Chapter
11
Zack stood in the shadows alongside
Kaitlyn’s house, debating whether to see her again. She was a nice
girl, obviously a little naïve when it came to men. He had the
feeling she had been sheltered most of her life until she came here
to live. He sensed the strength in her, but it was more physical
than emotional, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. In
all his existence, he had had only one long-standing relationship
with a woman, and that had been over a century and a half ago. It
just wasn’t smart to care too deeply for mortals. At best, they
lived a mere seventy or eighty years; at worst, they died in your
arms at the age of twenty, like his beautiful dancer, her mind
gone, her body ravaged by disease.
He rarely thought of Colette. She had
been a pretty young woman, with bright red hair, a winsome smile,
and a dancer’s slender figure. They had spent three incredible
years together and then, without warning, she took sick. Within the
space of a few hours, she was out of her head with fever. He had
taken her to the hospital, but the doctor shook his head and said
there was nothing he could do. In a few days, she looked more dead
than alive. He had begged her to let him bring her across in hopes
that the change would heal her in mind and body, but she had been
too far gone to decide, and when he had tried to bring her across,
it was too late. She had died in his arms. The memory of her death
had haunted him for years. Even now, thinking of her filled him
with guilt and regret. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face that
kind of failure, of loss, again.
He shoved his hands into his pockets.
Best to go back home where he belonged. He was about to head back
to the casino when Kaitlyn appeared at the front window. One look
and he knew he couldn’t let her go, not yet. He had been alone too
long, waited too long to feel the warm rush of desire that spiraled
through him whenever she was near, a hunger not just for her blood,
but for the sound of her laughter, the beauty of her smile, the
chance to hold her close in his arms and feel alive again. And if
she broke his heart . . . well, he would just have to live with it,
because he didn’t want to live without her.
Zack was leaving the cover of the
shadows alongside Kaitlyn’s house when he caught the scent of a
stranger. It could mean nothing, he thought. It could be a tourist
out for a walk, the mailman, a repairman, except there was no
reason for any of them to be in this particular place at this
particular hour.
He took another breath, committing the
scent to memory, before making his way up to the front
porch.
Kaitlyn answered his knock almost
immediately, leaving him to wonder if she had been standing by the
door waiting for him—or for the man whose scent he had detected
only moments earlier.
The look in her eyes when she saw him,
the warmth in her voice as she invited him inside, was all the
answer he needed.
Murmuring her name, he pulled her into
his arms and kissed her until she protested that she needed
air.
“Damn, woman,” he
muttered.
She smiled up at him, thinking that the
awe in his voice and the heated expression in his eyes was the
nicest compliment she had ever received.
Standing on her tiptoes, she folded her
hands over his shoulders and pressed her lips to his.
Without breaking the kiss, Zack lifted
Kaitlyn into his arms and carried her to the sofa. Still without
breaking the kiss, he settled her on his lap and wrapped his arms
around her. She fit into his embrace as if she had been created for
no other purpose than to mold her body to his. Her skin was warm
and smooth, her hair fragrant with the scent of honeysuckle, her
lips soft and pliable. His body reacted as expected when a soft
moan rose in her throat.
“Katy,” he said, his voice thick with
desire.
She fanned herself with her hand,
thinking one more kiss like that and she would go up in flames. “I
think I need a drink,” she said. “Can I offer you
something?”
His heated gaze moved over her from
head to heel, leaving no doubt in her mind that she was what he
wanted.
“Besides that,” she said, sliding off
his lap.
“Wine, if you’ve got it.”
Nodding, she walked into the kitchen
and went straight to the refrigerator where she poured herself a
glass of ice water. She stood there a moment, taking deep breaths
and trying to calm her racing heart. If she could harness the
electricity in Zack’s kisses, she could probably light up the
world.
After taking one last calming breath,
she found a bottle of wine and filled two glasses, then returned to
the living room.
Zack was sitting on the sofa where she
had left him. He accepted the drink she offered him with a
frown.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, taking the
seat beside him.
