Blood Rights (PULSE Vampire Series #7) (PULSE Series)

by Kailin Gow

  “But…”

  Octavius broke in. “Would my blood be more pleasing to you, Kalina? Justin – you rejoin the fight.”

  Kalina nodded, allowing Octavius to pull her to him, cradling her in his arms. He bit into his own wrist and pressed it to her lips, allowing her to drink down gulpfuls of his sweet, intoxicating blood, feeling his life force enter her, feeling her desire for him grow anew as she tasted him – tasted his love for her, his power, his yearning. She had never felt so close to him…their blood bond once again pulling them closer together. Into her flowed Octavius’ warrior strength, his power, his desire to stop Nereti, to put her to sleep for good…

  “Go help Jaegar,” Kalina forced herself away. “I’ll be fine.”

  Immediately Octavius was by Jaegar’s side, the two of them fighting back to back like brothers. Kalina felt stronger now, and as she staked a few more vampires she felt Octavius’ vitality course through her.

  “You’re lucky the Queen wants you for herself,” cried Molotov, taunting her. “Otherwise I’d love to drain your pretty little neck dry once and for all.”

  “We’ll see about that,” shouted Kalina, roundhouse kicking him square in the chest. “I still owe you a stake in the chest for turning my brother – I’ll never let you do that again.” She launched a ruby stake square at his heart. But he dodged and the stake lodged in his shoulder. With a groan of pain, Molotov easily pulled it out.

  “Missed me!” he laughed. “You’re the most stubborn human I know. An admirable trait, perhaps, in smaller quantities – but overall I must confess you’re a bigger nuisance than you’re worth. The faster Nereti drains you the better. For me and for all vampires.”

  “Not all,” replied Kalina, dodging his attacks. “There are plenty of good vampires in the world – like Octavius, Samson, the Consortium. Vampires who won’t let you get away with acting like a savage beast.”

  “The Consortium!” Molotov grinned. “You mean – the organization I had Mal destroy single-handedly in one night?” he laughed. “Some Consortium!’

  “How dare you!” Octavius roared. “Those men and women were twice the vampire you ever were.” He brandished a stake. “Justice!” he cried. “Justice for the Consortium!”

  Kalina had never seen Octavius look more like a warrior. Righteous fury coursing through his veins, Octavius attacked Molotov with the full force of his graceful, powerful body, dodging and feinting Molotov’s attacks even as he went on the offensive, throwing Molotov against the walls of the throne room. Kalina grimaced as she heard the cracking of bone as Molotov’s body pounded the walls and floor again and again. Molotov groaned with pain as Octavius kicked him against the wall, overpowering him at last.

  Molotov gave a soft cry of pain, but it was too late.

  “I’ve got you now!” cried Octavius, throwing Molotov on the ground before him, a ruby-tipped stake against his heart. “Now you must make your choice, Molotov. I will offer you one last chance to recant your words, change your ways – you are a strong leader. Choose my side, and not the side of evil – and I shall let you live. Swear allegiance to me, in a sacred vampire oath, and you shall not face an eternity of ash.”

  Kalina’s mouth dropped open. Even now, Octavius observed the ancient rules of vampire chivalry – offering a defeated foe a chance to stay alive if he swore an oath of loyalty. What other vampire could say the same?

  “Never!” spat Molotov. “I’d rather die!”

  “Think carefully, Molotov! You are beaten. If you so much as move, you will be destroyed utterly.”

  “I have made my choice, pig!”

  And before Octavius could move, Molotov had raised himself onto Octavius’ stake, transforming into a cloud of dust. Kalina couldn’t believe her eyes. Molotov – destroyer of armies, he who had sired thousands of innocent vampires, the pure embodiment of evil – was gone, just like that.

  A loud, inhuman cry filled the air. “No!” Nereti wailed. “My general!” Her face was red and terrible. She leaped down from the rafters, and the very building itself seemed to shake with her strength. She was awe-inspiring, terrifying –

  “My army!” she cried. “Show yourselves.”

