Vampire in Crisis (30 page)

Wendy and Jared
raced down the hallway toward Ian. With Ian’s instructions, they’d gone deeper into the Council Hall.

There he was. Wendy laughed and waved as she ran the last few feet to his side. He stood outside the doorway, a big grin on his face.

“This is great,” Wendy cried. “I’ve never been down here.”

“Hey, it’s better than sitting there and listening to those crazies talk themselves in circles,” Jared grumbled.

Wendy smirked. “Jared is struggling with the Council.”

“Who isn’t?” Ian snorted. “They are all idiots.” He motioned to the room. “Come look at what I found.”

The three entered the room. Jared made it a few steps inside then stopped and stared at the wall of monitors. From where he stood, he recognized the meeting going on in one of the screens. In another, Sian slept. So not good. Did these people know they were being watched? “Wow, what do they need with all of these?”

There was an odd sound behind him. He twisted around to look at Wendy and Ian.

And damn if the door didn’t snick closed and lock behind all three of them.

Ian spun and took a blow up the side of the head.

Wendy, hissing, lashed out and kicked the man who’d taken out Ian, but another vamp grabbed her from behind, a huge vamp, making the fight short and sweet and before anyone had realized it, she was down and out cold. The fight was over before it ever started.

Jared stared at the two huge vamp males facing him. If Wendy and Ian, both vamps, hadn’t been able to do anything against these guys, what could he do? He held his hands out in front of him. “Hey, this isn’t my fight. I don’t know what you guys want, but I don’t have it.”

“It’s all right, Jared. We’ve got exactly what we want.”

A third man gave a cold raucous laugh. “Yeah. We want you.”

*

Where the hell
had he lost that damn Bart? Seriously? He and David had been going around in circles, but the evidence was clear – Bart had booked it again. He stopped and glared down the hallway. “What the hell, David? Where did the bugger go?”

“I don’t know,” David answered, gasping for breath. “He has to know passageways we missed.”

Goran growled. “Where are we?”

David snorted. “Somewhere in the damn hospital.” He pointed to where the wall changed up ahead. “I bet that’s the stairs and elevator.”

They walked toward the area and sure enough, it was the exit. As they walked closer, the elevator doors opened and a large group of vamps exited and turned toward them.

Motre. Relaxing slightly, Goran grinned, happy to see his friend. Until he recognized the burden he carried.

“Serus!” he roared and raced toward him, reaching his side in seconds.

“What happened?” he demanded harshly, his worried gaze going from Motre to Serus and back. That Serus was slowly waking up was reassuring, but that he’d fallen in the first place was too shocking to contemplate.

I’m fine, Goran.

Like hell,
he snapped.
Who did this to you? Are they still alive?

For the moment, but I don’t give them long.
Serus groaned slightly, his body twisting with pain. He gasped out,
Tessa saved me, Goran.

How?
Goran glared at Motre. He switched to speaking out loud. “Who did this?”

“Bart. He shot him with a silver bolt of some kind.” Motre stopped walking to talk to him. “Tessa snatched the bolt out and did something to stop the silver from affecting his system.” He shook his head. “I never would have thought such a thing was possible. One minute Serus here was smoking, then next he wasn’t.”

“Tessa did that?” Goran exclaimed. “Really?”

Serus and Motre and the men surrounding him all nodded. Goran shook his head in disbelief.

“And Bart? Where is he now?” He quickly searched the group, but neither Tessa nor his son was there. “Tessa and Cody are up there still?”

Motre answered him. He shifted Serus in his arms, reminding Goran that he’d been adding to the man’s work. Goran stopped forward and collected Serus. “I’ll take him.”

“Good. I don’t want to leave Tessa and Cody alone.”

Goran was already marching down the hallway as the vamps behind him slowed. He turned and pinned Motre in place. “Why not?”

Motre, already walking back toward the elevator, said, “Because there was something odd about that scenario.” He shook his head. “I don’t know, but I’m not sure anyone is safe anymore.”

Serus struggled to gain his footing. “Let me down, Goran.”

“Whoa, you’re not going anywhere.” Goran glared at him and looped him back up into his arms. “Silver is nothing to fool around with.”

“It’s Tessa. If she’s in danger…”

“Ha, there is nothing that girl can’t handle.”

Serus stopped struggling. He stared at Goran. Then with the color bleaching from his skin, his muscles turned lax and he sagged back.
I hate to say it, old friend, but I’m not feeling very good.

