Katelina fumbled in her pockets for a weapon. She found the Ziploc baggy but its contents were useless. Her eyes skipped hopefully to Kai. He clutched the blanket bag and shook his head.
Shit.
Verchiel’s gaze was locked with Arlen’s, his violet eyes narrowed. “You thought it would be that easy?”
“Yes.” The blonde gave a cold smile, then seemed to evaporate.
“Stay together.” Verchiel also disappeared. The pair rematerialized inches from Katelina with a clash of steel. She gave a yelp and hopped backwards, dropping the plastic bag in her haste.
The vampires vanished, then reappeared between a pair of sports cars. Katelina’s first impulse was to help Verchiel, but she knew better. They were both wind walkers—vampires who could move at unimaginable speeds. That was why they seemed to teleport from one spot to another. But it wasn’t just velocity. She couldn’t hope to match their strength, either. Though it hurt her pride, she and Kai were more liability than ally.
With that irritated thought, she pulled Kai behind the nearest vehicle. She peeked over their barricade as Verchiel hopped onto the hood of a car. The alarm blared. She covered her ears and looked around wildly. That should draw the police, or at least onlookers. Would Verchiel be able to manipulate all their minds, or would Arlen kill anyone who showed up?
Arlen jumped onto the hood and followed as Verchiel danced back over the roof. He swung his serrated sword. Verchiel dodged away and reappeared on the neighboring car. Arlen tried again and ended with his blade stuck in the vehicle’s roof. With a frustrated snarl, he ripped the weapon free and leapt after his opponent.
Verchiel hopped from car to car, leaving a trail of screaming alarms and flashing lights that turned the parking lot into a macabre disco. Arlen followed, slashing and swinging. They were a blur of motion, except for seconds when they would clash, freeze framed, swords locked and faces hard. Then they would split apart and disappear again.
Verchiel landed on the trunk of a red car, and his foot slipped. He turned the move into a sort of spinning jump, but not before Arlen slashed at him. The redhead landed on the ground, clutching his bleeding left arm. On instinct, Katelina started to rise when a thought shouted through her head, “You can’t help him.” Kai nodded as if to say he’d sent the message to her. Before she could reply, he stiffened and pulled her toward a rusty van. She looked back to see a woman and two males in long black coats rush around the corner. Golden medallions hung around their necks. Weapons gleamed in their hands and their parted lips revealed pointed fangs.
More of Malick’s vampires.
The woman motioned to her associates. “Tyler, get them. Braydon, you’re with me.”
The trio split up. Tyler, with dark messy hair and even darker eyes, rushed at Katelina and Kai’s hiding place. The woman and Braydon, a brunette male, made a pincer movement toward Verchiel and Arlen. With nothing else to do, Katelina grabbed a rock and chucked it at the vampiress with a shout. “Verchiel! There’s more of them!”
The redhead looked up. Arlen took advantage of the distraction to slam him back into a gleaming blue car. He rammed his serrated sword through Verchiel’s chest and into the window behind him. Katelina stifled a scream as the blonde pulled the sword free and Verchiel slouched and stumbled.
Tyler was almost on them. Katelina wrenched a bent shovel from the side of a van and swung at their attacker. She knocked him back into a car. His weapon flew from his hand and landed with a skittering clang several rows away.
Katelina readied for another blow, but Kai pulled her after him. “You took him by surprise. You won’t be that lucky again.”
As they wove through the maze of parked cars, Katelina glanced back to see the vampire gaining on them. Blood ran down the side of his head and his face was twisted in rage.
They drew to a stop against the side of a building. With nowhere to go, Katelina dragged him under a car. The rough asphalt scraped her hands and her exposed knee. It was better than what the vampire would do if he caught them.
Footsteps drew closer. A pair of booted feet ran past. She released the breath she’d been holding and turned to Kai, ready to share her relief, when something grabbed her ankles and yanked her out of her hiding place. She screamed as the vampire threw her into the nearest vehicle with a crunch. She slid down to the ground and lay stunned and breathless. Tyler advanced slowly, his lips drawn back, a car bumper raised as a weapon.
Kai came from nowhere. He swung the shovel into the surprised vampire’s head, and knocked him back. While the monster struggled to stand, Kai pulled Katelina up. She gasped for air, trying to clear the darkness from the edges of her vision.
Their attacker was on his feet again, and twice as angry. He threw Kai through the windshield of the nearest car in a spray of pebbled safety glass. The boy landed across the front seat at an odd angle, blood on his face and hands.
