Vampire Apocalypse #2 Cataylst (3 page)

“Not at the moment. I shouldn’t have
mentioned it. I just don’t want more attention and running draws
it. Although, Kahli shone a spotlight on us, so maybe it doesn’t
matter.” Cole wanted to strangle Kahli. She was reckless. Her
behavior would affect Cassie, and while Kahli was protective of his
sister, she couldn’t protect Cassie from the vamps if she was
dead.

Cole turned toward his sister. Taking her
elbow, he stopped her. “Hey, sorry I snapped. I’ve tried so hard to
make sure that we survive. I’m not handling this very well. Kahli
doesn’t mesh with my ideal situation.”

Cassie arched an eyebrow at him. “Ideal
situation? Are you nuts? The ideal situation was before the ice
shelf snapped off and drown half the world. The ideal situation was
before everything was covered in ice. Nothing is ideal, Cole, not
anymore. We’re at the bottom of the food-chain, living in hell. And
honestly, if it wasn’t for the vamps, we’d be dead by now. People
can’t survive on their own out there. Not anymore.”

Cole’s voice was soft, pensive. He looked
straight at her, saying, “And yet Kahli did, from age seven, and
she was alone. Makes you think, doesn’t it?”

Cole didn’t say anything else. He couldn’t.
The vamps were too close. They heard every word he said. He led
Cassie back to her rooms and told her not to worry, that he’d look
into Kahli’s whereabouts as well as the other girls who were
missing. He gave Cassie a kiss on the head and shoved her through
the door and told her to go back to her room.

As he walked away, Cole wondered what
happened to him. Since Kahli arrived, he’d gone from just another
piece of vamp decor to socialite status, drawing attention and
turning heads. No one looked at him the same way anymore. He was
lucky to get a reprieve between feedings. The Regent would have
tried to tap him tonight if the Queen hadn’t requested him. They
noticed Cole, now. They watched him closer, and he didn’t like it.
That made everything he worked for harder, but there was no way he
was giving up now.

CHAPTER 4

Sophia sat on her throne admiring her
reflection. A large mirror with white gold gilding sat directly in
front of her dais. The warm silvery tones gleamed, reflecting an
image that was ghostlike in appearance. Sophia grinned. It was the
effects of the girl’s blood. She knew it. That shimmering likeness
was a hollow display of her beauty. The reflection was fading and
soon, with enough blood, would disappear entirely. It marked the
restoration of her former power. Everything would return to the way
it was. “Just like old times,” she said, pleased.

“Yes, sister.” Reginald rolled his eyes. He
sat slouched in his chair, next to her, head leaning sideways on
his hand. “Exactly like old times. You sat in front of the mirror
even when there was nothing to see.”

Sophia’s eyes cut to her brother. Why she
allowed him to return was a mystery. Fickle was how the Regent
described her actions, but Sophia knew why she called him back.
Reggie had a way of bringing out the worst in her, and she’d need
that soon. Very soon.

“Remind me why you’re still alive?” she said,
sighing, like she was bored.

“So you can rub my face in your returning
power.” He straightened in his chair. “Power isn’t much fun without
someone to flaunt in front of.” Bitterness filled his mouth. That
girl should have been his. Instead of watching his vapid sister
fading from that looking glass, it would have been his reflection
that was nearly gone. Reggie tried to hide his jealousy, but he
couldn’t completely mask it—which was why Sophia kept him around.
They both knew it.

“Ah, yes,” she grinned. “Flaunting is the
perfect reason to spare your insignificant life.” After gazing at
the glass for some time, she tilted her head. A dark ringlet fell
over her shoulder. She touched it gently, twisting it between her
fingers. “Reggie, dear. What did we do before?”

He glanced up at her not following her
meaning. “Pardon?” He straightened in his seat, leaning forward
slightly and feigning interest.

Sophia sighed. Why did he pretend to be a
fool? She knew he was far from it. Sophia resisted the urge to roll
her eyes. “Before, when we were powerful and had no reflection at
all...how did we dress? How did we know what we looked like? It was
so long ago.”

