Vampire in Crisis by Dale Mayer

trust. And he knew more vampires than humans in both categories at this point.
    How sad was that?
    He turned another corner, feeling the power and need driving him forward. It helped to have the blood pulse through his veins, reminding him why he was doing this. Why the vamps were doing this. They were higher up the food chain. They could do this, so they did. It was people like Tessa and her family who would be able to stop this massacre – with his help.
    Hopefully before they got their damn needles into Chelsea. He didn’t know her well, but he sure liked what he did know and he couldn’t let any more humans be sacrificed to that damn farm.
    He should have asked her if she had family – friends. Maybe a better question was if she had any enemies. Although chances were good that given the timing, her questions about Tobias had triggered some alarm and the assholes decided she’d become a troublemaker and needed to be taken out of the picture.
    As he’d been labeled the same.
    He didn’t care if they did come after him. Let them. He was more than willing to have a chance at payback. Especially since he realized Tessa and her family would come after him again.
    If she knew about this.
    Which was a very good point.
    Pursing his lips, he thought about who to tell and why. With his breath harsh and raspy, he realized he needed to tell Tessa – just to be sure. He hadn’t heard from her in a long while, and that bothered him. But he also had no idea if she was even awake.
    If he found Chelsea safe and sound, then no problem, but if something happened to him in the process…well, he’d like someone to know. Someone who’d do something about the travesty. That meant Tessa.
    He could only hope she’d ditched the arrogant Cody, but he doubted such a thing would be easy.
    Cody looked like he went where he wanted regardless of anyone else’s wishes. Right now Jared figured Cody would be busy thrashing Jared for getting into trouble again. And blaming him for Chelsea’s disappearance. Which maybe he was responsible for. He hated the thought, but it couldn’t be avoided. If he hadn’t told Chelsea what he’d seen that night, then she wouldn’t have ended up at the hospital looking for Tobias.
    And wouldn’t have found Taz.
    So how had someone found out about what they were doing? Had they been overheard at the hospital? Were the phone lines bugged? Or had someone seen her asking unwanted questions? Or had she asked the wrong person at school? He wouldn’t put it past her to have told damn near every student and teacher there about Tobias. That widened the suspect pool to almost everyone as those she’d spoken to initially were likely to have spoken to one or two friends. Especially by now. Gossip travelled fast.
    That’s how misinformation and gossip turned the corner from being harmless to being a big problem.
    He didn’t need more problems, but he needed to find Tobias. He’d seen the condition he’d been in as he was hauled out of the group home. Not a pretty sight.
    He reached the hospital and came to an abrupt halt. It wouldn’t do to go in there in a panic. It was the emergency room. Likely they’d have him flat on a stretcher and undergoing an examination before he could tell them what he was doing there.
    With his breath under control, he wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans and entered.
    Ignoring the front desk, he headed to Taz’s office. When he reached the last corner and went to duck around it, someone called out, “Can I help you?”
    He turned and gave the green uniformed woman a headshake. “No, I’m fine, thanks. I’m just looking for Taz.”
    “He’s not here,” she said, glaring at him. “He’s gone home for the night.”
    As if seeing a protest about to burst forth, she said in a waspish tone, “What did you expect? That he lived here? No, he’s gone home for some well-deserved rest.”
    Meekly, he walked away, but inside he was trying to figure out how to get a hold of Taz.