by S. J. Wright
She made the mistake of challenging him in Spain. She wouldn’t do so again. Katie would finish it for her. There was a great deal about Kate Wood that impressed Teddy. The girl had courage, an excellent intellect, and a good moral background. Not perfect, but Teddy did not want perfection. She wanted a student.
Dumas had told her three days ago of what he’d seen in that other world, where dreams became predictions and fears led to primal screaming. It was a vision of Katie as an empress with the decapitated head of Mahdi Lone mounted on a spike beside her throne. She hadn’t known Dumas for very long, but his short known history was exemplary. The council had been eager to procure a reliable seer. Michael’s old friend, Meekah, wanted nothing to do with the council and had refused them service for decades. Now she was being hunted by official decree of the council for Katie’s second kidnapping.
Teddy was counting on Katie to tie up several loose ends. She hoped that it wouldn’t take much to point the girl in the right direction.
“I don’t think you’re ready.”
Kate had been packing her clothes. The only important thing she could physically take with her back the U.S. was the journal. She had wrapped it carefully in plastic and put it into the black backpack that she would be carrying on the plane. The words that her grandfather, her father and her sister had written in that journal represented something sacred to Kate after her thirty days of fasting.
She looked at Marco.
“I passed their test.”
“I know you did. But ,there’s still so much anger inside you, Kate. It worries me.”
With practiced hands, she drew a brush through her thick dark curls and began to braid it.
“I admit to having anger issues. But, they won’t get in the way. Not where Sarah is concerned.”
She was keeping a vital piece of information from her mentor and it felt wrong. But Sarah’s safety was more important than anything.
It was so strange to imagine Sarah being a vampire. When Alex had told her over the phone what he’d done and the reason behind it, Kate had felt a crippling rush of guilt descend upon her. She wanted Sarah to be happy, but the moment Michael left Sarah had seemed to dissolve into a severe depression.
Marco had been away from the clinic compound when Alex had called. If he had been there, he would have seen the change in Kate’s demeanor, the gleam in her dark eyes. But, by the time he got back, she had her feelings under control.
Norma had taken Marco into her office and explained that early release had been requested and approved for Kate. He wasn’t in total agreement with the decision but he had already left glowing reports of her progress in her file.
She sighed and slung her bag over her shoulder.
“I’ll call when I get to the states. And if I ever feel tempted to drink the blood of the living.”
She smiled at him coyly.
“You stay out of trouble.”
“Me? Not likely.”
They smiled at each other, hugged quickly before he walked her out into the sunshine where the cab was waiting. The person standing next to the cab holding the door open was not the driver. It was Alex.
He looked like he belonged in that environment with the sun shining down on his bright blond head and the palm trees swaying above him. Kate felt a jolt of energy pass through her chest. It wasn’t painful. The sensation was actually somewhat familiar.
She didn’t make direct eye contact with him—she just nodded and tossed her bag into the backseat. There were two large plastic bins sitting by the curb that contained sealed bags of the swine blood Katie needed for sustenance. Alex helped Marco load them into the back of the cab.
“You ready?” Alex asked.
Marco handed Alex a business card.
“Call me anytime if you need help or think she might be slipping.”
“Not going to happen, Marco,” Kate sang out as she got into the backseat of the cab.
Marco observed Alex with a skeptical frown on his face.
“Keep her safe.”
Alex’s eyes shifted towards Katie.
“She won’t come to any harm as long as she sticks with me. What I’m worried about is her running off.”
Kate’s mentor nodded.
“Just keep in mind she wants to be with her sister. Make sure Sarah understands the flight risk if things go bad between them. I’ve heard Sarah has a temper as well.”
“She does. Well, she did. I haven’t quite figured out the vampire version of her yet. But I’ll let her know about Katie’s situation.”
They shook hands and Alex got into the cab. As it pulled away from the curb, Marco was wondering if he’d ever see Kate Wood again. If so, it wouldn’t be in Brazil. The rules were clear. But, he hoped that she would turn to him personally if she ever ran into trouble. He had a feeling Kate had quite an adventure ahead of her. He only hoped she survived it.
Chapter 14
The drapes inside the hotel room were drawn shut against the harsh afternoon sun. It did little to darken the excitement rushing through Sarah. She had waited a long time for her sister to return to her. Before the death of their father, they had been quite close. There was a good chance they could get back to that bond.
When Alex turned the key in the lock, she stopped pacing. An instant later, she was fiercely embraced by the sister she had waited so long to see. The fragrances that Sarah had always associated with Katie were gone, replaced by a chaotic storm of separate odors that could be attributed only the Sarah’s enhanced abilities.
“I can’t believe you’re really here,” Kate said, looking into Sarah’s face and searching for the differences. She turned towards Alex with a provocative gleam in her dark eyes.
“Michael is going to chop you into a hundred pieces and feed you to sharks once he hears of this.”
Sarah interjected quickly.
“No, he won’t. He’ll be so happy to see me that he won’t care how it came about.”
Kate sighed.
“Did Alex’s blood totally destroy your common sense? You know him, Sarah. He’s not going to like this at all.”
