Chapter
14
It was Saturday night and the casino
was in full swing when Zack entered the club. It had taken him a
good long while to learn to block the myriad smells that clung to
mortals, to tune out the rattle of the dice, the whirring of the
games, the never-ending conversation, the raucous laughter and
shouts of the winners.
Feeling restless, he wandered over to
the craps table and tossed a hundred-dollar bill on eight the hard
way. In the past, before he’d built his own casino, he hadn’t been
above manipulating the dice or the slot machines when he needed a
little cash. Of course, cheating took all the fun out of
winning.
The croupier tossed Zack an apologetic
look when the man who had the dice rolled a five.
Shrugging, Zack left the table and
strolled through the crowd, pausing to say a few words to the
regulars, consoling the losers, congratulating the
winners.
He stopped to watch a newlywed couple
who were playing one of the old dollar slots. The husband wanted to
quit, but his bride kept urging him on.
“Just one more time, honey,” she
coaxed. “If we win the jackpot, we could put a down payment on that
house.”
“Nobody ever wins the big money,” her
husband muttered. “These machines are all rigged.”
“Please, Tom. I have a feeling we’ll
win.”
“You and your feelings,” Tom scoffed,
but there was no irritation in his voice. “You haven’t been right
once since I’ve known you,” he said with an affectionate smile,
“except when you married me.” He shook his head. “Oh, what the
hell,” he muttered, and dropped five silver dollars into the
machine.
Zack watched the woman’s face. She was
a pretty thing, with short blond hair and bright green eyes. If she
wanted a house, by damn, he’d see that she got one.
The wheels spun. Slowed.
Stopped.
The bride squealed as three purple
sevens stood side by side on the pay line. The light over the slot
machine lit up and silver dollars began to pour into the
tray.
Grinning, Zack moved on, his thoughts
turning, as always, toward Kaitlyn and the man who had been
stalking her.
After telling Scherry he was going out
for a while, Zack left the casino.
The night was cool and clear and the
streets were crowded with people, but he paid them little heed as
he walked quickly toward Kaitlyn’s place. Upon arriving, he opened
his senses, searching for some sign that the Romanian vampire had
been there, relieved when he didn’t detect the man’s
scent.
Moving closer to the house, he could
hear Kaitlyn moving around inside—the slam of a drawer, the sound
of water running, the smell of baked chicken when she opened the
oven door.
He frowned, wondering if she was having
company over for dinner. Walking to the back of the house where the
kitchen was located, he dissolved into mist and peered into the
open window.
Clad in a pair of white shorts and a
silky-looking orange-and-white striped shirt, she stood at the
stove, her back toward him while she stirred something in a pot.
Her legs were long and tan, her waist narrow. Her hair fell in
long, loose waves down her back like a river of ebony
silk.
Had he been in corporeal form, Zack was
sure his mouth would have been watering, not from the smell of the
food, but from the enticing scent of the woman.
Zack hovered there, content, for the
moment, to simply admire the way she looked, the fluid way she
moved, the lilting sound of her voice as she hummed an old
rockand-roll tune. Watching her, it was hard to believe she was
half vampire. She seemed totally human. Until she put her dinner on
the table and filled a goblet with a mixture of red wine and
blood.
Type AB negative, he thought. Her drink
of choice.
Zack was wondering if she ever drank
anything else when Daryn Korzha appeared in the kitchen. What the
hell? Apparently Romanian vampires didn’t need an invitation to
enter another’s home. Or maybe that only applied to mortal
dwellings. He would have to ask Kaitlyn about that.
Later.
Kaitlyn whirled around, her eyes
flashing with anger. “What are you doing here?”
“You stupid half-breed, you don’t even
know who I am, do you?”
Kaitlyn stared at him. She had rarely
felt fear in her life, but she felt it now, along with a sudden
certainty that he belonged to the Carpathian vampires. No one else
would know of her mixed heritage. The pureblood vampires,
inherently linked by centuries, recognized each other on sight, but
Kaitlyn lacked that particular talent. It also explained his
ability to materialize inside her house. No human could do
that.
She lifted her chin, refusing to let
him see her fear. “What do you want?” she demanded with far more
bravado that she felt.
“Enough talk,” Korzha said with a
sneer. One arm snaked out, wrapping around her waist to hold her
flush against his body while he jabbed a needle in her
arm.
She struggled a moment, then went
limp.
In an instant, Zack was inside the
house. He didn’t ask questions, simply grabbed Korzha from behind
and broke his neck. Kaitlyn slipped from Korzha’s grasp and dropped
to the floor. Zack took a moment to make sure she was breathing,
then rummaged through the kitchen drawers. A broken neck wouldn’t
keep the vampire down for long.
