by Terry Spear
She closed her eyes. He assumed she was defeated and already the vampires’ own. Never.
“You wish to feed. I interrupted your feeding and you’re going to bite me and--”
“Your mother visited my home one day.”
Crystal’s heart stopped. This was where she died? Kostya’s home? Crystal had only been five when her mother and father were killed. Except for her brothers telling her a vampire, a cousin of Nicolai’s, had torn their throats out, not many more details had been mentioned.
Kostya ran his fingers over her cheek. “I didn’t realize you were her daughter. It happened so long ago, and you keep your family secrets so well.” He grinned and arched a brow. “But one thing puzzled me.” He touched the low neckline of her shirt, sending a spark of electricity through her body. “The vampire who ripped out her throat, didn’t die.”
The connotation swirled through her head like a whirlpool while she tried to make some sense of what he said. If a vampire could mix his blood with hers and it wouldn’t kill them, and the same thing was true of her mother, had her mother carried the same special gene?
Nobody had ever said anything about it to her. Well, rather no one ever had told her about her own gene either, but why wouldn’t they have said her mother had a reluctance to kill vampires? Was it because of the shame attributed to the perverse personality trait? She swallowed hard. That’s why her parents hadn’t killed her. Her mother was like her, too.
Kostya broke into her thoughts as he ran his fingers through her hair. “The vampire didn’t die from her blood. Because of that, he thought he was immune to all hunters’ blood and killed your father. Only as soon as he drank his blood, the vampire died.”
Taking a deep breath, Kostya rubbed his lips over Crystal’s. She turned her head, trying to avoid his attentions, only now she exposed her jugular to him. He mouthed her throat with extreme delight. “We thought that maybe the poison of your mother’s blood took longer to infect him, and if he hadn’t killed your father, he would still have died from biting your mother.”
He pushed her shirt down exposing her injured shoulder. The outer skin was nearly healed, but darker pink than the surrounding healthy tissue. “Another vampire managed to taste your blood, and survived that, only to die by your blade. So did the mother have a special blood type that the daughter also carries that can mix with the vampires without harming either?”
His mouth turned up appreciably. “There’s only one way to know for certain.”
46
Boniface walked into the kitchen as Robert served up another pizza. Robert glanced over at Crystal’s brother and nodded in greeting. He imagined Boniface was the one who still cared for Crystal, if any of her family did. Robert wondered if he were in a similar predicament, if he’d have gone against the family’s wishes.
Yes, Robert would have, beyond a doubt. He would never have allowed his own sister to fight for her life, alone.
The conversation continued in the living room between Max and Thomas and the others, but Boniface seemed to want to have a word with Robert alone as he leaned against the counter and remained silent. When Samuel and Mark carried the pizzas into the living room, Robert faced Boniface.
“I don’t want to alarm you, or cause problems with my uncle, but Crystal’s a handful.”
Robert folded his arms. “I know.”
“There’s a good chance she’s already in the thick of trouble this very minute.”
Robert glanced at the kitchen door leading to the garage.
Boniface shrugged. “Nothing more to say, but if you can, take good care of her. My father did my mother, as long as he could.”
Robert frowned at Boniface, not sure what he was talking about. Then growing concerned about Crystal, he headed for the garage.
He yanked open the door. The car was gone. A shiver of concern ran down his spine. She’d taken his car…again.
He dashed back in the house. “She’s gone!”
Thomas jumped from his seat. “All right, calm down. We’ll find her.” He turned to Max, figuring he might know where’d they’d take her, if any of them would. “Where’d they take her?”
“Could be anywhere. They’ll lead her to Nicolai eventually…when it gets dark.”
“Where?” Robert interjected.
Max glared at him. “If you think you can protect her any better than my brother protected her mother, you’re wrong.”
Mark and Samuel grabbed their sheathed swords.
Samuel said, “He’s got his brothers to back him up on this, too.”
