"I'm more concerned about the gas," she admitted, "than the actual vampires."

Everyone stopped.

Her father turned his hard gaze on her. "Gas? What are you talking about?"

"I told you about that when I first saw you at the top of the elevator. Some of the men that were clear now have drugs in their system." She frowned at the confusion on both Goran and Serus's face. "Remember I was afraid that they'd be using the ventilation system to spread gas throughout and poison all of us." When anger started to light their gazes, she cried out, "I told you about it that's why the ma.s.s exodus."

Goran shook his head. "You told us about everyone leaving via the elevator but not why."

Sure she had, hadn't she? Confused, Tessa tried to remember what she'd said to whom and realized she couldn't. She closed her eyes and groaned. "I swear I did."

"It's too late to worry. Give it to us now," her father demanded.

Quickly she explained about the two men and the black trail leading to the window and the vamps hiding outside who'd then been burnt in the sun.

The anger in the men's faces turned darker. "Little b.u.g.g.e.rs. A gas like that is likely to affect everyone."

"Exactly. That's why I thought everyone should leave."

"You do realize that as we've all come down here, we won't know if the gas has been administered already or not. We could go back up there to find out we lost the war already and didn't even know it," David spoke up impatiently.

"Therefore Tessa needs to get back upstairs so she can let us know what the energies look like and find the a.s.sholes that snuck in on us." Serus said. "We'll go track down the base these guys are using and hopefully find out their plans for this gas. The heating system should be housed in the mechanical room, likely on this floor. We can scope it out and make sure no one is there."

"We'll go there first," Cody nodded. "Make sure our people are safe from attack."

"That no one is coming down yet also concerns me." She turned and glanced back at the elevators. "The first group should be here by now. I'm going to go up and send a group down to help you." She looked back to see Goran with his phone out again. "I suggest we get word out to Sian and Councilman Adamson. If the attack happens and many of our people are drugged, they could be taken in no time. With spikes, our friends and family could be gone in seconds permanently."

And she needed to go alone. It was too dangerous for them. Plus this way, she could communicate through mindspeak and Cody could keep the rest of the group apprised of what was going on. Keep them all safe.

She picked up the pace and ran to the elevator. The double doors stood open.

Inside, she pushed the b.u.t.ton to close the door. Cody raced toward her.

"Wait for me, d.a.m.n it," he roared.

"I can't. The drugs aren't likely to work on me, but they will on you." She smiled sadly at him as the doors snapped shut in his face. "I have to keep you safe." She screamed back into the empty room, "Help the ancients."

She didn't know if he heard her, but she didn't dare have him become a victim too. All her friends and family at the hospital were down on this level. If they stayed there, they'd likely be safe.

At least as safe as anyone could be now.

Cody kicked the elevator doors, then kicked them again. "G.o.ddamit, Tessa."

"Easy, Cody. Wait until the elevator stops, then go up," Goran called. "You know she's just trying to keep you safe."

Cody turned to glare at his father, anger speeding through him. "I don't want to be kept safe. I'm trying to keep her safe."

"Ha, good luck with that one. She's a spitfire, that girl."

Cody watched as the ancients strode ahead almost out of sight, David trailing behind them. Did he go with them and help keep Tessa's family safe like she wanted him to or go back up and try to look for that little witch? How effective was that going to be if she tried ditching him at every turn?

And why the h.e.l.l had she done that this time?

The drugs. I don't want you to get drugged.

He spun to stare at the elevator as her voice sounded through his mind.

d.a.m.n it, Tessa. You aren't immune to the drugs any more than I am.

No, maybe not, but with any luck I'll see them coming. In your case, I won't be able to warn you in time.

h.e.l.l, you won't be able to do anything yourself in time either. You have to stay alive, Tessa. Stop thinking you are indestructible just because you've got Deanna's energy.

No, I don't think that. If anything, her memories, her information, all that wisdom are a burden that makes me realize I need to stay alive so I can pa.s.s it on to others.

So use it to figure out how to stop this war instead.

I have to help the others upstairs. I'll keep you updated.

And how are you going to do that? he demanded.

I don't know yet. She added, You'll have to shut down the heating system.

No, let David do that. He's good with that type of thing. You go find the traitors. Leave that system to us.

She smiled in his head. Okay.

