‘I’ll take care of her.’
The lackey shoves me away and walks across the cavern to Kael. I want to throw myself across the room, but I’m frozen in place.
Kael is dead.
As the man releases Kael’s metal bonds and flings his battered, lifeless body over one shoulder, I stand, motionless, waiting for the wave of agony to hit. All I feel is numbness. The anger, the agony, the terror, I expect to feel is strangely absent. I watch dispassionately as the man disappears into the next cavern and the vampire approaches me. He stops, almost on top of me, and slips one freezing hand behind my neck.
‘What, no tears? No fight?’
‘Just get it over with,’ I grit out. The survival instincts that have kept me alive thus far have drained out of me, along with Kael’s life essence. There’s no reason to fight, no will to live. The only man I’ve ever loved lies dead in the cavern beyond. The quicker he kills me, the sooner I can escape the emptiness.
‘I’ve been rather looking forward to this and thought I would take my time.’
I stare back, emotionless. Kael is dead. Because of me. Yet another loved one is dead because of me. I deserve to suffer.
The vampire splays his hand across my stomach and pushes me against the wall of the cave. I fight a wave of nausea as his body presses against me and he buries his face in my neck, inhaling deeply.
‘God, you smell delectable,’ he moans against my ear. ‘Your aura – you’re like a bright little bird.’ He trails an arctic hand down the front of my torso and I turn my head to the side in disgust.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of movement near the cavern entrance. Something hard barrels into the side of the stone body that is pressed against me and suddenly, I’m free.
‘I. Said. Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her.’ My heart leaps at the familiar voice. I turn to see Kael’s furious form crouched on top of the vampire.
The black-red eyes look surprised for a moment and then the pale monster snarls, baring sharp white teeth. He twists until he has Kael beneath him. They wrestle, tumbling along the cavern floor, each trying to gain the upper hand. Kael is strong, but in his current injured state, I’m afraid he’s no match for the stone-like vampire.
I scan the cave desperately for a weapon of some sort. There is a pile of iron rods in the far corner of the cavern. I run toward it. My mind races and I struggle to remember what I’ve heard about vampires, but there isn’t time to think.
I grab hold of one of the rods in one hand, ignore the way the cold iron seems to burn into my palm, and race back toward the grappling pair. The vampire growls, twists onto Kael, and bends his head toward my seastnan’s neck.
Without further thought, I propel myself forward and plunge the iron rod as hard as I can into the back of the vampire, where I believe his heart to be.
The rod pierces his skin, embedding itself deep into his chest cavity. With a surprised gurgle, he looks up. Both he and Kael stare at me and then the vampire slumps to the ground beside Kael.
I remain frozen, staring in horror at the motionless body of the vampire. Kael stands, folds me tight into his arms and only then, do I realize that I’m shaking.
‘Shaylee,’ he breathes into the side of my neck. ‘Oh God, I thought I’d lost you.’ He presses his warm lips to the sensitive skin below my ear. I slide my arms around him, squeezing tight, like I’ll never let go.
Three things happen in quick succession.
First, I hear the familiar voices of Kent and Jake from the neighboring cavern calling Kael’s name and he looks toward the cavern entrance. Second, my eyes fly open and my heart stops as I see the vampire, no longer lying lifeless on the floor, hurtling full speed toward us, a sharpened iron rod aimed right at Kael’s back. Third, with what can only be described as superhuman strength, I shove Kael sideways, out of the path of the rod.
‘No!’ Kael’s horrified cry reaches my ears a split second before the iron rod pierces my left shoulder. It spears completely through my shoulder muscles and bones to exit at my back. The pain is excruciating. I see Kent and Jake, both hands filled with flaming torches rush toward my attacker, whom Kael has somehow, in the space of mere seconds, managed to immobilize with a second iron spear through his chest. I know he probably still isn’t dead, only paralyzed; Jake and Kent will easily be able to finish the job – whatever that entails.
‘Get her out of here!’ Jake shouts to Kael, who is already running toward me.
