Chapter
21
Kaitlyn walked through a long black
tunnel. Vampires lined both sides, their eyes red and glowing,
their fangs gleaming brightly in the darkness. They hissed at her
as she passed, their expressions cold, their voices angry as they
shouted that she was a traitor, an outcast. She turned to her
father for help, but found no succor there, only disappointment
when he looked at her. Tears stung her eyes when he turned his back
on her. She looked at her mother, certain her mother wouldn’t
reject her for loving Zack.
“I’m sorry,” her mother murmured. “So
sorry.” And then she, too, turned away.
Tears ran down Kaitlyn’s cheeks as one
by one, her aunts and uncles disowned her for loving
Zack.
Zack, who stood at the far end of the
tunnel, his dark gray eyes filled with pain and
sorrow.
All she had to do was deny her love for
him and she could go back to her own people. They would forgive
her. They would welcome her with open arms.
She paused, torn by conflicting
emotions. She loved her parents, but she was a grown woman now. She
had a right to love anyone she wished. Didn’t she?
“Katy. Katy, come to me.” Zack’s voice,
filled with grief.
How could she deny him?
“Katy . . . Katy.” The agony in his
voice tore at her heart.
He needed her.
How was she to decide between her
parents and the man she loved? It wasn’t fair. But Zack needed her.
She could hear it in his voice.
“Ka-ty . . .” His voice, weaker now,
threaded with pain. “Katy!”
She bolted upright in bed, the sound of
his voice ringing in her ears. “Zack, where are you?” She glanced
around the room. She hadn’t imagined his voice, or the underlying
agony.
Throwing back the covers, she hurried
out of her bedroom and into the hallway. She paused there,
listening. And then she heard it again, Zack’s voice, echoing in
the back of her mind. He was in pain. He needed her.
She glanced up and down the hallway,
then shook her head. He couldn’t be here.
Katy.
She turned toward the sound of his
voice, followed it down the corridor to the small door that led up
to the ballroom, then stopped. This was ridiculous. What would he
be doing in the ballroom, of all places?
She opened the door and peered into the
darkness, her feet climbing the stairs seemingly of their own
volition. Up, up, up, until she came to the ballroom.
She tiptoed inside, and looked around,
then moved toward the windows on the far wall. She had never been
up here this early in the morning. The scene before her was
breathtaking. A few scattered clouds hung low, drifting puffs of
white against the lightening sky. The rising sun painted broad
strokes of ochre and crimson across the horizon and splashed the
clouds with glowing shades of pink.
Katy.
She turned away from the window as his
voice sounded in her mind once again. “Where are you?” she cried in
exasperation.
This was the highest room in the
Fortress. If he wasn’t here . . . Turning on her heel, she ran out
of the ballroom and hurried up the short flight of stairs that
ended on a small landing. She had never been in the room beyond.
Her father had warned her to keep out, saying that the tower was in
ruins, the walls crumbling, the floor unsafe.
She stared at the squat door. There was
no latch. Placing her hand on the wood, she pushed, but nothing
happened.
“Zack?” She pressed her ear to the
door. “Are you in there?”
“Katy.” Her name was a sigh on his
lips.
A well-placed kick broke the barrier
between them. Scrambling over the broken bits of wood, she stared
at Zack, momentarily too stunned by what she saw to
speak.
With a groan, he shifted his weight.
The sound spurred her to action and she hurried toward him. “Are
you all right?” She dropped down on her knees beside
him.
It had been a foolish question. His
neck was raw and blistered from the thick silver chain around it.
His ankles, too.
“Who did this to you?” she
demanded.
“Your father.”
Kaitlyn shook her head, unwilling to
believe that her father, the man she had idolized all her life, was
capable of such wanton cruelty. “Why? Why would he do
this?”
“I’m the enemy.”
“You’re not my enemy,” she said, biting
back her anger. She glanced at the patch of blue visible through
the hole in the roof. When the sun was overhead . . . She refused
to think of what would happen then. Instead, she grabbed hold of
the chain that bound his ankle and pulled with all her
might.
Nothing happened.
She tried again, frowning as the silver
grew warm in her hands, and then began to burn. Silver had never
burned her before.
Ignoring the pain, she tugged on the
chain again and yet again, but to no avail.
“Katy, stop,” Zack said. “Your hands .
. .”
“I don’t care. I have to get you out of
here.”
“Stop.” He took her hands in his. Her
palms were red and blistering. “I think your father has infused
some vampire mojo in the silver.”
With a sigh, Kaitlyn sat beside him,
her legs stretched out in front of her, her thigh brushing his.
