by Becky Allen
“She can’t be dead,” Elena wailed softly. “She can’t be.”
Drake murmured his wife’s name as he wrapped her in his arms.
Zack clenched his hands into fists. He hadn’t told Drake or Elena about the blood bond between himself and Kaitlyn, nor would he, unless he was able to connect with her. What was the point in telling them unless he had good news? And right now, he feared the worst. It tore at his heart to see the pain in Elena’s eyes. Unable to endure it any longer, he left the castle.
Outside, he drew a deep breath, and then he started to run. He could have easily transported himself to the city, but he needed to feel the wind in his face, needed to unleash the anger and frustration and fear that had been his constant companions ever since Kaitlyn disappeared. And he needed to blow off some steam now, before he hunted, or heaven help the man or woman he preyed on this night.
It was Friday. When he reached the city, the streets were crowded with shoppers and tourists. Zack mingled with the crowd. He ignored the couples and the elderly, the skinheads and the addicts. He wanted someone who was alone and would not be missed. He continued up the street, his senses rejecting this one for being infected with AIDS, that one for being too young. He bypassed a teenage girl heavy with child, a middle-aged man who reeked of alcohol, a woman who smelled of cocaine. Not that the drugs or the diseases or the booze would affect him. He was immune to all of it. But drugs and disease tainted the blood and left a bad taste in his mouth.
When he reached the end of the block, he crossed the main thoroughfare and strolled down a side street. There were fewer people here but he quickly found what he was looking for, a woman in her late twenties who had just stepped out of a nightclub.
She wobbled a little on her high heels as she walked down the sidewalk. She stopped beside a late-model car.
She was fumbling with her keys when Zack ghosted up behind her.
“Here,” he said, “let me help you.”
Startled, she looked at him, her eyes widening with alarm.
He trapped her gaze with his. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you.”
She wanted to argue, but she was helpless to resist his compulsion.
A wave of his hand opened the car door. “Get in.”
Her movements were jerky, like a puppet’s, as she climbed into the front seat.
Zack closed her door, then went around the front of the car and slid behind the wheel. “Give me your keys.”
She handed them over without a word.
“Relax . . .” He searched her mind for her name while he put the car in gear. “Lavinia. We’re going to go for a little drive, and then I’ll take you home.”
She stared at him, unblinking, as he drove out of the city, then turned off the highway onto a dirt road.
She was trembling uncontrollably now.
Zack swore softly as he put the car in PARK. His hand curled around her nape, drawing her toward him. “Lavinia, listen to me. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.” He ran his fingertips down the length of her neck. “Do you believe me?”
She shook her head.
She had a strong will, he thought irritably. Too strong to fully succumb to his suggestions. Well, he knew how to take care of that. He drew her closer, felt her body tense as his fangs brushed her tender skin. One bite, one taste, and she surrendered her will to his, a sigh of pleasure rising in her throat as he took what he needed.
And wished it was Kaitlyn in his arms, her blood chasing away the cold, filling the emptiness deep inside.
Chapter 32
Awareness returned slowly. Feeling as though she was swimming through a sea of thick black molasses, Kaitlyn fought her way up out of the smothering darkness, then lay there, feeling weak and disoriented.
It took three tries before she could sit up. When the dizziness passed, she noted that she was in the same room as before, on the same disgusting mattress. Her eyes felt gritty. There was a horrible taste in her mouth.
How long had she been here? Where was Nadiya? Where was Zack? Had her parents stopped looking for her? No! They would never stop looking, and neither would Zack. She had to believe that, had to keep hoping they would find her.
When she stretched her legs, her toe hit something on the floor beside the mattress. Looking down, she saw a wooden tray. A tin plate held two slices of bread and a hunk of cheese. There was also a cup of water. She had no appetite for food, but she drained the cup and wished for more.