My head is spinning and my body has turned to ice. I’m shaking violently. The entry wound around the rod blazes with the heat from a thousand furnaces. Instinctively, I grab the rod and pull it free from my body.
Blood gushes from the open wound and I collapse forward just as Kael reaches me. He catches me before I hit the ground and swings my body into his arms.
‘Shaylee, you need to stay awake for me, please. Open your eyes, my love.’
There is something so desperate in his voice; I want to obey, to erase the hurt I can hear in it. I force my eyelids open but only for a second. His face swims before me and pain splinters through my entire body as he moves, taking me from the damp caves into the fresh night air. I tremble harder as the cold hits my exposed skin and he pulls me tighter against the delicious warmth of his body.
‘Open your eyes, love!’ he orders from somewhere far away.
‘Shaylee, please! Stay with me…’ I feel a rush of wind against my skin as I start to fade.
Chapter 55
Burdened
Tastes like: Heavy, unsalted mashed potatoes.
Smells like: Rotted wood.
Sounds like: A chair, groaning under the weight of an old man.
Feels like: The burning pain in your legs and shoulders when you try to stand under a huge weight.
Looks like: A willow tree’s branches, bowed low to the ground.
I drift, perhaps for hours, perhaps for days in and out of consciousness. Heat ravages my body and courses through my veins. I thrash and cry out. Sometimes I hear voices, distant murmurs and jumbled words. At times, I feel firm, cool hands stroking my hair and brushing sweaty tendrils from my forehead.
In between the raging fires, my thoughts and memories mingle chaotically; one minute, I’m relaxing on the beach in Uvongo with my parents; and the next, I’m collapsing into Kael’s arms.
Today, or tomorrow, or whatever the time or day is, I hear only one voice; I’m convinced it is one of God’s angels. I can’t quite make out the words but his tone makes me ache. His voice is hoarse with sorrow.
‘Shaylee, please wake up,’ he pleads. ‘I can’t stand it anymore. Please wake up, my love.’
Cool lips brush my temple. I try to speak but the words get stuck in my dry throat. I want to tell the angel it will all be okay; I want to soothe the desolation in his voice. His warm hand clasps my own and something sizzles in the connection between us. I squeeze my fingers weakly and he inhales sharply.
‘Shaylee, can you hear me?’ he whispers, hope evident in his voice. ‘Please open your eyes.’
I obey, slitting my eyes open and squinting as they adjust to the sudden influx of light. The stiff, white starched bed sheets and grey walls identify the room as a hospital even before I smell the alcoholic disinfectant or hear the slow, steady beeping of the heart monitor.
‘Oh thank God!’ Kael says. He jumps up from the chair beside me and plants a kiss on my brow.
‘Water,’ I whisper hoarsely. He draws back, a huge smile covering his stubbled but beautiful face. He slips one arm behind my neck and lifts a glass to my cracked lips. I sip carefully, ignoring the throbbing pain that stabs up from my shoulder. When I’ve had a few sips, he lays me back against the starchy pillows.
‘I’ll fetch the nurse.’
‘No,’ I croak. I don’t want him to leave me and I don’t want the nurse to put me back under again. Pain relief is secondary to getting answers.
Kael turns back toward me and takes my hand again, with a concerned expression.
His eyes drift to my bandaged shoulder.
‘You were injured. The vampire…’ Kael’s voice trails off and his face tightens.
‘What..happened..to…’
‘He’s dead,’ he says. ‘Jake and Kent took care of him while I brought you to the hospital. I was so worried, I thought…’ He stops talking and his jaw clenches.
‘But why…here?’ I whisper, ‘Nan…’
‘Tanya can’t heal you. It was an iron rod. Iron is like poison to the Maor.’
‘But I’m -’
‘You’re still human. At least until your birthday,’ Kael says, ‘and besides, we think you’re immune to some extent. It’s a long story.’
‘Your chest,’ I reach out with one hand toward him and shiver at the memory of the dagger piercing his skin. ‘You were dead.’
Kael grabs my hand, careful of the drip needle, and holds it against his chest, solid and warm beneath my icy fingers.
