Marked by Courage: Vampire Shifter Romance (Blood Red Series Book 3)

by W. J. May

  There was one rogue Red inside, his eyes fixed on Caleb’s prone body. He barely had time to turn before Kallie was on him, her fists striking at his throat, his groin, his sternum. He bent over with a scream of pain, and she directed another kick at him before racing to Caleb to undo his chains.

  “What are you…? You need to go,” he cried weakly

  “I need to get you,” Kallie told him.

  “Behind you!”

  She barely turned in time as another rogue Red came at her out of nowhere. Kallie gave a hiss, knowing she could not afford to call the rest of the Reds back to the camp, but unable to help the instinctive rage she felt building in her chest. She closed her fingers around the Red’s throat, squeezing as it screamed and clawed at her, and at last took it down with two punches to the face. Ripping the metal cuffs and burning her hands in the process, she finally had Caleb free. Kallie dragged him out of the shack. He was weak, and though he tried to walk, at last she had to lift him.

  He made a complaining noise as she loaded him into the car and grimaced. “Is this,” he inhaled and made a gagging sound, “his car?”

  “That’s what you’re worried about? Really?”

  He gave a laugh that turned into a hiss of pain. “No, not really. Where is he?”

  “Distracting them while I save your ass.”

  “He’s…better guy than I thought…” Caleb’s chest was rising in shallow breaths. “Damn, this hurts.”

  “Don’t try to talk.”

  “Have to talk. Distracts me. Why—” He broke off with a groan as she took the car around a curve. “Why are you wearing glasses?”

  “Uh…” Kallie swallowed. “Okay, well, you said you wanted a distraction.” She grimaced as she pulled the glasses off and looked over at him.

  “Dear Betsy,” he breathed. His mouth fell open. “Kallie…”

  “Yeah.” Kallie grimaced. “And that, believe me, is just the tip of the iceberg.”

  “And here I was, worried that it’d be boring when I got home.” He gave a weak smile.

  Chapter 7

  “Ow. Ow. Ow.”

  “Well, if you wouldn’t try to be all manly and walk on your own, you wouldn’t be in pain.” Kallie gave Caleb an unsympathetic look. “I’ll get the door for you.” Caleb had sent her to his safe house, not the house by the Red Dragon, but another place, much closer to her own home actually.

  “I can get it,” he said faintly, leaning on the steps.

  “I’d say I want to see you try, but I know you would.” Kallie shook her head and peered at the lock. “I suppose they took your keys.”

  “Yeah. But…one second, help me up this step…thank you. I have a workaround.” He laid two fingertips carefully on the inside of the doorknob, and she heard the lock click. “Basic magic, nothing fancy.”

  “You’re trying to impress me, aren’t you?” Kallie shook her head. “You do realize that you don’t need to do that, right?”

  “That’s just your opinion.” Caleb collapsed on the couch once inside. “Ow.” He rolled his head. “Where are you going?”

  “To get bandages.”

  “I don’t have any.” He was laughing at her, even though it looked like it hurt him. “Kallie, I’ll be better by tomorrow.”

  “I don’t care,” she threw over her shoulder.

  “Where are you going?”

  She didn’t answer, and emerged a few minutes later with a bowl of warm water and some towels.

  “What’s that for?”

  “You may be a vampire, but I can’t just sit here and watch you heal. It’s taking too long. I need to do something.”

  “You realize this isn’t actually doing anything productive, right?” But as she began to brush the towel lightly across his skin, cleaning off the dried blood and grime, he smiled. “Never mind, I take it back. I like having your hands on me.”

  “Good.” Kallie wavered, surprised by how much she wanted to kiss him right then and there. Their faces were so close… She drew in a deep breath and looked away, wringing out the. “Then maybe you’ll sit still for this.”

  “All you have to do is order me.”

  She looked up, not sure if he was joking, and he raised his eyebrows.

  “Have you forgotten? I’m your protector.” He frowned. “I don’t like that you had to come for me back there.”

