. I often make myself one when I'm alone."

  "May I see it, please?"

  "The jar?" He shrugged, then as if humoring a child, he said, "Whatever. It's over here."

  He led the way to the kitchen. Tessa walked forward slowly, searching for energy that seemed odd or displaced. And found nothing. If Gloria was using the same drugs, she hadn't left any sign in this room. She might have been getting enhancements herself, but was more likely waiting until they were improved upon. But that didn't mean she wouldn't use her love as a lab rat. As Tessa remember all too well, the group had a particular fondness for vampire lab rats.

  He opened a cupboard, removed something, and turned around with the jar in his hand. He held it up. "This is it."

  Tessa stared at the jar and backed up one step then another step. "That," she said faintly, "is so poisonous I can feel it from here."

  Cody placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "And you say you've been drinking that?"

  Adamson frowned. "Every day for years. Since she's been gone, I've had several in her memory."

  "So even now," Tessa said, "That she's dead and never to return, she's still killing you – a little bit every day."