“Hello,” the stranger said. A broad smile exposed her sharp canines.
Hannah stood, dumbfounded, and gaped at the visitor.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” the stranger continued, raking her gaze over Hannah. “But my name is Arena, and I believe you just made love to my husband.”
* * * *
Nicholas ran deep into the fir and aspen trees, needing distance from Hannah. He took slow, steadying breaths and worked to gain control over his drive to feed.
He’d wanted to attack her, to feed on her. Bile rolled to the back of his throat, and self-loathing washed over him. He was a monster of the worse sort.
He laced his fingers through his hair and rested them on his head, listening to the lonesome howl of a coyote or wolf off in the distance. The rough ground bit into the soles of his bare feet, but it was a welcome distraction. A chilled breeze rattling the aspen leaves carried an odor that stirred his blood.
The odor of unfamiliar vampires.
His heart dropped, and he took off back to the cabin at a dead run. Outside, he paused and approached the structure with caution and peered through the door. The silvery light of the waning moon filled the tiny cabin. In addition, a small oil lantern had been lit, casting a dim glow throughout the room. A lone figure sat upon the bed, her long legs crossed before her willowy form. It wasn’t Hannah.
His heart stood still. He was staring at a ghost. He stepped into the cabin.
“Hello, my love,” Arena said, rising from the bed. She walked with the grace of a cat.
Her blue-gray eyes caressed his bare chest before moving lower. She gave him a sly grin and licked her top lip. At one time, that look would have left a trail of fire within him. Now it left only ice.
“Arena?” he said in a choked whisper. “It can’t be. I saw your dead body.”
“I know you must have a hundred questions, Nicholas.”
“Where’s Hannah?” he demanded.
He’d forgotten the husky purr of his wife’s voice. It sent a shiver of fear down his spine. Two male vampire scents clung to the air, and his gut twisted in apprehension.
Arena drifted toward him, an apparition in the low lighting. She reached out to him. “Forget that silly little half-blood. She’s nothing.”
“What the hell’s going on, Arena?” He stepped back from her grasp. “I saw you dead by my brother’s hand.”
“Christopher didn’t kill me. He only used me as bait to distract you,” Arena said. “I was already in the process of the change, my love. He wanted us all to be a family.”
“You’re a Dissenter,” he said.
She shrugged.
Fury overtook him. He lunged and closed a hand around her throat. Arena fought in vain against his superior strength. She clawed at his fingers, and a gurgled hiss escaped her lips.
“Tell me where Hannah is.” Nicholas bared his teeth. “Or your second life ends right now.”
Her eyes widened, and she nodded meekly. He slackened his grip.
“She’s with your brother, something about tying up a loose end,” Arena said, her voice desperate. “In an old mine up the mountain. It’s probably too late for her, Nicholas.”
Never taking his eyes off his wife, he grabbed his jeans, shirt, and boots, and redressed. Then he grabbed the vampiress and shoved her toward the door.
“Take me there.”
* * * *
Hannah strained against the steel chains that bound her to a support beam in the old mine. A few battery-powered lamps lit the small chamber and several humans, Feeders, she assumed, stood guard with automatic rifles. Feeders were humans who allowed vampires to take their blood in hopes of being changed as reward. It rarely worked in their favor. She snorted at their stupidity.
She’d been overtaken by two large Dissenters who’d rushed into the cabin after Arena appeared. After snapping her neck, which knocked her immobile for several hours, they’d brought her here and tied her to the wooden post. She clawed at it with her nails. Bits of it gave way from time to time.
Great. At this pace, I’ll be free in a couple of months.
Why would Nicholas lie about losing his wife? Her adoptive father, Thomas, had told her Nicholas had lost both his wife and his humanity to the same vampire. She shook her head. It made no sense.
Where was Nicholas now? Was he hurt, or worse? Had he come here for Arena?
She had to have answers for her questions and knew of only one way to get them. She eyed the three humans who had been left to guard her.
“Hey, why don’t you let me go, and I won’t drag out your deaths,” she said. Her voice bounced around the room’s stone and dirt walls.
Startled, the men eyed her and shifted uneasily.
One, with a head of bushy gray hair, smirked. “Shut up, bitch,” he said.
Anger shot through her veins. Her canines lengthened, and she extended her neck, baring her teeth in ghoulish fashion. The men backed off and lifted their rifles.
Hannah laughed. “You know those won’t work on me, right?”
Gray Hair approached her, lifted the barrel of his rifle, and pressed the cold metal to her forehead. She grinned.
“Go ahead.” She flashed him her canines.
He wavered in his bravado before flipping his weapon around and driving the stock against her temple. Stars danced in her vision. A warm trickle of blood oozed into her left eye. Hannah hissed and snapped her teeth.
