Vampire in Chaos (8 page)

Goran arrived at
the hospital within ten minutes of leaving the Council Hall, and he was pissed at that. His damn wing. Had the doctor even mentioned it? Goran didn’t know if he’d broken it in that crappy accident or something else had happened, but he’d listed to the side more than normal while flying. He hoped no one had seen him. He’d be mocked for life.

With the hospital parking lot below filled with parked vehicles and vamps moving freely around, he opted to land on the roof where he couldn’t be seen. With his luck, the wing would give out just before landing and he’d tumble to the ground. Definitely not a good start to this operation. He snorted. Listen to him. It wasn’t like he was a soldier on a secret mission…yet he’d
been
a soldier, and this sure felt like a mission.

He just hadn’t figured out his priorities. Rescue Jewel. Find Ian and Motre, find David, find Serus, or go after his son and Tessa? Although the last one pulled at him the strongest, he figured that one he could easily slide to second place. Those two kids had proved to be remarkably resourceful and could take care of themselves. At least he hoped so.

It really bothered him that he couldn’t hear Serus in his head. Like any sense, when it was cut off, the sheer absence of it made it sound so much louder in his head.

Where could that damn idiot be?

He looked down over the edge of the hospital roof to stare at the vamps crawling around like ants below. For all their coming and goings, he didn’t sense any panic. Any sense of alarm. Any sense of urgency. They were calm. Organized. He studied as they moved vehicles to and from. It was almost like a military shift change. Dozens leaving and dozens arriving. An exchange of notes in the meantime. Weird.

He turned back to studying the side of the hospital building. He needed a way in. And preferably without setting off any major alarms. There appeared to be a dozen floors to the building. On this side, there were no decks or verandas that he could land on. Although he could always bust through a window. That appealed somewhat but with his gimpy wing, he was afraid he’d smack into the wall and miss the window altogether.

Wouldn’t that be a picture?

He was almost glad Serus wasn’t here. He’d have suggested they aim for the windows just to watch Goran crash into the wall. Feeling grumpy and not sure of his next step, he turned and walked to the far side of the roof. There had to be a way down. A way to get up.

Then he stopped and laughed. He was an idiot. The roof had to have access for maintenance.

He studied the large vents sticking out of the roof. Not that he planned to go down one, but there had to be a door for workmen to come up here. He strode to the largest mass of pipes and vents. Sure enough, he found a door on the far side. It was locked, but he made short work of that – by knocking the door clean off the hinges. Useless things. Who needed them anyway? Sometimes he wondered about all things man–made. They weren’t the brightest of species.

With the door open, stairs leading down appeared. With one last look around at the night sky and the empty gravel rooftop, Goran took the easy way down and jumped to the landing. With the exterior door closed, there was a flat hush to the air. And an antiseptic smell – even here. He reached for the door to the top floor.

*

After his friends
left, Jared felt lighter and more at ease than he could remember. And he had Clarissa’s number. Of course he had several of the other people’s numbers too. But as he couldn’t have Tessa, it helped to know that Clarissa was interested. She was cute, nice, and seemed to genuinely care. There was a momentary qualm as he realized that the only people who appeared interested in his life had double-crossed him – then he remembered Tessa and her family and realized the vamps who’d appeared interested hadn’t. Just the humans. Clarissa had also helped him rescue the other humans and vamps. She’d already proven to be different. Besides, it sucked to be alone. He stared down at the cell phone when it beeped in his hand.

It’s Clarissa. Missing you already.

With a silly grin, Jared texted back.
Me too.

As he hit send, he heard footsteps approaching. His stomach sank. It wasn’t late, but he was worn out. The best thing for him was sleep. In fact, as he looked over at his bed, he realized he should at least pretend to be sleeping. He turned out the light, crept to his bed, and slipped fully dressed under the covers…and waited.

The knock came again. But no one called his name. The footsteps carried on down past his door. He closed his eyes and relaxed until he realized the footsteps were coming back.

And damn it, it stopped in front of his door again.

This time, under his watchful gaze, the knob turned and the door opened.

*

Jewel opened her
eyes, glanced around, recognized a hospital setting, and slammed her eyes shut. She struggled to control her breathing. Act natural. Breathe normally. Let no one know she was awake.
If
there was anyone around watching her. She cast her mind for some clarity on the situation. She remembered surfacing once or twice to see David, usually asleep with his head on his arms resting on the side of the bed. She must have given him a scare.

Then again, as visions of that damn blood farm filled her, she realized she’d scared herself, too. She’d felt so funny, as if her dreams were trying to take over again. Horrible feelings of fighting. Something being off in her psyche, her mind split into two parts and both of them fighting each other. As dreams went, that one had been kind of horrible.

