by Tina Donahue
Her body landed at Nikoli’s feet. Fighting the urge to move back, he kept his attention on Andris.
The vampire regarded his kill, his features expectant as though waiting for the barista to burn. When she did not, he shouted to the rest, “Hold back. The woman and I enter first.”
“What of me?” Sazaar asked.
She betrayed no emotion. And yet, beneath her detachment, Nikoli sensed sorrow so deep, longing so hopeless, it cramped his heart. He had never been able to love her, not as he did Regina, but Nikoli hadn’t wanted Sazaar’s life to come to this.
“What of you?” Andris said dismissively. Not waiting for an answer, he pulled Regina forward.
“I have the instrument,” Sazaar called out, lifting it for all to see. “Would you want me to be the last to enter when I hold the way into E2? When I alone can alter the atmosphere for our kind to enter and thrive?”
“Nikoli can do the same,” Andris shot back. “Or the woman dies.”
Sazaar countered, “To him, she’ll be gone once on E2. You’ve cowed him thus far, but he’s an honorable man, Andris. Do you want to risk facing Nikoli’s integrity when it comes to him betraying his father and people? Do you want to lose precious time seeing if he does what you demand? Time in which the security systems may alert those on E2? Time he’ll try to use to save Regina?”
Nikoli’s pulse raced at what Sazaar had said. He watched Andris’s blond brows drawing together.
Making no attempt to hide his irritation at the power Sazaar held, power Andris couldn’t dismiss, he shouted to the others, “She goes next. Then the rest follow.”
Arm firmly around Regina’s throat, he entered the void. His pale eyes rounded at the bright light. His obscene smile widened.
Nikoli stole a glance at Regina. She was already looking at him.
Love, longing, every powerful emotion he’d denied himself, whipped through Nikoli. It took all of his will not to pull her from Andris and protect her within his embrace. Cautious of making any wrong move, tearing his attention from her, Nikoli watched Sazaar enter the portal.
Regret and shame shone in her eyes, and the manner in which she held herself. Like an animal beaten by its master, expecting no better.
The other vampires poured inside, their gazes snapping to the right and left, up, down. They clawed at their hair, pulled across their pallid faces by the wind. It stole all sound. Only in Nikoli’s mind did he hear their loud hissing as they reached out to touch the far side of the void and what lay beyond it.
E2.
Despite the air’s cold bite, sweat coated Nikoli’s throat and chest. He had to free Regina and grab the device before Sazaar and Andris realized they wouldn’t be able to enter the other side. That their only option for survival was to flee back into Regina’s dimension.
More creatures entered the space, leaving only a dozen still in the bedroom.
Focused on them and the gateway, Nikoli inched closer to Regina, the tips of his fingers brushing hers. She reacted instantly, her thumb stroking the back of his hand. In his peripheral vision, Nikoli saw Andris staring at E2. Like the others, he used his free hand to reach for it, his fingers straining in that direction, the sounds he made growing in volume and excitement.
One by one, the vampires turned away from Regina’s bedroom to face what they believed to be their new home, their profane sounds growing louder, frenzied. Glancing to the side, Nikoli saw Sazaar staring at his hand touching Regina’s.
He didn’t bring it back, not wanting Sazaar to know he feared. He needed to reason. He required the element of surprise. So close to the gateway, with the creatures’ attention diverted, Nikoli knew he had a slim chance of getting Regina away from Andris, of pushing her back to the other side, then taking the device from Sazaar and closing the portal.
As if she’d heard his thoughts, Sazaar lifted her face to his.
Despite his thudding heart, Nikoli kept his expression neutral.
His former mate studied him, then spoke in their native tongue. She produced no sound, except in his mind, her tone loud enough for no one but him to hear. “What would you give to have her safe?”
With her question, Nikoli stared, not certain why she’d asked it.
What would he give? Everything.
Wary, forcing himself to think, not to trust, he answered in their language, his pitch as subdued so only she could hear. “What would you give to have him for yourself?”
