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“Ya know, Tiffany, I’ve come to learn almost everything can and will go awry in public.” I teased her with a half-hearted smile reflecting on my own attack at a public theme park.

She cracked me a half-smile perhaps agreeing with my sentiments. “So we went. It was stupid. We got drunk, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in this crazy place where people were strung up in racks being fed all different kinds of food. They kept shoving oranges down my throat until I thought I was going to puke citrus juice. They refused to give me anything else.”

A thick knot formed in my throat and I checked Khaldon for any reaction. It seemed she was describing a blood orchard, but Khaldon said those were voluntary. He winced at her words. I wondered if the same question crossed his mind.

“It’s okay now, Tiffany. You’re safe here with us. Then what happened? Is that where you met my sister, Dakota?”

Briggs’ family turned their heads toward us. I gave them a small wave with my fingers. “Hi. I’m Cheyenne, a friend of Briggs. This is Torchy, Khaldon, Harris, and Tiffany.”

The woman nodded at me and returned her attention to Briggs. The man’s eyes were locked onto Khaldon’s.

Okay, not much for conversation, are they?

The older man broke the stare-down with Khaldon and abruptly turned back to attend to his son.

Tiffany took another sip from the water cup, and she laughed out loud as though she remembered a funny joke. “You should have seen it. We started taking bets as to how many of those freaks your sister could eat. For a while, they had her in a caged area by herself. Those creepy black-eyed kids kept trying to draw blood from her. But every time anyone got close—she ate them. I think we got up to five before they started getting smart about how to handle her. Can I call my parents now? I really want to go home. Is there any Coca-Cola here?”

I blinked at the way she changed topics, barely able to keep up with her random thoughts. “Yes. Yes, of course. Let’s just get a few more cups of water in you, and some food. Then we’ll call them, okay?” I tried to give her a genuine, kind smile. One that could convey the message that we cared about her and wanted her to get home.

How were we going to prepare this girl for civilized life without the authorities throwing her into a loony hospital? No one would believe her story. Would Khaldon need to wipe her mind like he did with the human absturger teams?

She nodded and handed Harris another sip from the cup.

I sagged into my seat thinking about what the dhampirs had done to my baby sister. What they were doing to countless other women all over the world. At that very moment, I felt impotent to help any of them.

Tiffany continued her story. “After three days of those bastards shoving oranges down my neck, they started taking my blood. Every time I jerked away, they would Taser me into submission. I finally had enough and let them take the blood. I didn’t care anymore. If I cooperated, it wasn’t as painful. They took two pints and then pumped me full of liquids and oranges again.”

Guilt swelled through my guts as I realized how much I loved the orange bloodwines. How would I ever be able to stomach that luscious infusion knowing I could be consuming blood that wasn’t volunteered? Were all the bloodwines illegal? No, they couldn’t be. There had to be legitimate orchards set up for vampires. At least I hoped so.

Tiffany used her hand to stretch out her neck by pulling down on her head in the opposite direction. “Over and over, week after week we had the same routine. It was a dream come true when they started feeding me salted chocolates. Then I realized it was going to be the same thing. They didn’t give me anything else but those damn candies. I never want to look at that stuff again as long as I live. We were being fed food and then they were draining our blood. Nobody understood it, but every week more and more people and creatures were showing up at this place. It was totally surreal. Then, about three weeks ago, they marched some of us over to the other part of the island. It was me, two other girls who didn’t speak any English, and a guy. Your sister too. Where is she, anyway?”

“Wait? What? There are more of you on that island?” Khaldon sat up on his bed.

She nodded with a puzzled expression, almost as though she were shocked to learn that we didn’t know there were more prisoners there.

This was truly unexpected news.

“Do you mind me asking how long you were there? At that facility, I mean.” Khaldon continued.

Harris squinted with swollen eye lids at Tiffany as she handed him another sip.

“I honestly don’t know how long. It was our summer vacation before starting my first year at university. What day is it, anyway? I’m sure my parents are going nuts looking for me.”

My gaze met Khaldon’s and Torchy’s. Harris gently reached for Tiffany’s hand with his bloated, puffy fingers and turned his body to look at her. His voice slurred from the way the muscles had contorted around his mouth. “Tiffany, I’m sorry to tell you that it was New Year’s last week. This must be hard for you. Can you tell us if there was anyone else in that cave with you?”

She covered her cheeks with her palms. “January?” She fell vacant again, her voice reduced back to a mere whisper. “Yeah, there was another girl, but they were forcing blood from your sister on us.” Tiffany’s voice cracked. “She turned into the same kind of winged thing your sister is. It was like they were cloning her or something. Look, even my hair is turning red like hers too. They took the other girl away. I’m pretty sure I was next. They kept feeding me jars of the blood to drink. It was the only liquid they would give me. At first, I threw it all up. But then it began to be what I needed. I know that sounds really gross, huh?” Her eyes pleaded with me as if I could grant her forgiveness.

