Mischa gasped, the man’s words nearly driving her to her knees. Grief swelled within her, taking on a mind of its own. No, he was toying with her. Trying to unnerve her, take away her ability to be rational. And he was succeeding.
She couldn’t think, could barely breathe. Was Rhianna really dead? No, it couldn’t be true. She would know it, would feel it. Wouldn’t she?
Twigs snapped, and leaves crunched as booted feet smacked the ground less than a yard away from where Mischa stood in captivity. Dully, she caught sight of Rhad’s face…his furious, cold face with those beautiful eyes narrowed to slits.
“Let go of her,” he said in a low, deadly tone of voice.
The arm around Mischa’s waist shook, but her captor’s response was full of bravado. “I’ll make a deal with you. Your life for hers.” He held up a gun Mischa hadn’t even noticed before. “I promise I’ll make it quick.”
Rhad came closer, and the man behind Mischa tensed. “I don’t make deals with my enemies.”
“Then just walk away. I’ll leave with Miss Bonovich, and you can live to see another day. Or night.”
“That’s not going to happen. You’re holding a woman I care about, and letting you leave with her, well, let’s just say that doesn’t fit with my plans.” The arm around her waist tightened, but Mischa was beyond caring.
“He said he killed Rianna.” The words came out so brokenly, she wondered if Rhad could even understand what she’d said.
His eyes locked with hers. “Mischa, I need you to concentrate.”
“I think it’s kind of hard for her to concentrate when she’s just gotten the bad news about her sister.”
Rhad took another step forward. “What’s your name?” he asked the hunter.
Mischa heard the man swallow hard. “I guess it’s only fair that you know who killed you. My name’s Hamrick, and this sweet little lady here has something I need.”
“Well, Hamrick,” Rhad continued as though the man had never spoken, “I need you to release her.”
Hamrick laughed, though the sound trembled. “You seem to forget who’s holding the gun here.” In spite of the strength of his words, the man still took several stumbling steps backwards, dragging Mischa with him. “And if you come any closer, I’m going to have to kill her.”
Rhad’s eyes glowed red, like twin lasers in the dark. “You will not harm her. You did not come to my country seeking your own death, but you will find exactly that if you hurt the woman in your arms.”
Shuffling his feet, Hamrick tried to look away, but the hypnotic tone of Rhad’s voice couldn’t be fought. His back bounced off the trunk of a tree, and he gave a squeak of dismay.
“What in the hell’s going on?” Hamrick shouted the question as the gun flew from his hand. The courage he had so proudly displayed before Rhad’s arrival had all but evaporated. As much as Mischa wanted to care, at that moment, she didn’t.
If the man’s words were true, if he had killed her sister…she broke the line of thinking. She wouldn’t believe it until she knew for certain. Until she saw her sister’s body.
“I still have a knife,” Hamrick said in a desperate voice. “I don’t want to have to hurt her, but—” The knife followed the same path as the gun, clattering against a root.
Desperation gave way to panic, and Hamrick’s hands closed around her throat. “I’m not playing games with you, whoever you are. Now back off!” He yelled the last instruction in a high-pitched voice.
“Mischa,” Rhad called to her. “Do you trust me?”
She knew she had little choice, but regardless, she would trust him. She nodded her head slightly.
“He will not harm you,” Rhad promised.
“Okay.” Was that her own voice sounding so dull? Almost as if she didn’t care one way or the other if the man killed her?
Rhad growled low in his throat and leaped upwards, catching hold of a low-hanging branch of an oak tree. He spun overhead like a limber gymnast and shot through the air to land on an opposite tree branch a few feet above Hamrick’s head.
The man cried out and propelled Mischa forward, stumbling and falling over the ground like the town drunk. “Oh, God,” he muttered, his breaths coming in short bursts against Mischa’s ear.
Whipping wings whirred through the air, and the owl came in low, talons extended as if preparing for a landing. She watched as the fowl followed Rhad’s every command, taking aim at Hamrick’s face. The man covered his eyes and fell to the ground.
