“No,” Kallias sighed, looking at Erik. “It’s fine. We’re finished.”
Rose frowned. “We’re not even close to finished.”
Kara slid in behind Erik. She leaned against the wall, as if she weren’t even remotely concerned with what was happening between Rose and Kallias.
“Why are you still standing in the doorway like that?” Kallias asked Erik.
Erik offered him an apologetic smile. “No offense, but she’s the one who can kill me with her mind,” he said, gesturing toward Rose with a tilt of his head.
Rose scowled at him. “It’s fine,” she sighed in defeat. “Just come in.”
Erik hesitantly shut the door behind him, and then, carrying the bottle of liquor under his arm, he ambled over to the other bed and sat down on it.
Kallias busied himself with pushing up the sleeves of his black, button-down shirt, rolling them up around his elbows. “What is the plan for tonight?”
Rose watched him with a frown, frustrated that he could switch gears so easily, as if nothing had happened. She looked away, gazing thoughtfully at a random spot on the wall, as she listened to them talk, her own mind buzzing.
“You guys are on your own tonight,” Kara sighed. “I have guard duty.”
Kallias glanced at her and nodded. “All right. Then, Erik, Rose, and I will search for Alana again. But this time, when we find her, I’ll kill her myself.”
Kara lifted her eyebrows. “Good luck,” she said dryly.
“Er…are you sure that’s a good idea?” Erik interjected. “It’s just…I’m not exactly in a hurry to see Alana again. Not after what happened last night.”
Kallias shrugged. “I’ll be with you tonight. She won’t be able to control your mind this time,” he said reassuringly. “Besides, you have a blood bond with Alana right now. You can lead us straight to her. It’s the perfect opportunity.”
“Unless she evades you all night,” Kara pointed out. “Alana has a blood bond with him, too, remember? She’ll sense him as soon as he gets close to her.”
Kallias frowned suspiciously at her. “Do you have a better plan?”
Kara smiled and shrugged. “Would it matter, if I did?”
“No,” Kallias answered.
Kara laughed at that. “Like I said…good luck.”
Kallias rolled his eyes at her. He stepped past her and opened the door. Then, he turned back toward Erik and Rose. “Are you guys ready?” he asked.
Erik sighed in frustration and set his half-empty bottle of alcohol on the nightstand. “You could have at least let me finish my drink first,” he grumbled.
Kallias glanced at Rose, frowning as he noticed that she hadn’t even moved yet. She just continued to lean against the bed, staring at the wall. “Rose?”
“I’m not going,” Rose said, her bright blue eyes shifting toward him.
His brows furrowed. “What?”
“I said…I’m not going,” Rose repeated, her voice sharp.
Kallias just stared at her. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not,” Rose said. “I’m being perfectly rational, actually. It makes more sense for me to stay here with Kara. Think about it. You and I are the only ones who are immune to Alana’s telepathic control. Erik and Kara are both vulnerable. So, you should stay with Erik to protect him, and I’ll stay with Kara.”
Kallias narrowed his eyes at her. “Absolutely not.”
“I don’t remember asking for your permission,” Rose said.
He dragged his hand through his hair in frustration, causing the wet strands to drip more water onto his shirt. “Rose,” he growled, “this colony is full of vampires that can kill you. Every vampire here is older and stronger than you.”
“No one will touch her,” Kara interrupted. Her icy blue eyes flashed with defiance and confidence as she tilted her head back against the wall, her chin lifting. “She’ll be with me. If anyone lays a hand on her, I will kill them.”
Kallias spun toward her. “I don’t trust you,” he growled, as if he hadn’t already made that clear…many times. “For all I know, you could be reporting everything we do to Alana. It wouldn’t be the first time you betrayed someone.”
Kara’s entire body seemed to stiffen, as if she’d just been struck.
Erik glanced at Kara as he sensed her intense, agonizing emotions. He shifted his gaze toward Kallias. “What are you talking about?” he asked him.
Kara stepped away from the wall and turned to face Kallias. Her light blue eyes narrowed dangerously. “Stay out of my head,” she snarled at him.
