“So what did this Stephan have you do exactly that made you so upset?” Gage asked carefully.
“He had me take this woman out to a ranch and drop her off.”
“Really?” Gage raised a questioning brow. “That doesn’t sound so bad, spending time with a woman.”
“Well, yes, if you like long, leggy blondes.”
Could it have been Her? Stephan’s human? His excitement built.
Michael crossed his arms over his chest. “It was bad, because it took so damned long.”
“Oh? How far away was the ranch?”
“Believe it or not, it was just over the Nevada-Utah border.”
“My goodness. That is quite a ways.” Thinking quickly Gage added, “Were you able to take the highway, or did you have to take back roads to get there?”
“Luckily, I could take Highway 15 until we got into Utah.”
Gage wanted to ask the name of the ranch, but could not figure a way to do it naturally. He bit his tongue and waited for an opportunity to do so. Gage offered Michael a drink, then another. And then one more to loosen his tongue. When he was sure Michael had had one too many, he steered the conversation back to the ranch.
“So Michael, this woman you had to take to the ranch, was she at least pretty?”
“Yeah, actually she was drop dead gorgeous. She had long legs and beautiful blonde hair—a real knock out.”
“Did you get any action from her?” Gage wiggled his eyebrows.
“Oh no, no way. My friend made it clear that she was off limits.”
An evil grin pulled at Gage’s lips, but he sat still, trying to appear only mildly interested as he realized that Stephan had apparently sent his female away.
“Did it take you long to get there?”
“Well over an hour or two?” Michael downed the last of his drink. Ever the good host—a host who wanted his guest drunk—Gage automatically rose to fill his glass to the brim.
“My, that’s a long time. Where did you go, the Bucking Bronco Ranch?” Gage guessed hopefully.
Michael shook his head. “No. It was called Rusty Rabbit Ranch or Rusty’s Potato Ranch, something like that.”
“You mean Rusty’s Russet Ranch?” asked Gage, leaning forward in his chair, barely containing his excitement.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s the name of the stupid place,” Michael confirmed. His S’s slurred from too much alcohol.
“What a waste of your time. That’s a long way out there,” sympathized Gage, as he topped off Michael’s drink yet again.
Gage’s foot tapped impatiently while Michael droned on, telling him about the mundane things that had been happening in his life since the last time they’d seen each other. He yammered on to him about buying a townhouse in Savannah, his financial investments and going on a cruise, until Gage thought he might have to physically throw the man out of his house to get him to leave.
Finally Michael leaned forward and said, “So I’ve been going on and on about myself.”
Yes, you have, thought Gage as Michael continued. “Tell me about what has been happening with you. How’s Andrea? I haven’t seen her yet. Where is she tonight?”
Gage flinched, the muscles in his jaw tightened. He explained that his wife had been injured and died. It was hell speaking of her death, but when he finished, Michael awkwardly offered his sympathies and made a hasty exit, much to Gage’s relief.
After watching Michael drive off, he closed the door. Turning his back to the door, he clapped his hands together in glee and a giddy smile lit his face.
“Trace and Alvero,” he bellowed.
He could not believe his good fortune and felt like he would explode if he didn’t share the information Michael had provided. Michael’s inadvertent information gave their plan for revenge new life. When the guards joined him, Gage looked up in silent cogitation.
I promise you, Andrea, I’ll avenge your death if it is the last thing I do on this earth before joining you in the Beyond. You have my vow on this, my love.
Chapter 35
She yawned, bone tired after a long day of working the ranch, Katrina hoped she would be able to sleep this night, and avoid the disturbing dreams she’d had the night before about vampires attacking her and being rescued by two handsome men. It had been terrifying. She could feel the fangs sinking into her flesh, ripping chunks from her limbs.
The nightmare had caused her to have a fretful night’s sleep and left her exhausted with bags under her eyes. Of course she didn’t let that get in the way of doing this day’s chores. She had given every ounce of her energy to her tasks, hoping to wear herself out. It worked. Tonight she was exhausted and looking forward to getting a good rest.
