Forbidden Blood (Vampire Venators Romance Series) (45 page)

There were voices in the gallery.

Power surged up Kearn’s marked arm, making it ache and throb, until it glowed bright blue. It whispered dark words to him, encouraging him to take the lives of those daring to approach him with such evil intent. Kearn didn’t listen. He cursed it instead and the Sovereignty for giving him such a terrible weapon. He hated the words it spoke to him and its hunger for vampire souls.

The doors burst open and two men ran in, both from the Huntingdon family. His arm didn’t react to them. They hadn’t taken Source Blood. He began to attack them with his own power, but his father raised his hands and the men were on the floor, writhing and screaming. His father was a formidable foe—the strongest of their bloodline and with power beyond a Lesser Noble’s dreams. Another three clambered over the bodies of the first two, breaking their way into the room, and attacked with their own power, flinging their hands forwards and attempting to throw his side off balance with telekinesis.

Kearn held his left hand up and halted their attack. Fear whispered in his blood. Not his feelings but Amber’s. Before he realised it, all three vampires were twisted and dead, their blood coating the open doors and the walls. He breathed hard from the sudden drain in his power. He hadn’t been in control. Amber’s feelings had made him react without thinking.

“It takes a little more practice to control your power when under the influence of another’s emotions,” his father said from behind him.

Kearn jumped back to be level with him. His desire to protect Amber was so strong that whenever he could sense her fear, he wanted to rip his enemy limb from limb. He wanted to protect her so fiercely that he would do anything, even shed his breeding and all sense of etiquette and let his lust for blood run free and unchecked. He would become the beast he had thought she would see him as. He would do that for her, and only her.

He focused on the enemy. More were coming. They were stronger but they were only getting through because of their numbers. His family were still fighting in the gallery and in the entrance hall.

The three Venators moved forwards and the blue glow of their hands filled the corner of Kearn’s vision. He looked at his own right hand. It wanted souls to satisfy its growing hunger. It would have them soon enough. He could sense at least five vampires coming.

They broke into the room and Kearn’s arm responded, the markings burning against his skin and glowing brighter. It seemed these men were on the list of the Sovereignty.

He signalled to the other Venators and they nodded and then dashed forwards to attack the vampires. Kearn moved across the room in the blink of an eye and punched one hard across the jaw. He couldn’t use his power at a distance. He had to conserve his energy for his fight against Kyran and would have to kill these men the old-fashioned way.

The young dark haired man he had attacked fought back, clawing and then punching. Kearn tried to evade him but backed into another of the Huntingdon vampires. The man’s fist caught him hard in the throat and pain blasted out, making it difficult to breathe. He growled, grabbed the man by his shirt and threw him into the wall. Turning, Kearn caught the man behind him too. This one was older and stronger, but still no match for him. He clutched the man’s long hair, brought his head down, and smashed his face on his knee. The man fell backwards and one of the Venators caught him and pressed his glowing hand against the man’s chest.

Kearn didn’t watch the man die. His scream pierced the noise of battle, ungodly in its sound. Everyone would hear it and know what had happened to him. They would know what awaited them in this room.

He attacked the young dark haired vampire again, leaving the other three to the Venators. The man dodged his first punch, but Kearn caught him in the stomach with his second and then flicked his left hand, tossing him through the air. He slammed into the wall beside the doors to the room where his mother and Amber were and they shrieked.

Amber’s fear lanced through him and Kearn gripped his arm, struggling to control his dark urge to shatter the man into pieces. He ran at him instead, and pinned him to the wall before he could recover. Their eyes met and Kearn didn’t flinch away. He pressed his right palm against the man’s chest and released the power in his arm. The man screamed, tilting his head back into the wall. Black ribbons crept out from Kearn’s hand, penetrated the man’s chest and crawled up his neck to his mouth. They slithered inside and the man’s eyes opened wide and terrified.

Kearn watched. He had to. It was his punishment for committing such atrocity in the name of the Sovereignty and for sending the man to such a dark unholy place.