Zack cussed long and loud until he
found a large wooden spoon. Grabbing a knife, he quickly fashioned
a point on the end of the handle and drove the makeshift stake
through Korzha’s heart, all the way to the floor. Dark red blood
bubbled up from the killing wound.
Korzha gasped, his hand curling around
the stake, but the strength was already draining out of him. He
convulsed once, and then lay still, the life fading from his eyes
as his skin turned a pasty gray.
Zack rocked back on his heels. It had
been a long time since he’d killed another vampire, but he would
gladly have dispatched this one again.
He glanced at Kaitlyn. She lay on her
side, her eyes closed, her breathing shallow. Figuring she would be
out for a while, he carried her into the living room, laid her on
the sofa, and covered her with a blanket that had been folded over
the back of the couch.
Returning to the kitchen, Zack hoisted
Korzha’s body over his shoulder and carried it
outside.
He stood in the dark a moment,
considering what to do with the body. He grunted softly, wondering
if the bodies of vampires who were born and not made disintegrated
in the light of day the way his kind did.
Since he wasn’t sure, burying the body
seemed like the smart thing to do. Moving with preternatural speed,
he found a stretch of deserted ground high in the mountains.
Dropping the body unceremoniously on the ground, he quickly dug a
deep hole in the soft earth. Needing to make sure Korzha didn’t
rise again, Zack ripped the man’s heart from his chest and tossed
it and the body into the hole.
Once the corpse was buried, Zack
transported himself to his lair, where he washed his hands and
changed his clothes.
Minutes later, he was back at Kaitlyn’s
house, scrubbing the blood from her kitchen floor.
Kaitlyn groaned softly as consciousness
returned. She opened her eyes slowly and glanced around. What was
she doing on the sofa? And why did she feel so funny?
Sitting up, she glanced around the
room, her eyes widening when she saw Zack sitting in the chair
across from the couch.
“What are you doing here?” She frowned
as her mind cleared. “Where’s Daryn?” Her gaze darted around the
room, but there was no sign of Korzha. “Where is he?” She rubbed
her arm. “He jabbed me with a needle.”
“He’s gone.”
“What do you mean, ‘gone’? What did you
do?” She stared at Zack, weighing the curtness of his words, the
icy expression in his eyes. “Did you . . . is he . . .
?”
Zack nodded. “He’ll never bother you or
anyone else again.”
Daryn was dead. It took a moment for
the cold reality of it to sink in. Zack had killed a man. She had
never killed anyone and now Daryn, a member of the Carpathian
Coven—one of her father’s half brothers—was dead. Because of
her.
“Hey, are you all right?” Zack asked.
“You’re looking a little pale.”
“Do you know what you’ve done?” What
would her father say? What would he think, when he found
out?
“Saved your butt, that’s
what.”
Kaitlyn nodded, then frowned,
momentarily distracted. “How did he get in? That’s what I want to
know.”
“Are you saying he was never in here
before?”
“Exactly.” A shiver of revulsion
skittered down her spine. “I would never have invited him into my
house.”
Zack grunted thoughtfully. “Do your
kind need an invitation?”
“The full-bloods do. I don’t.” She
tapped her fingernails on the arm of the sofa. “Since his mother is
a witch, I’m wondering if it’s possible that she could have given
him some sort of spell to negate the power of the
threshold?”
“Beats the hell out of me,” Zack said.
“I don’t know anything about witches, but I guess anything is
possible.”
Kaitlyn stood and began to pace the
floor. As her mind cleared, she realized that the fact that Daryn
was kin made everything worse. What would her father think when he
found out Zack had killed one of their kind? Her father hated the
Others; this would just make things worse. Still, Daryn had
obviously been up to no good—she refused to think he had intended
to kill her—and surely her father wouldn’t condemn Zack for
defending her.
She glanced at Zack, suddenly afraid
for his future. She had seen her father when he was angry, and she
had never forgotten it. She had told Zack her father in a rage was
a scary sight, but that didn’t begin to describe it. Her father
hadn’t raised his voice or anything like that, but he had suddenly
seemed larger than life as he castigated one of his brothers.
Preternatural power had rolled off her father, so strong, so
overpowering, it seemed to suck the very air from the room. Her
uncle had reeled backward, blood running from his nose and mouth as
if he had been struck, even though her father had never raised his
hand. She had known instinctively that, had he wished it, her
father could have killed Ciprian.
And now, because of her, Zack’s life
might be in danger, although once she explained what had happened,
she was sure her father would understand. She had to believe
that.
“Why was Korzha after you?” Zack
asked.
“I don’t know.” Sitting on the sofa
again, she fidgeted with her hair. “I haven’t known him very long.