Boniface wrinkled his brow. “Maybe down by the river. We’ve heard a lot of traffic on the cell phones from a town south of here, mentioning retrieving a hearse from the river and bringing it to one of their homes there. Nicolai was apparently resting in a coffin when the hearse had an accident. Maybe the hosts led her to this house.”
“Can you show us?” Robert asked, gripping his keys, ready to move out.
Boniface glanced over at Max whose lips turned down in a scowl.
Victor headed for the door. “I can.”
Boniface joined him. “We can.”
Robert and his brothers hurried outside to Thomas’s SUV. Boniface rode up front with Thomas. Victor sat in the middle with Robert and Samuel. Frowning, Mark climbed into the very back seat.
When Thomas sped off, Boniface turned to Robert. “We’ve been monitoring some of the hosts’ cell phone conversations for the last twenty-four hours. Nicolai’s been killing hosts by the dozen. Even vampire families in the surrounding communities are growing alarmed that his actions will alert the police of their activities.”
Victor added, “He and his brother have to be terminated. And then Crystal must leave here for good. We can handle what’s left of Nicolai and Dimitri’s family after that.”
Robert considered Boniface’s words spoken in the kitchen. “Your mother had the same gene as Crystal has?”
“Yeah.” Boniface looked out the window. “She was from Oregon and fled to Oklahoma to escape the same fate that awaits Crystal if she stays. Our mother hid the fact she had a strong aversion to killing. In the end, she died at the age of thirty because she hesitated to kill, one time too often.”
“And our father, too. He protected her from the day he took her under his wing when she was sixteen. She had six of us kids. Only now, Boniface, Crystal, and I remain.”
“Why wasn’t Crystal ever told her mother had this gene?”
Boniface shook his head. “Uncle Max said she wasn’t to be told, and what would be would be. Only the parents of a huntress who has the mutated gene are allowed to kill her. Since our mother had the same gene, neither Father nor Mother could kill her. They’d hoped she’d find a hunter who’d take her in when she was old enough, like Father had taken care of our mother.”
Victor cleared his throat. “Nobody ever believed a vampire would target her to be one of their own. It’s never happened before that we know of.”
Robert took a ragged breath. He couldn’t begin to understand the turmoil Crystal must face daily in dealing with her feelings about killing, but then to be turned out by her family, too. “Yes, but Nicolai is around 150 years old. Perhaps some other time earlier in someone’s hunter family something like this has occurred. Something must have made him suspect he could have a child with her.”
Neither of Crystal’s brothers responded, making Robert suspicious. “All right, so when did a vampire take a huntress and what was the outcome?”
“It’s just a family legend. You know how they go. Passed down from generation to generation, the tale might not have any truth to it.” Boniface turned to look at Robert. “But it was said a huntress early in our family tree on our mother’s side, had an aversion to killing. And worse, she was attracted to the head of a vampire family.”
Robert’s jaw clenched. Was history repeating itself? Was Crystal in love with Nicolai?
“Anyway, both were killed by hunters when they caught them in the va
mpire’s lair in a castle in Scotland.”
“So they didn’t have any offspring?”
“No, thank God. And if Nicolai gets to Crystal, she’ll have to be destroyed, too.”
Robert shook his head. “We’ve learned that her blood won’t kill them.”
Boniface sighed deeply. “No. And I’m afraid they suspect this already. But one bite is normally deadly, and I’m sure they’re still reluctant to take the chance to test the theory. Or at least Victor and I hope so.”
“Can they turn her if they bite her?”
“We have no idea. I mean, they can with a host of course, if they want.”
“Your relative who joined the vampire…had she been bitten?” Robert asked, his voice strained.
“No. But he’d lain with her. They can tell when a female’s ripe for planting the seed, just like we can.”
Robert recalled when he’d placed his hand on Crystal’s abdomen…the temperature of her body, the way his hand tingled differently with his touch, he knew she was ripe. And what had he done about it? Told her she needed someone else’s protection. He roughed up his hair, irritated with himself for having been so insensitive. Now that he’d made love to her, would Nicolai abandon his quest to have her, or would he kill her like he presumed he might?
