by Fiona Zedde
“No!” Olivia dropped to her knees beside Kylie. “Mother!”
She felt Olivia’s cool hands on her shoulders, flipping her over to expose the wound the bullets made in her chest. “Stop this!” Olivia cried. “Stop hurting her.”
“Hurting her?” The woman curled her lip. “You mean hurting it.”
Just then, a man emerged from the woods with a chainsaw. His loose dreadlocks swayed with each step, his pale skin faded under the evening’s silver light. It was the man from the underground prison, the one who’d been watching Kylie near Olivia’s apartment. Moonlight glinted off the killing machine as he turned it on. The chainsaw roared in the woods, snarling and bucking in his hands. But Bertram didn’t look at him. She was completely focused on Olivia.
She kept her gun pointed on Olivia. “Just because you let that thing fuck you doesn’t make her any more human and you any less of a Bertram.”
Kylie was melting away. She could feel her chest turning to liquid inside the cage of her skin, the acid burn spreading through her and eating her flesh at the same rate that her body healed itself. It was agony upon agony, like being slashed from the inside out. Kylie gasped as she writhed on the forest floor, gritting her teeth and refusing to scream, although she wanted to. God, she wanted to!
“But you made your choice.” The Bertram soldier stepped closer, revving the chainsaw. “Bloodsucker.”
Kylie was dimly aware of another soldier from the Bertram family covering him, protecting him as he crept toward her and Olivia, a grin of fierce and terrible joy on his face. There was a crack of sound in the forest, then a bullet hole appeared between his eyes. Bertram dropped to her belly and rolled away from her dead soldier just as another shot sounded. Then another, two bullets taking out both the soldier’s eyes, three neat little holes made in quick succession.
The other soldier dropped to his belly and began firing into the woods. Soon, his gun fell silent. The dreadlocked soldier, already dead, swayed on his feet. Olivia pushed Kylie out of the way, rolling her body in the midst of her agony away from the falling chainsaw. The chainsaw fell with the soldier, sawing through his legs in a spray of blood, meat, and bone. He was too dead to care.
Bertram fired back into the silvery darkness, her eyes narrowed in concentration. All through the forest, Kylie heard screaming. Humans dying. But she had her own concerns. The fire burned all through her, liquid hell deep inside her chest and running down into her belly. Olivia knelt over her with the switchblade, slitting open her chest, thrusting the knife into the bloody cavity. It was then that Kylie did finally scream.
The heat of the acid, Olivia slitting her open again, the narrow blade scooping into her flesh, it was all too much to bear. Olivia hissed as she must have realized the blade wasn’t enough to get rid of the acid left behind by the two bullets. She reached up and ripped an earring from her ear, using the silver leaves to sweep away the liquid fire from Kylie’s flesh.
“Stop it, Olivia!” her mother shouted. “Stop it or I’ll end you too.”
“Then do it,” Olivia said coldly. “I’m not going to leave her to die.” She kept working frantically to get the burning liquid out of Kylie.
“It’s already dead,” her mother said. “And if you don’t know that basic fact then you’ve forgotten everything I’ve taught you.”
Olivia dug the silver earring into Kylie’s chest, and Kylie screamed, releasing the agony into the night air. Her entire body heaved, jerking and dancing on the bed of leaves, dirt, blood, and bone. “I’m just like her, mother. She and I are the same.”
“Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that.”
Through the haze of pain, Kylie saw Bertram’s indecision, her flinch of pain. Then she made a choice, Kylie saw it on her face as clearly as the moon. Olivia still had her back to her mother. She did not turn at the whisper of the blade leaving its thigh sheath, although she must have heard the sound.
Although Kylie sensed at least one other vampire out there in the woods near them, whoever it was didn’t interfere.
Bertram rose swiftly to her feet, a look of disgust on her face. Olivia still swiftly scooped away the yellow fire, and Kylie grit her teeth to fight back her screams.
Bertram lifted the blade, swung it back, and aimed for Olivia’s neck. Through the thick haze of her pain, Kylie grabbed Olivia and dragged her to the ground. Olivia’s knees slid in the dirt, her body fell onto Kylie’s. There was a scream, then the machete whistled over Olivia’s head, embedding itself in the tree behind them.
