Vampire in Charge E-Book

Mayer Dale

• Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

The Family Blood Ties continues to this 10th and final installment of this vampire versus vampire saga.

She thought she had it all solved.

Tessa’s had a hell of a time tracking down the blood farm bosses. And it’s not over yet. Just when she thinks she has it solved, it unravels all over again.

She should be taking the last of the enemy captive and tying up the final ends. Instead, it appears there’s one more secret to uncover – and when she does, it’s a doozy.

Cody is desperate to have this mess over with and have Tessa all to himself. But as the secrets start to unravel, the craziness gets worse.Can they trust anyone? Or does everyone have something to hide?

Leseprobe

Vampire in Charge

Book #10 of Family Blood Ties

Dale Mayer

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

About This Book

Complimentary Download

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Epilogue

Sneak Peek from Tuesday’s Child

Author’s Note

Complimentary Download

About the Author

Copyright Page

About This Book

Teenage vampires Tessa and Cody and human Jared believed they’d stopped the war Old World vampires had waged on humans, intent on setting up underground blood farms to provide them with a never-ending feeding source.

Tessa and Cody looked forward to seeing their love come to fruition and sharing a long, uneventful life together. But, as the hard work the peaceful vampire clans and their allies had undertaken unravels all over again, another startling secret to top all previous secrets comes to light.

How can the three of them know who to trust when literally everyone seems to have something to hide?

Sign up to be notified of all Dale’s releaseshere!

COMPLIMENTARY DOWNLOAD

DOWNLOAD a complimentary copy of TUESDAY’S CHILD? Just tell me where to send it!

Prologue

This is the last chapter from Vampire in Control. Chapter One carries on from here.

Tessa struggled to stay in control. Anger like a wall of red washed through her, taking everything she had to fight Deanna back down. Tessa knew this wasn’t a fight she could lose, otherwise, Deanna could take over at any time.

She had to win. But so far, Deanna’s fierce anger was taking over Tessa’s much softer one. It was incorporating itself into her own anger, building herself up to be stronger and more powerful. Tessa wanted to win. Knew she had to win. But there was an air of desperation about it. Almost a panic. The memories of the last mess were sitting in her peripheral vision, threatening her with the reminder that she failed last time.

That she had been a fool, and Deanna had taken her over by being what Deanna always had been – older, stronger, and so much more devious. Tessa tried to build up the anger to match Deanna, but she didn’t have a lifetime of hurts and enemies to draw from. Her short-lived years were merely a blink to Deanna’s centuries, who had anger plenty for both of them.

Give me your anger. I’ll take it and make it mine, Deanna whispered. Think of how easily I ruined your life. Think of what I’ll do with Cody when I’m you and he’s mine. He’ll be my lover. Not yours. You’ll be stuck inside for the ages while he becomes my man. His young, firm body mine to do with as I please. Feel the anger at my words. Give it to me.

Tessa wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. There was much terror and fear mixed with the anger. And her words, well, they’d ignited a maelstrom. Cody is not and never will be yours.

Her own rage built at the thought of this old crone taking what was Tessa’s. Not just her body and her life, but her love. Cody wouldn’t be able to free himself. He’d already fought to return to save her. He’d come back to protect Tessa, but there was no way he could fight Deanna.

Then the tiny whisper came, but he could.

Hortran?

Yes. You can’t let her destroy you.

You helped her to do this. How is it you aren’t okay with her actions at this time? Tessa snapped. You are just as responsible for what she’s doing now as she is.

Yes, but not for the reason you think.

You love her.

Of course. She’s my sister. But I’m not blind to her. I helped her because she’s right – you are the One. But you’ve had no training and as Deanna’s past has come back to taunt her, you need help. Everything we do in our life has a cause and effect, and right now she’s still trying to walk away from her actions. Like she always has.

Tessa’s mind was split in different directions. One part on Hortran’s words, another desperate to match Deanna’s rage that she might win against her, and yet another part aware of the vamp watching the two of them in fascination. He held no weapons, as if content to see who’d win then take out the victor.