  “Yeah, well, if you get too down about it, you can always cheer yourself up with the fact that Liam wasn’t too happy about it, either.”

  “Liam.” Caleb closed his eyes briefly, then snapped them open. “Wait. If he came with you, and your eyes are…”

  “Yep.”

  “How is that possible?” Caleb’s voice was full of muted anger. “I turned you.”

  Simple. When everything else seemed complicated, it was the one thing she believed was easy. “Red and blue make purple. He gave me blood shortly before you turned me.”

  “When?”

  “A couple of days before. And…a few years back. The night of the accident.”

  A low snarl escaped Caleb’s lips, primal and possessive, and Kallie closed her eyes. She could feel the call of that sound echoing in her soul. Her maker wanted to claim her, and no matter what she was, she knew that the claim was valid in its own way.

  “Caleb…he saved my life. Twice.”

  “And now he’s—what—made you into a…a…”

  “I’m not sure what.” Kallie turned her face away, a bit too quickly. If he’d said monster, she was sure she’d have whipped him with the wet end of the towel.

  “What is it?” he guessed. “What do you know?”

  “I don’t know anything.” Kallie busied herself with cleaning a particularly nasty gash on his chest. “Look, I need you to promise me something, and it’s not going to be easy.”

  “That’s not a promising request.” His voice dropped. “So what is it, Kallie? You want me to trust that Blue? You want me to like him?”

  “I’d like you to, but no. That’s not what I want.” She dropped back on her heels, looking up at him. “I want you not to trust Petra anymore.”

  “What?”

  “I told you that you weren’t going to like it.”

  “Of course I’m not! She’s the woman who turned me into a day-walker, Kallie! She’s the woman who gave you to me, to protect you. She’s your mother.”

  She might be the one who gave you to the rogue Reds. Kallie bit her lip. It had been a terrible day for him already, and she didn’t know how he’d cope with the news that his maker might have abandoned him. “I know all of that,” she said finally. “But, Caleb, you and Liam and my father are the only ones I trust anymore, and not one of you has been told the whole truth by your makers. You have to believe me on that. I’m trying to keep you all safe, and until then…”

  “Kallie.” His voice was low. “You’re crying.”

  “Of course I’m crying!” Kallie dropped the towel and dashed the backs of her hands against her cheeks.

  “But why?”

  “Because in the past few weeks I’ve realized what my father was doing for me and my mom. I’ve…I’ve lost my mom. My real mom, not Petra. She doesn’t know who she is, or who I am, and I love her so much, Caleb and I want to tell her the truth but she wouldn’t believe me. I’ve found a new mom, but she’s part of a world I don’t understand. I’m…I don’t know what I am anymore. I know I didn’t get to say goodbye to any of my friends, and I’ll never get to see them again without them being prey to me. And everyone I know, everyone I love, is being hunted. You…”

  “You love me?” His voice was low, so hopeful that she wanted to cry.

  “What do you think? You’re my maker.”

  “Kallie.” His voice was full of humor. “A vampire and their maker have a bond that nothing can break, but trust me—if you really wanted to hate me, you could. I’ve never met someone so stubborn in my whole life.”

  Kallie was startled into a laugh, but the tears kept coming. She felt Caleb’
s arms come around her and she leaned against his chest.

  “Yes. I love you. I don’t…know what that means.” And I can’t choose a side. Don’t make me choose a side.

  “It doesn’t have to mean anything.” She could hear the hunger in his voice, but he was determined as he spoke to her. “It can just be what it is, Kallie. Because I love you, too.” He laid his head on hers and she felt his fingers squeeze, and then he let her go, almost pushing her away.

  “What?”

  “If I don’t stop touching you…” He gave a rueful smile. “Things would happen that shouldn’t. At least, not until you know where your loyalty lies.”

  “My loyalty lies with all of you.” Whatever desire was coiling in her blood, it felt as if she had been drenched with ice water. “Look at me. Look me in the eyes.”

