by Ann Lory
She thought Gabriella grabbed her head and lifted her, maybe even spoke to her, but Cassie couldn’t make out what she was saying. Her heart seemed deafening in the long periods between its slow beats. How many seconds are there between each pulse of my blood? That can’t be right. Her lids fluttered feebly, and she watched through hazy eyes as Gabriella bit into her own wrist and then held the bleeding wound to Cassie’s lips.
Cassie tried to twist away but her body would not obey. Distantly, she heard Gabriella say Dimitri’s name. Dimitri. Yes, Dimitri. Cassie wanted to survive, wanted to live for him. She opened her mouth slightly and red fluid warmth flowed between her lips and down her throat. Gradually, she felt a little of her strength return. Cassie sucked more avidly now and drew the coppery taste into her mouth.
The flavor was sweet now, and Cassie was faintly surprised that she wasn’t disgusted at her own actions. Then, Gabriella suddenly jerked her wrist away, and an evil smile curved her lips as Cassie watched.
Disoriented, Cassie stared at her with confusion, wondering what had just happened. Abruptly, fierce pain lanced through her belly, slicing and rending vital organs.
Cassie convulsed, jerking from Gabriella’s hold and flopping about the floor, agonized. She screamed over and over, rivers of tears stinging her eyes, and curled into a ball to fight the pain, but the spasms would not release her. Her vision blurred, changed, and she knew this time that she would surely die.
Gabriella’s malicious laughter filled the cavern as she watched Cassie writhe. “Now, my precious, I think it’s time Dimitri knew what is going on.”
* * * * *
The sun was almost gone. Dimitri was determinedly counting the minutes before he’d be free to kill Gabriella. He wanted to tear her to pieces.
We leave together.
He didn’t answer Jacques. He knew his friend was right; the only way to defeat Gabriella would be to stand together against her. But the second the sun disappeared, he’d be on his way, with or without Jacques. No matter what happened, it would all end tonight. If he died, he was going to take that bitch with him. But first, he needed to find out why his friend didn’t seem to be at full strength.
Why haven’t you fed?
Do not worry about me.
You should have taken from Kelly. I should not have to tell you that you are endangering yourself and us!
Jacques was silent a long moment. You know why.
Then I will speak no more of it.
Before the last ray of sun surrendered to the night, Dimitri sensed Jacques lean over and kiss Kelly tenderly before rising and facing the door.
Both knew the split-second the sun fell. Their full strength surged within them, and they streaked from the house into the night, flying swiftly over the cliffs and ocean. Dimitri fought to keep his emotions under control, but the closer he drew to the cave, the more he felt his rage and fear escaping. Thoughts of Cassandra’s treatment at Gabrielle’s hands these long hours terrified him.
He suddenly faltered as pain sliced through his body. Dimitri groaned at the torment and tried to pinpoint what it was and why it was happening to him. Blood red tears filled his mind, and fire seared his being. The pain became excruciating. Was Gabriella doing this to him?
It was a struggle to stay in the sky, and he dropped several feet, his large, black hawk’s wings struggling to keep him aloft. Caging the pain, his mind searched for the source of the pain ... and found it. God, no! Cassandra!
It was her pain he was experiencing, and dread settled into the pit of his stomach. He could see her now. She lay on the cavern’s cold stone floor, her small body dying a little with each breath she took. He had failed her.
The hawk’s outraged screeches filled the air, and he dove toward the earth as the cave came into view. Both predators shot across the velvety cloak of night toward the illuminated opening.
Craig stepped out from behind a huge boulder some distance from the cave, and Dimitri streaked straight at him, intent on killing the man for his role in Cassandra’s agony and apparent death.
Go to Cassandra, old friend. I’ll take care of this one.
Jacques touched the ground, shifting as he did, then looked up. Dimitri flew overhead toward the light of the cave. Jacques turned his full attention to the man before him and smiled coldly.
“Gloat now, vampire, while you can. You’ll be dead soon enough.” Craig grinned just as coldly and pulled out a long grayish rod from its hiding place behind the boulder. From the look of it, Jacques was certain it must be pure silver, one of the few things that could truly kill him. The length of metal was about five feet long, with a jagged edge at one end and a pointed spike at the other.
