Phantom Embrace (9 page)

“I appreciate that. He would hand me my own ass if you did.”

“At the very least.”

Yuri offered him his hand.

Stanislav clasped his arm instead and pulled Yuri into a hug, clapping him on the back.

Yuri grunted as pain flashed across his features.

When Stanislav released him and stepped back, he arched a brow, lips twitching. “That's for scaring the shit out of me earlier.”

Yuri huffed a laugh, then grabbed his side again with a grunt. “Don't make me laugh, damn it. It hurts.”

Stanislav crossed to the door. “I'll get you some more blood.” He grasped the knob. “And, Yuri?”

“Yes?”

“I don't know what's going on with you and this woman you've met, but . . . if you ever need to talk, I'm here.”

Yuri nodded. “Thank you.”

Stanislav slipped out the door and closed it behind him.

Cat stared at Yuri, her mind a jumble of questions and fears, her stomach aching with dread.

He lowered his chin and leaned back against the dresser.

The silence stretched.

He avoided her gaze.

“Yuri,” she said.

“Don't look at me like that,” he whispered wearily.

The door opened. Stanislav leaned in and tossed Yuri two more bags of blood.

Yuri caught them deftly this time and thanked him.

Stanislav left.

“Was he right?” Cat asked when she could bear it no longer. “Are you . . . ? Do you want to die, Yuri?”

“I wasn't trying to get myself killed tonight, Cat,” he answered. “It was as I told him. We need information. I thought I could get it. I thought I was strong enough to capture those vampires, but the bastards wouldn't give up the fight. It was fight or die.”

She heard no lie in his words, but he kept his head lowered. “You still haven't answered the question. Do you want to die, Yuri?” Just the thought of him giving up his life to be with her made her heart ache. “Is that why you've been coming home so battered and bloody lately?”

“Cat—”

“Don't lie to me, Yuri. I've seen your wounds. Far more of them than you used to incur when you hunted. There were nights when you would come home without a single scratch on you. And now . . . ever since we discovered we could be together in your dreams, ever since we made love that first time . . .” She shook her head. Tears clogged her throat. “You come home more broken every night, your wounds deeper and—”

“Don't cry, Cat.” At last he met her gaze, his brown eyes full of remorse and . . . shame?

Was it true, then? Was Yuri trying to die so they could be together in more than just the dream realm? She couldn't let that happen. Couldn't let him sacrifice his life to be with her.

When he moved toward her, she backed away. “This was a mistake,” she said, her voice choked with tears she couldn't prevent from spilling down her cheeks.

“It isn't what you think,” he said.

She shook her head. “I'm not going to let you sacrifice your life for me.”

“Catherine—”

“I'm not going to stand by and let you get yourself killed so you can be with me,” she said, voice rising.

“I'm not trying to get myself killed,” he insisted.

“I've seen the wounds, Yuri! So
many
wounds! What else—?”

“I let them wound me on purpose,” he blurted, his features tight with frustration.

Cat halted. “What?”

Looking away, he swore softly. Seconds ticked past, during which she could almost see him mentally weighing his options. Then he resolutely met her gaze. “I've been letting the vampires I fight wound me before I defeat them.”

Cat didn't know if that confirmed or negated her accusations. “Why?”

“I made sure the wounds were never fatal.”

“Why would you let them wound you at all if . . . ?”

He reached for her arms, then swore bitterly when his hands passed right through her. Clenching his fists, he lowered them to his sides. “I sleep more deeply when I'm wounded.”

“I don't understand.”

“A couple of nights after you came to me in my dreams that first time, I fractured my femur while I was out hunting. Immortals tend to sleep deeper while recovering from more serious wounds and . . .” His shoulders slumped. “I discovered that the dreams last longer when I'm in a healing sleep.”

Dread filled her. “Are you saying . . . ?”

“I've been letting the vampires wound me because I have more time with you in the dream realm when I'm healing.”

Cat stared at him in horror. “That's why the dreams have been lasting longer?”

He nodded. “The more wounds I suffer, the longer I spend in the deeper healing sleep and the more time we have together.”

She bit back a sob.

“Don't look like at me like that,” he pleaded once more.

“You're hurting yourself so you can be with me!”

“Cat, I've been hunting vampires for five centuries. I suffer wounds all the time. They're nothing to me.”

“You can barely stand!” she accused.