She turned back towards Alex.
“What were you hoping for, Alex? Were you thinking he would be so angry at both of you that he would reject her?”
Sarah shook her head.
“Katie, it’s not like that….”
“Don’t call me Katie. My name is Kate.”
She put her backpack on one of the two beds and sat down.
“Tell me about this Arizona thing.”
Alex cast his emerald eyes once at Sarah and then he sat down at the small table in the corner of the room.
“It’s been a mess from the beginning, according to Teddy. The council wanted a backup plan for the rogues. They didn’t want them sent to the farm. So, they hired a Pawnee medicine man to try to create a containment field in the Arizona desert. It’s out in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. Once the containment field was verified as secure, they hired Jackson’s father to be a Warden. Unfortunately, they chose the wrong man.”
“The last rogue they put in there was different. When he went in, there were twelve rogues in there with him. Now there are three,” Sarah said. “Teddy said that Jackson’s father is dead and Charlie says that when he went down to see what the situation was, none of the bodies could be located.”
“So this is where I come in, I take it?” Kate asked.
One of her dark eyebrows rose in a questioning glance towards Alex.
He shifted in his chair.
“As far as Michael knows, you are to be released in a few days. He didn’t like the idea of putting you into that situation. It was Teddy’s idea.”
“You’re doing this behind Michael’s back?” Sarah said.
She rolled her eyes.
“Alex, why didn’t you mention this before? He’s going to be pissed off at you because you turned me. But this?”
“He can’t do anything to hurt Alex,” Kate said. “You know t
hat. But I don’t know if Sarah should be going.”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
Alex nodded his head.
“I agree with her, Sarah. You need more time to adjust.”
Sarah’s blue eyes fastened on the pale face of her sister. “You’re not getting rid of me quite yet. I just got you back.”
Kate smiled gently and rose from her seat on the bed. They wrapped their arms around each other again.
“I missed you too.”
They both turned to Alex. He could see that separating them would be difficult and given the responsibility he felt towards them both, he would worry less if they were both with him. Sarah was newly turned and needed guidance. And Katie… Kate. She needed someone to keep her on the straight and narrow.
He had to admit that being around her again had stirred something inside him. He didn’t want to give that feeling a name. That might make it too real. There wasn’t much that scared Alex these days, but this new Kate made him feel a little vulnerable.
He looked at them both, seeing them more clearly than he might have in the past. Sarah’s heart was fixed on Michael. The mess she had become after having to live without him just solidified that fact. He only hoped that once Michael discovered what he’d done, he would welcome her with open arms. It seemed a very likely outcome. But, Kate’s future was still hazy. He wasn’t sure what she wanted yet.
As if she sensed his thoughts, Kate’s dark eyes narrowed. He stood up.
“We go together, then. The three of us. Victoria and Jones are already there,” Alex said. “Our flight leaves in a few hours. Sarah, I’ve got blood for you.”
Kate flinched.
“Oh, don’t bring it around me. Not a good idea.”
“Pig’s blood,” Alex murmured. “Right. Well, you can’t share a meal.”
Sarah’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Pig blood? Really?”
“Don’t start,” Kate said. “It doesn’t taste that bad. Maybe you should try it too.”
Alex pulled off the black t-shirt he’d been wearing. Both of the girls stared as he rummaged through his small suitcase for another shirt to wear on the plane. Sarah nudged Kate slightly and rolled her eyes in Alex’s direction.
There could be no question about it. Alex was as close to a god as the two sisters had ever seen. Each of them had seen him without his clothes in the past, to be sure. But the sight of his muscular, lithe form was enough to halt their conversation, if not elicit ongoing thoughts of him, which would best to be kept to themselves.
Sensing their attention, he turned casually.
“Getting a good look, ladies? Should I remove my shorts as well?”
The devilish light in his green eyes earned him another cool glance from them before they both became indignant.
“Oh, please. I may have been locked up for awhile, but even I’m not that desperate,” Kate huffed. But, Sarah shook her head and the doubt she had about Kate’s statement made her to smile.
“Enough. I’m content to try the pig blood, if only to keep you on the right path,” Sarah said lightly. “If it tastes like shit though, I’m switching to the good stuff.”
“Fair enough.”
The two sisters ended up agreeing that the swine blood would be beneficial to them both, and took an oath before Alex, pledging that they would consume nothing but pig blood from that point forward. It was a relief to Alex, of course. He had been nervous about Sarah’s transformation and her lack of hunger for blood.
Before three of them boarded the plane for Arizona, each had been fed accordingly. The clinic had sent over one of the vampire mentors (not anyone that Kate knew) to feed Alex. It was done as a courtesy and many thanks. Alex was aware of Sarah and Kate’s eyes taking in the somewhat professional way in which Alex obtained his blood. He hoped it had made an impression on them. Alex’s attitude about blood had changed tremendously since the incident in Chicago. He knew that the blood that offered him the most long-term sustenance was the blood of a vampire. But, it seemed quite awkward to ask either Kate or Sarah for the favor. He was glad the clinic had come up with an alternate means to satisfy his appetite.