In fact, I met him about the same time I met you.”
Zack leaned forward, his forearms
braced on his knees. “He was like you, a Romanian vampire.” It
wasn’t a question.
She nodded. “He was one of my father’s
half brothers.”
“Go on.”
“My grandfather had a lot of wives.”
That was an understatement; he’d had twenty. “And they had a lot of
children.” Another understatement. “Usually, only my grandfather’s
favorite wife and her children lived at the Fortress with him. The
other wives all had homes elsewhere because no one really liked my
grandmother back then.” Kaitlyn smiled inwardly. Her mother had
told her that Liliana’s demeanor had changed drastically after
Kaitlyn was born. Liliana had grown kinder, Elena had said, more
thoughtful of others.
Zack leaned back in his chair,
contemplating what Kaitlyn had said. Vampires marrying, having
children, living in castles like old royalty. It was a hell of a
story.
“I didn’t grow up at the Fortress,”
Kaitlyn said, “so I don’t know all of my father’s half brothers and
sisters, or their mothers. My grandfather’s wives all kept their
maiden names so he would know which children belonged to which
wife.”
“Sounds like he had quite a
harem.”
Kaitlyn laughed. “I always thought
so.”
“So, all things considered, it appears
that Korzha was after you for some reason. Do you think he intended
to kidnap you, and if so, what was his motive?”
“I don’t have any idea.” She chewed on
her lower lip a moment. “Years ago, before I was born, my father
killed one of Daryn’s brothers.” It was an old story, one
well-known by covens throughout the world.
Zack grunted softly. “Sounds like a
good, old-fashioned case of revenge to me.”
“After more than twenty years?” It
seemed a farfetched idea, and yet, in the back of her mind, she
remembered her father calling to check up on her not long ago. He
had said something about a rumor he had heard, and almost in the
same breath, he had mentioned Daryn and his mother. Was it possible
Nadiya was behind it all?
When she asked Zack what he thought
about it, he shrugged. “You know what they say, revenge is a dish
best served cold.”
“It would have to be frozen by now,”
Kaitlyn retorted. “Zack, you have to leave here. Or I do. If my
father finds out what happened . . . You know how he feels about
the Others. And if he finds out you killed one of us . . .” She
shuddered, not wanting to dwell on what her father might do. She
had no future with Zack. She knew that, but she didn’t want
anything to happen to him.
“I’m not leaving,” Zack said. “I like
it here.”
“Then I’ll go.”
“I’m not afraid of your
father.”
“Well, you should be!”
“Calm down, girl. There’s no reason for
you to be so upset. And no reason for your father to be angry with
me. I haven’t done anything except probably save your life. I’d
think he’d be grateful for that.”
He was right. She was overreacting
because Zack was one of the Others. But she couldn’t help it. Her
father might accept her dating a mortal; dating someone he
considered an enemy of her people—even if that someone had saved
her life—was something else entirely.
She shook her head. She had to calm
down. Zack was right. He had saved her from whatever nefarious plot
Daryn had devised. Surely that would tip the scales in Zack’s
favor.
Besides, she loved it here and she
didn’t want to leave.
And she didn’t want to leave Zack,
either.
“Well, now that we’ve got that
settled,” Zack said, “I think it’s time we got down to some serious
kissing.”
All thoughts of Daryn and her father
disappeared at the thought of kissing Zack. “Oh, you do, do
you?”
“Don’t you?” He leaned forward. “Or are
you going to start that whole ‘I can’t see you anymore’ nonsense
again.”
“It isn’t nonsense. My father’s a force
to be reckoned with. If . . .”
A single thought carried Zack from the
chair to the sofa. “I don’t want to talk about your father, or
vampires, or Others,” he said, drawing her into his arms. “I don’t
want to think about anything but you.”
“Zack . . .”
“Shh.”
With a sigh, she relaxed in his
arms.
“That’s better,” he murmured. Cupping
her face in his hands, he kissed her, softly, slowly. His tongue
traced her lower lip, delved inside for a taste and then withdrew,
moving to lave the side of her neck. Her stomach tightened when she
felt the light scrape of his fangs against her skin.
“Zack . . .”
“Just a taste, love, that’s
all.”
She rarely drank from a living source.
Being only half vampire, she lacked the inescapable need to hunt,
but there was no denying that taking blood from mortals was a
pleasurable sensation. No one had ever taken her blood. What would
it be like, to be prey instead of predator? To feel Zack’s fangs at
her throat? Driven by curiosity, she canted her head to the side,
giving Zack access to her neck, only then realizing that she was
putting her life in his hands. He was older, stronger. If he
decided to drain her dry, she wouldn’t be able to stop
him.
