By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Dale Mayer

Teenage vampire Tessa hasn’t had a chance to take a deep breath with her boyfriend Cody after the war the two of them and their human friend Jared prevented when her life again plummets into chaos.

Her father is missing, Goran is in a coma, her mother seems about to go off the deep end, and David has also disappeared, seemingly of his own volition. With her world plunged into fresh madness, Tessa finds herself leading the charge once again.

On the run, Jared has no choice but to seek out the peaceful vampires he relied on in the past despite that he’s not sure if he’s welcome amongst them anymore. But Tessa is the only one who can find the answers he seeks, the only one who can figure out what’s going on…preferably before their enemy strikes again.

This book opens right where we left off with Serus, Tessa and Cody going to meet up with David to find Jewel.

Unfortunately instead of meeting up immediately with Motre and Ian, David goes down a stairwell finding far more than he bargained for.

Serus mades the decision to find David before meeting up with the others, that when he disappears and Cody and Tessa are right behind him.
As Tessa and Cody figure out their next step, the are approached by an ancient. He tells them there is another exit, but they need to follow him, quietly to avoid letting others know where they are. This is going to open up a whole new angle to all of this.

Jared is pleasantly surprised when Clarissa and Aaron show up at the home to see Tobias. They only have two hours to visit and Jared joins them after exchanging phone numbers with Clarissa. Jared still has some problems with the people in control of the home and doesn’t want to go into foster care.

Back at Council Hall Wendy is restless even though she’s still weak from her accident. Sian enlists her help with cross-referencing the data from Gloria’s laptop. Rhia is also there and is still recuperating from the drugs she was given and the injury inflicted by Tessa in self defense.

Goran almost kills the doctor who injected him with something to shock his system back to the living instead of the limbo-like coma he was in. To say he wasn’t happy is an understatement. He also wasn’t going to stay down for long and poor Sian has to deal with that. He meets up with Ian and Motre to clear the floors of the Vampire Hospital.

We meet two very significant players in this book. Dianna a powerful vampire and council member. Although she doesn’t attend the council anymore, she is still considered an active member. Her protector is a Ghost, that’s the name given to vampires who can seemingly disappear and reappear at will, they are said to be able to kill without even touching. These two are very old and near their end of life, they need Tessa to fulfill a need for them. Crazy stuff here.

This is a favorite scene when Cody and Tessa meet up with Serus and David.

David turned from the vamp in disgust. His father could deal with him. He was more concerned with finding his sister. And there was no sign of her.

He walked around to the other side when he heard murmured voices.

“Shh,” he hissed to his father. Serus immediately froze, every inch alert. He grabbed the other vampire by the back of his neck in warning, leaving no doubt what his fate would be should he displease Serus.

David slipped back into the shadows, straining to hear the conversation, the tone of the voices. And then he knew. He smiled. “Tessa?” he called out. “Is that you?”

There was a shocked silence followed by a shout of joy and running feet. He’d barely turned to the sound when Tessa bolted from the shadows and launched herself into his arms.

“There you are,” she cried. “We’ve been so worried.”

We? David looked over his sister’s shoulders to see Cody sauntering toward him, a big grin on his face.

Tessa backed up slightly and spun to the side after hearing something. She gasped in shock. “Dad!” She launched herself into their father’s arms. David could only shake his head. A couple of weeks ago, this would never have happened. It was a good thing to see.

Cody walked closer. “What the hell happened to you?”

David winced. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure what was down here, and instead of meeting Motre and Ian up top, I decided to make a quick trip down.”

Cody shook his head. “And you never said a word.”

“The reception down here is crappy. No one can send or receive properly. It takes like ten minutes to send out a message if you’re lucky.”

Cody nodded. “I haven’t tried honestly. Been a little too busy.” David watched Cody’s gaze narrow as he studied Serus and the vamp he was holding onto. “Who’s the extra?”

“Who knows? He’s trying to save his skin by offering us information.”

“Hmmm.” Serus stepped closer. “Cody, what took you so long?” His grin flashed deep and wide.

“Good to see you didn’t smash like a bug on your landing, sir. As Tessa was afraid you’d done.”

Serus gave her a startled look then laughed uproariously.

“Well, you didn’t answer when I called,” she said, flushing. “I was afraid you were seriously hurt or dead even.”

