by Kailin Gow
“No!” His voice rose higher.
“Drink!” The telepathy between the two of them was stronger than ever; she knew her voice was echoing in his ears, in his brain. Drink!
“No!” This time, the voice was unearthly, wailing, wretched – full of pain. “No!”
Drink.
“Can’t you see?” It was Stuart’s voice – somehow – beneath all that agony. “It won’t work!” His telepathy said the rest: You don’t love me.
So, that’s the real reason Stuart had been holding back, the good Stuart holding back the Dark Knight within. It wasn’t that he’d lost his taste for Life’s Blood. It was his fear – the fear that had always held Stuart back, always kept him in the shadow of his brother – that Kalina never loved him as much as she loved Jaegar, as much as she loved Octavius. He had always been the trustworthy one, the loyal one, the dependable one, so easily forgotten…and even now, Stuart knew it. And even now, he feared it. And yet she felt her love for him within herself, so strong that she knew it was real, it had to be real.
“It is real,” Kalina whispered. “I’ve always loved you. I’ve always loved all of you. And if the spell worked on Jaegar – it will work on you too. You’re connected to me. You – Jaegar – Aaron – Octavius…you’re all connected to me. You’re part of me. You’re who I am. And I love you for that.”
“And what if I don’t want to turn human?” It was the voice of the Dark Knight, now, battling with Stuart – strange and cruel.
“You want this, don’t you?” Kalina motioned at her neck, exposing the bare whiteness to his fangs. “Drink…It will make you stronger, faster, better. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let your fears hold you back! Just drink me! Want me!”
Stuart’s fangs shot out once more. Between the Dark Knight’s desire and Stuart’s love, she had convinced him at last, tempted him at last. If this didn’t work, she knew, Stuart would be stronger than ever. It was a last-minute gambit. But it had to work – there was no other way. Kalina closed her eyes, waiting for the final bite, as Stuart’s mouth hovered over the spot he so wanted to kiss, so wanted to sink down into.
A bony hand stopped him as it wrapped around his throat. It was small, strong, and unmistakably feminine. Stuart staggered backwards, rearing up at the attacker.
Kalina recognized her immediately. “Max?”
Chapter 9
Kalina rolled over to get a good look at the woman who was standing before her, stake in hand, raised high above Stuart’s shirtless frame. Her eyes were full of a cold and righteous anger – eyes with flecks of gold in them that had turned to metallic silver by the sheer penetrating force of her gaze. Kalina knew immediately what this enigmatic Max was after. The way she was looking at Stuart – with a hatred so primal that seemed to burn along with the blood in her veins – said it all. Stuart wasn’t a person to her – wasn’t the kind, troubled gentleman that Kalina still saw somewhere deep down inside her. No, Max was looking at Stuart the same way she might look at a wolf or coyote that dared approach her land. Stuart was vermin to her; he was prey.
“Now, wait a second,” Kalina heard herself saying, stammering as she did up the buttons on her blouse. “Hold on – don’t do anything rash – I can explain!” Explain? Why did she have to explain anything to this mysterious interloper who always turned up at the most inconvenient times? What did she want? Kalina’s eyes fell on the ruby necklace around Max’s neck, the same glittering jewel that had been stolen from her hours earlier. “And what are you doing with my necklace?”
She made a motion to snatch it back, but Max was too quick for her. She darted out of Kalina’s reach, still keeping her stake pointed clearly in the direction of Stuart.
Stuart, for his part, was gob smacked, rendered silent with shock and amazement. He kept looking at Max – that familiar nose, those familiar eyes, that unmistakable height of her cheekbones – and back to Kalina again, overcome by the resemblance. “Who are you?” he asked, his voice hollow. “What’s going…”
“That’s none of your business, vampire,” Max said. She spat out the word with apparent disdain. “You stay put, or I promise you, this stake will run straight through you.” Max was a tiny woman, even smaller than Kalina, but h bravado made it clear: Max meant business, and even Stuart wasn’t about to call her bluff. “You,” she turned her gaze to Kalina, and Kalina felt Max’s glare fix straight into the depths of her soul. “You’re coming with me.”