She tucked the wool blanket and cotton sheet under her chin and closed her eyes. Depression pushed in on her, even though she was enjoying life on the ranch. She liked the people she worked with. They treated her with respect and kindness. She loved working with the animals and being outdoors. She especially relished learning to ride, so she couldn’t understand why she felt so melancholy.
They’d spent many long hours that day riding and as Kat went to turn over in her bed, she felt every minute of the ride. Her back, thighs, calves, even the muscles in her hands ached. She knew as bad as it was tonight, she would be sorer in the morning.
Kat painfully rested one arm on her forehead. She would sleep well tonight—if she could keep her muscles from hurting. A curse burst from her lips, as she realized she’d forgotten to take a pain reliever before going to bed. Just as she contemplated getting up and taking some ibuprofen, she heard the thudding of feet trampling down the hallway like a herd of elephants.
Muscles clench in dissention when she tried to jump off the bed. Slowly she rolled off the bed, and peeked out her door. When she saw Rusty standing there, she jumped sending a shot of pain radiating throughout her muscles.
“Get dressed,” he barked. “We got trouble. We need every hand out at the stables.”
“What’s wrong?”
“A fire!” yelled Rusty over his shoulder, as he ran down the hallway and toward the front door.
Kat quickly drew on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, then ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Outside flames leapt into the air, creating an orange-yellow hue that served as the background to the flurry of commotion on the ground. The flames reached at least twenty feet in the air, licking the moon that shone down on the scene below. The scurry of activity reminded Kat of a hornet’s nest with angry bees buzzing here and there in synchronized chaos. The ranch hands were busy, each man grabbing two horses from the burning barn to lead them to safety.
She ran toward the stables. The heat scorched her flesh, but she put her arm over her face and ran into the smoldering building.
The smoke stung her eyes, and the intense heat burned her lungs, making it difficult to breathe. She stumbled blindly through the barn, tripping over a saddle that must have fallen to the floor. The packed ground rose to meet her knees, biting into them when she hit. Determination spurring her on, she pushed herself up and moved deeper into the gray-black haze, listening for the sound of the horses whinnying.
She made her way by running her hand along the wall, until she came to a stall holding a terrified mare. She swung opened the stable gate. The mare startled at the motion and reared up on her hind legs. Katrina dodged her flailing legs like an experienced ranch hand, and shimmed along the side of the stall. Coming to the mare’s flank, she ushered the mare out with a smack on her rump and the horse ran through the exit into the safety of the yard.
Over the sound of her own coughing, Kat barely heard the small, weak whinny. She got down under the smoke and crawled toward the sound. She found the black and white foal that had raced alongside her car the night she arrived at the ranch. He lay on the ground, gasping for air. Katrina tried to lift him, but her muscles lacked the necessary strength for the task.
“Help! Help!” Her voice, raspy from the smoke, came out more of a
squeak than a yell. The heat scorched her lungs, but Katrina forced in more air and tried for a louder voice. “Help! Somebody, down here. Help!”
Suddenly Rusty knelt beside her. Never had she been so relieved to see a familiar flannel shirt.
“I got him.” He scooped the foal up into his arms. “Let’s go.”
With Katrina’s hand resting on Rusty’s shoulder, they made their way out of the burning building. After they exited, she began gulping at the air like a fish out of water. Her lungs blazed with each breath, protesting the soot and ash that coated them. The tears from her watering eyes no doubt left black streaks down her face while she forced clean air into her lungs.
Cherry red from the heat, her skin hurt as much as her lungs. She gingerly touched one finger to her opposite forearm sending a blast of white-hot pain to her brain.
“Get back. It’s going to collapse,” Rusty yelled, his voice raspy from the smoke.
She staggered away from the burning wreckage and sat hard on the cool ground, watching as the ranch hands administered first aid to the horses. They worked to corral them safely away from the engulfed stable.