But her acceptance was a little too fast. A little too easy. Then he realized what he said. d.a.m.n it. You did that on purpose.

She laughed. We all have a job to do in this war.

And my place is at your side. You're the one who refuses to understand that, he snarled, p.i.s.sed at her for the manipulation. This isn't something Tessa pre-Deanna would have done. She'd have explained her reasoning, understood that I had a right to the truth and could deal with being sent off in one direction or another without games. Don't start the games, Tessa, he warned. You aren't going to like the outcome.

At the instant silence in his mind, he wondered if he'd gone too far. s.h.i.t. He closed his eyes. This woman was going to be the death of him.

That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid.

He heard her take a deep breath before she said in a small voice, And I'm sorry. I'm not sure who I am anymore.

You're Tessa. Just stay true to her and keep that d.a.m.n Deanna b.i.t.c.h locked away.

Is that what I am doing wrong? Is she changing me?

I don't know if she had something to do with it or not but there's no doubt you're changing.

In a bad way? she asked, her voice shaking, making him feel horrible instantly.

No. He sighed. Not in a bad way. Just don't play games, he pleaded. Please don't ever play mind games.

Okay, I promise.

And that was the best he could hope for. If she did get into that mode, he'd know it was Deanna's influence and he'd have to haul her back. He couldn't imagine her struggles right now, but it was important to stop her from becoming Deanna #2.

He couldn't imagine anything worse.

David hurried behind his father. Both ancients had already moved well ahead of him. He didn't know what Cody was planning on doing, but he wanted to go and shut down the heating system. That made the most sense to him. But the ancients didn't work off logic as much as instinct and they were looking for a fight. It would be hard to steer them in any other direction. They'd been duped and wanted to get their own back.

He could understand that, but he wanted this d.a.m.n war over. He hadn't heard from Jewel yet, and that worried him, too. She'd been in the doctor's care at the Council Hall but after so much espionage and so many traitors in their midst, how did he know who to trust? Jewel had been through enough already. She needed rest and to know she was safe. That couldn't happen yet.

But neither had he thought to roust out a phone for her to use. She'd lost hers earlier. He chastised himself for not considering it. Hopefully she was still sleeping. Although if he could grab a moment, he would ask Sian or Wendy to see if they could get one to her.

"What the h.e.l.l is taking you so long, son?"

David shook his head. His father was maybe ten feet ahead of him. Hardly far enough to worry. "We need to get to the heating system first. Especially if you're looking for a fight."

The two men came to a dead stop and spun around to look at him. "Why is that?"

"If they are planning to do something like Tessa suggested, then they have to guard the delivery system."

"Humph. Maybe." Serus stared at the door ahead. "Let's find out what's on the other side of the door then go to the mechanical room."

David groaned. Herding ancients was like herding cats each had a mind of its own and knew exactly what to do and it never matched up with the others.

Wendy was out the door and running down the hallway seconds behind Sian. She'd seen what was on Sian's monitor briefly, but not enough to comprehend the significance. Even now, her mind was trying to sort through the information. Something about the database of drugs and the location of a small stockpile of drugs. Surely Rhia would know most of the drugs anyway. Besides, as she'd been injected herself, it was common sense to research the drugs she'd been given. Wendy would. How else would you know what to expect if she'd been drugged?

Being younger and not pregnant should have made it easy to catch up with Sian, but instead the woman was running down the hallway at a rate that was making Wendy panic.

Just as she geared up for another burst of energy to catch up, Sian turned left. Wendy couldn't hit the brakes fast enough; she bolted past before managing to stop and retrace her steps and go down the correct hallway. Sian was nowhere to be found. Wendy approached the doors three of them carefully. She didn't know anything about the Council Hall or who and what could be behind these doors. Did she just open them and ask for Sian if she couldn't find her?

The first door was locked. Wendy moved to the second one and tried that k.n.o.b. It turned and the door opened easily. She stepped inside to find a lab room full of refrigerated coolers.

She frowned, staring at all the gla.s.s walls containing small vials of liquids. Her gaze carried along the wall and found Sian standing in front of one, her fingers punching numbers on some kind of mini computerized lock system guarding the door.

Wendy walked over cautiously, not sure she wanted to know what was going on, but she knew it concerned Rhia somehow.

"Sian?" she asked carefully, "What's the matter?"