She looked at the bread and cheese again. She wasn’t really hungry but she picked up a slice of bread and took a bite. Who knew when they would offer her nourishment again? Surprisingly, she discovered she was hungry, after all, and she wolfed down the bread and cheese, then licked her fingers.
How long were they going to keep her here? How long did she have before Nadiya came to exact her revenge? And how, exactly, would she do it?
Kaitlyn bit down on her lower lip to keep from crying. She couldn’t die, not now, now when she had just found Zack. She wanted more time—time to get to know him better, to discover what it would be like to make love to him all night long, to explore him from head to foot and every masculine inch in between. She had saved herself for the man she loved. Surely fate wouldn’t be cruel enough to let her die before she discovered what it truly meant to be a woman.
“Zack.” She whispered his name into the darkness. She was a vampire. She was strong enough to endure this. But the thought of never seeing Zack again was more than she could bear. Curling up on the mattress, she whispered his name again, and let the tears flow.
Zack was on his way back to Wolfram when he heard Kaitlyn’s voice. He came to an abrupt halt. “Kaitlyn?” Dammit, had he only imagined it?
Closing his eyes, he again opened his vampiric senses, seeking the blood link that bound him to Katy. It took several minutes but gradually, the link between them stirred, solidified. Zack breathed a sigh of relief. She was alive. His mind brushed hers, seeing what she saw, feeling what she felt.
She was in a dark place. A basement. Shackled to a wall. She was cold and afraid. Crying softly.
Kaitlyn? Katy, can you hear me?
There was a long moment of silence and then her voice, filled with hope. Zack?
Do you know where you are?
No.
Is Nadiya there?
Not now, but she’s been here.
Stay calm, Katy darlin’. We’ll get you out of there, he promised. And hoped it was a promise he could keep. I need to tell your parents you’re okay, but I’ll be in touch again soon. And Katy? I love you.
I love you, too.
A thought carried him to Wolfram. He found Drake and Elena on the sofa where he had left them. Drake was staring into the hearth. Elena was asleep in his arms, her eyes red and swollen.
Drake looked up when Zack appeared in the room. “Where have you been?”
“Hunting. In the city. Listen, I found Katy. That is, I know where she is. Dammit, that’s not right, either. But I think I can get to her.” There was just one small flaw in his plan. He couldn’t materialize inside a dwelling without having been previously invited. Usually, whoever owned the place had to do the inviting, but maybe that wasn’t true with Romanian vampires. Of course, there was really only one way to find out.
“What are you talking about?” Drake demanded.
“We have a bond, Katy and I, forged by the blood we’ve shared. . . .”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
“That doesn’t matter now. I was able to link with her a few minutes ago. She’s all right. I should be able to follow the link to where she’s being held. There’s just one problem.”
Drake stared at him a moment, then nodded. “You can’t materialize inside the building if you’ve never been there before.”
“Right. Unless Kaitlyn’s invitation would work.”
Drake grunted softly. “Only one way to find out.”
“Yeah,” Zack said, grinning. “Tha
t was my thought, too. I’ve never tried to enter a place where I wasn’t welcome, so I’m not sure how this will play out.”
“There are three possibilities.” Drake ticked them off on the fingers of one hand. “One, nothing will happen. Two, we will end up outside our destination. Or three, we will find Kaitlyn.”
“I’m ready to go if you are.”
Drake kissed Elena’s cheek, then softly called her name. “Elena.”
She woke with a start, a look of alarm in her eyes. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, love. Zack thinks he knows where Kaitlyn is. We are going to try to get her back.”
“I’m going with you.”
“No.” He caressed her cheek with his knuckles. “You must wait here. We will be back soon.”
Elena glanced at Zack, then back to her husband. “How did you find out where she is?”
“Zack and Kaitlyn have exchanged blood, much as you and I have done. There is a bond between them now. Zack thinks he can follow it to our daughter.”
Elena looked at Zack. It pained him to see the hope shining in her eyes.
“Be careful,” she murmured as Drake kissed her cheek. “Both of you.”