‘I’m fine, it was a silver dagger, he missed my heart and I heal much quicker than any other Maor.’
I let out a shaky breath and swallow, trying to moisten my throat which still feels like sand paper.
‘How...did you…find me?’
‘I followed your aura,’ he says, watching my face, ‘that and our bond.’
‘Bond?’
‘Yes, it’s hard to explain.’ A small crease appears on his brow. ‘I can kind of sense your deep emotions. I can tell when you’re afraid and your fear led me to the caves.’
Kael shakes his head and looks angry for a minute.
‘Damnit, Shaylee, what happened? Why did you go out on your own?’
I don’t know what to say to that. How do I explain the desolation that took away all reasoning when he shook his head at that Circle meeting?
‘How long have…’ the words trail off into a wince of pain. Whatever pain killers they’re pumping into the drip is wearing off.
‘Three days,’ Kael supplies and he stands. ‘We can talk later, you need your rest. I’m going to get a nurse.’
This time I don’t argue. The pain in my shoulder intensifies with every beep from the monitor.
Kael returns a minute later with a nurse en-tow. She checks the monitor, takes my pressure and injects some pale liquid into the drip that leaves a trail of languorous warmth as it travels up my arm. She exits, promising to return with the doctor and Kael takes his plastic seat beside the bed again. He lifts my hand into his, careful not to tangle the pipes pumping medicine into me.
‘Don’t leave me,’ I whisper, as my eyelids droop in response to the medication.
‘Never,’ he whispers back and I fall asleep with my hand in his.
‘Do you ever go home?’ I ask Kael, one morning while we’re playing monopoly on top of the starched hospital sheets.
‘Why, do you want me to go?’ he asks with that lip-tilt that has my heart doing a crazy little flip in my chest.
‘No, of course not. It’s just I never see you leave and if these grey walls are driving me insane, I can just imagine how you feel, sleeping in that chair all night.’
I gesture toward the leather wing-back one of the nurses had kindly procured from the pediatric ward for us. Kael has slept in that chair for the past five nights solid, not counting the three days I’d been unconscious.
He takes my hand in his across the monopoly board.
‘I’m fine, and I do go out, sometimes – when you’re asleep.’
He turns my hand palm up and rubs his thumb across the lines there, sending delicious warmth into my blood-stream that has nothing to do with the medication they are still feeding into my veins.
‘The doctor says you can go home tomorrow,’ he says, looking up from our linked hands.
‘Oh…’ The thought of finally going home fills me with mixed feelings. I long to escape from the confines of my hospital bed and the overwhelming smell of disinfectant that permeates everything, but going home will mean I won’t have Kael all to myself twenty four hours a day. I’m not sure if I’m ready to give up this comfortable intimacy that has developed between us.
‘You don’t sound very excited,’ Kael comments. ‘I thought the walls were driving you insane?’
‘They are, it’s just that…’ I let my gaze drift to the chrysanthemums beside the bed that Nan brought on her last visit. I fumble for a reason to keep Kael by my side. ‘Is it safe?’
He squeezes my hand, a little too hard.
‘I’ll never let anything happen to you again, Shaylee.’
‘But what if…I mean, you’ll be next door and -’
‘Nothing’s going to happen. I’ve arranged with Tanya to move into the room opposite yours,’ he says, looking at me with an intensity that makes me tremble. ‘I won’t leave you alone for even a minute. I can’t risk losing you again.’
The protective expression on his face warms me and sends tingles all up and down my body. The idea of Kael sleeping across the hall from me probably contributes to my sudden temperature spike too.
‘You don’t think it’s over, do you?’ I ask. He glances down at our hands again.
‘I wish I could say yes…’
I feel a quick burst of panic.
‘But you said the vampire was dead -’
‘And he is,’ Kael says, squeezing my hand again, ‘but he’s not the only one who’s been tracking you.’
‘What do you mean?’ I ask, with trepidation.
‘We didn’t want to frighten you but we found traces of a Were pride at both the fires. We’re sure they were deliberately set to weaken and distract us.’
