“Safe,” Tessa said. “You were rescued from the blood farm labs and are now in the Council Hall.”

  His gaze widened in horror. He bolted to his feet and swayed in place.

  Tessa studied his physical condition with a dispassionate eye. “How do you feel?”

  After taking a deep breath and giving himself a moment to adjust, he said, “I feel okay. A little weak, but that is improving too.”

  “Good.” Tessa walked to the doorway. “Take it easy for the rest of the day so your vampire heritage can bring you fully back to health, but with the drugs draining from your system, you should be fine.”

  “Wait, where are you going?”

  “I need to check on the other rooms. Councilman Baker is beside you. He should wake up soon. Both of you are required downstairs immediately at the Council meeting. You’re one of the few members still alive and capable of voting.” She spun around to see him. “And make no mistake as to where your vote needs to lie.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  She nodded. “I know. Cody will fill you in while I check the other rooms.”

  And she walked out.

  I don’t like you leaving alone, Cody muttered.

  Sorry. I won’t be long. But he’s not going to listen to me. He needs to hear all this from you.

  There was a thoughtful silence as Cody digested that information. We’ll see, he said. You aren’t as far to the left as you think you might be.

  No, but he doesn’t know me. Or what I can do.

  I’ll let it go this time, he said smoothly, but you will take your rightful place when this is over.

  Rightful place? she whispered sadly. Will I have one when this is over? I was odd before. Now? I’m so far away from being normal that I doubt I’ll fit in anywhere.

  You will be at my side. That makes you fit in automatically. And if not, then screw them, he said comfortably.

  Tessa hated the insecurity in her voice. As if after all she’d learned to do and be, she was still at the same place where she’d been on that fateful day she’d gone to the movies. As she gave Cody a last glance, his gaze warm and loving, she knew she’d moved on from that insecure young girl in some ways.

  I wonder if I’ll ever feel normal.

  I imagine every woman feels like that, Cody said in sympathy. At least at some point. You’ve come a long ways so damn quickly. He hesitated. I’m just not sure how much.

  She blinked, hearing the vulnerability in his voice now.

  And that made her see something else. Of all the things that worried her about her future – Cody was not one of them. She knew they belonged together. Needed each other and, in fact, likely wouldn’t survive without the other.

  It wasn’t the time for a personal talk. Not with everything happening, but she needed to make time for one thing. She went back into the room, walked closer, slipped her arms around him, and kissed him. And she planned to do so much more as soon as they could. When she pulled back, she looked deep into his glowing eyes and whispered, “When this is over, we need to go away. Somewhere where we can be alone. Just the two of us together. No family, friends, no bad guys.”

  Heat lit the deep gaze into a passionate fire. She smiled, a smile full of promise, and added, “You pick the place, make sure you can fly us there, and don’t tell me where. It can be our retreat – a place we can return to time and time again. If you’re interested, that is?”

  He slid his hands behind her head and held her firm while he studied her gaze. “There’ll be no going back after that. You’ll be mine forever. There’ll never be anyone else in your world. I won’t allow it.”

  “You’re making a big assumption,” she said, her heart swelling at the possessive look in his eye. “I think it’s safe to say there already is no going back – for either of us now.”

  *

  She slipped from Cody’s embrace and walked to the other room, leaving his arms aching and empty. He couldn’t tear his eyes away until she was out of sight.

  A getaway?

  A retreat where the two of them could go to be alone? Hell yeah, he could think of a few places. Then frowned. But what type of place? A vampire lair, old-style in a severely awesome, decked-out cave? A modern vamp hotel in another city? He could fly to several, no problem.

  Now consumed by the hint of what was to come, he leaned back against the wall and struggled to face the two men staring at him.

  “Who was that,” Roberts asked. “Is that Councilman Serus’s daughter?”

  Cody nodded, his gaze hardening as he dared the other man to say something negative about Tessa.

  “I’ve heard some incredible things about what she’s accomplished. They sounded like fiction, so I never gave it any thought.” He studied all the men unconscious all around him. “But there’s got to be a reason why I’m awake and feeling damn good and these men aren’t. I’m assuming it was because of her?”

  “It was indeed.” Cody said. “We need you and the other Councilman back at your posts. The relics, who were somehow brought out of retirement to take their places again because so many of our members were missing, are looking to stay.”

  Roberts winced. “Not the four elders? They are likely behind this damn blood farm in the first place. How the hell would anyone think bringing them back is a good idea?”

  “More to the point, if they do get voted back, how do you ever get rid of them again?” Cody asked.

  Roberts shuddered. He turned and gave Baker a shake. “Wake up, Baker. You’re needed.”

  Baker groaned. “What happened,” he asked when he could. “My head is splitting.”

  His eyes popped open quickly when he did understand. “Those old geezers,” he cried, “They wanted to bring live sacrifices back into the clan.” He cringed. “We can’t let them have power again. It took forever to remove it from them.”

  Cody stared. Sacrifices. Jesus. He forgot the ancients were likely stone-aged. “Let’s get you to the meeting.”

