Vampire Apocalypse #2 Cataylst (11 page)

“What about it? I didn’t even want to hear.
They’re just going to be gossiping about poor Alice.” Cassie
breathed and pulled her arms tighter around her waist. “I feel bad
for her. I wish there was something that—”

Cole wanted to break it to her gently, but
she kept talking. Cassie was always talking. He sucked in some air,
placed his hand on her shoulder, and blurted it out, “Everyone has
been Paired, including us.”

Cassie stepped back with a horrified
expression on her face, “Us! They paired us? That’s disgusting!”
Although Cole wasn’t a blood brother, he felt like one. She
couldn’t hide how she felt about it. Her jaw hung open, as acid
churned in her stomach, threatening to spew up her throat.

Cole sighed. Cassie was so Cassie. “No,” he
explained patiently, “they didn’t pair us together.” Cassie visibly
deflated, looking relieved, but she shouldn’t. “Cassie, listen to
me.” When she glanced up and met his eye, he continued, “They’ve
Paired everyone. I don’t know what they’re doing, why the vamps
changed things, but the Pairing is tonight. You and I have both
been matched with someone.”

Cassie’s face paled. She swallowed hard and
was silent for once. After a moment, Cassie pressed her eyes
closed. She looked like she was going to vomit. Cole couldn’t take
it anymore. He pulled her close to him and hugged her. He kissed
the top of her head like an overprotective brother, and pulled her
away, holding her shoulders tightly in his hands. Looking into her
eyes, he spoke confidently, “This won’t happen to you. Do you
understand? I want you to go along with it and act like you’re okay
with it—make sure they aren’t concerned about you—and I’ll figure
out a way to make sure you’re safe.”

There were tears in her eyes. Cassie wanted
to believe him, but she couldn’t. “The vamps watch, Cole. They make
sure it gets done.” Her voice was rising slowly, becoming more
squeaky as she spoke. “If I fight back, if I don’t let him, they’ll
tie me up.” Her big eyes were glassy. “This can’t be happening. It
can’t be.” She shoved her hands through her curls, pulling her hair
as she spoke. “The Pairing will kill half us for sure. Why would
they do this?”

Cole kept his hands on her shoulders. As
reassuringly as he knew how, he said, “I don’t know, but I’ve never
thought we’d stay here once one of us was Paired.”

“What do you mean?” Confused, she said, “It’s
not like we can just leave.” Her voice was so low, so quiet that he
could barely hear it.

“That’s exactly what I mean.” Cassie’s eyes
widened, but Cole cut her off, giving her instructions. “Don’t do
anything to draw attention to yourself today. They aren’t watching
you as closely, not when it comes to strength and flight risk. I’ll
get us out before it happens. I promise.”

Cassie felt sick, but all she could do was
nod. Cole had done things, things that flooded her dreams at night
and if he wasn’t hell-bent on protecting her, she’d be terrified of
him. Cassie cleared her throat and looked up at him, “What about
you? They paired you too?”

Cole nodded, his shoulders stiffening as he
did it. Cassie didn’t miss the cue. Whoever they’d paired him with
made him uncomfortable. She wondered who it was, if he actually had
feelings for someone—feelings that she didn’t know about.

After a moment, Cole cleared his throat and
said, “It doesn’t matter what the vamps did, if we were Paired or
not.” He laughed callously, adding, “And they won’t be doing it
again after tonight. I promise you that.” Looking down at Cassie,
he said too calmly, “I’ll get you before the Pairing takes place.
Don’t let Brent touch you.” Cassie visibly recoiled at the name.
She avoided Brent at all cost. The way he looked at her made her
uneasy, and if there weren’t vamps around who’d break his neck if
he laid a finger on Cassie, she wouldn’t have been able to sleep at
night. Brent scared her. Cole shook her from her thoughts, gently
gripping her shoulders and pulling her back to the present, “I’ll
personally kill him if he does, Queen’s protection or not. The only
person who matters to me here is you, and I won’t leave you
behind.”

