Blood Legacy (PULSE Vampire Series #6) (17 page)

“Max! Octavius!” Kalina called out. She shifted to telepathy, anxious not to be overheard by the vampires.
Listen up,
she said.
The Carriers aren’t here. We need an exit strategy – now. On the count of three, run over to me and Stuart; Stuart’s going to blast us out of here.

Octavius gave Kalina a tiny, almost imperceptible, nod.

One –
Kalina tightened her grip on her gun –
Two
– Max picked up her gun –
Three.

Immediately Octavius and Max sprang to Kalina’s side, shooting the stakes from their guns in unison. Fifteen vampires crumbled into dust in unison.

Kalina looked up. The fight had moved from the courtyard to the corridors; Molotov had sent the newborn vampires to trap them indoors. But why? And then it hit her. The Life’s Blood in the new vampires would be wearing off by now – especially if he’d only been able to use a small amount for each vampire. Exposure to sunlight would kill them.

They can’t go back into the sunlight
. Kalina looked at Max.
We need to bring the sunlight to them – the blood’s wearing off.

Octavius added in.
There’s a rear courtyard – I saw it when I was reloading my weapon. It’s covered by a dark glass dome. If we can get them in there and bring the roof down…

Then it’ll go down on all of us, too!
Max’s voice vied with Octavius’ in her head.
And if we can’t shatter the dome, we’ll lose our strategic advantage. We can’t take them all at once; we have to use skill, not strength.

It’s worth the risk,
Octavius decided.
Get to the rear courtyard…bring the ammo. Kalina, you get Justin and Jaegar…let them know the plan. We’ll lure the vampires into the courtyard and then hit.

Kalina nodded. As Stuart and Max began carrying bags of ammunition and rubies into the rear courtyard, Octavius sauntered up to her. He wrapped her in his arms, his eyes shining with love. “I love you, Kalina,” he whispered. “This whole battle – watching you fight…I’ve been waiting to say it to your face this whole time. I’m so proud of you, of your bravery. I need you to be strong now, Kalina. To be brave. What I’m about to ask of you is dangerous. But it’s the only way.”

“Anything, Octavius!” She felt her heart beat faster.

“We need to cut you – just enough to fill the dome with your scent. If you bleed onto the ground, the vampires will rush into the dome in search of you; we can get them all in there before anybody notices you’ve already gone. But you’ll need to bandage yourself up immediately afterwards. If it doesn’t drive me wild, the smell might be too much for Jaegar or Justin.” He pulled her close. “If any of us lose control, Kalina – you know what you need to do…”

“I’d never stake you, Octavius.”

“I do not know the limits of my strength,” Octavius murmured, “but, my girl, you’re certainly testing them.” His eyes penetrated deep into her; she could feel his hunger as if it were her own. He pulled her in for a kiss – a kiss of such savage tenderness that Kalina knew that Octavius, too, feared it would be the last time.

Kalina signaled to Justin and Jaegar, who appeared immediately.
Go through the courtyard – meet me at the back.

One by one, they all rushed to the room on the other side of the domed courtyard.
Here goes nothing
, Kalina thought, biting into her own wrist. The smell of her blood filled the air. Even from a distance, she could see Octavius’ face change; the second he inhaled her smell, his customary serenity was displaced by a look of voracious desire. Would he be able to keep control?

She pressed her wrist to the ground, letting the free-flowing blood soak the earth.

“I smell it!” she heard one of the vampires cry. “The girl’s down – she’s bleeding. Let’s get her!”

“Looking for blood?” Octavius crowed. “Go find it, then!”

Kalina rushed to the other side of the dome, tearing her shirt and fashioning a bandage from the rags. She watched as all of Molotov’s vampires ran into the courtyard, sniffing and shouting wildly. “Where is she?” “I can smell her blood!” “She’s hiding!” “Where?”

Kalina looked at Max. “Now?”

“Now,” Max nodded, aiming her gun square at the roof. Stuart and Octavius picked up their weapons. “Fire!”

Ten stakes went flying through the air; they pierced the glass of the ceiling, which fell apart like struck crystal. A wild wail went up from the vampires as sunlight flooded the dome; Kalina felt nauseous as the smell of burning flesh reached her nostrils. One by one, the vampires burned into nothingness.

Kalina was bleeding harder than she thought; the blood was soaking through the bandage. “Come on,” she said, “Let’s run.” But a pair of hands was already upon her, grabbing her savagely, pulling her out into the snow.

“What the…Octavius?” His fangs were exposed; he was breathing heavily. She had never seen him look so bestial before – so in thrall to his own desires. The past few days had only tantalized him; he craved her more than ever. She could see it in his eyes – see for the first time a danger she was only just beginning to understand…

“Kalina,” Octavius gasped, fighting his instincts. “I don’t know if I can control it…” He was shaking. “I can’t – your scent, the adrenaline, this feeling…”

Yes, Kalina thought joyously! This was the moment. At last he would take her, drink her blood – at last she would turn him. “Then don’t fight it,” she whispered. “Take me, Octavius. I want you to want me – I’ve waited so long.”