  All at once, the sky seemed to go dark, as if an eclipse had blotted out the sun.

  “Oh, no…” Octavius had gone pale.

  “What is it?” Kalina looked around. “What’s going on?”

  And then she saw it on the horizon – what looked at first like a sandstorm – a cloud of darkness spreading across the desert.

  And then it hit her. Those were vampires.

  Chapter 20

  Kalina gasped. The very walls of the palace seemed to burst open as a horde of vampires – protected by the eclipse – swarmed upon the palace like locusts – their eyes dark and menacing, their faces contorted with rage. Kalina looked around. Even with their superior fighting skills, they were easily outnumbered – a hundred to one at the best odds. Kalina’s stomach plummeted as her heart began beating faster. This is it, she told herself, biting her lip. This is how it ends. For the first time, Kalina was truly terrified.

  Max, however, didn’t betray a hint of what she must be feeling. Her eyes strong and her gaze defiant, she was utterly in her element as she clutched an enormous staff, whittled down to stakes at each end, encrusted with rubies, staking vampires left and right, Justin working to distract the vampires with a slender wooden sword he used to stake them by surprise. The younger, newer vampires were being pulverized instantly, Kalina noted – Nereti had superior numbers, but her vampires weren’t vastly better-trained than they were. Octavius and Samson were fighting other, older vampires – a few Kalina recognized from previous raids – perhaps none as old or strong as Molotov, but powerful and frightening ones nonetheless. Octavius had eschewed weapons, preferring the brute force of hand to hand combat, while Samson sported a sword in each hand. A real Gladiator… Kalina thought, impressed, as Samson slashed through a swath of vampires with a single movement. Together, he and Octavius looked beautiful, brave – noble even in the face of certain death. Jaegar, recovered now thanks to Octavius’ blood, bounded over to join them, a look of deep concentration on his face. Kalina felt her heart flutter as she watched them, in awe of their warrior skills, of their fervent concentration.

  Quick, Kalina heard Jaegar’s voice in her head. We can fight them off without you – but we need you to get the Carriers to safety.

  Kalina scanned the room for any sign of the Carriers. They were huddled in a corner, the glamour apparently having worn off – their eyes were filled with terror as they cowered, the older girls shielding the youngest from the violence. There were about seven girls left – Kalina’s gorge rose. Only seven. Different ages, different nationalities, different eyes - but the same unmistakable beauty and strength that came with Life’s Blood.

  “Don’t be scared,” Kalina said, approaching them as Justin and Samson created a blockade, defending her from the vampires. She knew she could only carry two Carriers with her at a time – any more and she’d fall to earth. “Which of you is the youngest?”

  One girl, with a pale, thin face, pointed to two girls who were hidden in the corner at the center of the group of Carriers – neither could have been more than twelve. “They’re the babies,” she whispered, and the other Carriers nodded.

  “I can take two at a time,” Kalina said. “But I’ll be back for the rest of you, I promise.” She handed a ruby-tipped stake to the thin-faced girl – evidently one of the oldest. “You can use this to defend yourself.”

  “I…don’t know how,” admitted the girl.

  “Your blood is special,” Kalina said. “It will tell you what to do – even if you don’t think you know how. It will show you. Have faith – and have strength. You’re a Carrier, like me. Your body won’t let you go without a fight. Protect the others. I promise I’ll be back for you.” She loaded the two smaller girls onto her back – one hanging onto the other, and took off running towards the door, for
cing her body upwards. Her muscles had been warmed up by the flight to Alexandria – this time it barely took ten minutes to get there. The Carriers were silent, terrified, clutching at her for dear life.

  She burst into the bedroom through the balcony. Olivia screamed with shock as Kalina stumbled forth, covered in blood.

  “What’s going on?” she looked up in confusion.