With a snarl, Tyler ripped the car door off the hinges. He jerked Kai from the car and slammed him into the hood of a truck. Katelina grabbed the abandoned shovel. She swung at the center of Tyler’s back. The vampire gave a grunt of pain. She readied to strike again, when he spun around and punched her in stomach.
She struggled to her feet as the vampiress came around the corner. When the woman’s pale eyes met hers, all the life slipped from Katelina’s limbs. She fell to the ground like a limp fish. She tried to move, but her body wouldn’t listen.
“Since you need help.” The vampiress stood over her, arms crossed, her expression one of annoyance.
“Thanks, Catya.” Tyler rolled his eyes. Katelina watched helplessly as he turned back to Kai. He picked the boy up and smashed him into cars, his limbs flopping like a rag doll. Katelina tried to scream, but even her throat wouldn’t work. Though she was deafened by the car alarms, she swore she could hear the crunch of the boy’s bones with each blow. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be allowed to kill Kai.
No!
Tyler discarded Kai in a bloody, misshapen heap and turned to Katelina. As if the spell had been broken, Katelina jerked upright and charged him with a cry. Catya flinched in surprise. Katelina felt a momentary pull, like something was trying to drag her down. She shook it off and slammed into Tyler with enough force to send him sprawling. She thoughtlessly smashed her fist into his face again and again, screaming a string of obscenities.
Catya dragged her off, kicking and swinging. Katelina twisted in her arms and kicked her in the knee. Before she could get loose, Arlen came around the corner, his bloody sword aloft. “How many of you does it take to subdue a human?”
“She’s resistant,” Catya snapped.
Katelina stared at the newcomer. Where was Verchiel? Arlen’s bloody blade told a story she didn’t want to hear. No. He couldn’t be dead.
Arlen grabbed her just as a car motor sounded over the screaming din of horns. A black SUV slid to a stop. A vampire she didn’t recognize hopped out and opened the back door. Katelina struggled in Arlen’s grasp and Catya quickly moved to help. Together they forced Katelina into the back seat and bound her hands. She threw a final look over her shoulder to see Kai lying where he’d been left.
“Kai!” she screamed. “Kai!”
She didn’t get a chance to see if he responded before they jammed her into the floorboards and slammed the door. She tried to sit up as Tyler climbed between the front seats. His nose was swollen. Blood ran down his face, and his dark eyes were narrowed in fury. “Stay the fuck down.” He kicked her in the stomach.
She gasped for breath. Catya slid past them to the cargo area. Arlen took the passenger seat, and the fifth vampire hopped behind the wheel. The vehicle backed between the screaming cars, and stopped. The door opened and Braydon, the brunette, hopped in.
With the door open, Katelina had a momentary glimpse of a limp body draped over the hood of a car. His black coat was torn. Blood ran in rivulets down the vehicle and pooled on the asphalt, spreading into a miniature lake. She didn’t need the messy crayon colored hair to tell her who it had to be.
“Verchiel!”
“Shut up!” Tyler snarled.
The SUV took off as Braydon slid his feet between her knees and glanced at his seat mate. “What happened to you?”
“What do you think?” Tyler snapped.
Braydon shrugged and glanced to where Katelina lay struggling. “Why isn’t she subdued?”
“She’s resistant,” Catya answered from the cargo area.
“At least she’s still human,” Braydon replied. “Master said there was a chance she’d already be turned.”
“If he didn’t turn her, he certainly gave her blood,” Catya said. Katelina stiffened at her words. Had Samael given her blood, beyond that first time in the cave? The dull ache from her shoulder reminded her that he couldn’t have. It would have healed her wounds.
“Looks like a crowd’s gathering,” the driver commented as he steered the vehicle onto the street.
Arlen snorted. “We don’t work for The Guild anymore, so it’s not our problem. Let the Chinese worry about that.”
The Guild. Those words brought with them a flood of bittersweet memories. The Guild was the United States’ vampire government. Most countries had their own, with the head of them in Munich, Germany. Malick had been the leader of the American Guild before he’d left in a spectacular show of violence and taken some of the Executioners—the elite vampire police —and guards with him. Arlen’s comment made her wonder if he was one of those guards. Were the others??
“I don’t envy their clean up,” the driver muttered.
