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.
“We’ll walk up with you,” Cody said smoothly, “as we’re going that way as well.”
Relief settled on Terry’s face. “Thank you. I’m really not one of the enemy.” He smiled at Sian and turned to walk toward the elevators.
Sian turned to Tessa. “Is he for real?”
“He is and he isn’t,” she muttered. “There’s something going on I don’t understand.”
Cody froze. “What?”
“He’s too clean,” she whispered her eyes on Terry’s back. “As if he’s really innocent. But my mind says that can’t be. And maybe this last month has just given me a horrible insight into our species, but could he really not know? And wouldn’t his father have protected him even more?”
“Do you doubt his identity?” Sian asked.
Tessa studied the young man walking ahead of him. And something went click. In a low tone, she said urgently, “No, I doubt his genetics.”
The two stared at her. “What are you talking about?”
“I think he’s a clone. Grown by a lonely man desiring to have a son of his own and raised to whatever version of reality he wanted. I doubt the kid knows anything but what he’s been fed…” She studied the super clean energy running through Terry’s system and her stomach sank. She’d seen bits and pieces of that energy before.
She whispered in a voice only loud enough for Cody and Sian to hear. “I’m afraid he’s less than a year old.”
*
Cody walked automatically behind the three men, Tessa at his side. After Tessa’s bombshell, Sian had been called back inside the room and they’d moved down this hallway. Was Tessa’s guess possible? Of course it was. And if the chemist had missed his family, then having a second one made sense. And if this was the means he had available and possibly the only means available to him, then it was quite doable. And likely a fascination he couldn’t resist trying. The scientist in him wouldn’t allow for anything less. The father in him, dying for the son he’d lost, wouldn’t be able to resist either.
In a way, they should have contemplated such a thing happening. But who had time? They’d been in reactionary mode. No one had time to mull over mad scientist experiments beyond those that they had been killing as quickly as possible. And now here was one that gave them a dilemma. Was a clone an ethical issue? Was Terry a vamp like the rest of them? Better? Enhanced? Pure? Did they kill him? Or save him?
Cody wanted to take him out before they found out the wrong way. But then, they should have done so at first meet.
Would he have memories? he asked Tessa quietly in his mind, still stuck on the concept.
Those that he was given. And those he lived since he gained awareness.
“Terry, what kind of courses were you taking in university?”
“Business. My father had hoped to give me an interest in chemistry, but that didn’t happen so I went into business.”
“Did you like seeing him work?” Tessa asked curiously.
“I don’t remember,” he said cheerfully. “It was a long time ago.”
“Ah, so how do you know you didn’t like chemistry. And what about accounting?”
“Just the thought of it is enough to make me want to puke. Father was terribly disappointed. It’s the only time I’ve seen him almost cry.” He laughed. “He never tried to teach me accounting. I’d probably suck at that too.”
Cody exchanged a glance with Tessa.
See, she murmured.
Still a bit of a stretch, he responded. One that makes sense, but I hope you’re wrong.
I could be, she said, but it feels more right the longer I think about it. That fresh innocence. That blithe attitude to life. The pain and horror of what’s happening. I think his father did what he could to build the type of son he wanted, but clones are only physical clones, not emotional or mental clones. Even with all the programming, it didn’t mean he could make his son hate.
Do you think he really avoided brainwashing him though? He had it all available.
It could be there, but maybe not triggered and maybe it was never inputted. Lack of time maybe? Think about it. Up until recently, he had tons of time. Time for his son to grow, mature. Become the vamp he was intended to be like every father wishes for his son. Maybe he hoped his son would adopt his ideals naturally. Maybe the brainwashing is harmful and he didn’t want to risk it.
Then there is the logistics of a son suddenly appearing, Cody said thoughtfully. So Europe makes sense. In a lab over there. Away from this place. Maybe his father only came here to help out when things blew up. Cody was liking that theory more and more.
And that way his son is out of everyone’s sight. Tessa added. He might not have even told anyone about losing his first family. This is the replacement. Brought to the right age by science and now filling in the blanks in the same way.
