So? Since when does that matter now? she said crossly. This concerns Deanna, and I need to know.

There was a funny silence in her mind. Trying to pay attention to the men coming around the corner, she turned to glare at Cody. What?

If it's about Deanna, Cody asked gently, why don't you check your her memory banks to see what the relationship was and how their last meeting took place?

Just then the men caught sight of Bart. "There you are. We need you to fix the hatch on pipe seven. The new canister won't seal properly."

Tessa wanted to laugh at that. It might be a design flaw or the higher ups' way of getting rid of those men who were doing the ga.s.sing. This way, dead men could tell no lies.

If the gas was just going to knock the people in the hospital unconscious, then she didn't know what these men's role would end up being. And maybe she didn't want to know.

She sighed and stepped out from behind Bart.

It was a testament to his size that it took them a moment to register her presence.

"Hey, who are you?"

She smiled. "I'm Tessa. Bart's buddy."

Bart stiffened beside her. He shot her a resentful look but stepped forward to help the men. "Show me," he said. "I'll have to check the coupling on it. Maybe it just needs tightening."

"I hope so," the first man said, worry etched on his face. "We came a little early to make sure this worked, but now that cushion is narrowing and we're going to be in trouble if we don't have this up and running soon."

"I'll get it going." He walked ahead slowly in that shambling way of his when Tessa caught sight of his hand and fingers pointing to the man on the left. What the h.e.l.l did that mean? Go in that direction or take out the guy that was in that direction? Or was that guy important?

Then Bart stabbed the finger impatiently at the man closest to Tessa. Fine. Whatever.

She reached out and grabbed the stranger in the sweet spot on the neck, slapping her other hand over his mouth so no one could hear his cry. As it was, the other two men were deep in conversation with Bart over the pathway this heating vent travelled.

Bart wasn't giving them too much information. According to him, he didn't know anything about the vent system in place as he hadn't spent much time here. He hated hospitals. The others laughed.

One said, "Me too. Especially after tonight. I'll probably never come back to the place."

Tessa barely heard his words, but as they filtered through her consciousness she heard an oomph as if the man had taken a light punch to the gut. She frowned but couldn't see as she was attempting to maneuver the unconscious vamp off to the side when she suddenly tossed the man casually into a corner. Surprised by the easy strength of her actions, she studied the crumpled position and wondered. She'd meant to only drag him like she'd normally have done, but apparently she'd used more force than she'd understood. The man was dead.

Weird.

She turned her attention back to Cody, who held out his hand for her. Come on, he urged. We don't want them getting too far ahead.

They caught up to the others as one man collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. Leaving Cody back a few steps, she raced forward to see what was wrong. The man gave one, two hard jolts then went still.

She dropped to her knees onto the floor. "What happened to him?" she cried.

"Me," Bart said, and the second man dropped to the ground. "Leave them alone and pa.s.s me the canister. I'll get it out of here."

She looked up to find Bart pointing out a dark gray metal tin that was the size of a good-sized backpack. Cody snagged it up, his own arms dropping with the weight. "Are you sure this is it?"

Bart sent him a disgusted look and grabbed it easily in one meaty paw. "Of course. We were trying to attach it earlier."

"What are you going to do if anyone comes looking for these two men?" Tessa asked.

"No problem. I'll make sure they disappear, then I'll disappear after them." His smile was something to see. Cold and feral, it sent chills down her spine. This was no longer the unkempt Bart. In his place was this tubby ninja. She wanted to laugh but figured it would not be a good idea.

"And the second canister?" she asked quietly. "What about that one?"

"The system needs both shafts closed off for the system to be operational. So they can't use the other canister anyway. Now," he wagged a finger at her. "Go. Kill yourself off if you feel the need, but don't involve me in your plans."

"I won't," Tessa said cheerfully. "At least I know where to find you."

"No. You knew where to find me. After this, you won't find me again."

There was no give in that glare of his, but she didn't think he was as big a hard a.s.s as he wanted her to believe. She'd met hard a.s.ses. Generally they didn't look or act like Bart. "Before you go, why won't you tell me what Deanna meant to you?"

