Vampire in Chaos (29 page)

In the next room, she stood, shocked to a standstill. There was a massive young vamp on the bed, his knees at the end and his lower legs hanging off the end. She’d never seen one so big.

“Who are you? We requested a doctor, not a child,” snapped a huge older vamp standing protectively in front of the collapsed male. She studied his features and realized they looked close enough alike to be family, quite likely father and son. She could probably check that information through their energy but honestly, she didn’t have time. The younger man on the bed had no time.

“I’m not a doctor,” she snapped, tired and fatigued and not up to warring with someone that probably outweighed her three times over. “I’m Tessa, and I’m what you’ve got.”

A guttural spat filled the room. Her jaw dropped. She didn’t recognize or understand the meaning, neither did she recognize the language. Talk about foreign dignitaries! What language was that anyways?

Cody answered in her mind.
It’s Nordic.

Two massive men from the same clan approached.

Cody stepped in front of Tessa. Instantly the two men were on him.

She hissed, the odd sound filling the room.

Two more men approached her, intent on protecting their leader. She understood, but that couldn’t happen. She glanced over at the young man on the bed and sighed. He was already mostly gone. If she wanted to save him, she didn’t have time for this crap.

Shifting slightly, she could see the father guarding his son. “Okay, don’t call them off, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Lowering her hands, her claws extended inches past her fingertips. The men’s gazes widened, but they kept coming.

“Wait!” Serus shouted from the doorway. “Don’t attack her.”

Tessa laughed. “You’re calling out to the wrong person, Dad. You should be asking me to stop. Not that I will after they attacked Cody.”

The men launched themselves at her. She crossed her arms across her chest, bright red claws extended, and checked out their energy. She realized that given their size, her trick wasn’t going to work at the normal height. She waited until they’d almost reached her then crouched and jumped up as high as she could, then slashed her hands sideways into the energy over their hearts.

Both men stopped as if they hit a wall. The look of their faces shifted from anger to shock to horror then… nothing. They both collapsed.

“Shit.” Serus raced into the room. Tessa crouched, her breath locked into her chest, a feral grin on her face…waiting. Were more men going to attack?

The massive male standing guard over the dead man started screaming and shouting in his language as men rushed towards them, but the noise was driving her crazy. For some reason, the tone and the decibel level was like a hammer going off in her head.

“Shut up,” she screamed at him.

Easy, Tessa,
Cody said.
Take it easy.

But the noise continued. Tessa reached out mentally and slammed a door on the man’s mouth.

I. Said. Stop. It,
she screamed.

The man stopped screaming – the noise cut off like a knife. A blank look of shock filled his face and his gaze widened as he stared at her.

I’m here to save your son. But if you don’t want that, then I will walk out of this room now.
She waited a long moment.
But if you want me to see what I can do, call off your men, let Cody go, and get the hell out of my way.

*

Cody watched as
the seven foot Nordic giant’s face went ashen and he slowly fell to his knees on the floor, face first. He turned to Tessa. She had her hands over her face, whispering, “Oh thank heavens.”

Tessa,
he asked gently, hating the whiteness to her face and that horrible bruising around her eyes. She was paying a high price for helping these men. These strangers. And facing a difficult wall of rage, fear, and scorn. Once again, life had asked much of her.
Did you do that?

She peeked at him between her fingers then gave a short nod.
I don’t know what happened, but he was screaming and my head was hurting so I screamed at him to stop it – but I think I screamed in his mind.

He took a moment to assimilate that.
So you did to him what Deanna did to you?

I think so.
She nodded and dropped her hands.
I didn’t mean to hurt him though. I needed him to stop screaming
.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I’m so tired and everything is amplified.

Cody studied her, worried. She looked to be barely holding on.

“Tessa?” Serus asked. “Can you fix these two guys?”

She glanced over at her father, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes making Cody want to take her in his arms and hold her close. She was exhausted. Damn it. She’d worn herself down. Cody couldn’t imagine any other instance when Tessa would have snapped like that.

She gave a weary nod. “Cody, can you turn them over please.”

The room had somehow filled with vamps silently watching her. The men were so big, Cody and Serus struggled to turn the two Nordic men who had attacked her onto their backs. She studied them carefully, then reached down and filled the energy channel she’d created with her own positive energy. Instantly both men opened their eyes, saw her, and backed up in confused panic.

“You’re fine,” she said in a hard voice. “And as long as you don’t attack me again, you’ll remain fine.”

She walked over to the leader, checked his pulse, and realized he was just unconscious, much as she had been after Deanna’s entrance into her mind. She nodded. “Move him back please so I can work.”

Again, silently, Serus and Cody struggled to shift the huge man’s weight. Goran entered the room and shoved himself front and center. Watching the other two struggle, he reached down and helped. “Is he okay?”

“He is. He’s just unconscious. Now please keep the rest of the goons off my back. We’ve wasted too much time. I don’t know if I can save him as it is.”

“You can save him?” asked one of the men who’d attacked her. “How? I thought he was dead.”

“Given that his father’s reaction was based on the fear of having just lost his son, I will forgive you for what you did, but I won’t be so happy if you try a repeat performance,” she snapped. “I’m tired and low on energy. If you want him back, I need every bit I have available.”