As he laughed louder, she added, “Obviously I knew you hadn’t died when we got here,” she said in exasperation, “But you were nowhere to be found.”

Still grinning, Serus reached back to tug the stranger forward. “That’s because we found this guy’s buddies. Only they weren’t very friendly.”

“But I am,” the stranger said. “Lamar is my name.”

David snorted. “Whatever. Let’s move. I’ve wasted enough time down here.” He looked up the long stairwell above him and groaned. “It’s going to take forever to get up here.”

“Wait,” Tessa said. “The Ghost is supposed to show us another way.”

“So was Lamar.” Serus shook his new friend hard. Then he stopped, glanced over at Tessa, and said, “A Ghost? Did you see one?”

Lamar cried out in fear as if the Ghost was going to come and get him personally.

“Yes,” Tessa said, “And Deanna.”

Excitedly, with Cody interjecting when she missed a point, she told them what had happened to them.

David, still standing on the second stair, stared down at her. “Really? So that really old vampire we found already dying was her husband?” At her nod, he whispered, “Holy crap.”

“She immediately knew it would have been Tyson that had attacked him.”

When his father was quiet, too quiet, David glanced over at Serus to see him staring at Tessa, a really odd look on his face.

“And Deanna talked to you?”

Tessa nodded. “Yes.” When he didn’t say anything, she asked, “Why?”

He shook his head in wonderment. “She doesn’t speak with many, and even then she only speaks with the elders.”

“There were no elders there.” Tessa shrugged. “Besides, she seemed to think I have some of her genetics in my blood.”

Serus frowned. “Some, but I doubt much. You must have caught her on a good day. She is one of the most powerful vamps of all time, and very cranky.”

“She’s also dying,” Tessa said.

“But is she?” Cody glanced over at her. “She’s old, but do you really think she’s dying?” His voice said he was doubtful.

David wished he’d seen her. Met her. She was a legend in her own right. “She likely still has another century or two left in her,” he scoffed.

Tessa stared at him. “No, I’d say days.”

“And you’d know this how?” Serus asked.

Silence.

“I don’t know. Something about her energy. It didn’t look…right?” She shrugged. “Not sure how to explain it. But it’s like the energy was fading. Not black like the energy of the enhanced, I saw no sign of that, more like a dying out. As if she was done. Inside and out.”

“She doesn’t want to live now that her husband is gone, that’s for sure, but I wouldn’t count her out,” Cody said.

“No, I’m not,” Tessa said. “She has something she wants to do. Something she needs to do, and it’s not revenge, but when she’s done, I suspect she will die.”

“She’s a tough old bird.” Serus snorted. “It will take a lot to kill her off.”

“Maybe,” Tessa admitted. “Her Ghost was as ancient a being as I’ve ever seen, too.”

“And that’s a second very odd fact,” Serus said, “I’m not sure I’ve seen a Ghost in many a century.”

“I never have,” David said.

“I got the impression they were rare now,” Cody said.

“And I got the impression he was in fact the last one.” Tessa said. “He’s supposed to meet us outside. Show us the headquarters the humans involved in the blood farm used. But…” she looked around. “I’m not sure where he is.”

The stranger started to shake. “If a Ghost is coming, I don’t want to be anywhere around here.”

“And why is that?” Serus growled, squeezing the man’s neck.

“He’ll kill me,” the vamp cried.

“So will my father,” David said calmly, “So what’s the difference?”

The man started to shriek loudly. Serus sighed and shifted his grip. Instantly the vamp went limp and silent.

“Should have done that in the first place,” he muttered. He glanced over at David. “Let’s go, son, you can lead off.”

Out of the darkness came a long hollow cry. “No. You must not go up there.”
Mayer, Dale. Family Blood Ties: Books 7-9 (pp. 98-102). Valley Publishing Ltd.. Kindle Edition.

A lot happens in this book, more from Deanna and her ghost, Rhia has memory issues, Tobias disappears from the home where Jared is staying, and that’s just a few things.

I have to say, I really wish these folks would all stay together. Every time someone goes astray something happens and it’s not in any way good.

Lots of action, more questions than answers, as Tessa learns more about her Vampire powers and her relationship with Cody continues to grow.

I’m reading this in the book bundle Family Blood Ties Books 7-9 so I’m just going to keep on reading.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.