You can’t match her anger. Her rage. She’s done much wrong in her life. She cared not for the repercussions and did as shewanted. But your present has collided with her past, and there won’t be a good end to this. She’s never faced this – him. She never confronted him. He wanted revenge and had information on her that could destroy her and her husband. He had power over her. Thus, she feared him. Hated him and wanted only to see him die so that he couldn’t hurt her anymore. But for all her actions, she is still a mother and knew she’d been in the wrong first. All those memories became a twisted compilation of fear, anger, and guilt.

Tessa was so confused. She got the relationship was complicated. She understood that Deanna had tried to kill her own son, but it had been eons ago. Hortran, what difference does it make now? She’s dead. Her husband is dead. She was trying to extract revenge for his death, but he’s dead too. Everyone who mattered to her is dead.

But her husband was set up to die by another. And that other is the one ultimately responsible.

Who?

Her son…

Tessa’s gaze went to Victor, who was still standing at the window. But Hortran was still speaking, his voice low, fading.

…and by Victor’s command…her own grandson. And he still lives…still hurts.

Grandson? Oh no. Who is her grandson?

A man raised on poison to hate her and who spent his lifetime creating something that would keep the line pure. To see her die as they all lived – bigger, better, stronger…and not deformed and disfigured like his father.

Shit.

She closed her eyes, caught in a bubble of frozen time, so much going on around her. So much caught up in this moment. Deanna’s grandson was the one who’d created the blood farms. He was the one in the background. That shadowy figure that they hadn’t been able to identify and had often questioned if he even existed. They’d caught and killed many of his minions…and never him.

He’s there. He exists. You know him.

Deanna screamed in the background. You should have killed him when you had the chance. And you had the chance. Now we’ll take out my son first – I was going to let him live – my penance for my wrongs and his penance to live so broken an existence – then we’ll go after his son.

No, Tessa said, struggling for calm. For sanity. For control. I will make the decision of who I kill – not you.

And Deanna screamed. It was a rip of rage like Tessa had never heard before.

But it was so like Deanna that Tessa knew it wasn’t her own anger. In fact, hers had faded to the background like it always did. She wasn’t a hard, cold, angry person. She loved animals and flowers and saved dogs from bad drugs and military men from vampire poison.

Exactly, Hortran said. You must save yourself.

How, she said, her mind already looking at her actions, Deanna’s actions, and seeing that harsh divide. She’s not me.

And you are not her.

You are…

She finished the sentence for him. I am Tessa. And I must be true.

Together, their voices blended into one as they said at the same time…to me.

Exactly. She felt Hortran’s smile rather than saw it. Worry not about Deanna when her anger blows out as she’ll have nothing left – her life force has been used up in the conflagration. She’ll sink back in here with me and spend the rest of her life realizing the life choices she made and how she could have chosen to be more like…you.

And his voice faded away.

Cody whispered, I just heard all that.

You’re different now, too. She smiled. Because you spoke with Hortran, he can now speak to you.

And did he help? Do you know what to do?

I do. She smiled and tilted her head back. I have to be me. While I’m doing that, I need you to keep this guy away from me.

I can do that, but what do you mean about being you? he asked cautiously.

I’m a healer, not a hater. And that means I have to heal myself, and therefore Deanna. I can’t win this battle with anger. Or fear. I can only win it with…love. As I have always done to help those in need. Being me means operating from goodness. Not darkness. Deanna crossed over a long time ago. Whether she wanted to return or not, I think once that choice is made…it’s almost impossible to return.

In the background, Deanna raged. Now all Tessa needed to do was to show her the love inside her pain. Somehow.

Cody. I love you. I just wanted to say that. And she closed her eyes and said, Let this war rage. I will win. But it might take a little bit.

And she dove into the red wall of rage.

*

Wait,Cody cried. But it was too late. She was gone.

He didn’t understand what he was seeing, but it’s as if there was a red haze in his mind.

There had to be something he could do to help her besides protect her from this bastard. He studied Victor, seeing the pain in his features, the shiver to his frame against the window as he leaned back and watched Tessa. There was also a deep satisfaction permeating his features.

“How is it you want this young girl to suffer for your hurts?” Cody asked him bitterly. “Tessa did nothing to you.”

“And I’ve done nothing to her…yet.”

Cody studied the older man, realizing he was already dying. His disability was taking its toll on his body that didn’t heal well. He had not long to live. And like his mother, he wanted to see justice done before he was gone. “You’re quite a pair,” Cody growled. “A chip off the old block.”

