“Told ya, Mouse, we’d find the plane!”
“What the hell is so damn important on it that we had to hike in here to get it?” Mouse demanded.
“Harklee wants the Slayers’ swords.”
“Shit, really? For some damn swords we’re sweating our asses off? Uh, hey, Mike, hurry and find them swords. I got a bad feel—” Kai leapt onto his back, sinking her fangs deep into the soft flesh of his throat. Screaming, he batted at her head, trying to get her off him.
“Hold on, Mouse, I’m coming!” Mike charged at her. Alex grabbed his ponytail, jerked him back into his arms and bit down into Mike’s neck.
She drained Mouse in matter of seconds, barely able to stop before the human’s heart faltered and slowed in his imminent death. Letting him drop to the ground, she saw Alex had finished feeding, too. The burns on his face smoothed to faint red marks, his lips completely healed, once again sensual and freakin kissable. Her eyes stayed there, wondering for the millionth time what it would feel like to be kissed by Alexander Walker. Forcing her gaze away from the delectable mouth of his, she stared at the now dead men. Her brow furrowed at what they’d said.
“Alex, why does the name Harklee sound familiar?
“You don’t remember Harklee?” She shook her head. “He’s the hunter Julius, former leader of the Borne, had made a pact with, to kill Rathe and his brothers.”
“Man, I thought he was dead. What brought him out of hiding and hunting us?”
“If we see him, we’ll ask. Right now, we’ve got bigger problems to deal with when these two fail to check in and their companions come to investigate why. Let’s find our weapons and the blood, then we’ll leave.” Alex went inside the plane, she followed him.
He threw the upended passenger seats out of his way, uncovering her leather backpack. Tossing it to her, he continued searching for their sword cases. As he leaned down, she coughed, trying hard not to stare at the delicious sight exposed for her viewing.
“Uh, maybe you should try and find your suitcase while you’re looking for our swords.”
Frowning at her, he asked, “Why?”
“Umm, because you’re half-naked, that’s why.” She bit her lip from laughing at his mortified expression as he took in his attire and looked behind him, seeing his ass partially exposed.
Cocking his eyebrow at her, he demanded, “When exactly were you going to inform me of my partial state of undress?”
Slipping the straps of her backpack over her shoulder, she shrugged. “Couldn’t help myself. Not every day do I get to I see a half-naked man running around in the woods.” Before he could form an indignant response, she spotted the small fridge and pointed at it. “Hey, I found the fridge. Looks intact.” Opening the door, she gagged.
“Dammit, the blood’s useless to us. Gone bad.” She quickly shut the door and stepped outside to escape the awful smell.
A ways from the plane, she dropped her backpack on the ground and sat down beside it. Digging around inside it, past plastic bottles of Holy water, extra clips of silver bullets, she finally found her cellphone in the inner pocket. Thankfully, it was intact and turned on. No bars for a signal. Turning it off, she put it back in the bag. She reached in and pulled out her twin, holstered, modified, silver-inlaid Colts. Laying one on the ground, she held the other and flipped the snap guard and drew the gun free. The Colt gleamed in the pale moonlight, the silver cross in the black handgrip stood out. Checking the clip to make sure it was full, satisfied, she pushed it back in with a sharp ‘click’ and re-holstered her gun, hooking it to her belt, at her right hip.
Alex exited the plane with their sword cases. He must have found his suitcase for he had changed, replacing his burned clothes for a pair of jeans and another dark dress shirt. She had to smile at his changing inside the wreckage, obviously not wanting her to see him completely nude. Flashes of him naked took her surprise. Bits and pieces, as if she’d had seen him naked. But she never had, had she?
Heaving a deep sigh, she watched him walk to her. The man moved like a dream, graceful and was just as deadly as a predator. Despite some lingering redness on his face and neck, he was gorgeous again. He set her sword case down beside her and opened his own. He withdrew the sheathed broadsword and belted it so it rested between his shoulder blades.
“I couldn’t find my guns.” His jaw clenched, whitening in his anger.
