She sucked in her breath as she stared back at the way they’d come. “Did we just pen the good guys and let the monsters out?”

  Hortran’s voice faded before her. Maybe…

  Shit.

  *

  Cody didn’t get the reference to the good guys and monsters, but Tessa was storming ahead as if she had a purpose. “Where are the sick Councilmen?” she asked.

  “I’ll ask Sian,” he said, pulling his phone out. “She’ll know.”

  Tessa nodded but appeared preoccupied.

  Sian answered her phone immediately. There was a joyful cry when he quickly brought her up to date. When he mentioned where they’d just come from, she snorted. “Those old geezers had better not try to get back onto the Council. They didn’t retire. They were retired – willingly or not. They had to be after the last catastrophe with the blood farm. They were given no choice,” she said sadly. “They came out of retirement in favor of the facilities the last time we found these blood farms, and it nearly tore our clan apart.”

  “Really?” Cody was stunned. “I had no idea.”

  “No, of course not. It was put away, like all dignified Vampire Council dirt,” she said in a mocking voice. “Never to see light again.”

  “Well, some fancy maneuvering needs to be done to keep the old Council from taking it over again.” He shook his head, moving quicker to keep up with Tessa. “Where are the sick Councilmen? Tessa wants to see if she can help them.”

  “They are down in the second level. Most of that floor is filled with injured or recovering vamps. Afterwards, come up and see me,” Sian commanded. “We’re keeping down the fort up here but could use the extra hands.”

  “Got it.” He tucked the phone away. “Sian says—”

  “Got it.” She tossed him a quick smile. “Let’s go.”

  He laughed and caught up quickly. “Let’s take the stairs.”

  At the stairwell, he bolted ahead of her and ran up the first flight.

  Beast, sensing the hunt, was waiting at the door to the floor when he got there.

  “He’s fast,” Cody said. “And deadly.” He reached for the door, and as soon as it opened, Beast started howling.

  Cody slammed the doors closed again, his gaze locked on the animal at his side who was even now trying to claw at the door to get through. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “Not sure,” Tessa whispered. “But whatever it is, he wants it.”

  Cody looked down at her. “Do we let him have at it?”

  “Absolutely.”

  As if hearing the answer, Beast let out a howl. Cody opened the door and Beast hurled himself through.

  *

  Serus pulled up to the top of the trees, looking down on the small settlement. He knew the family, or rather he used to know the family that lived here. As he stared at the half-dozen vampire houses built into the trees and cliffs looking to become part of the natural settings, he wondered why he hadn’t heard anything in decades. Maybe longer. The patriarch had been killed in the last blood farm battle but had been fighting on the side of right. He remembered hearing something about him having been killed by someone within the family. The details were a little sketchy, but he wasn’t the first one to have died in such a betrayal.

  The clans were rife with them. Now it was even worse.

  There was no movement in the settlement below. Not even heat coming off the houses to give the impression of occupancy. Then again, it was exactly as Tessa had said.

  He dropped to the ground and deliberately chose the gatehouse Tessa had gone in. There was something painful about following his daughter’s tracks after she’d been hunted and had gone to ground. The thought of it boiled his insides. He also didn’t have much time to spend here. Goran needed help. He stood outside facing the hill behind them. Tessa had found an entrance somewhere close by. It didn’t mean he had a clear path through, but it should be close.

  He didn’t have time to go back and find another entrance. As he studied the hillside, his stomach sinking, he realized he wasn’t seeing the entrance. Time was wasting. Gathering his energy, he jumped up to a large rock. As he glided over to land on the roof, he finally saw the entrance.

  This was it.

  He jumped down to the landing and stopped to give a glance around the empty community before he slipped inside.

  *

  Goran dove for the closest single vamp. Gas tendrils were already reaching up from the floor. The men below screamed as they tried to climb the walls to get up and away. Goran knew it was just a sleeping gas of some kind to minimize the threat so that a few vamps could handle the large number of men, but it was still scary as shit.

  The vamp turned, saw him, and grinned, then pulled out an odd, black, handheld weapon. More of those light weapons. Well, he wasn’t born yesterday. These vamps might have tried to take the easy way and avoid the years of learning to fight properly, but Goran hadn’t. He’d cut his teeth on disputes like this one.

  And like hell they were going to drop him with gas. Besides, he had to be way bigger than the guards here. What was the matter? Were they running out of enhanced assholes now? Were there no others left to fight that they were reduced to using runts?

  He hoped so.

  He lashed out with his foot, kicking the weapon from the vamp’s hand, then followed it up with a twisting kick that caught the vamp’s head with the power of his legs and jerked. The vamp went down without a sound. Goran snagged the gas mask off his head and put it on, then turned to study the others. Four were racing toward him.

  Right. Neutralize one threat then find four more.

  Still, it was only four. If Serus were here, he’d laugh at him and tell him to get serious. They had real work to do.

  And in this case, he’d be right.

  Goran reached down and grabbed the weapon from the unconscious vamp and turned it on. The spray hit the vamp on the floor. He lit up like a fancy set of firecrackers. Wow.

  The others were coming, and they held their own versions of this thing. But now the odds were much better.