Victor glared at him. “I am nothing like my mother. She’s a cold, heartless bitch.”

“And you think you’re so much better?” Cody snorted with disgust. “I think not. You helped your son create this monstrosity of a blood farm, hurting thousands of humans, and for what?”

“A better life. A simpler life. An old-fashioned life. One of clean lines, with no more of this mixed breeding. Enough abominations. We are a pure race. We should be living to our noble standards.”

“And yet your mother was an ancient. One of the strongest and purest of lines.” Maybe mental instability was part of the disability because none of this made any sense.

“And she bred with another ancient, her uncle. And I was the result. They bred like animals when they wanted and where they wanted. Did you ever think about the ancients of old – how few of them there actually were? How did they procreate? Inbreeding causes birth defects like the one I suffer from. Nan, the woman who raised me, had the same fate as I. But someone helped her, so she in turn helped me.”

“And yet you procreated.” Cody didn’t get that. If he was so against random genetic breeding, why would he risk perpetrating the same genetic faults he carried?

“Only after much testing. My DNA was only compatible with one female out of hundreds we tested. And I managed to produce a small, healthy and whole offspring with her.” The older vamp shuffled forward. “The child was perfect. He was what I should have been.”

“And the mother?”

The vamp waved his hand. “She is dead. When I realized she couldn’t breed a second child, then it was important she not be allowed to breed again. Her genetics couldn’t go to another line.” He shrugged. “So of course I killed her.”

Cody swallowed. Victor had killed the mother of his child because she couldn’t provide him with more children. Yet he didn’t see the similarity to his own mother? And they thought humans were a terrible species. He wondered if vamps should be allowed to live at all. Look at this animal and what he’d created.

“And your son. Has he founded a dynasty for you?”

The old vamp grinned. “He has indeed.”

Only there was something off in his voice. As if Cody wouldn’t like what he meant. But as he went to ask him, he realized the air had thickened, like tiny sparks flying with every breath.

Beast whined deep in the back of his throat.

Tessa and Deanna. The air swirled around Cody, tension filled him so tight he felt he would snap if he moved even the slightest bit.

Fascinated and horrified, he watched, catching tiny glimpses of life on the other planes. Planes he’d touched and felt himself. There were bits and pieces, but the explosions were small and red, like micro-fireworks going off. As if Deanna was losing control and in her frustration, blasting at the only person she could reach – Tessa.

And yet, he could sense Tessa in there this time. Strong. Stalwart. Calmly standing on the side of right.

Where she always stood.

That was one of the many things he admired about her. She knew the difference between right and wrong. She knew her own morality and ethics and held herself accountable. She wasn’t crying, hiding, or cheating. She knew what she had to do and she was doing it.

Her way.

He smiled.

“You can’t help her,” Victor cried. “They are both going to die today. I didn’t plan it. But that’s going to be the outcome.”

“No,” Cody smiled at him. “You don’t understand Tessa. She is so much more than Deanna.”

“No,” the vamp cried, hobbling closer. “She can’t win. It’s not possible. She can’t be allowed to live on in Tessa.”

Cody stepped in front of him. He’d been through this once with Bart, and he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

No one was going to hurt Tessa.

“When Tessa defeats Deanna, your mother will be relegated to the archives where she belongs. Along with your uncle.”

The crippled vamp shuddered to a halt. “Uncle? I have an uncle?” He bent over as if from a blow. “Not possible.”

“Well, you do, but he’s a Ghost. Well, he was a Ghost,” Cody amended. “Tessa carries him as well. She’s trying to keep them as part of a living, historical archive.”

“Hortran? The Ghost?” Victor asked in a daze. “He’s my uncle?”

Cody could sympathize. It was a lot to understand all at once.

“I thought Hortran was her lover,” Victor whispered.

“No,” Cody snapped. At least, he hoped not because that was just plain wrong. “He was her brother.”

“Then I carry his DNA as well.” the old vamp brightened. “We thought the Ghosts were gone, and yet here I was carrying that genetic marker all this time.”

“You might be, but maybe not,” Cody knew nothing about DNA and genetic markers. “And besides, so what if you do?”