Kalina’s heart leaped. She had so longed to meet Max, so longed to track her down, to get answers. But she couldn’t leave now, not when she’d been so close to saving Stuart, to tempting him into drinking the Life’s Blood that could have cured him. She couldn’t leave Stuart the way he was now; controlled by the Dark Knight. It would be like leaving Stuart – the real Stuart, the one she loved – to die.
“I can’t go with you,” she said. “I need to stay with Stuart.” She knew it was risky – that she was just as likely to let Stuart kill her, to risk the wrath of the Dark Knight, as she was to save him. But there was a chance. Kalina had seen the goodness in Stuart’s eyes. She couldn’t let go of that chance, not even if it meant finding out who Max really was. “Who are you?” she asked again. “You can answer me – I’m not a vampire.” She looked back at Max and refracted that steely gaze back onto her, meeting Max’s cold eyes with a penetrating stare of her own.
She thought she saw a small, sardonic smile escape from Max’s lips. “You do realize you were about to be bitten by a vampire, right?” Max said, her voice dripping with irony.
“I do,” said Kalina, simply. She didn’t need to explain herself or Stuart to anyone else.
“Let me guess,” Max rolled her eyes. “This vampire is yours, too?”
Kalina wanted to blush. Not four hours ago, Max had seen her kissing Jaegar in an alleyway, and from the way Max was looking at her, she’d certainly formed an opinion about Kalina’s romantic proclivities. Kalina felt a touch of anger. What right did this woman have to interfere with Kalina’s decisions – to judge her for it? It was hard enough to deal with her feelings for the Greystone brothers and Octavius without some mysterious intruder with Kalina’s own face coming in to complicate the picture.
“As a matter of a fact,” said Kalina, determined to stand her ground. “Yes, he is. They both are.” Out of the corner of her eye, Kalina saw Stuart’s face contort with jealousy.
“And they’re both bad for you,” said Max. “You’re consorting with…dead things, with animals.” Kalina saw Stuart raise a bemused eyebrow.
“They’re dangerous, Kalina. And you need to get out erminede – away from as many vampires as possible. Do you understand me or not?”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me who you are and what you want with me?” Kalina picked up the lamp that had been sitting on the table next to the couch: a heavy, marble base. Not an ideal weapon, she thought, but useful enough in a pinch.
“I don’t have time to explain everything to you!” Max’s voice broke into exasperation. “They’re coming!”
“Who’s coming?” Kalina insisted.
“The others!” Max strode over to Kalina and, before Kalina had any time to register what was happening, Max had wrested the lamp base from her hand with lightning speed. Kalina gaped as Max seized hold of her wrist in a tight vice grip. Max was preternaturally strong, preternaturally fast. If she wasn’t a vampire, then what was she? “I don’t want to do this to you,” said Max, “but I’m not interested in risking my life in order to hear about your boyfriends. If you don’t come with me easy, I’m going to have to do this the hard way.”
“You can’t take her!” Stuart had stood up, now, and anger was blazing in his eyes. “I won’t let you take Kalina away from me!”
“Stuart, don’t!” Kalina cried, but it was too late. Stuart had clamped his hands down on Max’s arm, twisting it violently – almost enough to break it. “Stuart, wait!”
Max had rounded around to face Stuart, her dark
eyes matching Stuart’s gaze – exhibiting no pain, no fear – only a grimace of frustration. “You want to play, vampire?” she whispered. “Let’s play!”
In an instant she had loosen her arm from Stuart’s grip and kicked him squarely in the gut, sending him backwards across the room. Kalina watched in astonishment. Who was this mysterious woman – stronger than any human, if not any vampire, that Kalina had seen? Max had regained control of her stake, lifting it high above Stuart’s chest…
“No!” cried Kalina, but her cry died on her lips. Max had gone through with the swing, sending her stake deep into Stuart’s chest. Stuart coughed, spluttering, blood accumulating at the sides of his mouth. “No…” Kalina whispered again, before bolting into a run across the room. She had to go to Stuart, had to get close, had to feed him Life’s Blood, had to save him…
“Stay back!” Max commanded. “You willnot run to him, girl!”
