Family Blood Ties Set 5 in 1 Read online

  "You might." Jared shuddered. "Not me, though. I like computers but not body fluids, thank you very much."

  He turned at the rumble of voices and hunched his shoulders. Feeling comfortable talking to a lone vampire female was one thing, but to have more come...now, that was a different story. He could only hope it was the team, and he wouldn't have to deal with anymore of Tessa's family.

  He moved back into the doorway. "Who's that?"

  "Rhia? Where are you?"

  "I'm here." With a quick apologetic smile at Jared, Rhia excused herself.

  He followed her slowly. Hidden among the rows, he watched as a huge male, dressed in black – as were the other two standing behind him – wrapped her in his arms.

  "The team is here," he said in a deep, commanding, gravelly voice once he had released her. He motioned behind him. "We have several doctors prepared to do an initial assessment."

  The team members, all dressed in different styles of clothing, but wearing similar lab coats, came to a dead stop and stared in shock at the macabre sight of the hanging bodies filling the warehouse. Their mouths dropped open, and horror flashed across their faces.

  "Oh, no, please...no," one of them whispered.

  "Look at the sheer number of people," another one said.

  "Yes. Logistically, we're going to have a hell of a time with this." These words came from a male who stood head and shoulders above the others, his gaze riveted grimly on the scene before him. Jared understood. Rows and rows of people bound in plastic wrap and hung like meat. Pretty gross.

  The big man tore his gaze away from the bodies and looked at Rhia. "Hello, Rhia. Sad circumstances but let's focus on the injured young man you found."

  He pulled out a clipboard from a large medical kit and walked over to her.

  Jared stood motionless, horror choking his throat. The guy's medical bag was the same as those used by the people who had brought him here.

  All eyes turned his way.

  "Come out, Jared." Rhia smiled reassuringly at him. "They won't hurt you. I promise."

  "Says you." Jared wasn't having any of it. He pointed at the massive, grim man who stared at him with his eyebrows beetled in the center of his forehead. "What about him? That black kit he's carrying is the same kind the people who run this place use."

  A stunned silence hung in the air.

  Everyone turned to face the man and his bag. His brows shot up. He looked down at the black bag in his hand. "Really? Exactly like this?"

  "You're one of them," Jared snapped, as anger coursed through him. "Not a rescue team. What are you going to do, try and silence Tessa's entire family? Or are they in this with you?"

  The man who'd hugged Rhia stepped forward. He'd made some attempt to put a soothing look on his face, but instead he looked like a deranged serial killer. And that look scared Jared shitless.

  "Now, that's enough, Jared," Rhia's husband – if that's who he was – said. "We called these people to come help us. We need to take care of all those people." He waved at the rows of hanging bodies. "Let him check you out first to make sure you aren't still suffering the ill effects of the drugs they gave you."

  "I'm fine, thanks. There's no way in hell any of you are getting close to me. You're all vampires, and you're here to protect your own. If you cared about helping these people, you'd have brought human doctors, too. How can you know what these people need when you treat them like animals?"

  A young male walked toward Jared.

  He backed up quickly.

  "Whoa," he said, putting up both hands. "I'm David, Tessa's brother. You need to calm down and stop seeing boogey men around every corner. I know your experience hasn't been exactly easy, and I understand why you blame the vampires. You're certainly justified. But we're not all the same. Remember Tessa? She's the one who brought us here – to save you. To save them."

  "So where is she, then? How do you know this team hasn’t taken care of her already? Have you seen her?" Jared asked bitterly. He scowled at the supposed doctor. "That bag he's carrying tells me everything I need to know. He's one of the assholes who strung up these people."

  With that, he bolted down the far end of the room. The further away from them, the better as far as he was concerned.

  *.*.*

  Cody groaned and stumbled to his feet. "Damn it, Ian. What hit us?"

  "I don't know." Ian clutched his head and tried to stand up. "Man, my head is killing me."