As the landing gear pulled up into place inside the belly of the airplane, Sarah sighed and closed her eyes. Whatever was waiting for them in the Arizona camp was probably going to put a serious kink in her plans as far as Michael was concerned. All she really wanted was to be in his arms, smelling the clean hair that she liked to wind around her pinky finger. She wanted to feel his warm skin against hers. Then she remembered. He wouldn’t be warm anymore.
Chapter 15
The sun had set as their plane was landing in Phoenix. In the rental car’s backseat, Sarah watched as the mountains of the Tonto National Forest rose up before them like some giant slowly rising from his slumber. Soon the orange glow of the sun in the west became nothing but a dim reminder of the heavenly body that brought sustenance to the planet.
Sarah’s vision had become blindingly sharp. In her head, she was seeing too much. She was seeing things in the air above the heads of human and vampires. Sometimes they were just small orbs of pulsating energy in varying shades of gray. She had seen three blood red orbs and one black. She started to point out the first one she saw to Alex, but stopped herself. She didn’t want him to regret the gift he had given her. If he thought her new powers were causing her confusion and sadness, he might insist on Selena’s magical intervention to turn her back into a human. She wasn’t going to let that happen.
So, she kept her mouth shut about the floating apparitions that kept rushing towards the rental car when they had started down the highway, east towards the mountains. And she didn’t mention the ghostly figure of a little boy standing on a high outcropping they passed. The three vampires in the rental car didn’t need the sun to see what was up on the third set of switchbacks they had to traverse.
The late Mr. Bennett’s rustic cabin.
Looking up, Sarah’s glistening blue eyes reflected the moonlight shining elegantly down through the boughs of the short and tall pines clustered together on the ridge above and below the cabin. She saw a female elk with twin calves near the cabin. There was a light on inside.
It took another forty-five minutes for them to reach the cabin. There was another rental car already out front.. Alex got out of the front passenger seat cautiously. “Here’s the plan,” he said. “Let me find out who’s inside first. I’ve tried Jones on his cell four times since we left the airport. No answer.”
He turned around in his front seat leaned and put one hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “If I’m not out of there in five minutes, I want Katie to come up to get me. Sarah, you stay in the car unless you see me wave at you.”
It was a reminder more than anything. They’d talked about the possible dangers they might face when they finally made it up to the camp. As the newest vampire, Sarah was supposed to sit quietly and wait for the big kids to get everything settled.
Fuck that.
She followed Alex. Katie shrugged and locked the car, then looked around a little. On the way up to the cabin, she had felt her adrenalin surge. Now that she was standing with both feet on the mountain, there was some other internal disturbance going on inside her. She heard muttering voices echo in her head. She used her vampire eyes to scan the area around the car.
Alone. No.
Down on the slope among the trees, a small herd of American Elk were foraging around the cactus and sage and pulling up long strips of bright green plants that Katie couldn’t remember the name of. Several calves were lying down under the protection of the pines on the slope. The moonlight did not touch them. The regular predators would have trouble finding the fragile calves if it weren’t for their legendary sense of smell.
One of the elk bulls had raised its huge head and was staring directly at Katie. Some little locked box in her subconscious popped open.
I’m here. Finally home.
Katie wasn’t someone who constantly looked for reason
s for everything. The meaning of life. Does God truly exist? Did some demon from ancient times create the first vampire?
Katie was practical. She was also recklessly living her life from one day to the next. The big picture wasn’t something she often thought about. When she went through her transition in the caves on the farm, she was able to shut out the waves of pain that sometimes kill other newborns. It was unlikely that a mammal on four feet would ever intimidate an undead darling who had quite a high opinion of herself.
The showering burst of anticipation splashed incessantly and with increasing pressure in Katie’s head. It was absolutely wrong.
Manic. I’m probably losing my fucking mind.
She hurried up towards the cabin. Alex and Sarah were arguing again.
“I don’t understand why you insist on putting yourself in constant danger!”
Sarah’s whisper was harsh.
“If Jackson is in there, I want to talk to him.”
Alex held one hand up.
“Just give me thirty seconds to make sure there’s no problem, okay?”
“I’m immortal now. What can hurt me?”
He shook his head slowly. When he knocked, the door opened quickly. Victoria gave him a faint smile and waved them all in.
“Welcome.”
But when she saw Sarah, she lost her careful composure. Her wide hazel eyes took in the changes in Sarah’s appearance and then she turned to Alex with a hostile glare.
“How could you?”
That was the moment that Sarah saw Jackson. He was standing by the only window in the tiny cabin, but he had turned towards the door. His eyes had already fixed on Sarah.
Before they could exchange a single word, Kate rushed forward and grabbed the young Native American by the front of his shirt. She lifted him as easily as if he were a cat.
“Do you know what you’ve done, you piece of shit? Our family business is gone now because of you!”
Captain Jones, who had been standing watch by the backdoor, moved forward as quickly as his vampire speed allowed. He shoved Kate away from Jackson with a grunt.
