Tessa looked at Motre. Motre looked at Tessa.

  She shrugged. “Fair enough. We’ll do what we can.”

  “That’s not good enough,” he snapped in anger. “I want your word.”

  Inside, Tessa was delighted with this turn of events.

  Motre said, “I give you my word, but I don’t think it will be our clans that will be the issue. Whoever you are working for here will be the dangerous one.”

  He half-turned to gaze into the smoky window and said, “I didn’t like this from the beginning, but our people needed the drugs. The Council decided that there was no other way.”

  “Then we’ll see what we can do.”

  Tessa motioned the vamp to turn around and move back towards Wendy. As he passed Beast, the animal snarled at him.

  In a lightning move, the vamp turned and stabbed Beast with a stake through the side then turned to them. “Beast.” Tessa cried out in shock, dropping to the floor at his side.

  Motre jumped in front of her and stabbed the vamp. Seconds later, in a cloud of dust, he blew up and slowly fell all around them.

  Tessa barely noticed. “Beast,” she cried. “Oh Beast.”

  Her hands were already pulling the silver poison from his body, her fingers sliding into the open wound and pouring energy inside to heal him. She didn’t know if she could save him, but she had to at least try. He’d saved her life several times. She could do no less.

  Beside her, Motre dropped to his knees. “Can you save him?”

  She shook her head. “I have no idea.”

  She wiped away the tears and continued to work.

  *

  Cody opened the door to where the new Council meeting was being held and stepped inside.

  “Why did you enter without permission?” said one of the elders as he made some attempt to rise, only to fall back into his chair from the effort.

  Cody studied him dispassionately. Why he was even involved anymore? His days were over. What good would any of it do? It’s not like they had drugs for longevity.

  He froze. That’s exactly what some of them had been working on. Is that why these old geezers were here? Were they afraid that they were going to die on the cusp of drugs being discovered that could extend life forever?

  “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware the meeting had started,” Cody said in a deferential tone. Behind him, the rest of the members streamed inside and took their seats.

  The elders were too shocked to respond. Jameson sat up, his mouth open in surprise as the room filled. Roberts and Baker were there, big welcoming smiles on their faces.

  “Of course they wouldn’t start without us,” Serus said. “Because that would be a breach of Council trust. We’d have to suspect those involved of ulterior motives if they did that,” Serus said, taking his place at the table.

  Cody retreated to stand at the back wall with David and Ian. This was a power struggle, but it didn’t involve them. They were only needed if there was a hidden army somewhere ready to pounce.

  From his position, he could see the shock and the anger on everyone else’s faces at the suggestion.

  Serus spoke up again and said, “As you can see, we have more than enough Council members now. You may go back to retirement, thanks so much for being willing to step up.”

  The men started shaking their heads collectively. In one voice, they shouted, “No.”

  It was the strongest voice he’d heard out of them so far. Of course it took all four to make it happen.

  Goran pounded the table in front of them. “Yes. You do not belong here. We got rid of you once, we will get rid of you again.”

  The dust elder spoke up in a quavering voice, “You cannot do this. We have already ratified the vote against those two women,” he spat out the word. “They are no longer part of the Council.”

  Serus laughed. “You can’t ratify anything. You aren’t fully pledged Council members yet. You’re just dusty, angry, old men trying your stupid little tricks. You are not part of this Council. Your ratification does not stand.”

  He stood, turned to the rest of the table, and said, “All in favor of keeping Rhia and Sian on the Council, speak now.”

  Instantly, a cry rose from everyone at the table, “Yes.”

  Cody tried to see if there were any dissenting voices. But he didn’t see any other than the four elders.

  Serus turned to the dusty old man. “You have no say here. Go back to the hole wherever they dragged you from.” The door opened and Adamson walked in, shaky and pale but strong enough to show up for his vote. Cody was glad to see it. He roared. “What kind of monkey business is this?”