She imagined the scene the Chinese would be faced with: Human police, human bystanders, a dead vampire slumped over a car, and Kai in a bleeding, broken pile. Her chest caught and hot tears burned her eyes. The anguish that ripped through her was replaced by anger. She’d kill these god damn vampires if it was the last thing she did!
She drew a long, shaking breath to force herself calm. This wasn’t the time to lose her head. She needed to think, and she couldn’t do it if she was crushed by sorrow. Yes, she wanted to kill them, but more importantly she needed to escape. Malick made it plain at their last meeting that he wanted her in order to start a war with Samael. Now that the ancient vampire had let her go, she doubted he’d fight to get her back. That wouldn’t stop Malick from trying.
Tyler put his feet on the back of the driver’s seat. Then he dragged a magazine out of his pocket and flipped it open. After a few more comments, the group fell into silence, except for the driver’s occasional obscenities and horn honking. Katelina counted her breaths to stay calm and pushed everything else out of her mind. There was a time when she’d have been laying there whimpering and praying for Jorick to save her, but not now. Now she planned to save herself.
She picked at her bonds. It was some kind of braided polyester. She worked slowly, pressing with her thumbnail against one of the strands. Just when she’d decided it was no good, the strand snapped. She felt with her fingers; only five more to go.
The effort was tedious and nerve-wracking. She tried not to look directly at the vampires, afraid that they’d notice her and what she was up to. Catya had some kind of paralyzing power, and Arlen was a wind walker. She didn’t know what powers the other three had. They might be mind readers.
The honking and cussing slowed, then ceased. They’d left the city behind. The miles passed unseen by Katelina as she worked on her bonds. Her bladder complained, her body ached, and still she worked. Finally, the last strand gave way and her hands were free, the rope still wrapped around her wrists like bracelets.
It felt like half the night had passed before the SUV slowed again. Street lights were visible through the windows, followed by tall buildings. They were in another city.
Braydon tugged a dagger from inside his coat and picked at his nails. Katelina tried not to look interested. If only she could figure out a way to get the blade.
“We need gas,” the driver said. Katelina tensed. That would be her chance. She’d wait until they stopped, grab the dagger, jam it in their throats, and get out. Then she’d run.
The vehicle rolled to a stop. She took a deep breath for courage, then pulled herself up, ducking under Tyler’s legs. She snatched the dagger and stabbed it into Tyler’s throat. With a sputtering cry, he dropped his magazine. His hands flew to the wound. Crimson poured through his fingers as she wrenched the dagger free and turned to stab Braydon. She missed her mark and buried the blade in the seat. It refused to come loose, so she abandoned the knife and bounded over him. She flung the door open as the driver called, “What in the hell is going on back there?”
She threw herself out of the SUV, but they weren’t at a gas station, only a stoplight. The people in the car next to them stared as she lunged toward them. If she could just get into a vehicle she might have a chance of outrunning the vampires.
She tried the door, but it was locked. She banged on the window and shouted for help. The people drew back and yelled, waving her away and honking the horn. The other cars took up the chorus until the street was alive with the noise.
Someone slammed into her. She twisted to find Braydon pinning her to the car. He pulled away and hauled her backwards. She struck out at him, but her blows were ineffectual. She could see Tyler bent double in the backseat, hands clasped to his throat, while Catya fussed over him. He met Katelina’s eyes through the gaping door, murder in his gaze. Terror surged through her.
No.
Braydon stumbled, as if someone had knocked into him. She wrenched free and raced past the cars for the tiled sidewalk. She’d almost reached it when Arlen appeared in front of her, annoyed. Her reflexes weren’t sharp enough to stop, and she crashed into him. He wrapped his arms around her, and spun toward the building. Before she could figure out what was happening, she saw a corrugated metal door coming at her face. Then pain exploded. She cried out as the blurry silver door drew away then zoomed close again and again, to finally disappear in a sea of black.
Voices drifted on tides of darkness, “—she’s mangled.”
“Better mangled and controlled.” It sounded like Arlen.
“Malick said he wanted her whole and unharmed, remember? She’s probably got a concussion and God knows what. You better give her a shot.” Was it Braydon?
“You. You’re the one who let her get your knife in the first place. Just give her enough to fix her face. She’s had too much blood already.”
There was grumbling, then something pressed against her lips. The salty, sweet flavor oozed between her clenched teeth and set her tongue on fire. She swallowed quickly and turned toward the source, pulling more into her mouth. She felt it slide down her throat, felt it slowly spreading through her…
“That’s enough,” Arlen snapped. “You don’t want to turn her for Christ’s sake.”
