And I felt so guilty. Too preoccupied with my own life, I hadn’t seen them at all for weeks. And knowing that they were both leaving for school . . .
I had thought there would be time. But what if I never escaped? What if I never saw them again?
And I missed my animals so much it hurt. I had three dogs, two cats, seven fish, two guinea pigs, and a ball python. Animals were my greatest happiness in life, and after my parents died, that happiness had melded into comfort, and I’d gone from a dog and a cat to all the animals that would fit into the house. Better yet, they were good for Grandma. She loved my cats, Millie and Denny, and she loved to watch my fish. The snake . . . Well, Nelly stayed in a glass tank in my room where Grandma couldn’t see her.
Most of all, I missed my parents.
The water falling off of me had a red tinge to it. Remnants of blood. Frenzy-like, I grabbed a bar of soap and started scrubbing myself. I scrubbed my skin nearly raw, until I was dark pink all over. I sat curled up in a ball until the water ran cold, stalling. I didn’t want to go back out there. I didn’t want to see a vampire ever again.
I didn’t want to see Gabriel.
I worked up my courage and got out of the tub. I put on the clothes Inola had left me, a pink tank top and black pajama bottoms with fuzzy stars. As slowly as possible, I brushed my wet hair with the plastic hairbrush before combing through the cabinets.
Wood must be able to kill them. Gabriel and Elias wouldn’t have bothered stopping my attacks earlier if wood didn’t harm them, but I couldn’t find anything I could use as a stake.
Maybe wood wasn’t the only thing that could hurt them. I looked for anything sharp, like a metal nail file or a razor, but there was nothing. Defeated, I sat on the floor, shivering.
Inola’s soft voice drifted through the door. “Kara? Are you all right? You have been in there for an hour.”
I scooted until my back was against the door. “I’m not coming out.”
She sighed. “Aren’t you hungry?”
I didn’t reply, ignoring the protests of my empty stomach.
“You know you cannot stay in there forever. Breaking down a door is easy to a vampire. You will just make Gabriel angry.”
I snorted. “Good! Let him get angry. I’ll starve before I let him feed on me again!”
“He told me to let you call your grandmother.”
My heart throbbed, beating so fast my vision pulsed. I stood up, unlocking the door and cracking it. Gabriel’s room was on the other side.
“Really?” I whispered.
She held up a small cell phone. I opened the door all the way and reached for it, but she closed a fist around it.
“Some ground rules first,” she said firmly. “Your stay here is indefinite. It would be wise to arrange it to where someone is with your pets and grandmother all the time. Gabriel told me she has Alzheimer’s.”
“How can he know that?” I asked. “All I said was that she can’t take care of herself. And I never mentioned my animals! Or at least, I don’t think I did.”
“Remember that Gabriel drank from you, and you drank from him. Every time a vampire drinks the blood of the same human, or when a human drinks the blood of the same vampire, more of their mind is exposed to them. Your memories, your emotions. His memories, his emotions. The blood connection deepens with each feed, but it happens only when the blood is consumed straight from the vein.”
I wanted to puke.
“Second, you should call anyone close to you and let them know you are going to be gone. I suggest saying something like extended travel or thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Something where you will be gone a long time.”
I looked at her murderously. “And why would I lie to my friends?”
“So they do not worry.”
I actually stamped my foot. “But they should be worried! I mean, I’ve been captured by a bunch of . . .”
Inola’s eyes were black pits. “That is the third thing. No one would believe you. You have no idea where you are. Telling them the truth could hinder you in the future should Gabriel decide to let you go.”
“Let me go? But he said—”
She held up a finger. “You are not the first human to be captured by a vampire, and you certainly won’t be the last. I can tell you right now that your future holds three options. One, you end up dead. Two, you stay human. Three, you become a vampire.”
I felt myself turn green. I would rather be dead than be a monster like them!
She handed me the phone. “Do not say anything stupid.”