He laughed, but there was nothing humorous about it. "Why do you care? The b.i.t.c.h is gone and who and what she was, the things she's done, well... they'll die with her."

"Not necessarily," Tessa said. "Did you have a grievance with her?"

He glared at her. "With what she'd done. The poison she set into action...that was no grievance. That was Deanna being Deanna all over again. She saw. She liked. She took. No matter what it was or who had it."

Tessa hated hearing such things but knew there was likely a lot more to come. Deanna hadn't lived an innocent life, and as much as Tessa wanted her to be the big purist she'd thought her to be, Deanna had done many things over her long life that hurt a lot of people. And those she didn't hurt, she p.i.s.sed off. But should she tell Bart about the parts of Deanna she carried? How much did he hate her? Would he see Tessa as a surrogate target?

His venom rolled over her.

"I've spent years hating that witch. I'd have done anything to see her turn to ash, preferably by my hand," he snapped. "That I didn't get a chance to kill her is sad, but that is life. As long as someone did the job, then I'm good. If there is proof of her demise so there can be no doubt then I'm even better." He grinned for the first time, his cartoon-like features twisting with glee. But then Tessa heard his words, and his funny face ceased to matter.

Uh oh. "You wanted what? Revenge?"

"Exactly."

"And again, I have to ask you why? What did she ever do to you?"

"I hated her."

"I got that." Tessa understood, but there had to be a powerful reason for that much hate, to wait so long for revenge. He had to have a major reason.

But getting it out of him wasn't going to be easy.

"She must have hurt you badly."

The fire in his eyes would have told another person to back off. Tessa didn't listen. She had to know the connection to Deanna. With the men lying p.r.o.ne at their feet and time wasting, knowing Cody didn't understand why she pushed again, guessing, "She hurt someone close to you."

Bart narrowed his gaze at her, his jaw locking then pulsing. He wanted to speak. He wanted to let it all out.

"No, she didn't," he snapped. "It's none of your business."

"And yet it is. I have to do something for her," Tessa explained. "I can't do my job if I don't know what I'm up against."

"She got to you, did she?" Bart snarled. "Well then, you're going to get your death wish after all. That b.i.t.c.h killed my daughter. All I had in this world. She killed her, and my girl was only trying to help."

That didn't sound right. Tessa said, "I'm so sorry for you and your girl. What happened?"

"Some bulls.h.i.t story about needing an apprentice to pa.s.s all her knowledge onto after her death."

Tessa gasped, but Bart wasn't listening. "One day after an elaborate ceremony, they did this mind thing and Deanna was supposed to pa.s.s over big chunks of her knowledge, her wisdom, but it didn't work out that way. Instead of my daughter waking with all the new information, Deanna killed her."

He glared at Tessa. "One minute my baby was there with me and laughing like she always did, and the next thing I know she was screaming for help as her brain overloaded and she died in my arms."

Serus tried to focus as he followed his son and Goran through the bowels of the hospital in search of the mechanical room. He'd held them back long enough trying to raise the alarms about Rhia both mentally and via Sian. Everyone already knew she'd taken off, but no one had found his beloved. She'd hidden and if she'd taken the drugs again as Sian suspected, she'd know the best places to hide. Had she turned? Had she become so addicted to the drugs she had to go back for more?

He hoped not. He had visions of spiriting her away to an old hideaway where he could keep her locked up and safe until the addiction, the horrible craving, pa.s.sed.

Not fun. For either of them. But he'd do it if necessary.

Then again, he also wanted to race after her and give her a heavy shaking. Or a d.a.m.n good kick in the backside. How dare she take off alone? She could trust him to help, whatever it was she was trying to do. And he'd understand. He might not like it. He might have tried to stop her, h.e.l.l, he would definitely have tried to stop her at least he would have spent the whole time trying to talk her out of it but that wouldn't mean he wouldn't have also looked for a different solution to help her.

He pulled back slightly as Goran slipped into his mind, berating him. d.a.m.n it, Serus, get back into the game. There are bad guys here.

h.e.l.l, there are always bad guys lately, he grumbled.

What? Goran was racing ahead. We're almost at the heating system and someone beat us to it. He paused then laughed. How the h.e.l.l did she do that?