  He pulled his lips back into a feral grin and hid behind the pillars.

  Now they’d get a surprise of their own.

  And he couldn’t wait.

  *

  Rhia watched the last two of the medical team huddled together like a hawk. “Where are the new arrivals?” she asked in a low tone, keeping the threat imminent but downplayed if they were cooperative.

  The younger woman in the back sneered. “Like we’re going to tell you,” she snapped.

  “Maybe I will,” the slightly older woman said, stepping back to the side. “I’m new here. I don’t want to die.”

  “Traitor,” the young woman said, lifting her chin a notch.

  Ian walked closer. Rhia watched him. Would he be able to do what needed to be done? They had all done things they’d never expected to have to. She studied his hard face, the watchful eyes as he gauged the other woman’s movements.

  “What are you going to do, kill me in cold blood?” the woman vamp spat at him. “I’m defenseless in front of you. How is that a better regime than the one we are building?”

  Ian stopped and frowned.

  Rhia winced. It was a tough issue for all of them. They had taken many of these vamps as prisoners, as some had information they could use and there were others who’d been forced into their army and wanted to be saved. But which category did this young woman belong?

  Ian gave a shrug. “That will be determined by your actions now. I’m happy to take you prisoner. If you put up a fight and die in the meantime…”

  And he reached for her.

  She backed up, baring her fangs, then swiped at him.

  He shrugged. “Okay, decision made.” He pulled a stake out from his pocket and held it under her neck. “I’ve killed dozens of you so far, one more won’t make a dent.” She shuddered in place then slumped in defeat.

  Pushing her ahead of him, he led her toward where Rhia stood.

  They’d almost reached Rhia when the woman pulled something out of her pocket and attacked.

  Rhia let her fangs show. The woman backed up slowly.

  “Smart, very smart of you.”

  And Rhia approached her.

  *

  David sat down at the computer, Jewel napping gently beside him. He hated this inactivity. He was on guard duty. He got that. But it chafed, too. He wanted to keep both Sian and Jewel safe, but sometimes it seemed like he could be put to better use.

  And maybe while the women slept, he could find something of use in the archives. How did the Council get to a point of retiring a large group of Councilmen, not kill them as he’d have done, and then have the Council decimated to the point that these retirees would be the next wave of power? A position that would allow them to put whoever they needed into power and secure their places at the top once again.

  That terrified him. If the Council drew an emergency vote, then none of the ancients he knew would be able to take part as they couldn’t get back on time. And that could be a disaster.

  He needed his sister to talk to Deanna and find out what they could be up against. Deanna’s husband was gone. Many others were either missing in action or drugged to the tips of their toes. Who knew if any of those could be saved or not?

  And how could they get proxy votes in place in time? Would they even be honored at this stage?

  It’s not that he was distrustful of the Council members, he was distrustful of everyone he didn’t know at this point.

  Should he contact Adamson over his worries? He was still one of the members of the Council that was close enough to come in and vote. In fact, he was here with the elders. He might be able to rein them in. Jameson was another choice as he worked closely with Sian.

  Who else was there?

  He pulled up the current list and checked them off in his head. Then seeing a tab for inactive members, he brought that list up, too.

  And realized that they’d all been called in already.

  The Council needed to bring everyone back to elect new members. And as he read the fine print…they needed to do that fast.

  Chapter 3

  Howls filled the hallway.

  Tessa and Cody stared at each other in shock.

  “Not more animals, surely,” Cody said. “This floor was supposed to be cleared and safe and people are in here healing.”

  “I wouldn’t be at all surprised.” Tessa shrugged. “It will be close now.”

  Just as suddenly as the howls filled the air, silence cut through their conversation. Taking a chance, Cody poked his head around the doorframe.

  Tessa knew Beast was okay. She could sense him, feel him as part of her being. “It’s clear.” Cody pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway. Tesla followed.

  Beast sat in the hallway as charred body parts and ash surrounded him. With that deeply intense stare, he looked at her as if asking permission. Tessa swallowed hard. It was in his nature, but did that make it right? It was in her nature to take blood from the living, and did that make it right? She studied Beast as she walked closer, seeing the bloodlust drain from his eyes. Seeing the mantle of awareness shift down as the danger level receded in his eyes.

  It was the rankest smell, yet she couldn’t even determine what animal he’d ripped apart because the pieces were so distorted. So much was burnt and the rest was unrecognizable.

  “Beast, I don’t think you want to eat that. It’s disgusting and will make you sick.” That gaze never shifted. She winced. “Okay, have at it. But no whining later.”

  He surged for the piece closest to him. She quickly added, “And please wait until I’m past you.”

  Beast froze and watched every step she took. As she approached the first of four doorways, she gave a light rap on the door and pushed it open but didn’t enter.

  Silence.

  She gazed at Cody. What do you think?

  No idea. His voice drifted through her mind. Can you sense anything? She was trying to intuit what she was seeing. It was more difficult now as she seemed to be able to connect to so much more than just the wall and floors. She waited for the energy to show up too. When it did finally, she gave a sharp nod and said, “The room is empty.”