He must have sensed her sudden
apprehension, because he said, “It’s all right, Katy. You don’t
have to do it if you’ve changed your mind.”
“I haven’t,” she said, and it was true.
At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to nourish Zack with
her life’s blood.
Murmuring her name, he bent his head to
her neck.
She had expected it to hurt, at least a
little, but there was only a rush of warmth when his fangs pierced
her skin, and then a flood of pleasure that was sensual beyond
belief. Heat flowed through her, bringing all her senses to life,
pooling deep within the very heart of her being, stealing the
strength from her limbs, until all she wanted was to lose herself
in his touch.
She felt bereft when he lifted his
head. “Are you done so soon?”
“I’d better stop while I
can.”
She touched her neck where his fangs
had been. “That felt wonderful. Does it feel that way for
mortals?”
“It depends on who’s doing the biting.
Some vampires make it pleasant, others take what they want without
any thought for their prey. Haven’t you ever bitten
anyone?”
“Of course! Well, not often,” she
admitted.
“Well, I can’t imagine you tearing into
anybody, so they probably enjoyed it. Can you read their minds?” At
her nod, he said, “Next time, listen to their
thoughts.”
“Can I drink from you?”
“Sure, darlin’.”
She hesitated, suddenly embarrassed. It
was one thing to hunt for mortal prey, to drink from a stranger and
then wipe all memory of it from his mind, quite another to drink
from someone you cared for, especially when that someone was a
vampire.
“Having second thoughts?” he
asked.
“No.”
Drawing her into his arms again, he
kissed her, his hands moving slowly, seductively, along her spine,
traveling up and down her thigh.
His touch awakened her desire, and her
hunger. She rained kisses on his cheeks, the hollow of his throat,
until she found the soft, sweet place just beneath his left ear,
and bit down. She had never tasted vampire blood. It was a high
like no other. Or maybe it was simply because it was Zack’s blood.
Whatever the reason, she knew one taste wouldn’t be enough. Would
never be enough . . .
“Easy, girl,” Zack said.
But she wasn’t listening.
Muttering an oath, he grasped a handful
of her hair and gave a sharp tug.
A low growl rose in Kaitlyn’s
throat.
Damn, maybe this hadn’t been a good
idea. “Katy darlin’, that’s enough.”
It was the endearment that broke
through the red haze of her hunger. Lifting her head, she stared at
Zack in horror. “I didn’t want to stop,” she said, her voice little
more than a hoarse whisper. “I could have killed you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“What if I hadn’t
stopped?”
He laughed softly. “I don’t want to
brag, darlin’, but I think I could take you down if I had
to.”
“You’re making fun of me.”
“No.” He drew her into his arms and
brushed the hair away from her face. “This is the first time you’ve
really surrendered to your thirst, isn’t it?”
She nodded, still embarrassed. “I don’t
know what came over me.” When her father had taken her hunting the
first time, she had been careful to keep her hunger in check,
perhaps because she knew he was watching, perhaps because she was
afraid of losing control, of taking too much. Whatever the reason,
she had never let her hunger get out of hand. At the Fortress, she
preferred to drink from Northa or one of the other women. While
living at Wolfram, she had occasionally hunted in the city; since
coming to America, she had survived on bagged blood.
“It’s all right, Katy,” Zack assured
her. “No harm done.”
“How do you stop when what you really
want to do is take it all?”
“Willpower, darlin’. Lots and lots of
willpower. And practice,” he added with a grin. “Don’t forget, I’ve
got a couple of hundred years on you.”
A slow smile spread over her face.
“Maybe I could practice on you again sometime.”
“Anytime, Katy darlin’. Anytime at
all.” He stroked her cheek with his knuckles. “There’s a bond
between us now.”
“What kind of bond?”
“A blood bond. Can’t you feel it?” It
bound them together. Wherever she went in the future, he would
always be able to find her.
“I don’t think so. What does it feel
like?”
“It’s hard to explain.” His mind
brushed hers experimentally; he still couldn’t read her thoughts,
but he sensed her curiosity, her trepidation. “Try reading my
mind.”
She sat up, her brow furrowed in
concentration, and then she shook her head. “Nothing. Can you read
my mind?”
“Not exactly, but I can feel the link
between us,” he said, pulling her into his arms again. “I’ll always
be able to find you. The bond between us will grow stronger every
time we share blood. Perhaps one day the link will go both
ways.”
Nodding, she rested her head against
his shoulder. It just wasn’t fair, she thought. She should be the
stronger one. She had been born a vampire, after all, and yet,
because of her mortal blood, she lacked many of the preternatural
powers the rest of her people possessed.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, it
seemed even the Others had stronger powers than she
did.