“Sorry. They were a nice set. Here, you can use mine for now.” She handed him her other gun.
“Thanks.” He lifted his shirt, exposing his sleek, muscled stomach as he hooked the clip to his waistband.
Hypnotized at the way his powerful muscles corded and flexed as he moved, she sighed as he pulled his shirt down. Disgusted with herself, she asked herself for the thousandth time, why, after all these years, did she still find the mysterious vampire as sexy and unattainable as the day they had met?
Moonlight caught on the silver medallion he wore, the one her mother used to wear. The black wolves seemed life-like, standing guard the cross between them. Seven years ago, Alexander was one of the Damned, second in command to Jarrod, their former leader. Her uncle. Condemned as a soulless vampire, cursed to wander the earth until he was put out of his misery by a Slayer, Alex was found to have been misjudged by his peers when her mother took the medallion and put it in his hand, proving he was not Damned.
What she had never shared with anyone, not even Mina, the night Alex learned he had a soul was the night she looked into his green eyes and felt a spark, a connection between them so strong, so intense, it stole the heart of a sixteen-year old girl and gave it to Alexander Walker. In his eyes, she saw he’d felt it, too.
At first, she had deluded herself that Alex ignored their attraction because she was sixteen and he thought he was too old for her. He continued to protect her, even taught her and Mina how to be Slayers. After she’d turned eighteen, she was certain Alex would acknowledge their attraction but still he kept his distance. The day Faeroes and Rathe made her and Mina Slayers, Alex gave them swords he had commissioned for them. She thought.… Well, she had been wrong again. Instead of falling in love, she went with Mina and they became profilers, using their skills as Slayers to help the humans capture killers, natural and unnatural ones.
When Faeroes ordered her and Mina to protect England, she decided it was her last chance to tell Alex how she felt about him and ended up making a complete ass of herself. Alex did an about face and left her. As if leaving her wasn’t bad enough, he cut their connection — the blood bond between them. That hurt beyond anything she had endured trying to tell the stupid man she loved him.
Go figure, plane crashes in the middle of nowhere, and now they were stuck with each other. How ironic. Kai took her sword case and flipped the latches, unlocking it. Grabbing the leather scabbard inside out, she took the worn hilt and pulled the sword free of its sheath in a steely rasp. A deadlier version of Sting off of LOTR, its weight and balance made it lethal in battle. Glad it had survived the crash without damage, she slid the elegant blade back in its scabbard. Belting it across her shoulder and chest, she slipped her arms through the leather straps of her backpack and pulled it on. She noticed Alex had his cellphone out.
“Any reception?”
Holding it above his head, he walked around trying to get a signal. “Nope. Not a single bar. Can I put my phone in your rucksack?”
“Sure.” Kai climbed to her feet and presented her back to him.
Feeling him open the flap of her backpack, she closed her eyes, praying for the strength to ignore the potent need to be held by him, aching to be touched by him, to feel his strong hands caress her. The tantalizing smell of his expensive cologne mingled with the heat from his body was intoxicating to her senses.
As he stepped beside her, she asked huskily, “So, which way do we head to?”
A grim shadow passed over Alex’s somber features, a wretched, haunted look that took her by surprise. “We head east, to Magdeburg.”
“Al
ex?” When he didn’t respond, she placed her hand on his arm. “Alex, are you okay?” He ignored her question and started walking down a game trail. Clenching her fists, she resisted the urge to pick up a rock and chuck it at his back.
Sighing, she followed after him. As the blood she’d taken coursed through her veins, she began to feel stronger, but not full strength. She and Alex needed more blood to completely heal, to regain the incredible strength and power a Borne vampire was capable of. A lot more blood was needed.
Sweat gather between her shoulder blades, trickling down her spine. God, it was just as hot in Germany as it was in England. Freakin muggy heat, too. Thirsty and uncomfortable, she trudged on after him. There was one diversion from her misery and it was in staring at Alex’s firm ass, outlined by the tight jeans he wore.