“I'm already healing. Look, it's closing, isn't it?” He pointed to the long gash on his face, which closed as she watched and became a dark pink scar.

“But you're in pain. All of these wounds . . . the cuts, your leg, whatever is wrong with your side and back . . . they
hurt
.”

He said nothing.

“Yuri, they hurt, don't they?”

“Only until I fall asleep.”

Then his body healed while he spent time with her.

“Look, I'm not sure why you're so upset about this,” he said. “You saw me come home wounded hundreds of times before we even spoke. How is—?”

“Would you have fought those vampires tonight if you hadn't known the wounds you incurred would give you more time with me?” she asked.

“What?”

“Answer me honestly, Yuri. Would you have fought those two vampires tonight if you hadn't known the wounds you incurred would give you more time with me in the dream realm?”

“Yes.”

“Would you have fought to kill or to capture?”

Lips tightening, he didn't respond.

Another tear slipped past her lashes. “I suppose I have my answer.”

“It was a win-win situation, Cat. Can't you see that?”

“You risked your life, Yuri! You risked Stanislav's life!”

Guilt flickered in his dark eyes. “I knew we could take them.”

“I can't be with you if you're going to keep hurting yourself like this,” she choked out. “I was right. This was a mistake.”

His eyes flashed amber as anger darkened his face. “Don't say that, damn it! I've waited five hundred years to find you. Five hundred years to love you. And you want to take that away because I got a little scratch and a sore leg?”

“It isn't just a scratch!”

“To me it is!” he shouted and raked a hand through his hair. “Cat . . .” He paced away, his limp less pronounced than it had been minutes earlier, then turned to face her. “If pricking your finger with a needle would give you more time with me in the dream realm, would you do it?”

“This isn't—”

“Just answer the question.”

“Yes.”

“If I took that lamp,” he said, pointing to the lamp in his reading nook, “shattered it on the floor, and told you that you could spend more time with me, touching me and holding me, if you walked across the broken glass, would you do it?”

“I don't feel pain in this form.”

“If you did, would you do it, knowing the pain would vanish as soon as you saw me and would be gone when you awoke?”

Yes, she would.

“You would, wouldn't you?” he pressed.

She nodded.

“Then this,” he said, motioning to his battered body, “is not an issue.”

“I don't want to cause you pain, Yuri.”

He approached her slowly. “Then never again tell me that what we have is a mistake.”

Nodding, she wished she could burrow into his arms and hold him tight. “Go take a shower. Eat something. And go to bed. I don't want you to hurt any longer than you have to.”

“You'll come to me in my dreams today?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I'll come to you.”

A faint smile tilting his lips, Yuri limped into the bathroom.

* * *

Yuri was so damned relieved to see Cat in his dreams that day. But their relationship changed. Despite his arguments, Cat told him she would stop visiting him in his dreams if he kept letting vampires wound him.

Damn it. Why couldn't Stanislav have confronted him
before
they had reached David's home? Then Cat would still be none the wiser and Yuri wouldn't have to settle for whatever little time in the dream realm normal sleep allowed them.

And Cat insisted that Yuri start spending time again with the other immortals. For some reason, she thought that his wanting to spend more time with
her
impeded upon his
life with the living
, as she called it.

Yuri admitted he had been spending less time with his fellow immortals. But it wasn't as if he were a recluse like Roland used to be. He just enjoyed spending time with Cat more and couldn't speak freely with her in front of the others.

So, in the days that followed, he indulged her . . . to a point, spending an hour to two reading or watching movies with Stanislav as they had before while he sought some way to disabuse her of the notion.

And he stopped letting the damned vampires get in a few strikes when he hunted to keep his wounds to a minimum. He didn't like the way it restricted the tangible time he and Cat shared, but wanted to put her mind at ease.

Although he might just get a temporary reprieve.

“I trust you won't complain if I return riddled with wounds this time?” he said as he tugged on the rubbery suit the network had designed to protect immortals from daylight.

Across his bedroom, Catherine bit her lip. “No, but please be careful, Yuri. Don't take any unnecessary risks.”

“I won't,” he promised. He wouldn't have to.

The Immortal Guardians had finally located the new vampire army's base. Although Seth and the network still had not determined the name of their immortal betrayer, they
had
discovered—much to their astonishment—that the betrayer had given the vampiric virus and the sedative to a huge mercenary group, which had been infecting their own men.

