Although if they managed to finally get through all of the blood farms and locate the last of the offices and documentation, anything was possible. She knew Ian and David would have a grand time making sure that they found every last look and cranny in the tunnels. Teams could go through all of the farms and make sure they hadn’t missed anything and map the tunnels at the same time. The last thing she wanted to do was to leave anyone hanging or hooked up to the drugs. It would be too easy to shut the process down and accidentally kill a dozen or two humans or vamps because they hadn’t been rescued in time.

  “Cody, I think something’s over here.” She took long steps that launched her several dozen yards down the hallway and came to a stop where the rock wall was a slightly different color. Cody landed beside her. “What do you think it is?”

  “I’m not sure.” She shrugged. “But it’s different from everything else along here.”

  “Energy?”

  She walked back a few steps to get a better perspective of the wall. “No energy in the last many days or weeks,” she said. “But definitely old energy hanging around.”

  “How old?”

  She walked back and forth in front of the wall a couple of times, trying to understand what it was that she was actually seeing. “I know it sounds silly, but there’s like very old energy inside the very dark energy, but none recent.” She shrugged. “That again, it’s always new when it’s different. I have to interpret what I see, and I could very well be wrong. The black energy confuses the issue.”

  “Drug energy?”

  Tessa looked at Cody in surprise. “Maybe?” She turned her gaze back towards the wall. “But it’s a different black.”

  At Cody’s silence, she spun and gave him a quirky grin. “I know, right? How many kinds of black can there be?”

  “So maybe the question here is in what way is it different?” Cody asked.

  “Good question.” Tessa walked closer to the wall, her hand out as if she could feel something different. It sounded silly to her ears, but it was a natural movement on her part and she’d learned to go with it. At the wall, she pressed her fingertips against the stone then jerked back in surprise.

  “What’s wrong?” Cody asked stepping up beside her.

  “It’s warm,” she cried. “Like it’s really warm.” She walked over to the wall on the side and gently stroked the stone. “It’s much colder here.”

  Cody laid his hand on both walls at the same time, straddling the dividing line. “It is indeed. Now why is that?”

  She watched as he backed up and tried to take another look. “Different color, different temperature.” He looked at her. “But still no doorway?”

  “Not that I can see,” she said tentatively. “But I’m hesitant to open a door made of stone with something behind it so hot it’s heating the stone to such a different temperature.”

  Cody nodded. “No drugs would affect the temperature of the rock, so there has to be a heat source behind it. Are we close maybe to the boiler room?”

  Tessa walked down the hallway several steps. “If that’s the case, then there should be an access door down here somewhere.”

  Searching for any possible openings or a new kind of entrance that they had yet to come upon, the two walked several meters farther to find another tunnel opened up beside them. Excited, the two raced ahead and came to a large double door.

  Cody placed his hand on Tessa’s shoulder in warning. “This is a similar entrance to the boiler room we’ve already been to.”

  “Yes,” Tessa said. “But is it the same boiler room? You’d think with the several blood farms, one mechanical room wouldn’t be sufficient to handle the infrastructure required to move the blood.”

  “True, but remember, there were guards before so there could easily be more here too.”

  Tessa gave him a feral grin. “Good. Let’s go. I will be happy when we’ve purged this place of every last asshole available.”

  *

  Cody agreed. “Don’t forget we have to get back to the Council meeting with as many Councilmen we can find.”

  She nodded and pulled open the double doors. “Wow.”

  The two stared at the vast network of pipes and fluting in front of them.

  Tessa said, “I never thought I’d wish to have Bart back beside me again.”

  “But he is the one that could help explain this to us.”

  “Then again, there should be several other vamps that can as well.” She walked inside and slipped to the right.

  Cody stayed close. They’d been attacked and tricked before. They had to be vigilant and make sure that they survived. Too many people thought the war was over and they would relax their guard. That mistake was one he was not going to make.

  He reached out and tugged Tessa deeper into the shadows. They waited, but there wasn’t a sound. If anyone was in here, they could be hiding. “Can you see any energy?”

  Tessa shook her head. “Not yet.”

  “Let’s keep to the back wall and do a circle to see if anyone is in here.” He stepped into the front and she followed his lead, Beast as always silent behind them. Cody could almost forget Beast was around. Until he sensed the enemy, then Beast would start growling. In a way, he was a better early warning system than anything they had found yet.

  From behind him, Tessa said in a low voice, “The place is deserted. I can’t sense any activity in recent weeks.”

  “That doesn’t mean that there isn’t someone hiding.” He looked around. “I imagine a place like this runs itself to a certain extent, but regular maintenance will be required. The machinery will require oil and cleaning.”

  “And yet with the enemy numbers down, who knows if anyone is around or is left that can handle this type of maintenance. With Bart gone, who else is there to step up?” Tessa kept her head turned from side to side as she searched the large room.