‘Is that what Tristan meant at the circle meeting when he spoke about an advanced warning?’
‘Yes, you had those attacks, both times when the pride was near and I’m pretty sure they were near Abbey Manor that other time too. I don’t think it’s a coincidence, especially since it was exactly like the attack you had the night when you were seven, the night -’
‘- your parents were killed.’ I finish.
We both fall silent, looking at each other and I feel the prick of tears welling up behind my eyes at the memory of that night.
‘I’m so sorry, Kael,’ I whisper, ‘it was all my fault.’
He shakes his head and makes an annoyed, clucking sound. ‘I wish you’d stop saying that, Shaylee. It wasn’t your fault.’
‘Of course it is!’ I argue. ‘It’s all my fault. I keep hurting you and putting everyone in danger. You, my parents, my friends…’
Kael reaches out with both hands, cups his hands around my face and brushes a tear from my cheeks with his thumbs. Until then, I hadn’t even realized I was crying.
‘You are not responsible for what happened that night, Shaylee, or for anything else that may happen to me. Regardless of what you may think, I make my own choices. I chose that night, to stay with you. I don’t regret it and I’m choosing it again, whatever may happen. I won’t leave you.’
He leans forward and brushes the softest, gentlest kiss across my forehead. Then he sits back in the chair and gives me a beautiful, lop-sided grin.
‘Now pay up, princess. Your hat just landed on my hotel site!’
Chapter 56
Disappointment
Tastes like: A creamy, brown cake that should be chocolate – but isn’t.
Smells like: Fish and chips when you’re expecting home-cooked stew.
Sounds like: ‘Oh’
Feels like: Sinking.
Looks like: An excited smile, fading slowly.
When the doctor finally discharges me at noon the following day, I’m still incredibly weak and shaky - understandable since I’ve just spent close on two weeks in a hospital bed. The only exercise I’ve had, has been confined to an hourly session daily with the physiotherapist.
The doctor orders me to ‘take it easy’, immobilizes my injured arm in a sling and gives me an appointment card for my next physiotherapy session.
He also orders me to stay off my bicycle for at least another six weeks, advice I find confusing until Kael explains that he’d told the hospital staff my injuries had been the result of a freak cycling accident.
‘I couldn’t very well tell them you were a fairy princess and you’d had a run in with a vampire, could I?’ he reasons as we walk toward the truck.
I grimace and lean heavily on him, frustrated by my body’s weakness. Kael bends to lift me into his arms but I stop him.
‘No. Much as I relish the idea, I can’t have you carrying me everywhere,’ I say. ‘There’s only one way to get my strength back.’
He doesn’t seem particularly pleased at having to watch me struggle but he allows me to walk the rest of the way, staying close beside to lend his support and letting me set the pace.
When we arrive home, however, I don’t argue with Kael when he lifts me into his arms for the trip up the stairs. In all likelihood, I could not even make it on my own to the second step, exhausted as I am by the mere steps from the hospital to the car.
‘I’d like to sit by the window for a while, please?’ I ask when Kael enters my bedroom. He complies, tucking me into the window seat and flinging both of the windows open wide.
‘You could do with some fresh air,’ he says. ‘You’re still very pale.’
‘Where’s Nan?’ I ask.
‘She’s gone to the airport with Gramps,’ Kael says.
‘The airport?’ I ask, surprised. ‘What’s she doing there?’
‘Collecting a visitor, hey, speaking of visitors…’ he directs my attention to the silver Beamer that is pulling into the drive below. ‘He’s been calling non-stop the whole time.’
I sigh, lay my head against the window-sill and close my eyes.
‘I can’t…. Could you please just tell him I’m asleep?’
I feel Kael brush a lock of hair back from my forehead but my eyes are too heavy to open.
‘Sure.’
His footsteps recede and the door clicks open. Somewhere in the hazy state between sleep and wakefulness, I hear voices arguing, the slam of a door and the rev of an engine, but I’m too tired to really take notice and within minutes, I’m asleep again.
Five: A Maor Novel (Maor series) Page 29