“If our ancestor had been allowed to live, she would have carried a vampire child. No telling what abilities the child would have had.”
“Did any vampire come after your mother, like Nicolai has done with Crystal?”
Boniface stared at him for a moment, then turned to look out the window. “Turn left on Highway 35,” he said to Thomas. “No. She either hid the fact she was different well enough, or having had five hunters and one huntress born of her womb, made a difference. I don’t know.”
With every passing second, the alarm grew in Robert’s gut. He glanced out the window. “Are we almost there?”
“They may not even be at this location. It’s just an educated guess.”
Victor turned to Robert. “Have you had relations with Crystal?”
Robert was stunned her brother would ask. He didn’t answer. It was none of his, or any of her family’s business, as they’d cast her out of the family.
“Your brother doesn’t have some kind of sexual dysfunction, does he?” Boniface asked Thomas.
Robert’s brothers laughed out loud as his chest tightened with irritation.
“She’d been injured.” Thomas replied.
“How?” Boniface asked.
“A host shot her with a gun.”
“Damn. The hosts know if they carry weapons, we kill them, no questions asked. Otherwise, we let them live when we hunt the vampires. Nicolai’s really got them stirred up.” Boniface pointed down another road.
“You do want her, don’t you?” Victor asked, changing the subject. “The possessiveness you showed when you were with her, and the affection she showed in return, made us think you wanted her.”
“Yeah, he wants her,” Mark said. “She caught him with the right bait, and he’s not letting go.”
“Here, pull in here!” Boniface said.
Five cars already sat curbside at a lakeside cottage. A blue metal roof shined in the sunlight, but already the sun was beginning to set. The curtains across the two picture windows were both drawn closed.
Robert grabbed his sword, but Victor seized his wrist. “If he’s had her, Robert, Boniface or I will kill her. No hunter could ever trust she’d remain loyal to our cause…not if he’s turned her. Because of the feelings you have for her, you won’t be able to end her life.”
Robert jerked his hand free. No way would he consider the worst-case scenario. Not yet. He shoved the vehicle’s door open.
Immediately, the party of six male hunters rushed out of the vehicle and stormed the house all at once.
47
If Kostya bit Crystal, could he turn her? That’s what seared her mind with worry as Kostya bared his teeth at her, then touched them to her skin. If the vampire could turn her into one of them, she’d have to take her own life. But could she? Or would her own will be lost to the vampires?
Her brothers would have to kill her. Robert was right. She’d made a mess of everything. A total feeling of fruitlessness invaded her being, despite trying to keep an optimistic outlook. This time despair overwhelmed her. She’d be doomed to a life of everlasting hell, until one of her kind could put an end to her miserable existence.
Kostya’s long black hair dangled about her face as he moved his hard body against hers, working up more than just a bloodlust. She both hated and loved the feelings he stirred up in her, the sexual intrigue, but also the knowledge if she mixed with him, she’d be damned for all eternity…until she died.
The four fledgling vampires still held her arms, but then their attention and Kostya’s riveted to another room. Kostya’s brow wrinkled as he hissed.
The fledglings rose from the floor in slow motion, releasing their hold of Crystal. She had one chance. Kostya began to separate from her.
But she couldn’t do it! He was different from the others—born of the womb of a vampire. He was different and ostracized like she was. She couldn’t do it!
He quickly pulled away from her, looking like his head was next on the hunter’s chopping block, and she glanced at the door from her prone position.
The fledglings hurried for the other room. Someone had arrived. Robert and his brothers?
“Nicolai’s home,” the older male host said. He hurried away with the fledglings as Kostya backed even farther away from her. Had Nicolai known what Kostya was about to do to her, and allowed her the opportunity to kill him for his disloyalty to the master vampire?