Mischa felt arms around her waist again, but this time, they belonged to her savior. He lifted her out of the way before kneeling beside the hunter. Knowing Rhad’s intention, she rushed forward with a cry.
“Rhad, no!”
His hand halted in mid-air. “Mischa, stay back.”
“I won’t let you kill him.”
Hamrick prayed in between pleas for his life.
“He killed your sister, and he would have killed you,” Rhad spat the words.
Though her heart cracked at his words, she touched his shoulder. “No, he wouldn’t.”
Rhad raised his eyes to see her face. “How can you be so sure of that?”
“Because you wouldn’t have let him.” Her fingers tightened over his leather jacket.
“If I let him live, he’ll only come back.”
“You can’t kill him. If you take his life, you become what he calls you…a monster. And that’s not what you are.” She pressed her palm to his cheek. “Please. Don’t. We’ll turn him over to the police. That’s what he deserves. He doesn’t deserve your peace of mind.”
Rhad turned his face away from her again, and Mischa knew the need to avenge her capture was strong. Rhad was more than just a man. He was a powerful mixture of tortured life and unrelenting integrity. The nature of the beast insisted he kill the enemy, but somewhere, deep inside of him, lived the heart of the man he used to be. She had to believe the vampire had not overtaken every part of Rhad Valentine.
He got to his feet and backed away, his eyes seeming to dare Hamrick to move. “I’ll secure him until we can return to the village.”
Hamrick came to his feet with a snarl, snatching the knife from the ground before he took a fighter’s stance. “You should have killed me when you had the chance. Without the shaman’s help, I’m dead anyway so I’ve got nothing to lose.” He lunged forward, seeking to bury the blade deep within Rhad’s heart.
Mischa screamed, and Rhad shoved her to the ground, catching Hamrick around the wrist and bending his arm behind his back. The knife dropped from his bloodless fingers while the man yelped in agony.
“You’re breaking my arm!”
“Then you should be thankful. I could very easily break your neck. In fact, I do believe that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Rhad’s fingers closed around Hamrick’s throat.
“Rhad, wait!” Mischa pushed forward, the need for knowledge crowding out her grief. “Why did you kill my sister?” She came face to face with the killer and saw barely a flicker of regret in his eyes.
“Because she was standing in my way.”
The words tattooed her heart with more pain. He’d responded so quickly, so bluntly. It couldn’t be a lie. Her breath shuddering, she pushed for more information. “What did you want with the shaman?”
“The old bastard knows everything, but then, you know that already, don’t you? With a grandfather like that, you shouldn’t be hanging around with vampires.” He pinned Rhad with a hard look. “That really is what you are, isn’t it? Those old drunks told me that, but I didn’t believe them. Guess I was the fool.” He gave Mischa his attention again. “Your grandfather can give you the world, or at the very least, show you how to get it, and you’re out here wandering the mountains with a bloodsucker.”
She shook her head, feeling Rhad’s eyes on her face. “I’ve never met my grandfather.” And she didn’t even know why she was telling him this. One look in Hamrick’s eyes told her he didn’t care.
“I’ve hea
rd he’s so powerful, he can actually stop a person in their tracks with just his mind. I need him. This body of mine is giving out on me, but he can fix that. The old guy can give a person immortality. Didn’t you know that?” He laughed and spat at the ground. “Come on. You had to have known that. Isn’t that why you’re out here looking for him?”
“I’ve been looking for my sister, you sick son-of-a-bitch!” Fury swelled within her heart, and she lunged before Rhad could intervene. Hands curled into fists, she pummeled the face of her sister’s murderer, needing him to feel as much pain as he’d caused her.
Had she died a painful death? She didn’t even know that. The thought stopped her movements, and she fisted her hands in Hamrick’s collar. “Did you torture my sister before you killed her?”