“I’m so sorry,” she murmured. “I didn’t think he’d do anything like
this. What will happen when the sun is overhead? Will you . . .
?”
“Burst into flame? No. Only the dead do
that.”
“But it will burn you, won’t
it?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll go get some towels and blankets
to cover you with. And an umbrella, if I can find one. And
something to drink . . .”
“A negative, if you’ve got it,” he said
with a tight smile.
“This is no time for
jokes.”
He caught her by the hand. “Stay,
Katy.”
“But . . .”
“Just for a little while.”
She sank back down beside him, her gaze
searching his face. “Do you need to feed?”
“Are you offering?”
She nodded.
Zack swore softly. It was one thing to
take a taste while they were snuggling together, another to feed
off of her, as if she was no more than prey. And yet, he could feel
the heat of the rising sun, knew it would leech his strength as it
seared his flesh.
Kaitlyn brushed the hair away from her
neck and tilted her head to the side. “You need it, Zack. Just do
it.”
He slid his arm around her shoulders
and kissed her, his lips moving over hers, trailing kisses over her
cheek, down the side of her neck, back up to the soft tender place
beneath her ear. He didn’t want to feed off her, but the change in
her breathing, the sudden thundering of her heartbeat, wiped away
all thought of resisting. She moaned softly as his fangs pierced
her flesh, not a sound of pain, but of pleasure.
Her blood was warm and sweet and it
took every ounce of willpower he possessed to pull back. To let her
go.
She smiled at him.
“Katy. Dammit . . .”
She pressed her fingertips to his lips.
“Don’t.”
“It isn’t right.”
“Stop it. If I needed blood, you’d give
me yours, wouldn’t you?”
“Okay,” he conceded. “Point
taken.”
“Good.” She glanced at the hole in the
roof. “I’d better go get those blankets.”
Zack nodded. He hated to see her go,
even for a short time, but blocking the sun was the only way to
keep it from burning him to a crisp. He had been burned once before
and it wasn’t something he wanted to experience again.
Leaning his head back against the side
of the tower, he closed his eyes. He had been a young vampire then,
still cocky enough to think he was invincible. He had been idling
in one of the pubs, flirting with one of the doxies. He could have
compelled her to go with him, but that took all the fun out of it.
Finally, she agreed to let him take her home. She had been a lusty
wench and they had made love far into the night. Drunk on her
blood, amused by her stamina, he had paid little attention to the
time until it was too late, until he felt the first sharp pain
skate over his skin when the morning sun filtered through the open
window of her bedroom.
When he tried to leave, she grabbed
hold of him with both hands, begging him to stay. Each second in
the sun’s light had been torture. Finally, not caring what she
would think, he threw her across the room, his movements hampered
by the sheets tangled around his legs.
Muttering an oath, he had dissolved
into mist and fled the house.
If not for the heavy chains that bound
him to the tower wall, he would have done the same thing now. But
the silver negated his preternatural power, leaving him weak and
vulnerable to the sun’s light.
It took Kaitlyn only moments to return
to her bedroom, where she gathered up an armful of blankets and
quilts. Hurrying into the kitchen, she grabbed a few bags of blood
from the refrigerator.
She glanced at the clock as she made
her way back to the tower. The mortals who lived within the
Fortress would be waking soon. Even as she ducked through the
doorway that led to the tower stairs, she heard the hum of voices
drifting up from the kitchen below.
Muttering, “That was close,” she raced
up the stairs.
When she entered the tower, Zack was
pressed up against the wall as far as he could go. His eyes were
closed against the sun’s light. Was he already asleep?
She whispered his name, but there was
no response. It was probably for the best, she thought. If he was
asleep, maybe the pain wouldn’t be so bad.
She quickly spread the quilts and
blankets over him, making sure he was covered from head to foot.
When that was done, she tucked the bagged blood under the blankets
where he would be sure to find it.
“I’ll get you out of here as soon as I
can,” she promised, her anger at her father sparking to life with
renewed fury.
She was about to leave the tower when
her gaze fell on the broken door. Lifting the largest piece, she
angled it over Zack so that one end rested on the floor and the
other rested against the wall, providing added protection from the
sun.
With a satisfied nod, she left the
tower.
And went directly to her parents’
apartment. She knocked softly, and when there was no response, she
knocked again, harder. “Mom?”
Elena opened the door and peered into
the hallway. “Kaitlyn, what is it?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Now?”
“Yes, right now. It’s
important.”
“Come on in.”
“Not here. In my room.”
“All right, give me a few
minutes.”
