Enemy Within (Vampire Born Trilogy, #2) (24 page)

Is it really possible I could get to a point where the means to an end will be more valuable to me than a person’s life?

I killed Jelena, and she was technically family, but that was an act of self-defense. A small part of it was revenge, a slice of justice for what she did to Lijepa, but I would’ve never sought out Jelena to kill her for those reasons.

I raise my head and take in Jaren’s form on the metal slab.

His chest rises and falls too, but parts of him are dying. I haven’t seen his dimples in what seems like years. His signature smile isn’t the same anymore, and his blue eyes don’t sparkle like they used to.

Mirko grabs a bag of blood from the small cooler by Kaitlynn’s bed and strolls over to me. “Drink.”

My face sours.

“You need to drink,” Mirko says with a pointed look.

I shake my head. “I’ll wait until we get back to Garwin’s.”

Mirko sets the bag down on the counter behind me and pulls the sleeve of his sweater up to his elbow. He bites his wrist and holds the bleeding wound in front of my face. “Drink.”

I’m tempted.

I glance back at Jaren. What will he think of me if he sees me drink blood? He watched me attack Mirko, but I wasn’t myself then.

Mirko grunts. “Drinking means you can flex if you need to. You should care more about whether you live or die than what he thinks.”

Jaren glares at the back of Mirko’s head and then looks at me, nodding his assent.

I don’t need it, though.

Mirko’s right.

I rise from the stool and lick my lips. Not only because I want Jaren to know that I’ll drink the blood and enjoy it, but it’s my way of taking a stand. No one’s idea of what I should do or should be will control me anymore.

Plus, I’m scared I might go all crazy beastlike on Mirko again, so I’m stalling.

I inhale deeply. My stomach clenches.

My mouth salivates and my fangs extend involuntarily.

“Rein it in,” Mirko instructs. “You can do this.” He brings his dripping wrist up to hover before my lips. “You were born to do this, Slatki.”

I latch onto his wrist and spin around so my back rests against his hard chest and his arm wraps around me.

I drink and it’s even more exquisite than I remember, but I was in a different state of mind then.

I fight against the powerful force that threatens to overtake me like the last time I drank. I balance on a delicate precipice of control.

When it’s almost too much for me, Mirko pulls my hand away from his forearm.

I struggle against him, but he tugs harder.

I release my mouth and surrender his arm.

Mirko steps around me and faces me.

He raises his wrist to his mouth and seductively licks my mess up as his eyes lock with mine.

Suddenly, I want more than his blood.

I wipe across my mouth with the outside of my hand and then lap up the blood trail with my tongue.

Mirko’s eyes dilate, and I forget where we are.

My heart turns into a hummingbird fluttering in my chest, trying to take flight toward Mirko, to get me to touch him, to put my mouth over his, and for my tongue to taste the blood he’s just swallowed.

He must feel it too because he turns his lips up in a provocative smile.

My knees wobble and I open my mouth to invite him to come to me.

Or to attack his lips, I’m not sure yet.

“Look,” Jaren says, startling Mirko and me.

I turn back to glare at Jaren.

Of course he has to interrupt this moment.

But he isn’t looking at us. He’s gawking at Kaitlynn.

I turn and gasp when my eyes focus on her.

The bunch in the sheets is still there, but her upper body is missing.

Then her body reappears.

Then it disappears again.

“What the …?” Jaren asks, sounding as shocked as I am.

“Nestati …? But I thought you said Zao Duhs didn’t get any powers?” I ask Mirko.

He turns his head to me, and horror unlike anything I’ve ever seen from him plays across his features. “We don’t.”

He looks past me to Jaren and turns so he’s fully facing him. “If you speak a word of this to anyone, I’ll—”

Mirko’s threat is cut off by a growl.

He bolts to Kaitlynn’s bed.

My feet are frozen to the floor.

Kaitlynn’s growling, but that’s not what terrifies me.

Her form is still invisible and it’s bad enough to cause Mirko to threaten Jaren.

My body shakes.

Whatever just happened is very, very bad.

CHAPTER T
WENTY

Mirko

When I reach the foot of Kaitlynn’s bed, I throw the lid to the cooler across the room where it plinks against a gurney, and I pull out a blood bag. Kaitlynn hasn’t woken up yet, but she’s growling and invisible.

What the hell is going on?

I’ve never seen anything like this. I’d never even so much as
heard
of such a thing. The consequences for Brooke could be devastating.

And it’s much too soon.

Kaitlynn should still be processing the change, not growling on the verge of waking. She shouldn’t be hungry yet. Not even the smell of my blood when Brooke drank should’ve been enough to rouse her.

But it was.

Maybe I shouldn’t have called Hawk not too long ago to come down here and back me up. I don’t want anyone else finding out about this.

I grab the knife I used on Mr. Richter from the metal table and cut open the bag of blood. I know the moment Kaitlynn catches the scent because her body solidifies again and she opens her eyes.

“Everyone over there,” I say as I wave my arm behind me toward the back corner.

I ease the bag in front of Kaitlynn, holding it so only the minimum seeps out of the cut.

