I stared, mouth agape. That might explain a thing or two. “That’s why the ka-tet survived through the disaster five years ago,” I whispered. “Matthew kept asking Samuel about that.”
Kali nodded. “Your destiny is still linked with theirs, so the ka-tet held. You have more freedom than others until the time comes to fulfill your destiny. Of course, who knows what will happen now.”
Lane looked at each of us. “I need to go. Thanks for the information,” he said to Kali. She nodded in return. He turned and disappeared into the trees.
She stood and looked at me. “Now you know.”
“I guess I do. Though I’m sure there are still things you haven’t told us.”
Kali smiled tranquilly, pulled up the hood of her cloak, and we walked out of the woods toward the villa.
About halfway home, I turned to her. “Thanks for letting me stay and listen.”
Kali turned, her gray eyes darkening as she regarded me. “Don’t thank me. The only reason you stayed was because Lane didn’t mind.”
I nodded and continued down the street. “The group wanted me to find you. They didn’t want you wandering around alone.”
She laughed. “They shouldn’t worry so much.”
“I told them that. They did not understand.” She shook her head and walked slightly ahead of me. I quickened my pace to catch up. “Kali, are you angry?”
She was silent and kept walking.
“Kali –” I started again. Something hard and heavy fell across the back of my neck. I was instantly driven down to my knees.
Several pairs of footsteps thudded past me down the street. I lifted my head as someone hit me across the face. Through the haze I saw two people fall backward as a psychic wave of energy enveloped the area. It was Kali’s doing as she tried to outrun our attackers.
“Juliana, you never learn, do you?” I recognized the voice of the Hunter Stefan immediately. I moved to get to my feet but he grabbed my arm and twisted it behind me. Pain screamed through my arm and shoulder. “You’re a beautiful woman and you shouldn’t walk alone at night. There are dishonest men who would try to take advantage of you.”
I swore I had heard those words before. “Who are you?” I demanded.
Stefan leaned down and whispered in my ear. “I know why you like that human girl so much. She resembles your baby daughter. Except her eyes are the wrong color. Marie’s eyes were blue.”
I couldn’t breathe, no matter how hard I tried to force air into my lungs. “It can’t be,” I finally gasped.
Kali screamed, the sound piecing my ears and mind alike. Hours ago, she had psychically shielded herself while she had talked to Lane so we couldn’t track her easily. Now those walls were down, allowing her to broadcast her distress and location like a telepathic beacon.
Stefan twisted my arm again. “If you don’t get that child to be quiet, I’ll kill her!”
‘If you would stop hitting me, I could go calm Marie down.’ I finished the conversation in my head. Gregory. This was Gregory. There was no other explanation.
“Should I kill this one too?” he asked with a pleasantness that made me sick to my stomach.
“Don’t you dare!” I screamed as I tore free of his hold. The force of my movement sent the Hunter tumbling backward and I stood, focusing my attention on the scuffle half a block down between Kali and two other Hunters.
Kali’s telepathic power rivaled ours, but in a physical confrontation she was no match for the skilled Hunters now assaulting her. She staggered as a fist connected with her jaw and she fell to the ground. Another stifled scream escaped her.
Furiously, I reached for the ka-tet’s power inside my mind, intending to throw those Hunters as far away from her as possible. Instead, I encountered a different sort of energy, like a burning mirror of my emotions. I didn’t pause to consider what is was or that it was actually weaker than the ka-tet’s. Instinctively, I knew it was mine, and mine alone. Seizing it, I focused on the two men attacking the girl I had adopted as my own and unleashed it at them, shrieking, “Get away from her, you bastards!”
Both Hunters cried out and dropped to the ground beside Kali, cradling their heads. My vision swam and I lurched forward as searing pain swiftly radiated down my right arm. Blood from a stab wound soaked the sleeve of my dress. I had been so focused on helping Kali that I had almost forgotten about the Hunters close to me. I collapsed to my knees in confusion and exhaustion.
Stefan – or should I say Gregory – grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked my head up. “What did you do to them?”
“No idea,” I whispered. A sneer twisted his features as I weakly pushed against him. It seemed my body and mind were no longer obeying me. Was I paralyzed with terror?
I remembered my dream from the other night, Kali’s words. “Pay attention to the eyes. Every religion believes they are the windows to the soul.”
I stared into the Hunter’s eyes for a long moment. They were cruel and vulgar. Their shape might have been a bit more oval but it was him.
“How could this be?” I choked out.
He licked his lips and grinned at me. “I’ve waited years for this chance, Julia. Ever since your damn vampire friends killed me, I vowed revenge. Particularly on the one who saved your life that night. And to take you, the weak little bitch I had once called wife.”
“I’m not weak!” I hissed and tried to push him away again.
He shook me, my head snapping forward and back like a rag doll. Honestly, I was surprised he didn’t break my neck with the force. “You’re lying to yourself, Juliana. You were never able to fight me and that’s why I will win.”
My head throbbed. I was so dizzy I felt nauseated. My energy was so depleted I would have sworn I had been out in the sun for hours. A small rational part of my mind kept saying, Should have used the ka-tet’s power. The other power you drew upon to save Kali drained you.