  “And what about your father?” Baker asked, taking several tentative steps to test his strength.

  “They are out fighting,” Cody admitted. “And Rhia is attempting to find her son.” At the sidelong looks the other two made at each other, he added, “Sian is also upstairs.”

  The men sighed. “The ancients we’re trying to stop will fight to keep Sian and Rhia off the Council. Sian went several rounds with them before because of Taz.” Roberts held up his hand. “He’s a good man. No doubt about it, but he’s human.”

  “And they are of course against that,” Cody scoffed.

  “And anything less than perfect,” Baker said. “So Sian’s child will never be accepted.”

  “Except it already is,” Cody snapped. “These retirees can disappear back into the woodwork. This is a new world now, and it needs to be one of fairness and acceptance.”

  The two men stared at him curiously. “That may be, but it’s not the way it has been before. Vampires are violent in nature and not particularly careful of anyone else.”

  “What about Rhia’s sisters?” Baker asked. “I think they might be backup Council associates. Where are they?”

  Cody stared at Baker. “No idea. I haven’t seen them in a long time.” But he’d get Sian to track them down now.

  “And there could be a reason for that,” Roberts said.

  Baker asked, “Are there no other Councilmen left?” He named off several, his face becoming more and more drawn as Cody shook his head at each name.

  “We need more to overpower these men,” he cried. “Just in numbers alone, we can’t make the vote happen without it.”

  “There are seven if we count the names I’ve listed and Councilman Adamson.”

  “He’s still alive?” Baker smiled. “Good man. Glad he’s made it.”

  “How many do we need?” Cody asked. “Jameson is here too, although he’s the one that brought the elders back – with Adamson’s agreement.”

  At a sound on the left, he turned to see Terry sitting down on the floor looking a little shaky. He studied the young man then realizing he was okay, Cody turned his attention back to the Councilmen.

  Baker said, “We need ten to vote in new members.”

  “And how about promoting the apprentices?”

  The men stopped and looked at him. “How many of you are there?”

  “There were ten of us.”

  “And now?”

  Cody shrugged. “David, Ian, and myself. As for the others, I don’t know, but likely one or two are around.”

  “Round them up. You can’t be fully-fledged members, but you can now be attached to existing members.”

  Cody frowned. That mess again. He hadn’t liked the old system. “Maybe it’s time to make changes in that system right now too,” he muttered.

  “Changes like that require several layers of decision-making and voting.”

  “So nothing we can do as an emergency measure at the moment?”

  They shook their heads. “No. Best is if we have enough members. Sounds like we’re two short. And then we need to link the apprenticeships to the existing members that we can start retraining.”

  He turned to Cody. “We need your father and Councilman Serus back immediately.” He motioned at him to leave. “If we call an emergency meeting, they only need six members to vote.”

  “Don’t they have to vote the retirees back in first?”

  “Yes, unless we have need of them, as in if half the Council is missing.”

  “Shit.”

  *

  Jared watched the expressions cross the woman’s face as she stopped at a large double door.

  Was it safe to trust Gemma? She knew what would happen to her if she betrayed them, but under the circumstances, wouldn’t betrayal be expected?

  Gemma held her finger to her mouth in a quiet motion, then she said, “Follow me. And be aware that there should be two guards in here at all times.”

  “Why?” Jared asked.

  “In case the people wake up.” With that note, she opened the door and stepped inside.

  Rhia entered next.

  Jared was scared to see what was inside. The shit these vamps kept behind closed doors were going to give him nightmares for the rest of his life. But as his vision cleared, tears came to his eyes.

  Humans. Dozens of young, bright, healthy students. He should know. He’d gone to school with so many of them.

  His gaze whipped along the rows of unconscious kids. So damn many. “What did you do? Empty the school one morning? Call an assembly and gas the gym?”

  She winced at the anger in his voice. “They might have done something like that. The principal was paid well for his part in this.”

  A broken cry erupted from Jared’s mouth as he understood the level of betrayal. He raced down the rows. There was Daniel. Joseph. Mags. Tammy. His mind stalled at the numbers. He pulled his phone out. “We need to get the Human Council to send a medical team down here,” he said.

  “They were supposed to come behind the army,” Wendy said. “I heard something about that earlier. Army first. Then medics.”

  Jared stopped. “Army. That’s right, surely both armies should be here by now.”

  Ian settled Seth onto the floor. “Are they all alive?”

  Gemma nodded. “They were going to be the seed to form our new blood farm. Start with young blood, all pure and clean.”

  Jared spun, the look of fury on his face making Gemma take several hurried steps backward. “They aren’t seeds for anything. They are my friends.”

  She nodded. “I’m sorry,” she offered. “The board members don’t think of them as anything other than animals.”

  Not trusting himself to answer her, he turned his gaze back to the rows and rows of innocent kids. Like he’d been at one time too. Until Tessa had saved him.

  And now maybe saving these kids would let him pay that forward.

  His gaze swept to the third row as he took in the enormity of what they’d found. And froze.

  “She’s not here,” he cried out. First in shock, and then again in anger. “Clarissa is not here.”