Craig slowly rotated the staff in his hands, creating a whooshing sound as it twirled round and round, and approached Jacques.
“I see you’ve brought toys.”
“Deadly enough to kill a vampire,” he sneered.
Jacques smirked. “We’ll see.”
They circled each other, neither taking his eyes from the other. The ground was rocky and unstable, with unexpected rises and dips. Finally, Craig yelled and raced at Jacques, who moved to one side, but the jagged edge of the rod skimmed across the top of his shoulder as the other man rushed past him, ripping and burning into his skin.
Jacques grunted and whirled around as Craig turned to come at him from behind. Jacques’s fist connected squarely with the man’s jaw, sending Craig flying backward onto the hard ground. But he didn’t release his weapon and jumped quickly to his feet.
Running at Jacques again, Craig thrust and jabbed. Jacques blocked the assaults with his arms, which were protected by the sleeves of his shirt, but he still felt the heat from the silver. Craig then sliced up and Jacques bent backward, barely escaping the jagged blade. As he moved upright again, Craig deflected the pole downward, reversing his motion and sending the spiked end plunging into Jacques’s side.
* * * * *
Kelly’s eyes snapped open; she felt like she had just been awakened from a drug-induced sleep. Sitting up, she tried to get her bearings by looking around her. She was alone in Jacques’s room at the guesthouse. Slipping from the bed slowly, her body aching and sore, she left the guesthouse. It was dark outside and she knew exactly where Jacques and Dimitri must be. They had left without her to rescue Cassie.
Cassie was her friend, by God, and she was going help!
Pelting to the kitchen, she peered around the door that led to the garage and smiled at the sets of keys hanging on a rack. Grabbing one at random, she looked at the tag on it and moved among the different models of cars. Finding the Porsche, she fired it up, hit the automatic door opener and sped out into the night.
* * * * *
Dimitri entered the cavern and transformed, his booted feet touching the ground. His eyes immediately sought Cassandra as his senses searched for Gabriella. He knew his maker was there, but hiding.
Cassandra lay only a short distance inside, and his heart constricted at her shivering form, rolled into the fetal position on the floor. He fell to his knees beside her, his heart in his throat. Her pain was intense, and the scent and the smell of her blood filled his senses. He tried to take the brunt of her torment and absorb it into himself.
As he lifted her, she cried out feebly. The sound seemed to grip his soul and tears wet his eyes as his fingers lightly traced over her ravaged throat. The wound was raw, her flesh torn without mercy.
“No,” he whispered. She had suffered greatly, and he would never forgive himself.
He brought her face toward his. “Cassandra, my love, look at me.” His voice was hoarse and thick with emotion. “I’m so sorry, agapi mou. I have failed you.”
Her head and body were limp in his arms, but then she opened her eyes, peering at him dazedly. He sucked in a sharp breath. His heart seemed to stop and time froze as he gazed down into her eyes. “No!” He choked on his sobs.
Cassandra’s eyes were black swirling pools looking into his. He clut
ched her to him, cradling her as he would a tiny babe.
“Oh, God, forgive me, please forgive me,” he repeated over and over. Then his groan mingled with her cry of anguish as another pain knifed through them both.
“Touché, Dimitri.”
Dimitri whirled around, holding Cassie protectively to him. “You have made a very, very grave mistake, Gabriella, and you will pay with your life.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jacques gasped at the agony clawing his side. He could smell his burnt flesh. His stomach heaved.
Craig laughed exultantly, still grasping his weapon . When Jacques moved to pull the gleaming object from his body, Craig kicked out, propelling Jacques off the rod. Immediately, blood began to pool beneath his body. The other man came and stood over him, raising the metal staff above his head, and brought it slamming down towards him.
Jacques rolled his body to the side, fire searing through him in waves, and heard the pole bury itself into the ground. He seized the chance to spin around, kicking Craig’s feet out from under him.