Her eyes dilate.

She snatches the bag out of my hand and stuffs the opening between her lips, biting down into the plastic with her new fangs.

This is comforting as it’s something I’m familiar with. I’ve never had to teach a newly transitioned Zao Duh how to flex their fangs. They wake up knowing, acting purely on instinct.

I take another bag from the cooler and ready it for Kaitlynn. “No one is to know Brooke provided the blood for Kaitlynn’s transition.” I say it loud enough that everyone can hear me. “If anyone asks, a Pijawikan friend of mine offered his blood. And he did it only on the terms that he remain anonymous.” Of course if that were the case, those terms would apply. No Pijawika wants anyone to know they owed a Zao Duh something as big as providing blood for a transition.

Kaitlynn tears the empty blood bag free from her fangs, and I swap her the empty bag for the full one. She slides her fangs into this one and starts sucking without missing a beat. She’s not yet aware of her surroundings—or anything beyond the gut-wrenching hunger.

“Nor is anyone to know Kaitlynn has Nestati.” I’ll have to repeat all of this once Kaitlynn settles down to a coherent level, but it’s worth repeating.

I’ll wipe Cindy’s and the other nurse’s memories of everything they see here. Actually, I’m worried enough about this new risk to Brooke that I’ll do the same to Jaren, if she lets me. I’m certain she’ll veto the idea, but that won’t stop me from asking. A part of me wants to remain hopeful that once she realizes the severity of this situation, she’ll surprise me and allow Jaren a little memory rearranging.

It is for the safety of everyone involved, after all.

I glance behind me and see Brooke taking a tentative step toward Kaitlynn and me.

“Stay. Back.” I’m not ready for Kaitlynn to focus on anything other than appeasing the hunger. All I need is for Kaitlynn to attack her and Brooke’s animal instincts to kick in. I’ve seen it happen before. Not only is it not a fight I want to get in the middle of, neither one would forgive herself if she hurt the other.

Brooke stays put, so I turn back and grab a third bag. This time I don’t cut into it like I did with the first two. Making Kaitlynn work for it will appease the hunger in a different way. It will drive her instincts out further so we can get this phase over with sooner.

Slurping ricochets against the industrial metal throughout the room as Kaitlynn sucks the remaining blood and air from the bag. She throws the bag down onto her lap and grabs the new bag out of my palm. She bites into it and growls as she shakes her head back and forth to slice the plastic with the razor edge of her fangs. Frustration quickly turns into triumph.

She’ll need to go through a couple more bags before she’ll be able to focus on anything else. The deterioration of her body before the transition and the swiftness in which it occurred will require her to replenish her energy stores. And she woke up using Nestati too.

I look into the cooler and second-guess my preparation. How was I supposed to know she’d be capable of Nestati?

There was no way I could’ve known.

I feed Kaitlynn three more bags before her throat works slower between swallows. I sigh on a relieved breath. That’s a lot of fluid to ingest so quickly, and we don’t have enough bags remaining if her stomach decides to expel its contents before it can be absorbed and digested.

By the time I hand her the second-to-last bag from our supply, she savors it and my nerves unwind another notch. Her gaze turns up to me as she lowers the bag. She stares at me while licking her lips, from extended fang to extended fang. I can tell she’s trying to regain control over herself, but the pulse on the side of her neck looks like trapped butterflies in a winged flurry.

“Breathe through your mouth,” I instruct her. Doing so will limit the scent receptors from triggering another feeding frenzy.

She inhales through her mouth and blinks. Her pupils are still dilated, but her drumming pulse is slowing to a dull beat.

“Good, now out.”

She exhales on a ragged, pungent breath as her fangs retract. Bagged blood is stale compared to the vein, but that’s all I ever offer a newly transitioned Zao Duh.

“Kaitlynn?” Brooke whispers from behind me.

Kaitlynn looks over at her so fast, I’m reminded of the way a bird shifts its focus.

I put my arm out in front of Brooke to make sure she doesn’t come any closer.

Dammit! For once I’d like her to just listen to me, to not move until I say so.

“It’s okay, Kaitlynn. Focus on me.” I point two fingers in front of her eyes and draw the pathway back to mine. “Keep breathing through your mouth.”

Her chest rises and falls with her deep breaths.

“How do you feel? Better?”

Brooke strains forward against my arm, but I lock it tight and push back.

Kaitlynn nods as she continues to breathe from the “O” of her lips.

“Good. Focus on calming your heart rate.”

Her gaze wavers toward Brooke, but I catch it. “No, keep your eyes on me. Only on me until I say so, okay?”

She looks back at me and nods.

The elevator dings and its door opens to Hawk inside.

Kaitlynn jumps from the bed, her wet gown bunched around her upper thighs. She hisses and bolts toward Hawk.

Brooke gasps from behind me.

I spring over the bed, grabbing the last bag of blood, and capture Kaitlynn around her waist. I slice the bag open with my teeth, disgusted with the fetid blood that leaks onto my tongue, and stuff the dripping bag in front of Kaitlynn’s face.