“Then we can reproduce it in the lab,” he cried. “Don’t you see? I thought he was her lover, and I was angry at her because I could have been whole and have that genetic marker as well if she’d chosen a better father for her child.” He waved his arm, adding, “Instead, this entire time I had it already.”

“Maybe you have it,” Cody snapped. “And maybe not.”

But Victor beamed with the possibility. “Maybe not, but there were markers in my DNA that I didn’t know, didn’t understand. And now I do. I have to go to the blood farm. I have to start the testing. We have been after the Ghost DNA since the beginning,” he cried, taking a step toward Cody. Beast howled. Victor paused.

Suddenly the air, as if the calm after a storm, cleared.

Tessa spoke up – a smiling, wholesome-looking Tessa. Although weak and tired, she looked…normal. “And what good would that do you,” she asked Victor in a low voice.

“We can create the perfect race.” Victor laughed. “All births will be controlled. There will be no more abominations like myself.” His eyes turned black. “No more like you…” and he ran toward her in as fast a gait as his crippled leg would allow him.

Beast sent out a chilling warning again.

Cody stepped in front of Tessa. “You will not hurt her.”

“She can’t be allowed to live,” he whispered. “Surely you see that. She’s not perfect.”

“You’re wrong,” Cody snapped. “She is perfect.”

Victor shook his head. “Then you are damaged, too.” He glared down at Beast beside Tessa. “And that thing is an abomination.”

Beast, his hackles rising as if he understood, growled.

Behind him, Cody turned to see Tessa staring at Victor with distaste. “You will not touch my pet,” she snapped. “Or else…”

“Tessa? Are you…okay?”

She released a heavy sigh and straightened, letting her shoulders slump as if released from tension inside. “I’m fine. Deanna burned through her anger faster than I thought. The more love I poured over her, the more pissed off she became. She lost control quickly – now she’s only bits and pieces of what she used to be. Like her brother.” She smiled at the crippled vamp. “In fact, I’m more than fine. And now I can see everything.”

Waving an arm at Victor, she said, “Don’t worry about Hortran. You don’t carry his genetics. The Ghost DNA is lost to you.”

“No, that can’t be.”

“It is,” she said. “Ghosts were trained. Not born. You don’t have what it takes.”

Victor, anger flashing on his face, rushed across the short distance between them, but Tessa, in a move reminiscent of Hortran, waved her hand, bringing him to his knees. Beast lunged forward.

Eye level to the dog, Victor glared at the animal. “He needs killing.”

“Tessa?” Cody wasn’t sure what he was to do with this. “Does Beast get him?”

“No,” Victor cried, pulling out a UV light weapon from his pocket. “Do you really think I’d be here without protection of my own?” Holding it up for them to see, he turned it on.

Only it wouldn’t turn on.

Tessa laughed. “Did you really think I’d let you have a working model of one of those? I saw the battery on it a few minutes ago.”

She turned to Beast and said, “Are you sure you want him?” She shook her head. “He’s going to make you really sick. But not just yet.”

Beast, as if understanding, growled in eagerness.

She grinned at him, then turned to Cody and added, “I know how now.”

“How what?” he asked, struggling to keep up with the switches in the conversation. “What do you know how to do?”

Tessa gave Victor a fat smile. “You know, don’t you?”

Still on his knees, his legs too weak to help him get back up, he shook his head. “No, you can’t hurt him.”

“Hurt who?”

“My son. You can’t hurt him,” the cripple cried.

“This son of yours is the one running everything,” Tessa said. “And I will have to kill him. He’s someone we all know. Someone on the Council. Someone who helped us – is even now helping us to ‘win’ this war. All the while he’s laughing inside.”

Victor pulled out a different weapon, this one tipped in silver.

Beast lunged at the crippled vamp.

“No!” Victor, using the large silver knife, stabbed himself in the throat and blew to ash in front of them.

Cody stared. “Damn it. We needed information from him.”

Beast whined and lay down beside the ash.

“No, we didn’t.” Tessa pulled out another granola bar and offered it to Beast with a big grin.

“But we don’t even know who the son is,” Cody cried. “We can’t kill him if we don’t know.”