It was long ago, but Reginald recognized this
as another snub from his sister. She remembered. “Servants. Slaves.
Tell them to make you pretty. If they fail, kill them, and then
choose another.” He uncrossed his legs and sat forward in his
chair. “You act like it was so long ago that you can’t
remember.”

“I’m not sure I do remember everything,” she
said, still primping, while she could make out her fading image in
the mirror.

“Come now, sister. Good blood should draw
memories back, not exile them completely.” When Sophia didn’t
answer he looked over at her. She continued to fuss with the curl,
trying to drape it over her shoulder with the other cascading dark
locks.

Reggie wondered if she really couldn’t
remember, if it wasn’t an act. As he watched his sister primp and
fuss, he wondered why. Was there a reason she hadn’t obtained her
former power? Was the girl too defiant to be fed from? Something
was wrong with her, otherwise his sister would have devoured more
blood by now. Those who don’t grab power while it’s within their
grasp don’t live to see the sunrise, and yet, Sophia was sitting
like she had all the time in the world. There was only one
explanation for it in his mind—something was wrong with Kahli.

A grin spread across Reggie’s lips, slowly
stretching from one corner of his mouth to the other. He didn’t
realize it, but now that he saw, he didn’t know how he missed it.
“Tell me, how is her blood? Perhaps it’s not as pure as we thought?
I mean, look at the mirror. Your face is still there when you
should be reflectionless by now.”

Sophia was always easy to goad. She stopped
and turned toward him slowly. Reginald knew he plucked the right
strings. “Be careful, brother. You do not want to fight me
today.”

“I have no wish to fight with you, either,”
Reginald said. Sophia’s eyes bore into him. If she could make him
burst into flames, she would have. “I was merely pointing out that
your prized-possession seems to be rather lackluster,” he pressed
his hand to his chest, “which is dreadfully embarrassing with how
she was flaunted at the All Hallow’s Eve party. Every Regent saw
and heard you brag about her, the dirty wild thing.” He shivered as
he thought about it. Kahli was disgusting, dripping with filth and
savage beyond comprehension. She acted more like a beast, than a
girl.

Sophia’s gaze narrowed, her hands tightening
their grip on the dais. “She is what I thought she was. What you
told me she was—wild—pure. Do you think we should just tap her and
drink goblets of her blood? Are you a fool? Do you know how potent
pure blood is? What it does compared to the anemic spawn we’ve been
breeding?” The only reason she offered this information was to
prove she was right, that pure blood was hers and not his. That the
blood was restoring her former power and he wouldn’t have a
drop.

Reginald hadn’t realized what was wrong with
the girl. He figured that young William had issues restraining her,
or something ridiculous. But this, this was much better. “How
dreadful,” he said with pity in his voice. “To have something that
could change everything so easily and yet, not be able to take that
power. It must be awful.” He clucked his tongue and shook his head,
barely hiding the satisfied smile that kept breaking across his
lips. “I had no idea.”

“You never have any idea,” she snapped.
Motioning for her servant, Sophia said to her, “Fetch the wild girl
for a tasting. Promptly.” After the servant left, Sophia turned
toward her brother with a wicked gleam in her eye. “Never say that
I was unkind to you, Reginald. I’ll let you taste a drop and you
can see how strong a stomach is needed to drink from her. It’s not
what you think, either.” The smug expression fell from his face.
“It’s not a matter of swallowing it. It’s a matter of our weakened
bodies being able to metabolize her blood.”

Reginald was excited and apprehensive.
Leaning back, he slouched in his chair trying to hide it. “What’s
the worst that it could do?”

Sophia gave a wolfish grin, “Wait and see for
yourself.” When the servant reentered without Will, Sophia was
irritated. “Well?” Sophia snapped.

The servant didn’t look her in the eye.
Instead she bowed her head and stared at the floor. “Neither of
them is to be found. I’ve looked and asked. The last person to see
the girl was the King.”

Sophia rose slowly, utterly calm. Reginald
shrunk away from her, knowing exactly how much rage just exploded
in her system. Every inch of Sophia’s body would twitch any second.
She would kill without a second thought, without reason.

