Chapter Seven
Niles sat at the computer reading the latest test results that had been sent through to him. So, absorbed in the task, he never noticed Max appear until he said hi.
Looking up, Niles smiled. "Hi Max. Look, about the other night—"
Max waved the apology away. "No, don't. I just wanted to come and apologize. I misread the situation, Niles."
"No, I need to apologize."
"Let's just forget about it. I don't want to ruin our friendship, and we work well together. Is that okay with you?"
"Absolutely."
"You have a mate. You must be happy."
Niles grinned. "I am, thank you. Targon is everything I could want in a mate."
Leaning on the counter Niles was working at, Max asked, "I thought mates didn't exist? I thought it was just something you told each other like a bedtime story."
"Me too, but since I've met Targon, I've done some research. There were lots of mated couples. In fact, it was the norm. I can't even tell you when it stopped happening. I am very lucky to have found Targon."
"Targon?"
"Welsh. He is a Northerner, my family are Southerners." Niles grinned. They had more in common than just being mates. They had a shared history, their ancestors coming from the same country and emigrating to America.
They talked a lot about their families, the places they'd come from, when they had been out for lunch the day before. Niles could see, and feel, how painful it was for Tank to talk about his family, but if they were ever to move forward and have his family except their mating, Niles needed to know exactly what he was up against. He wasn't going to lose his mate because his family hadn't moved with the times.
"What happens if you fall out?"
"That rarely happens, if ever. It's hard to explain, but I think the easiest way to look at it is that mates complete each other, like the other half of each other. Mates help each other to be better people, are there to support when needed or offer encouragement." Niles shrugged. "It's really hard to put into words exactly what mates are to each other. I only know of one mating that didn't work out." Niles paused, then continued, "Well, I guess that's a matter of opinion."
Max nodded in understanding. "The blood slave?"
Niles nodded. "Did you know that his parents sold him? Both of them agreed and did it. How could they do that to their own child?"
"It sickens me, the things we can do to each other. How is he—”
Max's pager went off and he glanced down at it and read the message. He grabbed the nearest phone and made a call, no doubt to find out what he was needed for. Niles turned his attention back to the results in front of him and waited for Max to finish.
"Can't wait for the new smart phones. Do you know when we're getting them?"
"Months, the last I heard." Leaning back in his chair, Niles rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the tiredness in his body. He'd been staring at results for far too long. "The cost involved runs into the tens of thousands."
"Still, nothing beats the incessant beeping of a pager. Gotta run. Lunch later?"
"Yeah, usual time and place?"
"Unless something happens between now and then."
Niles watched Max walk briskly away and sighed. At least their friendship hadn't been fucked up after the other night. Turning back to the screen he closed his eyes, reaching out to his mate. He needed to hear his voice.
Targon
Niles
How's it going?
Nothing beats sitting around waiting for the locals to get their shit together.
Niles winced. Bad?
I don't understand what the problem is. They asked us here and now they have us sitting on our hands doing nothing. Chester and Ale are getting pissed off about it and have threatened to leave if nothing gets sorted soon.
I would have thought they'd need all the help they could get. A river had burst its banks due to a deluge that no one had been expecting.
You would, wouldn't you? I'm fed up and Dodge won't stop whining. He knows he's got a job to do, and he's stuck here. Still, he did piss on all the cars. Made him happy.
Niles burst out laughing, drawing puzzled looks from the nurses around him. Clearing his throat, he stared at the screen.
Good for Dodge.
Hang on. They're coming over. Maybe now we can finally get involved in the search and rescue they asked us here for.
Let me know.
Will do.
They broke off contact and Niles stared at the figures in front of him. Time to get back to work.
❊❊❊
Hunter was right behind him as they slowly and methodically made their way in a huge circle around the school. It was the only chance they had of finding the missing children and teacher. Roughly thirty minutes later, Tank saw Dodge indicate that he'd picked up a scent. Suddenly, Dodge veered off to the right, even further away from the school and started pulling Tank behind him.
Tank could hear Hunter behind him, speaking into the mic attached next to his mouth — new, improved models — giving Ale their current position and asking the team to converge on their coordinates. Dodge had found something and was eager to follow it.
With some difficulty, Tank and Dodge, with Hunter following, made their way through a dense thicket of brush and trees until they stopped at the edge of what used to be a pond, but due to the heavy rain, had spread out into the surrounding trees. They tread carefully through the branches and debris floating on the water, Dodge stopping every few seconds and sniffing at that debris and the trees around them before continuing forward.
Tank's eyes followed the trail through the shallow, dirty water until it reached the leaf-covered branches of a large downed tree. That's where he caught a glimpse of an adult female holding onto two small children, clinging to the underside of the branches, hanging over the water.