An army of men with super-speed, super-strength, perfect night vision, and accelerated healing abilities that left them nearly unstoppable on the battlefield would bring the mercenary group billions of dollars. And this group didn't care who hired their vampire army. They would make the army available to the highest bidder worldwide.

It was a big-ass compound with countless well-trained vampires and humans with high-powered weapons. The Immortal Guardians—along with a virtual army of human special ops soldiers from the network that aided them—would descend upon it this afternoon, showing no mercy and ending the threat once and for all. They would discover, at last, the name of their betrayer so Seth could render whatever punishment he deemed suitable.

And Yuri was pretty much guaranteed to suffer enough wounds to put him in a long, deep healing sleep when he returned to David's place. He would have hours that would feel like days in the dream realm to hold and be with Cat. He couldn't wait.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“It sort of resembles a diving suit,” Cat said. Her lips curled up in a slow smile. “And you look positively edible in it.”

Laughing, he winked. “Maybe I'll wear one in my dreams tonight.” While he packed on the weapons, Cat wrung her hands. “Stop worrying,” he coaxed. “We've battled mercenaries before and won.”

“But never on this scale. And never with highly trained vampires on their side.”

Yuri waved off her concern. “Seth has brought in another elder to help us fight. And Zach will join us, too. Hell, Seth and Zach alone could probably raze the entire compound. We'll be fine.”

“I'm going with you.”

“
Hell
, no. I want you to stay here. All that blood and violence ... I don't want those images in your head. And ...” He hated to say this out loud. “We're going to have to kill a lot of men today, Cat. So many spirits released at once . . . I don't think you should be anywhere near there.”

Grudgingly, she nodded. “All right. But please be careful,” she implored again.

“I will.” Satisfied that he had loaded on enough blades, he grinned and picked up the mask that accompanied the suit. “See you when I get back.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” And couldn't wait for the day to end so he could spend that long healing sleep in her arms.

Chapter Seven

Yuri and his fellow Immortal Guardians made their silent way through the forest until they clustered together in the evergreens across the street from the mercenary compound's front gate. Thick trees and a bounty of chest-high weeds hid them from the guards' view and stymied the sunlight each time it tried to penetrate the dense foliage and hint at their presence.

An impressively large army of network special ops soldiers commanded by Chris Reordon lingered down the road, out of sight, ready to back up the immortals when they stormed the compound.

An attack like this in daylight carried risks. Once the battle began, all but the eldest immortals would have to take care to keep their masks on and to sustain as little damage to their suits as they possibly could to protect themselves from the sun's rays. They wouldn't burst into flames when exposed to sunlight the way vampires in movies did. They would rapidly sunburn instead, then blister. Things would swiftly go downhill from there. Yuri knew from experience that such could be incredibly painful.

But the mercenaries wouldn't see an afternoon strike coming. And the vampires slumbering in the large building that housed them would not be able to join the fray outside. This vampire army was too new to have developed the special suits the immortals now wore.

Yuri studied the compound's layout and compared it to the satellite maps Chris had provided them with minutes earlier.

The main building was just inside the gates on the right. Beyond it lay a helipad and runway, followed by two massive hangars. Seth had tasked Richart and Jenna with keeping the mercenaries out of those helicopters. The airplanes, too. Yuri suspected they would have their hands full. And they had no way of knowing just what vehicles the hangars contained. More airplanes and helos, certainly. But there were also likely tanks and other armored vehicles the mercenaries would do their damnedest to commandeer.

On the left lay two buildings Chris had estimated at about forty thousand square feet each. One housed the human mercenaries who slumbered after coming off the night shift. The other housed dozens and dozens of vampires.

One of the many training fields the mercenary compound—or global security company, as they called themselves—boasted began behind the housing buildings and continued out of sight.

Beyond
that
lay Yuri's target: the armory. The windowless brick building had only one door. And every mercenary on the compound would likely want to get inside it once they realized they were under attack.

Yuri and Stanislav had volunteered to man it. They'd have a wall at their backs to protect them and an endless supply of opponents coming at their front. Sounded like fun.

It looked like the two of them would have a straight shot back to it, but the men on the training field they had to pass would likely be armed, so bullets would fly until Bastien, Melanie, and Chris's special ops team closed in on them.

Okay, everyone
, Seth told them mentally,
Chris is making the call
.

