by C. L. Quinn
The serum that was still weaving through her body fought her, battled to keep its dominion over her, but first blood magics were stronger than anything when they were combined. Caedmon’s magics reached through the world and touched Tamesine’s, and somewhere in the air, electricity crackled, a spark of need that reached from wherever he was to where she lay, unconscious and lost.
But not now, not when the child she loved more than anything needed her. Now, her mind searching for him, she found him and he told her that he had been taken from his father and he didn’t know where he was. He was frightened and wanted her to come for him. Nothing that existed would stop her.
Holding onto the thread of Caedmon’s lifeforce that reached out to her, Tamesine fought to surface from the enforced, ocean-deep sleep that Lamont’s serum pushed her into, and flailed for some time until she stopped, floated in the murky stillness, and reached into herself, touched the spirit amulet that rode through life with every first blood vampire, an amplifier, a lifeline to her powers, and surged with every sparkle of magics within her heart, body, and spirit. The combination of magics and mind, of tenacious, unrelenting force, broke her free and brought her up.
Her eyes shot open, intensely alert, her body tight and ready, and she pushed upright to stand on shaky legs.
Tamesine scanned the room, her attention focused on the gunman, who raised his rifle moments too late. She’d already lifted a hand and forced him down. He dropped onto the floor, the rifle clattering as it slid across the tile.
She had done the impossible and defeated the awful drug that threatened her race. Lamont was done, if she had anything to say about it. And she did.
Now, to gain her freedom from this horrid cell. But disabling the mind was easier than disabling cold steel. The guard lay unmoving on the floor, but so did the cuffs that bound Tamesine’s wrists. As hard as she concentrated, they would not open. After thirty minutes of trying desperately to open the catches on the cuffs, once again exhausted, she slid down to the floor to consider her next move. Cedric.
Tamesine opened her mind again to flood the air with first blood magic. Ordinarily, she would not be able to connect with a human she did not know, one she had no blood connection with, one so distant from her, but with Caedmon’s aid, she thought she might. There was no choice, it was her only hope if she were going to be able to blow out of here and get to him.
Retreating to the white room that led to the spiritual plane where all matters of the spirit were decided, she reached out and searched the space inside of this building. It was large, and although she couldn’t see what she was looking for, she would know him when she found him.
It was around midnight, or slightly later, when Tamesine finally found him, asleep, somewhere around the fourth floor of this warehouse-sized building. She entered his sleep and built a dreamscape so they could speak.
Cedric’s dream-body stood in the center of the landscape, which included a rolling ocean with large waves and a soft, warm breeze. Behind him, Tamesine watched his body relax as he viewed the serene world she’d built, and slowly lower himself to bury his feet in the damp sand. He jumped when she came towards him.
Dropping to sit beside of him, she sighed. “Peaceful, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He took a long breath, his eyes on hers. “Why am I here?”
“We must talk privately.”
“This is a dream.”
“More than. Cedric, something has happened, something very frightening that has serious implications. For me, it is particularly upsetting. Someone has kidnapped the vampire children in my care. It can only have been Lamont. My love for these children is as great as anything in my life and I will move the stars to find them and bring them home safely, you understand?”
“More than you know. And I feel the same way for my family. What do you need from me?”
“You must convince our jailer to let you feed me. I need the blood to weaken the serum’s grip and strengthen my abilities. It won’t take much now for me to breach the drug and walk free. When I do, Cedric, I promise I will do all that I can to find your family. As you know, I can do quite a lot.”
“I’ll try, but I’m not in his confidence.”
“You’ll find a way. I must go, but I’ll leave this dreamscape for you to help you consider your options. Enjoy it, rest. Cedric, you need to know that the children this man abducted are even more powerful than I am. One day, they will be able to control things I could never dream of. You do not want Lamont and his people to influence these extraordinarily powerful vampires. I love these children and I will protect them to my final breath. By telling you this, I mean you to understand that this is just as important to you and the rest of the world that we stop Lamont.”