  “Clarissa?” The woman frowned. “There are three rooms exactly like this.”

  “Three more, so four in total?” Ian asked, collecting and sending information on his phone.

  “Jesus. How are we going to get the message out?” Jared asked.

  Ian snorted. “And what universe do you live on? The message has already gone out.” He tucked his phone away and turned to face the threat.

  “It won’t matter how many there are,” a hard voice called from behind them. “Because no one else will ever know they are here.”

  Chapter 5

  Tessa checked out the other rooms, but no more vamps were waking up. She could help that process along, but if she did that to so many she’d need recovery time herself, something she could not afford. Better she left these men to recover on their own. She had to get the hell out of here and return to Sian and see what she had planned.

  And if that was all good, then she was heading out to find her father. They had a massive clean up to organize. And she was damn tired. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept. If she had the time she’d do so now, but she had to get the Councilmen back to the meeting and they needed to flush out the son that was the leader in all of this. As for Terry, well, she didn’t know what to do with him.

  “Tessa?” Cody called her over. “We need to get these men upstairs.”

  “I know. I was hoping to leave that to someone else so we could join the ancients.”

  His knowing smile made her grin. “I know, right? We’re always happier out in the middle of the action.”

  “Isn’t that the truth,” she said with a heartfelt sigh. “Let’s go.” She motioned at Terry to walk in front of her.

  “What’s going to happen to me?” Terry said.

  “We’re turning you over to Sian for interrogation.”

  “Interrogation?” his voice thinned with fear.

  “Questioning,” she said humorously. “Sorry, still in battle mentality.”

  “I think you must live there,” he muttered.

  “We have been,” Cody admitted. “And it’s dangerous to slide out of it at this point. We’re close to the mop-up stage, but we’re not there yet.”

  Tessa agreed. She nudged Terry toward Sian’s office, hoping that they could leave him there. His father’s laptop could be huge in filling in the blanks. She just needed the head of this mess locked in. He was powerful, and maybe he was behind this maneuvering going on in Council Hall. She had no idea how the politics worked and didn’t want to know either. That should be Sian’s domain, because Sian got politics.

  Only Sian wasn’t in her office.

  Right. Turning back the way they’d come, Tessa walked the group into the elevators and pushed the button for where the Councilmen were sequestered.

  “How did a teenage vamp get to be so powerful?” Terry asked.

  She shot him a look but didn’t answer. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Cody smacking him on the shoulder.

  Good.

  Then she wanted to laugh. She was upset at his lack of respect and impertinence. Since when had she become an old soul that saw him as a kid?

  The double doors opened. Cody stepped up first and walked to the Council room. Right. He was welcome in that room.

  She stood back and motioned for the two elders to enter. She stood in the open doorway and studied the people there. Sian sat on the far left side.

  “Sian?” she said in a low voice.

  Sian walked over.

  “Need a moment,” Tessa said. She stepped outside, waiting.

  Sian followed. “Problems?”

  “Not more than usual,” Tessa said in a droll voice. “Terry. What do we do about him?” She motioned at the vamp. Standing nervously at the side, his back to them. “He likely has useful information.”

  “Is he telling the truth in anything he’s said yet?” Sian’s voice was loud enough that Terry spun to see them speaking about him.

  “Yes,” Tessa said. “His energy says so.”

  “Then in that case, I’ll find someone to question him.” She pulled out her phone and texted several people.

  “And how many people are we missing from the Council meeting now?”

  Sian snorted. “Too many. We need more. Way more.”

  “Like who?” Cody asked, now standing in the doorway where he could see them. “Who are we looking for?”

  “I think both Triton and Morris could be still alive,” Sian said.

  “And where would they be?” Tessa asked.

  “Morris was in Europe for the last decade. I tracked him down and spoke to him but haven’t heard back. And we’re on the hunt for Triton. We thought he’d gone on a sabbatical, but we’re not sure. I’ve sent him messages but haven’t heard back.”

  “So there’s no one we should be looking for here?” Cody asked cautiously. “Do we have confirmation of all the ones we’d assumed had died?”

  Sian shook her head. “No,” she said softly. “How do we do that unless someone saw them die?”

  “Do you have photos of the Council?” Tessa asked. “Not being part of it, I have no idea who was active or retired.”

  “Neither do I,” Cody admitted. “I know those I worked with, but that’s it.”

  “I do,” Sian pondered. “There are Council photos in the Hall. One per decade. No one has ever left the Council willingly, so if you go back five to six decades, you’d find all of them shown. And the names are listed below the images.”

  The elevator doors opened and two men walked toward them. Sian said to them, “Take Terry upstairs to Jameson. He’s expecting him.”

  The men nodded, their faces hard, their eyes locking onto Terry waiting to see how this was going to go.

  Terry turned to Tessa and Cody. “Can’t you two take me?” he asked.

  Tessa studied his energy. The nervousness was real. There was no black in his system. None. That had always bothered her. She just didn’t know what she was to read into that.

  “The Council Hall is beside Jameson’s office,” Sian murmured so Tessa and Cody could hear.