  He turned to Cody and Ian and David. “You may leave. This is Council business.”

  Not one of the men moved.

  Furious to the point of not being able to speak, Councilman Adamson spun on the Council members. His eyebrows shot up at the sight of the four men. “Elders?” he said in a cold, formal voice. He turned to the others when the elders stayed silent and said, “Just what is going on here?”

  Goran and Serus stood up and faced him. “What’s going on here is that there will be no more maneuvering from these four ancients back onto the Council,” Serus snapped. “The Council still stands as always. There are enough surviving members here that these elders can go back to the hole they crawled from.”

  “Good, deal with it then.” Councilman Adamson glared at him then turned his gaze on the members. “Jameson, what’s going on?”

  “The same as before you left to lie down,” Jameson roared in disbelief. “I have been trying to preserve this Council by finding enough people to keep our government alive and well before chaos reigned.”

  The dust elders turned on Sian. “You are part of the same mutation problem as the blood farm. How dare you give birth to a half-human, half-vampire child?”

  Cody took a step forward from the wall, ready to defend Sian. Adamson turned on him and hissed, “Remember your place.”

  Sian, still standing from where she had been before, smiled at Cody but motioned him back and whispered, “Thanks.”

  Then she turned back to the elders and said, “It’s nice to know how you really feel.” And she sat down, completely nonchalant.

  Adamson stared at her in surprise. “What, that’s all you have to say?”

  “Nothing he said required more,” Sian said. “One of the first things I plan to do is vote to have them removed permanently from the Council.” She smiled at him. “So we never have this problem again.”

  Cody almost laughed when he saw the look of surprise on Adamson’s face. And the respect.

  Adamson opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand. “Stop. I know everything you’re going to say. We need them. We don’t. We need reserve Councilmen that aren’t playing secret games with hidden agendas.”

  The dust man stood up beside Adamson. “This is outrageous.”

  And that started the yelling match.

  From where they stood in the back room, Cody had never seen anything like it. It appeared that one side was yelling at the other and the other side was yelling right back. He turned to look at David and Ian, and all three of them were completely shocked. They’d never seen such unbridled behavior before. The Council was known to talk forever about a single issue, and they had witnessed heated arguments before. But nothing like this.

  David whispered, “Do we do anything?”

  Ian shook his head. “Hell no. I want to videotape this and put it up on the Internet.”

  Cody almost laughed, but this was serious. Too serious. And he wasn’t sure what to do, if anything.

  “This is a monkey court.” David leaned against the wall again, crossing his arms as he eyed the argument going on with disgust.

  “At the moment, it’s just anger,” Cody said. “But it can turn very quickly to something more damaging.”

  “It’s too bizarre. Nobody would believe me.” Ian turned to the other two. “I have my cell phone on me.” He pulled it out of his pocket, switched on the video, and started filming the nightmare in front of them.

  Cody thought of stepping in the middle of the chaos to calm the meeting down when the dusty guy shot to his feet and roared at the top of his lungs, “Guards!”

  David straightened at his side and Cody stepped forward, alert. What guards? The door behind the Council table where everyone sat opened, but no one rushed in.

  The Councilman looked like he was ready to have a heart attack, he was so angry. He let out one more cry, “Guards! Get in here.”

  A roar exploded from the open doorway and a ferocious animal burst through, soaring in the air to land in the center of the round table.

  There were screams and cries of horror as everyone pushed their chairs back and rushed to safety.

  With everyone flattened against the outer edges of the room, Cody studied the animal. It almost looked like Beast. It almost sounded like Beast. But it wasn’t Beast. Or wasn’t Beast as he knew him. In his mind, he reached for Tessa.

  Tessa, are you there, honey?

  Coming now.

  Sharp footsteps approached from outside the door. Just as he was about to call her again, someone appeared in the open doorway.

  Tessa.