“I will find a way. Claude isn’t as brilliant as he thinks he is.”
Tamesine smiled. “That’s what I mean. We only succumb if we allow ourselves to do so. Thank you. Come to me as soon as you can.”
Cedric placed the glass vials in the case along with the knife he used to tap the beautiful vampire’s vein. It was morning and he had been summoned to the lab to begin the bleeding. Nervous, but steady, he glanced at Claude, who lingered near the back of the lab, perched on a stool, and in his usual foul mood. His head was buried in his hands, and it appeared he hadn’t had a good night. To Cedric, he looked sick.
“Sir,” Cedric said to Claude suddenly.
Claude glanced up briefly, with little interest, then buried his head back into his waiting hands.
“Sir,” Cedric repeated. “I believe your vampire is in desperate need of blood. She needs to ingest it frequently since we are taking so much for you and for Mr. Lamont when he arrives. I asked her when the last time was that she fed, and she told me it has been three weeks. That’s too long, sir. The blood is going to become less potent if the vampire is starved.”
Claude turned to face Cedric.
“Then feed her. Arrange for someone on the staff to do it.”
“Um, I don’t think anyone would want to feed a vampire. Sir.”
Sliding off of the stool, Claude walked towards him slowly. “Then do it yourself.”
And that’s how you do it. Now he was actually ordered to be the one to open his vein. A smile began, and he stopped it. He shouldn’t act pleased.
“But, sir, I…”
“I told you to do it. You will, with no questions, right?”
Nodding, Cedric dropped his head as if defeated. Done. He hoped this would work. Picking up the bag, he walked briskly from the room.
Below ground, he asked the soldier to release the door lock, and Cedric entered the cage where Tamesine had lain quietly until he arrived. Now, she sat up and watched his every move.
“I am to feed you today,” he informed her.
Tamesine stoically nodded and sat against the cage walls as Cedric set the vials out all in a row.
When the guard, who’d replaced the one who had fallen asleep earlier, looked away, she winked at Cedric.
“It won’t hurt. In fact, it’s quite pleasant.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“Not for long.”
For the first time, Cedric saw her smile and he realized that the combination of her incredible vampire looks along with that blazing smile, would compel him to do just about anything for her without forced compulsion. He couldn’t stop himself, he smiled back.
Chains rattling, Tamesine reached for him, at once anxious to get her power back so that she could rescue the children, and hungry, her body ready for the infusion of life-giving blood. He tensed, and she laid a hand along his arm, impressing calmness.
Cedric relaxed back against her and she bit, sharp and quick, as usual, the pain brief. Moments later, the sensual lethargy began, and Cedric moaned. Tamesine continued to draw, in need of the precious blood, even as Cedric’s body began to respond to the intimate nature of the feeding. His hands slipped up and under her dirty shirt, and touched an erect nipple. The feeding
was sensual for Tamesine, too, and while his touch felt good, she had no interest in pursuing the need. Eventually, she pushed him away, firmly, and caught his eyes with hers.
“We’re finished, thank you. You are relaxed and you are no longer aroused.”
Cedric blinked, put a hand to his neck, pulled his fingers away, moist but not bloody, and looked at her.
“We’re done?” he asked.
Tamesine smiled and lifted her hand towards the guard, who raised his rifle a split-second too late. He was out as quickly as the guard from last night.
“Oh, yes, we’re done.” She held both arms up with dramatic flair and the cuffs snapped open to bang in a dead drop to the floor. “Thank you. I will be back for you and your family. First, I need to find the children. Afterward, I will return. If my friends arrive before I do, tell them I promised to help you and they will.”
A sudden gust of air kicked up. Cedric blinked at the mini-cyclone as Tamesine disappeared.
The sun shone bright in the sky over LAX as the plane circled, landed, and taxied up the runway.
Taggert and Marc had been running over scenarios with each other and they thought that they had a simple, but effective plan. Taggert watched Marc’s surly expression as he went through it one last time.