“Except for one thing,” Tessa said, with a bright happy smile of the Tessa he’d fallen in love with, making his own heart smile. More than just smile…his heart recognized the color, the tone, the feel of her energy. It was his Tessa. He could recognize her for who she really was now.

Thank heavens.

She linked her arm with him, reaching up as if to kiss him. She whispered, “I do know who he is. And now…I know how to win this war.”

And sealed her promise with a kiss.

Chapter 1

Tessa led the way back downstairs, her footsteps as quiet as she could make them. Beast raced in front and Cody followed behind them. They needed to find the rest of the group and figure out what had happened. Then they could put plans in motion.

“When were you going to tell me?” Cody asked from behind her, his tone lighthearted but also peeved.

She laughed. “I still don’t have any proof,” she said. “But I think I have this figured out.”

“Who is behind this?” Cody asked. “And is he – are they – here at the Hall?”

“I’m scared to say anything in case I’m wrong,” Tessa said in low tones. “I don’t want to influence you one way or have you treat the others any different. It would put you in grave danger.” She corrected herself, “At least until I know for sure. We need to get all of these assholes, not just the top man.”

“And I don’t want to walk into a fight with one of them and let him walk away because I didn’t know who he was,” Cody said in a hard tone. “There’s got to be a middle ground here, Tessa. Don’t treat me like the others.”

She spun and looked up at him at shock. “Never.”

Still, Cody had a point. Yet she was hesitant to tell him. And why was that? She trusted him. She knew him better than she knew herself. So why did she not want to tell him who she thought was behind this?

Because it didn’t make any sense, and she was afraid he wouldn’t believe her.

At the bottom of the stairs Beast came to a stop, his hackles up, a snarl rising deep from inside his chest, Tessa flattened against the wall. Cody grabbed her hand and held a finger to his lips as he slipped past her to stand beside Beast. He peered around the corner until he could see into the big open hall.

Is there anything there? she murmured into his mind.

I don’t know. Maybe this guy you won’t tell me about, he countered in irritation, shooting her a sideways look.

What if I tell you and then you focus on him while someone else is the real killer and attacks you from behind?

And what if this asshole attacks me in the front and I consider him a friend and am unprepared?

She understood he was pissed at her, but she had to weigh the facts. Okay, she said, but you need to keep in mind I could be very wrong.

As if you have been yet, he scoffed, twisting to look behind at her. He reached out and snagged her, tugging her up to his chest. She went to hug him when his gaze widened and he stepped back hurriedly. “Sir?”

Tessa spun to stare at Councilman Adamson glaring at the two of them in irritation.

“We’ve been looking for you,” he snapped. “It’s bad enough we have attacks going on in all corners of the city, but you two are enjoying time alone with…” He motioned at Beast. “That thing.”

“This is Beast,” Tessa said defensively, hating the guilty look on Cody’s face and even her own retreat from his arms. This blood farm crap had to stop so she and Cody could have a decent start to the relationship. Once this was over…“Whatever it is,” Adamson said in distaste. “Now let’s get you back to where the Council is meeting. We need to regroup and start fresh.”

He stalked off, irritation stiffening his spine. Tessa fell into line behind him and she motioned at Cody with a finger to her lips, but Councilman Adamson spun and saw her. “Enough games,” he barked. “We have enough problems to deal with.”

She nodded an apology and fell slightly back, keeping Beast with her and out of Adamson’s sight.

It was too important to make sure they caught everybody involved this time. They needed to know who ran all the foreign dignitary groups as well. The blood farm mess had spread so far now. That’s why she needed to know who the spider was at the center of the web and all that he might have spawned. They’d removed the aging leader, but what about his son? She needed proof of his identity.

Before he went underground for centuries and everyone would forget until he rose up again with a whole new infrastructure in place and massive blood farms running again.

*

Cody stayed with the small group. It was hard to trust anyone anymore. Still, he was no fool. There were only so many people left on the Council. Almost all of them men. He pondered that slowly as they walked behind Adamson.

Why were there not as many women as there were men on the Council? Even Gloria had not been on the Council, and she had been Adamson’s right-hand woman. More like an associate. Was that going to be an issue? He knew eight Councilmen that had survived, including his father, Tessa’s mother and father, as well as Councilman Adamson and Sian. Then there were Jameson, Baker, and Roberts. The latter were recovering from drugs they’d been injected with.