Needing a distraction, she asked, “Alex, have you been here before?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because it seems like you know where we’re going.”
His shoulders stiffened, his entire body went defensive and coiled in tension. “We crashed in the valley east of Harz Mountain.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I once lived not far here.”
“In Magdeburg?”
Alex actually flinched at the name. “Outskirts. My father had purchased a manor in the country and moved us there from Berlin.”
“When was that?”
“1819.”
“Oh.” Kai wasn’t sure whether to keep asking questions or just shut up, getting the feeling he did not want to talk about Magdeburg.
Vivid images, snapped like pictures from a camera, flashed before her eyes. Stumbling, she barely caught herself from falling and leaned against the nearest tree. Closing her eyes she saw Alex, a younger version of the man she was with. He was laughing, very different from the reserved man she knew. The image of him bubbled and melted, as flames crept around the edges of her vision, engulfing him like a photograph set on fire. Snow, bitter cold, replaced the flames. A frozen river, wolves were crossing it. Then there was a beautiful, petite blonde. She couldn’t see her face, only the flash of vivid blue eyes. These images flitted in and out of focus in her mind’s eye. Suddenly the vision sharpened and there were two Alexs, standing side by side.
“Kai, what’s wrong?”
Blinking, she tried to focus on his face. “Alex?”
“What happened?”
Able to see him, she asked, “Who is Lisle?”
Alex stared at her with a mixture of fear and anger. “How do you know about her?”
“I-I just had a vision, about you and a woman with long, silvery-blonde hair. Blue eyes.”
His head reared back, as if he’d been slapped. “I thought you couldn’t read minds since the dead man’s blood?”
“I still can’t. I didn’t even sense those humans back there. And where you are concerned, I’ve never been able to read your mind. This … this is unusual for me, even when I was at full capacity in the mind-reading department.”
Alex stared at her for a long moment, as if trying to decipher if she was lying or not. Meeting his skeptic gaze steadily, she waited for him to say or do something. He jerked back around and started walking at a faster pace. She rolled her eyes and hurried to catch up to him.
Pretty sure he wasn’t going to answer her question, Alex surprised her. “Lisle was a woman I knew a long time ago.”
“Oh.” Kai chewed on her lower lip, unsure if she wanted to know about the beautiful woman and her relationship with Alex. “I’m sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut. It’s just … I keep having these flashes of her and snow. Lots of snow. Cold. Brutally cold.” She kept the part of seeing two of him to herself, not wanting to upset him more.
Some of the tension eased from his shoulders. “The winter we moved here was the worst the people had endured in years. In fact, the River Elba had frozen completely over.”
“Wait a minute! Are you English or German?”
Rubbing his neck self-consciously, he replied, “I am German born.”
“But your English accent is flawless. Why the deception?” Confused, she realized she knew absolutely nothing about Alexander Walker.
Alex stopped and stared at his feet before answering her, “I left Germany in 1944, wanted to leave everything behind, including my accent and my name.”
“Name? Walker isn’t your real name?”
“No, it is not.”
When he didn’t explain, she was forced to press on her questions, “Okay, why did you change your name? Were you a Nazi or something like that?”
A pained, anguished shadow passed over his refined, handsome face. “Being a Nazi was only one of the evil deeds I’ve committed in my long life.”
“Holy shit! You were a freakin Nazi?” The arched look he gave her had her asking, “Why did you become a Nazi?”
Walking again, he continued his tale, “After my father condemned me as Damned, I wandered around Germany, surviving as best as I could, and met Dietrich Eckhart, a human who was a member of the Occult Thule Society. We maintained a cordial communications. I was introduced to other vampires, Borne, Damned, and the Undead, who were eager to serve Hitler and his cause. In 1933, we were organized into a special force of the Waffen-SS, the immortal protectors of Adolf Hitler. Also, we, vampires, were quite useful in keeping soldiers in line and we eliminated those Hitler considered enemies during his takeover of Germany.”
