Vampire in Crisis (21 page)

She needed energy to get out of here.

The door was closed but she hadn’t heard a click to say it had been locked. She was anxious to open it and sneak out but knew it could be an irrevocable step. She was warm and cared for here. Out there…who knew what she’d find? She really wanted a cell phone to call David. That she hadn’t seen him in all her time there scared her.

Would they try to stop him from seeing her? Every time she’d asked, the nurse said she hadn’t seen anyone by that name.

If that was true and that was a big if – then David was busy doing something important. He wouldn’t have left her to fend for herself alone like this. He’d have checked in.

There’s no way he wouldn’t.

He would also have his cell phone on him. All she needed to do was borrow a phone. Or find one. How hard could that be?

Not knowing when she’d get more, she tossed back the slushie and walked across the room to the door.

Placing an ear against the wood, she listened again. Hearing only silence on the other side, she opened the door and quietly slipped out.

*

Ian followed Wendy
down to where the other computer equipment was stored. They’d spent hours searching for the material taken from the blood farm offices. They’d found lots of information but as Wendy had pointed out, much of it – the most critical – was missing. And she wanted to know why. She’d sent a text to Sian asking her but hadn’t heard back yet. She knew Sian had needed to leave, to go home to see her husband. Wendy was lucky enough to have Ian right there but they had families too…only they couldn’t…make that
shouldn’t
leave.

It was too dangerous. They were targets, and contacting their families could put them in danger.

But Sian had left with Wendy’s blessing; after all, Jared was there and someone needed to find out what was going on with him. And his missing friend. She hated the blood farms. It was inherently wrong.

“Wendy, what’s behind this door?” Ian turned the knob on one door that was the fourth in the long line of similar doors. She shrugged. “Who knows? There could be any number of things inside.” She paused, thinking of the room Rhia had been recuperating in. “And people. I think the ancients or at least the Council members all have their own quarters here.”

Ian looked at her. “Really? Why?”

“I don’t know. Maybe for when there are problems and they aren’t allowed to leave. A society is only as good as the government who can keep everything running.” She laughed. “Wasn’t that one of the lessons we were taught in school?”

He snorted. “Was it? I never paid attention to politics.”

“Maybe you should have,” she teased. “There’s lots of intrigue going on in that department right now.”

“Too much. With all the foreign diplomats assembled here in the Council Hall now after being rescued from the hospital? It’s big time and big time bad news.”

“We have to find out what’s going on there, too.” Sighing heavily, Wendy added, “One thing at a time.”

She moved to the next door and went to knock. The door opened as she was about to touch the wood.

“Yes?” A massive male opened the door. Not super huge, but wide. Not fat – muscle.

She swallowed hard, trying to remember why she’d knocked. She wasn’t looking for living quarters. She was looking for the IT people or the IT equipment.

And realized chances were good it was with men like this. Men who worked the equipment in private, coaxing it to give up its secrets.

They so weren’t going to want to let her know anything about it.

“Sorry, I’m in the wrong area.”

“No problem, come in.”

She shook her head. “No, thanks.”

Ian placed a warm reassuring hand on the small of her back. She straightened, bolstered by his presence. “I’ve gotten lost and was looking for Sian.”

The man, his black eyes sharp and assessing, smiled. “No problem. But this Sian of yours, he’s not here.” And he closed the door. In her face.

She swallowed hard, shock reverberating inside. They didn’t know Sian? How was that possible?

“Please tell me that wasn’t a wall of computer monitors in there.”

“It was,” Ian said grimly. “And I have no idea why.”

They walked quietly down the hallway, both silent, both wanting to put some distance between them. At the end of the hallway, Wendy pulled out her cell phone and dialed Sian. No answer. Crap. She sent her a text anyway. Normally Sian was always reachable.
Why does the fourth room on the left of floor six of the Council Hall have a room full of computers and monitors? Are they on our side?

She reached the double doors and pushed them open.

They wouldn’t budge.

Ian lent his weight. The doors still wouldn’t move. Puzzled, Wendy turned to look behind them at the long hallway. All the doors were closed as they’d been as they walked past. All the doors but one.

The one where the computer center had been.

They watched as the same huge man stepped out into the hallway, a second one right behind him. Side by side they walked down the hallway toward Wendy and Ian.

Only there wasn’t a smile on their faces. In fact, they looked downright scary.

She mustered a smile. “Hey, this door is locked. Do you know how to open it?”

“If you don’t have a code, you can’t get through there.”

The second man said, “No one goes in there.”

“Why not?” Ian asked, stepping forward to slightly shelter Wendy. The way the men were looking at them made her want to hide. But there were two of them and only one Ian. Besides, he was tired and worn out too. He wasn’t up to fighting both of these assholes.

“Okay then. We’ll go back the way we came.” Wendy plastered a bright smile on her face and went to walk forward. Instead of moving out of her way, the men shifted, a subtle movement that allowed them to cover the full width of the hallway. In other words, they weren’t going to allow her to pass.

“Crap,” she whispered.

Ian reached out and grabbed her hand and tugged her backwards slightly. She resisted, then accepted his lead. From a slightly more sheltered position, she watched as the two big men approached.