Having no veterinary skills or knowledge of first aid for horses, Katrina knew she would only get in the way if she tried to help. She sat on the dewy ground coughing, trying to catch her breath. With tears streaming down her face, she wiped at her eyes with the back of her arm. Her face and sweatshirt smudged with black, she cried for the horses as much as from her own pain.
The ranchers struggled to attend to the scared and injured animals. The creatures’ pitiful cries of pain would echo in her head for years, she was sure. Her stomach pitched from the injuries to the beautiful horses and she had to close her eyes to the sight of burnt, raw flesh. If only she could close her nose to the retched smell.
Suddenly she felt a tug around her waist and was dragged backwards into the brush. A hand clamped down hard over her mouth when she screamed. She felt a fluttering in her mind just as she began kicking wildly. Her body stilled, no longer hers to control. She could not move, no matter how much her mind screamed to her muscles to respond.
Flung over a broad shoulder, the collar bone of her kidnapper bit into her stomach, as she jostled up and down while they ran through the trees and scrub brush. The ground coursed beneath her. Twigs and branches tore at her clothes and scratched her skin as they flew along. She lay helplessly draped over the man, each movement jarred her already sore muscles and tender skin, each breath burned her smoke-filled lungs.
Their pace slowed and Kat knew a moment of relief until the man callously flung her into the trunk of a car. He slammed the lid, enclosing her in complete darkness.
Terror made her heart race, her breath sawed painfully from her lungs. But, at least, whatever had paralyzed her apparently no longer had her in its grip, for she found she could once again control her faculties.
As they drove along, every bump jarred her sore body. Kat moaned, but fought the pain to reason the situation. Her mind raced. Who had taken her? Why? What did this person want? Why would anyone want to kidnap her?
There were obviously other things in the trunk with her. She felt them bump into her, bruising her tender skin. She groped around, her hand sliding over the rough carpet of the trunk as she tried to discern what the objects were. Might one of them be used as a weapon?
Her hand slid over a rubber object, it was round. A tire she surmised. Next she found what she believed were a set of jumper cables and small mesh bag, none of which would be any real help. Katrina rolled into the fetal position trying to protect her body as best she could from the objects bumping into her. It was an agonizing ride, and Kat was sure she would be glad when it was over…Unless of course something worse waited at the end of the drive.
****
The penthouse seemed empty, deserted. He stared into the closet at the holes where Katrina’s clothing used to hang. An ache burned deep in his chest as he stood in his room, and he knew sorrow and regret. It would have been extraordinary to have Katrina as his mate.
Making his way to the kitchen, her honeysuckle fragrance surrounded him. It permeated the whole penthouse, reminded him of her loss every place he went.
Stephan sat at the kitchen table, and stared down on his folded hands. He knew she was safer now, but that thought didn’t give him enough solace. Lonely, forlorn, he knew in his heart he’d done the right thing by wiping her memory and sending her away to safety, but he wished things could have been different. He wished someone would wipe his memory clean, so he could be spared the crippling pain of her loss.
He shook away the thought. He wouldn’t ask anyone to do that. He didn’t want to really forget Kat. He didn’t want to lose her completely, the way she lost him.
He put his head in his hands when tears clouded his vision. One lone tear escaped down his cheek and hit the table with a splash. He wiped off his cheek ruthlessly. He did not cry. Fates be damned, how that woman had changed him.
Marcus strolled silently into the room, crossing to take a seat across from him.
Stephan’s chest tightened while at the same time his throat constricted. The longer he thought about Kat, the harder he found it to breathe. The weight of her loss sat heavy on his chest. He wanted fiercely to see her once again and struggled with whether or not to go see her.
“Stephan,” Marcus said quietly.
The warrior raised his head to look at the younger male wearily. “Yes, Marcus, what do you want?”
“I just wanted to see how you are, check on you.” Marcus looked almost as forlorn as he felt. “I miss Kat.”
Marcus rested his head in the palm of his hand.
“I do too.” Stephan’s shoulders slumped, mirroring Marcus’ somber demeanor. “But we have discussed this, and we agreed it is best that she is no longer with us. Being a part of our world without being a vampire is dangerous. She is safe at the ranch. We cannot be selfish and put her in danger by keeping her with us.”