Zack regarded her a moment. For days,
his instincts had been warning him that she was keeping something
from him. “Who are you really?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Maybe the better question would be,
what are
you?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”
“And I’m sure you do.” Opening his
preternatural senses, he tried to read her mind but, again, with no
success. “You’re not mortal, are you?”
She stared at him, her eyes
wide.
He canted his head to the side, his
eyes narrowing. “So, what are you, Katy? Fairy? Werewolf?
What?”
Kaitlyn’s heart skipped a beat. Zack
hadn’t mentioned vampires, but it was obvious he suspected there
was something otherworldly about her. Striving for calm, she set
her glass on the end table. It was strictly forbidden for her
people to tell anyone else the truth of what they were. It had been
drummed into her from the time she was old enough to understand
that no one else was to know. “I think you should
leave.”
Zack drained his glass and set it aside
before gaining his feet. “Not until I get some
answers.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No.” Closing the short distance
between them, he took hold of her wrist and pulled her to her
feet.
“Let me go.”
He studied her speculatively. There was
no fear in her voice, and none in her expression.
“I feel the strength in you,” he mused,
and then frowned. No doubt he would have noticed it before if he
hadn’t been so smitten with her. “You don’t smell like any vampire
I’ve ever met, but I can smell blood in the house.” Still holding
her arm, he tugged her along behind him as he went into the kitchen
and opened the refrigerator. There, amid the milk, butter, cheese,
and eggs, he saw two bags of blood. He sniffed the air, then
glanced over his shoulder. “Type AB negative, right?”
Kaitlyn looked at him as if she had
never seen him before. “How do you know that?”
He stared at her, one brow arched.
“Can’t you guess?”
“You can’t be one of us.” And yet, deep
down, hadn’t she suspected that very thing? She shook her head. It
was impossible. “My father’s never heard of you.”
“That’s okay,” Zack said flippantly.
“I’ve never heard of him, either.” Taking her hand, Zack led the
way back into the living room. Resuming his seat on the sofa, he
pulled Kaitlyn down beside him. “I guess that explains why I could
never read your thoughts.”
“And why I couldn’t read yours.” She
grinned, thinking how remarkable it was that Zack was a vampire,
too. She could hardly wait to tell her mom and dad. What would her
dad think, when he learned that Zack was indeed one of them, and
that he had managed to stay under the radar?
“How long have you been a vampire?”
Zack asked. With the Undead, appearances were usually deceiving. He
was a lot older than he looked.
“That’s a silly question. All my life,
of course. And I’m only half. My mother is human.”
Zack stared at her as if she had
suddenly started speaking a foreign language. “What?”
Kaitlyn felt her earlier excitement
melt away like ice left too long in the sun. “You’re one of them,
aren’t you? One of the Others.”
“Others?”
“My father told me there are two kinds
of vampires. Our kind, who are born that way. And the Others, who
are turned into vampires by an exchange of blood. Our people call
themselves the Romanian vampires, although we don’t just inhabit
Romania anymore.”
Zack shook his head. “I’ve never heard
of anyone being born a vampire.”
“Our people are basically mortal until
they turn twenty, and then the craving for human blood comes on us.
Once we partake of it, we lose our humanity and our ability to eat
human food and walk in the sun.”
“I’ve seen you eat.”
She shrugged. “It’s because I’m only
half vampire.”
“Can you abide the daylight, as
well?”
She nodded.
He grunted softly. Half human and half
vampire. If that didn’t beat all. “Can all your people walk in the
sun?”
“No, although my father can be awake
and active in his cat form during the day.”
“Cat form?”
Kaitlyn nodded, smiling. “When he wants
to be active during the day, he assumes the form of a big gray
cat.” One of her earliest memories of her father was watching him
transform himself from man to cat and back again. She had thought
it was magic until her father explained that it was a gift bestowed
on those born to Liliana. Her father used to tease her, saying it
was because her grandmother was really a witch. Kaitlyn had
believed him until Liliana set her straight.
“I am not a witch,” Liliana had told
her. “But there is magic in my blood that gives my descendents the
ability to change shape. There is only one real witch in the
family, and that is Nadiya.”
Kaitlyn had never known if that was
true or not, although it wouldn’t have surprised her. Nadiya Korzha
was one of the most unpleasant women she had ever met.