I cradled the device in my hands. “Nancy is the nurse that comes and stays with Grandma while I’m at work, but I don’t have the money for her to be a live-in nurse.”
“I will take care of the money.”
I stared at her. “Why would you do that? Why are you so different from the other vampires I’ve met?”
Inola unbraided her hair, running her fingers through the glossy strands. “Because my thirst is satisfied. Having that constant burning in your throat and body is horrible. As vampires, everything is intensified. That includes physical pain, senses, appearance, and emotions. There is no happiness, there is euphoria. No anger, only rage. Understand?”
I nodded. Now Gabriel’s emotions made more sense. The black hole of his apathy, the torrents of his anger. “But why is your thirst satisfied and not Gabriel’s?”
“Because I am in love with my husband, Thomas. See, when a vampire loves someone, and I mean really and truly loves someone, they only want that person’s blood. It makes the thirst go away, at least for a little while. Any other time a vampire drinks blood, that thirst, that pain, is never really gone. Only muted. But love, that changes everything.
“I will try to explain to you what drinking blood means to a vampire because there are different aspects of it. Drinking the blood of another is sometimes just survival, like when Gabriel first drank from you. Predator and prey. But it can also be very intimate. Blood sharing, especially among vampires, is as intimate as sex.”
My eyes widened as I looked at her. She motioned for me to stay put. She went and turned on the box fan that was in a corner of the room, seemingly out of place amidst all of the old-fashioned furnishings.
“No one else can hear us now. I am sure you’ve figured out by now that we can hear disturbingly well.”
I recalled breaking the glass and how Gabriel had appeared out of nowhere. I looked toward the broken window, but it was covered by the heavy drapes.
“Yeah, I know,” I mumbled.
“You’ve met Emma, right? Well, she is head over heels for Gabriel, but he does not feel the same way. He uses her for . . . a distraction. He told her from the very beginning that he would not become attached to her, but she hopes Gabriel will come to feel the same way about her. It’s been years, so her odds do not look good. But she is intimated by you, so watch yourself around her.”
I scrunched my face up. “I’m not a threat to her.”
Inola raised her eyebrows and smiled like she knew something I didn’t. “Just be careful around her. Remember, love sates a vampire’s thirst. And the truest love can sate it completely for days on end. I can go for days without needing Thomas’s blood. The truest, rarest love is what you humans refer to as soulmates. We vampires call it Eternals. Many vampires desire to find their Eternal, but one cannot force such a thing, and Emma sees you as an obstacle.”
My eyes blinked rapidly as I tried to process the information.
“Ok, I will try to explain this better. There are couples who love one another greatly, and they can satisfy one another’s thirst to the point where the pain is nearly gone. This happens all the time. And then you have the Eternal pairing. Eternals are more rare, and it’s more like . . . fate. But I’m in no way implying that a non-Eternal relationship between two people means less than an Eternal pairing, mind you.”
I cracked my knuckles against the back of the phone, my head spinning. “What about Elias? Gabriel hates him.
I felt it.”
Inola turned away. “Elias is a dark creature, even by vampire standards. The only thing I’ll say about him is that he has lost the one who completes him. I will not say anything more. It is not my place, but Gabriel’s, to tell you more about Elias.”
“Why?”
Inola leaned against the wall, her eyes thoroughly patient. “Elias is Gabriel’s sire. That means Elias is the one who turned Gabriel into a vampire. And as much as Gabriel hates him, he cannot kill him. One cannot kill their sire. Gabriel can harm Elias, but not fatally. We don’t know why. The oldest of us think it’s a defense mechanism built into our bodies that helps to ensure the survival of our species.”
“Is it rude to ask who your sire is?”