Rose watched them with a frown, wondering why Kara seemed so bothered by what he’d said. “Kallias,” she called. When his brown eyes shifted back toward her, she continued, “If you don’t trust her, then that’s all the more reason for me to stay. I can keep an eye on her, make sure she does what she says she’s going to do. If Alana does show up, well, she can’t erase my memories.”
“That is the most reckless idea I have ever heard,” Kallias growled.
Rose shrugged. “I’m not asking for your approval.”
Kallias sighed in frustration, “Why are you so dead-set on this?”
“Why are you pretending to care?” Rose countered, her voice cold and sharp. “We both know you don’t want to be around me right now anyway.”
His mouth fell open. “Rose…” he trailed off, his brows creasing.
“The tension in this room is stifling,” Erik muttered under his breath.
“It’s my decision,” Rose told Kallias, “and you won’t change my mind.”
“Fine,” Kallias growled, his jaw tightening. “But if anything happens…”
“You’ll feel it,” Rose finished his sentence. “I’m bound to you. If I’m in danger, you’ll feel it, and you’ll come back. I know that, and I appreciate it.”
Kallias nodded, his gaze softening. “Okay,” he sighed, his shoulders drooping in defeat. He turned to Erik and gestured toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Rose didn’t move from the bed after they left. She just stared at the wall, her chest tight with sadness, as she tried to understand what was happening between her and Kallias. She heard the soft thud of boots on the marble floor, coming closer, and then, the scents of leather and violets invaded her senses.
Kara leaned against the black dresser across from Rose, putting herself directly in Rose’s line of vision. She tilted her head to the side, studying Rose with those piercing, blue eyes. “Trouble in paradise?” she asked with a sly smile.
Rose pursed her lips at the mischievous vampire. “It’s just a little fight.”
“A fight?” Kara scoffed. “It looked more like a standoff to me.”
“Yeah,” Rose sighed. She gazed down at her worn Converse tennis shoes, her thoughts whirling. “When did things get bad between you and Alana?”
Kara laughed, “Things were always bad between Alana and me. I just didn’t want to see it.” When Rose’s curious, blue eyes shifted up toward her, Kara sighed. “I knew what Alana was like, even in the beginning, but I thought I could help her.” She shrugged. “Everyone assumes that it’s Alana’s beauty or seductiveness that gets you, but it’s not. It’s her pain. You just want to help her.”
Rose watched Kara, stunned by the raw honesty in her voice.
“But you can’t help,” Kara said. She looked away, hiding the sadness that glistened in her icy blue eyes. “And by the time you realize that, you’re trapped.”
Rose’s brows creased with sympathy as she stared at Kara. Her fingers twitched at her sides as she fought back the sudden urge to step closer and pull Kara into her arms. Kara was practically an expert at hiding her pain, at appearing nonchalant when she was breaking inside, at flirting and joking in the midst of her agony. Rose knew that. Just like she knew that Kara was hurting right now.
Kara shifted her gaze toward Rose, and a flirty smile tilted at her lips. “So,” she said, stepping closer, “it looks like I have you all to myself tonig
ht.”
Rose’s lips twitched. “I’m sorry for intruding on your guard duty.”
“Intruding?” Kara scoffed, her smile deepening. She took another step toward Rose. “I’m delighted. As a matter of fact, I’m currently trying to think of a way to get out of guard duty so I can keep you in my room all night.”
Rose sucked in her breath sharply as Kara closed in on her, trapping her between the foot of the bed and Kara’s lean, athletic body. Kara’s warm, sweet scent swirled around Rose’s head, causing hunger to burn its way through her body. She cast a quick glance behind her, realizing that the only escape from Kara’s intoxicating closeness was to lie down on the bed, which would be a very bad idea. She scowled at Kara. “Who says I would stay in your room with you?”
Kara clasped her hands on the footboard of the bed, pressing Rose harder against it, until every inch of Rose’s soft, curvy body pressed against her. “What? You don’t think I can persuade you?” she challenged, grinning wickedly.
