Vampire in Chaos (4 page)

The second vamp stepped forward just as David’s finger hit send on the message.

“Too late,” he said in a loud voice, pocketing his phone. “The message is gone.”

“Good. We don’t have all that much to do lately. Now we can have a bit of sport with whoever you’re expecting to join you.”

Serus’s insides cramped. God damn it. What the hell had just happened?

*

Wendy curled up
in the chair in the corner of the Council common room. She’d only been here a couple of times, but never alone. The place was huge, full of official vamps doing important things. There was an aura of secret doings, secret plans. Big things afoot. People rushed from room to room, and still others arrived in a panic. Throughout it all, she sat in the corner, out of the way, and watched.

She understood that David had taken off after Jewel. That Tessa, her father, and Cody had left soon after. She’d wanted to go, but she was tired, scared, and not fully healed from the car accident. And she’d only hold them back. She hated that. She’d gone into the mine after Ian but now that damn hospital…it was freaking scary. Besides, as David had said to her when they were alone, she couldn’t go. She’d been seen, and the security staff would be on alert for her. She was better off staying and helping here.

But how? She barely knew anyone. And had no idea how to make herself useful.

Her eye caught sight of one woman walking toward her. Sian. Now that was a scary woman. Anyone who could walk with one foot in the human and vamp worlds was very good at that whole balancing act.

She could teach Tessa a thing or two. She was also Rhia’s friend. Wendy stood up as Sian reached her. “Hi”

Sian’s gaze was assessing and concerned. “Hi, Wendy. How are you holding up?”

Wendy’s bottom lip wobbled. “I really wanted to go to the hospital to help rescue Ian, but…”

Sian immediately shook her head. “Not until your head heals, and not likely even then. Not if the hospital staff saw you as a threat. They will have your face plastered all over the security screens.”

Wendy winced. “Yeah, I figured.”

“But there is something you can do for me, if you wouldn’t mind?”

“Sure.” Wendy was happy to have something, anything to do to take her mind off what might be happening. She kept looking toward the front door, expecting Ian to walk in at any moment. That he hadn’t just scared her all the more.

“Rhia shouldn’t be alone right now, but I have things to do. Could you sit with her?” Sian made a small motion with her hand. “She’s not likely to wake up, but I don’t want to leave her alone. Just in case.”

“I’d be happy to watch over her.”

“Good.” Sian led her to one of the private rooms in the back. Wendy tried to keep track of where they were going but quickly became lost. She opened a door on her right, and sure enough, Rhia was asleep in an odd daybed–looking thing. “If she wakes up, please come and find me.”

Wendy jolted at that. “Umm, how? I got lost just coming here.”

Sian laughed. “Do you have a cell phone?”

“I check it constantly,” she confessed, pulling it out. “Just in case Ian contacts me. Stupid, since I know he doesn’t have his phone.”

“I do understand. In situations like this, logic doesn’t matter.” Sian read off her own number slow enough for Wendy to add it to her contact list.

“Good. Text me if she wakes up. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

And with that, Sian took off and left Wendy alone.

*

Goran swam through
the currents. Water washed over his head and into his nose and mouth, filling his lungs. He was drowning…in something. He coughed and choked, gasping for air.

“Hey, sir, take it easy. We’re pulling tubes out to make it easier on you,” a strange female voice said.

He choked again as something was jerked out of his throat. He jutted into a sitting position, groaning. Opening his eyes, he stared at the female vamp in front of him, then collapsed back again. “Who are you?” he gasped in a raspy voice.

Then groaned at the pain in his throat. It felt like someone had jabbed something down there and drained all the liquid out. He could barely swallow. As he was sure he’d been drowning, how did that make any sense?

“Try not to talk. Your throat is going to feel pretty rough right now.”

He snorted but refrained from giving his usual tart response. It would just hurt him more. But as thoughts of fire started to fill his mind, followed by the sensation of drowning again, he had to know. “What happened?”

“You were in a bad car accident. The vehicle you were riding in was hit by a semi-truck.”

He lay there trying to cast his mind back to the event she was talking about. There’d been something about squealing brakes and screams, but he didn’t remember much more. “And the drowning.”

There was an odd silence. He turned his head slightly to see her face, but it was schooled into a professional mask. Damn, he should have been watching her face while he’d asked that question. “Where am I?”

She jumped at that question. “You’re in the Council Hall.”

“Well, thank heavens for something,” he muttered, already feeling his throat start to ease as the saliva slipped down his throat. In fact, most of him was starting to feel better, a long ways away from good…but he no longer wanted to roll over and die. He sat up gingerly, waiting for some body part to start screaming. But there was no more pain. “I feel great.”

She frowned. “You shouldn’t be moving so much.”

“Yeah,” he eyed her carefully. “Why not?”

“You’ve been unconscious for quite a while. We thought you might not wake up.”

With one last admonishing look as if that would make him behave, she walked out the room, her hands carrying a tray of whatever she’d taken out of his throat.