So the question remains, does he have any information of value, Cody asked. And can we trust it? Cody turned to Terry. “Terry, where were you living in Europe?
Terry’s smile was bright and sunny. “Germany, near the Swiss border. Love it there. Hope I can go back. We have lots of animals too.” His lip trembled. “I’d like to go home.”
“We?” Tessa asked. “Who did you live with?”
“My father and I when he could be there.” He smiled mistily. “He was forever picking up strays for a few days or weeks then taking them to work when he found people who were willing to help.”
“Did he ever do any experiments on animals?”
“Oh no!” Terry cried. “I wouldn’t have allowed that.”
“How long ago when he started bringing animals home?” Cody asked.
“Hmmm, not sure. A few months maybe? I really loved to see them, even for a few days. I kept two. Stole them away and told him they escaped.” Terry’s smile was bright and cheery as he shared his secret. “Father was really angry and doubled the security.”
He shifted back slightly as Beast turned that massive head to stare at him. “My pets aren’t dangerous. They are really cute, unlike…” And he broke off as if afraid Beast would react. He raised his gaze to Tessa and whispered, “Sorry.”
Cody caught the quirk of Tessa’s lips before she managed to turn away. And now he understood what she meant. It had been a long time since Cody had viewed the world with such innocence.
See, she said.
It’s just so damn hard to believe.
They walked to Jameson’s office. He stood up when they arrived. Then he shook Cody’s hand and then hers and motioned to the chair behind him. “Terry, take a seat.”
“Thank you,” Terry said as he sat down.
“Jameson, maybe we could have a moment?”
With a raised eyebrow, he nodded, and assigning the guards to keep watch, he stepped outside and looked from one to the other. “What’s the matter?”
Tessa took a deep breath. “We think Terry is a recently hatched clone.”
*
Rhia spun to see several more enhanced vampires smirking at them. They were getting bigger and uglier than ever. The scientist in her was fascinated. The mother in her was horrified. As a vamp, she was devastated. How could her race, so old and strong, be reduced to this? There was desperation in the enemy’s actions to create such monsters. They were being given too many drugs too fast and with too strong a dosage to force their men to be as big as fast as possible. They weren’t thinking of these men’s lives or the long-term effects. They were slamming the chemicals into the vamps’ bloodstream and shoving them into the line of fire. She understood. They were losing. They had to try everything.
But she was going to rip them apart and spit them out in little pieces – preferably in the form of ash.
With a sidelong glance at Ian, she realized that he was staring at Gemma, a hard twist to his lips.
“Do you really expect these guys to save you,” he snapped. “We’ve taken out dozens just like them.”
Gemma’s face twisted in anger. “And my brother was one of them. He didn’t want to be part of the army either,” she said bitterly. “Do you think any of us did?”
“And what, we’re supposed to lie down and die because you guys got roped into this? Well, so did we,” Wendy snarled.
Rhia looked at her in surprise. She was obviously gaining strength again. Good. They needed her now.
And time to set this into motion. She twisted so her back was turned to the approaching men and checked on Jared, even now standing over her unconscious son. How could her fellow vamps consider humans just another dumb animal?
She was ashamed she had until her daughter showed her differently.
Her gaze hardened as it fell on Seth. She didn’t know what he’d done and how much of it he had done willingly, but she was going to do her best to save him. Even if that meant he was in treatment for a century or two. With their longevity, even that was preferable to death. The Council might want him killed for whatever his part in the blood farm had been, but first someone had to prove what he’d done, and then they had to prove that he’d done so willingly and being in his right mind – at the time.
She knew it was a possibility that she’d lost the child she’d known along the way.
The world was rife with parents who studied their children’s actions and wondered how their child could have done something like they’d done. It was more prevalent in human society, but she understood the same phenomena. She’d been naïve these last many decades. Wallowing in the joys of motherhood, and now she was seeing the pain of those same children becoming adults and making decisions on their own that showed who they were really on the inside. She’d been delighted with the man David had grown up to be, horrified by Seth’s actions and willing to do what she could to see what that inside man was really like, and then there was her daughter…
Tessa had become someone she didn’t recognize.