“Maybe we should go see her,” offered Marcus looking hopeful.
“I had the same thought, but wouldn’t that make our loss all the more deep?”
“I don’t know. I guess it could.” After drawing a long pensive breath, Marcus continued. “Sometimes I think seeing her, knowing she is happy, might make it better.”
“Yeah,” Stephan agreed. “I’ve thought that too, but I’m not sure I could leave if I were to go and see her. I don’t think I could stand to let her go a second time.”
When Kat had been with him, each new day felt full of promise. Each night Kat brought a smile to his face. Each evening he’d been kissed by the woman he loved, adored.
After centuries of being alone he’d finally found someone who he wanted to spend the rest of his long life with. Each evening he awoke next to her, watched her eyes flutter awake, and then she’d smiled at him and stroke his face lovingly. It had been the most wonderful experience in all the centuries of his life and surely nothing again would ever be as amazing. Stephan shook the painful memories away, not wanting to remember.
And yet… unable to forget.
Stephan and Marcus stood in unison, and retired to the living room, each lost in his thoughts of Katrina. The phone rang, startling them from their reverie. Being the closest to the phone, Marcus answered it. Stephan watched Marcus hold the phone in his tightly clutched hand. Marcus’ pale pallor went ghostly white, his jaw slack. Stephan looked at him with alarm. “What is it?” he demanded.
When Marcus did not answer quickly enough, Stephan used their mindlink to find the information he sought. Alexander had just informed Marcus that Kat was missing.
In a flash, Stephan grabbed the phone away from Marcus, and held it to his ear. “What happened?” he barked into the receiver.
“I received a phone call from Rusty. There was a fire at the ranch and in all of the commotion, Kat seems to have disappeared.” Alex’s voice sounded unbelievably calm. But then, were the conversation about anyone else, Stephan supposed his vo
ice would have been as steady. But they did not speak of someone else. It was his Katrina who had disappeared and Stephan’s emotions at the news were beyond erratic.
“What do you mean disappeared?” Stephan demanded, his hand cranking down on the receiver.
Alex cleared his throat. “They have checked the ranch and even gone into the surrounding woods on horseback, but she is nowhere to be found. I’m sorry, Stephan, but they couldn’t find her anywhere.”
Silence hung in the air thick as smoke. Stephan slowly hung up the phone, stunned. His mouth gaped open; worry flooded his system with endorphins.
“What are we going to do?” Marcus brought Stephan’s focus back to the penthouse.
“We’re going to find her, that’s what we are going to do. And I have a good idea where to start.”
“Where’s that?”
“Gage!” they exclaimed in unison.
Stephan stormed toward the gym with Marcus in tow. He pushed against one of the mirrored walls. It gave way, revealing a weapons room that would make any museum proud. Lined against the walls were numerous guns, knives, swords, and even a cross bow.
“Load up. We’re going to go get her.”
Marcus obeyed, grabbing the cross bow first. He slung it onto his shoulder and rounded on Stephan. “Wait, there are only two of us and Gage’s place is well guarded. We’ll need backup.”
Stephan slowed but continued to load weapons onto his body, a knife in his front pocket, a gun in the waistband of his pants. He acknowledged Marcus’ statement with a nod and said simply, “Call the Alphas.”
Chapter 36
A shiver of unease crept up Katrina’s spine when the vehicle slowed to a stop. The trunk opened, and she was dragged out by a hulk of a man. His meaty hands wrapped around her arm in a bruising grip, and he jerked her forward. When she stumbled, he wrenched her arm with enough force she feared he may have pulled it from the socket, but her cry of pain did nothing to ease his grip. He led her into a house, up a set of stairs, and brought her to stop in a bedroom in front of a blond man and another large man dressed entirely in black. The fact she stood alone in a bedroom with three kidnappers, at their mercy, did not escape her notice. Her heart beat wildly in her chest.
Alpha Mine (The Alpha Council Chronicles) Page 24