Sazaar glanced at Andris. A curious mixture of adoration and loathing crossed her features, followed by resignation. “That will never be.”
“Unless you make it so,” Nikoli said.
Her expression changed, understanding flooding her eyes. In their realm and in Regina’s, Andris would never quell his appetite. He’d always seek new conquests, both female and male, relegating Sazaar to nothing more than one of his victims. Forcing her to watch him preferring others, dismissing her very existence when she’d given him everything she had.
In the void between dimensions, though…
Driven by the wind, the ends of Sazaar’s black gown lashed her ankles. Long blonde tresses blew away from her face. Her focus moved past Nikoli to the last of the vampires entering the space.
“Open the portal to E2,” Andris ordered, his mouth moving soundlessly, his words thundering in Nikoli’s mind.
And in Sazaar’s. Almost too quickly, she lifted the instrument, prepared to do whatever her master commanded in the futile hope that it would make him want her.
Nikoli’s hope evaporated. With no choice except to make his move, he tensed his legs. If he rammed Andris, knocking him off balance, that might allow a few seconds in which to free Regina. He could then push her back to her own side. Once he wrenched the device from Sazaar, he could close—
“No,” Sazaar said, interrupting Nikoli’s thoughts, speaking in their language.
His pulse jumped.
She continued. “There’s no time.”
From the left, Nikoli saw Andris’s head whipping around. The vampire growled, “What are you saying to him?”
Meekly, Sazaar answered. “I told him of my love for you.”
Andris frowned. “Your love? You think I care about that? You think I care about you? Open the portal.”
“No,” she said again, this time in English, loud enough so everyone could hear.
Shock crossed Andris’s face, replaced quickly by rage. Lips spread wide, fangs exposed, he released Regina and turned toward Sazaar. The vampires surrounding them backed deeper into the void, allowing their master and his victim space.
Regina edged to the side of Andris, nearer the portal, closer to Nikoli.
Andris didn’t appear to notice. His attention remained on Sazaar.
Despite his rage, she didn’t shrink away. Facing him, she continued to lie. “Only Nikoli can open the gateway to E2. Only he knows how to defeat its security that’s surely been changed since I crossed over.”
Andris glanced at Nikoli, then back to Sazaar. Distrust contorted his features. “You said you could open it. You said he would delay matters to alert security.”
“If given the opportunity, because neither you nor the others know anything about it. I do. I’ll know if he’s doing anything to harm or betray us.” Giving Andris no chance to react, she handed Nikoli the instrument.
For a moment, he was unable to believe it. He curled his fingers around the device, deliberately not looking at Regina, not wanting to remind Andris of her.
“Open the portal,” Sazaar said, her lips moving silently with her order.
The vampires heard her in their minds. Lifting their arms, fingers curled, they clawed the air, trying to reach the other side. Andris opened his mouth, releasing an inaudible hiss.
Nikoli gauged his movements, knowing he had only a few seconds to distract Andris and the others so he could get Regina to safety. Lifting his arm, he pointed the device toward E2, running his thumb over the screen, knowing it would have no effect.
“It’s opening!” Sazaar shouted.
As one, the creatures moved across the void toward what they believed was the coming gateway. Andris watched. In the same instant, Sazaar pounced, flinging her body across the space.
As her weight struck his, Andris stumbled. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his hips, she screamed, “Go! Close the portal!”
The vampires turned from her to Nikoli. Shock, indignation, bloodlust registered on their faces. Andris wailed, clawing at Sazaar. She held tight, her cheek to his temple, her lips mouthing words of hopeless love.
Swarming past her and Andris, the creatures headed for Nikoli.
He pushed his body into Regina’s, forcing her to go through the gateway into her own realm. Gasping, she grabbed his sweater, pulling him with her, not allowing Nikoli to remain with the rest.
As he and Regina lurched into her bedroom, Nikoli swung his arm up, activating the instrument, closing the gateway. It remained transparent even as it grew solid.