Bursts of pain pulsed through Jacques and his movements slowed. He knew he was growing weaker not just from the nature of the weapon and his wound, but the rapid loss of blood as well. Attempting to throw himself on top of Craig, he missed. The other man leapt to his feet once more and yanked the silver rod from the ground. The blade nicked the side of Jacques’s face, then cut across his chest.
Breathing heavily, the stench of his blood and burnt flesh in his lungs, he looked up at Craig, knowing the next blow would take his life. He also knew that the man wanted him to cry out before he died, to beg, but Jacques refused to do so. He would never give him the satisfaction.
“What’s wrong, vampire? Lost the will to fight?”
Jacques rose unsteadily to his feet and glared. “Bring it on!” If he was meeting his end, he’d damned well take the bastard with him.
Craig roared and charged, plunging the pole through Jacques’s abdomen; Jacques bellowed in agony, felt the weapon protrude through his back. From far off, he thought he heard someone scream his name. He strained and grasped Craig’s throat in his hands, squeezing. “You fool,” he hissed.
Craig began to flail wildly, realizing his mistake too late, and clawed at Jacques’s hands. The sound of bones breaking flashed in the air and the man’s eyes glazed over.
Grimacing with equal parts disgust and massive suffering, Jacques tossed Craig away like trash. Then he gripped the staff jutting from his body -- his flesh and organs charred -- and using the last of his strength, pulled the rod from his body, shrieking as he did so. Blood spurted from the open wound like a crimson river. He dropped the pole, his palms scorched, the rod clanging loudly as it struck the ground.
Jacques swayed even as he tried to staunch the blood with one hand. But the dark flow ran though his fingers. He collapsed forward.
“Jacques?” Her voice called to him, full of fear.
Kelly cried out in denial and rushed to his side. She had parked the Porsche at the edge of the road and jumped from it, horrified as she saw Jacques fighting Craig. Not thinking of anything except Jacques, she had rapidly descended the rocky incline and ignored her body’s protests, her gaze constantly focused on him, flinching at each swipe of the blade across his flesh.
Putting her back into her effort, she grabbed hold of him and turned his large frame over onto her lap. Tears filled her eyes at the blood that dripped down the side of his face, and spread like a scarlet flame across the front and sides of his formerly white shirt. He was deathly pale, and his eyes seemed sunken in. She hardly knew where to begin, he had such grievous injuries.
She sobbed. “Oh, Jacques, what did he do to you?”
He touched her face ever so gently, and she quickly looked at his black eyes, which were deep wells of pain. “I’m fine now, mon ange.” He groaned and closed his eyes.
Desperation filled. “Jacques! What can I do to help you? Tell me!”
His lids lifted slightly, and the answer seemed to scream in her mind, yet he had said nothing at all. Her fear for him was uppermost in her mind, and she didn’t think twice. All she knew was she needed to save him, this man who had come to mean so much to her.
Yanking at her collar impatiently, she saw his eyes immediately jump to the pulse she knew was beating rapidly there. “You need blood don’t you?” She paused, gazing deeply into his eyes. “Take from me, Jacques.”
“No, Kelly.”
She wouldn’t lose him, not when she had just found him. There was not much time left. He had been too severely wounded and his blood continued to saturate the ground. I refuse to let him go! “You will listen to me and do this. Now!”
There was silence between them, but she knew he was trying to fight the compulsion to take from her. Her eyes never wavered from his face, even though she was afraid and her heart thumped a frantic rhythm. She kept an arm wrapped around him, steadying him as he cupped the side of her face in his hand. He tugged her head lower and captured her lips tenderly with his despite his obvious suffering. She opened to him and his tongue swept into her mouth. She savored the taste of him.
He moved from her lips and kissed the curve of her jaw, and then his tongue licked down to the base of her throat, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Kelly clung to him and to the feelings he evoked in her.
She felt his fangs grazing along her flesh, then a momentary pain. He drank from her and a feeling of erotic ecstasy seemed to spiral up within her. Never had she felt anything that was so wonderful. She wanted him to take all of her, to never stop, as his tongue stroked and his lips continued to draw what he needed. She twisted the fingers of one hand into his dark hair and whimpered in delight. He held onto her as if she were his only lifeline, pressing her against the wall of his chest.
