Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 146

"Please."

"No Tessa." He shook his head, his vampire eyes glowing with terrible heat. "That's enough. This isn't a kid's game. This is vampire business."

"And who's going to believe me? No one. I'm not like you. My word doesn't mean anything to the others. If you don't see that Jared's been taken and kept as a captive, you won't be able to convince them either."

He shook his head.

Fine. She'd go in alone. Turning away, she headed to the back of the house. "Go home then. I don't need you."

"What the...?" He raced behind her. "Tessa stop. You can't go inside there. You're not allowed."

"And they're allowed to take humans?" She snorted. "I don't think so." The moon slid out from behind the clouds, highlighting the lower level of the house. Off to the left, a set of stairs cut down below ground level to a narrow wooden door. Probably the cellar entrance. Perfect. She picked up her pace, reaching for the k.n.o.b within seconds. She bolted though the unlocked door before Cody could drag her back out. Down a narrow hallway, she fled through another door that led to a wide-open s.p.a.ce. Empty s.p.a.ce. d.a.m.n it. Could the prisoners have been moved already?

How? There hadn't been enough time for that.

"There, are you satisfied now?"

She spun around at the sound of Cody's voice. She loved that he hadn't left her alone. "No." She walked the perimeter of the room. This place was huge. At the far end, the room curved down and around. Her nostrils flared. Her weird knowing sense kicked in. Animal. Death. Fear. Pain.

This area had been used as housing for animals during the cold winter months. Horses, most likely. Ancient farm smells permeated the air. Hay. Manure. Blood.

"What's the matter?" Cody whispered.

She looked at him. "Can't you smell it?"

"Smell what?"

"Death. Pain. And overwhelming fear."

"I can't sense any of that. What are you talking about?"

Tessa looked at him strangely. "Not even with your vampire senses?"

He turned and lifted his nose and smelled the air. After a moment, he shook his head and laughed. "You don't have a clue, do you? There's nothing here." He dropped the smile. "The fun's over. Let's go home."

Tessa turned her back on him. Moving closer to the one side, Tessa concentrated harder, not really knowing what she was doing, but knowing something was working. There. Jared. Relief washed over her. He was alive. "Jared's in there."

"What?"

But Cody was talking to empty s.p.a.ce.

Tessa darted ahead of him.

He shook his head. What happened to David's kid sister? David had always been protective of her, and Cody had naturally picked up that. She was different from the rest of them. The oldest brother, Seth, didn't treat her with the same patience. And her dad, well, he didn't know what patience was. If it weren't for her mom, Tessa's life would have been much different and not in a good way.

On the outside she looked vampire. h.e.l.l, she looked hot. He hadn't believed his eyes when he'd seen her tonight. He knew most of the gorgeous females in their area and he'd never thought of her as one of them. He'd followed her to check her out, initially.

Then he'd caught her scent. A familiar scent. When she'd turned, he'd caught a glimpse of Tessa in that wicked outfit. But she'd given him the rebuff. Confused, he'd withdrawn but still kept a close watch. When she'd disappeared out back, he'd followed. He hadn't believed his eyes when he'd seen her in the moonlight. He still hadn't been sure it was her until she'd jumped.

Jumped.

Vampires did a lot of things, like flying, floating and even racing, but everything they did, they did with grace.

Not her. Her jumps were awkward, disjointed movements, hard landings and gawky take-offs. Little Tessie had somehow morphed into one hot Tessa until she traveled.

His curiosity and doubt turned to horror as another realization hit. She'd led a restricted life. She'd only been allowed at vampire meetings with a chaperone, and she sure as h.e.l.l hadn't ever been out in any other come-hither-and-get-laid outfit.

Christ, she'd looked good. And vampire-ish. Good enough to fool everyone there. But if her family found out, well that would be the end of life as she knew it. They'd never let her take a step out of the house unchaperoned again.

Tessa followed her instincts to the blank wall at the deepest, mustiest section of the cellar. She'd recognized the presence of a human further ahead, in front of her. Why couldn't Cody? Frowning, she turned her attention to a more immediate problem.

There was no door.

She ran her hands over the stone wall and couldn't find a crack, a break or any type of lever or door handle. Jared was behind this wall. And she knew this as clearly as if she could see him in front of her. Somehow, when she'd needed them, her senses had intensified, sharpened. Clarified. Now if only they'd show her a way to bypa.s.s this door.

"Tessa?"

"They're on the other side of this wall." She continued to run her hands over the wall.

"Are you sure?"

She shot him a withering look. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Take it easy; I'm just asking."

Tessa backed up slightly. An old door sat off to the left, hidden slightly by a corner. "Here. Give me a hand."

Cody walked over and put his shoulder to the stiff, rusty door. "No one went in this way. This entrance hasn't been used in centuries." Panting, Cody stopped when the door s.h.i.+fted, now open slightly wider than required. "There." He stepped back and stared into the murky depths. Musty air wafted toward them. "That doesn't smell very fresh either."