  *

  Jared sat down beside Clarissa’s bed in the hospital. He was exhausted. They’d spent hours working, trying to remove all the humans, and finally he’d left when Clarissa had been taken out. The medic had let him hop into the back of the ambulance and sit with her.

  She still hadn’t regained consciousness.

  He worried away at his lower lip as he studied her features. She didn’t look any different. She should though, shouldn’t she?

  The door opened. Jared stood up and realized it was Taz.

  “Taz?”

  Taz turned to face him, a smile breaking free. “Hello, Jared. Damn, it’s good to see you.” His gaze shifted to the bed. “And Clarissa. I heard the news, but it’s nice to see the proof for myself.”

  “Yeah, it’s going to be a while searching that place to make sure we have everyone.”

  Taz nodded. “We’ve got good numbers coming in, and with a list of those recently missing, we’re hopeful we’ll find them all.”

  “Wouldn’t that be nice for a change?” Jared waited then asked, “How is Sian?”

  “In trouble again,” Taz sent him a smile. “But the gang have rallied around her so with any luck, she’ll be fine. If not, I might need your help to bust her loose.” He laughed.

  “Anytime,” Jared said. “Anytime.”

  Chapter 15

  “Beast, get off the table.” Tessa strode into the room, her gaze swiftly moving from face to face. When she ascertained that Cody and the rest of her friends and family were safe, the set of her shoulders eased slightly. She tilted her head in acknowledgment to the Council, but her gaze turned and locked on the dust man. “Not who you are expecting, by any chance?”

  “What is the meaning of this?” The elder’s voice roared, but with a thin waver in it. “How dare you enter the Council meeting?”

  Tessa laughed. “I dare much at this stage of my life.”

  She waved her arm at her friends and family standing quiet, watching. “It’s good that all my friends and my family are still safe.” She spun in a slow circle, studying the group. She knew this was going to be a slightly delicate situation. And she wasn’t into doing delicate lately.

  This was important to get locked down and finished. “And speaking of how dare I, I understand that you are no longer a member of this Council, and you therefore no longer have the right to be here. I’ll be happy to escort you back to your chambers.” And she smiled, showing her fangs.

  The four men rose up on their haunches, anger, resentment, and fury spitting from them. They turned to face each other, then back at her. “What have you done with our guards?”

  “Oh, they were your guards? Interesting.” Tessa turned to motion at Motre standing in the doorway behind her. “Perhaps Motre here will explain what we found in the tunnel waiting for your instructions.”

  She motioned at Motre to enter the room. “Motre?”

  Motre stepped inside. “We entered from the hallway in the tunnels below to find eleven men and one young boy standing watch through these fake windows,” He motioned at the glass that had a painting etched into them. A fake-looking window to make the stone room look bigger and more open. “From where they stood, it was obvious these men were watching the proceedings.”

  Goran growled.

  Serus hissed.

  Tessa smiled.

  Motre continued, “When they tried to take us out, Tessa gave them a demonstration of what would happen to them if they refused to back down.”

  “And just what kind of demonstration did she give them?” snapped the dust guy.

  “She killed one.” Motre smiled. “But the men didn’t believe her, so they kept coming.”

  The second elder stood in outrage. “Did you kill them all?” he cried. “They were good men.”

  “Yes, they were.” Tessa tilted her head to the side. “They were also from Europe on an agreement with the blood farm that they could receive the drugs that they needed to kill off a disease rampaging through their clan.” She heard the shock murmurs around her but ignored them.

  She didn’t dare take her eyes off these four old men. “So they were your men? Which means you are associated with the blood farm.” She took one step closer. “So why is it I shouldn’t kill you right now?”

  Silence.

  “Tessa?” Cody walked over to stand beside her. “Maybe killing them is not necessary.”

  “One of the guards tried to kill Beast,” she said in a low tone. “Stabbed him in the side with silver.”