Zack shook his head, thinking Kaitlyn’s
people were the weirdest vampires he had ever heard of. He could be
awake during the day if his life depended on it, but he was weak,
sluggish. He could also change shape, although he preferred
something larger and more intimidating than a cat. Most of his kind
shifted into wolves; that was his preference, as well.
“Can your father turn into anything
else?” he asked. “Something a little more menacing?”
“Not that I know of, but believe me, my
father can be plenty scary when he wants to be.”
“What about you?” Zack asked with a wry
grin. “Can you be scary?”
“No. And I can’t turn into a cat,
either.”
“Too bad,” Zack said. “That’s something
I’d really like to see.”
“How long have you been a
vampire?”
“A little over six hundred
years.”
“Wow! You’re even older than my father!
How old were you when you became a vampire?”
“A few months on the shy side of
twenty-nine.”
She canted her head to the side,
admiring his strong jaw, straight nose, and unlined skin. His brows
were inky black, like his hair. “Our people don’t age once the
change occurs. Apparently yours don’t, either.”
“Right. We just get stronger as we get
older. I’m guessing your people do, too.”
She looked at his hand, lightly holding
hers. “We have a lot in common,” she remarked
wistfully.
“And that makes you
unhappy?”
She looked up at him,
mute.
“What is it, Katy?” Releasing her hand,
he stroked her cheek. “What’s bothering you?”
“Our people are enemies.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I
don’t have any enemies.” None living, at any rate.
Kaitlyn looked at him in disbelief.
“Don’t you know anything? Centuries ago, my great-grandfather,
Calin Sherrad, declared war on the Others in order to preserve our
identity and our way of life.” She had read the story of the war
with the Others in the Journal of
Alexandru Chisca, written long before her father had
been born. In it, Chisca had chronicled the war and how it had
started because the Others were feeding indiscriminately on human
men, women, and even children. Even worse, they had left their
kills in the streets and byways to be found by mortals, which had
brought out the vampire hunters. Not only that, but the Others had
turned mortals into vampires like themselves, causing panic in the
streets. The Romanian vampires couldn’t turn mortals into vampires,
although an infusion of their blood prolonged mortal life.
Kaitlyn’s mother was proof of that. Although Elena was over forty,
she still appeared to be in her twenties.
Zack grunted softly. “I don’t know
anything about a war.”
“I thought everybody knew.” She had
learned it at an early age. “It was fought over a thousand years
ago.”
“I guess that’s why I never heard of
it. But what the hell, that’s old history. It doesn’t have anything
to do with you and me.”
“I wish it didn’t.”
Zack frowned. He might not be able to
read her mind, but in this instance, it wasn’t necessary. He knew
what she was going to say before she spoke the words.
“I’m sorry, Zack, but I can’t see you
anymore.”
Eyes narrowed, he stared at her and
then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, hard and long. And
just as abruptly, he let her go. “So, that’s it,” he said, his
voice harsh. “It’s over between us before it’s even started, and
all because of some war that took place over a thousand years
ago.”
Kaitlyn blinked back her tears. “It’s
not what I want. But my father would never accept you. Or forgive
me.”
He regarded her for stretched seconds,
the taste of her still warm on his lips, her scent permeating his
senses. And then he swore a vile oath. Why the hell was he so
upset? It wasn’t like she was ending a long-standing relationship.
Hell, he had only known the woman for a few days.
“Have it your way, Katy.” Rising, he
dissolved into mist and vanished from the room.
Kaitlyn stared at the place where Zack
had been standing, wishing she could relive the last few minutes,
that she could recall the words she had spoken. And yet, it was
better to end it now, before she fell any deeper, before letting
him go became impossible.
She brushed the tears from her cheeks.
She wouldn’t cry, wouldn’t think of Zack Ravenscroft, or of what
might have been. She shook her head. Just her luck. She had finally
met a man she liked and he was the wrong kind of
vampire.
Kaitlyn closed her eyes and took
several slow deep breaths. She refused to just sit home and feel
sorry for herself. She was Drake Sherrad’s daughter, heir to the
Carpathian dynasty. She had a destiny to fulfill, and Zack
Ravenscroft had no place in it. How could she have forgotten that?