Crystal got to her feet, grabbed her sword and cane, then shoved the blade into its concealment. Kostya glanced back at Lila, his look full of regret, and then he vanished.
Lila’s eyes puddled up with tears, then she sank to her knees. A sob escaped her lips.
He was leaving her? Leaving the area before Nicolai terminated him? Crystal grabbed her hand. “Lila, come away from here with me.”
Lila’s eyes grew wide with terror, but her tongue couldn’t reach the words to describe what she undoubtedly saw in her mind.
Crystal grasped her hand, gently but firmly. “We’ll talk about this later. But for now, you must come away with me.”
“What will become of me?” Lila balked at the doorway.
Taking a deep breath, Crystal half dragged her outside. “If the other vampires get hold of you, no telling since—” She paused and yanked Lila into the fading sunlight. “Did he join with you, Lila?”
Lila touched her abdomen. Tears streaked down her face. “A vampire had killed my little sister, brother…” She looked into Crystal’s face. Her face wrinkled with anguish. “My mother, father…and…and Kostya protected me. How could I have not remembered?”
Crystal ran her to the car, then yanked open the door and urged Lila inside. There was no sign of Robert or Thomas’s vehicles anywhere along the street, but a trail of water led into the closed garage. Nicolai. Had the hosts pulled the hearse and him from the river? “Hurry, Lila. We’ll talk about it once we’re safely away from here.”
She shut Lila’s car door, then turned. Two hosts ran toward her. Nicolai stood at the window, the sunlight no longer touching the glass. His hair still wet, dripped over his shoulders. He yanked off his soaking robe to reveal he wore nothing under the garment. She gasped. His eyes and mouth were thin, angry lines. His pale but muscled body grew alert with her in his sights. He wanted her with a vengeance, but again, she was beyond his reach.
She readied her cane. Every muscle in her body ached from being overworked. The two men never slowed in their approach, both shooting out of the house like bullets propelled from a double-barreled gun. Nicolai sent them to retrieve her, unable to get to her himself in the sunlight. Before she could strike either of the hosts, three more bolted out of the house.
She struck the first hos
t in the head, knocking him out cold. When he crumpled to the sidewalk, the other host jerked her arm back and slammed her into the car. The pain radiated through her still tender shoulder, and she screamed out.
The three remaining hosts ganged up on her. Still, with her superhuman strength, she managed to knee one in the groin, paralyzing him from doing anything further as he fell to the pavement in agony. Two of the men held her right arm back preventing her from using her cane, both trying to wrest it from her clenched fist. The other grabbed her free arm, keeping out of range of her deadliest weapon at the moment, her knee.
Twice she thrust it at him, and he dodged out of her path. If her knee wouldn’t reach, her boot would. She shoved her pointed boot toe at him and kicked him in the shin. He cried out in pain, losing his grip on her arm.
Before he could refocus, she grabbed at one of the two still trying to seize her cane. Unsuccessful, she retracted her blade and sliced at his arm. Her movement wasn’t meant to kill him, but wound him sufficiently so that he’d release her.
He cried out and let go. With only one man now holding her right wrist, she yanked free. Swinging the cane at his head, she knocked him off his feet with a whack and a thud.
The man she’d kicked came in for the kill. She gritted her teeth and struck him in the shoulder.
After incapacitating him, she noticed three more dash out of the house. Time to leave.
She ran for the driver’s side. Lila had locked the doors. Crystal tapped on the window. Lila stared through the front windshield as if in a daze. She appeared to be in shock.
“Lila!”
A host seized Crystal’s arm. She hit him with the cane. “Lila!”
The man faltered, then grabbed her again. Crystal’s strength drained from her body. The adrenaline coursed through her veins like a valve stuck on high pressure, but she couldn’t fight hosts and vampires forever without rest.
She struck at him again, this time aiming for his skull. He blocked her maneuver with his arm. A cracking resulted, like the bone snapping. He sank to his knees.