Hamrick tipped his face back to look at her. “What do you think? And no matter what I did to her, she wouldn’t tell me a damn thing. Not even where I could find you. She died to protect you and your granddaddy. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”
Her stomach protested the information, and she swayed. Rhad thrust Hamrick aside and caught her before she could hit the ground. As he lowered her to the cold earth, he whispered assurances that everything would be okay.
Then a shadow fell over his right shoulder, and Mischa screamed just as Hamrick raised the discarded knife in the air. Rhad spun, kicked out his leg, and punted the man three feet away.
Hamrick didn’t stay down long. He scrambled up just as Rhad’s body slammed into his. Mischa closed her eyes as they grappled on the ground. She heard the scuffles of boots against the dirt and then the snap of bone followed by a scream that rent the night air.
Her head spun, and she doubled over, her hands covering her face. When had her life become about danger and death? A few days ago, she was in Boston bitching because she was going to have to go looking for her sister. Now, she traveled the night with a vampire and sat at the feet of a man passed out from the pain of broken limbs.
Rhad returned to her side, taking both of her hands in his. “Mischa, I didn’t kill him. Are you listening to me? He’s only unconscious because of the broken arm. Once we get back home, I’ll make sure he gets some help.”
She opened her eyes, tears welling in their midst. “I know.” Her palms caressed his face, and she bumped her forehead to his. “I’m so tired.”
He settled his back against a tree and scooted her into his arms. “Then rest.” His hands soothed her hair. “I’ll wake you in a bit.”
Mischa’s head rested against his chest and even as she fell into a deep slumber, the tears still rained down her cheeks.
“Rhad?” Her voice called to him in the darkness, and his arms tightened around her, offering reassurance.
“Yeah, baby?”
“What is that?” Fear tinged the question, and Rhad looked up. A few feet away, he saw a silvery cloud floating toward them.
Instantly, he was on his feet, pulling her up with him. He placed his body in front of Mischa’s. “Stay back.”
“So you’re Rhad.”
“Rianna?” Mischa moved around Rhad for a better look.
The cloud dissipated, leaving Rianna, a tall brunette with sparkling blue eyes, standing in its place. Mischa clapped her hand over her mouth “What does this mean? What are you doing? Is this some kind of a joke?”
“Holy shit!” Hamrick lifted his head off the ground, his mouth hanging slack. “I killed you.”
“I remember.” Rianna shook her head slowly and advanced. “And this is no joke, Mischa. I’ve been watching you.”
A sob broke from Mischa’s lips. “He killed you. Hamrick killed you.”
“I kind of know that already, Sis.”
Hamrick tried to push himself to his feet, but before Mischa could take her next breath, Rhad gave him an elbow between the shoulder blades. The man went flat again, his face buried into the soil.
Mischa gave a little laugh which ended on another sob. The blood drained from her face as the ghostly form of her sister hovered near her. “This can’t be happening.” She shook her head wildly. “I was…we were coming to find you. Something brought me here. I was home in Boston, and I kept hearing your voice. You were calling me here.”
Rianna floated in closer, and cold air brushed over Mischa’s skin. “I didn’t want to, but I knew you wouldn’t stop looking for me. You had to know the truth.”
A sob scrambled out of her chest. “This isn’t real. I can’t do this.” She took a backwards step. “I thought I was coming to save you, but now I find,” she waved a hand toward her sister’s ethereal form. “This. I was too late.”
“No,” Rianna protested. “You weren’t too late. What happened to me was not your fault, and you couldn’t have stopped it.”
“You don’t know that!” Mischa screamed. “You couldn’t know that! If I had gotten here sooner, if we’d found Hamrick first—you don’t know that!” Hysteria overtaking her, she fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands.
Grief compelled a torrent of weeping. She barely felt the hands on her shoulders, drawing her to her feet, lifting her into strong arms. She didn’t raise her head even when Rhad carried her away, away from her sister’s ghostly form, away from knowledge she didn’t want.