Kylie rolled with Olivia, shielding her with her body as they rolled into the underbrush. She clenched her teeth from the rasp of dirt and forest flotsam in her open wound. She gasped with the effort and the pain, still clutching Olivia who seemed frozen from the shock that her mother had truly tried to kill her.
“Mommy?”
Olivia’s hand trembled, and the shell earring fell on top of Kylie’s bare chest, missing by inches the wound that was already closing up and expelling the foreign debris.
“I don’t have a daughter anymore.” Bertram grabbed the discarded rifle at her feet and swung it around at Olivia, squeezing the trigger.
But Kylie and Olivia weren’t there anymore. Kylie held Olivia in her arms. Weakened by her emotions, Olivia could only cling tightly to Kylie, her nails sinking into Kylie’s bare arms and neck as she ran swiftly with her across the forest floor. She was weak and slower than normal, but at least she could run.
“I’ll never stop hunting you!” Bertram shouted. “I always fix my mistakes.”
The breeze brushed against Kylie’s face. Leaves crunched under her feet; the burden of Olivia in her arms felt heavier than it should. The pain throbbed inside her chest, but it eased with each step she took. Behind her, she heard an ATV start up and felt Bertram behind the wheel.
Olivia twitched in Kylie’s arms. “Stop. Put me down.” She was breathing heavily, her humanness coming out in the breath she couldn’t control. “Please. Put me down. I can’t just run away. She’ll never stop looking for me.”
Just then, the ATV exploded out of the forest, kicking up dirt and leaves. The engine growled. Bertram gripped the handlebars, her lips skinned back from her teeth, the ends of her braided hair fluttering in the breeze. She viciously bore down on them.
“Kylie, please.” Olivia’s tone was more command than request. “Put me down.”
But Kylie didn’t want to let Olivia confront her mother. There were only two ways that the confrontation could end, and she was afraid that either one would destroy Olivia forever.
Kylie settled her on her feet but did not move from her side. She set narrowed eyes on Bertram, ready to move in case she tried something. Bertram hopped off the ATV, a rifle held firmly in one hand.
Olivia faced her with hands clenched at her sides, her feet braced apart.
“You’ve never been a coward, have you? That’s one thing I can always say about my daughter.” Bertram’s gaze hardened even more. “My vampire daughter.” She said the words in much the same way someone else would say “pedophile.” “I still can’t believe you chose to become this rather than face what your wicked ways have brought you.”
“Good people get cancer too, Mother.”
Bertram raised an eyebrow. “But you’re not a good person, are you?”
A look of profound sadness took over Olivia’s face. Her chin trembled. Then she straightened her spine and took a hesitating step toward Bertram. “Mother, it will cost you nothing to let us go. Forget that you ever saw us.”
“Forget my family’s work? Forget who I am?” Her mother made a disbelieving noise and brought the gun up sharply.
Kylie shoved Olivia aside as a gun barked and spat its bullets. But it wasn’t the gun in Bertram’s hand. Bullets tore through her, as savage and unforgiving as teeth, tearing into her back and exploding out of her chest, taking chunks of flesh and muscle with them.
Olivia screamed and ran toward her mother. Kylie grabbed her away, tryi
ng to get her from the path of the bullets still rattling the woods. The bullets wouldn’t kill but they would severely incapacitate them long enough for anyone to make the killing blow, take their heads, and set them on fire.
But Olivia didn’t care. She fought Kylie to stay with her mother, biting and screaming. But Kylie had the experience of fighting much stronger opponents on her side. She clamped a hand over Olivia’s mouth, grabbed her, swept her up into her arms, and ran deeper into the woods with her precious burden, away from the gun and the human wielding it. She hated running away but had no choice.
In her arms, Olivia fought her, bit her hand and twisted away, her eyes burning with rage and sorrow.
“No! Let me go!” She slashed Kylie’s face with her clawed hands, drawing blood. “Let me go!” Tears rushed down her face.