On Chris's mark, all cell phone reception would be disrupted and the landlines cut. Satellite phones would still function, though, so Yuri and the other immortals had been instructed to keep their ears open and prevent
any
calls from going out. The electricity would also be cut. Seth would take out the backup generators with several grenades.

Seth vanished.

Yuri slid his katanas from their sheaths.

The soldiers at the gate jumped when an alarm began to blare and gripped their weapons tighter as they tried to look in every direction at once.

Flames and debris appeared to fly from four different locations as Seth teleported from generator to generator with lightning speed and tossed the grenades. The alarm ceased. Mercenaries ran helter-skelter about the compound, trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

Yuri saw two grenades skip across the ground toward the gate.

One of the guards caught the movement and looked down as the objects came to rest at his feet. “Ah, shi—”

The explosion that followed pierced Yuri's sensitive ears like needles and left them ringing for several seconds. Bodies and body parts flew. The gate blew open and broke apart.

Yuri and the others ducked as pieces of metal embedded themselves in the trees around them. Then they raced forward, David in the lead, to confront their enemies.

From the corner of his eye, Yuri saw Chris's network battalion surge forward in their armored vehicles.

Shouts rang out.

Mercenaries opened fire.

With Stanislav at his side, Yuri swung his katanas as he sped toward the armory, taking out every mercenary he could on the way.

The front of the main building exploded into chunks of granite and glass as Yuri and Stanislav passed it. Yuri saw David plow right through it—Lisette, Zach, and Marcus on his heels—and grinned.

He loved a good fight!

When Yuri reached the training field, bullets tore through the air like swarms of bees.

Yuri cut a swath through the mercenaries. Screams erupted. And the suit he so hated to wear stopped a hell of a lot of the bullets. Apparently, Chris and the network had made some improvements.

Yuri sheathed one of his katanas and yanked an AK-47 from the hands of one of the mercenaries. As he continued toward the armory, his pace never slowing, he sprayed the enemy with bullets.

Stanislav laughed behind him and soon followed suit.

The armory rose before them. Two stories. Larger than Yuri had anticipated.

What the hell did they store in there?

Most of the humans in sight ran toward it.

Yuri took out all he could with the automatic weapon, ran out of ammo, then grabbed another.

“I'll clear it out,” Stanislav called and ducked inside.

Yuri planted his back against the wall on one side of the door and let the bullets fly. While guns had never been his weapon of choice, he
did
know how to use them.

By the time Stanislav returned, Yuri had run out of ammo again.

“Clear,” Stanislav said and planted his back against the wall on the opposite side of the door.

The number of humans charging toward them dwindled as the network's special ops soldiers swarmed the grounds, Bastien and Melanie in their midst.

Yuri dropped the AK and went to work with his swords.

Dmitry and Alexei, Yuri and Stanislav's Seconds, approached in a crouch, barely recognizable beneath their helmets and body armor. Automatic weapons spitting fire, they parked themselves at either corner of the building to keep mercenaries from sneaking up on Yuri and Stanislav from the sides.

A tank rumbled forth from one of the hangars.

Ah, shit. The mercenaries must have—

Two missiles struck it, launched by Chris's men.

Dmitry whooped.

Yuri grinned, then grunted as a bullet penetrated his suit where the material thinned under his arm. Another grazed his neck.

Beside him, Stanislav swore. “How many of these bastards are there?”

Good question. Yuri had slain dozens and they just kept coming, each and every one of them determined to get their hands on the weapons the two Immortal Guardians guarded.

Explosions pierced Yuri's ears periodically.

In the distance, flames spewed forth from the flame thrower atop one of Chris's Humvees as vampires opted to risk sun exposure and darted outside in an attempt to flee the blades of the immortals who had invaded their building.

Another bullet struck Yuri. Gritting his teeth, he swung his blades at two mercenaries who attacked his front.

Dmitry's weapon quieted as he hastily reloaded.

At least Yuri didn't have to worry about running out of ammo. His blades never failed him.

Breathing hard, he slew two more mercenaries.

Stanislav leapt to the edge of the building to take out a mercenary who crept up behind Alexei as Alexei fired like hell at mercenaries who must have been trying to come around the side of the building.

Mercenaries saw only one immortal guarding the door and seized the opportunity, rushing forward en masse. Those who were armed came with guns blazing.

Yuri took another bullet, then another and another as he held them at bay.

“Behind you!” Dmitry shouted.

