Vampire in Chaos (21 page)

Rhia had enough to deal with like – like the latest text from Ian.

She struggled to deal with the latest bombshell.

“Did you say Deanna?” Rhia said in shock. “Tessa is going after Deanna because Deanna jumped into her mind and insisted?”

Wendy winced, held up her phone, and in a deliberate voice, she read the message out loud. “We’re splitting up. Tessa, Serus, and Cody are going to the morgue to find Deanna. She jumped into Tessa’s mind and insisted. David, me, Motre, and Goran are continuing with search for Jewel floor by floor.”

When she stopped, Rhia groaned. “Deanna? Oh dear God. Why Tessa? This is just wrong. She shouldn’t be able to do that. Not with Tessa.”

“Rhia? Are you feeling okay?” Wendy asked. “You are not making sense.”

Rhia stared at the young vamp who’d missed so much of the ugliness Rhia had seen. Wendy only knew the new traditions, not the old ones. She had no idea the power the old ones had and what they could do with it. Like Tessa, Wendy was innocent. But unlike Wendy, Tessa wasn’t safe. She was looking to find Deanna. The most powerful female of the entire conclave. Not just this clan. She was the most powerful female in the world. And she was dying. Or dead.

Dead would be better. Much better.

Dimly she recognized Wendy dialing on her phone while she collapsed back onto the bed. Her daughter was in trouble. And she didn’t even know it. Deanna would kill her. That she hadn’t done so already only meant she wanted Tessa for something else.

God help them all. Rhia didn’t think she’d survive if something happened to Tessa.

Sian appeared suddenly. “Rhia, what’s the matter?”

Rhia reached up and grabbed Sian’s arm, clutching her best friend hard. “It’s Tessa,” she said in a hoarse whisper. “Deanna has contacted her.”

Sian gasped in shock. “What?”

Rhia watched her friend look to Wendy. Wendy held up the phone and said in a quiet voice, “There’s a text message to that effect from Ian.”

Sian held out her hand, and Wendy gave her the phone to read the message herself.

In a tentative voice, Wendy asked, “Who is this Deanna, and why is it a problem that she’s contacted Tessa?”

“Because she’s one of the most powerful vamps in the entire conclave – if not the most powerful.” Sian collapsed beside Rhia, her face drawn and pale. She mustered up a smile for Wendy. “And because Deanna plays games. Deadly games. She deals in information on anyone and anything. If she’s involved, this is way bigger than I expected.” She shuddered. “And it’s way more dangerous, too.”

T
essa bypassed the
elevators. She knew they’d be faster and she was definitely tired of the stairs, but with all the cameras they’d showed up on, chances were good there were teams waiting for them. “We’ll be trapped in the elevators,” she said as she ran past her father, opening the stairwell door and bolting through.

“Tessa, wait up. We go together.” Serus jumped down the flight of stairs to land ahead of her. “No running off crazy–like.”

She sighed. “I wasn’t, Dad. But Deanna’s in trouble.”

“So is Jewel,” Cody said. “Remember that.”

She nodded, feeling chastised. She did have a tendency to become so focused on the problem at hand and forget about the rest. And Cody was right. There were a lot of people in trouble. “I know,” she said, “It’s Deanna who has the power to make sure I follow her orders…and if I don’t, I’m going to crash and burn again.”

Serus shook his head as he dropped to the next landing. “She might not be able to do that anymore.”

She understood what he meant, and it didn’t help. She didn’t want to consider that Deanna might be dead. It’s not that she’d had a chance to get to know Deanna in any meaningful way, but she’d connected with her. Had made a lasting impression. And she wasn’t one of the bad guys. And that mattered.

She was also a Leant. One of Tessa’s family bloodline. That mattered too. Tessa tried to shake off the heavy worry in her mind over Deanna’s fate. In truth, she’d lived longer than ninety–nine percent of other vampires. She thought about all the piles of ash she’d seen this past week and realized that Deanna’s passing was hardly something to mourn. It was a rejoicing of a life well lived. Not that she expected Deanna to agree with her assessment.

They passed landing after landing after landing. On the few doors with windows, her father took a quick look inside to see what type of activity was happening. But he never said anything. Tessa took only a passing glance. All the hallways were inevitably empty, with just more long white walls leading to multiple rooms. She shook her head. As they’d seen above, so many rooms were empty. Were they prepping for an influx or had they just moved out a large group of people? Her father stopped at the next landing and turned, a big grin on his face. “Goran says they’ve found Jewel.”

“Oh thank heavens,” Tessa cried. “Is she all right?”

Serus nodded. “David is with her right now.”

“Good. That’s one major worry off our plate.”

“Especially if she’s okay.” Cody added. “I was afraid they were doing more brainwashing on her like they did on Rhia.”

“Speaking of which,” Tessa turned to her father. “Dad, any word on Mom?”

He frowned and looked away from her.

“What?” She hated that he’d still try to hide information from her, but considering it was her mother, she understood.