“So,” Drake said. “How do we do this?”
Zack shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me. Just hang on to my arm and I’ll see if I can connect with Kaitlyn.”
Drake nodded curtly, then grasped Zack’s forearm.
Zack closed his eyes, opened his senses, and concentrated on Katy’s whereabouts. He formed a picture of her in his mind, felt the link between them interlock.
Katy?
Zack?
We’re coming for you. I need you to invite me into wherever you are.
Come to me, Zack. Your presence is welcome.
You’d better include your father. He’s with me.
Drake Sherrad, she said, her voice rising with excitement, you are also welcome.
Okay, darlin’, hopefully we’ll see you soon.
Hurry!
Zack glanced at Sherrad. “Hang on. Here we go.” It was an experience that could not be described, the sense of moving through time and space at an incredible speed. Zack’s vision blurred, the sound of air rushing past rang in his ears.
The abrupt sensation of motion was jarring.
Zack glanced at the small, two-story house located on a patch of dead grass. A six-foot chain-link fence surrounded the yard. There were bars on the windows, a security screen on the front door. The house was dark save for a light in one of the upstairs windows.
“Apparently her invitation was not sufficient,” Sherrad remarked.
“So it seems. I guess we’ll have to do it the hard way.”
“Fine by me,” Sherrad said.
Zack moved closer to the fence, his senses probing the interior of the house. “I don’t sense any vampires inside, just Katy and a man and a woman.”
Drake sniffed the air. “Nadiya has been here recently.”
Zack nodded. Hers was a smell he wouldn’t soon forget. “Let’s go.” He didn’t wait for a reply, simply vaulted over the fence. No sooner had he reached the other side than an enormous Rottweiler came charging toward him from the backyard.
In an instant, Zack transformed himself into a wolf and growled in the dog’s face. With a sharp whine, the Rott tucked its tail between its legs and ran back the way it had come.
Grinning, Zack assumed his own form once again.
“Impressive,” Drake remarked.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t think your pussycat would have any effect.”
“Let us find Kaitlyn, shall we?”
Choking back his laughter, Zack strode up to the front door and knocked. He could feel Sherrad’s gaze burning an angry hole in his back.
When there was no answer, Zack knocked again. Three minutes later, a middle-aged man wearing a pair of worn jeans and a flannel shirt opened the door. He looked harmless enough, until they saw the doublebarreled shotgun in his hands.
“He’s a drone,” Sherrad said quietly.
“What the hell’s a drone?”
“A human whose mind has been tampered with. Have you never made one?”
“Hell, no. Have you?”
“From time to time. Nadiya has left him in charge of Kaitlyn. No doubt she has ordered him to kill anyone who tries to enter the house.”
Zack glanced past the man to the woman who had come up behind him. She was about the same age as the man. She also carried a shotgun. It was a ludicrous picture, the short, rotund rosy-cheeked woman wearing a long blue flannel nightgown and carrying a shotgun that was almost taller than she was.
Zack looked sideways at Sherrad. “So, what do we do now?”
“See if we can override Nadiya’s compulsion.” Summoning his preternatural power, Drake stared into the man’s eyes. “You will forget whatever Nadiya Korzha has told you,” he said firmly. “Whatever threats she has made are no longer in force. Do you understand?”
The man lifted the shotgun and leveled it at Sherrad’s chest. “Go away or I will kill you.”
“Uh, I don’t think it’s working,” Zack muttered.
The man eared back the hammer on the shotgun. Unless the gun was loaded with silver and penetrated Drake’s heart, the blast would be painful and messy, but not fatal.
Sherrad was little more than a blur as he reached forward and wrested the gun from the man’s hand, then choked him into unconsciousness.
“Maybe you’ll have better luck with the woman,” Zack said dryly.
“Maybe you will shut up,” Drake growled.
“Maybe I’d have better luck.”
“Be my guest.”
