Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (189 page)

The reason behind it was obvious.
They stood facing rows and rows of suspended humans contained in
some kind of vacuum-sealed bags. Each had tubes running forward and
back from various machines. Though the temperature here wasn’t cold
she couldn’t imagine it was comfortable for them. Then again, they
didn’t appear to be aware of their surroundings in any
way.

"Wouldn’t a warmer temperature keep
them alive longer?"

"I think the monsters in charge are
more concerned about the product than the source," whispered Cody,
pointing upward. Tessa tilted her head back to find large pipes
entering some sort of vat with many more pipes exiting. "A blood
cleansing process?"

"That is so gross. I didn’t like
human blood before, but now I’m never gonna drink any."

Jewel’s tone reminded Tessa of her
human friend Susan, who’d vowed to be vegetarian after going to an
abattoir.

"Where do we go from
here?"

Serus had already started to move
along the back wall toward a series of large doors ahead of him.
The others hurried to keep up. Cody grabbed Tessa by the shoulders,
"Remember the monitors from the computer room. That means cameras
everywhere. Keep your face down in case we're being
watched."

"Shit." It was all she
could do to not look up and search for the damn things. A frisson
of fear slid down her back at the thought of being watched. Up
ahead, her dad held out his hand in warning. Then a soft, intense
look came over his face.

"Oh, my God, he’s found mom. Look,
he’s talking to her telepathically," she whispered to
Cody.

Thank heavens for that.
Serus stayed still for another long moment while the others
crouched behind a cart piled high with machine parts. Tessa
shivered. Lack of food and sleep was giving her the shakes in these
temperatures. She huddled up close to the person next to
her.

Serus moved back and squatted down
beside them. "They’re being held on the far side. Stay down and
we’ll sneak along the perimeter."

"Did she mention my father?" Cody's
husky voice sounded against Tessa's ear, startling her. It's the
first time she realized she'd snuggled into his arms.

"They are all being held together in
the one room and they’re fine, although the thirst is starting to
affect a couple of them." Serus stood up cautiously.

Tessa frowned. Being hungry, so close
to this operation, couldn't be easy. Vampires would respond to the
metallic smell of blood, regardless of their discerning tastes.
Even she would herself if she went too long without food or wore
herself down too much. And she hated the stuff. They needed to get
out as soon as possible. Following Serus's lead, everyone stood up
beside him. Tessa was thrilled when she realized Cody had left his
arm around her shoulder.

"She also saw four guards, one huge
male and two more vampires working with the patients."

David did the math. "Seven against
four."

"Not if we rescue our family and
friends first."

"I’ll
take those odds." Tessa had never fought, but figured she could
handle herself somewhat. Desperation did that, but with her jumping
skills, she was liable to get away easier than the others – except
for the fliers of course. "So go to rescue Mom and then what? Take
down the seven personnel
that we know
of
and lock them up while we wait for
reinforcements?"

The three males turned to stare at
her. "Yeah, something like that. Only it won’t be quite that easy –
these are vampires, not people. They are every bit as fast and as
strong as we are."

Tessa knew that. She nodded. "Unless
they are 'turned' vampires. Then who knows. Let’s go
then."

Just as they were ready to move, they
heard voices.

***

Jared didn’t dare sit up again, not
when it was likely to bring the nurses back. His window of
opportunity was closing…fast. They could come for him any moment.
He’d already removed the catheter, almost passing out in the
process. He could only hope removing the IVs wouldn’t be as bad.
Under the cover of the sheets, he removed the tape holding the
needles flush against his wrist, wincing as hairs tore off with it.
One of the needles slipped out with the tape. Now for the other
one.

Rolling his head into the pillow
against the pain, he pressed the backs of his hands against the
sheet to stop the bleeding.

Free for the first time, he searched
for a weapon. Anything. The IV pole was feeble, but all he had
available. Sliding out of bed, away from the camera's view, he
grabbed a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around him like a
toga. It wasn’t much, but maybe his clothes were here somewhere. He
ducked down to check under the bed but found nothing. With no
cupboards or furniture in the room, other than the beds, he figured
he’d have to go out Roman style.

He slipped over to the open door and
peered out.

A flash
of movement on the left side had him pulling back. Someone was out
there.
Shit.
He
readied his IV pole weapon and waited.

***

Tessa hunched lower down, out of the
men’s way. Neither she nor Jewel wanted anything to do with the
fighting. She'd be happy to leave that part to the men. Between the
cold temperature and the sinister location, her shakes hadn't eased
any. The absence of smells also bothered her. It was probably too
cold for any to linger. Fans hummed in the background, an ominous
reminder of the industrial level of this center.

She listened as footsteps clipped
closer. Her father's fangs slid out. Tessa winced. He had some
seriously long fangs. It went along with his age and lineage. She
blinked.

And missed it.

It was over so quickly, so quietly
she didn’t understand what had happened until her father dragged
the guy around the cart to her side. "Is he dead?" she whispered
hoarsely. She winced at her father's glare. She'd take that as a
yes. "That’s the short older guy from the house," she whispered.
"He was with the really big pudgy guy. The big guy must be here
too."

David groaned. "Why do the bad guys
always come in extra large sizes?"

Her father bent down.
"Come on, stay focused. Your mother says there's one guard in the
room with them, too."

"Can't Serus and the others take him
down then?" David suggested.

"No. They are tied up, I
think. She said they were restrained."

Tessa didn’t want the details, she
wanted the solution. "Come on. Let’s go."