  "Yeah, mine, too." With a wince, Cody walked to the end of the hall. "No one's here. All I see is that bloody cupboard. Could it have fallen on us when we came through?"

  He stared at the partially damaged shelving and the gaping hole in the wall.

  "I suppose it's possible. It's not like we were calm and quiet. If the hinges were only secured to the drywall, they might have loosened when we jumped through.

  "Great. I suggest we don't tell the others. This could be a little embarrassing. And speaking of them, let's go find them." Still rubbing his temple, Cody walked out to where the hallway joined the warehouse. Just the look of all those hanging bodies made his stomach lurch again. Damn scary. With Ian close behind him, he headed in the direction where they'd left Rhia and Jewel.

  "I wonder if anyone has news on Tessa yet."

  "They better have."

  Cody grimaced. "Maybe the medics will be there, too. I could use some food and rest, and I won't get either until we find Tessa. As soon as it's dark, I'm flying."

  "Hmph. Rub it in, why don't you?" Ian grinned at the old joke between them. Both were fliers but Cody was the faster and stronger.

  They hurried around the corner with Cody leading the way. He slammed full into someone running fast and went down. The other person fell, too...so hard, in fact, his head actually bounced.

  Cody gave himself a shake and jumped to his feet.

  Ian laughed. "Now, that was like something straight out of a cartoon."

  "What the hell?" Cody stepped around the prone man until he could see the guy's face. It was Jared. "There's nothing to him. He hit me like a linebacker and bounced off. Like, I don't get it. What's he running from?"

  The answer to his question came running round the corner: Jewel and Rhia.

  Rhia cried out, "Oh, thank heavens you’ve caught him. I don't want to lose him again."

  "Why was he running away?" Cody glared down at Tessa's friend. Apparently, Jared was still causing trouble.

  Rhia raised her palms and shrugged. "The medical team arrived, and Jared seems to think they're the bad guys in disguise. He really took offence at Dr. Korner, the head of the team."

  "Offense?" Cody asked cautiously. He didn't know the doctor in question, but Jared had been through a lot and it might not have taken all that much to spook him. He'd been the only conscious human, surrounded by a pack of vampires – and that obviously hadn't done much for his comfort level. Exasperation laced his voice as he continued, "Let's get him back to bed. He has spent more time injured because of me than he has from the vamps that kidnapped him."

  "We won't hold that against you." Jewel grinned. "He might though, when he comes to."

  "Yeah, he looks like the kind to hold a grudge." Cody couldn't do anything about the way Jared felt, but he could make the guy more comfortable. So he bent down, and with Ian's help, raised Jared onto his shoulder. He then carried Tessa's friend to his old room.

  A group of people stood outside the room, gawking at them.

  "Hi," Cody murmured as he passed them before lowering Jared onto the same bed he'd been in before.

  Throwing a blanket over Jared, Cody backed up out of the way so Rhia could mother him again. That kid had to stop going against Cody. He might end up seriously injured one of these days.

  Accidentally injured, of course.

  Tessa closed the phone and jammed it into her pants’ pocket. She didn't dare lose it. And she had to get moving. Her jumping was even worse than normal. And it had to
be caused by the drugs still in her system. She'd made it into the trees for cover, but she was still way too high up the mountain. Coldness and fatigue had started to set in, ravaging her system. Her coordination had already been affected, and now she'd slowed down. She needed to get farther away before a search party came looking for her.

  She sped up, running between the trees as fast as she could, hating every step. Her weird, crablike hop-jump movements had improved to the point where walking or running was a serious handicap when speed was the priority.

  Dare she try it again?

  She shivered, pulled the flimsy lab coat tighter around her shoulders, and decided she had to try. She wouldn't last much longer out here. With a deep breath, she marshalled all her strength, leapt to a shorter tree, and managed to get about halfway up. She struggled through the boughs to the other side, and then she half-glided, half-jumped about twenty feet down to another tree. She had made it, thank heavens. Not a great achievement, but she'd take whatever she could get. It was yet another try, and another success.