Kylie cursed, blinded by the blood and Olivia’s flailing. Pain lanced through her face from Olivia’s slashing hands. She stumbled, and Olivia fell to the ground with a thud, then leapt up. She dashed away from Kylie, avoiding the quick latch of her hand. She ran through the woods the way they had come. Fast. Faster. Kylie chased after her, calling her name.
“Stop! Olivia!”
Wind raked her face and grabbed at her hair as she tore through the woods, chasing after Olivia’s gray-clad form that dodged between the trees.
Kylie came to an abrupt halt as Olivia stopped ahead of her. A human with a rifle confronted Olivia. It was her brother.
Kylie saw him clearly. A tall man wearing dark camouflage, bulletproof vest, a full face helmet showing his eyes and narrow features through the thick glass of the visor.
“Max!” She bellowed her brother’s name, her voice a hollow drum.
“Your pet bitch would have killed her anyway.” But he still sounded shocked that he’d killed their mother. “She’s going to kill us all.”
Before he could raise the rifle, Olivia was on him. A leaping rush across the forest floor, the ripped hem of her dress flashing up, hard thighs flexing, hands curved into claws. She ripped the helmet from his face, nearly taking his head with it. He screamed as she knocked him to the ground and ripped into his throat, savagely tearing out chunks of flesh to get at the blood he carried. He screamed and thrashed under her. She screamed and bore down into him. Their voices rose up in the forest, growling and crying, howling and wailing.
“You killed her,” Olivia sobbed as she drank from him, tore at him. “You killed my mother!”
But Max couldn’t hear her anymore.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Olivia didn’t say anything the entire ride back to the city. She lay slumped in the corner of the big car, dried blood on her face, her dress torn, her face shell-shocked. Kylie sat beside her, holding her unresponsive hand, simultaneously glad the Bertrams had been wiped out, but sad for Olivia. She couldn’t imagine what she would do if she lost her family.
She looked around the car where the rest of the clan lay in total relaxation. Well-fed and happy, they draped themselves over each other, exhausted from the long night and the hunt.
Belle sat next to Kylie, her fingers laced with Kylie’s while her head rested on Silvija’s shoulder. Silvija was only wearing a black tank top and jeans, having discarded her blood-soaked sweater at the cabin. She stroked Belle’s neck and lay back in the leather seat, staring out into the distance.
Julia was curled up on the floor of the car, resting her head on a pile of bundled up clothes. She seemed asleep. Rufus sprawled across from Kylie and Olivia, bare-chested, his hands making delicate motions in the air as he spoke softly to Ivy. Ivy who was now dressed in Rufus’s T-shirt and nothing else. Liam and Violet were playing an endless game of rock-paper-scissors, bursting into laughter when one did something the other didn’t expect.
Yes, this was Kylie’s family. And she was grateful for them all, even Silvija.
Beside Kylie, her mother stirred. She turned her head. “Olivia.”
Olivia turned away from the window to look at Belle. Dark tears had dried on her face, staining her skin. But even as she cried for the loss of her family, she was the most beautiful Kylie had ever seen her: skin glowing, the blood of her first kill pulsing like moonlight under her flesh. The killing had made her stronger. She just didn’t realize it yet.
“We’re your family now. You made that choice when you drew Kylie into your web.” Belle looked approvingly at Olivia, like she appreciated her resourcefulness in getting what she needed. “We won’t promise you a fairy tale, but we won’t ever turn our backs on you. You’re stuck with us forever.”
Whether Olivia took that as a threat or reassurance was hard to tell. She nodded when Belle finished talking, a tight smile stretching her mouth. Then she turned back to the window. Belle squeezed Kylie’s hand, then brushed her thumb across the still bloody knuckles. “Take care of her, darling.”
Kylie nodded.
When the car arrived at the penthouse, the driver opened the door and the clan spilled out into the pre-dawn street that already held the smell of morning. Julia got out of the limo and stretched like a cat, grinning. “Home at last,” she purred.
The gray sky and grayer landscape framed their dark figures as they stood on the sidewalk, beautiful beasts who had had a successful night’s hunt and looked forward to a luxurious day’s sleep.
