Jessica could hardly believe the words that came out of Maureen’s mouth. Arabella bared her fangs at Maureen, but a cough silenced her.

“Ahem. If you are both quite finished, we have some news that might lead to answers about Roman’s whereabouts.” The older vampire snapped his fingers, and someone brought in a laptop.

“Turns out they had little spies here at Muse. But they were sloppy and got caught trying to erase the security footage,” Xavier said as he set down the laptop. He pulled up a video and the room watched in silence.

Roman had stormed out of his room in a rage, cursing and punching the wall. Sometime after Jessica yelled at him, Roman had apparently gone to a nearby hotel with which Muse shared a parking garage. While inside the hotel, he had somehow been ambushed by the humans and dragged unconscious into a vehicle waiting in the parking garage. Then the video screeched off into the unknown.

Jessica couldn’t bear to look at the whole video. If she had never yelled at Roman, he wouldn’t have been ambushed. He would still be there, safe and sound. This was all her fault.

“Good news, that exonerates you, human. The bad news is that we are back to square one,” Xavier pinched the bridge of his nose. Jessica avoided looking at him. Looking at how much they were worried about Roman made her feel even worse.

“Not necessarily. My granddaughter and I can help you find him,” Maureen said, squaring her chin. A murmur went around the room, and many vampires wore doubtful expressions. Maureen ignored them and turned her focus to Jessica.

“Ignore everyone else in the room. Focus on Roman. How you feel for him. That will connect you to him no matter how far away he is” Maureen instructed.

Once again, they sat cross-legged on the floor. Unlike last time, when Maureen let Jessica figure it out on her own, this time, Maureen guided every small step. How Jessica breathed, how to draw her focus outside her own body.

For a moment, Jessica felt as if she was floating far away. Until someone had the nerve to cough, and she came crashing back down. She tried again but even without interruption, she found it difficult to hone in on Roman. No matter how much she tried to leave her own body, it fought against her.

“Don’t panic when you feel yourself flowing. Let it carry you like a current,” Maureen said as Jessica tried one more time.

She felt herself floating off again and surrendered to the feeling. Soon, she was soaring far beyond Muse and the room full of vampires. For a second, she thought she would fly endlessly until she forced herself to focus on Roman.

The moment she felt a flash of pain, she knew it was him. But the shock of the agony she felt pulled her right back, gasping for air.

Maureen made her take several deep breaths. It took a moment before Jessica could speak, but she confirmed she saw Roman.

“Good. Now slowly keep going in and out of feeling for his body and his heart. It will give you an idea of where he is and what condition he is in.”

Jessica went back in and searched for Roman once more. She found him much faster this time, but she was still overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of his pain. It was so intense, she thought she might get swept away by it.

When she had to open her eyes to catch her breath, she noticed that the vampires were hovering around them. No, not just hovering. They were staring at her and Maureen. Their expressions were a mix of awe and a little bit of fear. In particular, a lot of them seemed to be staring at Maureen.

“Everything okay?” Jessica asked uncertainly.

“Yes, they’ve just probably never seen anything quite like us,” Maureen said gesturing down at both their bodies. It was only then that Jessica realized she was glowing again.

“But if they want us to find their friend, maybe they should find their manners,” Maureen said pointedly. Most of the vampires looked away awkwardly, but Xavier laughed.

“You’re not so bad. For an old human at any rate,” Xavier grinned.

Jessica ignored him. She had to give this one more shot. This time, she paid as much attention as she could to any landmarks that would help her figure out where Roman might be. To her surprise, she found an area nearby that was familiar to her.

“He’s near Area 51,” she said. It sounded ridiculous to her. Why would he be near one of the most secretive military bases and tourist attractions for conspiracy theory weirdos? However, the vampires wasted no time arguing with her. Before she knew it, weapons were being handed out, and everyone was moving.

“You’re riding with me, humans,” Xavier said, taking both Maureen and Jessica firmly by the arm. Before she could protest, they were herded into a vehicle. Xavier practically floored the gas, and soon they were zooming into the desert.