Why his throat? If he’d been unconscious, that didn’t mean he wasn’t breathing. Hating the panic slicking through him, Goran couldn’t resist checking his body a little more closely. No broken bones, no cuts or even major bruising. In fact, he didn’t appear to be injured in any way – except for a horrible headache. As he lay there, an angry ball in his gut forming, a large male vamp walked in. Dr. Hansen. Goran frowned at the man. “Why the tube down my throat?”

The doctor walked closer. “You were having trouble breathing. As you were unconscious and showing no signs of returning to us, we took a long term view and made sure to keep your airway open.”

“Then you didn’t drug me?” He studied the doctor’s face, looking for signs of deception. Signs of blood farm bullshit.

The doctor raised his eyebrows but answered mildly. “Your friends noted your fear of drugs on your file. I assure you, the only medication you were given was something you needed.” He motioned to Goran now. “As in I administered medication to wake you up.”

Goran glared at him. He didn’t know what to believe. “How did I get here from the accident?”

At that the doctor grinned. “You were brought here by your son and his friends.”

Oh thank God. Cody was safe.

“Apparently you owe your life to a certain young lady who can walk in daylight. She hauled you out of the truck and into the car before they drove you here.”

Tessa.
Goran grinned. Damn, she was good people. He swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Where are my clothes?”

“You can’t leave yet. The drugs are unpredictable.” At Goran’s flat stare, he added, “You need to stay here for twenty-four hours to make sure there are no side effects.”

Goran was on him like a flash. He had his hand around the doc’s throat before he had the last word out. “Side effects? What kind of side effects?”

The doctor glared down at him and refused to answer. Goran squeezed his fist tighter.

“Goran?” Sian’s voice snapped at him from the doorway. “Stop that. He’s been helping you.”

“He gave me drugs and won’t tell me the side effects.”

Sian reached up and peeled Goran’s hands off the poor man’s neck. “How can he? You’re choking him to death.”

“Why the drugs to wake me up, and who okayed the drugs?”

“I did, and so did Serus. You needed to come back. We couldn’t just let you die from lack of sustenance, could we?”

Goran turned to look at her. She was good people too, but why the hell would she have okayed the drugs?

“Your system needed the shock. It had been under so much stress, so many injuries, that it was just floating. We needed you back so we could get you to feed.” She held up a large mug of deep dark blood. “If you’d stayed unconscious, we were going to have to force feed you, and as we tried that and it didn’t work out so well…”

“The drowning?” Damn.

She titled her head, her gaze widening in surprise. “Maybe that’s what it felt like. We had trouble with the feeding tube.”

He glared at the two of them. “I’m awake now, so no more drugs. Shouldn’t have been the need for any in the first place.”

The doctor stepped back, shook out his coat, and said, “Duly noted. Next time I’ll let you die.” He spun on his heels and walked out.

“Harrumph.” Goran stared after him, a frown between his eyebrows. “What’s his problem?”

Sian laughed. “Well, maybe that he’s been trying to help you and you decided to almost kill him as thanks.”

Goran slanted a sideways look in her direction. “Where are the kids?”

When Sian looked down at her feet, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “Sian,” he growled. “What’s wrong?”

She winced. “Maybe you better sit down.”

“I’ll stand,” he snapped in an ominous voice, taking the mug from her. “Spill.”

And spill she did, giving him a few more details of the accident, even going so far as to show him the video that had gone viral of Tessa and Cody rescuing the vamps, then talking about David taking off, Ian and Motre in the hospital, Serus, Cody, and Tessa going after them all. And she ended with the worst. Rhia.

When he heard the last bit, he sat down on the side of the bed and finished his drink in silence. Finally, in a harsh whisper, he said, “Where does all this end?”

*

Jared scarfed down
the beef and potatoes, wondering with half a mind if the food was poisoned. He sure as hell hoped not but for all the dead bodies he’d tripped over lately, death was hard to ignore. He also needed the sustenance. Not to mention being damn hungry. How Tessa survived on granola bars, he didn’t know. And blood. Lord, how could he forget that she drank blood?

Human blood.

Although according to what he’d seen, they fought against having the real stuff in a big way. Synthetic blood had long been the recommended source of food for vampires. Until you factored in the old way of thinking and that massive group of rogue vampires. Yeah, like he wanted to spend more time thinking about
those
assholes.

“Hey, Jared. You look like you could use another plateful.”

Jared stopped and stared at his almost empty plate. It had great flavor, and he was still hungry. “Umm, actually, if you don’t mind, I could use a second helping.”

He hadn’t even finished speaking when his plate was whisked away, refilled, and back under his nose. “Wow, thanks.”

“No problem. We take care of our own.”

There was an overly jovial note in the cook’s voice. Jared glanced up casually and tried to read the implication in the other guy’s face. But it was hard. He didn’t know the people here. Not enough to understand the nuances in their voices.