“I go in alone, since I’m a part of Lamont’s trusted security team. They shouldn’t question me. I will try to stay out of Claude’s way, establish her whereabouts, and then I will let you in so we can get her out of there. The vampires can come in when they get here and destroy the place. Easy.”
Marc winced and polished off the tiny bottle of whiskey that had lingered in his hand for a while. “Easy,” he repeated.
“Ye of little faith. Anyway, it’s what we’ve got to work with. Capisce?”
“I got it. All right, let’s do this thing.”
Marc rented a black SUV so that the vehicle would not stand out once they arrived at Lamont’s hidden lab. With traffic picking up on California’s busy highways, the trip took nearly an hour, but they found it easily. After parking, Taggert grinned.
“He’s here. That’s his handprint. Three men, two deep on each doorway. Okay, I’m going in. Marc, stay out of sight. I’ll call you as soon as I find you.”
They were both dressed in the typical basic black required by Lamont’s soldiers.
Taggert, his sidearm in place, advanced, relieved when four of the six guards knew him, and no one tried to stop him.
After a quick, friendly greeting, Taggert entered a darkened corridor that took him past multiple closed doors. Once he reached the end of the hallway, he opted to go down, the usual location for vampire containment. It was the right choice. It opened into a large room with a four big cells, all empty. A guard lay on the floor outside of one of the cells, unconscious, and a white-coated doctor was closing a bag in front of the same cell. He looked up as Taggert approached.
“Hey, where’s the vampire?” Taggert asked, casually.
“Uh,” the doctor stuttered out.
Taggert noticed his hands were shaking. “Tell me the truth, doctor.”
“She’s gone. Don’t ask me where, I don’t know. You’ll never catch her now.”
Pausing, as he took in the surroundings, Taggert turned back to the doctor. “How?”
“I don’t know. How would I know?”
One thing he did well, always had…Taggert could read people, everyone had a tell. This one wasn’t hard.
“You helped her,” he stated abruptly.
The doctor shook his head vehemently. “No, why would I do that?”
Smiling, Taggert slipped his pistol back into his holster. “Because she’s beautiful, and charming, and sexy, and the most powerful thing you’ve ever seen. I would have, too. It’s all right, don’t worry about it. Where’s Claude?”
“Up on four. He’s going to kill us.”
“Not if I can kill him first,” Taggert whispered under his breath. “Thanks, Doc. You should get out of here.”
Cedric nodded. He agreed that he should, but he couldn’t, not without his family. He walked out, taking the empty vials with him.
Flipping his cell phone out of his pocket, Taggert hit a button. “Yeah, Marc, you’re not going to believe this, but your girl got away. Just this minute, in fact. How do you want to play this?”
Taggert stared at the face of his cell phone to make sure the connection had gone through because Marc did not answer. The line had been picked up, but there was no response.
“Marc?” Taggert was worried now. “Are you there? You okay?”
“For now. But that’s going to change. The question is, where are you?” Claude’s voice, coming loud and clearly through Marc’s cell phone.
Oh, fuck! This rescue had gone seriously bad.
“Claude, you’re in over your head. The vampires are coming for that guy and you’d be better off leaving him the fuck alone and getting the fuck out of here. You get that, right?”
“I get that you think you can tell me what to do. I get that those days are over. You’re next, piss ant.”
Taggert ended the call. Nothing he could say at this point was going to save Marc or protect himself. He needed help, and it was Tamesine’s friends he needed. He needed the vampires.
SEVENTEEN
As she hurried through the building, using air displacement to blow past any security, Tamesine sent a prayer to the universe to help Frank.
He’s a capable man, I pray that he will find a way to get free and get home, she thought. But right now, the first blood children were the most important thing in the world.
Lamont had found a way past vampires who would have given their lives to protect those children, so he’d stepped up his game. The second she made sure they were okay, Tamesine would end Lamont’s life.