As more and more images slipped into her brain, she realized that those dreams were actual memories. She’d been drugged again. She remembered meeting up with Rhia and Wendy…that brought a smile to her face. Wendy and Ian. Who’d have thought? Tessa had been right again.

At Tessa’s name, Jewel opened her eyes slightly and looked around. She was alone in a small room, a chair beside her. Empty. She frowned. This room was smaller. She was alone now. She hadn’t been before. Creepy. She didn’t want to be here. She hated being separated from the others. And where was David?

She shifted her position to something more comfortable when she realized it was hard to move. Her body didn’t want to respond. With a mounting panic, she focused on taking a deep breath.
You can’t be that badly hurt.
That didn’t make any sense. Likely just more drugs. She shuddered at the thought. She’d had more than enough drugs to last her a lifetime.

Take it easy.
She took several deep breaths then opened her eyes fully and assessed her body. She was lying on her wings. Not the most comfortable position to begin with, her body was stretched out fully and she was covered in blankets. She lifted a hand to brush her hair back off her face, only to realize it had been braided down one side. She frowned. How long had she been here? With her other hand, she lifted the blanket and realized why she couldn’t move.

Across her legs, hips, and chest were bands keeping her immobile.

To stop her from hurting herself? To keep her from damaging something they’d fixed and hadn’t finished healing yet? Or just to keep her a prisoner?

At the sound of the doorknob turning, she dropped the blanket and closed her eyes at the same time. She’d wait to see just what the hell was going on before she let anyone know she was back.

At least until she found out which side was looking after her.

So far her luck hadn’t been too good in that department.

T
essa raced behind
the stranger. She had no idea how deep this space went. They were still in the cement building, yet it was empty. They might be going around in circles, though she couldn’t be sure. The darkness deepened up ahead. How could that be? They’d been running headfirst into complete darkness for what seemed like forever.
The air up ahead is different, Cody.

Yeah, not sure why.

They hit the darkness at that time and she understood. There was no longer any cement and without the gray walls, there was only dirt, which explained the shift in the shade of black.

Instinctively she slowed, coming to a halting stop just inside the dirt walls.

“What’s the matter, Tessa? Tired?” Cody gasped, coming to a stop beside her.

She shook her head. “I’m tired, but that’s not why I stopped.”

Cody looked down the dirt hallway. “The stranger went that way.”

“Did he though?” she asked. “The shadows shifted here. I don’t think he did. It was an illusion.”

Cody stared at her for a long moment then turned to look down the hallway and back at her. “Can you see his energy?”

This was where it got tricky. “Um, not really.”

He frowned, his gaze narrowing. “What does that mean?”

“His energy was getting thinner and thinner a long time ago, I barely saw anything to begin with. Now it’s non–existent.”

“Meaning he didn’t come this way, or you can’t see him for some reason if he did.”

She wrinkled up her nose. “I saw him come this far, I think,” she admitted. “But it comes to a stop now. So either he’s still here and isn’t showing any energy for some reason, or he’s taken off so fast I can’t even see where he was.”

“Both,” said the stranger coming out from the shadows to the side. “I needed to observe you. See if you really are who you are.”

Cody stepped forward. “What?”

Tessa placed a gentle restraining hand on his arm. “You need us to be Cody and Tessa, right?”

At the stranger’s nod, she added. “Did we pass the test?”

Cody growled at her side. The stranger took a long slow look at Cody to make sure he wasn’t about to attack, and nodded. “You are indeed Tessa. Your watchdog is Cody.”

“And you doubted us, why?” Cody snarled.

“Because it’s too important to get it wrong.”

The stranger spun on his heels and called behind, “Come. There is someone waiting to see you.”

“We’re not going anywhere until we get an explanation,” Cody snapped.

Tessa stepped forward. Cody hauled her back and snarled, “Who are you? Who wants to meet us, and where are David and Serus?” At the stranger’s blank stare, Cody growled, “Don’t pretend to not know them.”

“Of course I know them. Our spies keep us very well informed,” the stranger said impatiently. “I am not allowed to explain. You’ll have to speak to she who waits for you.”

She.
Tessa rolled that around in her head. A woman waited for them. One the stranger revered, if his tone of voice was anything to go by. Interesting.

She stepped forward. “Take us to her.”

The stranger bowed slightly, turned, and walked ahead in an unhurried pace.

Ah, Tessa…this isn’t a good idea.

I know, but we need to find out who she is and what’s going on here.

I get that. You notice that he’s not rushing anymore. There’s no panic apparently now that we’re here. Where ever that is?

I know. I think the shift from cement to dirt allowed us to enter…
she stopped and considered,
or maybe left a force field of some kind? It’s like we’re behind it all now.