“Excuse me, madam,” Zack said. “May I have a word with you?”
She looked momentarily confused, then nodded.
“My name is Zack and I’ve come to tell you that you don’t have to be afraid of Nadiya anymore. I’m releasing you from her spell. Do you understand?”
“What spell?”
“Nadiya is a sorceress and she put a spell on you. But it isn’t effective any longer. So why don’t you put the gun down and take care of your husband?”
She glanced at the man sprawled facedown on the floor, then looked up at Zack.
“He needs help. If you invite me in, I’ll help you carry him to bed.”
The woman stared at her husband, and at the gun in her hands as if she had never seen either one before and then, with a sob, she lowered the weapon and dropped to her knees beside her husband.
When she looked up at Zack again, her eyes were clear. “Please, come in and help us.”
Zack looked over his shoulder at Sherrad and smiled smugly.
“Don’t say a word,” Drake warned.
There was a shimmer of power as Zack stepped inside. It always amazed him that something as innocuous as a threshold had the power to keep him outside. He didn’t know why it was so, but it was.
When he started past the woman, she grabbed his pant leg. “My husband . . .”
“I’ll be right back, I promise. Why don’t you get him a drink of water?”
He didn’t wait for a reply. Opening his vampiric senses once again, he followed the blood link through a door that led down into a basement. Kaitlyn’s scent was strong here, and then he saw her, sitting on a filthy mattress.
“Kaitlyn!” Sherrad hurried past Zack and enfolded his daughter in his arms. “Are you all right?”
“I am now.”
Zack rocked back on his heels. It was all he could do to keep from pushing Sherrad aside, but Kaitlyn was the man’s only child, after all. He contented himself with looking at her. Aside from the fact that her dress was wrinkled and her hair was tangled, she seemed none the worse for wear.
Sherrad brushed a lock of hair from Kaitlyn’s cheek. “We must get you out of here before Nadiya returns.”
“I am afraid it is too late for that.”
Zack muttered an oath at the sound of the familiar voice.
Sherrad put Kaitlyn behind him, then slowly turned around.
“How very clever of you to find her,” Nadiya said. “I am afraid I underestimated your resourcefulness.”
“We’re not leaving without her,” Zack said. “So you can move aside and let us pass, or I’ll rip your heart out. And believe me, I know how to do that.”
“I did not come alone,” she said imperiously.
Zack crossed his arms over his chest. “Bring ’em on, witch!”
He had no sooner said the words than Nadiya vanished from sight and a dozen men—both vampires and drones—swarmed into the room.
Chapter 33
There was instant pandemonium as Zack and Drake were surrounded by a dozen men intent on destroying them.
Zack summoned his power, felt it flow through him, making everything seem sharper, brighter, as he changed into his wolf form. Fangs bared, he sprang at the nearest vampire, felt a rush of exhilaration as he tore out the man’s throat. The smell of blood and death rose in the air, exciting the beast within him. Returning to his human form, he ripped out another vampire’s heart and tossed it aside. A split second later, he resumed his wolf form and attacked another man. This one was human. Easily killed.
He had no idea how Drake was doing, didn’t have time to check on Kaitlyn, but he knew she was alive. He could hear the rapid beating of her heart, smell her fear above that of the men trying to kill him.
He turned to confront another man, felt his foot slip on the bloody floor, heard Kaitlyn’s scream as he went down. Snarling and snapping, he sank his fangs into the man’s ankle and jerked him off his feet. Before the man could recover, Zack crushed his windpipe.
Caught up in the lust for blood, Zack killed another man and destroyed another vampire.
In a momentary lull, he glanced around the room, noting that there were only three vampires still standing. He looked for Sherrad and saw him standing amid a pile of bodies at the other end of the room. Kaitlyn’s father was splattered with blood from head to foot, his eyes wild, his lips drawn back over his fangs.
Zack grinned. Kaitlyn was right. Her father could be scary.