True to her word, Elena arrived shortly
thereafter. “Is something wrong, sweetie?”
Kaitlyn closed and locked the door.
“Zack is here.”
“What?”
“Zack, he’s here. You didn’t
know?”
Elena shook her head. “No. Where is
he?”
“Dad locked him in the tower. I’ve got
to get him out of there.” She blinked back her tears. “Before it’s
too late.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. A little
uncomfortable, perhaps. I can’t imagine why your father put him up
there.”
“Mom, Zack’s a vampire. One of... of
the Others.”
“Oh, dear.” Elena sank down on the edge
of the mattress, and then frowned. “Where’s your
bedding?”
“I used it to cover Zack. Mom, you have
to help me! I love Zack.”
“I don’t know what I can do. You know
how your father feels about the Others, and from what I’ve heard, I
can’t say as I blame him.”
Kaitlyn stared at her mother. “You
don’t even know Zack. He’s wonderful.” She clenched her hands, her
anger and frustration growing. She had been so sure she could count
on her mother for help. “If you won’t help me free Zack, I’ll find
someone who will!”
“What do you want me to
do?”
“Help me get him out of the tower
before it’s too late.”
Elena shook her head. “I can’t believe
your father didn’t tell me about this.”
Kaitlyn sat beside her mother. “He’s a
monster.”
“Kaitlyn, what a terrible thing to say
about your father!”
“How can you defend him? Zack could die
up there! He never did anything to anyone here. Dad has no right to
. . .”
“Your father has every right to do what
he thinks is best for us.”
“And killing Zack is best?” Kaitlyn
sprang to her feet and began to pace the floor. “He has no right to
judge Zack. He doesn’t even know him. And neither do
you!”
“Kaitlyn, calm down. I’ll speak to your
father as soon as he wakes up.”
“I can’t wait that long. Will you help
me?”
“I assume you tried to free Zack and
failed?”
Kaitlyn nodded.
“That’s what I thought. What do you
think I can do that you couldn’t? I don’t have any
superpowers.”
“Maybe between the two of us, we can
free him,” Kaitlyn said. She didn’t wait for an answer. Unlocking
the door, she turned to face her mother. “Are you
coming?”
“Your father won’t be happy about
this,” Elena said. “Not happy at all . . . oh,” she murmured as the
door swung open and she saw her husband standing on the other
side.
“What is it I will not be happy about?”
he asked, glancing from his wife to his daughter and back
again.
“I want you to let Zack go,” Kaitlyn
said angrily. “Right now.”
He didn’t waste time pretending he
didn’t know what she was talking about. “This is between me and
him.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Drake,” Elena said, taking a place
between her husband and her daughter. “Why didn’t you tell me about
this?”
“Two against one,” he muttered. “That
is hardly fair.”
“This isn’t like you,” Elena said. “If
Kaitlyn loves him . . . we have to trust her
judgment.”
“You two can argue later,” Kaitlyn
said. “Dad, please get Zack down from the tower.”
Drake stared at his daughter. He had
rarely refused her anything she asked for, but this . . . As far
back as he could remember, he had been taught that the Others could
not be trusted, that they were monsters, incapable of human
emotions. And yet his daughter loved Zack. And Zack must love her
in return, else why would he have come this far to find
her?
“I will release him from the tower when
the sun goes down . . .” He held up a hand when Kaitlyn started to
speak. “But he will have to stay in the dungeon until I am sure I
can trust him.”
Kaitlyn nodded, knowing that was the
best she could hope for.
Just when Zack thought the day would
never end, he felt the shift in the atmosphere as the sun began its
slow descent. The absence of its deadly rays was a welcome relief.
Its light had burned his eyes, its heat had made his blood burn
like liquid fire, searing his veins. He had never realized he
needed to be in a dark place for the daylight sleep to overtake
him. Hovering on the brink of oblivion, unable to escape the sun’s
heat, he had cowered under the blankets, squirming like a worm on a
hot rock. It had been the worst day of his life. The only relief he
had known came from the blood Kaitlyn had left for him. It had
strengthened him when the pain grew unbearable. Bless the girl for
her thoughtfulness.
Nightfall did nothing to ease the pain
of the silver shackles. His neck and ankles were raw where the
metal rubbed against his skin.
He had told Kaitlyn the sunlight
wouldn’t make him go up in smoke, but he wasn’t sure he could
survive another day in the sun.
Feeling as though he were smothering
under the blankets, he jerked them away from his face. And saw
Kaitlyn’s father staring down at him. He recognized the man
standing in the doorway as the mortal who had accompanied Drake
before.
