by C.M. Owens
"He's been a headache for centuries. He goes under for decades and usually comes up to cause a hell of a mess. It's about time for him to surface again. Unfortunately."
"Yeah. Is Rhia correct? Is he into hunting humans?"
"Definitely. He's as old school as Serus. We were all younglings together. I came into the picture a little later, when they were already friends. They were both passionate – but about opposite things."
"So Serus wanted to protect the humans?"
His father nodded. "Moltere wanted to set them up in farms. He's always looked down on them as animals."
"Yet we've seen time and time again that in some areas they really are superior."
"Absolutely. Moltere doesn't want to accept that. He thinks vampires are the rightful rulers and one can't rule if there is nothing to rule over, so he figures that job of being ruled falls to humans. Then there is the blood issue. Sure, we need it to survive. It's just that we don't needhumanblood. Animal or synthetic works just as well. But to Moltere, having synthetic was like having water when wine was available. He wouldn't do it."
The other two vampires flying beside them listened quietly.
"Is a blood farm what we're expecting to find tonight? Really? You mean Rhia wasn't joking?" Jewel asked Goran.
"Rhia is usually serious. And she's right. He could be operating another blood center. We've certainly caught him with them before. He keeps setting them up because there's a huge black market for human blood."
Cody frowned. "That's disgusting to think of humans like Taz being farmed for their blood. He's a great guy." In fact, the thought made his stomach roil.
The wind gusted, sending them down toward the ground in a heavy drop. Cody hovered, letting the wind take him where it wanted.
"Cody, look there." His father pointed to a turn off in the roads below. One set of tracks headed to the right, leading to another large property. A second set of tracks kept straight and headed straight up the mountain.
"Is that Moltere's area in the mountains?" Cody asked.
"It's one of them." Goran pointed to the large property on the right. "We'll go check that out, hopefully find a place to hole up until dark."
He swooped down closer to the old stone mansion, coming to a graceful landing on the roof. Cody followed. He'd never been this far away from home and didn't recognize the area. There were statues or gargoyles on the corners of the roof. The building had to be at least four, maybe five stories high.
It was also dark. No lights of any kind shone out. Looked like a vampire holding to him. He walked on the roof, looking at the outbuildings. Rhia had said to look for any place big enough – like a barn – where a blood bank could be set up. So even the basement of this house might suffice.
"What do you think, Dad?"
Goran studied the layout. "It's definitely vampire. Now is it one of us, an import, or one of Moltere's?"
"How do we find out?" Ian asked.
Goran looked at him in surprise. "We go in, of course."
Of course.Cody grinned.
"Through the front door?" asked Ian. Jewel, the only girl in their group, shot him a withering look. "We should check out the outbuildings first. Just in case we're not welcome inside the main house. We may not get a second chance."
"Good idea." Cody turned to his dad. "Let's split up. Jewel and I'll go check the outbuildings and you and Ian can go inside."
With a sharp look, Goran nodded. "You have half an hour only. We'll all meet at the front door then." He motioned to Ian and they both turned and floated down from the roof.
"Let's go." Jewel and Cody went toward the back of the house where they leapt down to the two outbuildings. One appeared to be a garage and the other…well, it probably served as a storage shed. They walked through the garage first and found nothing. No false floor, no hanging bodies, no large walk-in cooler. Nothing suspicious anywhere.
The second building had no windows to look through, nor did the door yield to their efforts. Cody tried to pick the lock but didn't know how. He could break it down, but didn't want to make any noise that would alert others to their presence.
"We have to get in."
"I know. But how? And without making any noise."
Jewel reached out and struggled with the doorknob for a moment. "The knob is new, but the door is old. Something important is behind here."
They stared at each other in excitement.
Cody pressed his head against the door and listened intently. He backed up several feet and rushed forward, popping the door hard at the knob. It snapped open, sending him rushing headlong into the dark interior. It was darker inside than outside.
Jewel stepped in behind him. They searched the corners and checked the loft. Empty. As they jumped down, Cody noticed a clean spot on the floor. He crouched, his hand tracing the square pattern where something had been. "Something was here."
"Yes, but not anymore." Jewel searched the rest of the room. "Now what?"
"We meet up with the others."
CHAPTER NINE
Tessa couldn't hide her fatigue. Her legs were ready to give out and her stomach had long ago stopped screaming for food. Now her stomach sat like a silent tiger waiting to jump on prey. She could only imagine how the others felt. Of course it was her human genes that made her require food. Her vampire genes could go without for days.
They'd approached the darkened houses one at a time and searched each building. And had found nothing. Now they were in the basement of the third and last house. So far – nothing. Had all this been a waste of precious time?
Tessa allowed herself a moment of weakness. She leaned against the wall, her eyes closed, while she rested and the others searched. Her feet were killing her. Why had she thought heeled, fashionable boots were perfect for this occasion?
Then she sensed it.
Whateveritwas. She opened both types of vision and studied the energy around the basement. Being as tired as she was, she had trouble focusing. That's when she saw them. Energy lines, faded and thin, spread out to the point of no longer being recognizable individually. All she could tell was that someone had been here recently.