“I know, but she won’t let go!”
“For the love of God.”
They tugged. He finally wrenched free and left her searching for more. Just a little more…
“There. After all of that she should be fine in a couple of hours.” Arlen yawned. “I’m heading to bed. Tyler had extra blood to fix the mess she made of him, so he’s on first watch. Catya’s second and you can have third.”
Something like a complaint followed, but the words faded into nothing as Katelina drifted away, still wanting more.
Katelina woke with a pounding headache and a loud thrumming in her ears. She blinked as a room came into focus. A door. A flat panel television screen. A pair of chairs. She tried to move but her wrists and ankles were bound. She writhed and fell to the floor.
She moaned and looked up. She’d been laying on a leather couch. She realized that the steady thrumming wasn’t in her head, but an engine. The chairs were seats and the room was the cabin of an airplane.
Great.
She rolled over and tried to pick at her bonds. They were tighter this time, and she couldn’t get to them. So much for saving herself.
She tried not to wallow in self-pity. Of course she hadn’t been able to defeat five vampires on her own. She was no match for them. That left her with two options: embrace that fact and cooperate, or continue to fight, knowing that she couldn’t win.
The second option sounded better.
A pair of feet strode toward her. She was hauled up and tossed onto the couch. Braydon stood back and crossed his arms. “Don’t cause any more trouble.”
She wanted to ask why she was still alive, when words echoed in the back of her mind. “Malick said he wanted her whole and unharmed…” Right. So he could use her as bait for Samael.
She licked her lips and recognized the flavor. Had someone given her blood, or had she dreamed that? She remembered the metal door slamming into her face again and again and realized someone must have, or she’d be a vegetable. Just what she needed, more vampire blood. As if she wasn’t a big enough freak.
Braydon gave her a once-over, then strode back toward the front of the plane. An announcement came over the loudspeaker. “We’re preparing to land.”
Katelina slumped back and closed her eyes. In her mind she could see Verchiel draped over the car, blood running down to the asphalt. Her chest clenched and she forced back tears. God no. He couldn’t really be dead, could he? Arlen had bested him before. In Japan, he’d left him impaled on a rock at the base of a waterfall. She shivered as she remembered Verchiel’s withered, pale face and the hole in his abdomen. And Kai. He’d had a lot of vampire blood, but he was still human. Could his mortal body withstand what Tyler had done to him, or was he shattered beyond repair?
She felt the airplane descend. She didn’t have a seatbelt and her eyes flew open in panic. She’d been so busy worrying about Kai and Verchiel that she hadn’t considered death by plane crash.
Despite her fear they landed without incident. Braydon lugged her out onto a small airstrip. Buildings were clustered at one end. At the other stood a familiar two story white house. A matching balcony and porch were done in exposed wood and hung with green plants. Razor wire protected the complex from outsiders. In the distance, lumpy shadows gave the impression of a decimated village. She was at Malick’s oasis in Namibia.
Braydon dragged her to the house and down a narrow hallway. Katelina knew what waited at the end of it: a large tiled room dominated by a fountain and potted palms. That was the room that they’d fought in on their last visit.
The brunette stopped in front of the fountain. He dropped her to the ground and cut her bonds. Free, she tried to rub life into her tingling limbs. She glared up at her captor, but he stared straight ahead. The others did the same, Arlen’s expression bored and Tyler’s irritated.
Katelina’s eyes moved to the four doorways, one on each wall. Though they yawned empty, she could feel vampires beyond and knew they were watching, ready to pounce if she tried to escape. Against those odds there wasn’t much she could do.
A tall, pale vampire with blond hair and an easy smile walked in. “Ah,” he said in a heavy French accent. “You are back with your prisoner. Master will be very happy indeed.”
Tyler scoffed. “Hello, Raoul. Yes we are, no thanks to you.”
“But there was not room for me,” he said defensively. Then he smiled sweetly. “Has the little human given you trouble? Here, let me help you.”
He crouched down, caught her chin, and forced her to meet his eyes. A warm feeling of peace and wellbeing enveloped her. For a moment she snuggled into it. But she knew what it was; knew what he was. A whisperer.
She struggled loose from the influence and glared at him.
“Not so easy is it?” Tyler asked sarcastically.
Raoul laughed. “No, not so easy. She is resistant. It is no worry. Master comes.”