“It was a warrior of an enemy tribe who Controlled me to drink his blood before he drank mine, and then he killed me. To this day I am not sure why. I always believed it was because I was the chief’s only daughter, but there are vampires out there who simply take pleasure in creating even more vampires. Gabriel found me in the woods miles away from my tribe just as I awoke as a vampire. He brought me back to his coven, and I have been here ever since. Thomas and I became Gabriel’s closest friends.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why would you want to be friends with Gabriel?” I muttered.
“I was scared, alone, and covered in blood when I first woke up. I was ready to tear into any human I saw. Gabriel was kind enough to help me, and he kept me from panicking and going on a killing spree that would have haunted me the rest of my existence, as my tribe was the only nearby food source.”
I looked down, refusing to believe there was good in Gabriel.
“Gabriel is not a bad person, Kara. He is just . . . lost.”
“Well, I hate him!” I snapped.
Inola watched me, her face emotionless before pointing to the phone. “Make your arrangements. The number is untraceable, so they will not be able to call you back.”
She went and sat down in front of the empty fireplace, her eyes never leaving me. I wanted to do this alone, but I should have known that wasn’t going to happen. I dialed Nancy’s cell number.
“Hello?” she said, her voice thick with sleep.
“Hi, Nancy,” I whispered. “Sorry I’m calling at this hour.”
Immediately, her voice got stronger. “Kara? Stars in heaven! Where have you been? Your cell number isn’t working. If no one had heard from you by the end of today, we were going to report it to the police!”
I swallowed hard. “How’s Grandma?”
“What? Didn’t you hear me? Where have you been?”
I looked at Inola. She nodded.
“I’m sorry, Nancy. I was staying with a friend. I just . . . needed to get away from everything.”
“What friend? Lila is at your house with Grandma Beth because I finally needed to get home. And I know you’re not with Miles.”
I slid to the ground, putting my head on top of my knees. I had to get through this.
“Look, I just need a break. I’ve been at my limit ever since my parents died. I can’t take it anymore. I met a guy, and we are going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. I’m going to be gone for a long time. Can you stay with Grandma? I’ll pay you whatever you need.”
There was a long pause. “I’m not a live-in nurse.”
I thumped my head against my knees. “Then do you have a suggestion? I can’t come home right now. I’m already on the trail.”
She sighed. “Baress Grove. It’s a high-end nursing home just outside of Lystelle that specializes in caring for the elderly who have Alzheimer’s. But it’s really expensive, Kara. Really, really expensive.” Her voice was now somewhat cold and detached. I didn’t blame her. She thought I was abandoning Grandma on purpose.
I glanced up at Inola, knowing that she could hear everything on the other end. She nodded again.
“Money is not an issue,” I mumbled.
“Since when?” she retorted in a voice I guessed was supposed to be too low for me to hear. “And I’m assuming you want me to pack up her things and take her there?”
“I’ll pay you for it,” I whispered. Tears burned my eyes, and my stomach turned.
“Well, you might want to call Lila and Miles and let them know you’re alive. And you might want to tell Candice that you won’t be at work either. Just so you know, your grandmother has been asking for you. Not for Myra, but for you.”
I hung up as the tears fell. “I can’t do this.”
Her face was not without sympathy. “You have to. Be grateful you’ve been given this opportunity.”
“I’m supposed to be grateful?” I shouted, wiping away tears.
“Call your friends.”
I closed my eyes and turned away from her. I took a few minutes to calm down, but when I entered Lila’s number, the tears returned.
She answered on the first ring. “Kara? Is this you?”
“Lila!”
“Kara! Where are you? Are you ok? We’ve been worried sick!”
Lie. I had to lie. I bit my lip, cracked my knuckles against my leg. I had to lie. Had to lie . . .
I spoke so quickly the words ran together and didn’t make sense. “Lila I’ve been kidnapped and I need you to—”
There was a gust of cool air just as the phone was ripped from my fingers. I stared up at Inola defiantly. She looked down at me blankly, but I knew she was angry when her fingers crushed the phone like it was made out of Play-Doh.