  “Listen to me, Olivia – you need to take care of these girls. Whatever they need – food, medical care – just keep them safe, okay? Samson would want you too. It’s Consortium business – trust me, just do as I say. Stake any vampires that get near them.” Kalina tossed her one of her spare stakes. “More girls are coming – prepare for them, too. No matter what – I swear, Olivia, if one of these girls so much as gets a scratch, a stake’s going into you next. Human or vampire – you’ll pay, got it?”

  “Got it,” said Olivia in a small voice.

  “Stay here.” Kalina embraced the Carriers and took off flying to the City of the Dead. The next two carriers were heavier and harder to carry, and the next two more difficult still, so that Kalina’s whole body screamed in agony when she at last left them in Alexandria, but she had no time to stop or rest. She had to keep going – there was one carrier left.

  Kalina spotted her in the corner, and her heart swelled with pride. She was using her stake – fighting with moves an expert would have trouble with – her gaze fierce just like Kalina’s. Kalina couldn’t help but smile as she rushed to her side, helping her stake another vampire in a heartbeat.

  “Wow,” the thin-faced girl looked up at her, her American accent strong. “You’re amazing…” Admiration seemed to shine from her eyes. “So that’s how you use it.”

  Kalina nodded. “One quick thrust in the heart. That’s how you kill them.” Kalina looked down at the girl, who barely looked fourteen – hazel, earnest eyes, brown hair tied loosely into a ponytail, innocent, child-like sweetness on her face. This girl was too young to kill anybody, she thought grimly. But in desperate times… “What’s your name?”

  “Sidney,” the girl said.

  “Okay, Sidney – you’ve been very brave. Hold onto me now – hold on tight or you’ll fall thousands of feet.” And then she was off once more, Sidney clinging to her back. But Sidney seemed stronger than the other Carriers – lighter, somehow, as if she was using her own energy to keep afloat.

  “How are you doing this?” Sidney said. “Are you a vampire?”

  “No,” said Kalina. “Don’t worry. I’m no vampire. I’m a Carrier like you. But I’m friends with some good vampires – ones that don’t hurt humans – and they taught me everything I know. Well, almost everything. Some things I found out about by accident, or by trial and error – because I had to protect myself. A skill you need, too, with blood like yours.”

  “I didn’t even know my blood was special,” said Sidney. “I’d always felt…different, but I never knew why. And then one day I was walking home alone after school like I always do, and these…men started chasing after me. I tried to run, but they caught me. They were fast – so fast, faster than anyone I’d ever seen. And they caught me, took me away, put me in with all these other girls…we couldn’t talk to each other at first. We didn’t speak each other’s languages, and we were all so scared. But we tried to stick together, to protect the little ones…”

  “You were brave,” said Kalina. “I know vampires are scary at first – but most of the time they get their power because people are too afraid to fight back. If you learn to overcome your fear, you’ll learn – fear can paralyze you, but action can save you. You have to not be afraid – instead, you have to fight back.”

  They arrived back at Samson’s, and to Kalina’s relief she saw that the other girls had been fed, washed, and changed. They were all sitting on the big double bed with Olivia, wearing Olivia’s silk dressing gowns.

  “I don’t really know how to do this whole Mommy thing,” Olivia said. “Most of them don’t speak English. I’ve been feeding them some of my chocolate…”

  “Samson’s going to be proud of you, Olivia,” said Kalina. “This is Sidney – she even fought off a few vamps of her own today. She’s American too, from…”

  “Florida,” Sidney said quickly.

  “Now you’re in Alexandria, Egypt,” said Kalina. “Listen, you guys stay safe here – I need to go back and continue fighting.” She picked up a few more weapons from Samson’s arsenal, including a bottle of holy water and an AK-47 re-outfitted to contain stakes, and put them in her pack. Flying back to the site of the battle, she landed swiftly on the roof, an idea coming to mind. Hiding in the shadow of an enormous statue, she set up a sniper’s station – her rifle mounted next to a container of crushed rubies. Operating stealthily, Kalina found, she could dip the stakes in ruby powder before loading them into the rifle, aiming and firing into the melee to bring down vampires. As for the holy water, she loaded it into a series of balloons, catapulting them into the throng below, hoping and praying she wouldn’t hit Jaegar or Octavius or Justin with them. From her vantage point she was all but invisible – in the chaos nobody would expect a rooftop attack. She was soon able to take down twenty or thirty vampires that way – shooting again and again until all her stakes and water were used up.

