Interesting. So where the hell was everyone?
She kept walking.
What about your partner?
Yes, Mikko was a great believer in keeping the blood supply flowing. I wasn’t of the same opinion.
Hmmm. Tessa wasn’t sure how much she believed the answers. In terms of Deanna’s memories, this information was coming across more like a tape recording, not necessarily the encyclopedic information Tessa had seen earlier. How did that work?
Shoving the problem to the back of her mind and the niggling suspicion that she couldn’t trust everything that was coming up as truth, Tessa asked about the other blood farms. Do you know where they are located?
No.
Damn. Why couldn’t Deanna know something useful? And didn’t that contradict what she’d said to Tessa when they’d first met her? She’d intimated that she knew where the blood farms were back then. She tried again. Do you know anything useful in this situation?
Silence.
Feeling slightly off, Tessa gave up on the questioning and continued to walk down the hallway, then realized she should let Cody know that something was going on. He could keep the ancients apprised of what was happening.
Cody, the entire floor is deserted. The good news is that there are no piles of ash floating around. As good news went, that came in at the top.
A startled sound came though her mind. Are you sure?
Yes.
Maybe they are already moving down and out of the hospital.
That fast? I doubt it.
There could be more exits.
Maybe, she said doubtfully. There were a lot of men here. And the two guards our fathers left behind aren’t here either.
Now that’s not good. Stay where you are, I’ll meet you there.
No. You have to tell the others.
Uh…I can’t.
Why not ? she asked in exasperation. They are right there with you.
Silence. And she knew. She groaned. You are on your way up, aren’t you?
Not quite, he said in a quietly humorous voice. A very close voice. She turned to see him enter the hallway behind her. She glared at him.
“Don’t bother,” he said mildly. “I don’t take orders from you or that Deanna bitch. I’m here to keep an eye on you. If you don’t like it, too bad.”
She opened her mouth then realized she had nothing to say that would make him change his mind so she closed it, turned, and carried on down the hallway.
He raced behind her. Just as he was about to catch up to her, her arm was grabbed, she was spun around, and the world shifted as she was pulled into his arms.
And he kissed her.
Heat enveloped her. Him. The two of them were wrapped in caring energy. She sighed against his lips. This was Cody. Her Cody. And her world slipped back into position again.
Damn right, he said.
She smiled, but then she couldn’t do anything as he deepened the kiss until all resistance was gone. He lifted his head, smiled down into her eyes, and held her close.
She lay against his chest, her whole body trembling with need.
Now that’s more like it.
What is? she whispered, desperately trying to clear her head.
This is the response I know, he said, and love… And lowered his head again.
*
Cody didn’t want to stop. The touch of her lips, the gentle tentative strokes of her tongue – it was ambrosia to a starving man. Lord, he wanted her. But he wanted to have time with her, all night, several nights. He’d take what he could get, but there was no way he’d take her in this scenario. He was just torturing himself doing this all the time. The more he kissed her, the more he wanted to kiss her. She was like a drug he couldn’t get enough of. He broke away and tugged her hard against his body. She should be able to hear his heart pounding inside his chest. The need coursing through his loins. He shuddered, trying to think of something else, anything else before he lowered her to the floor right here.
Then she did something that completely disarmed him. She giggled.
He rested his chin on top of her head and smiled. “What is so funny?”
She twisted in
She kept walking.
What about your partner?
Yes, Mikko was a great believer in keeping the blood supply flowing. I wasn’t of the same opinion.
Hmmm. Tessa wasn’t sure how much she believed the answers. In terms of Deanna’s memories, this information was coming across more like a tape recording, not necessarily the encyclopedic information Tessa had seen earlier. How did that work?
Shoving the problem to the back of her mind and the niggling suspicion that she couldn’t trust everything that was coming up as truth, Tessa asked about the other blood farms. Do you know where they are located?
No.
Damn. Why couldn’t Deanna know something useful? And didn’t that contradict what she’d said to Tessa when they’d first met her? She’d intimated that she knew where the blood farms were back then. She tried again. Do you know anything useful in this situation?
Silence.
Feeling slightly off, Tessa gave up on the questioning and continued to walk down the hallway, then realized she should let Cody know that something was going on. He could keep the ancients apprised of what was happening.
Cody, the entire floor is deserted. The good news is that there are no piles of ash floating around. As good news went, that came in at the top.
A startled sound came though her mind. Are you sure?
Yes.
Maybe they are already moving down and out of the hospital.
That fast? I doubt it.
There could be more exits.
Maybe, she said doubtfully. There were a lot of men here. And the two guards our fathers left behind aren’t here either.
Now that’s not good. Stay where you are, I’ll meet you there.
No. You have to tell the others.
Uh…I can’t.
Why not ? she asked in exasperation. They are right there with you.
Silence. And she knew. She groaned. You are on your way up, aren’t you?
Not quite, he said in a quietly humorous voice. A very close voice. She turned to see him enter the hallway behind her. She glared at him.
“Don’t bother,” he said mildly. “I don’t take orders from you or that Deanna bitch. I’m here to keep an eye on you. If you don’t like it, too bad.”
She opened her mouth then realized she had nothing to say that would make him change his mind so she closed it, turned, and carried on down the hallway.
He raced behind her. Just as he was about to catch up to her, her arm was grabbed, she was spun around, and the world shifted as she was pulled into his arms.
And he kissed her.
Heat enveloped her. Him. The two of them were wrapped in caring energy. She sighed against his lips. This was Cody. Her Cody. And her world slipped back into position again.
Damn right, he said.
She smiled, but then she couldn’t do anything as he deepened the kiss until all resistance was gone. He lifted his head, smiled down into her eyes, and held her close.
She lay against his chest, her whole body trembling with need.
Now that’s more like it.
What is? she whispered, desperately trying to clear her head.
This is the response I know, he said, and love… And lowered his head again.
*
Cody didn’t want to stop. The touch of her lips, the gentle tentative strokes of her tongue – it was ambrosia to a starving man. Lord, he wanted her. But he wanted to have time with her, all night, several nights. He’d take what he could get, but there was no way he’d take her in this scenario. He was just torturing himself doing this all the time. The more he kissed her, the more he wanted to kiss her. She was like a drug he couldn’t get enough of. He broke away and tugged her hard against his body. She should be able to hear his heart pounding inside his chest. The need coursing through his loins. He shuddered, trying to think of something else, anything else before he lowered her to the floor right here.
Then she did something that completely disarmed him. She giggled.
He rested his chin on top of her head and smiled. “What is so funny?”
She twisted in
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