She?

Serus caught up to the others and peered around Goran's shoulder to see Tessa and Cody ahead of them. "Tessa? How did you get here so fast?"

His daughter's face lit up at the sight of him, making him smile inside. d.a.m.n, she'd turned out well. He wished Rhia could see her. h.e.l.l, he wished Rhia was here.

"I am not sure, actually. We took the elevator back down to find the security camera feed to see what happened upstairs when we found Bart here." She tugged a fat vampire out from the center of the group and d.a.m.n it if he didn't recognize him from the blood farm.

"Bart hey, we were afraid you died when the mountain came down."

Bart shrugged. "I escaped out one of the shafts. She's a walking disaster." He glared at Tessa.

Tessa gave a sheepish shrug. "Hey, I'm getting better."

Goran snorted. "So not true."

"See, even he agrees with me," Bart snickered. "I barely escaped with my skin."

"You're lucky you got out," Goran reminded him. "Thousands didn't."

"Yeah, lot of good it did me when you consider that I'm sitting here with her again."

This time Tessa glared at him. "You're the one that helped them hook up the canisters full of drugs. Sounds like you don't deserve to escape again."

"Ha. I just took those guys down too." He hitched his belly up and hooked his thumbs under the straps to his overalls.

Serus wanted to laugh, but a smirk slid out instead.

Goran stepped forward. "And did those drugs get into the vents? Is that why you are down here again? Is everyone upstairs dead? Drugged?"

"No." Cody spoke up. "We never found anyone, but once Tessa realized the guards you left watching the elevator were gone, she was afraid there was a trap up ahead. She wanted to come down and search the video feed first. Instead, we found Bart here trying to sneak away after helping them set up the new drug delivery system."

Goran's phone rang. He stepped off to one side and answered it.

"Hey, I didn't know what was inside those d.a.m.n things. I wouldn't have helped if I'd known. There are a lot of vamps in this hospital."

"Versus a lot of humans, I suppose." Tessa shook her head, all the while managing to glare at Bart. Serus had to wonder at their relationship. It appeared they knew each other quite well.

"We're wasting time," David snapped. "We have to stop them."

Bart snarled right back at him. "We are doing something. We just took out these couple a.s.sholes and got the canister back. The system won't work if there is only one canister. They'd need to seal off this half of it first."

David stared at Bart in surprise. Serus admitted he was a little surprised himself. All he'd seen of that vamp had been a sleepy disinterest. Now he was agitated...and angry.

Serus wished he understood what was behind it.

And apparently Tessa didn't either as she studied Bart intently. "What's the matter, Bart?"

"You," he snapped. "All of you. You cause so much trouble."

"It's not me," Tessa said in surprise. "We're trying to fix the problem."

"And the problem just keeps getting bigger. If you'd left well enough alone, we'd all be living our normal lives."

Sadness whispered across Tessa's face. Serus's heart tugged at what she'd been through.

"That wasn't possible," Tessa said quietly. "People were getting hurt. It had to stop."

"And now vamps are getting hurt because of it. When do our people not count?" There was so much bitterness in his voice that no one appeared to know what to say.

"It's true that trying to help my friends brought on more problems than we could have ever understood ahead of time, but that didn't mean I could let them be hurt and do nothing about it."

"Whatever." Bart turned away. "The hospital was doing a lot of good here too, you know. They were trying to help some vamps. It was a medical facility. A treatment center." He headed to the door. "Now it's just a disaster zone."

And he walked through the doorway, canister in hand, leaving the others to stare behind him in wonder.

Goran walked forward, closing his phone. "What happened to him? The last time I saw him he was completely disinterested in the war going on around us. In fact, I think he was hoping it would pa.s.s by and not disturb his sleep."

"He was."

Serus, a glimmer of understanding trickling into his conscience, suggested, "Maybe the war has struck too close to home. While it was at the blood farms, as long as he didn't take part in the consumption of the blood and had no caring for the humans involved, he wasn't involved. But now that it's here..."

"Where the hospital was doing testing and treatments." Tessa added, "He does care."

"And that would give rise to the a.s.sumption that he has someone here that he cares about who is being adversely affected."