Studying the pattern, she slowly recognized where the thickest collection of misty energy sat. Straightening up, she walked into the center of the low lying mist.
The energy disappeared into the floor.
With her finger, she traced each stone, looking for missing mortar, loose rocks or a door. She couldn't find anything.
"What are you looking for, Tess?" The concern in her father's voice made her smile.
"The energy has pooled on the floor slabs. As if someone went below."
The others moved to surround her, cautious excitement permeating the air. Every block was checked, every mark was examined until they finally sat back and looked at each other.
"I don't think there's anything here, Tessa," Wendy said. Jacob nodded in agreement.
"Yes, there is. I just don't know what or where." She looked around. Energy lingered on the walls. She hadn't thought it meaningful before, had thought of it only as a remnant from the people who had traveled this way. Yet it centered on just one wall – not several.
She walked closer. Acting on instinct, she placed her hand into the center of the energy cloud and pressed her palm firmly against the wall.
A groaning creaking sound in front of her mixed with gasps of shock from behind her. She spun around to find a section of the floor sliding down at an angle.
"Oh, well done, Tessa." Her father strode to the opening and bent down, staring into the black abyss. "Stairs. Let's go."
One by one they filed down the spiraling stairs. Tessa had to admit her nerves were getting the best of her. She didn't want the floor to close and lock them in while they were down there. Just the thought of that gave her the heebie jeebies. So did being left behind alone. Bolting down the stairs, she raced to catch up. As she reached them, a horrible grating noise sounded.
Tessa spun around. The flo
or was rising – effectively sealing them in.
***
Jared let his head fall back. He closed his eyes, relief coursing through him with the easing of his tense muscles. So much pain. He wouldn't have thought it was possible to live through so much and still be alive.
Death had to be better than this.
Nutrients pumped into his body. Blood pulsed out of his body. He was a captive. For the rest of his life. And now the means of doing something about it was beyond him.
Tears collected in his eyes, and he hated that too. Anger stirred – faint at first…then the beginning of resolve bloomed into determination, washing away the moment of weakness. He was Jared Enderby. He refused to let his life end like this.
There had to be something he could do. For the other humans who hung here at his side. For himself. For those that hadn't yet been caught.
He opened his eyes and stared at the rubber piping so close to him. His arms were encased in plastic to stop him from moving around. His legs were similarly suspended. He could bend slightly forward, but that was it.
Why couldn't he be unconscious like everyone else? Through the wave of pain, he vaguely recognized one of the orderlies standing in front of him, a look of concern on his face. The orderly motioned for someone to come over.
Why?
***
Cody stepped inside the mausoleum of a house and listened quietly. His gaze darted from side to side. The time to meet Ian and his father had come and gone. There was no sign of them. The door creaked behind him as Jewel joined him.
"Where are they?" she hissed against his ear.
"I don't know." Leaving the door wide open, Cody crept further into the house. Was anyone living here? And if they were, where were they? He was trespassing. For all he knew, the owners were waiting to smash him over the head.
"How do we find them?" she whispered.
"I have no idea." They hadn't set up a plan B.
Crap.Cody looked around the cavernous room. Sheets covered the furniture…and nothing indicated that vampires lived here. Of course vampires often didn't inhabit the main areas of the house, as they tended to have too many windows that let in natural light.
"I don't want to call out – who knows what we'll wake up." Jewel wandered over to the large fireplace mantle, picking up photos before putting them down again. "Do we just wait here?"
"It's either that or go looking for them."
Jewel cast a long look around the deserted space and shook her head. "Don't like that idea much."
"So how long do we wait? And if they still don't show up, then what?"
Jewel’s lips pursed as she considered it. "Let's give them another fifteen minutes, and then we'll go and look."
"Sounds fair."
Slam.
Cody and Jewel swiveled in shock. The door had closed. Jewel rushed over and tugged on the handle. She spun around in a panic. "It's locked."
Cody refused to believe her. He tugged on the doorknob himself. "Damn it."
They were locked inside.
***
"Tessa, wait!" Her father was behind her as she tried to outrun the floor as it closed. "You can't stop it. You'll just end up getting hurt."
Clank!
The floor settled into place.
Tessa's throat started to close.
"Let's go." Her dad turned and started back toward Wendy and Jacob. "Come on, Tessa. Let's catch up with the others."
She spun around and watched him head back down the passage as if nothing had happened. "Go where? Don't you care that we're locked in?"
"No." His faint voice floated back to her as the others raced behind him. Tessa spun around and realized she was alone in the darkness.
"Wait for me," she yelled, and ran to catch up. Her finger smacked against the first corner. "Shit." Shoving it into her mouth, she switched to her vampire vision. Why didn't she just keep the damn thing on? She was such an idiot.
You'd think she'd have learned by now. Not. She sped through the darkness, barely keeping the others in sight. The stone walls led her deeper underground. Stone floor gave way to hard-packed dirt, then finally to sand. A heavy chill settled in. Ten minutes later, still running, she gasped for air and grabbed her side. The others showed no sign of slowing.
Purebloods. Sometimes she darn well hated them. Still grumbling, she picked up the pace and tried to catch up to her dad. Five minutes later, she smacked into someone.