Reginald sat very still, managing to stay
just out of her line of sight. Sophia stepped toward the trembling
servant and before Reginald could blink, a severed head rolled
across the floor. No one moved. No one breathed. The Queen crossed
the room, power flowing from her in a deadly wave, killing anyone
within reach. A bloody path trailed in her wake. Before he was
remembered, Reginald slipped from the chair and made his way out of
the palace. If the King took what wasn’t his, then Reginald was not
safe. He cursed himself for not returning sooner.

Although his sister didn’t suspect it,
Reginald had nefarious reasons for being there, all of which
stemmed back to Kahli.

CHAPTER 5

Will was nervous when Kahli’s eyes slipped
over his runes. He wondered how much she knew? If she would notice?
His throat constricted as her fingers trailed over his chest and
down his side, her green eyes trailing across his bare skin. There
was so much he wanted to say, so many things to explain, but he
couldn’t. Blood runes were more binding than she realized. They
burned under his flesh, searing into his soul, commanding him in a
way that Kahli’s betrothal runes did not. The way she looked at
him, like she was caught between trust and turning on him, made
Will do it. Revealing his runes was a calculated risk, one that he
would regret later if she ever found out the truth about him. The
power of his true name was enough to sate her insecurities.
Although Kahli didn’t realize what she could do with it, or that
she had any power over him at all.

Even after his shirt was buttoned and his
coat pulled back on, Will still felt her caress on his skin. He
wanted more. He longed for things he couldn’t have. Glancing at
her, Will wondered if it mattered anymore. There were rules against
vampires and humans being together. A relationship with Kahli was
forbidden, but what did it matter now? If they were caught, their
fates would be dismal anyway, probably worse than the instant
destruction pairing with a human would have demanded. Will’s
stomach twisted as he thought about Kahli. The way his lips tingled
reminded him how much he wanted to kiss her and hold her in his
arms. Will subdued the thoughts before Kahli could feel them,
shoving them to the back of his mind.

He’d learned to hide his thoughts long ago.
Being bound by three people required it or he would have been long
dead. It was the last rune that caused all the problems. It was the
one he couldn’t deny. If Will had the chance to do it over again,
to take the oath that involved the wild girl standing in front of
him—he wondered what he would say. Will glanced at the fire and ran
his fingers through his hair. There was still blood crusted to his
scalp. He needed to melt some snow so they could wash. The wolves
and the vamps would catch Kahli’s scent faster if they didn’t.

Watching her, Will thought,
If I had to do
it all over again, I‘d do the same thing.
That final rune would
damn him. It cost him his life in more ways than he could count,
but he’d do it again.

Kahli faced the fire. A smear of dirt and
blood lined her cheek. Will looked at her when she asked about his
assassination plans. Hope floated into his chest, lodging somewhere
between his bottom two ribs.

He grinned at her, “I have all of it planned.
I was waiting for the most opportune moment,” he smirked, adding,
“and for a crazy red-head to show up and carry out my evil
plan.”

Kahli folded her arms across her chest. She
watched him as he fished out a small piece of metal from the back
of the cave. It looked like part of the crashed bike. Will held it
up and walked toward the mouth of the cave. Kahli watched him for a
moment, her eyes narrowing. He read the question on her face before
it sprang forth in her mind. Answering, he said, “We need water.
I’m afraid you have to clean that blood off or we’ll be found too
soon. If it isn’t me that brings you back to the palace, the plan
fails. I’ll be executed and you’ll be on your own.”

Kahli followed him, her feet adjusting to the
slick rock as they neared the mouth of the cave. She pulled her
coat tighter. “I understand. I’ve done this before, Will.” He
glanced over his shoulder at her as he scooped up some snow. She
explained, “Running, I mean. I killed every Tracker who came within
a mile, and maybe a few extra for good measure.” She grinned. It
made his stomach twist and Kahli flinched, surprised to feel his
reaction.

Will turned and filled the metal make-shift
bowl. “You killed every Tracker, except me.”

“Yes, except you and the deviant who took my
mother,” she pressed her lips together hard, like there was a
secret burning her tongue.

“How’d you adapt so quickly? You were so
young when she was taken.” Will was careful, wording it so she
couldn’t tell that he’d been closer than she knew for longer than
she thought. He turned and went back into the cave with Kahli in
tow. Her voice soothed him in a way that nothing else could.