This has got to truly be what nightmares are made of.

“Are you going back for the others?” Tiffany’s question jolted me out of my morbid memories. “There’re more people and creatures on the other side of the island. You can’t see the building because it’s covered in vines.”

“Tiffany, are you saying there are a lot more survivors on that same island?” Torchy asked.

She nodded. “Didn’t you know? Those creepy natives have all kinds of weird people in there. Monsters, even. Hell, I never knew there were real things like trolls, elves, and dragons. I know you think I’m crazy, but I’m not lying.”

“You saw people who weren’t human looking?” Harris asked. “Maybe like huge dogs?”

“Uh huh.” Tiffany pulled up the sleeve of her ragged shirt and showed us the festering, infected bite marks on her arm. “The worst part about it was the freakish dog-elk-zombie-creatures. The other prisoners called them the Wendigos or something, and they walked on their hind legs and had hideous long arms that dragged on the ground. There was nothing inside their rib cages; they were possessed like zombies.”

She held out her arm for the doctor and winced as he applied the peroxide. “The creepy-assed black-eyed kids who would order the Wendigos to bite us if we didn’t do what they wanted. I’ll never look at a little girl in piggy tails the same ever again in my life. They’re evil.” Tiffany pulled down her sleeve. “I almost preferred the Taser to the wolves, but those freaky kids were the worst. It was like they were sucking everything out of me and all I could feel was fear. My head always ached after they left me, so I did whatever I could do to avoid them.”

Harris winced at the sight of the Wendigo bite marks.

“Black-eyed kids?” I asked.

“Aye, I’ve heard of such creatures in folktales,” Torchy said. “Claim to roam the countryside, and if you’re unlucky t’see them, they’ll shroud you with doom and fill yer guts with fear.”

Dr. Rattanakosin looked over the tops of his glasses at Tiffany and pulled out the necessary tools for stitching her up.

Tiffany continued, “It’s true, I never felt well after those creepy little kids were around me. But I could’ve sworn I saw something that looked like a Bigfoot once, but it had huge fangs. Scary as hell, but they had it in chains. Then a couple weeks ago, they moved us over to those disgusting caves.”

My eyes darted at Khaldon and Torchy. Harris met our sentiment. It seemed as though we all had the exact same thought. How in the hell were we going to rescue those people without getting ourselves captured, killed, or eaten in the process? We had to save them. But the bigger question was:
Why were they there in the first place?

“Tiffany, can you tell us about how many people were there? Ten, fifty, a hundred?” Khaldon asked.

“I dunno.” She shrugged. “Twenty or thirty, maybe. They brought new people or things in all hours of the day, but when they left, you never saw them come back again.” Tiffany’s voice trailed off and quieted as she took another drink of water through a straw while staring at the floor.

Harris put his arm around Tiffany as her body shook. I noticed a quiet tear drip onto the lid of her cup. I winced at the reality of what she had revealed to us.

“What are we going to do? We can’t just leave them there,” I said. “There’s a crazy weird, experimental blood farm turning other creatures into more blood demons like my sister?”

I was met with no words. Only blank expressions from everyone in the room, including the doctors, nurses, and even Briggs’ family. Possibly, it seemed they were considering the same questions as well.

Briggs tried to roll over and gasped out in pain. My attention turned toward his bed. I watched as his sister held his hand and it looked as though they were mind-messaging one another. Maybe he was too weak to speak out loud.

I noticed Khaldon and the older man were staring at each other again.

What the hell is going on?

K
alina La Rivière
searched the room for the energy presence of her brother among a group of strangers. She slowly walked past each bed searching for the face of her younger brother. She stopped at the foot of a man she did not recognize, but his scent was familiar. Warm, spiced tobacco with a hint of vanilla. His signature blend. Was her brother wearing the mask of another man?

Blaize gestured for her to come. He took the hand of his sister as soon as her tentative fingers reached him. He looked up at his father, Draconis, and a sour taste stained his lips. It had been five years since he’d last spoken to his sister, and much longer with his father. Blaize’s body shook, his teeth biting down on his bottom lip as he suffered through the pain.

He mind-messaged them both with such lackluster, they could barely decipher his words.

Kalina, Father—do not address me as Blaize in front of these people. They only know me as Tony Briggs. This is a different identity I wear around them.

Kalina nodded and spoke back to him with her mind.
I will honor your request.
What can I do for you, my brother? You have been injured in a mortal form?

Blaize’s back arched and then convulsed back into a cradling position.
Yes. Someone put a hit out on me. Somebody set a trap for us. They used weapons to try and kill us all.

Blaize’s father pressed his lips tightly together.
Well, what do you expect from dzee line of thug work you’ve created?
He tilted his chin down at his son and frowned.

Kalina waved a hand at her father in dismissal.
Someone put a hit on you? Where have you been?