Zack glared at Drake, wondering if the
vampire was about to drive a stake through his heart. Instead, the
mortal stepped forward and unlocked the chain from the bolt in the
wall.
“Get up,” Drake said. “Torrance, bring
him.”
Before Zack could ask what the hell was
going on, Drake turned on his heel and started down the tower
stairs.
Torrance tugged on the chain around
Zack’s neck. Resigned, Zack followed the man, his steps hobbled by
the shackles around his ankles.
When they reached the bottom of the
last flight of stairs, Drake moved down the main floor hallway to a
narrow wooden door that opened onto another stairway.
Zack’s trepidation increased as they
descended farther and farther underground. One flight. Two. Three.
And they came to another door. He swore under his breath as Drake
opened it.
Zack shuddered as a miasma of pain and
blood and death roiled toward him through the open doorway. How
many people had suffered in this place? How many had died screaming
in agony or begging for mercy?
Clenching his jaw, he followed Drake
and Torrance into the bowels of the dungeon.
Drake opened the door to the last cell
on the right.
Tugging on the chain, Torrance forced
Zack into the cell and fastened the chain around his neck to a bolt
in the wall.
“Torrance, leave us,” Drake
said.
The man left without a word or a
backward glance.
Zack flinched when Drake shut and
locked the cell door. “What now?” he asked, turning to face his
captor. “You gonna leave me down here to rot?”
“The thought crossed my
mind.”
“Listen, Kaitlyn told me about your war
with the Others and how her great-grandfather took ’em out. That’s
got nothing to do with me.”
“Does it not?”
“No. If I was the kind of inhuman,
blood-sucking monster you seem to think I am, I’d have killed Katy
and bled her dry by now.”
“Katy.” Drake spoke the word slowly, so
that it came out in two syllables. Ka-ty.
“Dammit, you must have some faith in
her judgment. You left her alone in Lake Tahoe.”
“Where do you come from?”
“Originally? A little town outside of
London that doesn’t exist anymore.”
“How long have you been a
vampire?”
“Six hundred years, give or take a
few.”
“Have you made others of your
kind?”
“Just one. At her request. She works
for me.”
“Why not more?”
Zack shrugged. “I didn’t want the
responsibility. What about you? Have you made other
vampires?”
“We cannot turn others into what we
are. What powers do you hold?”
“Just the run-of-the-mill stuff. The
ability to read mortal minds. To dissolve into mist. To transport
myself across the room or across the world. To change shape.” He
grinned. “Into something larger than a cat.”
Something that might have been
amusement flickered in Drake’s eyes and was quickly
gone.
“What about you?” Zack asked. “Any
extra perks from being born a vampire?”
“None beyond what you have mentioned.”
Odd, he thought, that they shared the same preternatural powers,
yet acquired them in totally different ways. “Can you be active
when the sun is up?”
“Only if my life depends on it, and
then only indoors and for a short time. You?”
“In my cat form, for as long as I wish.
And in this form, for short periods, as long as I am protected from
the sun.”
“Kaitlyn’s got the best of both worlds,
doesn’t she?” Zack said quietly.
Drake nodded. “You are in love with my
daughter.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement of
fact.
“Yessir, I am.”
“She is my only daughter, the only
child I will ever have.”
“Kaitlyn told me your father had
numerous wives and dozens of kids.”
“That is true, but his way is not my
way.”
Zack shifted from one foot to the
other. The pain of the silver was almost unbearable. Changing
position caused the shackles to rub against his burned skin. It
took all of his willpower to keep his expression impassive, to stay
on his feet, to keep from rubbing the rawness around his neck. But
if it killed him, he refused to let the other vampire know how
badly he was hurting.
Drake studied Zack Ravenscroft through
narrowed eyes. Dried blood stained Ravenscroft’s neck and ankles
where the silver had rubbed his skin raw. He knew the other man was
in pain, yet there was no sign of it in Ravenscroft’s voice or in
his eyes. He stood there, tall and straight, his attitude just
short of openly defiant, yet there was a trace of respect in his
manner, no doubt in deference to the fact that Drake was Kaitlyn’s
father.
“The silver,” Drake asked, though he
already knew the answer. “Does it burn? Or merely drain your
strength?”
“It burns like hellfire. And if it
didn’t weaken me, I’d be on the other side of that door with my
hands around your throat.”
Drake grinned inwardly as he turned on
his heel and left the dungeon. He had no doubt that Zack
Ravenscroft would make a formidable enemy. The worst part was that
he found himself liking the other vampire in spite of
everything.