“Hold on. I’m getting you some help.”

He glared down at Serus, who glared back until his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed.

Shit
. He started running. “Motre, grab Tessa. We need her.” He waited, then added to make sure the message got across, “Now.”

All he heard after that were panicked shouts and running feet.

*

Jewel couldn’t resist.
She sidled to the open door and gave a long look down the corridor. What if they came back while she was looking?

Really, she should just walk past.

It was none of her business what they were doing.

Except everything was kind of her business now. At least if it was suspicious.

She’d never been to this level of the Hall and she couldn’t stop the worry inside that it was a different area altogether, one that no one knew about.

Still, it was the Council Hall. She should be safe. She needed to be safe.

Resolutely, she dropped her hand.

She could note the door and tell someone else to come check it out. That was the right thing to do. There was enough going on without her getting into more trouble. She looked down the hallway and realized there were no markings anywhere. She had no way to know what door this was.

One step. Two steps. She went to take a third step away…and stopped.

She couldn’t do it. Spinning around, Jewel walked back to the door.

Casting another look around to make sure she was alone, she pushed the door open.

*

Feeling invigorated like
she hadn’t felt in a long time, Rhia walked to the locked door. She tried the handle first. No change. She was locked in.

She shrugged, pulled out her a hair clip from her pocket, and in seconds had the door open.

Her daughter should learn that trick. Or maybe she should keep some things to herself. Although why she hadn’t remembered that trick earlier, she had no idea.

Boldly, she walked out of the small room and looked around. There were closed doors all along the hallway. The ones she wanted were down below.

Way down below.

Where no one knew what was going on.

But she did.

Now.

Her gaze narrowed, shifted, assessed. She needed to go right to go where she was needed.

With one last glance to the left, she turned right and strode quickly to the staircase.

*

Cody hadn’t seen
that look in Tessa’s eyes before. Then again, this was a new improved super version and he wasn’t sure what she was capable of. He’d seen so much that each step pushed her abilities a little further, but this…

He needed to know that she wasn’t going so far and do something she couldn’t come back from.

Having someone attack and injure her father was bad enough; to know she’d been the target had
him
wanting to rip apart Bart’s throat.

But Tessa had been the one to say that killing in war was one thing. To kill cold-bloodedly was something the ancients could do without a qualm, but Cody wasn’t so sure that Tessa could.

Or should.

That might take her someplace dark – and would she return to the light afterward?

“Tessa?” he said quietly. “Think about what you’re doing.”

She smiled, but there was nothing reassuring about that smile.

“I’m thinking about what I’m going to do,” she answered calmly. Too calmly.

“Your father is going to be okay, remember that.” Cody couldn’t help trying to talk her down. He knew Bart was living his last moments. But he didn’t want Tessa to be living her last moments the way she wanted her life to be, too.

“Let her come,” snapped Bart. “There’s nothing good left in my life. Why would I want to live like this for hundreds of years more?”

“Because your daughter isn’t dead,” snarled Cody, trying to stay focused on Tessa. “And how is she going to feel when she wakes up to find out what you did?”

“What?” Bart exclaimed, then scoffed. “Wake up? Right. Do you think I’m stupid?” He hitched his pants up over his belly. “There’s nothing to be done for her. They’ve tried for decades.”

“Except no one had Tessa. And no, she might not be able to help, but you can bet she no longer wants to try.”

Bart stared uncertainly at Tessa and then Cody. “She’s just a kid.”

“And has some very serious skills that no one else has ever seen. She’s been saving everyone around you for days, just like she saved Serus from a silver bolt right before your eyes. Now when you actually have someone who might be able to give you daughter a fighting chance, you try to kill her father.” Cody was roaring by the time he finished.

Tessa was silent at his side, but waves of anger washed off her back. And waves of something else.

Anticipation?

He studied her closely. “Tessa?”

“I’m fine,” she said calmly. “But Bart won’t be.”

“Maybe take a look at his daughter while there is still time.” He looked for a softening of her countenance. When there was none, he added, “There might not be anything you can do but…maybe there is. You should find out first.”

“Why?” Her tone was so reasonable and cold, he was at a loss for words.

“In case you can help her.”

“Matters not to Bart’s future.”

Then he got cagey. “Maybe it will. You want him to suffer? Well, what if you save her but kill him, knowing that he’d lost his future with her?”