Rose couldn’t seem to force air into her lungs, and the heat of Kara’s body against hers did nothing to alleviate the heat that suddenly pulsed through her blood and under her skin, finding its destination at her center, between her legs, pulsing and aching with desire. Rose could no longer deny the fact that she wanted Kara, and she hated herself for it. “No,” she said breathlessly. “I don’t.”
“Ah, Rose, that sounds like a challenge,” Kara teased, her breath falling against Rose’s lips. She lowered her voice to a whisper, “And I love challenges.”
“Oh my word,” Rose squeaked, scrambling backward. As she clumsily leapt across the bed and off of the other side of the mattress, she could hear Kara’s lilting, breathy laughter behind her. Once she had placed the entire bed between her and Kara, she finally felt it was safe to look at the seductive vampire again. Her face flushed a deep, dark pink as she watched Kara laugh at her.
Kara clasped her hand over her stomach as she laughed until she could no longer breathe. “You are so much fun!” she said, her light blue eyes sparkling.
“I think the word you’re looking for is boring,” Rose said skeptically.
“No,” Kara said, biting her lip. “I would never get bored with you.”
Rose frowned. “Why does everything you say sound so sexual?”
Kara flashed a cocky smirk at her. “Because it is.”
Rose couldn’t suppress the smile that twitched at her lips. Despite the fact that Kara could sometimes be a little vulgar and a lot relentless, Rose couldn’t help but feel that there was something very charming about Kara’s teasing. She blushed, embarrassed that her thoughts had taken such an affectionate turn. She cleared her throat. “Shouldn’t we be heading up to the cemetery?” she asked.
Kara shrugged. “I’m in no hurry,” she said with a flirty smile. But she grabbed her keys from the dresser anyway. “But sure, we can leave, if you want.”
When Rose stepped out into the hallway, a dark shadow at the end of the hall caught her attention. She frowned at the silhouette, squinting as she tried to figure out who it was. It looked like a tall man with a dark complexion, and Rose felt a strange twisting at her gut as she stared back at the dark eyes that seemed to be watching her. At first, she thought that it was just her own paranoia that made her think the figure at the end of the hall resembled Osiris, but the longer she stared, the clearer his features became. A chill shot down her spine.
“Do you think I’m evil?” Kara asked quietly.
The strange question shocked Rose so much that she immediately broke eye contact with the vampire at the end of the hall and glanced at Kara. By the time she shifted her gaze back toward the vampire that she’d thought was Osiris, he was gone. She turned back toward the room and frowned, watching as Kara locked the door. Kara seemed to be avoiding her gaze. “What?” Rose sputtered.
“You must think I am,” Kara said without looking at her. She stared at the door, her shoulders stiff. “You, Kallias, and Erik all believe that killing humans is wrong. You kill vampires that do. So, you must think that I’m evil.”
“I’ve only known you for a few days,” Rose reminded her.
“Still,” Kara said, looking at her. “You know that I’ve killed humans.”
“It’s not that simple,” Rose argued. “Good and evil is only black and white in fairy tales. In real life, it’s mostly gray…with a lot of red on both sides.”
Kara tilted her head, a lock of sleek, black hair falling over her bare shoulder, as she frowned at Rose. A mixture of surprise and confusion flickered in her icy blue eyes. She averted her gaze. “You don’t have to put that much thought into it,” she laughed. “I was only curious. I don’t care what you think.”
Rose stepped closer to Kara. “I don’t believe you,” she challenged, a thoughtful smile pulling at her lips. “You wouldn’t have asked, if you didn’t.”
Kara’s piercing blue eyes shifted back toward Rose, widening in surprise.
“Bonjour, ladies,” Elise called, her lips curving into a warm, sweet smile.
Kara took a step back, the seriousness fading from her expression so quickly that it seemed as if it had never been there. Her soft, pink lips once again tilted into that signature, flirty smile that she wore so often. She raked her fingers through her sleek, blue-and-black hair, and then, she turned to face Elise. Her sparkling, mischievous gaze swept up and down Elise’s body, lingering on where Elise’s black dress dipped just beneath her collarbones, low enough to reveal a hint of her small, soft breasts. “Where are you headed tonight?” she teased.