“Like hell I’m not!” Kalina shouted back, pushing Max aside as she knelt at Stuart’s side, kissing his face. He was still alive, still panting. Kalina felt the wound, confused. Max’s aim had been precise – sending the stake straight into Stuart’s heart. It would have killed any vampire in an instant, transforming his body into dust and ash. But Stuart was still alive although she could feel his life force ebbing away beneath her.
“Kalina!” Stuart whispered, and in his eyes she could see the Stuart that he was once, the gentle Stuart that she had once loved. “I do love you,” he whispered. “Still…” His eyes sloped shut; his body slackened into death. In an instant, he was gone, and the Life’s Blood that had sustained him ceased to flow through his veins. Was it her Life’s Blood, that had allowed Stuart to die this way? He had died as he had always wanted to live – like a human; the human death in exchange for the life that had been denied him.
“Stuart…” Kalina clasped a hand to her mouth, feeling the tears start to gather at her eyes, collecting into viscous drops. “What did you do?” She looked up at Max, who was staring at the body with satisfied triumph. “I loved him…” This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to save him, to let him loose from the bondage of the Dark Knight, of the polluted Life’s Blood. If Max had only waited a few seconds longer, Stuart might have been turned human…
“Why did you do that?”
“To save your life!” Max yanked Kalina’s wrist, dragging her upwards. “If you hadn’t been so stubborn – we need to get out of here! Don’t you hear me?”
“I’m not leaving Stuart here!” Kalina sobbed! “I’m not leaving!”
“You just signed your own death-warrant,” said Max, gritting her teeth. “Don’t you have any idea how stupid you’re being? I came here to save you, you stupid little girl, and instead you’re going to get us both killed.”
But Kalina didn’t hear her. She had wrested herself away from Max’s grasp, instead running over to Stuart to hold his body so tightly, listening at the wound in his chest – covered in his blood, in her own Life’s Blood coursing through him – hoping, praying that she might hear a sign of life in the corpse. “Stuart,” Kalina whispered. “I always loved you, too.” She touched his hair with her fingers, rocking him in her arms. The tears ran down her cheeks and fell on his cold skin.
“Suit yourself,” Max said at ast, her jaw clenched and tight. “But anything that happens now is on you, do you understand me?”
Kalina was lost in her grief, kissing Stuart’s eyelids, whispering promises – apologies in his dead ears. And then she heard the door open.
“Get your stake!” Max tossed her a spare one out of her bag. “You asked for it.” She sighed deeply. “They’re here.”
Chapter 10
Kalina whipped around, but it was too late. Outside the sounds of dogs barking had ceased. There was only silence. The chilling sensation that had just swept into the room, turning her Life’s Blood to ice, was all she needed to know. She recognized the feeling – of being in the presence of pure, unmitigated evil. She could feel her Life’s Blood shiver within her veins. She had felt like this before, once. But then she had been kidnapped, shut up in a torture chamber deep beneath the Seine River. She had hoped to never experience that sensation again.
But here he was. Mal, with his thin-lipped grin and penetrating eyes, had swept into the room, and was looking at Max and Kalina with lascivious glee, flicking his tongue over the contours of his teeth.
Kalina froze. She shot a quick look at Max, who was staring at Mal with palpable hatred, her jaw clenched tight, her stake firm in her hand. As much as she hated Max right now – and the sight of Stuart’s slumped-aside body out of the corner of her eye made her hate Max even more – Max was the closest chance she had to survival. She’d already seen the horrors that Mal was capable of. And she had seen Max fight. The woman was a badass with her attitude, strength, and amazing fighting ability. Kalina now knew what that word meant, and Max was it.