She admired her. Could respect the growth she’d raced through, but was stunned at the speed she’d lost her little girl. And now she was bonded with Cody, something that she’d never thought she’d see. Tessa was young. Too young. And mostly because she was Rhia’s. Other young women started much earlier. Her species was a sexual lot, and she’d hoped to spare Tessa much of the pain of the early broken loves.
Instead, she’d skipped all that and chosen Cody. And then again, maybe there’d not really been a choice. There was a sense of fate to their relationship. It was Rhia who was going to have to adjust when this was over. David had Jewel. Tessa had Cody. Even Ian and Wendy appeared to have a solid relationship.
They were all going to need time alone when this was over to see what each brought to the table when the table wasn’t in the middle of a war.
She sighed and stared down at her gloved hands holding multiple spikes she’d taken off the medical staff. She could hear the heavy breathing as the vamps approached. Sensing Ian’s gaze, she lifted her head and waited. Then he nodded at her.
She spun, spikes out, and dove forward.
*
Goran and Serus perched high on the pillars, studying the room below, waiting for reinforcements.
“Do you think they have finally run out of men?” Serus asked.
Serus snorted. “I doubt it.” He waved at the ash piles littering the hallway. “Look at this.”
“There has been no one in the last few minutes.” Goran shifted yet again. “Idiots. What are they waiting for?”
“Us.”
Then Serus dropped to the floor and snuck up to the corner. He peered around it. “The hallway is empty. Unbelievable. There really were no more vamps ready to charge.”
Goran dropped to the floor then sent texts to Sian and the head of the Human Council telling them where to come.
They needed two armies now to help out their first one.
Idiots.
Still, when that was done and there was no way for other vamps to get in or out, they could move on.
Serus knew they were both needed elsewhere – not here doing babysitting duty.
He could use a good kickass fight right now. Ever since his daughter had gone missing, his life had been tossed in the air and nothing but anger and anguish was his world now. And how the hell did he find normal again?
His wife was tracking their son who’d somehow taken a wrong turn. His daughter was leading the pack into danger and hellacious events he’d spent his life trying to protect her from. His life had come to a very different place than he’d expected.
It’s not that he was against where the pieces had landed, but he was hoping to find a level of comfort with his life as he saw it now. And to think it was just a short time from when he was teasing Tessa about her hair and boyfriends. Now it seemed so long ago.
And yet she was here and so far past that point now it was almost impossible to see the young girl in the woman she’d become. And from the looks of it, his best friend’s youngest son could become his son-in-law.
Now didn’t that beat all?
When they were younger, Goran and he had joked about it but hadn’t ever expected such a thing to happen, and certainly not within the timeframe it had. Young people took centuries to find lasting relationships. Not weeks.
And how did the family go forward after this? Tessa hadn’t been away from Cody in days…weeks.
They could hardly continue that way once they returned to normalcy. They both had to attend different schools. They should return to the dating stage of life. Still, that was their problem. He hoped that they walked into their future slower than they’d jumped into their relationship.
Goran slapped him on his back. “Forget about them. The kids are doing fine.”
Serus laughed. “If that’s the truth, it would surprise me.” He twisted to look at his best friend. “Have you ever known those two not to be in trouble?”
“Nope. Keeps life interesting.” Goran waved his hand in front of them. “More interesting than our lives at the moment. We’ve already mopped up, and now we’re still sitting here waiting for the humans to show up.”
“Isn’t that the truth?”
Serus slowed his steps, still alone in the hallway, their voices and footsteps echoing hollowly in the large space. “Do you think they’ll make it?”
Goran stopped. “Yes. And more than that, I think it’s well past the point of us being able to do anything about it. They have gone beyond anything we have to say. They are more than a bonded pair. They are already one. They just haven’t had time alone together to know it.”
Serus sighed. “Gonna be hard to let go of her.”
“Nope. Because you won’t have to. The two of them are cementing the families. Making legal what we already knew and didn’t need anyone to tell us – we were always brothers inside. Now this would make us brothers in fact.”
Serus laughed and then froze as something whispered through his soul. He smiled, the strain around his heart easing.
Rhia?