With that, she sat down beside the dead man. Cody watched her giving the male a careful once over, hating that the work had taken such a toll on her. She reached up a trembling hand to her own temple. She didn’t know if she could do this.

A warm hand landed on her shoulder. “Use my energy,” Cody said calmly. “Make sure that as you give, you also take.”

“I might take too much,” she whispered. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

He smiled. “I’m willing to risk it.”

She gave him a small smile then reached out and got to work. Cody stepped back to give her some room.

No one made a sound. She worked tirelessly even though her arm shook at times with the effort of holding them up. Cody wanted to help her but didn’t know how. Her color faded and her shoulders drooped.

Taking a step forward, Cody laid a hand on her shoulder again, willing his own energy to the forefront to help her out. He didn’t know if he was doing any good, but she seemed to perk up.

He glanced around the room to see several dozen vamps’ gazes locked on every movement she made. If she saved the young man, she’d become a legend in her own right. A hero of the people as this man came from one of the ancient lines. If he died – which technically he’d already done so before she’d ever entered the room – they’d hold her responsible.

The Nordic Councilman sat on the floor, slowly recovering. His gaze too was centered on Tessa. But there was no hope in his gaze. Only defeat and grief.

But he didn’t know Tessa like Cody did. Cody had faith in her. He glanced over at his father to see worry etched in every line. His father knew Tessa too, but that he was so worried said much about how important this man – this scenario – really was. Serus stepped over to Cody and stood with his back to his daughter. Cody understood he was standing guard in case things went bad.

Which, as Cody watched Tessa’s shaky movements, he realized was all too much a possibility.

Call on your vampire heritage,
he whispered.

She faltered as if surprised, then straightened her back. As if her genetics did indeed kick in and give her more power, more energy, her movements sped up, her actions more decisive.

Then she was done. Or rather she was done in. Her arms dropped. Her head bowed and a heavy sigh escaped.

Silence.

Everyone waited.

Tessa?
Cody asked.
Is he dead?

She reached down to the man’s chest and did something odd. Then as if not liking something, she reached up and grabbed Cody’s hand and repeated the motion. This time there was a spark between Cody’s hand and Tessa’s. The young man’s body jolted. Hell, so did Cody. She repeated the spark thing. The young man took a deep, life–saving breath.

She repeated the spark one more time and nodded in satisfaction, studying the young man. Cody switched his gaze over to the man in the bed then shook his head. “I’ll be damned.”

The murmur in the room rose into a crescendo of shock. The Councilman jumped to his feet and raced over. Serus stepped in front protectively.

“It’s all right, Dad, he’s just concerned about his son.”

And with that, his son gave a low rumbling groan as if a mountain was awakening from deep inside. And he opened his eyes.

*

Goran almost danced
in place as the Nordic Councilman collapsed on his son’s bed, tears rolling unashamedly down his face. He knew just how he felt. He’d been to hell and back over Tyson and if anything happened to Cody, he’d kill everyone involved. He couldn’t imagine losing that boy. And the look on everyone’s face when they’d seen Tessa pull off the stunt of the century. Like wow!

The first time, there’d only been kids watching. No one would take their stories seriously. Now the Nordic Councilman, well, everyone listened to him. His size alone commanded attention. If you added his presence, ancient bloodlines, and his position, everyone listened.

Now Tessa would get the respect she deserved.

Serus was going to go nuts trying to keep her out of trouble. As for Cody, he was going to go nuts trying to keep the men away. Tessa had just become one hell of a hot commodity.

She’d been interesting before, but she’d just transcended that now. He wouldn’t be surprised if some of the clans didn’t offer the joining of the two clans by asking for Tessa’s hand in marriage. It was a hell of an honor should that happen. He chuckled. A couple of the young pups looked his way. His grin widened. The pups switched their attention back to the action.

The young Nordic boy was sitting up, looking a bit green, but he was holding solid. Damn, Tessa was good. He wondered how fast she had to get to a vamp after he’d died in order to save him. They’d been in the morgue with over a dozen dead vamps and she hadn’t made a move to help them. Had she known she could? Or were they too far gone? She was a fascinating woman – okay child – woman–child. Or child–like woman. Whatever. He shrugged his shoulders and grinned wider. She was a hell of a girl, and she was going to give his son the runaround.

And that was a good thing. Cody would appreciate what he had to work for.

As he watched, Tessa tried to withdraw from the room, from the limelight. Cody tried to clear her path so she could get away. It wasn’t working so well. Everyone surrounded Tessa and ignored Cody.

“What are you grinning about?” Serus growled from right in front of him.

“Damn, I didn’t even see you.” Goran laughed at his disgruntled look.

“I’m trying to get Tessa out of here,” Serus said, “She’s tired and needs some air.”

Goran looked around, saw nothing but black suits and big men, and called out in the Councilman’s language. “Councilman Njordvik – Tessa needs space to leave the room, and she needs fresh air to recuperate.”

A spate of Norwegian soared across the room.

Instantly a channel between the men freed up, allowing Cody and Tessa, with Serus on their heels and Goran taking up last place, back out into the hallway.