  She saw him flinch as he saw the strange purple.

  “I’m not going to give up on you, I said I love you, and I do. I love my father, and the woman who raised me. And I…” She swallowed, but she could not lie. “I love Liam.”

  He looked away again, his jaw tightening.

  “So—what, then?” His hands clenched. “What do you want from me?”

  “Some shred of understanding!” Kallie felt tears on her cheeks again. “What he gave me when I told him that we needed to rescue you. What he gave me when I needed to go for my father.” It wasn’t fair to compare them, she knew, but she could think of no other way to explain it to him. “I don’t need you to like him. But damn it, Caleb, he saved your life!”

  “You saved my life.”

  “With his help. And he went back to the Red Dragon to try to get you, I’ll have you know.”

  Caleb looked away.

  “Everything in my life,” Kallie told him fiercely, “has just turned upside down. I need you to understand that I love you, and believe that I love you. You can see a part of me no one else can. I don’t regret you being my maker. I don’t hate you. I love you. But what I need right now, while we deal with the fact that the Reds are fighting each other, while we deal with the fact that…well, that I’m not sure who to trust. I need you to understand that the people I do trust are all I have. Please, Caleb.”

  His answer was a kiss. He was on the floor with her in a moment, his hand cupping her cheek, his lips coming down possessively on hers. He could taste Liam, she knew, and he growled low in his throat.

  It was not a gentle kiss, but something in her responded to it. Her arms were around his neck before she knew what was happening, and she clung to him, lips parting under his, body pressed against him. She heard herself give a gasp, and felt the satisfaction flow through him.

  “I thought so.” His voice was breathless, his forehead resting against hers.

  “What?”

  “You’re mine. You’re meant to be mine.”

  “No one in the world decides whose I’m meant to be,” Kallie said tartly.

  “Oh? And you didn’t enjoy that kiss?” His gaze challenged her to say that Liam’s kisses were better.

  But she knew just where that would lead, and even though part of her wanted it more than anything, she knew this wasn’t the time to make that choice. She kissed him lightly on the lips, pulling away before he could hold her close, and he groaned.

  “You need rest.”

  “I need you.” His voice was ragged.

  “You need rest,” Kallie corrected him. “And then we’ll figure everything out. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he said grumpily. “Do you want the bed? I can…”

  “I slept all day, and you need to recover.” She smiled and sat back so he could get down the hallway to his bedroom. “Sleep well,” she added quietly as the door closed.

  I will. The thought touched her mind with a hint of amusement, and she jumped. Didn’t think I could do that, huh?

  Go to bed. She knew he could hear her laughing silently, and she smiled. I’m going to go check on my mom, okay?

  Okay. Be careful out there.

  I will. She was still smiling as she left the house. Liam would have never let her leave on her own, and yet Caleb believed she was strong enough to handle it.

  Everything was going wrong, and everything was complicated. But some things seemed very, very right.

  Chapter 8

  Her mother was waiting for her in the kitchen when she arrived. Kallie steeled herself, looking down at the floor instinctively to avoid eye contact, but she had seen the sad look in her mother’s eyes. Pain flashed through her. How could she think of this woman as anything but her mother?

  A mother who would forever believe a lie.

  “I know.” Her mother’s words were sad.

  “What?” Kallie’s head jerked up.

  “Your father told me what you did.” Her mother was standing very still by the kitchen counter, shaking, and Kallie realized suddenly how brave this was. How it must feel to live in a house where she was outnumbered now. How it must feel to know that she was the only human and that her daughter, the girl she believed was her daughter, might destroy her. “Is it…safe? To hug you right now?”

  “Yes.” Kallie felt the word come out with a rush of tears, and she hunched her shoulders as her mother ran across the floor, enfolding her in a hug. She was five years old again, with skinned knees, and her mother was crooning comforting words in her ear, running her fingers through her hair. And at the same time, she was a vampire, ageless and ancient, belonging to a race of hunters that killed humans for sport and food, and she could feel her mother’s heartbeat against her cheek.

