SV02-06. Slave to a Vampire

by Katrina Kahler

  Before she could ask him what they were speaking of, he pulled her against his hard body and kissed her fiercely. If she still breathed, she would have been gasping for air. “Bastian,” she whispered, wanting to mold herself to him and drag him back into the privacy of the cave.

  “We have a plan,” he told her, gently caressing her lips with his thumb. “But please, hold onto those other ideas. We may have a chance later.” He nipped at her lip and Catherine growled with want.

  “You heard that?”

  “Felt it,” he said quietly with a smirk.

  She trembled with anticipation of what that would mean for them both, but as he said, now was not the time. She pushed away the images of her biting his neck once more as he took her to him, and focused instead on the serious matter at hand. “Are we going after the Master?” She considered telling him of her strange dream, but he hesitated before she could, and looked away. It did not take a telepath to tell her she would not be happy with their plans. “Bastian?”

  “We only know where Victoria was meant to meet him,” Haddie told Catherine as she and Tula moved closer. “He wanted Victoria to bring Bastian back to him.”

  Catherine nodded. “Then we head for the main land. That was where she was headed.”

  “Yes, it was,” Tula said firmly, but kept his eyes on Bastian.

  “What were you speaking of before I woke?” she demanded, turning to Bastian. His hands clenched at his sides, but he didn’t speak. Catherine was not sure what made her do it, but she focused on his mind and this time, she heard his thoughts as if he was speaking plainly to her.

  Get her to the plantation and then we can go after the Master, without her. Catherine must be safe...she must be kept away from him….

  “No! I will not go back to the plantation!” she snapped. “You will not force me from your side, Bastian.”

  “And I will not see you hurt, not again” he growled. “Catherine, you died once already, and then this man was able to enter your mind and trap you within it! I need to find him and destroy him.

  “Fine, then I’m coming with you,” she said, hoping her fear was covered by her confidence that she could really do this even though doubts raced wildly through her. “You are not leaving me behind.”

  Bastian took hold of her shoulders and forced her to face him. “Catherine, please. This is for your safety. You have never met this man before.”

  “He’s the man who turned you,” she said quietly. “The man who hunts the one I love. That is all I need to know. We are stronger together, you know this.” She rested her hands on his and stared deep into his eyes, watching as they filled with passion and anger at her unwillingness to listen to him. “What happened to never doubting me again? What happened to trusting me?”

  He hung his head. “I do trust you, Catherine, but what do you want me to do? Have you come with me and watch you be taken by another? Watch you get killed?”

  “I won’t let either happen!”

  “You don’t know that,” he raged and stormed away from her. “You don’t know what will happen! If anything happens to you, I will not be able to live with myself.”

  “But if something happens to you, you think I will?” she growled. “I cannot live without you, and I won’t simply walk away knowing what you’re up against.”

  Bastian paced across the shoreline, muttering curses beneath his breath. Catherine turned to Tula and Haddie for support, and it was the latter who finally spoke up. “She is right, Bastian. You cannot simply send her away.”

  “Yes I damn well can,” he argued without ceasing his furious movement.

  Haddie frowned. “Do you wish to know why I hate the Master? Why I have fallen in with his other minions, why I wanted to come and seek you out?”

  Bastian paused, his red gaze piercing as he stared at the old vampire. “Why? What could he have possibly done to you? You’re older than him by centuries. I can feel it.”

  “Sadly I’m not. It’s how he tricks those of his kind into trusting him. We all believe him to be young, but in truth, he is far older than me,” she said quietly, “and the one I loved was younger still. I saved his life, much as you saved Catherine’s. We were happy together, roaming the wilds, seeking out all there was from one end of the earth to the other. Until we met the Master. He tracked us you see, because of what I can do.”

  Catherine frowned. “What can you do?”

  “I am like you, Catherine, though I will admit even one as old as I does not compare to the power within you,” she said. “And I can only read other’s minds. I cannot project my thoughts into theirs. Still, the Master wanted me. He wanted me to stay with him. I turned the Master down and we went on our way.”

  “But he did not leave you be,” Catherine said, watching the pain and grief appear on Haddie’s face. “What did he do?”

  “He tracked us and sent his minions to try and kidnap me for his collection, but I was too strong. He has turned many vampires, but they are young, weak. I survived the attack and we would have escaped, if the man himself had not shown up and torn my lover’s head from his body,” she snarled, shaking with pent up rage.

  Catherine’s body stilled. If she lost Bastian that way, watched him die, what would happen to her? She knew the darkness she buried within herself would burst free and she knew for certain she would no longer hold onto humanity as Haddie had managed to. She would lose it completely and unleash her wraith on the world.

  “Yet you were with him before you came to us,” Tula said. “Why?”

  “At first, I wanted to utterly destroy him,” she admitted, “but rumors abounded of what this Master was up to. He killed many like my love in order to get what he wanted, but why? Why bring us all together? So I tracked him down and said I wanted to become a part of his army.”

  “To bring him down from the inside,” Tula said and nodded. “And, what have you learned?”