  “Bart didn’t work alone. The blood farms required several teams of maintenance men. We didn’t target that workgroup, so I imagine there are still many available.” Cody stopped and looked around at the massive pipes. “It’s hard to imagine that they could have set this all up in the first place. We’ll be days…no, weeks, if not months, sorting this out.”

  He glanced at her. “Still no sign of another entrance or energy that might say there was something hidden?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet.”

  As they walked around to the front again without having seen anyone, Tessa added, “It’s like a ghost town in these mines now.”

  They walked back out into the hallway. Cody looked at her. “We still have no way to get back over to the other side where our friends and family are.”

  She pointed down the hallway. “Down there. I can sense them.”

  “Let’s go.” As they approached the area where Tessa had pointed, they could hear noises on the far side. A single closed door, the only one in the entire hallway, showed up as they turned the corner. With a quick glance at Tessa, Cody reached for the doorknob and pushed the door open.

  “It leads to another set of hallways.” Cody shook his head. “That’s why we could hear them and not see them. This was the connecting door that led through the wall to the two parallel hallways.”

  Tessa stepped up beside him. “Perfect.”

  She went to move past him, but Cody held out his hand. “Wait.”

  She cocked her head to one side and looked at him but stayed silent.

  He loved that about her. No matter how much she grew and learned and developed, she was always willing to listen to him.

  When he was sure it was safe and there was nobody lying in wait for them, he opened the door wide enough to let her and Beast through then carefully closed the door behind them.

  Another hallway waited for them.

  Tessa gave a delighted cry, “I can see the energy of both ancients and,” her voice dropped to a whisper. “My brother, Ian, Wendy…and yes, Jared.”

  At the end, her voice rose again in joy.

  Cody frowned. Jared again.

  Tessa turned with a big smile on her face and asked, “Really?”

  His frown deepened, but inside he wanted to squirm like a child. “No, of course not.”

  But she wasn’t fooled. She reached up and kissed his cheek. “Jared is a friend, nothing more.”

  He gave a sheepish shrug. “I know that.”

  She dashed ahead, Beast at her heels, toward the energy that she could see.

  He walked a little farther behind. Just because the family was here doesn’t mean the enemy wasn’t as well.

  *

  Wendy tried to get along. It was part of who she was. But she wasn’t sure she’d ever trust Seth. Not that she knew the man. But now she knew too much about him. She sided with Ian on that matter.

  She wished Seth had died in the war and felt terrible because she felt that way. From where she sat, she could see where Rhia and Serus were having a forceful discussion. They’d been married for so long, been partners for even longer. They knew each other inside and out. But this war had brought a rift between them. Rhia had brought the rift between them.

  Wendy had no children but hoped to one day, and as much as she admired Rhia’s stance to save her son, she wondered at what point did one actually give up.

  Ian walked past her and handed her a large blood bag. She studied it nervously. “Do you think it’s safe?”

  Ian nodded. “Yes. This is from the employees’ fridge.”

  Wendy turned to study the coolers where he had grabbed the blood from and sure enough, one was labeled “Staff.”

  She didn’t want to take any of this blood, but she was hungry, her energy was low, and they still had a ways to go before they returned to Council Hall. She opened the bag and drank the blood. It was sweet. Oh so sweet. She leaned back against the wall and enjoyed the next sip and the next. No wonder they were fighting so hard to have this. The blood tasted so pure. Then she realized that it probably came from all of Jared’s friends.

  And her stomach started to curdle.

  Ian had passed blood over to Rhia and Serus and had returned to her side. Only she found it very hard to look him in the eye. In a low voice, she said, “I really want to drink more, but the thought that these came from unwilling – friends of Jared’s, is just too much.”

  “It probably wasn’t from Jared’s friends if that makes you feel better. They are only being processed now.” He opened his bag and took a very long drink. She watched the same enjoyment wash over his face that she had felt. “To be this sweet – to be this clean…how can it not be young kids?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, but we have to eat to keep up our strength. We are not safe yet.”

  She nodded glumly. “I know. I just feel terrible for enjoying it so much.”

  “And Jared would understand that. He would not hold this against you.”

  She gave a shuddering sigh. “I hope not.”

  “Besides,” Ian said. “I feel guilty enough for both of us.”

  Wendy reached out a hand and found Ian’s already there waiting for hers. God, she loved this man.

  *

  Goran entered the same room that Jared and Rhia and the others had been in earlier. The surgical room had been destroyed in the fight, piles of ashes covering the floor. Ignoring those, he walked to the far side of the room, Jared trailing behind.

  The boy was smart enough to know Goran could handle anything whereas Jared was going to end up as another victim if he got caught a second time. Or maybe that was a third time. He’d lost track of how many times that boy had gotten into trouble. He was worse than his own boys. Cody had been a hell to raise. Unlike his older brother, who’d been easy. Then again, look where he’d ended up.

  Jared spoke up from behind him, “Do you want back up before we go in the other room?”

  Goran laughed. “From you?”

  He didn’t mean to insult the boy. He’d shown more grit and determination and courage than he’d seen out of any human so far. But that didn’t change the fact that his body was an easily damaged organic vessel. Whereas Goran, short of silver, would be able to heal and regenerate and be good as new with a little time.