She was sweeter than anything he had ever had in the past, like hot honey flowing into his mouth, and he wanted more of her intoxicating ...
Her head fell onto his chest; shifting her slightly, he saw how white she was. A trickle of blood oozed from the bite mark at her throat. Damn! He cursed himself for taking too much. She had freely offered and he had freely taken, but at what cost?
Muttering deep in his throat, he used a nail to cut his skin beneath his collarbone and moved her mouth to the bleeding area. “Drink, mon ange, I command it!”
She sighed faintly and licked at welling blood. Then her mouth closed over the wound, taking his lifeblood into her. Longing and desire rippled through him; her lips and tongue were like fire on his flesh. He closed his eyes with pleasure and he wished he could take her here and now, make her his for all eternity.
His eyes widened at his own thoughts, and he swiftly looked at her; the color had come back to her cheeks, so he gently moved her before closing her wound with a stroke of his tongue.
Feeling a measure of his strength return, Jacques rose and picked up Kelly’s limp form, determined to take her to safety.
By the cry of rage that suddenly filled the air, he knew the battle was far from over.
* * * * *
Gabriella levitated off the floor, staring down at Dimitri, her red gown swirling around her as her anger clearly took hold of her and she reacted. “She was just a mortal, Dimitri. You are a weak, pathetic fool,” she spat, her black eyes flashing.
He placed Cassie behind him against the wall, away from further harm, then stood, coming face to face with Gabriella. “I smell fear.” He inhaled deeply. “And what a wonderful smell it is.”
He lashed out, catching Gabriella’s shoulder with his long talon-like claws, surprising her and making her crash into the cave’s wall. She looked down at her arm and the blood that streaked from the long gashes, then glowered at him, her eyes blazing with fury. She screeched and flew across the room, attacking him with vigor.
Her own claws struck at his chest, no doubt to rip out his heart, but he maneuvered away from her swipe. Seizing her by the throat, he flung her outside into the open sky and followed. They twisted a
nd swept through the air at one another, their growls and cries echoing into the night.
Gabriella ripped her talons down the front of Dimitri’s shirt, the fabric tearing. She was rewarded with ribbons of blood dripping down his chest.
“Close one, Dimitri. Be careful or I may end up holding your pulsating heart in my eager hands.”
His smiled grimly at her and dragged a finger across his chest. He lifted it to his lips and tasted his blood ... and that of Cassandra’s.
“You are a beast, Dimitri. A child of darkness, yet you try to pretend otherwise.”
He was not fooled by what she was doing. She was attempting to talk him down so she could take him down.
“Look back on your life. What good have you been, except for taking what mortals so dearly need. You are a fiend of the worst sort. I don’t play these little games you insist --”
“Yes, you do,” he whispered. “You are playing them now, but it’s not working. You’ve lost your touch.” Sarcasm dripped from his lips.
“Bastard!”
He felt her probing his mind, then the cold squeezing of her phantom hands around his throat. He fought back, relieving some of the pressure of her strangulation. She laughed. “Your beloved Cassandra tasted extra sweet, Dimitri.”
Dimitri was enraged; dark clouds filtered in over the night sky, covering the moon that shone so brightly above. Thunder rumbled and grew louder as he glared at her, flinging hate at her. Gabriella looked around her and released her mental hold on him. Dimitri knew she suddenly realized he was a lot stronger than she had anticipated.
Lightning streaked down from the sky, gliding just past her, and she leaped out of its path. The wind picked up and Dimitri became as calm as the sea on a still night. His hair whipped around his head, but he continued to concentrate on Gabriella.
More lightning flashed around her, and she was forced to dodge the bolts of jagged heat. Dimitri felt a boost of power from Jacques and used it to bypass her defenses and strike her mind. Gabriella let out a shrill cry and raced toward him, her body slamming into his, sending them both tumbling to the rocky ground below.