Silvija slid her arm around Belle’s waist and led the way into the building. Instead of following, Kylie stayed in the car. The driver, a pretty, long-haired boy in a suit, firmly shut the door and closed her inside the car with Olivia. He went back to sit in the front seat, turning on the music and staring straight ahead.
Olivia hadn’t moved from her position by the window. Her forehead lay against the glass; her hands rested limply in her lap.
She turned to Kylie, dark eyes full of sadness, pinkened lips plump and blood-rich in the car’s overhead light. “Do you think they’ll try to kill me?” Her voice was hoarse.
“No, they won’t,” Kylie said. “That’s not how this family operates.”
Olivia flinched but did not respond. She looked down at her hands and twisted her fingers together. “I lost…I lost everything.” Olivia shook her head. “Of all the things I pictured when I came up with the plan to be turned, this….” Her words tapered off into silence. “They’re all dead because of me.”
Kylie knew what Olivia was feeling. She knew intimately what it felt like to lose her whole world and be set adrift. But she didn’t bother offering any false platitudes; they wouldn’t do either of them any good. “If you play with big dogs you’re bound to get bitten.”
Olivia’s eyes flashed. “Don’t be an asshole.”
The corner of Kylie’s mouth twitched. “Would it make you feel better if you bit me?”
“No!” Olivia quailed, the flare of anger gone as suddenly as it had appeared. She shrank back against the door, lashes fluttering as if she saw something behind her eyelids that horrified her, perhaps her brother struggling under her fangs, gushing red blood while she tore him to pieces.
It made Kylie angry to see her like that. To become this shrinking, regretful creature after she’d begged and connived to be like this. She followed her against the door.
“Yes.” She grabbed Olivia’s arm and her eyes flashed up, a narrowed gaze, a growl on her lips.
“What are you doing?”
“What are you doing?” Kylie sank her fingers into Olivia’s flesh. “I nearly died for you. After all we’ve been through to get here, you don’t get to be like this.”
“Leave me alone.”
“No.”
Olivia tried to drag her arm away, but Kylie held on, yanking her closer until their mouths were only inches apart. “If you’ve made your choice like you say you have, then there’s no turning back. If I have your heart then you don’t get to break it for those bitches in camo who nearly turned me into vampire jerky and burned you from the inside out.” She yanked Olivia’s arm. “You damn well don’t.”
Pain flared across Ol
ivia’s features. She hissed. “I can do whatever the fuck I want!”
“Of course you can. You can manipulate and use and cry innocent because these are the things you want to do. Damn the consequences, right?” Kylie tightened her hand on Olivia’s arm. “But know this: We were born in blood. We live in blood. Did you think when you wanted to be turned, you could escape that?”
Olivia blinked. Teardrops rolled down her cheeks, spilling onto her gray dress and adding to the blood stains already there. She gasped on a breath and sagged against Kylie, her forehead butting her collarbone.
“Shit!” She groaned and clung to Kylie, moaning low in her throat. “I didn’t think it would be like this. I didn’t.” Her body shook and more tears splashed onto Kylie’s shirt. “I ruined everything. I’m sorry.” She gasped and shook. “I’m so sorry.”
Kylie pulled her more firmly into her arms. She remembered saying something similar to her mother just a few nights before, and how it felt for her to come to that place. “I forgive you,” she said softly, rubbing Olivia’s heaving back. “Now all you have to do is forgive yourself.”
The words echoed between them, then died away.
Olivia raised her head. Her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, the tears still falling. She touched Kylie’s cheek, wonder and pain on her face. “You are amazing,” she whispered, her voice thick with sadness. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
“You’ve just been yourself,” Kylie murmured.
It seemed like the most natural thing in the world for their lips to come together.
Olivia tasted like blood and tears and misery. She tasted like perfection, her cool lips and tender fingers on Kylie’s face. Kylie felt a tremor run through her and through Olivia as emotion rose up even more between them, a thick river of love and forgiveness.
The desire was slow to rise inside Kylie. She only wanted the comfort of Olivia’s touch, the arch of her lean body against hers, an agreement that they belonged together and everything else was dust. She touched Olivia’s cool flesh, felt it warming under her fingers, a gradual and throbbing heat that made her deepen the kiss, plunge her tongue in for more.