  Cody peered around the edge of the doorframe and took a quick look. Then he took a longer one before stepping back out into the hallway. “You’re right. On to the next one.”

  With Beast back again at her side, and she did not want to consider the tiny bits and pieces that were still hanging to the side of his mouth, they went from door to door and stopped at the second room. This one was full.

  “Damn,” she said softly, looking at the sheer number of vamps that had yet to recover. Surely there was something she could to do to speed this up. The healer in her wanted them all back on their feet.

  “Forget it. There were too many of them for you to help.”

  “Unless there are some of our Councilmen here?” she said, frowning as she walked the aisles between the beds pushed so tightly together it was almost impossible to make her way through them. “Do you recognize anyone?”

  “I do, but not from the Council. Some of these men we rescued early on, some are more recent.”

  “Right.” She stopped and stared at one man that lay on the bed, seemingly comatose, and yet there was nothing black in his energy. Or that she could see from the initial glance. Rather than go closer, she pulled back slightly and motioned at Beast.

  He studied her for a long moment with that deep, golden look and padded closer. The growl in his throat gained in strength the closer he made it to the head of the bed.

  If the guy wasn’t unconscious, there’s no way he’d be able to withstand that threat.

  At least she hoped not.

  Beast lunged into the man’s face and snarled loudly.

  Up out of the bed, the vamp who’d been hiding amongst the injured bolted for the door.

  Cody reached out an arm, but the vamp tried to swing at him, only to run into Cody’s fist.

  He reached back to spike the vamp when Tessa cried out, “Wait.”

  Arm paused in midair, Cody held the vamp by the throat and looked at her. “Why?”

  “He doesn’t have black in his energy.”

  Cody blinked at her then dropped his gaze to study the vamp at his feet. “Good guy or bad guy?”

  “Good guy,” the vamp cried out, his panicked gaze locked onto Cody’s face. “I woke up here. I have no idea what happened.”

  “Tessa?” Cody asked. “Is he telling the truth?”

  She walked closer. “You know, I think he is.”

  Cody lowered his arm slowly.

  The vamp shuddered. “Thank you,” he said, turning to face Tessa. “I am telling the truth.” He looked around at the room full of vamps. “I only woke up a few minutes ago by some horrible noises close by.” He swallowed hard, trying to back away from Beast as he approached.

  “What is that thing?”

  “This is Beast,” Tessa said in a terse voice. “He’s my pet.”

  “A pet? No one has pets like that.”

  “Well, I do,” she said calmly, studying the man. “And he’s the least dangerous of the three of us.”

  The man’s eyes widened to saucers and he tried to escape. “What is going on?”

  “I don’t know yet, but if we can figure out who you are and where you came from, that might help us get to the bottom of that question.”

  “I’m Terry,” he said. “My father is…” he swallowed. “Councilman Webster.”

  Tessa looked over at Cody then back at Terry. “And is he dead?”

  Terry nodded. “He is.”

  “Was he for or against the blood farm?” Cody asked coldly.

  “I don’t know. He never said.” Terry shook his head. “I’m not even sure what you mean by blood farms.”

  “What do you drink?”

  The vamp reared back, a frown on his face. “Blood. What else is there to drink?”

  “And how do you get the blood?”

  More confused than anything, Terry shifted slightly so he could look at the room full of unconscious vamps. “Uhm, it’s delivered fresh every day.” He snorted. “Like everyone’s is.”

  When Tess and Cody glared at him, he cried out, “What?”

  “We’ll take an educated guess and say that your father was getting it from the blood farms, and that means he’s on the wrong side of this war.”

  “I don’t even know what you mean by war,” he said fearfully. “I was in Europe and got a strange order from him saying I was to stay there.” With a sheepish motion, he added, “So of course I came running to find out what was wrong.”

  Tessa snorted. “Of course you did. And now you know that your father was on one side of the war and we’re on the other.”

  Cody stared down at him. “But what do we do with him now?”

  “I don’t know. There aren’t many of the enemy left alive.”

  Terry’s face paled beside them. “I don’t know what’s going on here. What’s wrong with the blood farm?”

  That the kid had real confusion in his voice was what made Tessa step back. “Are you really so unaware?”

  He stared at her mutely.

  Stepping in, Cody quickly explained the war the kid had become a part of. Tessa watched the shock, confusion, and distaste when he understood what the blood farm really was, and then the realization of which side his father had picked.

  He slumped back to the ground, staring up at the ceiling. “Oh Lord,” he whispered. “I had no idea.”

  “And now that you do?” Tessa asked in a hard voice. “What side are you going to be on?”

  *

  Cody watched the pain and the turmoil in the young man’s eyes as he worked his way through the information. “I’m sorry,” Cody said. “It’s ugly. It’s confusing. It’s horrible really. But it’s also very real.”

  “So my father was part of the blood farm.” Terry stared at the top of the hallway, his voice expressionless and his face strained. Cody found it painful to see the dawning of the realization as to what his life had been built on.

  “Exactly.” Tessa said as she walked back to the room full of slack-jawed vamps. Cody watched silently as she stood at the doorway studying the occupants. He smiled when she asked, “Beast, anyone here that isn’t like the others?”