Had anyone else survived?

Deanna was now gone, so her place was up for grabs. Although she hadn’t attended in many decades, her place was always there for her. It wasn’t easy to join the Council. The people that were there were very long-lived and lasted hundreds of years. Only those that had attained a certain level of maturity could be appointed, and even then it was based on experience and skills and power. Vampires were always about power.

Tessa slipped her hand into his. He grasped it firmly, so happy to have her at his side even after all of this. It never would have occurred to him that he could meet someone so powerful and yet so full of heart as Tessa was.

Would she gain a place on the Council? She was beyond young. Most of the Council members wouldn’t even see her as being an adult, yet she carried both Deanna and Hortran. Did that make a difference? And was it appropriate? Not likely.

“Where is everyone meeting?” Cody asked. “There’s been so much destruction already, it’s hard to imagine there is a safe place left anymore.”

“There are offices in the lower levels that few know about,” Adamson said. “We’re going to those sets of rooms.”

“Is my father okay?” Tessa asked. “I haven’t heard an update in a long time.”

Cody heard the worry underlying her words. He hoped they all survived this mess, but the odds of that happening had been against them from the beginning. He could only hope they could maintain at the same level they’d been operating at so far. And still stay safe. Tessa deserved to have her family.

He only had his father left, and he would do anything he could to keep Goran alive.

He also knew that Goran would do anything to keep him alive.

Tessa felt the same way about her family.

They’d been incredibly lucky so far.

Ahead of them, Adamson led the way to the double stairwell at the back of the building. He pushed open the doors and jumped lightly to the next landing and then to the next, reminding Cody that not only was Adamson a flyer, but that he was also very skilled in many other ways. Adamson himself could be at the head of this mess. Although he doubted it. He’d barely survived the attack by his longtime partner, Gloria. In fact, she’d tried to kill him twice.

“We’re going to the third floor,” Adamson said. “They are waiting for us.”

Cody studied the area as they walked along the empty hallway. Very little of the destruction above had filtered down to this area. Tessa still hung onto his hand, tension vibrating through her.

He’d always been aware of her, but now there was a heightened sense as he could feel energy split off from her system as she pondered and puzzled over this turn of events. He didn’t understand what worried her but trusted that she knew more than he did when it came to sensing energy. Trap? he asked quietly.

She shook her head. In an equally soft voice, she answered. No, I don’t think so.

Councilman Adamson opened the door and disappeared from sight, then he popped his head back out, looked at them, and said, “Hurry up.”

They picked up their pace and raced after him, Beast loping at their side. As they went to go in the door, Tessa froze and backed up. Cody, already halfway inside the doorway, immediately threw himself backward so he wasn’t trapped in the room. They stood in the hallway as he watched and waited for her to decide what was wrong.

Tessa looked at him and then shrugged. “I can’t tell what’s wrong,” she said. “It feels…off.”

“Are you coming?” Adamson called from inside the darker room, his voice impatient. Cody listened hard, but he couldn’t hear any deception in his tone. So far Adamson had been a straight shooter. Really hoping he wasn’t about to make a major mistake, Cody walked inside.

The door closed behind him, leaving Tessa still on the other side.

“Wait,” he cried. “Tessa is still out there.”

“And that’s where she’s going to stay for the moment.”

*

Rhia had never been this tired in her life. Sweat dripped off her back. And rage like she’d never felt before poured through her body. She’d fired up her vampire genes – who knew that was even a thing to do – and still she was wearing down. These bastards just never quit.

Seth was unconscious on the floor beside her, Wendy and Jared huddled over him, both still suffering the aftershocks of what they’d been through. Ian was at her side, doing his darnedest to give as good as he was getting.

And failing.

This shouldn’t be possible. But even if they could get past this seemingly endless wall of enhanced vampires, she had the four blood farm staff still to get through. Assholes.

All of them.

And suddenly, the wall of vampires crumpled as she sliced and diced her way through the last ones. She crashed to her knees, gasping for breath.

“Ian, you okay?” she asked when she could, her gaze locked on the four medical staff in front of her now. She couldn’t trust them. But if they were going to attack, it would be now when she was at her weakest.