“Now do you understand?” hissed Max through clenched teeth. She too shot a look at Stuart’s body with something like regret.
Kalina could have kicked herself. How could she have been so stupid? She had no way of knowing that Max was a friend, not an enemy. But if she hadn’t been so stubborn, they might have gotten out safely in time. If she hadn’t been so stubborn, Stuart…but she couldn’t think about that right now.
“Well, well, well,” Mal’s voice was eerie and cold, echoing through the drafty rafters of the farmhouse. “Two Life’s Blood carriers – together! Whatever did I do to deserve this? It must be my lucky day, Leonardo!
For a moment, Kalina thought that Mal had gone mad, that he had started talking to himself. Life’s Blood was known to drive vampires crazy, after all. But then she saw the other figure – a shadow with silvery-white hair – standing in the doorway, perched upon the threshold.
“Come in!” Mal gave a high-pitched laugh. “Come on in, Leonardo. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? You’re an invited guest – in my house.” His eyes fell on Stuart’s body. “Looks like the old owner doesn’t need it anymore!” He shifted his gaze to Kalina. “Guess he couldn’t handle the Life’s Blood, hmm? So few really do.”
Leonardo stalked in from the cold, the door slamming shut behind him, blood on his hands. The dogs. Stuart’s dogs. He had silenced their barking forever. Kalina gulped. Apparently Leonardo was just as cruel as Mal.
He looked about thirty years old – handsome with cheekbones as high and sharp as mountain ridges and lips full enough to suggest that life had once breathed upon them. Mal had not ruffled Max’s stone-still composure, but at the sight of Leonardo, Kalina saw Max’s very visible intake of breath. Mal was scary enough on his own, but two Life’s Blood vampires were an unbeatable prospect.
“Max!” Leonardo bowed deeply, his voice gentle and chilling with false formality. “I haven’t seen you in…ah – how long has it been?”
“Not long enough,” said Max, spitting out each word with slow-burning contempt. Kalina could see Max’s fingers fumble slightly with the stake she was holding. Did they know each other? Kalina eyes flitted back and forth from Max to Leonardo. Perhaps there was more to Max’s fear than enemy numbers.
“Leonardo,” began Mal. “I want you to meet the other carrier. Her name’s Kalina. Yes, she’s the girl I’ve been telling you about. Quite a beauty, isn’t she? And very clever. Able to put up a fight – or get her men to. She managed to get a team of vampire brothers to protect her. Three brave boys and their maker – following after her like dogs in the hope of getting a taste from her …”
“How dare you!” Kalina shouted, forgetting her fear in her anger.
“Have I struck a nerve?” Mal smiled with pretend astonishment.
Kalina quickly looked down, but she had made it clear: he had. Aaron had died to protect her; Stuart had been killed too. She’d allowed herself to love all three vampire brothers – along with Octavius – and allowed them all to make sacrifices for her, to risk their lives for her.
“What a lu
cky little girl you are!” said Mal. “If it weren’t for those Greystone brothers, I would have been able to drain you long ago. Is that why you’ve resisted picking one of them for so long, Kalina? Knowing the second you give it up, they won’t want you anymore. They won’t protect you anymore?”
“That’s not true,” Kalina began, but she felt her face grow hot with shame. She knew that she had genuinely loved all the Greystone brothers, in her own way, but she knew too that her inability to choose among them had hurt them all, in turn.
“If you’re not careful, Kalina, I’ll just keep killing them off. And then you won’t even get a choice! Two down – two to go.” Mal laughed again, that high and evil laugh that twisted Kalina’s heart into knots of agony and fear.
“I nearly drained Max a while ago,” said Leonardo, absent-mindedly. His voice was laconic and velvet-smooth. ‘She managed to get away – didn’t you, Max? What a pity. I’ve had to chase her down for an awfully long time. And to think – you made one false step, Max. That vampire you staked had Life’s Blood in him. The second he died, Mal – his maker – sensed him. And we knew where you were. All that hunting, all that running – and you killed that poor girl’s boyfriend for nothing!”