  Kallie cried like she had never cried before, great sobs that shook her chest and made her stomach ache, and her mother held her and whispered that it would be okay, even when they both knew it was a lie.

  “I’m so sorry,” Kallie whispered finally. She didn’t know why she was apologizing, or who she was apologizing to.

  “I’m sorry.” Her mother drew back and smoothed Kallie’s hair away from her face with trembling hands. “Kallie, love, I never wanted this for you.”

  “I know. I know.”

  “Why?” Her mother shook her head. “I’m not angry, sweetie. But why?”

  “For…for Dad.” Kallie heard the words come out of her mouth, and the implicit choice there, and she shook her head violently. “Not to choose him over you. Nothing like that.”

  “What, then?” Her mother’s eyes were dark with pain. “Kallie, you’ll never be able to walk outside in the daylight again. I won’t…” She swallowed convulsively. “I won’t see you get married, have babies. I won’t be a grandmother. Will I?”

  “I…don’t know, actually.” Kallie frowned. “I don’t think so. I…oh, damn it!”

  “If you had asked me,” her mother whispered, “I would have told you to think. You gave up so much, Kallie.”

  “I know that!” It was a shout, and Kallie turned her face away. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, I shouldn’t have said it.” Her mother shook her head. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It hardly helps to hear now that the deed is done.” She looked over at the kitchen and sighed. “Come on, I’ll make you some tea. Do you still drink tea?”

  “I…could, I guess.” Kallie shrugged her shoulders and managed a smile. “That’d be nice, actually. Something normal.”

  Her mother’s look said she had guessed as much. She poured water into the kettle and set it on the stove, humming slightly. Then, still carefully not looking at her daughter, she asked, “What will you tell your friends?”

  “I haven’t told them anything yet.” Kallie shook her head. “I don’t know what to tell them. I wish I’d gotten to say a proper goodbye before I… I turned.”

  “Perhaps it’s best that you didn’t.” Her mother shook her head as she selected teacups. “Your last memory with them will be untainted by any lies you would have said. Earl Grey? I assume you don’t need to sleep tonight.” It was a helpless sort of joke.

  “Sounds good.” Kallie tried to smile. “What do I tell them
now, though? I assume I need to tell them something. And withdraw from school. Shit!” Real life seemed almost ironic.

  “Language, Kallie.”

  Something about the absurdity of it hit them both at the same time, and they were overtaken by giggles. When they recovered, Kallie sighed.

  “I should have talked to you first. But I was worried…”

  “That I’d talk you out of it?” her mother asked shrewdly.

  “Mmmhmm.”

  There was a silence as her mother poured tea and brought the cups over. They sat quietly as they waited for the tea to steep.

  “Who…did it?” her mother asked finally. There was a quiver in her voice, and she added after a moment’s hesitation, “Was it your father?”

  “No. No! Dad hasn’t ever—ever done that! He doesn’t ever want to. It’s why they…well, it’s part of why I have to protect him.”

  She feared she had said too much, but her mother’s only response was a cautious, “Hmm. So, not the policeman either, then?”

  “No. Wait, how did you—”

  “You know,” her mother interrupted, smiling. “Your grandmother told me something once. She caught me seeing a boy from school and when I asked her how she knew, she said, ‘What, you think your generation came up with the idea of sneaking out windows at night?’” She smiled at the memory. “Parents know a lot more than they let on.”

  Kallie’s cheeks flamed. “Right.” She sighed. “And…Liam’s a Blue. Dad’s a Red. They can’t be in the same place or they’ll fight.”

  “Really?” Her mother frowned. “It’s too bad. I liked Liam.”

  “How much do you know about him?”

  Her mother laughed. “Enough. Now, I have to sleep. Will you be all right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” Her mother kissed her forehead and left, the careful set of her shoulders showing that she was working hard not to look back at Kallie.