Only they were staring at her like she’d grown three heads.

Or maybe like she’d shown them what she was made of.

“He’s not going to be happy when he wakes up,” the closest one to her said. “Seth wanted this.”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t know what he wants. You’ve created a monster who thinks he’s willingly walking in the direction you’re pointing him in. But he’s not.”

“And if he is, what are you going to do then?” the doctor who’d been prepped to do the surgery asked. His gown was bloodstained, likely from his previous patient. “He’s going to hate you.”

“And likely destroy you,” one of the others said. “Are you ready for that?”

Rhia staggered to her feet. “If that’s the case,” she said. “I’ll kill him myself.”

She walked over to where Seth lay on the ground, unconscious. “What else did you do to him?”

“Nothing.” The doctor stared at her. “He was one of the best specimens we’ve had who was untouched in here.”

Rhia jerked in shock at the doctor’s reference to her son as a specimen. It was all she could do to stay quiet, and she needed to preserve her energy at this point. Not rail at him over an insult.

“Drugs?” Ian said. “We know he was given some of those.”

“A few.” The doctor nodded. “Only because he hated to see his friends receive the enhancements that he wanted. But we kept it to a minimum, and nothing experimental or dangerous. He was one of the chosen.”

“Chosen?” Rhia asked. “Chosen for what?”

“He was in line to be part of the boss’s inner circle.” The doctor shrugged. “At this point in time, there are not many of the chosen left.”

One of the other members of the team snapped, “There are not many of any of us left.”

At her words, the others nodded. “We’ve taken a huge hit on our numbers.”

“We cannot survive this,” the one woman added. “The blood farm will shut down now. You’ve destroyed everything.”

Ian laughed. “It’s already shut down,” he said. “In case you hadn’t noticed.”

“We thought we could get the old blood farms up and working in time to keep the supply line running, but there was too much damage everywhere. Blood is spoiling in the canisters. We have no new donors. So many of our old donors have died.” She glared at Ian and Rhia. “Who do you think you are to destroy us and all we have worked for like this?”

Rhia, feeling the power surging through her body once again, stood tall and stared at them. “We are vampires who believe in the sanctity of human and vampire life.”

The doctor stared at her in disgust. “No wonder your son wanted to join us. You are one of those that prefers the lives of animals over the lives of your people.”

Rhia shook her head. “No,” she said. “But neither do I believe in keeping people as livestock, sucking their blood while they have no choice but to hang on until the last drop drips from their veins.” Her gaze narrowed. “There are so many other options for us.”

The doctor drew a spike from his pocket. It was short, only inches beyond his fingertips, and he said, “No, your options just ran out.”

And he attacked.

*

Jared was damn near helpless against these people. With glazed eyes, his body wracked with shivers, he watched Rhia fight like a crazed Amazon woman. Was her son worth this?

They were likely all going to die because of him.

He studied the unconscious man on the floor. Was he good or bad? Willing or unwilling? How did one tell? He hadn’t seen anything that redeemed him, but who knew. Maybe he was an innocent victim in all of this. But he found it hard to believe. If nothing else, he was guilty of the same idealism that hung Jared in the blood farm.

Seth had seemed like a nice guy when Jared had met him. He’d delivered Jared to the blood farm and hadn’t hung him up. Nor had he attacked Taz, who’d been there working. Then again, that was getting his hands dirty type of work, and he didn’t see Seth or his arrogant friends doing that.

The doctor sprang past him, his arm out, ready to attack Rhia. Jared stuck out his foot, sending the man tripping to the floor. Rhia was on him in seconds.

There was an ugly cloud of nasty-smelling ash. Jared coughed and coughed as his lungs filled, crouching on his heels as he tried to clear his lungs of that nasty shit. “Oh, he smelled bad,” he managed when he could.

“Worse than bad,” Ian muttered, his arm over his mouth and nose, glaring at the three remaining vamps.

Jared struggled back to his feet and studied the three vamps in front of him. “Don’t kill them just yet,” he said, watching as the three cowered back. “They know where Clarissa is.”

Wendy, her voice weak and wavering, spoke up. “Do you? Do you know where the latest humans have been taken to?”

The older male sneered. “So what if we do? We need people to start a fresh blood farm.”