“What are we going to do?” she whispered.

“Get the hell out of here,” he answered slowly. “I’m getting a little tired of being knocked around, drugged, and getting my ass kicked. It’s time for a little payback.”

The two men must have heard him as they stopped and looked at the two of them a little uncertainly. But they didn’t say anything.

Wendy grinned. “Good. I’m really glad to hear that.” She straightened and stepped up next to him. “Because I’m a little tired of you going through all of that, too. It’s been a hell of a week. I’ll be happy to go home and rest. What about it, guys? Are you going to let us pass?”

The first man laughed. “If you can get past us, you can leave.”

The second man snorted. “Look at the two of them. They’re just kids.”

“Oh, absolutely, we’re young compared to you. But we also have friends in high places and you are so crossing the line right now.” She felt justified in warning them, but a part of her hoped they ignored it. She almost wanted a fight.

What the hell was wrong with her?

“It must be Tessa’s influence,” she muttered under her breath.

Ian heard her, and then as if understanding, he grinned at her. “Hey, don’t feel bad, we’re all changing with that girl around to show us the way.”

“I’m all about picking the fight you want to win,” Wendy said comfortably. “And making sure you can win the fights you start.”

The two men snickered. “What fight is that? What the hell kind of fight do you think you can give us? And who the hell is Tessa?”

Ian’s shocked laugh burst free. “You don’t know Councilman Serus and Rhia, and you don’t know their daughter Tessa?”

“That retarded girl? What’s she got to do with anything?”

“Oh, nothing,” Wendy said, hating that Tessa was viewed in that light. “She’s just responsible for bringing down Moltere’s Mountain, shutting down the blood farm, taking the hospital – and that’s just the start.”

The look on the men’s faces was comical. Ian didn’t wait for them to process the information. He up and kicked the first one in the jaw, then lunged forward and slammed his fist into the nose of the second man.

Both went down screaming.

T
essa sank deeper
into the maze in her mind. On her left was the door to the highway Hortran had showed her. She needed to go down there – sometime – but not right now. She had to stay focused. And get Deanna into her place. Whatever that meant.

It was so weird to consider this concept. A few days ago she’d have laughed her head off. Now she was struggling to navigate the impossible mess in her mind. How was anyone supposed to do that?

This wasn’t normal.

But she had to find a way. She turned so the highway access was at her back and surveyed the vast emptiness in front of her. The all-encompassing darkness. Nothing moved. No light shone to highlight objects or to cast shadows.

What was she to do with that?

With a deep breath, she called out, “Show yourself, Deanna.”

Nothing moved.

“Damn it,” she said. “Stop playing games. This is my body. My mind. You are a guest. Welcome only as long as you behave.”

A ripple of laughter shifted through her consciousness.

Damn.

She frowned. Cody said deal with this and she wanted to, but she was at a loss as to how. She considered the things she’d learned to do so far. Trial by fire, so to speak. Maybe she only learned under duress. When it really counted.

“No, that would be silly. Everyone would prefer to learn while they had time – not when the only option was learn or die.”

Yes, her growth these last weeks had formed a pattern. But in truth, the pattern had been set by circumstances, not by choice. Now she was trying to settle this early before it became a life or death situation.

Too late
, came a tiny whisper.

She froze.

Who said that?

“Deanna,” she called out. “Is that you?”

Being inside her mind, it could have been her own inner thinking. No, that didn’t make sense. She’d spoken to Hortran, Deanna, and Cody this way, but no one else. So her options were limited.

“Deanna, what are you doing?”

No answer.

She turned in a slow circle but couldn’t see anyone. Then she stopped. What was she expecting to see? Deanna in person? Deanna in energy form? A ball of seething color? She didn’t see much in her own mind at any time. Why was she giving Deanna a form when she no longer had one?

She closed her eyes and waited. She didn’t know for what. There was a tiny brush. Then a longer stroke. She waited. It came again. Was it Deanna? She peeked through her lashes. A color wiped across her vision. She gasped. What was that?

Energy, of course. But whose? She watched it come back again then dance around her. A different color moved in then out. A blue color. She smiled. That was Cody’s energy. She had no way to know how she knew that, but she did. As she identified one color, several others popped through her mind. Her father. Her mother. David. Seth.

“Seth?” She gasped in joy. Could it be? “Oh my, Seth. Is that you? Are you okay?” She fired off the questions, hoping for an answer. There wasn’t one.

But his energy swarmed around, at a slower speed and alone, as if not quite there. She couldn’t explain it. Cody’s energy swirled around her in peaceful waves. Other energy darted and danced. Slowly she identified a few more. Her friends from school, Wendy and Jewel were there as well. Ian.

In fact, it appeared that every person she’d met recently appeared to be here.

How did that work?

As if the information was already there, the answer floated to the top. When she worked energy, she picked up energy from those she worked with. Sometimes they reached out for her energy hoping she’d save them, and sometimes they’d reach out for her energy looking to attack her.

In other words, she was carrying around bits and pieces of everyone she’d ever had contact with, and that meant a lot of energy given the healing work she’d done lately. There was a bright shiny energy that twisted and curled to the side. It looked different. She studied it for a long moment – then laughed. Jared.