Elise smiled, obviously flattered by Kara’s attention. “Into the city.”
“Those poor humans won’t know what hit them,” Kara flirted.
Elise giggled. She had such a soft, delicate voice that her laugh reminded Rose almost of a bird’s song: so light and musical. Elise tucked a yellow-blonde curl behind her ear, her smile smoothing into a concerned frown. “I wanted to check on you before I left,” she murmured softly, leaning toward Kara, as if they were discussing a secret. “Are you sure you don’t want to feed before I leave?”
Kara shifted, suddenly seeming a little uncomfortable. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Elise asked skeptically. “You haven’t fed in two days.”
Kara’s gaze darted briefly toward Rose. “I feel fine,” she assured her.
Elise nodded, concern softening her small, blue-gray eyes. She adjusted her black bag on her shoulder and nodded. “If you say so,” she sighed. “But come by my room before sunrise, okay? There’s no point in you being hungry.”
“Of course,” Kara said. She leaned forward, a wolfish grin curving at her lips, and curled her fingers around Elise’s hips. She pulled Elise close and whispered, “I wouldn’t dream of missing the chance to rip this dress off of you.”
Elise giggled and planted a playful kiss on Kara’s cheek. Her blue-gray eyes shifted toward Rose. “I told you that she was good at this,” she laughed.
Rose blushed, which only caused both Kara and Elise to laugh at her.
Elise stepped back and smoothed her hands over her thin, satin dress. She smiled warmly at Rose. “I hope you have a good night, Rose.”
Rose smiled at the friendly vampire. “Thanks. I hope you do, too.”
Elise blew a kiss at Kara, and then, she turned and walked away.
As Rose watched Elise walk away, her mind made several connections at once. “Holy crap,” she laughed, a smile spreading across her face. She turned toward Kara. “You’re not actually killing humans,” she realized, “are you?”
Kara froze, caught off guard by the sudden accusation. “What?”
“You’re feeding from Elise,” Rose stated.
“Of course I’m feeding from Elise,” Kara said dismissively, purposely avoiding Rose’s gaze. “Vampires usually feed during sex, right?” She shrugged and laughed, “Well, Elise and I have sex. Often. But I also have sex with humans.”
“Right, but you don’t kill
them,” Rose insisted, “do you?”
Kara sighed, “Rose, I’ve killed more humans than I can even count.”
Rose crossed her arms, her eyebrow lifting at the evasive answer. “I didn’t ask if you have killed humans. I asked if you’re killing them right now.”
Kara frowned at her. “What makes you think that I’m not?”
“Elise seemed pretty worried about you not feeding the last few nights, as if she knew somehow that the last time you fed was when you fed from her…as if she knew, without a doubt, that the only person that you’re feeding from is her,” Rose said, watching Kara’s reaction curiously. “And then, there’s Alana…”
Kara raised an eyebrow. “What does Alana have to do with anything?”
“Alana threatened to kill your recent lovers. Obviously, she can’t kill them if they’re already dead,” Rose pointed out. “Either you don’t feed from the humans that you sleep with. Or…when you do feed from them, you heal them afterward with your blood to keep them from dying.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Which…could actually explain how Alana found one of them so easily.”
That seemed to evoke a reaction from Kara. Her jaw tightened, and pain flashed in her light blue eyes. “Well, you just confirmed it, didn’t you?”
Rose’s brows furrowed in confusion. “I just confirmed what?”
“I have killed a human recently,” Kara said bitterly. “I killed Olivia.”
“Alana killed Olivia,” Rose argued. “I heard the phone call, remember?”
“Alana killed her because of me,” Kara said. “She found Olivia because I made the stupid mistake of letting Olivia consume my blood. She killed her to mess with my mind. If it weren’t for me, Alana would have never killed Olivia.”
Rose’s chest tightened with sympathy. Kara might have been a master at hiding her emotions, but nothing could hide the pain that bled into those words. “That doesn’t mean that you killed her,” she said softly. She chewed on her lip nervously as she tried to decide whether to tell Kara about her own particularly painful memory. “About a month ago, Theron started hunting me, and…”
The Tomb of Blood Page 34
