Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (174 page)

Another commotion sounded outside. He
sat upright. Was that a voice? It almost sounded like Tessa.
Impossible. His hearing was playing tricks on him.

Exhaustion sat at the edge of his
mind. He wanted to sleep, to get away from this reality. Only he
didn't dare. He might never wake up.

Most of his body had gone numb from
sitting on the hard surface, and the rest of him ached. His jeans
and T-shirt offered little protection against the cold night air.
He glanced at the corpse chained to his other side and shuddered.
If he lived through this, he'd have a hell of tale to tell his
kids. He thought about that for a moment, then realized that if he
lived through this, there's no way he'd ever tell his
kids.

They'd never sleep again.

CHAPTER FOUR

Tessa hunkered down low to the
ground, hidden behind the long line of poplars edging the property
as Cody went in for a closer look. She'd protested being left
behind until Cody pulled the Mom card on her – that he'd never be
able to explain to her mom why he'd let her accompany him. She
couldn't argue with that.

The longer she'd studied the house,
the stronger her sense of knowing grew. Jared was somewhere on the
property. She looked around and decided to check out the sheds and
outbuilding while she waited for Cody to return.

She slipped inside the first
outbuilding. Empty. She circled it anyway and looked for stairs,
hidden doors or rooms. Then she moved on to the next building. This
one appeared to be a storage unit. Boxes and containers filled
every square inch, or so it appeared. She studied the level of dust
and the jammed boxes. Everything appeared deserted. Forgotten. She
couldn't sense anything bigger than a mouse.

Back out in the night, the dogs still
slept and Cody had yet to return. What if he couldn't?

No, Cody had some serious skills – at
least according to David. It would take a lot for someone to get
the drop on him.

"
Psst."

He just didn't have much class.
Sighing humorously, Tessa watched Cody land in front of her. His
graceful controlled landing made her instantly jealous.

"There's no sign of anything unusual
going on."

"No, of course not. Why would there
be? It's not like they're going to advertise that they've kidnapped
humans." She studied the huge stone mansion. "The captives are most
likely downstairs," she said slowly, eyeing the foundation, the
lowest level.

"Whoa. You're not going into the
house. If you're determined to take this further, we go back to our
parents and let them go to the Council. The elders will determine
the best course of action."

Tessa stared at him in disbelief.
Everything about the night had taken on a surreal appearance. She
was at the right location, where Jared was being held, with someone
who could actually help her and he wanted to go for their parents?
No knight riding to the rescue here.

Then he'd been raised by the old
belief that vampires don't go against vampires – without just
cause. She didn't think she could come up with enough evidence to
prove her case.

She snagged his arm,
willing him to listen. "At the least we have to find out if Jared
is here."

"No. No way." He pulled away and
turned, prepared to leave.

"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 knob 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
space. Empty space. Damn 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
space.

***

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.
Hell, 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 hell 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 bypass 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
shifted, 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 pass. "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
passage 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 space 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 shit?"

"Did you hit him?"

"Hell 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 damn delicate. The potential losses are huge."

"Human blood beats that synthetic
crap all to hell 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.
Fucking 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."