"I know. Let's go."

He shook his head, refusing to let her pa.s.s. "No." He stepped forward instead and led the way.

Choking at the nasty air, Tessa followed silently. Cold brick or stone lined both sides. The pa.s.sage was long and narrow. It seemed to follow the same curve they'd taken to the wall. It also appeared endless.

Following blindly, she smashed into Cody when he stopped unexpectedly.

"What the?"

"Shhhh."

"What's the matter?" she hissed. He took up the entire s.p.a.ce in front of her. She couldn't see over or around him.

"I hear something up ahead."

"Good. It'll be them. Let's hurry."

"It's a vampire."

Tessa strained her ears. Unsure of just what the strange sounds meant. "Can you move closer?"

"No. There's a door. I don't want to alert them to our presence."

"Right. But neither do I want them to kill Jared because we're too late."

"No one takes humans anymore. Stop over-dramatizing."

"Over-dramatizing?" She felt like hitting him. Who was he kidding? Jared had already been taken. Put rogue vampires and captive humans together and her first instinctive thought was blood fest. Why couldn't Cody see the danger here?

Through the thick plank door, voices drifted their way.

"Hey, this one's dead."

Tessa gasped. Cody grabbed her, slapped a hand over her mouth and murmured against her ear, "Shhh." The two stood locked together, frozen, as they listened.

"Again? What the s.h.i.+t?"

"Did you hit him?"

"h.e.l.l no. And neither did I bite him. I like young blood; you know that. This guy is definitely mature meat. Not my style at all."

Tessa bowed her head against Cody's chest, her shoulders slumping in relief. Mature meat so not Jared. Cody squeezed her lightly.

"We gotta take him out and dump him. Before he starts to smell."

"Why'd he die, though? Christ, humans are so d.a.m.n delicate. The potential losses are huge."

"Human blood beats that synthetic c.r.a.p all to h.e.l.l though."

"That's why the new method. As long as all those do-gooders don't know about it. If they find out, they'll holler about it being inhumane, a form of cruelty to animals or some such nonsense. Vampires are supposed to rule this species, not 'get along' with them."

"Right. So where do we dump him?"

"Out with the others."

Cody stiffened in front of her. And finally, Tessa felt some kind of reaction from him. There, let him stew on that bit of information. Make fun of her, would he? Not believe her, huh? Now, who wouldn't believe whom? She jabbed him lightly in the stomach to make her point. Cody grabbed her hand and glared, narrow-eyed at her.

The voices continued. "What about these two?"

"I think they're fine. We're going to need to feed and water them though."

"Right. The young man looks a little screwy though. Do you think he's okay?"

"He's fine. Just asleep."

"They're so stupid, aren't they? To them we're some kind of predator, yet here he is, throat lying exposed like that. Do they all just lie down and wait to die? No wonder they multiply like animals and go about their days blindly. f.u.c.king beef is all they are."

"Like I said. Time's wasting. Let's get them out of here. You take the older one." A heavy grunting sound could be heard. Tessa strained her ears to hear what was going to happen next. "We'll come back for the dead one later. He won't start smelling too bad at least for an hour or two. Let's go."

Silence.

Tessa sucked in her breath. She nudged Cody. "We have to stop them. We won't know where they'll take Jared if they leave now."

He reached around and pinched her to shut up.

"What was that?"

s.h.i.+t. She'd forgotten to keep her voice down. She stared horrified into Cody's grim gaze.

"I didn't hear anything."

"Really? Thought I heard voices."

"In this mausoleum? Don't think so. There's only us here. And the dead guy. Maybe his ghost is talking to you."

"Hey, that's not funny."

But apparently it was, as Tessa and Cody were treated to the sounds of raucous laughter that faded as the men walked away. They both relaxed slightly as they waited to hear if the men would return.

Tessa knew better than to push Cody, but waiting for him to give the all clear had her pressing her nails into her palms as she fisted her hands together.

"Now, quietly." Cody pushed open the door and stepped into the fetid-smelling room.

"Oh, that's gross," she hissed, following him out. She'd thought the air in the tunnel had been bad this was ten times worse.

"Look." Cody pointed down at the floor where a grey-haired male lay crumpled and still.

"Do you recognize him?" she asked, walking closer to the body. She'd never seen a dead person before. She didn't think she'd ever want to see one again, either.

"No."

Gritting her teeth, Tessa bent down over the dead man to look for identification. He had a wallet in his back pocket. Gross. But necessary.

"What are you doing?" Cody hissed.

"Finding out who he is. Remember, humans carry identification with them all the time."

"Yeah, I'd heard that." He shook his head. "I just don't understand why."

"They have to have it for their monetary and legal system. That's part of their system we haven't taken over unlike their credit cards that we probably couldn't live without."

The wallet was thick and the pocket narrow. She struggled to pull it out without touching the body. With a final tug, it yanked free. Standing up, she walked toward Cody, flicking through it. "His name is Carstairs Wallace."

"Now that you know, what difference does it make?"