Her father led the way with Tessa
right behind him. They managed to remain undetected as they
traveled down along the long back curved wall. Coming around the
corner was a different story.

"Hey. Who are you?" A man in a lab
coat walked toward them.

Serus stepped forward with a genial
smile to greet him. "Sorry, son. Didn’t mean to scare you. Just
came to check out my investment."

"Oh." The man looked around
uncertainly. "We weren’t expecting anyone today."

"No, I wasn’t supposed to make it
this early. But like most things in life, change happens." Serus
smiled and chills ran down Tessa’s back. She’d never seen that look
on her father's face.

Her father reached out as if to pat
the guy on his back, but his hand clamped around the guy’s throat,
pressing hard on the carotid artery. The guy slid toward the floor.
Her dad caught him before he hit, then dragged him around a large
laundry cart and dumped him behind it, out of sight.

"That’s two," David
crowed.

Optimistic, they picked up their pace
and made it around the corner to find a series of doors dotting the
long wall. Tessa counted six. Two were open. "Can you tell which
one Mom is in?"

"No. Just that she’s here somewhere.
She's waiting for an opportunity to move on their guard,
too."

"Good." David slipped around in front
of them and casually opened the first door. He stuck his head in
and pulled back. "Empty, except for long rows of beds."

They slipped down to the second door,
with David once again opening the door. He motioned for someone to
go with him. Cody entered behind him. Tessa and Jewel stared at
each other wide-eyed when they heard muffled noises. Then David and
Cody came back out. Something had changed. If they were Native
Americans then it would be as if they’d have gone through a manhood
ritual of some kind. There was a thirst in their eyes but they were
calm, taller and straighter. Tessa shook her head and
smiled.

"Another male down."

"Next."

The next door was open. A woman sat
at a desk checking over sheets of paper stacked beside her. The men
all looked over at Tessa. Her eyes widened. "What?"

David answered. "It’s a woman; we
don’t want to have to hurt her."

"But I do?" Shaking her head, Tessa
dragged Jewel in behind her.

"Hello." The woman jumped up. "What
are you doing here? Get out. No one is allowed down here." As Tessa
steadily approached, the woman pulled out a phone. "I’m calling
security."

"I don’t think so." Jewel hissed, her
fangs sliding out as the other woman bared hers.

"You bitch."

Tessa picked up the chair
as the woman went for Jewel. She crashed it down on her
head.

The nurse crumpled. Tessa bent down,
picked up the cell phone and removed the woman’s set of keys from
her pocket. Grinning, the girls made a fast exit and locked the
door behind them. They were greeted by looks of new respect when
they faced the males again.

"Wow."

Tessa held up the keys. "Thought we
might need these."

They raced to the next door to find
it locked. Tessa tried several keys before finding the right one.
She quickly unlocked the door and looked inside.

Her mother lay crumpled on the floor,
her legs and arms tied behind her. Tessa ran in. "Mom. Are you
okay?"

"Look out!"

Shit. Tessa had forgotten there was a
guard. Spinning around, she barely saw Goran launch himself at the
guard. Arms tied together, his fingers clawed into the guard's
neck. Serus stepped up, blocking Tessa's view. The guard slumped to
the ground, unconscious.

Tessa shuddered and raced to her
mother's side to make sure she was all right. She wrapped her in a
warm hug.

"Honey, I’m so glad to see
you."

Serus joined them and quickly undid
the bindings to help his wife to her feet. "Take it easy when you
stand up. The blood is going to be painful as it moves through your
limbs." He supported her gently, the love for his wife naked on his
face. She gasped and leaned into his strength. With his arms around
her, they looked so intimate that Tessa turned away to give them
some privacy.

Goran wrapped an arm around Cody’s
shoulders. His voice shook with emotion as he said, "Thanks,
son."

"Hey, Dad, I think you missed our
meeting?"

They grinned at each
other.

Serus looked at him over Rhia’s head.
"We’ve taken out three men and one woman. How many
more?"

Goran frowned. "Of those we know of,
one badass, one unknown and one of us. I’m going to kick that boy’s
arse something fierce when I catch up to him."

"Jacob?" Tessa spun around at his
comment.

Almost backing up in surprise, Goran
glared at her. "You know about him?"

"I saw him talking with strangers
when he shouldn’t have been – at one of the vampire holdings." She
glanced toward the open door. "Is he here?"

"I don’t know. Saw him a while ago.
Dumb punkass kid."

"If you can travel, we need to get
going." Tessa shot Goran a questioning look.

He
glared at her. "I am
always
ready to get down to business."

"Easy, Dad, Tessa’s had a hard
day."

"Like how," snorted David, easing
back to the front door. "My kid sister was kidnapped and when they
gave her back to us she had this Wonder Woman thing going
on."

Tessa
grinned, pride straightening her spine. "Yeah, Wonder Woman. That’s
me.
Not
."

Her mother reached over and gave her
a quick hug. "I really want to get away from whatever hell is going
on here. We are not enforcers."

"
Enforcers?"
David turned back to face her, a question written all over his
face. "Weren’t they like a vampire army that kept the peace among
the clans?"

"They were. There are only a few of
them left. Without the need for their skills any longer, they’ve
pretty well disbanded."

"That’s too bad. That’s exactly who
we need right now." Cody turned to face his dad. "Do you know any
of them we could call for help?"

Goran hesitated. "Maybe, but there’s
no guarantee they’d be on our side and not with this lot." He
nodded out to the warehouse and its gruesome contents. "They
believe human blood makes them fierce hunters." He exchanged grim
looks with Serus. "Had you considered them?"