Sian dropped her forehead to the gla.s.s door and closed her eyes. "Someone has been inside the drug vault. We keep samples of each of the drugs we've found and work to make an antidote."

"Someone?" Wendy still wasn't sure what this meant. "As in Rhia?"

She nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"But why?" Wendy didn't get it. Rhia had been through so much. She wouldn't want more drugs why would she? She laid a hand on Sian's shoulder, her gaze locked on the mini screen that said the lock had been released; the door had been opened approximately two hours earlier. That matched the time frame that they'd left Rhia alone. "What reason could she possibly have for taking out some of the same drugs that had been used on her?"

The term junkie come to mind and Wendy knew that was always a possibility, but given Rhia's strong const.i.tution, it wasn't likely. Still, she'd been injected many times. Another dose might kill her.

Surely she knew that.

"I don't know. But it appears to be what she's done."

"Do you think she injected herself with it?"

Sian glanced at Wendy, then turned to look around the room. She pointed wordlessly at the empty syringe package lying on the counter. "Under normal circ.u.mstances, that would never be left lying around. I think it's from her."

Uh no. Wendy walked over to study the package. Unless...

"Could someone have forced her down here to let them in to grab drugs they wanted?" Wendy motioned around the cool room full of stainless steel and gla.s.s. "There are drugs of all kinds here why would that one be of any value?" Wendy struggled to make sense of this.

"She might have been weak, but Rhia is a formidable fighter even at the worst of times. Someone looking to take her out would not find it easy to do so. If they'd wanted these drugs and she wouldn't comply, then they'd have to have major leverage to face her."

Wendy groaned, "You mean like holding one of her kids hostage, for example." What a horrible thought, but given the mess of nastiness she'd already seen, that didn't seem too far out of line.

Sian's gaze flew up to lock on Wendy's as she added, "Or to help one of her kids."

Sian turned her attention back to the missing vial and said, "What if she couldn't remember anything important like where she'd sent Seth? You know how much that bothered her. She'd do anything she could to retrieve that information."

"Find it how? She couldn't remember anything she'd done."

"Exactly. And she needs to. So what better way than to give herself a little bit of the same drug and hope that she could straddle both worlds to find out what she'd done with Seth, yet not have so much of the drugs in her system that she lost herself again?"

"She knows how dangerous that world is. One of these times she's not going to wake up." Wendy shook her head. "Besides, she'd never risk losing Tessa, David, or Serus. She just wouldn't."

Sian looked at Wendy, the sadness in her expression bringing a stinging to Wendy's eyes. She shivered and, not able to help herself, she reached out to stroke the other woman's shoulder.

"That's true," Sian said, her voice heavy, "But she's a mother and she feels guilty. She won't abandon her child. Especially not when she's responsible for his current plight. And as I'm learning, we'd do anything to save our child even sacrifice ourselves."

Ian woke up, rolled over, and fell back asleep. When he woke up the second time, there was still a heaviness to his mind, making it hard to be aware enough to stay awake. He didn't have an explanation for why he was so tired, but he was. Just rolling over made him groan. h.e.l.l, the ancients would laugh like crazy if they could see him now.

How the h.e.l.l could they keep going when all he wanted to do was lie down and die? Keeping up with those two was killer. Motre was no better. He hoped he aged as well as the others did because it seemed like youth wasn't a gift. He was weaker, tired more easily, and didn't have their endurance.

Oh well. He sat up, biting back a groan as his muscles engaged. Why the h.e.l.l was he so sore? Sure, he'd been in a fight or two, been knocked around a few times okay, more than a few times.

The room was empty. He glanced around, searching for signs of where Wendy had gone. He knew she'd been working with Sian to help identify the survivors and had also been involved in trying to track down the ambulance carrying away Jared's friend. Likely Taz was involved then.

With Taz working at the human hospital and both councils involved, everything was getting mixed up. He'd heard something about the humans wanting Tessa to go and identify the bad guys in their ranks like she'd done once before, but Ian didn't think she'd be the right person for the job. In many ways she was a complete pushover. A smart one, but still a big softie.

And then there was Wendy. He really respected the woman she was becoming. This blood farm mess had truly brought out the best and the worst in many of his friends. He thought back to Jacob who'd died weeks ago. Who knew he'd be someone to hate his people and the humans so much as to want to destroy all of them?

Ian certainly hadn't.