  “I’m just worried that we’ll walk into something bigger than we’re expecting on the other side. And you’re alone. I can help a little, but I don’t have your capabilities.”

  Goran nodded. “That’s right, but you’ve done very well so far. Serus will be along if I need him. We’ll just have to make do.” He shoved the double doors open, and they walked into yet another anteroom that appeared to be a duplicate of the first surgical room. Only this one was empty.

  Goran was disappointed. He’d been hoping for another fight. Too much peace was boring. “Nothing’s here. Looks like you were worried for nothing.”

  “Or not.” Jared pointed to the far side beside a large cabinet. “There’s another door over there.”

  “Good,” Goran said. “Maybe we’ll find more action on the other side.” He strode over with Jared trailing behind him.

  “You want to have a fight?” Jared asked in surprise.

  Goran chuckled. “It’s not that I’m looking for a fight but if a fight comes my way, I’m more than happy to hit back.” He reached for the door and opened it then froze.

  *

  David set the big stack of documents in front of them off to one side and got up off his feet. Back at the cupboard, they’d been working steadily but had not found the document that Sian was desperate to find. She hadn’t explained any more about Hortran’s document, only that she needed Deanna’s to go with it. He reached up and grabbed another large stack. Seeing that Jewel was almost through hers, he carried it over to her.

  “Here, you can start on this pile next.” He walked back to the cupboard. “I’ll grab another one for myself.”

  As he reached up, he could see that there was a document jammed into the very back. He stretched up as high as he could and reached into the far recesses of the cupboard. His fingertips just barely managed to grab it. He pulled it forward and the first thing he saw was Deanna’s name. He turned to Sian and asked, “Is this the one you’re looking for?”

  Sian got up from her desk and met him across the room, her hands out and eager to see. Jewel got up off the floor and joined them in the center of the room.

  “It’s very old,” Sian said. “I can’t even read most of the text.” Sian held it up to the light, her finger moving slowly underneath the words as she read it silently.

  David exchanged a questioning look with Jewel. They both waited silently for Sian to make a decision. When she got to the bottom of the page, she tapped it with her finger and said, “Yes.”

  “Thank heavens for that.” Jewel said, turning around to look back at the stacks of paper all over the floor of the room. “I’m almost disappointed. I really enjoyed seeing all these old documents.”

  Sian laughed. “You definitely need to see me about this after we get back to normal.”

  Jewel shook her head. “Normal? What is that anymore?” She opened her hands wide. “Do we go back to school now? Is there even a school anymore? What about university? Are there professors left to teach?”

  “I know this is hard,” Sian said. “But we will regroup. We will start living again and life will fall back into place. It will be different than before. In fact, it is likely to be much better because those of us that will be left will all be aligned in our viewpoints. We will have a vision for how the vampire clan needs to live and to move forward as a single unit. If we can annihilate the enemy, we won’t have to face this again but if we leave even one person alive that was part of this organization, one of the heads, then we are in trouble and in another twenty, thirty, or forty years, our children will face exactly what you’re facing now.” She rubbed her hand over her belly and looked them in the eye. “I will do anything I can to protect my child for today and tomorrow.”

  “I guess it’s easy to see why Rhia has done what she has when you consider it from that point of view.”

  Sian nodded. “It might be very difficult for some of us to understand, but I have never doubted that she did what she did to save her son.”

  David nodded. “But that still doesn’t make what she did right.”

  Jewel reached out a hand and slipped her fingers into his.

  David grasped her hand lightly, lifting it, dropping a kiss on the knuckles. “I love my brother, but I’m not sure at this point in time that I can trust him. Or that I believe he was innocent in all of this. I want to,” he said forcefully, “but I’m just not sure.”

  Sian nodded. “Keep an open mind and realize that even if he wasn’t innocent, he was also young and brainwashed by whatever it was that they were trying to get him involved in. They made him to be one of their own. He would’ve been included in the secret society. It would not have been hard to turn the young man. It takes a very strong, confident young man to be able to go against all the brainwashing they would’ve filled his head with. They would’ve manipulated his thoughts, his feelings, his ego until they had him exactly where they wanted him to be.”

  “True,” Jewel said. “It’s easy to judge, but Seth had a whole different friend group and most of those friends were sons of the Councilmen who have died. He’d have been groomed to take a place in the organization.”

  David frowned and stared down at their entwined hands. “And what do we do with him now, given that my mother is likely to have saved him? But saved him from what and for what?”

  *

  In his head, Serus called out. Goran, what did you find?

  Not sure, Goran replied. Second operating room was empty, but now we found a room in the back. More humans segregated from the others. It’s a big room. Jared is walking from bed to bed and calling out names of those he recognizes. Not sure if Tessa knows, but according to Jared, two of her girlfriends are here. They were rescued from the first blood farm. We thought they were safe back with their families. Jared says he hasn’t seen them at school since. But they’re here again.