"Dodge. Sit." Tank ordered before giving Dodge his toy. "Good boy." Tank gave Dodge the ‘stay’ signal followed by the command.
He waded through the water and knew when he'd hit the original edge of the pond. The ground became like glue, thick and difficult to move through. He was glad that Hunter was behind when he heard him shout, "I'll let the team know where we are."
"Shit," he muttered, when his feet immediately sank into the thick mud, covered by the dark water.
"Stay where you are. I'll swim over."
Hunter knew what would happen if Tank struggled to move on and dove in chest first, keeping his head above the water, and started swimming towards the woman and two children. The children were crying, and the woman, Tank assumed was the teacher, was struggling to keep all three of them above water.
As Tank moved towards them, a sharp slicing pain cut through his arm. Turning, he realized that some of the branches had thorns on them. "Shit," he muttered, untangling himself from the branch.
"Hunter, watch the branches. Some of them have thorns on."
"Got it."
The branches above were dense and covered with thorns. Making his way slowly toward them in the water was slow and painful, with some of the thorns cutting into his skin. He could feel the thorns in a couple of places, embedding into his flesh. Finally, he took out his knife and started cutting and hacking through the branches.
When he made it to them, the woman immediately handed one of the children to him. "Take her first. She's only five. I'll keep hold of him."
Hunter was close behind and Tank passed the little girl over to him, then turned back to take the boy. "I'll come back for you," he told the woman.
The woman nodded. "Just get them to safety first."
Tank took the boy and slowly made his way back to the edge of the water. He tried to keep him above the dirty water, having seen the numerous cuts covering him. The last thing the boy needed was an infection developing in one of them. Poor kid had gone through enough already.
Hunter got there before him and, after putting the girl down, he reached for the boy. "I'm going back for the woman."
Hunter nodded and took his jacket off, covering both children with it. As Tank moved back through the water, he could hear Hunter update the team on their situation and heard Ale tell Hunter the others were almost to them.
When Tank reached the woman, he glanced around her, seeing how tangled up her clothing was. "My name is Tank. I'm part of Rescue Inc."
"I think you're gonna have to cut them," the woman said, tugging on her clothes.
"Yeah, I think you're right."
Tank took a closer look around the woman, finding several places where she was stuck. He started by cutting her jacket and part of her shirt that had somehow become wound around the branches. It felt like it took forever to cut her free, but when she was finally loose, he helped her cross the water towards Hunter and the two children.
As he moved, he slipped on a submerged branch and fell forward, hitting his head on the trunk of the nearest tree. Grunting in pain, Tank struggled to move. Everything spun around him and he groaned, fighting the need to be sick.
Hands grabbed him and the woman, lifting them clear of the water, and he blinked the water out of his eyes to find Hunter carrying both of them back to dry land.
"Hunter," he mumbled, shaking his head to try to clear it.
"I've got you both. Don't worry."
When they reached dry land, Hunter placed them both on the ground, and immediately pain shot through his leg.
"Shit," he shouted, grabbing the area.
"Where are you hurt, Tank?" Jensen asked, squatting in front of him.
"Thigh. Something stuck in it." Tank breathed deeply through the pain. Jensen cut through his pant leg, revealing a small broken piece of branch stuck in his thigh.
"We can't get a stretcher in here," Jensen said as he cleaned the area and packed it to prevent the branch causing more damage.
"I'll make it. Just make sure they get out."
"Chester and Donnie are here to help as well." As Jensen spoke, Tank watched the two vampires take the children and woman away.
Grunting in pain, Tank let Jensen help him up. "Fuck, that hurts."
Tank hobbled along behind the others, Dodge by his side and Jensen helping him. Every step caused the pain to bloom through his leg, but he kept on going.
Niles
Tank. What’s wrong?
Hurt. Branch in leg. Going hospital now. Even talking this way made everything hurt.
On my way.
Twice he would have fallen if Jensen hadn't grabbed him. The pain was becoming more excruciating with every step he took.
Finally, after what seem liked forever, they made it out of the trees and found that all the ambulances had gone, probably with the two children and the teacher who'd made it out before him. Tank carefully sat on the muddy ground and waited for another one to arrive. He panted, trying to ignore the pain in his thigh and the pounding ache in his head.
"Here, let me see to that." Jensen squatted in front of him and carefully cleaned his head wound. "You'll need stitches and it's going to need more cleaning. There’s some dirt in there and it is pretty deep."
"Great, just what I wanted to hear."
His ears started to ring, and he winced, dropping his head down, his vision darkening at the edges. He suddenly felt sick and luckily managed to roll onto his side before throwing up.
"Don't feel so good," he mumbled before everything went black.