The man laughed nervously, and the others joined him.
“So, do you have the balls to untie me and try that again?” she asked.
They ignored her.
She pushed against her steel binds and detected a bit of give. Hope coursed through her.
A movement in the tunnel leading out of the chamber caught her attention. The three men noticed the movement as well.
The vampire from the photo walked into the room. He smiled broadly at Hannah and strode over to her in a fluid, easy gait.
“Hello, Hannah. My name is Christopher,” he said as his eyes appraised her figure beneath the chains. “I believe you’ve already met my brother, Nicholas.”
Hannah hissed a threat.
He laughed. “Aren’t you approving of my hospitality?”
“Why am I here? You sorry piece of—”
“Hey now, that’s not very lady-like,” he broke in. He held up a hand to stop her from saying anything else. An ugly smile curved his lips.
Hannah glared at the arrogant young man. He laced his fingers through his hair and rested them atop his head in a gesture that reminded her of Nicholas.
“You know, I enjoyed slaughtering your family,” he said after a moment.
Her temper flared, and she lunged against the constraints.
“Those two little ones were particularly sweet.” He gave her the demon’s smile that had haunted her nightmares.
She snapped her teeth at him, imagining she was tearing into his throat. The chains groaned against her straining weight, and the three Feeders backed against the far wall.
“If only I could have tasted your blood.” Christopher frowned. “But you’re spoiled now.”
She spit at him. It hit its mark. He wiped his hand down his face.
“Once I get loose, I’m going to tear you apart,” she said.
He ignored her threat. “Arena is with my brother now. We will be a family again soon.”
Christopher placed his hands on his hips and rocked back and forth from heel to toe. Hannah was again struck by the close resemblance between the brothers, in both looks and mannerisms.
“He promised Mother he’d take care of me after our father died at sea. She fell into the bottle, and all that jazz.” He waved a hand dismissively. “When he caught up with me after I went feral, he couldn’t kill me. Said it was his fault I’d gone off and become a vampire.” Christopher smirked. “Even though I was the one who changed both him and Arena, Nicholas still hated himself.”
He paused, and Hannah witnessed a play of e
motions across his face. Anger, sadness, regret, and back to anger.
A commotion from the tunnel startled her. A woman screamed and a man yelled.
Christopher disappeared up the shaft with blinding speed. The three Feeders milled about the room uneasily before two of them followed their vampire leader. Only Gray Hair remained.
Hannah worked the chains.
“Stop moving,” he demanded, lifting the butt of his rifle.
She didn’t stop until a deep-timbered voice carried to her from the tunnel. A shiver rippled down her spine. Nicholas!
In a rush of adrenaline she surged forward, and a weak link in the chain gave way. The cold steel pooled at her feet and she lunged for Gray Hair, knocking him to the ground. He opened his mouth to scream, but she struck him across the jaw. Stunned, he lay still. Her vampiric scent affected him, and she could see he was struggling to stay conscious.
Her mind worked rapidly over the situation. She could either try to help Nicholas as a half-blood and only possess a portion of a vampire’s strength, or she could take the human’s blood and become a full vampire. For about an hour afterward she’d be a raging locomotive as her body assimilated her own half-human blood, adding to her strength.
Nicholas was all alone against the feral vampires. She had to help him, no matter the cost.
The small part of humanity that remained within her was the most valuable thing in the world to her. It connected her to her lost family, to the life she’d had as a human. She closed her eyes and remembered her parents smiling as they’d tucked her into bed on the last night of their lives. Her mother had sung a sweet lullaby as she and her cousins drifted off to sleep. Tears filled Hannah’s eyes at the memory.
But Nicholas needed her now if they were to get out of this alive. She had no choice but to take blood if she wanted to get her revenge.
“You’re already dead,” she said to Gray Hair.
Chapter 4
Nicholas stood among the Dissenters. Tension hung heavily in the air as they sized each other up. Nobody dared flinch. Two humans had joined the melee with useless rifles pointed at him. He shoved Arena into the small group. Startled, she let out a scream.
“Where’s Hannah?” His booming voice filled the small cavern. “Bring her to me now.”
Christopher placed his hands on his hips and chuckled. “Why does it matter? Your family’s right here, brother.” He waved a hand toward Arena. Her eyes moved nervously back and forth between the two of them.
Vampires would fight to the death. It was inherent with the disease in their blood. The Dissenters would do their best to tear him to pieces while he inflicted as much damage as he could. The odds weren’t in his favor, but his only concern was Hannah.
He eyed the tunnel leading deeper into the mine. She must be down there somewhere. He’d always been claustrophobic and found himself fighting the sensation that the walls were closing in around him.