“She’s awake and more or less normal,” he said reluctantly, “and some of her memories are coming back, but it’s spotty.”

“Memories coming back?” Tessa asked cautiously. “What is she not remembering?”

Serus winced. “Apparently me.” He lifted his shoulders in a forlorn movement. “I can hear her meander through the mess in her mind, but she isn’t seeing me. Nor is she hearing me.”

He jumped down another landing. And stopped.

Tessa, moving slower as her mind wrestled with what he’d just told her, came to a stop at his side. They’d reached a very large set of doors and a series of elevators. Not pretty elevators that they’d normally see in a hospital or an office building, but large service–looking elevators. Cody strode forward and clicked the button. The closest one opened immediately. It was empty. He stepped inside and checked out the numbers and names of the buttons he had available. “Looks like this goes down to the morgue.”

She nodded. “I think I still prefer the stairs.”

She walked away as he jumped out, the door closing on his heels. At his exclamation, she turned to see what had happened and realized his coat had gotten caught in the doors. She ran over and hit the button again, opening the door and releasing him.

Glaring at the elevator, they walked over to join her father standing and waiting for them. “They are big elevators. Likely to move gurneys full of bodies,” Cody said. “There was also a laundry level listed on the elevator buttons, so that’s another reason for the size. Some of those laundry carts are huge.”

“Tessa,” Serus asked, “Any word from Deanna? We’re close enough that you might be able to hear her.”

“Oh.” Tessa paused, her foot on the stair below. “I hadn’t considered that. I’ve never tried to contact her myself.” In fact, she’d avoided even thinking about that connection. It had been horrific. She kept descending the stairs. In her mind, she tentatively called out,
Deanna, are you there?

No answer.

Yet there was a tingle. She frowned.

“Tessa, you okay?” her father asked.

“Yes, I was just trying to contact Deanna. There’s no response, but I can feel a weird tingle as if there is a connection but she’s not capable of answering.”

“We’ll be there soon,” he said, motioning to the stairs.

Tessa didn’t think it would be soon enough.

*

Cody could see
the worry settle on Tessa’s face. They were almost to the morgue level. In fact, as he came to a shuddering stop…they were already there. He peered through the square glass windows of the door. There were some kind of mesh in between the glass impeding his view, but he could still make out the large room full of gurneys and the walls full of cupboards.

“Is there supposed to be some kind of viewing room where they move the bodies into?”

“I think you’re talking about the human system where they raise and lower the bodies so families can see just their loved one.”

Serus growled, “Maybe, but the real question here is why are there dozens of gurneys just sitting there?”

Tessa frowned as she studied the sheet–draped gurneys. “And are they dead?”

“What else would they be?” her father asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, “But are there really that many dead vamps? And why do we need to have them on gurneys. Why not just turn them to ash?”

“Biohazard most likely. Just because we did that to them when fighting doesn’t mean it’s the best solution for a large amount of dead vamps.”

“But why are so many?” She turned to her father. “You know we don’t die easy or young.” She motioned to the scene beyond the doors. “This is quite likely what a human morgue looks like – but not a vamp one.”

Both men were silent as they stared into the room. “Do we know for sure that they are vamps under those sheets?”

Cody winced at Serus’s question. The same thought had occurred to him, but he wasn’t sure Tessa was ready for the answers. Still, they needed to find out. He pushed open the door and strode in. He searched for staff, but no one moved. Wasn’t that odd? He’d never heard of anyone doing an autopsy on vamps like they often did on people, but like Tessa said, vamps didn’t die young and rarely died at all. He lifted back the sheet on the gurney closest to him. It was a male vamp. He frowned and studied the young features. The man’s face was contorted as if he had been in extreme pain. He pulled the sheet further down to see the man’s hands splayed out like claws. “Serus, look at this.” He pointed out the man’s hands and faces to the other two. “Whatever killed him, it wasn’t an easy or fast death.”

“Drugs,” Tessa said instantly.

Cody looked over at her. “Can you see that, or are you just guessing?”

“I was guessing.” She stepped back and nodded. “But even though he’s dead, the temperature in this room is cool enough to keep the energy low and heavy.” She spun to look at the other gurneys. “There is a darkness surrounding all of them.”

Serus systematically walked over and flipped back the sheet on every one. “They are all vamps,” he announced. Cody walked to the wall of drawers. He didn’t know if they were full, but if they were, it would make sense why these were just lying in the room instead of being taken care of properly. Whatever that meant.

He clicked the latch on one and pulled it open. It was full. Only it wasn’t a vamp.

The body inside was human.

And he might just know him.

“Tessa, come here,” he said quietly. “Tell me if you recognize this man.”

*

Serus strode over
just ahead of Tessa. They both stared down at the young male in the drawer. Serus shook his head. “I don’t remember him.”

Tessa frowned. “I don’t know. There’s something familiar…”

“Think back to the rescue in the mine where Jared showed up with all those other young people,” Cody said in a grim voice.