The young vampire’s eyes rolled back and he convulsed against the wall. The black ribbons burrowed deep into his body and his skin greyed. Kearn released him and turned away. He had seen enough.

His father’s gaze caught his but he couldn’t hold it. How many lives had his father taken in the centuries he had been a Venator?

Had he ever felt so disgusted at himself?

Sympathetic feelings flowed into his heart and Kearn looked at his father, knowing they were coming from him and not Amber this time. Perhaps he wasn’t the only Venator who had felt ashamed at times.

Two more screams punctured the air and Kearn went to help the other three Venators. All three men were fighting hard, two of them in the midst of sentencing their opponent, and the other fighting the remaining man.

Before Kearn could assist him, the Venator had the man in a headlock, his forearm tight across his throat, choking him. The Huntingdon vampire struggled but it was useless. His face reddened and his movements weakened. The Venator released him, spun him on the spot, and shoved his glowing hand against the man’s chest. There was such glee on the Venator’s face as he watched the man die. Kearn had never seen a man take such pleasure from killing another vampire, especially when sending him to the eternal darkness.

Kearn shifted his senses to the Venator, trying to detect what family he was from. He was a Noble. His strength and the underlying power Kearn could sense in him said that he was from a strong bloodline too.

“You do not seem to recognise your cousin. Is it so long since you have seen him?” his father said.

Cousin?

Kearn couldn’t believe his eyes. He looked hard at the Venator, past the short silver hair and the green eyes, trying to see if it was possible. It had been a long time since he had seen Traegard Montagu, almost a century in fact. He hadn’t realised that he had become a Venator or that he had grown so strong.

Traegard wasn’t the son of Duke Montagu, but they were cousins by the bond between their families. In the Montagu family, the ruling line weren’t Venators. Duke Montagu’s mother had been eldest, and had gone on to rule the bloodline. Her younger brother had gained the duty of Venator, and in turn his eldest son, and then Traegard.

The last time he had seen Traegard Montagu, he had been a peaceful young man, with artistic ideals and little interest in fighting.

Seeing him now, watching him kill without mercy, it was like looking at a different person.

Traegard dropped the body of the vampire and flicked the remaining black ribbons from his fingertips. He looked at Kearn, his eyes red with bloodlust. Kearn could feel the exhilaration in him, the excitement, and it bordered on disturbing. He looked away from Traegard, clearing away his curiosity about what had happened to change his cousin, and looked around the room. Only piles of grey ashes remained where the last five Huntingdon vampires had fallen. The blood from the other vampires seeped into it, turning it dark.

Another group of vampires forced their way into the room, spilling through the doors. There were more this time and not all of them had taken Source Blood. The three Venators attacked those who their arms responded to, leaving him and his father to deal with the rest.

Kearn threw himself into the fray, punching any who dared come close to him, and attacking others with his power. His father moved deeper into the group, towards the doors. Kearn tried to keep an eye on him but it was impossible. He had to focus on killing the vampires around him and protecting Amber. He wouldn’t let any of them near her.

He used telekinesis to scatter them, tossing two men around his age to his left and thrusting the other three to the right. They barrelled into his father and Kearn turned away. His father would deal with them. He attacked the remaining two, throwing one into the other to knock them back down, and then focusing on his desire for them to die. He curled his fingers into a fist and unleashed his darkest power on them, controlling their blood and their bodies against their will. He snapped arms and broke legs, shattering them from the inside out until they were motionless.

Dead.

His father had dealt with the others in a similar fashion, leaving broken bodies lying at his feet, and the vampires Kearn had left the Venators to deal with were nothing but dust.

It was too easy so far. None of these vampires were any match for a Noble.

Kearn reached deep into his blood, trying to sense Amber and see how she was coping. She was still afraid. Her blood whispered to his, seeking comfort. He sent a message to her, telling her not to fear and that it would be over soon.

Just as he did so, another group of vampires broke through the line of Venators and into the room.