  Feeling as if things were improving, she tried a longer glide, and then another. As long as she didn't focus on her weaknesses, she could manage. Grimly she held on and made a dozen good glides that were actually more jump than glide, but they still ate up some serious distance. Slowly, Tessa's confidence returned, strengthening both her resolve and her jumps. Maybe she'd make it out of here after all.

  Then the swish of wings met her ears. Was that Cody? Her heart soared, and she almost laughed aloud with joy. Until she abruptly realized the wings came from the direction she'd fled. The enemy had fliers on their search team.

  Oh, no. The white lab coat that had given her great camouflage while she moved over the snowy ground was now a definite handicap. She tossed it onto the snow below the tree, curled deep into the evergreen boughs, and hid.

  Christ, she didn't need this.

  Yet she didn't have any choice. Then it hit her. It was daylight. How and why could a vamp fly in daylight? She'd thought she was the only weirdo in her vampire world, but...maybe she wasn't.

  The beating of the wings drew closer, and then swung over the tree. Keeping her white face hidden, she peeked upward to see not one, but two fliers circling the area high above her.

  They'd notice movement before color, so she stayed low and still. Her position might have kept her from being seen, but it didn't do anything to stop the wind from seeking her out. Shivers brought goose bumps out over her arms, and her fingers turned blue. She turned her hand over and peered at it more closely. Well, maybe they weren't exactly blue, but her veins were blue and were pumping at an alarming rate. She was so damn cold. Damn her family for not watching over her.

  Immediately, she chastised herself. That wasn't fair. She'd gone to sleep with them close by, and they'd assumed she was safe. She didn't know where the asshole who'd taken her had come from or how he'd managed to sneak her out past everyone. But somehow he had, and that's what counted. As long as the rest of her family hadn't been injured during her kidnapping, then all was good. And David had assured her that everyone was fine.

  She considered her location. Given the altitude, she could only assume she was high in the mountains behind the vampire lair. That she might have been flown halfway around the world wasn't something she even dared to consider.

  Searching the sky to be sure the fliers had disappeared, she made several more jumps. Her awkward, hard landings only highlighted how cold and numb her feet had gotten. Gritting her teeth and noting the clear skies, Tessa jumped again and again. Stopping and starting would be harder, so she kept her body moving.

  The cold wind bit into her face, freezing her delicate skin. The lab coat had offered one more layer against the elements, a thin layer, yes, but one she now missed dearly.

  About a half hour later, she stopped to study the changes in the terrain. The tree line had opened up and there were more young growth trees and fewer boulders. Taking that as a good sign, she redoubled her efforts and stayed on the move.

  Several jumps later, three massive boulders, as tall as she was, offered her another place to hide.

  Her landing jarred her ankle bones and made her teeth ache. Groaning, she walked around the tops of the rocks and surveyed the world below. There was still no sign of the fliers or of habitation. Not knowing if that was good or bad, she shook her head.

  Her phone rang.

  She pulled it out and read David's text. Where the hell are you?

  She snorted…like she knew! Texting him back, she explained what she could and couldn't see and said fliers were hunting for her – in daylight.

  His panicked response came quickly, but didn't offer her any solution except to advise her to stay put until dark, when Goran and Cody could begin searching for her. David also told her that if she could give them landmarks of some kind, they'd at least know which direction to go in.

  Tessa texted him all the information she could, but warned him she'd be miles away from there by the time darkness fell, because she couldn't afford to stay where she was. By then, all of the vampires would be out – the good and the bad – and she couldn't risk getting caught.

  She tucked her phone back into her pocket and once again gave herself a bracing lecture. Then she took off and jumped down the mountain.