  Haddie grimaced. “He has quite a number at his call already, but I fear many of them are under his control. His intentions are still unknown to me.”

  “Which is why Catherine is not coming with us,” Bastian snapped.

  Catherine glared as she stomped through the sand to stand before him. “Yes I am you bloody stubborn arrogant ass!”

  His lips twitched, but he did not smile. “Catherine, please. Trust me.”

  “No! You should trust me! Damn it, Bastian, you will not do this to me!”

  “I’m not giving you a choice,” he said. “You are to go back to the plantation with Tula. Haddie and I will go ahead and Tula will meet up with us again once you are safe.”

  They stared each other down, fury flooding her veins, but it was Haddie who said quietly, “She will never be safe again, Bastian, not now that he knows about her.”

  “Then you should take me with you,” Catherine insisted. “Please, Bastian. I beg of you, do not send me away!”

  “It is decided—” Her slap cut off the rest of his words and Catherine turned on her heel and dashed across the shoreline, her hand stinging from hitting him so hard. He called after her, but she did not listen.

  Water splashed up her legs, soaking her dress, but Catherine ran blindly on. Images of his head being torn from his body spurred her on even faster until the shore met rocks and cliffs and she turned towards the island interior. As trees blurred by, she feared for a moment she had fallen right back into that horrid dream and any second now the air would turn icy and the Master would appear beside her. But it didn’t happen and the muggy air pressed around her body, making her clothes stick uncomfortably to her skin. Her skirts tangled between her legs and she fell, tumbling down a small slope to land hard on her back.

  She glared up at the stars visible between the branches, cursing the man she loved. Why was he was so content with leaving her…to go and get himself killed! She hated him for it, hated what he had done to her since they first met.

  “Catherine,” Bastian whispered and burst through the trees. “What were you thinkin
g? Do you realize what could have happened? What if he already sent more vampires for me? You could’ve run right into them,” he yelled, dragging her to her feet.

  “No! Let me go,” she snarled. “I won’t go back! I won’t leave you to die!”

  He frowned and only held her hand tighter. “I’m not going to die.”

  “You don’t know that,” she whispered fiercely. “I won’t lose you, I can’t! The darkness you fought for so long, I feel it growing inside me.” Admitting it suddenly made her whole body quake with fear. “If anything happens to you, I’ll lose what little control I have.”

  Bastian gripped her shoulders hard and set her back from him. “You’re stronger than I am, Catherine, always have been. You will fight it and you will win.”

  “Not if you’re gone,” she hissed. “Not if you’re taken from me.”

  “I swear I will return to you, but you must go back to the plantation, where it’s safe,” he insisted again and tried to drag her back through the trees. She fought against his grip, desperate to be free of him. Maybe she would go after the Master herself and keep him far away from Bastian.

  “Don’t you dare,” he snarled so loudly it hurt her ears, whipping back around to glare at her.

  “Dare what?” she snapped. “I said nothing!”

  “I heard you, Catherine, do you think I would let you go after him alone—”

  “Like you’re doing?”

  “Damn it, woman! I will not lose you! Do you have any idea what I went through watching you die? Watching your life drain from your body?” he yelled and Catherine stilled. He released her, running a hand over his face, shaking his head. “I can’t…I can’t watch that again.”

  “But you brought me back,” she said quietly, a little of her anger slipping away. “I came back.”

  “You almost didn’t,” he whispered. “For a few minutes there, I thought I’d lost you for good and it shattered what was left of my heart to think I was too late to save you.”

  Catherine went to him and rested her hand against his cheek. “But you weren’t,” she said, her brow furrowed. “Bastian, you saved me.”

  He leaned into her hand, eyes closed. “I did and I will not test fate a second time.”

  “I will never leave you,” she promised, but instead of saying the rest, let him feel what was deep inside her heart, what came to life the moment she fell into his arms for the first time. Bastian groaned and his lips slanted over hers.

  Catherine dragged him closer, wrapping her arms around him as he lifted her up and backed her against the nearest tree. This kiss was different, full of a hunger for each other. Bastian lifted her skirts, shoving them aside as his fangs glided across her neck and down to her shoulder. Catherine bared hers, nails digging grooves into his shoulders as she felt him fumble between them.

  The moment he bit down hard on her neck, he filled her and she gasped, head falling back as Bastian overwhelmed her senses. He sucked hard on her neck before removing his fangs and licking her earlobe, sending ripples of pleasure down the length of her back.

  “I will not lose you again,” he growled. “Do you hear me, Catherine? You are mine and I will never let another lay their hands on you. Not again.”

  Unable to find words amidst the chaos of their intense desire to be as one, Catherine sent him her thoughts, her love, everything she had until he growled and soon she cried out his name, holding onto him for dear life as every muscle in her body tensed and then finally went slack.

  Bastian held onto her afterwards, reluctance on his face and in his arms as he set her back on her feet. The resolve in his glowing gaze gave Catherine hope that he had finally relented, and she straightened her skirts.