Yuri spun around and found a mercenary aiming a tranquilizer gun at him.

The world went black.

* * *

Cat couldn't stand the quiet at David's house, couldn't take the waiting with nothing to do, so she hied herself off to network headquarters.

She knew the moment the battle began. The tension among the medical staff skyrocketed.

Soon Richart, the French immortal, began to teleport in members of the human network's special ops team who had been injured. Cat watched the dedicated doctors and nurses go to work, saving what lives they could. In very little time, a dozen patients filled the infirmary.

Was this what war was like? she wondered, her heart going out to a grim-faced Dr. Linda Machen when Linda couldn't save her latest patient.

By the time word came that the battle had ended, over a dozen more network soldiers fought for their lives.

Cat left the network and returned to David's home, happy to discover that no injured immortals had been teleported there for a blood infusion or treatment by the emergency medical staff on hand today.

A good sign. Yet Darnell and Ami, who had remained behind, still evinced worry.

Cat waited impatiently for the Immortal Guardians to return, nearly wilting with relief when their vehicles finally pulled up outside.

Thuds sounded.

The front door opened.

Cat stared. She had expected the warriors to return triumphant, tired smiles wreathing their faces as they congratulated one another on a job well done, pleased that they had defeated their enemies and eliminated the threat they posed. Instead . . .

Tight lips spoke no words as the Immortal Guardians filed inside, their Seconds with them. Shoulders slumped. Soot-stained faces bore clean streaks carved by tears.

Cat's heart sank. What had happened?

Her eyes searched each blackened face, looking for Yuri's, and failed to find him.

The front door closed.

Fear rose.

She searched again and found her gaze ensnared by Marcus's.

The British immortal stared at her with red-rimmed eyes. His Adam's apple rose and fell with a hard swallow. Then he shook his head.

Cat staggered backward. Surely he didn't mean . . .

Ami crossed to Marcus and hugged him tight.

Mouthing, “I'm sorry,” Marcus buried his face in his wife's hair.

Denial gripping her, Cat looked for Stanislav and didn't see him either. Instead, she found Dmitry and Alexei, their noses red, tears streaming down their faces, and watched them walk numbly toward the back of the house.

Cat's eyes began to burn. Yuri couldn't be gone. He couldn't have fallen in battle.

Unable to believe it,
unwilling
to believe it, she went to Yuri's bedroom, sat down, and waited.

She didn't know how much time passed . . . perhaps an hour . . . before the door opened.

Heart leaping, she looked up, then swallowed hard when Marcus slipped inside and closed the door.

He leaned back against it, his expression telling her everything she knew he didn't want to voice.

Cat's vision blurred as tears rose.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered. “He was killed during the battle.”

She fought back the sobs that threatened to erupt. “Did he suffer?” she forced past the lump in her throat.

“No. He was tranqed right before it happened.”

“What did they do to him?”

“It doesn't matter,” he whispered. “He didn't feel it. And I don't want . . .” He looked away and swallowed hard. “It doesn't matter. He's gone.”

“Stanislav, too?”

“Yes.”

She did sob then, her heart breaking.

Marcus approached her slowly and crouched down in front of her. “Yuri loves you, Catherine. I wasn't there when it happened. I didn't see his spirit leave his body. And I don't know where he is now. I half expected him to already be here when we returned.”

“Then why
isn't
he?”

“I don't know. But he loves you. If Yuri
can
find you, he will.”

* * *

Cat did her damnedest to cling to the hope Marcus's words offered her. But days passed. Then weeks. And Yuri didn't come to her.

Had he crossed over?

Was he lost to her?

Cat lingered in his room. Touched his things to gain images of him from the past. Lay down on his bed. Drew in the scent of him left behind on his pillow. And wept until she couldn't anymore.

Dmitry came to Yuri's bedroom, packed his belongings up in boxes, and removed them.

The human male appeared as lost and desolate as Cat.

Nothing of Yuri remained in David's home now. Nothing she could touch and use her psychometric ability to see his handsome face and charming grin again. Nothing lingered save the memories Cat clung to as her despair grew.

Curling on her side on the big bed, she buried her face in his pillow for the hundredth time. All still considered this room Yuri's, though his personal possessions had been removed. Since none were eager to commandeer it, the bedding and towels had not yet been replaced.

“What the hell?” a deep voice spoke behind her. “I'm only gone a day and they ditch all of my stuff?”