"Umph."
Tessa sprawled backwards on the floor.
"Damn it, Tess. Watch where you're going." Jacob turned to glower down at her. "And what are you doing on the floor?"
She glared at him as she scrambled to her feet. "Why'd you stop?" She looked around. "Are we here?"
"You tell us."
Tessa shot him a look as she struggled past him to her dad's side. "What's the matter?"
"Look." He pointed to the stone wall in front of them. They'd reached the end of the line. The passage stopped right in front of them. Tessa frowned. She spun around, looking for another way out.
"That doesn't make sense." The energy wisps had disappeared into the air a long time ago. "Maybe we missed the exit."
"And maybe we didn't. Maybe this is a dead end…a trap against intruders," Jacob scoffed at her.
Tessa ignored him. She'd never really liked this friend of David's. Not like she did some of the others. That Jacob had come at all had surprised her. Now his presence just irritated her.
"Dad, there has to be something we've missed."
Jacob turned to stare at her."Then you'd better find it."
"Me?" Her stomach hiccupped. "Why me?"
"Because you got us into this mess," Jacob snapped back.
She glared around at the others. "You could do something to help, too."
"That's enough." Serus turned to the walls. "Everyone look for a way out."
Tessa had already turned away from the others, her vision shifting easily into half-and-half mode. There had to be another door. She walked from side to side, searching for the energy wisps. Nothing.
"Look, she has no idea what the hell she's doing." Jacob's sarcastic voice sliced through the air.
Tessa couldn't stop her shoulders from cringing against the same kind of criticism she'd endured for years. Jacob was just being his usual asshole self.
This wasn't her fault. She crouched down and touched the sand under her feet. It was damp.
She sniffed the air. Musty. "Dad. Where's the closest body of water?"
"There's a small river close by." He knelt and touched the sand. "For all I know, with the heavy snowfall the whole area got flooded."
Going on blind instinct, Tessa placed one hand against the cold rock and walked along several feet. She didn't know what she was looking for, but the water had to have come in from somewhere. And recently.
Her fingers snagged on a crevice, dragging her to a stop. She followed the edge of it up as high as it could go. Then she traced the crack down to the floor. It appeared to completely separate the walls. "There's something here."
She went over it again, looking for some kind of lever or opening mechanism. "Spread out and look for a second split in the wall." Everyone spread out and searched the stones.
"It's here."
Tessa ran over to her father's side. "Is there a way to open it?" She bent down to the bottom. Her fingers caught on something odd. Wiggling them in deeper, she tried to find something to grab onto. As she shifted, her knee smacked against a stone higher up.
Heavy grinding and groaning filled the air as the wall moved upwards.
"Good girl."
The words were barely out of her father's mouth when water rushed in.
***
Cody circled the huge living room in the mausoleum. He had been looking for a way out since the front door had sealed, locking them in. The room opened to other parts of the house, but the windows and doors were all locked. Motioning Jewel to follow, Cody led the way through the den and dinin
g room to the kitchen. There was even less indication there that anyone lived here.
"Dad?" Cody called out. "Are you here?"
Jewel gasped, her eyes wide. "What are you doing?" she whispered. "We don't know who's here."
"Dad's here. Remember? And Ian. Let's keep looking. We need to find them."
"I'd rather go outside and wait for them to come to us." Jewel tried the door leading to the backyard, then the windows one after the other. She turned around to face Cody, the reality of their situation settling into her features. "There's no way out."
"Not that we've seen – yet."
Panic glistened in her eyes. "What do we do?"
"We stay calm." Cody walked to the one door off to the side. "We haven't checked the basement. There could be an exit down there."
"I don't want to go."
Cody knew exactly how she felt. He reached for her hand. "Let's go together."
Jewel gulped and grasped his hand tightly.
"Together."
CHAPTER TEN
Tessa tried to close the wall and stop the water from flowing in, but the mechanism didn’t seem to work in reverse. "I can’t close it," she cried out in panic. Even as she spoke, the gush dissipated to a gentle trickle as the water flow leveled out and started to soak into the sand.
"This is stupid." Jacob waded away from them through the water. "I’m going back up the stairs to look for another way out."
Tessa shrugged, glad to see the back of him. She crouched down to look under the stone wall that had stopped about three feet up from the ground. Light shone down, twinkling on the water at her feet. She bent and slipped out into the early morning air. Freedom. She closed her eyes and opened her arms to the sky in relief, gulping in deep breaths of air.
She’d been right all along. She couldn’t begin to understand how she’d known what to do, but her instincts had led her in the right direction. She took several steps in the soft muddy ground.
"Tessa?" Her father's anxious voice carried outside.
"It's beautiful out here." She bent down and ducked her head under the wall so she could see her father. "Do you want to try to come out?"
"No." Serus gnashed his teeth. "Damn it. It's too bright out there already."
Tessa stopped and looked around at the bright morning sun. "I’ll go look around and come back." She tossed a confident smile back at him. "No worries."
Leaving him spluttering, Tessa circled the outside of the house, searching for a place where the others could hide out. A safe, dark place. They could stay where they were, but it was hardly ideal. What if the owners returned?