CHAPTER 16

The King’s guard left right after they
questioned Cassie. They took off into the night, trying to track
down the girl—Kahli. Anger flooded through the King’s body. He
hadn’t gotten enough of her blood to completely restore his former
abilities. Most of the precious liquid had spilled on the floor,
and failed to go down his throat. Thinking about it, he could still
feel the burn of her blood. The potency was familiar, reminding him
of the last time he had this opportunity. It had slipped away
before he could do anything. Resolve flooded his veins. Not again.
This might be his last chance. There was no room for mistakes, not
this time. There were no more wild humans. Kahli was the last and
he intended to possess her.

The storm set in swiftly, making it difficult
to see, but the King urged the Trackers on. He sat in his vehicle,
as it was gently rocked by the howling wind. The royal caravan was
a massive tank-like truck with enough supplies to cross the
unforgiving terrain. Traveling was no longer a treat. Due to the
climate, constant wind, and frozen tundra, traveling was dismal at
best.

Every time he wandered from the palace, the
King knew that he risked his life. There was no blood out here.
Killing livestock wasn’t enough to sustain him, not that there was
much to be found. The world and all its glory had disappeared,
leaving him trapped in this frozen hell, and forcing a life on him
that he detested. Before the flood, the King didn’t mind that he
wasn’t the ruling sovereign, the one royal with all the power. That
belonged to Sophia, and he was okay with it. It gave her all the
power, but it also gave her all the problems. Accepting his role as
royal arm-candy made his life easier. There was always enough
blood, and he was beyond reproach, elevated slightly above the law
due to his wife’s status. It allowed him freedom that he didn’t
have, otherwise. Plus the wealth just agreed with him. Add to that
the fact that no one tried to assassinate him on a daily basis, and
the King soon learned that he achieved the best of both worlds by
accepting the Queen’s reign.

Back then, the King moved on his own, rarely
seeing his Queen. But that wasn’t the way of things anymore. Times
changed. Now she was constantly there, reminding him that she was
stronger, that she had the most power, and that she chose him.
Sophia made it clear that if he made a single misstep, his long and
glorious life would be cut short. The former freedom he knew, the
advantages of being wedded to the law, were no longer palatable.
The constant reminders made him restless.

If there was a time to turn on Sophia, it was
now. For years, he watched Sophia wither away, her power dwindling
like a dying ember. For many years, their strength was matched, but
when he found a wild woman about two decades ago, things changed.
The blood cured him. The blood from that woman was like nothing
that they’d been able to breed. All of the years of weakness would
have vanished if he hadn’t lost her. Greed doomed him before. The
King would not make that mistake again.

Shifting in his seat, the King watched his
men through the windshield. They were trying to determine which
direction the girl went, which path to follow. There were two snow
mobiles and a bike. The motorcycle had spikes on the wheels that
cut into the top layer of ice. As long as they kept ahead of the
storm, they had at least one traceable path.

The King watched and waited, patiently
planning the moment when he had Kahli in his hands again. There
were so many things he wanted to do to her, but the thought of
sucking every last drop of blood from her body dominated them all.
There was no reason to wait this time, no need for prudency.
Clenching and unclenching his fingers, the King thought about
wrapping his hands around her neck and squeezing tight. The look of
panic that would fill those green eyes, as he choked the life out
of her was a bonus. Since he met the girl, she was defiant. No, it
was beyond that—she didn’t recognize him as her lord. She didn’t
think he was more powerful, better. Kahli would soon find out. It
was a lesson that he couldn’t wait to teach her. And then, with the
untainted blood in his body, he could finally defeat the Queen and
take over the monarchy. This was the beginning of a new life, a
turning point which he intended to utilize.

A hand rapped on the glass window next to the
King. The driver lowered it and the pane of glass slipped down. “We
found a trail. They couldn’t have gotten far, but—” the Tracker
trailed off, his eyes darting to the side, not wanting to be the
bearer of bad news.

The King looked at his nails, casually
saying, “I could kill you now and ask someone else what’s wrong.”
It sounded like a proper solution to a normal problem. The King
sounded completely reasonable even though his statement was
dripping with malice.

The Tracker swallowed hard. His skin had that
sickly pallor like so many vampires had. It was too sickening to
look at. The wind gusted hard, revealing more of the Tracker’s face
as his hood blew back and fell to his shoulders. They’d followed
the vehicles to this point and then stopped. The storm was nearing
rapidly. The King didn’t want to wait.