“Whatever you were doing, do it again and try to get us closer,” he instructed from the driver’s seat. Concentrating in a noisy, speeding vehicle was a little harder, but Jessica forced herself to focus on Roman again. As they drove, she gave Xavier instructions on where to turn.

She focused more intently on Roman to check how he was holding up. When she felt it, her heart dropped. Jessica swallowed the bile climbing up her throat. The pain was still there but wasn’t as strong as before. Instead, all she felt was a cold, numbing sensation.

Roman was fading away, and they didn’t have much time.

CHAPTER 13

“Xavier, speed up!” Jessica cried. Xavier didn’t need much prompting. If Jessica thought he was going fast before, they were flying down the road now. The force of the speed pressed Jessica against her seat.

Before long, they came skidding to a halt. In a matter of minutes, more cars came pulling in. They were close enough to Area 51 to see it but far enough away that hopefully they wouldn’t get caught.

“Did you call in the air squad, Ashford?” Xavier said to a vampire after opening the door.

“Already on their way,” Ashford said. Xavier nodded.

“Good, I’ll call in the bomb threats.”

Xavier called, and his threat sounded so realistic Jessica shivered. She made a mental note not to get back on Xavier’s bad side. Within a matter of 10 minutes, cars were peeling out of the area.

“Not to be that guy but won’t this just tip off the humans?”

Jessica hated to agree, but the possibility of the military, police, or the group that took Roman raining hellfire down on them did not sound remotely safe.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, Jax. That place gets kooky fake bomb threats all the time.” Ashford said. He looked pointedly at Jessica.

“Still, you better work that magic and find exactly where in this wasteland Roman is.”

Jessica nodded and forced herself to focus. She reached out once again to Roman. She could feel him, but it was hard to maintain her connection. Everyone around her was a sea of anxiety that threatened to drag her down with them.

“Everything is so loud,” Jessica said, rubbing her temples.

It would be a miracle if she could sense Roman through all of this. Every vampire around her was in a heightened state of emotion, coiled and ready to explode at the drop of a pin. Then there were echoes of pain others in Roman’s location were feeling. If Jessica was right, she could only assume that he wasn’t the only vampire being captured by these people. Roman in comparison, was barely an echo in the cacophony Jessica was surrounded by.

Maureen took Jessica’s arm and closed her eyes.

“I can help you drown them out if you let me lend you my strength.”

Jessica felt the reassuring clasp of Maureen’s fingers on her arm. Her grandmother’s warmth flowed into her, and with it came a jolt of energy Her body and mind felt sharper and re-energized. Soon the din of everyone’s emotions faded away. She closed her eyes and honed in on Roman.

He wasn’t that far. She just had to pinpoint exactly where he was. The desert rolled underneath her. Suddenly it seemed as though she was sucked down into the earth. But instead of darkness, there was a dim light. Rows upon rows of plastic-looking cells surrounded her, and among the collective groans and wails of agony, she felt the quiet flutter of Roman’s spirit, still miraculously hanging on.

“He’s underground!” she cried out. She described the rough approximation of the location. Without a word, they rolled back out. Jessica kept herself lightly attuned to Roman, afraid that if she stopped, she would lose the location. It didn’t take long before they found a collection of buildings that just seemed… off somehow. They clearly didn’t seem to be research labs, and yet they weren’t precisely what Jessica would call tourist attractions.

Before long the van screeched to a halt. Before Jessica could ask, the vampires burst from the vehicles. Only Xavier paused to glance back at Maureen and Jessica.

“Stay here,” he ordered before jumping out of the van. With an almost collective roar, the vampires ascended upon the location. The serenity of the desert soon imploded by the sounds of small-grade explosives, making the pitch black of the night come alive in fiery shades of orange and red. Jessica could hear a whir of helicopters above her. The explosives lasted a few more seconds, and then for a brief moment the only sound in the entire desert was the whir of the blades and the collective bated breath of the Knights of Darkness as they waited.

The desert seemed to split open. Before Jessica could get a better look, a Jeep-like vehicle came barreling out of nowhere. Before long an avalanche of soldiers was making a beeline toward the van.