  “We should rejoin the others,” she said, voice shaky. “Then we can head for the mainland.”

  His jaw clenched, but Catherine was already turning to make her way back to the beach. She went slowly, knees unsteady from their passionate embrace. She waited for him to take her hand, but she didn’t hear him moving with her at all.

  “I’m sorry Catherine,” he whispered.

  She gritted her teeth, ready to turn and tell him there was no need, when something heavy connected with the back of the head. She became dizzy and the ground rushed up to meet her as everything went dark.

  ***

  Catherine groaned. Her head ached terribly when she pushed herself up from the ground and glanced around. Had they been attacked? Where was Bastian? She tried to call out, but her head throbbed and she winced instead, cursing whoever had hit her.

  “Good, you’re awake,” Tula said from his spot nearby and Catherine struggled to focus her eyes enough to see him. “The sun will rise in a few hours, but we can make it quite a ways if you’re able to run.”

  “Run? What are you talking about?” she muttered and tried to stand. “Where’s Bastian?”

  Once she found her feet, she glared around, but Bastian was not there and neither was Haddie. “Tula, where is he?”

  “Come, we do not have time to waste.”

  “Tula, where is he?” she snapped and pushed away from him. There was a lump on the back of her head, but even as she felt it, the wound healed and soon was gone.

  “He is not here,” he told her simply. “Told me he had no other choice.”

  “No other choice….” She tried to think back to what had happened. They’d made love and were going back to join the others when he said…he said he was sorry. “He knocked me out?”

  Tula nodded. “He and Haddie are long gone by now, Catherine. We need to go back to the plantation.”

  But she didn’t move. He had knocked her unconscious rather than allow her to go with him. Catherine fumed, hoping no matter how far away he was, he could feel and hear her seething thoughts.

  “Catherine, please,” Tula said. “He has ordered me to take you back and I will do it whatever it takes.”

  “Fine,” she muttered darkly. “Fine, but when we reach the plantation, we regroup and then we follow them with more vampires. I am not letting him face down that monster alone.”

  “You are ordered to remain at the plantation. I will return for him alone.”

  “Like hell you will!” she snapped. “We will take all we can and go after them, and if you try to tell me no again, I will make the next few hours’ journey extremely intolerable for you.”

  Tula’s face was blank and all he did in response was to motion her towards the beach. Catherine did not want to go, but if the sun was rising soon they had no way of knowing where they could seek out shelter, so turning back was their only option.

  She was furious with Bastian for leaving her behind.

  If you die before I reach you, I will never forgive you, she thought and sent it out into the world, hoping it reached him. Please, be careful, love. They then broke into a sprint, Tula leading the way, and headed back towards the plantation where it had all started.

  Chapter 4

  Tula and Catherine reached the plantation just as the sun was warming the horizon, and hurried to duck inside the main house for shelter from its rays. The trip back was uneventful and quiet, Catherine plotting how she could get back out to the island and track down Bastian before he and Haddie made it too far without her. Tula eyed her every so often, lips pursed as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. His task was to stop her.

  The place was quiet compared to when she’d been taken away and Catherine stopped in the foyer, glancing around the mess inside the house. Tula went to find the other vampires. Catherine did not know what to do.

  She turned for the stairs and slowly made her way up. The last time she’d been here, she was still human, with a heart beating within her chest. It had been the night of her wedding to Bastian, a wedding she feared now would never happen. Pain clutched her chest when she reached the top floor and glided down the hall towards his room. Their room. The door was broken and splintered as were the windows. The room was a mess with blood staining the floorboards, and when she spotted h
er wedding dress draped almost perfectly over a nearby chair, a single tear slipped from her eye.

  “Bastian,” she whispered and sank to the floor.

  She had lost everything when she was taken from her home and here, of all places, she found the one man she was meant to be with it. She knew without a doubt that Bastian was hers, the love of her life. And just when she thought she’d found happiness again, it was ripped away from her.

  “Catherine? Catherine!”

  “Liam!” She stood and turned in a blur, but before she could embrace him, he lunged backwards, stumbling out the door. Eyes wide in panic, he glared at her and threw out his arm to stop Mary from entering the room. “Liam? It’s me,” she said quietly, forcing her arms to her sides.

  “You’re…you’re like them,” he muttered. “He turned you!”

  Catherine nodded. “He had no choice, Liam, I died,” she said. “Please, I won’t hurt you, I swear it. I’m your sister for God’s sake!”

  Brow furrowed, he took a slow step towards her and then another. “You look so different,” he whispered angrily. “I should hate him for this, for doing all of this to us!”

  “He’s not the one who stole us from Ireland, Liam,” she said sternly. “But he is the man I love and the one who saved my life, so hate him if you must, but know that without him turning me, I would be nothing but a corpse and instead of embracing me, you would be burying me.”

  She waited to see what he would do next and his shoulders sagged. “Catherine, I’m sorry,” he whispered and rushed to her side. She was careful when she held him not to squeeze too hard. Seeing him alive and unharmed brought tears to her eyes.