His fangs extended further; he pushed her down into the snow. Kalina pushed back her hair, baring her neck for him, waiting for him to bite, and craving his kiss.

Octavius groaned softly. But he did not bite her, giving his lips over instead to fervent, fevered kissing of her neck, her lips. She opened her mouth to him, her heart throbbing faster still. “Go on,” she whispered.

“Oh, Kalina,” he moaned. “You tempt me too much.” He sprang to his feet, turning his back to her. “I can’t do this…”

In a moment she too was on her feet, running to Octavius, wrapping her arms about his neck, kissing him. “Please, Octavius,” she cried. “I’m yours.”

“Don’t make me do this,” his voice shook. “There are Carriers to be found, Carriers who need us – to bring them back to their families. There’s Molotov.”

“We have Max…Justin…”

“Jaegar?” Octavius looked back at Kalina, jealousy in his eyes. “Or will you turn him?”

“If I can turn more than one vampire,” Kalina began, “then I can turn you both. Give you both what you want. But I know what I want, Octavius and I want to be with you…”

Octavius scoffed. “If your feelings for Jaegar and Stuart are that strong,” he said, “you shouldn’t risk trying it on me. I don’t want one-third of your heart, my darling. I want it all.” He strode back towards the others, leaving Kalina shaking and hurt. The compound was all but empty now; the vampires were turned to char and cinders.

Kalina fought back the tears. Octavius would give in someday, she told herself. She just had to give him time…

Justin was fighting off the last of the minions with two stakes; Jaegar was brandishing his gun to pick out any survivor. In the distance, Molotov appeared, carrying something in front of him. Kalina looked closer.

“He’s using another vampire as a shield,” she said. “We can’t get to him without staking the other vamp.”

Justin fired a shot, but it was no use. The stake went straight into the heart of the other vampire, sending him crumbling into dust.

“We’ve got you now!” Justin called.

Molotov smirked. “You think I lived this long by being a fool? You’ll never get me, boy. I’m your Maker!” And with that, he vanished – leaving nothing but empty space where he had been.

“What the…” Kalina blinked. “How did he do that?”

Octavius did not look at her. “He’s getting stronger – turning must have done that to him. Only the strongest vampires can simply disappear like that. They straddle the line between dead and undead – they can harness the powers of Death at will.”

Kalina frowned. “We should have finished him off…”

“He’ll only get stronger,” Stuart sighed.

“He’ll rebuild his army. First he turns a whole village – what’s next, a city? He’s willing to turn thousands if it means holding us off.”

“Kalina!” Justin turned to his sister. It was the first time she’d been able to touch him since he’d turned. She rushed into his arms, letting the tears flow freely.

“Don’t worry, Kal. I’ve accepted it. What I am. Who I am. I’m living on vampire wine – Jaegar showed me how. They’re going to look after me. Take me back to the Vineyard. Use my medical knowledge to try to improve vampire wine, make it stronger…and if I’m a vampire, it means I might be able to heal my patients. Use my blood for good. And hey, if I don’t need to eat, I can use that money to pay off my student loans, right?” He smiled weakly. ‘I’ll work on looking through the Doctor’s paper’s, figuring out the formula for Life’s Blood. I’ve got more than a lifetime to find the formula now. You haven’t lost me, Kal. I’ve just got more useful, that’s all!” He hugged her tighter. “It wasn’t your fault, Kal. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. I knew the risks when I signed up for this gig…”

“When I thought I’d lost you…” Kalina sobbed. “It hurt so much. I was so worried.”

“Listen, Kal,” Justin grinned. “You don’t have to worry about me anymore. For the first time, I can take care of myself. And that means you can live the life you’ve always wanted without worrying about keeping me out of danger.”

“I love you, Justin,” Kalina whispered. “I thought I’d lose you if you turned – but now I have you back, and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. You’ll always be my big brother.”    

“Just what you need, huh, Kal?” Justin joked. “Another vampire man in your life.”

Octavius broke in. “We’ve spent enough time here,” he said. “Jaegar, Kalina told me that you possibly have information about the Carriers?”

Jaegar nodded. “I heard through the grapevine. Molotov wanted to stall us – he sent us out here on a wild goose chase to get his revenge. But Mal…he always knew there was one place we wouldn’t look – a place so simple it escaped us…”

“I don’t understand,” Kalina began.

Justin’s eyes widened. “I think I do. Where do you normally keep something you don’t want found…”

And then it hit her. “In the most obvious place possible. In your own backyard.”     

“Right,” said Jaegar. “Because that’s where they’ve been all along. Rutherford, California.”

Chapter 19

A
fter Kalina, Max, and the vampires returned to the hotel and packed their things, it was time to head off again. Stuart commissioned his private jet once more, and the group prepared to return to Rutherford. Kalina's excitement was tinged with frustration. While she was relieved to know at last the location of the Carriers, she was furious with herself for not having recognized Mal's gambit earlier. She should have guessed that Mal had been playing tricks on them all along – planting false information and perhaps even false Carrier blood to lure them to Switzerland.