Draconis held up a handkerchief to his nose to quiet the qualm of disinfectant and decomposing flesh.
Son, what have you been doing? What do you mean there was a trap? Who did this to you?

Briggs messaged again.
We went to an island, North Sentinel—east of the Andamans. The Rakshasa were holding my girlfriend prisoner there. Amicula Darkrose, the niece to the Vampyre Queen Civetateo, stole my Dakota.
His mind message voice broke into a sob even though his face merely showed a single tear falling down his cheek.
I went to rescue her, and they … and they blew her up.

Both Kalina and Draconis returned concerned furrowed brows toward Blaize. Kalina slicked back her baby brother’s hair.

Draconis turned to his daughter and sent a private mind-message chat only to her.
Did you know about this? Why wasn’t I told? How in the hell did your brother get caught up in this mess? How in the world was he dating one of the O’Cuinn sisters?

Kalina responded to her father in the private chat message between them.
How the hell am I supposed to know? Last I heard, just before Thanksgiving, Blaize was in New Orleans putting the screws to some ghoulies who were stealing dead bodies out of the morgue. That’s nowhere near where Ludovic had the breeding den in Orlando.

Draconis laid a gentle hand on his son’s head.
Blaize, are you saying this is the work of Vampyre? Who is this Dakota? Why didn’t you ask for my help? I could have provided you with the protection needed, and you never would have endangered you or your friends.

Briggs looked up at his father.
Color drained from his face with each thought.
It’s not like I left on the best of terms, but I’ve been sliced open with a dragon scythe. The blade has drained my adrenaline and I cannot shift. I fear this wound will kill me in this mortal form. And I need to live. I need to find the bastard who stole my Dakota and kill him with his own blade!

Draconis restlessly bunched the handkerchief in a wad and then released it again. Kalina turned to look at the group of people in the room and made eye contact with a woman and a couple of men. A woman with wavy, black hair greeted them.

“Hi, I’m Cheyenne O’Cuinn, a friend of Briggs.” Cheyenne gestured toward the others in the room. “This is Torchy, Khaldon, Harris, and Tiffany.”

Both Draconis and Kalina stiffened and instantly recognized Cheyenne as Dakota’s older sister. They nodded in a curtly fashion. Draconis’ attention was drawn to the man sitting beside her. Khaldon Seters. They stared at one another with an intense, heated radiation. Khaldon did not break eye contact.

Blaize cried out as he tried to adjust his position. Draconis turned his attention back to his son without acknowledging anyone else in the room.

Draconis spoke out loud. “No need to worry, my son. I ’ave spoken with Dr. Rattanokosin and we both feel dzee best course of action is dzee transfer of adrenaline. We’ll take you ’ome to recover and you can tell us everything dzen. You need to rest now.”

Across the room, Kalina and Draconis could hear a young girl talk. “There wasn’t anyone else in the cave with us, but as they took that other girl away, I heard talking about them doing blood experiments on people. Something about making them into an army, but I could never hear what kind of army or what they were for.”

Draconis tried to maintain a modicum of calm and spoke again on the private mind-messaging channel with his daughter.
You need to kill the girl—Tiffany. She knows too much. She will blow dzee cover on dze blood trials. She will expose who kidnapped ’er and reveal dzee entire operation. You must kill dzis girl tonight. Cheyenne is well aware of the breeder dens. We cannot afford for anything more to go wrong.

Kalina answered him back.
But, Baba-ji, kill the girl? She is still useful. I can arrange to have her extrication this evening. Her transformation is not far off. We can take her and not waste any more time for the queen.

Draconis glared at her for arguing his request.
If you don’t kill her, she will recognize you from dzee blood orchard and your brother will learn dzee truth.

Tiffany asked another question. Both Draconis and Kalina turned toward one another to listen covertly to the answer. “Are you going back for the others?”

Draconis stepped away from his son’s bed and pulled his daughter to the side. He mind-messaged her privately once again.
I will leave and make dzee arrangements for Blaize’s recovery. You need to kill Tiffany tonight! We can ’arvest more ’umans another day.”

Draconis re-approached his son and gingerly touched his head, speaking in a kind, fatherly tone.
“Je suis désolé de ce qui vous est arrivé. Je vais trouver le démon qui vous a fait du mal. Je dois préparer un endroit sûr pour vous de récupérer. Je t'aime, mon fils.
(I'm sorry this has happened to you. I will find the fiend who has hurt you. I must prepare a safe place for you to recover. I love you, my son.)” He bent and kissed his son’s forehead.

Blaize’s pale and sickly face turned to look up at his father. His heart was thankful, but his mind dreaded the payback he would have to render for his father’s assistance if the transfer of adrenaline was a success. He watched as his father lovingly hugged his daughter goodbye. It was then he noticed his father staring toward Khaldon.

Draconis intently studied Khaldon as though he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to speak to the man or not. Khaldon shook his head, and Draconis nodded and then walked away.