“Can you blame me?” I shot, standing up and shaking with anger.
She went to a small mahogany table and handed me a plate of food. “Gabriel said you would do that,” she sighed. “He was against the idea, but I convinced him otherwise. I’ll take care of the nursing home details and hire a sitter for your pets. You eat.”
I was about to knock the plate from her hands, but stopped. She was trying to help me, and if I made her too mad, she might not help me with Grandma. Besides, it was Gabriel and Elias that I really hated.
Especially Gabriel.
I shook my head and sat down on one of the velvet armchairs in front of the fireplace. “I’m not hungry,” I lied.
Inola seemed worried. “You are. You must eat.”
“No.”
“Starving yourself is not the answer.”
I stared at the fireplace, unresponsive.
She set the plate containing a sandwich and apple down on the side table beside me before sitting down opposite of me. “Is there anything you want to ask me? Things about vampires may be hard for you to understand as a human, but I will try to explain our differences as best as I can.”
I looked toward the cold, empty fireplace where no wood or kindling remained. Inola must have put out the fire and cleared it of wood while I’d been in the shower.
“How do you kill a vampire?” I asked.
Her eyes became as hard as onyx. “I understand you are in a scary situation, Kara, but if you harm Gabriel, I personally will kill you.”
My stomach turned as I realized that Inola was not a potential ally—now I saw her for what she really was. She was nothing but an unnaturally beautiful predator with glowing eyes that could make me do anything. Her perfect senses made it impossible for anyone to escape or hide.
She stood up. “Besides, I think you have already figured it out. You already tried to kill both Gabriel and Elias from what I have been told. But yes, a wooden stake to the heart will do the trick. Also fire and sunlight. So no, we cannot walk in direct sunlight at all.”
She leaned down to me, and her eyes were suddenly the only thing that mattered. I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t think about anything else.
“Do not touch the drapes.”
She turned around and went to the door, speaking over her shoulder. “Try to eat something. And don’t worry—I’ll take care of your grandmother and your pets.”
She left, and I heard the lock click.
I curled up on the chair, scared and sick and worried. I
had planned to open the drapes so I could burn Gabriel when dawn came, but I absolutely could not touch them now. I was actually physically incapable of it.
Inola had said my future held three options. And I knew exactly which one was going to happen.
I was going to die in this place.
Chapter 6 Hysteria
What scared me the most is I didn’t even see him come into the room. I was just staring at the empty fireplace, wondering if I would ever see the ones I loved again, when a flash of silver caught my eye.
Elias was sitting on the other chair as if he had been there the entire time. He was as still as a statue, his eyes glowing brighter than stars.
I gasped. My heart skipped several beats, hurting my chest.
“Hello, little hummingbird.”
I clutched the arms of the chair hard enough to make my knuckles go bone-white. Instinctively, I was more afraid of him than I was of Gabriel. Everything about Elias was so ominous. And it didn’t help that Inola had warned me about Elias’s dark nature.
“Go away!” I managed to croak.
Elias laughed, the sound hollow and eerie. “You actually sound serious. Do you really think I will listen to you?”
He got up and came toward me. I jumped up and tried to run, but he shoved me and pinned me down on the chair. I heard the snap of his fangs.
I screamed, but he covered my mouth with one hand.
“You see, little hummingbird, I went hunting after our little moment, but even five humans was not enough to mute this fire inside of me.” His lips went to my ear as I continued to struggle. “I’ve tasted your blood, Kara. The sweetest since . . . No, the taste had nothing to do with it. It was the fear in his eyes that made you so good. Will you be his undoing? Please . . . please be the one.”
His fangs ran along my neck, tearing the skin just slightly. I screamed muted words into his hand as his tongue licked the warm droplets that beaded out of the wound.
I tried to tell him. Tried to shout my only hope of surviving this, but only a mass of jumbled words fell from my lips.
Rapid Pulse (Violet Memory Book 1) Page 4