Blood Legacy (PULSE Vampire Series #6) (12 page)

“Justin, stop!” Kalina screamed. “Listen to me – it’s me! It’s Kalina!”

“I…can’t…” once more it was the real Justin, the Justin she loved, her brother, trying to keep control as his whole body shook.

“Molotov’s too strong,” said Octavius darkly. “He’ll never be able to resist. It’s too dangerous letting him live. He’s willing to die, Kalina – we cannot let him live like this. This
vampire
is not your brother.”

“Please, don’t!”

But Justin had broken free of Stuart and Max’s grasp, and had rushed over to Kalina.

“I must do it now.” Octavius raised his stake, glimmering with the red light of its rubies. “I’m sorry, Kalina.”

“
No
!”

But it was not Kalina who pushed Justin out of the way, but Max. Her former silence gave way to a quiet intensity, like the slow smoldering of a coal flame. “Go,” she whispered to Justin, putting herself between him and Octavius. “Run!” Justin looked at her in bewilderment as Max picked him up, her strong arms easily overpowering the newly-turned vampire, and threw him out the window.

They rushed to the window, watching Justin fall as Kalina had fell, only to watch his body break the fall with instinctive flight.

“Go!” Max called. “Run!”

And then Justin was gone – vanished into the night sky.

Kalina was still shaking. She turned to Octavius, hurt and anger across her face. “How could you do that?” Her voice trembled. “Octavius, that was
Justin.
”

“No,” said Octavius, shaking his head. “That wasn’t Justin at all. I’m sorry, Kalina – but Molotov controls him now. He’s no less dangerous than Molotov himself. He is programmed to go after you until one of you is killed. And while I do sympathize for your care for your brother, it is not you that I will let die before my eyes.”

“But you saved him,” Kalina turned to her mother, feeling weak and dizzy. She sat down as the room became blurry all around us.

“I have some Life’s Blood in Justin yet,” said Max. “From last time, when I saved him. While it has grown weaker as a result of Molotov’s influence, it is there nonetheless. And Justin will go to Molotov now. He will help to lead us there.”

“We don’t want to go
to
Molotov!” Kalina cried. “We want to get as far away from that crazy…bastard as we can.”

“Then how do you expect to break Molotov’s hold over your brother?” snapped Max. “Nothing is impossible in the world of the vampire, Kalina. Not even that. But without Molotov, we cannot break the bond. If we slay Molotov, Justin will still be a vampire, but at least he will be a vampire in control of himself. He will drink vampire wine. Stuart and I will work with him. Right now he is a danger, to himself as well as to you. And to save him, we must go into danger ourselves.”

Chapter 13

M
ax’s expression softened. She went over to Kalina, wrapping her spindly arms around Kalina’s slender dark shoulders. “Listen, my girl,” she said. “Don’t panic. Justin isn’t dead – if anything, he has a whole eternity in which to be saved. We can’t turn him back – neither one of us can love him in the way that love needs to operate to turn him – but we may be able to find another Carrier who can. Or even if he is a vampire, all is not lost. Look at Jaegar and Octavius – they were able to find happy enough lives as vampires.”

Kalina looked up mournfully. She knew that, for all their pretended strength, neither Jaegar nor Octavius was really happy as a vampire. Max stroked Kalina’s hair. “Listen, I’ll be able to track Justin now. If he still has my Life’s Blood in me, it makes him special. It means he’ll have a better time tracking down the Carriers Mal hid – and I don’t doubt Molotov is aware of the fact. He’s probably using Justin right now to trace the Carriers. If we follow Justin’s trail, we may be able to find both him and the Carriers.”

“You saved his life,” Kalina was still trying to process everything, to put everything together. “You did that for him!”

“He is family,” said Max. “Your family – and so he is my family. He has my blood in him – I could not forget that. I have hope for him. These are confusing times for Carriers, Kalina. We do not know what the blood will do, what powers it will bring forth. Your blood is special; the blood of the younger Carriers may prove to be more special still. How can we give up hope when this blood may help us win the fight we have been waging for centuries?”

“You said the love would only work if it were…you, know. Romantic.”

“I believe so,” said Max. “After all, the links between blood and sex are strong with vampires – the one and the other cannot be separated. Your love for your brother may not be able to turn him.” She smiled. “But there are more Carriers in the world than you and I, Kalina. And your brother is a good man. He will find somebody one of these days, I have confidence of that.”

Octavius interrupted them, clearing his throat as he put on his leather jacket, arranging his stakes in a belt around his waist. “Kalina,” he said softly. “I must go now. I believe I have a plan…”

“You’re not going after Justin, are you?” Kalina’s eyes widened in fear. “Octavius, please say you’re not. Max thinks he could turn back – her Life’s Blood in him might be able to help him stay strong.”

“I’ll see you again, Kalina,” Octavius said, evading the question. “I promise you that.”

She wrapped her arms around him. “But where are you going?” She asked.

“When I was the leader of the Consortium my duties were to find more Carriers. To match them to worthy vampires. To help arrange love-matches – love I could not participate in myself. I know how to sense out these things. I will go to Africa, to Australia, to continents we have not yet been to; I will seek out a Carrier who is willing to meet with your brother, perhaps to fall in love with him.”