Flabbergasted Alex was once part of the most evil regime known to the human world, had even protected Hitler, she couldn’t speak. Torn by wanting to know more about his Nazi past, years as a profiler made her backtrack her questioning. The turning point in Alex’s life had happened in Magdeburg. Whatever took place there had been the catalyst in changing his life and set him upon the path he was forced to take.
“Why did you move to Magdeburg?”
Glaring at her, he reluctantly replied, “Political move.”
“Political?”
“Yes. In 1814, Bonaparte was defeated, and it took several years for Europe to recover and rebuild. 1819, the prince, Karl August von Hardenburg, who was also the Prussian Prime Minister, ordered my father to personally aid in the protection of Magdeburg, the jewel and pride of Germany. You see, Magdeburg was made capital of the new Prussian Province of Saxony and needed to be strong. We were just the first of the influential families designated to reestablish the city to new heights of glory.”
“How old were you when you moved to Magdeburg?”
“Twenty-three.”
“So, that means you are over two hundred years old, correct?”
Casting her an amused look, he answered, “Around that, yes.” Alex stopped and faced her. “Kai, why are you asking these questions about me?”
Shrugging her shoulders, she answered honestly, “I just want to know more about you.”
His eyes widened at her admission. Confused, he demanded, “Why? Back in England, you refused any assistance from me after we left Angel’s dungeons. Why are you suddenly chatty?”
“Forget it.” She charged past him.
Alex grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Kai, tell me why.”
Drawing herself to stand taller, she coldly replied, “I recognized Magdeburg bothers you. I thought it’d be good for you to talk about it. But hey, if you’d rather we keep on with the silent treatment then I’m all for it.”
“I—” Alex paused, uncertain. “Kai, I am not somebody you want to know. I’ve spent the better part of a hundred and fifty years in the service of the Damned. I’ve done terrible things, allowed worse to happen to innocent people. I am no better than the monsters we hunt.”
“But you saved me and Mom from Jarred. Watched over us.” Alex looked away. “You still don’t believe you aren’t good enough to be a Borne, do you?”
He released her. Digging his fingers in the thickness of his hair, he glanced around in frustration. “It’s not a matter of who I am — it’s what I’ve done. I will
not allow the Damned to rule over the humans or the Borne again.”
“Alex, by taking up the mantle of Slayer, you are keeping them safe from the Damned. You are not the monster you keep making yourself out to be. I should know,” she said bitterly. “I’ve seen evil up close and way too personal of late.”
A short, bitter bark escaped Alex. “Honey, you are so naïve. Never can I make up for what I’ve done. Never!”
Shocked at the self-loathing pulling his handsome features into a mask of regret, she reached out to touch him. Startled when he flinched and stormed away, she opened her mouth to call out to stop him, realizing it would be of no use. He had closed himself off from her again.
Disappointed, she dropped her hand to her side and followed after him.
✝✝✝
He could feel Kai’s eyes boring into him. Even as a teenager, she was always watching, accessing, and evaluating situations, people … him. As she trained to be a Slayer under his and Rathe’s tutelage, she became perceptive and lethal. Yet with all she had seen, hunted, and killed, she remained full of hope and laughter, keeping Mina and others from turning and becoming demon vamps. Many called Kai Jordan their friend. All he wanted was to call her his.
Every fiber of his being wanted him to grab hold of the beautiful woman following him and crush her to him. To hold her, breathe in the flowery scent of her perfume, and let go the anger and hurt buried deep inside him. She was the flame, and he the moth. The closer he was to Kai, the more he felt physically stronger and emotionally human. While the man in him desired — no craved to be in her arms, the monster in him laughed at the pathetic creature he’d become.
Because of Magdeburg.
How had Kai seen Lisle and him?
She said she could never read his mind. Hell, he’d made certain she couldn’t enter his mind, so she wouldn’t see the things he’d done to stay alive amongst the Damned. Hell, Kai reading his mind was the least of his problems. The blood he’d taken in from the hunter was just a fraction what he needed to completely heal his injuries.
Wulf's Redemption (Borne Vampires Book 3) Page 3