  *.*.*

  Jared woke up in the same damn bed he'd been in before, and sat bolt upright and immediately checked for straps holding him down. Thank God. A heavy sigh of relief shuddered free from him. He wasn't restrained. Two young men stood just past the end of the bed talking. He studied them covertly. One he thought was Tessa's brother. The other, he vaguely remembered. Hadn't he hit that guy with a pole earlier during his failed escape attempt? He wrinkled his forehead, and then winced as the motion brought the hammer in his head alive again.

  "Good, you're awake." One of the men walked closer. "Hi. Remember me? I'm David, Tessa's brother. So let's just get a few things clear. We've come to help you, not string you back up. I can see how you might not believe us, but we can't chase you down every time you slip into panic mode."

  "I hardly panicked," Jared said, widening his eyes. "And just because you say you're here to help us, doesn't mean the team is as well."

  The other vampire walked over. "Don't go knocking Dr. Korner. He's a very highly thought of physician in our world."

  "Right." Jared sneered at the other man's frown. "Like that matters to me. Who are you? Another member of Tessa's family?"

  "No. My name's Cody." He motioned toward Jared's bed. "And you're in the same bed again because you ploughed into me and knocked yourself out."

  Oh, no. Jared closed his eyes and groaned. "So that's what I hit."

  "He's a friend of the family," David offered. "He's been looking for you for days."

  "Tessa," Jared said, opening his eyes as he suddenly thought of her. "Any word from her?"

  "Yes, in fact..." David held up his cell phone, "she's escaped and is traveling down the mountain."

  "Good, she should be back soon then." Jared sat up and shifted to the side of the bed. A weird silence alerted him to the fact that something was off. "What? You have sent people to pick her up, haven't you?"

  The two men looked at each other.

  Suspicion formed a cold, hard knot in his stomach. "What aren't you telling me?"

  "Tessa doesn't know where she is. She's only been able to give us vague landmarks. It’s not enough information to pick her up."

  "What?" Aghast, Jared hopped to his feet. "You must have some idea where to look. She's all alone out there. The vampires are everywhere."

  "We know that, and we're doing all we can." Even Cody looked as if getting those words out of his mouth were difficult. "We have an aerial party going out soon."

  "I would think so." Jared turned toward the voices outside. "What's happening with those people? Anything?"

  David walked over to the doorway, looked out, and then turned back. "They'r
e trying to sort out the computer readings on the individual monitors. It's not like they can disconnect everyone, to see who lives and who dies."

  "No. There's a complex system here."

  Cody nodded. "We came through a computer room on our way down." He pursed his lips. "As we have a couple of hours yet before I have to leave, why don't we go back there and check those computers ourselves and see what we can find?"

  "Sounds like a good idea," David said. "I think a couple of technicians are in there now. You stay here with Jared, Cody. I'll go and ask if we can help."

  *.*.*

  Cody stood aside as David left.

  Jared stood up slowly and followed him to the doorway. He stopped there and peered out after Tessa's brother. Cody studied his reaction. The guy really wasn't happy with his situation. Not that Cody could blame him. He wouldn't like to end up as a human experiment, either. No. What really bugged him was that this was the guy who had taken Tessa to the movies, as in a date – kinda. What could she possibly see in him? He wasn't a football jock, or a debonair, president-of-the-student-Council kind of guy. No. He was just...normal. Cody shook his head. Females!

  He turned to study the room he and the others had assumed was a patient area, and suddenly remembered the doors he'd checked after Tessa had gone missing. Unable to explain why, he felt compelled to open them all over again. With a quick glance at Jared to make sure the guy was still standing, or leaning rather, against the door he strode to the back of the room and opened the first one.

  The door hid a supply closet of some kind. Just like before, uniforms and bedding in neat stacks filled the shelves along the walls. He turned his attention to the second door in the back left corner.

  That door opened to reveal a small, empty room only large enough for storage. Still, instinct prodded him to step inside for a more in-depth check. Once in the room, he turned around slowly and found yet another door he hadn't been able to see from the open doorway. This wasn't a storage room; it was a small landing.