Kalina was speechless. She knew that Octavius’ instincts were to stake Justin as quickly as possible – nevertheless, he was willing to do as she wished.

“You might not need to go that far,” said Max. “I felt something earlier today – there’s the smell of Life’s Blood in the air here. Don’t go too quickly.” She too began dressing, putting on her warmest furs. “I’ll show you where,” she said to Octavius.

“You’re the boss,” Octavius bowed deeply to Max, giving Kalina a little sly wink as he did so. Kalina couldn’t help but smile. Even now, Octavius was trying to appease her.

Max took hold of Kalina’s hands. “I’ll leave you with Stuart,” she said. “You’re in good hands here. He told me what happened with the two of you. You made the right choice, Kalina. You didn’t let your blood make that decision for you. I’m proud of you. Perhaps he is the wrong one. Or perhaps he is the right one – and you aren’t ready for any right ones yet. Whatever the reason, you should wait until you find yourself ready to choose.” She let a smile spread over her face. “You and I are alike, Kalina. I found myself in a similar position with your father. But in the end…”

“Things worked out?”

Max said nothing. Kalina wondered what had really happened to her father, a topic on which Max had always been so coy. But Stuart interrupted her before she could ask further.

“Where are you going?” Kalina asked, noticing Stuart’s jacket.

“I’m coming with you all,” said Stuart. “I know it’s risky – but I’m willing to risk my life. I’d rather die a noble human than live for centuries as a vampire. I’ve turned – and that turning was a miracle. But with this saved and blessed human life, I want to make the most of the time I have left: I want to do something good to make up for all the bad I have done.” He took Kalina’s hand. “I need to find these kids – and help you do it. Or else, what’s worth living for?”

Kalina smiled right back at Stuart. How noble he was – how brave! Even now he was willing to risk his very humanity in order to do the right thing. His enormous piercing eyes stared into hers, and she could see the goodness in them. Stuart was special, she knew; Stuart had something that Octavius and Jaegar lacked. A true humanity. Stuart's nobility ran through him like blood – permeating all parts of him – transforming his beautiful but all-too-human frame into something more than human. Kalina knew that Stuart wouldn't be able to fight as he was once able to; this gift that she had given him was in that sense also a curse. Kalina sighed as she pressed his hands to her lips. She tasted the warm blush of his skin, and as her lips met his knuckles she had to force herself to look back up at him before the desire to sink her teeth into his flesh overtook her. Octavius’ blood was wearing off, she knew, and as Life's Blood began to pulse once more through her veins Kalina began to feel that same old attraction she had felt towards Stuart – an attraction so strong that it even compelled her to put Justin's life in danger, to leave the dining room and take Stuart up to the suite, a desire that demanded instant satisfaction for the longing she felt all through her body.

Stuart seemed to notice the change in her eyes. “What is it, my sweet?” he asked her softly. He knew, Kalina realized, he could tell how much she wanted him still. No, she told herself, it wasn't safe to remain alone with him – not for her, and not for Stuart either. If she was left alone with Stuart, she would either succumb to her desire to be with him or her desire to consume him, and neither of them would be of any help to Justin or the Carriers. Kalina swallowed down her hunger. If all this worked out, she told herself, if they survived and were able to save Justin and the Carriers, she'd need to find a cure for this savage hunger that overtook her at the slightest whiff of sweet blood. She wasn't a vampire, after all. So why was she starting to behave like one.

“Hold on, boys,” Kalina said, turning to Octavius. “And Max. I don't think we should split up; it's a bad idea. We need to stick together if we want to stay safe. I can't defend Stuart on my own; now that he's only human he's in more danger than ever before.” Kalina didn't mention that she feared Stuart was in just as much danger from her as he was in from vampires proper. “If you two leave to find other Carriers we'll be in danger. Let's get to Molotov first, try to break the spell. Then we can all seek out Carriers together. And maybe there will be some older Carriers among the ones in captivity – we can kill two birds with one stone.”

Max and Octavius looked at each other, reconsidering their plan. Although their telepathy was weaker than it had been, Kalina could faintly make out what was going on inside Octavius’ head.

But no, Kalina, my sweet Kalina, how can you put me through such torment? How can you ask me to be by your side, to tolerate proximity, when all I want to do is kiss you, and lose myself in your sweet love? I want to take you right here, right now, the others be damned...

Kalina blushed scarlet, hoping that the others didn't see the fruits of her desire spreading out across her rosy face. She felt exactly as Octavius did. But she hoped that having both Stuart and Octavius near her would counteract each of her attractions; wanting them both, she would be able to go after neither.

“Kalina has a point,” concluded Max, her jaw and expression decisive. “We can't risk leaving them alone. We're strongest as a team – and as a team we should stay. I can track Justin – Kalina can make out the Carriers. And Stuart's nose was once effective at this sort of thing...”

“No longer,” Stuart bowed his head.

“No, Stuart – you'll just have to try harder.” Max wasn't in the mood for understanding. “Human or vampire, you know what Life's Blood smells like, and we need all the help we can get. Now, before we were side-tracked, we were making our way through the Devil's Mouth, one of the most dangerous mountain passes in the Alps. We'll need to dress warmly, to bring supplies, and to stock up on weapons. This is no easy place for humans – Stuart, you may want to hang back...”