Mischa woke to bright sunlight streaming in through the mouth of the cave. She knew Rhad slept beside her, and she didn’t attempt to waken him. Instead, she extricated herself from his arms and walked on shaky legs to the entrance of the cave where they’d slept.
She’d cried herself to sleep, and now, in the bright light of morning, numbness coated her soul. Rianna had been her only family, and now, she’d lost her. She’d failed her parents. She’d promised she’d take care of her. Biting her fist to keep from crying out loud, she stumbled into the clearing and leaned against the nearest tree.
“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up,” came Rianna’s painfully familiar voice.
Mischa’s breath came out in a shudder. “You shouldn’t be here. You’re dead.”
Rianna made a rude noise. “It’s not polite to remind me, Mischa, though you always were the logical one.”
Mischa tipped her face to the sky but even the warmth of the sun couldn’t restore the light which had dimmed within her. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”
“Don’t give me that. You’ve always known what you wanted with your life. Of course, that was before you met your dark and brooding vampire.”
“He’s not my vampire.”
“Seems to me he was the one who came to your rescue last night and every night before that.” Rianna lifted a transparent hand in the air. “And was it my imagination or was that his chest you pillowed your head on last night?”
Mischa spun around to face her sister’s ghost. “Rianna, will you listen to yourself? You’re talking like it’s really you standing here, and it can’t be. You shouldn’t be here.” She scrubbed her face with her hands. “Why are you here?”
“I asked for permission to say goodbye to you. I knew you’d come for me. You always come for me.”
Mischa’s chest burned. “I’ve always taken care of you. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”
Rianna sailed toward the opening to the cave. “Seems to me you’ll have your hands full with your new boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
A grin followed a saucy wink. “No? Too bad. I’m thinking that one could give you a run for your money or,” the grin turned slightly evil, “the ride of your life.”
“This is surreal.”
“Got news for you, Sis, so is sleeping with a vampire.”
How could she know that? Had she watched? Mischa wouldn’t put that past her sister. “How did you know about that?”
“I didn’t till just now. You always were gullible.” Rianna’s face became somber. “I have to go now.”
Panic set in. “What? No. Wait. We haven’t had enough time. Are you coming back? Where are you going?”
Floating backwards, Rianna shook her head. “Mischa, I’ll always be with you. You know that, but it’s time. I can’t stay any longer.”
“Why didn’t you come to me sooner? We could have had more time.” Mischa heard the accusation in her own voice.
“My time started the moment I talked to you. Before that, I was just sneaking away, watching you. I saw the two of you together and knew you wouldn’t be alone. Believe it or not, it helps.”
“You don’t know I won’t be alone.”
“No, I don’t, but he does. I love you. Thank you for being my big sister.” She blew a kiss into the wind, and the moistness touched Mischa’s cheek.
With tears streaking down her face, Mischa watched until Rianna faded into thin air, and long after the silver mist had disappeared, she clung to the tree holding her aloft.
She had never felt so alone.
At dusk, Rhad awakened and found Mischa sitting just outside the cave, her knees close to her chest, her arms curled around them. Her tousled hair hung down her back, and from the way she sat, he knew she’d spent the better half of the day crying. He couldn’t explain why he felt her pain inside his chest or why her devastation crippled him like it did.
He climbed to his feet and brushed the dust off the back of his jeans, but before he could walk out of the cave, Mischa rose and turned to face him. He didn’t take his eyes off of her as she walked toward him.
Words failed him. There was nothing he could say to make any of this better. And he certainly wouldn’t ask if she was okay. The look on her face gave him the answer to the silent question anyway. He simply held out his arms, and she walked into his embrace, burying her face against his neck.
Holding her tightly against his chest, he hoped she could miraculously absorb some of his strength. He whispered against her hair in the language of their country, offering reassurance and hope.
Vampire Forgotten (Vampires Destined 2) Page 8