  She could feel Cody’s start of surprise and from those around her. Cody shifted so he could look at the table where Beast sat snarling. He was different now. Instead of that dark coat, there was a light gray, almost a blue tinge to his color. “What did you do to him? And is this Beast?”

  She tossed him a light, sorrow-filled gaze. “How could I let him die after all he’s done to protect me and mine?”

  Cody ran his hand through his hair, staring at what appeared to be a bigger, stronger, more otherworldly-looking Beast before them. In a low whisper, he said, “Jesus.”

  “What do you mean you couldn’t let him die?”

  Tessa turned that laser gaze on the old Councilmen. “I saved his life,” she said simply. “He’s bigger, better, and stronger because of the healing energy I poured into him.”

  “You can heal?” one of the other elders asked eagerly. “We were supposed to get drugs that would double our life span. Make us younger – stronger.”

  “You mean can I help you extend your life?” She shrugged. “No one, including the blood farm, has magical drugs that will keep you alive longer. They may say they do, but all we have seen are drugs that kill you faster.”

  “No, that’s not true,” one of the other old Councilmen said. “They promised us that they had developed new drugs. Secret drugs. Ones that worked but weren’t going to be made available for everybody. We’ve been waiting for decades.”

  “And you believe them?” Cody asked.

  “Interesting that you would choose such a thing when supposedly you’re all purists living on real blood. Existing the way you used to in the olden days that were so much better than the new ones. And yet, here someone offers you a magic pill to live longer and you jump at it?” Tessa asked, struggling to keep the mockery out of her voice. It’s not who she was, it’s not who she wanted to become, but these men were pissing her off.

  Easy, Tessa, Cody said. They’ve already been voted off the Council. There is no way for them to take charge again now.

  Unless they kill everybody in this room. She turned and looked at him. Have you considered that?

  Cody frowned and studied the men. “It’s not likely at this point in time,” he said out loud.

  She shrugged. “The only way for these four elders to regain their position and power on the Council again is if they killed us all off.” She paused, her hard gaze going from one to another. “As they already have done to the other members.” She snorted. “Eleven guards? Why would they need such heavy manpower?”

  Silence.

  “And as the elders couldn’t put their plan in place without some inside help, at this point, the question is who else in this room is on their side?” she asked, her gaze slowly turning from one member to another. She knew in her heart it could not be her friends or her family. It would break her if she was wrong, and she wasn’t willing to go there. She’d seen no sign of duplicity with any of them. She hated to think that Motre was involved. But she’d been forced to consider the possibility recently. Thankfully she discarded the idea.

  That left six Councilmen. Roberts, Baker, Triton. Morris, Jameson, and Adamson.

  One who’d been here with the old Councilmen since the beginning?

  “Are you sure it’s one of them here? Cody asked in a low voice.

  “Yes,” she said. “He has to be here.”

  “You don’t know anything,” one of the elders snapped. “You’re on a killing spree. The bloodlust has got you. You won’t be happy until you’ve annihilated everyone. That makes you worse than the ones you are killing.”

  Inside, Tessa could feel her shoulders cringe and her heart squeeze. She didn’t want to listen to the words as they poured over her. It’s not who she was. But was it what she had become?

  No, Cody said. Don’t even begin to think along those lines. You’ve only done what you have needed to do to stay alive. He reached out and put an arm across her shoulder, tucking her up close.

  She gave him a shuttered look. He’s right in many ways.

  No, he’s not. Motivation is everything. He glared at the elder, then added. Besides, that’s not the issue for right now. Out loud, Cody said, “We need to bring this to an end. If you know who the traitor behind all of this is, please tell us now.”

  “She doesn’t know anything,” the dust guy said. “She’s just guessing.”

  “It’s obvious the four of you are once again involved in the blood farms that got you kicked off the Council before,” she snapped. “Now even more so. You’re involved in the drugs and experiments on vampires this time. The penalty should be much worse. It’s one thing to hurt all the animals, the humans, but it’s quite another to hurt your own clansmen.”