In a year or two, three at the most, she would be required to
return to the Fortress and seek a life mate.
After washing her face, she reapplied
her makeup, grabbed her purse and her keys, and left the house. It
was still early and there was a movie in town she had been wanting
to see. Tonight seemed like the perfect time.
The movie had been a mistake, Kaitlyn
thought as she walked toward the ice-cream parlor located down the
block and across the street from the theater. She had forgotten the
film was one of those chick flicks with lots of long, lingering
looks and a sad ending. She had cried all the way
through.
Hopefully, a banana split with extra
whipped cream and a cherry would cheer her up. Her mother always
said there were few miseries in life that a hefty helping of
chocolate couldn’t make better.
Kaitlyn had just taken her first bite
of hot fudge when the last person she wanted to see dropped into
the seat across from hers.
“Hey, Kaitlyn, how’s it going?” Eddie
asked cheerfully.
She forced a smile. “Just fine, thank
you.”
“I thought you had a date tonight,” he
said, his voice carefully casual.
“Something came up at the last minute
and he had to cancel.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
Eddie glanced at his watch. “Well, it’s
early yet. Maybe we could go out. I hear there’s a nice dance floor
at Ravenscroft’s Casino.”
“No!” The idea of running into Zack was
unthinkable. “I mean, I don’t feel like dancing
tonight.”
He looked thoughtful. “Do you like
bowling? There’s a new place down the street. Lois Lanes. Get
it?”
She forced another smile.
“So, what do you say?”
“I don’t think so.” She took a bite of
ice cream but it seemed to have lost its appeal and she pushed the
dish away.
“I guess it’s not my night,” Eddie
remarked.
And it never
will be, Kaitlyn thought, pushing away from the
table. “Sorry, Eddie, I’m just really tired.” Rising, she plucked
her handbag from the table. “Maybe some other time.” Talk about a
lie, she thought.
“The least I can do is walk you
home.”
“Thank you, but I have my
car.”
“I didn’t see it parked
outside.”
“I left it in the parking lot behind
the theater.” She started toward the door, a huff of annoyance
rising in her throat when Eddie followed her outside and fell into
step beside her.
The silence stretched between them, but
Kaitlyn didn’t care. She was too upset about how things had ended
with Zack to worry about what Eddie Harrington thought. She had
nothing to say to him and had no interest in his company. If she
didn’t encourage him, maybe he would finally get a clue and leave
her alone.
Apparently, he was clueless. “So, you
went to the movies? How was it?”
“Very sad.”
“The new sci-fi flick starts on Friday.
I hear it’s a good one.”
“Well, I hope you like it,” she said,
hoping he would take the hint this time. Grateful to have reached
her car, she unlocked it and opened the door. “Good
night.”
“Yeah, good night.”
Kaitlyn slid behind the wheel and put
the key in the ignition. When she glanced in the rearview mirror,
she saw him standing under one of the lampposts, watching her. The
surly look in his eyes sent a shiver of unease down her spine.
Putting the car in gear, she drove out of the parking
lot.
Zack stood in the shadows across from
the parking lot, his eyes narrowed as he focused on the man who had
been with Kaitlyn. Even from a distance, he recognized the man’s
scent. It was the same as the one he had detected outside Kaitlyn’s
house earlier that night. Was this guy friend or foe? Judging from
the hostile expression in the man’s eyes, Zack didn’t think he was
Kaitlyn’s friend, yet she hadn’t appeared to be afraid of him. She
hadn’t appeared to be fond of his company, either.
Zack had just decided to confront the
man when he disappeared from sight.
Zack grunted softly. Either the
stranger was some kind of sorcerer, or he was a vampire. He was
betting on the latter. And since the man didn’t smell human, and he
didn’t smell like one of the Undead, Zack figured the man was a
blood-born vampire, like Kaitlyn.
Frowning, Zack willed himself to
Kaitlyn’s yard and took cover in the shadows near the front porch.
She might not want anything to do with him, but he was sticking
close by until he determined what was going on between her and the
stranger.