“Both vehicles fell,” the Tracker explained.
“The snow mobile crashed. We found the remains along with one of
the vamps from the garage. He was killed before the fall.
Impaled.”

“How do you know he was dead before? He could
have been impaled from the fall. He could have helped her escape.”
The King glanced up at the man.

The Tracker shook his head. “No, the wound is
old. Looks like the wound was executed the same way as the vamp in
the garage. She took him to try and throw us off. His scent covered
hers in the beginning, but she lost too much blood, otherwise we
wouldn’t have been able to track her.”

“And?” the King snapped, sensing there was
more bad news.

“Her vehicle flipped. It was decimated,”
hesitantly, he added, “and the bike that was following her went
down as well.”

The King didn’t react. He stared into the
Tracker’s face, his voice perfectly calm, “You’re saying they’re
both dead?”

“No, sir. There are no bodies. And if the
wolves got them, there’d be blood everywhere, even if they were
dragged off.” The Tracker turned and looked at the place where the
accident occurred before looking back at the King. “We think
they’re alive, or were, when they left here. They can’t be far,
traveling on foot and injured.”

The wind gusted and blew the dry snow into
the King’s face. Wiping it with the back of his hand, he said,
“Just find them,” and put the window back up.

If he’d had more of Kahli’s blood, there
would be no reason for Trackers. He simply would have known where
she was. The blood bond made her an extension of his body. It would
have been like finding a finger or a toe. No one really pays
attention to them, they’re just there, and their location is felt.
But, the King hadn’t had enough of her blood to feel that fully.
The only thing the King could sense was a faint flickering, like a
ghost limb, telling him that she still breathed.

The driver gave him a towel, but the King
swatted it away. After everything he did, if the girl died and he
wasn’t there—the thought made the King’s insides boil.
That
stupid, petulant girl,
he thought.
And William helped her,
no doubt.
The Queen’s pet, young William, probably took her to
find shelter from the storm. It complicated things. The King had to
make certain that if he didn’t find Kahli—if he wasn’t able to
drink more of her blood—that someone else took the blame for his
indulgence. Three dead girls from the Queen’s private store would
not go unpunished.

He tapped his long, tapered fingers together,
staring at nothing, and thought that Will was the perfect
person.

CHAPTER 17

Kahli groaned and rolled onto her side.
Peeling back her eyelids, she looked around. Metal bars surrounded
her. She was in the cage. Again. Except this time she wasn’t
bouncing around in the back of a truck. She was in someone’s home.
Before she could think, Kahli noticed the pain from her shoulder
was better, although it still hurt
. They must have fixed it
after I passed out
, she thought.

“So nice to see you awake,” Reginald said,
turning toward the cage door. He was dressed like the Regent,
wearing clothing too beautiful to be real. His silk shirt had a
ruffle under the chin with ivory buttons that extended to his trim
waist. Black slacks accentuated his slender frame. Coupled with a
velvet jacket the same shade of blue as Will’s eyes, Reggie looked
like an aristocrat.

Will
. Her insides twisted as she
thought of him trapped under the pile of rubble. Kahli had to get
out of here, and get back to the safe house before it was too
late.

Kahli tried to sit up. The pain that shot
through her skull made her groan. Pressing her hand to her head,
she growled, “What do you want?”

Reggie laughed, “You, of course.
What do
you want?
” he mocked, mimicking her tone. “The first time I
lost you to my hideous sister—” he clenched his jaw, biting off
whatever he was going to say. His long, elegant hands slashed
through the air, and paused like he cut off the thought with his
pointer finger, “But, no matter. That’s done and you’re here
now.”

Kahli looked around. There was another cage
across from her with a brightly colored bird. It sat on a perch and
looked at her through the bars. She was in a grand room with too
many books to count, cages of various sizes, and ornate
furniture.

Kahli pressed her eyes closed. He couldn’t
have been that senseless, but it appeared he was. Looking up at
him, she asked, “Is this your house? Tell me that you weren’t
stupid enough to bring me back to your house?”