He drew away and Katelina climbed slowly to her feet, using the fountain for support. Her eyes moved to the balcony that ringed the second story. Though she couldn’t see any sign of Malick, she could feel him drawing closer. Each second that passed made it harder to breathe until he finally swished through the door above. A large wicker chair served as his throne. He took it and gazed down at them, like a fairytale king come to life. His long white hair and silver beard gleamed in the artificial lights. Long crimson robes, heavily embroidered with gold, fell majestically around him. His face showed age, but immortality gave it the look of carved marble.
His voice echoed through the chamber, like rain and wind. It was no longer as mesmerizing as she’d once found it; not after her time with Samael. “Ah! You have returned! Welcome my children. I trust you had no difficulties?”
Tyler muttered something under his breath, and Arlen jabbed him in the ribs. “No, Master. The human had already left Samael when we found her.”
“How interesting.” Malick’s dark topaz eyes met Katelina’s and the room disappeared. She could feel his warm amusement wash over her as he prodded through her memories; the fight in the parking lot, the restaurant, parting from Samael. Laughter sounded in her head and then the room dropped back into focus and she was left gasping for breath.
“For the sake of my son, Jorick, you willingly walked away from an offer of power the likes of which have not been seen in this world for thousands of years? To give up such a proposition…and for a man who did not even come to your rescue? Not that he is to blame. Jorick has a habit of coming late. I’d suggest you ask his first wife, but…”
Good humor twinkled in Malick’s eyes. Katelina looked away in disgust. While Jorick had been away doing Malick’s bidding, the master had arranged for Velnya to be murdered as a witch by the local humans. It was Malick’s fault that Jorick was late, no one else’s.
“You also blame me?” Malick asked. “Come now, I would never have been pressed into such need had my son not chosen to leave me for an unworthy creature. I realize you have never had the pleasure, but surely what little you have heard demonstrates what a waste of immortality she was. And he chose a life of catering to her childish whims—a life of arranging furniture and playing house—over staying with me where he belonged.” Malick paused. “And neither do you understand. Like all of his preferred companions, you lack a grand vision. Your petty concerns consist of things like bookcases and kitchen tiles but Jorick is meant for bigger things. He has the ability to walk among the greatest, to become a legend in his own right, and yet he purposefully chains himself to those who have not the power to rise above the muck of the commonplace. How can he expect that he would ever be truly happy rolling in the mud with the rest of you? Trapped in a life of dishes and glassware. But then, perhaps you are not meant for such a mundane existence anymore. Not since Samael tainted you.”
Anger and fear warred with one another in Katelina and she forced out words, “You don’t want Jorick to be great. You want him to be your slave.”
“Slave is a word which modern humanity has given so many unpleasant connotations. It is a word which causes revulsion and anger. It was not always thus. But, we are getting off track. You are correct in one aspect. I wish my son would realize his potential and come back to me. I have never tried to disguise my desire, but I do not want him as a slave. Do you think they are my slaves? Ask them; they would say differently.”
As he motioned to her captors, his long sleeve fell back and revealed the stump of his hand. The glaring imperfection stood as a reminder that Malick was not indestructible. If he could lose his hand, he could lose his life. When compared to Samael and the complete awesomeness of his power, Malick was really nothing more than a tragic, petty figure, clawing for days of bygone glory.
With that thought the spell was broken. Katelina’s terror began to dissipate. She drew her shoulders up and met his gaze. “Because you have them brainwashed.”
“Do I indeed?” His expression flickered. Katelina guessed that he’d heard her thoughts, but she didn’t care. Though she might not be strong enough to kill him, Jorick was, and if not Jorick then someone else. Malick’s days were numbered and she suspected he knew it.
Dark fury glistened in the master’s eyes then melted to his usual gentle veneer. “That may be, but such an end will I make that the legends will outlive the petty existence of one such as you. Indeed, I believe you may have already outlived your usefulness. I had counted on a prize Samael wanted, not something so cheap that he has already dismissed it without thought.” She felt him scraping inside her head, and his smile grew more genuine. “Then again, he has invited you to return and I can feel your connection to him, as strong as it was on our last meeting. Perhaps he only requires motivation to seek you out.” He seemed to be speaking to himself. “Why not conduct the experiment? There is nothing to be lost, except her life. Can a drawback as insignificant as that be considered a drawback at all? Arlen, take her to the guest room while we prepare things and we will see if we cannot inspire Samael’s cold heart.”