Several of the vampires tried to run through it. Their bodies bounced off the invisible barrier and tumbled backward into the void. Still others rammed their shoulders against it to no avail.
Grabbing Regina’s upper arm, Nikoli pulled her back from the scene. He stared at the creatures’ palms pressed against the obstruction, their deadly nails clawing it. Behind them, he saw Andris fighting to free himself of Sazaar. Despite her injuries, despite Andris’s fury, love flooded her features. She clung to him with lacerated arms, still seeking one tender touch.
Unable to bear the sight, Nikoli turned away, pulling Regina into his embrace. She collapsed into him, shivering uncontrollably, then moaned at the volume of Sazaar’s words reaching past the barrier to this realm.
“I would have betrayed my people for you,” she sobbed. “I would have given you E2 and the other dimensions beyond, if you’d only loved me.”
“Oh God,” Regina cried.
Nikoli tightened his embrace. He listened to Sazaar’s pleas growing fainter. Glancing over, he saw the last of the portal closing, the wall and paintings becoming solid again. Only a circle of emptiness remained, an opening the size of a fist. Through it, Nikoli saw the vampires’ escalating panic. They pounded the circle. They screeched.
The hole closed, leaving only the sounds of his and Regina’s strained breathing.
Chapter Seventeen
She held fast to Nikoli, resisting when he led her to a chair, wanting her to sit. Face pressed against his shoulder, Regina tried to speak but couldn’t. Her throat was too tight. Her body shook too badly.
With great care, Nikoli eased her fingers from his sweater.
Regina croaked, “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” Guiding her into the chair, Nikoli hunkered down at her side. “Were you injured? Did any of the vampires—”
“No.” She cupped his face in her hands, her thumbs avoiding the scratches Sazaar had given him, and all for Andris.
“If you’d only loved me.”
The young woman’s voice rang through Regina’s mind. She recalled how Sazaar had pleaded with Andris, her words so desperate, so helpless.
“Regina, you’re safe now,” Nikoli murmured. “It’s over.”
Was it? This morning, when she’d talked about trapping the vampires, her plan had seemed so perfect, sterile, emotionless.
“If you’d only loved me.”
Sazaar had only wanted what most did. Someone to love them. Someone to care. Regina whispered, “How long will she survive in the void?”
Nikoli looked away.
“Tell me,” Regina said. “I want to know.”
He spoke quietly. “Not long. Even if Andris doesn’t destroy her, their presence will alert my people to take action. If they aren’t gone already, they will be in a few minutes.”
Regina’s hands dropped from his face.
“It had to be done,” Nikoli said, resting his fingertips on her forearm. “It’s what Sazaar wanted.”
Regina frowned. “To be destroyed?”
“To have Andris for her own. To be with him even if it meant the end of her existence.” He spoke calmly, with reason. “What she’d become didn’t change all that she’d been. In the end, her motives weren’t entirely selfish. The action she took saved our people. It saved you.”
Regina shook her head, not wanting to think about Sazaar’s last moments.
On a sigh, Nikoli pushed to his feet.
She grabbed his wrist in both of her hands, afraid of his intent now that the vampires were gone. Would that make him a hero on E2, or would his people still consider him a traitor for having crossed over?
“He’s an honorable man,” Sazaar had said.
Honorable enough to return to face the consequences of his actions? Regina asked again, “What are you doing?”
His face betrayed none of his thoughts or emotions. “I want to build the fire back up, to get some warmth in here for you.” When she didn’t respond, he added, “I’ll be right here.”
Reluctantly, Regina released his hand.
He placed the device on the dresser, then went to the hearth.
She studied him as he worked. His hair was disheveled from the void’s wind. His dark eyes glittered in the building light.
Regina wanted to ask him what now?
She held back, not ready to hear that he would leave her. That he felt there was no life for them on this side or on E2. That he’d served his purpose. He’d protected her. He, along with Sazaar, had saved their people. His life and future belonged to them, not to Regina. Nothing, not even love, could change that.