Palming a cell phone she’d commandeered on her way past the first floor, Tamesine dialed Eillia’s cell number. It was daylight and she was going to need help to get out of there, and that wouldn’t be difficult, she would just use compulsion, but she wanted to speak with Eillia immediately.
With her life force unblocked, her friends would be able to read her again, and know where she was. But that wasn’t what they needed to know.
“Tamesine!” Eillia’s voice streamed through the little box. “Are you okay?”
“I am. And I know. Caedmon has called to me.”
“Can you tell where he is? I’m shocked, I’m his mother, I made him, and I can’t find him! Tell me you can!”
Eillia was beyond distraught, her pain blasted through the phone. Tears rolled down Tamesine’s cheeks.
“Not yet. But I will, I’m sure of it. Right now, though, I’m trapped inside of a building. I need help to get out of here before they try to recapture me. Let me get free and I’ll call you back. I love those children as much as you and Park do, my dearest friend. Nothing will stop me from finding them. Have faith.”
Tamesine closed the phone and waited inside of a doorway when she heard footsteps. The process was so simple. A young man came down the hallway, she stepped in front of him and told him what he needed to do.
Moments later, she moved quickly past early morning sunshine and into a waiting van with no windows in the back. Tamesine had been born a child of the moon, so she raced through the sunlight into the waiting van and suffered only minor flushing. A seamless panel separated the driver’s compartment, so she was safe from any more exposure as the young man drove carefully out of the parking lot and onto a side street to blend in with all of the other traffic.
Tamesine dropped back to lean against the side of the van and cleared her mind. She searched the air, trying to connect with Caedmon again, desperate to find the direction she must travel that would take her to him. But he was absent, she couldn’t reach him anywhere.
If ever there was to be a time to be a powerful vampire, this would be it. She would need every one of her skills and all of her wit to defeat these evil people.
Lamont, yes, he
was crazy and driven, and must die, but Claude…that monster destroyed people and enjoyed every moment. Tamesine admitted that during her bad days when she was certifiably insane, she’d hurt people, and killed, for which she would never be able to find forgiveness. But she had never relished killing, had never loved the moment when someone took their last breath. This Claude, he wasn’t an assassin only by trade…it was what he was! This man was born a heartless killer.
And he was the one she wanted to stop.
Back in the lab, Claude had Marc chained to the wall.
“I wanted to shoot you in the head that night that you questioned me for being outside of the vampire’s apartment. You arrogant asshole. You go in, fuck the girl, and then think you own the world. Clever, though, that you got out of the drug charge I tried to set up. That ploy always works. It’s one of my favorite little gifts I like to leave behind for certain people who need an attitude adjustment.” He turned and stared at Marc as if he could end him right now.
“Anyway, I’ve lost my vampire. Lamont is going to fucking kill me, unless I kill him first, and I might have to. Chances are, though, that he’s still stronger than I am. Have you drunk her blood? It’s vial shit. I couldn’t really get much down, and what I could get down, I couldn’t keep down. So Lamont’s plan to make both of us strong enough to take down the vampires isn’t going to work out too well. Still, we got you. And she wants you. I might still be able to get to her.”
Claude walked up and tilted his head, using the muzzle of his handgun to push back a lock of Marc’s hair that covered one eye, a wide grin of pleasure on his face. “I gotta tell you, your situation isn’t going to get any better.”
Carefully placing the gun back into the holster at his side, Claude walked away after picking up his cell phone from the counter. “Damn, I hate to make this call.”
IN SOUTHERN FRANCE
Ahmose arrived in a burst of fury, Alisa right behind him. He’d been shocked when Chione called to tell him that the children had been abducted. Although he’d agreed that it was important to provide complete protection for this household while Koen and the mothers had been away, and he’d been happy to send a team to stay until then, Ahmose had never believed any human was either daring enough or capable of taking first blood children. The idea was unfathomable and unacceptable.