I refocused my concentration in time to feel him press his lips to mine. The contact was savage enough that it bruised my lips. It also gave me a small surge of adrenaline. His tongue forced itself into my mouth, and I did the most logical thing I could think of: I bit down hard, sinking my fangs in. I am a vampire after all.
I tasted blood in my mouth and for the first time ever, the taste revolted me. I gagged as his roar of anger filled my ears. “I hate you,” I said vehemently.
He shoved me backward and I dropped to the ground. Instantly, I started to crawl out of his reach by clawing my fingers into the dirt, ignoring the pain. His hand clamped onto my lower right leg and pulled me back as I flailed my legs in a weak unsuccessful attempt to break his hold. His other hand landed painfully on my wounded arm as he dragged me sideways to him.
I twisted in his grip, trying again to break free. Desperation flooded me as darkness tinged my vision. NO! I cannot pass out in his grasp! A strangled cry left my lips as sudden chaos erupted around me.
I heard a flood of voices before a flicker of yellow and orange raced over the ground and my skin where Gregory held me. Heat scorched those areas, and my scream drowned out whatever noise he made as he let go.
I jerked the right side of my body back and the flame blazed higher, effectively creating a wall between me and my attackers. It should have been a welcome sight, but I failed to comprehend its meaning.
Instead all I understood was the acrid smoke and the painful heat. I struggled to gather enough energy to cry out for help. My body was finally giving out. < Help me! Please!> My vision went black.
Chapter 12
I awoke to the unfamiliar golden hues of sunlight. That’s not right. Not right at all, I thought.
Sitting up, I surveyed my surroundings. The city of Rome was gone. Instead, I found myself sitting on lush green grass. A path of crushed stone wove its way through the lawn to trees in the distance. Rose bushes in full bloom lined it with a stunning display of red, white, even a speckling of pink and yellow. Unfiltered sun illuminated th
e rich hues of the flowers that I hadn’t been able to appreciate for almost a century.
I thought I would be happy to see such glorious flowers again, but all I seemed to feel was fear and anger. That fiend hadn’t killed me when I was human, but managed to do so after I had become a vampire. “I’m dead. That foul, boil-brained lout murdered me!”
Soft laughter reached my ears from behind me. I scrambled to my feet and looked in the direction of the sound. The young woman who had visited before stood on the path about twenty feet from me. Her long white gown contrasted sharply with her black hair. She held a single red rose in her left hand as she gazed at me.
“Why do you laugh?”
A smile lit her face. “Forgive me. Your description of the brute amused me.”
“He earned every word and then some,” I growled.
“I will not dispute that,” she replied as sadness touched her features. “However, he did not murder you.”
I frowned at her. “But I’m dead. How else would I be standing in sunlight, unaffected? Did one of the other Hunters kill me instead?”
She shook her head. “You are not dead, but I understand why you came to that conclusion.”
I stared at her. She still held the rose and it reminded me of the time I had spent with Marie in our garden. My daughter had loved roses. What color would have been her favorite? I would never know. Unbidden, tears filled my eyes and dripped down my cheeks.
Alarm filled her beautiful aquamarine eyes. “Julia, what is wrong? I thought you would be happy to hear that,” she said.
I stepped toward her, but dropped to my knees in front of one of the white rose bushes. In between sobs, I choked out, “You . . . love roses? My daughter always seemed to. For some reason, you remind me of her, although she was only an infant when he killed her.” I trembled as I looked around me again. “I don’t understand what is going on. Where am I? How is the sun not hurting me?”
Moments later, she knelt in front of me, laying the rose down beside us. She embraced me, whispering, “I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you or bring you pain.” I shuddered and she hugged me tighter. “I had intended the opposite when I brought you here. I didn’t anticipate your reaction, being a vampire, to seeing the sun.”
My sobs quieted. Despite my fear and confusion, comfort seemed to emanate from her. I glanced up into her worried eyes. The girl resembled Kali slightly; perhaps that was why she seemed familiar.
“Wait. You brought me here? Where’s here?”
“This is the in-between.”
“In between what?”
She pulled back somewhat and her brows knitted together as if unsure how to answer. “Here is the place that separates life and death, sanity and madness, that is between darkness and light. Your soul has been traumatized and needs rest. This is the best place for that.”
“What would have happened if you hadn’t brought me here?” I asked.
“The darkness surely would have claimed you as it almost did five years ago.”
I puzzled over her words for a moment. “Darkness . . . you mean evil? Not madness?”
“Yes.”
I pulled away this time and stood. Looking down upon her, I said, “Kali stated I already had a destiny. I am not an undesignated soul. So why are you making it sound as if I can be claimed by good or evil?”
Picking up the rose, she also stood. Her gaze darted from side to side as if she were afraid someone was listening. She leaned close and whispered, “Because now you can be. Destiny has been tampered with.”
“Well, Kali also said a person with no ka can change the destinies of those around them. I suppose she or Lane could have inadvertently changed my . . .”