  It was time to rejoin the group. Kalina leaped down from the roof, noting with relief that Octavius and the others were still alive, fighting Nereti – who remained undaunted in her strength. Kalina watched in awe as Nereti kicked Samson against the wall of the throne room, the force of the blow causing the whole wall to split apart. Kalina, praying for good aim, aimed one of her last stakes from the gun straight into Nereti’s heart, and fired.

  It hit its mark, and for a moment, Kalina held her breath. But Nereti was too strong. Her body expelled the stakes, causing it to shoot out from her heart – landing square into the heart of a few of her vampire soldiers, who turned into dust instantly. Undaunted, Kalina tried again – but this time Nereti yanked the stake out herself, throwing it at Octavius, who just narrowly missed it whizzing by his head.

  “Back to quench my thirst anew, girl?” Nereti laughed. Immediately she pushed the others aside – as easily as if they had been made of paper – and grabbed hold of Kalina.

  “No!” Kalina cried, as the others rushed at Nereti, trying to attack her – but this time their efforts were in vain. Nereti was almost at full strength, now – and she was strong enough to be able to ignore the attacks of all the other vampires combined. She pulled on Kalina’s hair, enjoying Kalina’s fruitless struggling. “Now then – my plan is almost complete to regain my full vampire strength. I will drink from you, girl. Don’t be afraid – it is an honor, you know, to resurrect me. You will go down in vampire history as the one who provided the final blood that will bring me to the height of my powers!”

  “No!” Octavius was shouting, but there was nothing he could do. Stakes had no power over Nereti anymore, and she shoved him back halfway across the room before sinking her fangs deep into Kalina.

  This is the end…Kalina thought as she felt the blood drain from her, her hands seeking the stake she knew she had to use to end her own life. But the gun was empty, its last stake used to try to kill Nereti.

  “I’m sorry, Kalina…” Max was running up to her, her eyes filled with pain. Was Max here to save her? What was she doing? Didn’t she know it was impossible…?

  “I’m so sorry.”

  And then Kalina felt a sharp pain in her heart. Her eyes widened as she looked down to see a dagger sticking straight out of her heart.

  Her own mother had killed her.

  “I’m so sorry, my love – it’s the only way…” Max was whispering in horror…

  Everything was going blurry. Kalina heard Nereti scream in frustration. “No! No – I cannot drink dead blood….you can’t have her.” She saw Max’s eyes, filled with sadness…

  In fury, Nereti threw Kalina across the floor, and Kalina felt the bones in her body break – a
single death-agony. Immediately Jaegar and Justin took hold of her, pulling her away from Nereti’s grasp.

  She caught sight of the Chinese box in Max’s arms – the box that held so many secrets…saw Max toss it to Octavius to open it, with hurried fingers – “quick – it might contain a way to stop her…” – heard Octavius’ voice, shaking with tears – “it’s a vial – a vial of blood. The papers here…they say it belonged to the original one…what does that mean?”

  “Quick, use it on Kalina!” Max was shouting, dragging Kalina’s rapidly deteriorating form farther from Nereti, who was wailing in fury. “It might heal her, come on.”

  “Now what does that vial of blood do?” Nereti’s eyes filled with curiosity. “Is it my blood in that vial? If so, then I might not need more blood from your girl after all, Octavius. She may be dying, but I can heal her, bring her back long enough to drain her dry…”

  Octavius was shaking his head. “Let Kalina alone!” he cried out. “Let her die with us, with her family – it’s too late now. If you have a quarrel, Nereti – you have it with me. And with the vial of blood I hold. Ignore them – take me instead…”