She chewed her lower lip.
The night, so frightening a few minutes before, seemed empty now, still bereft of any future. Down the street, a lone dog howled. Something in the wall popped. Flames licked the logs, causing one to pop.
A shrill wail cut through the other sounds.
Regina flinched. Nikoli’s hand stalled before he could replace the poker in its stand. He stared at the device.
Its alarm continued to fill the room.
“Oh God,” Regina whispered, leaving the chair, going to Nikoli. “What does it mean? Who is it? Could Andris have survived? Could it be him?”
Not answering, Nikoli moved toward her bedroom wall. Regina followed. He stopped and snapped, “Go into the bathroom.”
“No.” She took his hand. He twisted it to free himself. Regina wouldn’t allow it. “Who is it?”
Nikoli didn’t say.
“Should I get the device?” Regina asked. “If a portal opens, can we close it and protect ourselves?”
“No.”
“What? Why not?” Releasing him, she hurried to the dresser and grabbed the instrument, then returned to his side. “Take it.” She shoved the device at him. “Stop whoever it—”
“It’s too late, Regina.” Grabbing the instrument, he ran his thumb over the screen, turning off the alarm.
Simultaneously, the wall in front of them grew transparent even as Regina sensed that it remained solid, impossible for them to breach. This time, it didn’t show the void but Nikoli’s lab. She recognized the odd clock on the wall, the strange chair, the circular monitors, muted colors. She blinked at a man entering the scene. Like the others on E2, he resembled Nikoli closely. Although he had few wrinkles, his silvery hair betrayed his advanced age.
His expression revealed nothing. Regina’s hand went to Nikoli’s back. She whispered, “Who is it?”
“My father.”
At the shame she heard, Regina turned to Nikoli, wanting to tell him he’d done nothing wrong. He’d helped his people.
His father spoke before she could, using E2’s language, his manner neutral, as though he were speaking to a stranger, not his son.
Nikoli answered in kind, without emotion.
Regina looked from one to the other, helpless to understand what they discussed. It was only when the pace of their words quickened that she sensed they were arguing.
Nikoli’s father had the final word. The men stared at each other, neither speaking. At last, the older man turned to Regina and continued in English. “My son understands what you refuse to accept. He has no right to love you, not only because of our people, but also for your continued safety and his. Nikoli’s feelings will only bring harm to each of you.”
Regina’s throat tightened.
“Do you want him to come to harm?” the man asked.
“No,” she cried. “Of course not.”
“Then tell him you understand,” the man ordered her. “Tell him he’ll always have to hide from those on your side or be taken prisoner and studied like an animal. Tell him his life is here on E2 with his—”
“Father,” Nikoli cut in, also in English. “Enough.”
Not heeding his son’s warning, the man continued, “This woman has nothing to offer you except uncertainty and pain. You have nothing to offer her but continued fear.”
“That’s not true,” Regina argued. “I’m willing to go through anything as long as I have Nikoli at my side.” Reaching up, she touched the edge of his jaw, turning his face to hers.
“Anything,” she whispered to him.
He swallowed. “I don’t want to bring you pain.”
“You won’t,” she insisted, then spoke to his father. “I love your son more than you could ever know.”
The older man’s expression hardened. “Your kind knows nothing. That’s why you’re plagued with poverty, chaos, endless wars. You want that kind of existence for Nikoli? You want him to come to harm to gratify your own needs for the futility of what you call love?”
“I want him to be happy,” she countered. “I want him to be safe. Can you promise Nikoli that on your side?”
“I know Sazaar bit him,” he said. “I’ve already explained to Nikoli that we have the means to rid him of her poison.”
“Only if you risk your position,” Nikoli cut in, then shook his head. “I can’t do that to you, Father. I won’t see you lose everything you’ve worked for. To have you marked as a traitor, the same as me. The only way to spare you would be to deliver myself to the authorities and face—”