“The girl is trying to correct what was changed,” she interrupted.
I gasped in surprise. “If it wasn’t her, then who?”
“I’ve said too much.” She turned and started walking away.
“Whoa. Hold on!” I said and hurried after her. “Who are you?”
“I cannot say,” she replied.
“Why are you helping me?”
The girl turned and held my gaze. “Because I know your pain from the opposite side. I am a child whose mother was torn away from her. Our pain is one that no mother or child should feel. I must go, Julia.”
Tears threatened to fall again as she resumed walking. “Wait. You are going to abandon me here?”
“You have had enough time to rest. You need only to will yourself awake now.”
Panic slithered through me at her last words. “Why would I want to wake up? He had me. He was torturing me, burning me . . .”
The woman in white turned to me again. “Tell me, Julia. How does a human create fire from nothing?”
Her question made me replay the last few moments of consciousness again. Yellow and orange flames had moved in a narrow, straight line and had burned both of us before blazing higher. Gregory had been forced to let go, yet it hadn’t spread outward like a typical fire. The flames had acted as a barrier, not a weapon.
“Matthew,” I whispered as the realization finally hit.
A fierce smile appeared on her lips. “Yes. You remembered.”
Seconds later, she was gone. Everything disintegrated back into darkness.
***
Regaining awareness of my body and the world beyond it wasn’t a pleasant thing. It seemed as if everything hurt, from my head to my toes. The shock of the sensations almost made me wish I was back with the woman in white. The achiness seemed to intensify on the right side of my body until it was searing, eclipsing the original pain I was aware of.
In my head I screamed, but all that escaped my dry lips was a whimper. The noise was enough to alert someone. “Julia? It’s all right. You’re safe,” a male voice said.
Soothing coolness wrapped around the parts that seemed to be the most painful. I struggled to open my eyes, feeling as if they had been sealed shut by dried mud. The person dabbed my eyes with a moist cloth as well. With effort, I managed to crack them open. Blurry shapes appeared, but it seemed my eyes were as broken as the rest of my body. I cried out in pain and frustration and closed them again.
“I know it hurts,” the voice said again. “Here, try drinking again.”
I felt my head lifted and a glass touched my lips. The memory of the foul taste of Gregory’s blood flooded my senses and I gagged almost instantly.
“She has this reaction every time. I honestly don’t know what she thinks she’s drinking.”
“She’s more aware now. Let me try talking to her before she fades away again,” another male voice replied.
“We kept you out of the room so she didn’t accidentally hurt you.”
“If she doesn’t drink, she won’t heal, and she’ll die. I’m an adult now, Samuel. I know the risks.”
For a second, the world faded on me. Feather light pressure on my left fingers brought me back. “Julia, it is Stephen. I want to help you. The blood is mine. It’s safe to drink.”
My mind rebelled against his words at first. We never fed off Kali or Stephen, no matter how hungry or desperate we have been because they had been children. However, as Stephen had just pointed out to Samuel, he was not a child anymore. It was his choice to help me or not.
Stephen. Samuel. I relished the sound of their names. It meant the girl was right and I was safe, at least temporarily. Was it Matthew’s power I had remembered? Or had there been no fire? I must be very weak. My mind was wandering around in stupid, useless circles.
Those stupid circles of thought were interrupted by rustling and the glass at my lips again. I forced myself to cling to Stephen’s words, that the blood was his, and did not gag as the liquid touched my tongue. The taste was refreshingly coppery, with hints of sweetness I usually found only from the natives of Italy. God, it tasted exquisite!
Two relieved gasps filled the room. Stephen spoke again. “Maybe she thought it was poison, because the Hunter tried to poison her? Or perhaps, she tasted a Hunter�
�s blood and it was disgusting? Is Hunters’ blood unpleasant to vampires?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve never tried to feed off one. I have always known Hunters to be normal humans who have learned how to fight and kill vampires. Their blood shouldn’t taste any different.”
“Well, she thought the blood you were trying to feed her was something vile.”
“Indeed. Thank you for your help, Stephen. Now go rest.”
I drifted in and out as the pain raged through me and hoped the blood I had just taken would heal me some. I wondered how many times they had tried to feed me and I had refused it, even though I was not conscious of doing so.
It could have been minutes or hours later when I felt gentle but firm pressure against my left hand once again. “Julia, if you can hear me, try to open your eyes again.”
Hearing the voice, I struggled to obey. My eyelids felt heavy, but not sealed, so I succeeded after a couple attempts. Once again, all I saw were indistinct shapes. I slowly blinked a few times, hoping to bring things into sharper focus. Most things remained fuzzy, but the object nearest to me finally came into focus.
“Samuel!” I whispered in relief. Deep worry lines creased his eyes and mouth, but a small smile appeared as well. I had dozens of questions, but experience had taught me how quickly I could tire myself out, and I wisely waited for Samuel to speak instead.
He stared at me a moment longer, his brow furrowing as if he were confused. “It’s been three nights since you were attacked. Until earlier tonight, you wouldn’t drink any blood we offered. You choked on it or even spit it out. It was quite disconcerting.”
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