Kearn went to attack them and then stopped.

Kyran was close.

He glanced at his father and before he could say a word, his father rushed into the vampires, tearing them to shreds with his bare hands, and crushing their bones and puncturing their skin with thought alone.

“Fall back,” Kearn called to him but his father kept going forwards, towards the doors, and then disappeared through them.

Kearn was halfway to the doors when his father flew backwards into the room and slammed into the far wall. Kearn was on his knees beside him in an instant, helping him into a sitting position.

He swallowed.

Three long lines cut across the chest of his father’s black coat. Blood poured from the gashes and he felt his father’s strength flowing from him at the same pace, trickling away with each passing second. He had to get him to safety. Kyran would easily kill him in his weakened state.

Kearn placed his father’s right arm around his shoulders and carefully stood with him. His father grimaced and placed his arm across his stomach.

“Do not worry about me.” His father looked at him with red eyes. “Kyran is too strong. I could not stand against my own son, not even to spare my other child the pain of taking his life.”

“Do not speak.” Kearn walked with him to the doors of the safe room. He could sense the three Venators watching him. They would have to hold off the vampires without him until he got his father to safety. “It is my duty to carry out the law of the Sovereignty. I am strong enough to do this.”

His father growled. Kearn felt his disapproval and knew in his heart that it wasn’t about him. He was angry with the Sovereignty too.

Kearn sent another message through his blood, this time to his mother. The gilt doors ahead of them opened a crack and then a wave of distress swept through the room. His mother was at his father’s side before Kearn could tell her to remain where she was. She murmured quiet words of love and took his father’s other arm, helping him into the room.

Amber waited on the other side of the doors, face pale and eyes enormous. He probably looked terrible by now. His eyes were still red, his fangs still extended, and blood covered him. If she was ever going to think he was a monster, a beast, it would be now.

He set his father down on a chair and went back to the doors. He wanted to go to Amber, his heart telling him to comfort her and to kiss her in case he never saw her again, but he had to return to the fight. He had to end this.

Amber caught his wrist. Her fingers trembled against it and her fear became strong in his blood, bringing out his own.

He looked at the three Venators as they fought the vampires, holding them back. One of them was injured. He could feel his brother getting closer, heralded by a black malevolent wave of power so hideously strong that it turned his insides. Kearn felt weak compared with it, and knew deep inside him that he was no match for his brother. Kyran must have taken more Source Blood in their time apart, boosting his power. The effects of Amber’s blood on Kearn were already beginning to fade, and the Sovereignty’s power drained his strength too. What chance did they stand when his brother arrived? Kyran had taken his father down without even being close to him.

Kearn placed his hand over Amber’s, still facing away from her, and held it. He told her without words that she would be safe with his parents.

A scream pierced the noise of fighting and one of the Venators fell back into the room, his torso and arms cut to ribbons. An injury like that would easily kill him and the severity of it made Kearn’s blood run cold. Kyran could only have done it at close quarters.

He was here.

Kearn turned to Amber, his heart beating hard against his chest. He had promised to return to her, but the wave of power sweeping over him was stronger than he had anticipated. Even with her blood, he still wasn’t as strong as Kyran.

He smiled at her, holding his fear beyond her reach and giving her only his love.

“I will be back soon.” He took her hand from his arm, pressed a kiss to her hand and breathed her in, savouring her warm scent. “I love you.”

She frowned when he lowered her hand and then released it.

He looked at his mother, and then backed out of the door, his gaze returning to Amber.

It hurt to lie to her, to tell her that he would keep his promise even when he knew he couldn’t. He had to do it though. He had to protect her from his brother. He couldn’t let her die.

“I love you,” she whispered and he sensed the rest of what she wanted to say. She wanted to tell him to come back to her. She knew what was happening.

Stay with me forever.

Her blood said it with such intensity that he had to turn away, had to break the connection between them, couldn’t bear to feel her need and her love for him when he was only going to hurt her.