A Dissenter hissed. Christopher lifted a hand to silence him.
“There will be no bloodshed. I trust Nicholas will see things my way.” His voice echoed through the chamber.
The scent of vampires and the human Feeders filled Nicholas’s nostrils. Then another odor suddenly filled the room, an aroma that had the vampires turning toward the darkened tunnel. The scent of human blood.
Nicholas’s heart quickened. He could taste blood on the back of his tongue. Hunger crashed through him, as it obviously did with the other vampires. Growls and hisses escaped their throats. The stand-off had not only heightened their awareness, but also their blood lust.
The Feeders noticed the change in the air and began moving slowly toward the mouth of the mine.
It was too late. One of the Dissenters lunged, followed by a second, and the two men went down screaming. The vampires attacked the humans like sharks on a feeding frenzy. They tussled over their kills in terrible nightmarish glee as human blood splattered the walls. Beyond the cave a maddening crescendo of canine howls filled the night sky.
Arena, Christopher, and the remaining Dissenter stood frozen, trembling in restraint. Nicholas’s mouth watered. He ran his tongue over his sharp canines, willing away the sharp hunger pains in his gut.
He spotted movement from the corner of his eye and turned his attention to the tunnel leading into the heart of the mine. A small form appeared within the darkness.
His throat constricted as Hannah emerged, red smearing her face and darkening her hair. Her eyes were a dark, bloodied red.
My God, she’s taken blood.
She stared at him with the wild look his kind possessed when they first tasted human blood. A shiver wracked his body. She looked to be a demon. The beautiful, innocent, ten-year-old girl he had once rescued was now a monster like him. The one thing she’d found most abhorrent.
* * * *
Arena was the first to catch Nicholas’s look. She turned and gasped. Christopher was quick to follow.
Hannah walked out, her movements smooth and measured as she focused on the Dissenters. They were already dead in her mind. Adrenaline surged through her. She felt beyond powerful, as if she could take down the mountain itself. She circled around to stand next to Nicholas and faced the Dissenters.
“Hannah,” Nicholas whispered, shock and utter disbelief evident on his face.
She would protect him at all costs.
His hand circled her upper arm in a hard grip as the snarls and growls of the two feeding vampires grew to a crescendo. They’d be finished soon and would be ready to fight.
Good. Hannah wanted to take on all of them. A colorful aura danced in her vision, much as it had when she’d first been changed by Nicholas. She tried to pull out of his grasp, but he held firm. He knit his brows together and gave her a look that spoke of anger.
“Well, what do we have here?” Christopher said. “Looks like someone has had their first taste of blood. Intoxicating, isn’t it, Hannah? Makes you feel as if you’ve become God. But that’s what we are really. Gods. Superior to humans in every way.”
“Shut up, Christopher,” Nicholas said.
Arena smiled. “Why, my love? It’s true. We all know it. Your little Hannah can be part of our family in some way, I suppose.”
The tone of Arena’s voice had Hannah grinding her teeth. The other vampiress peered at her with a look of distaste…and fear. Her gaze darted repeatedly to the feeding Dissenters, as if willing them to her side.
Hannah relished the moment and smiled. “I don’t believe Nicholas wants anything to do with your lifestyle.”
Nicholas stepped in front of her, shielding her from their view. “This doesn’t involve her. It’s between us.”
Christopher laughed. “Of course it involves her. You’ve kept tabs on her since you first found the little waif. Hell, you gave up your precious half-blood status to save her life.”
Nicholas looked over his shoulder, meeting her gaze. Hannah sucked in a breath and searched Nicholas’s face for the truth in his brother’s words. The muscle in his jaw worked.
“Ah, so she didn’t know?” Christopher cocked his head and looked at Hannah. “My brother has a soft spot for charity cases and lost causes. You seem to have been his favorite. I have my own sources in this world, and it seems there isn’t much you’ve done that he hasn’t known about.”
Nicholas drew back his lips, exposing his sharp canines.
They had a lot to discuss later, Hannah decided.
The feeding Dissenters went quiet. Turning, she found they had finished with the men and now had their attention focused on the group with whom she stood. The demons were smeared with gore as if they’d just returned from Hell itself.
Hannah flashed back to the Nebraska homestead the last night of her family’s lives. Rage boiled within her blood.
The murderers would pay. Right now.
Hannah lunged at the nearest of the two Dissenters. In a mere blink of an eye, she overtook the vampire and put him down for good.
* * * *
Nicholas lowered, ready to defend Hannah. But an arm came around his throat and yanked him back. He roared, struggling with the Dissenter who, only moments before, had been feeding. The feral vampire’s arm snapped as Nicholas broke free and turned on his attacker.
Its arm dangled uselessly as Nicholas charged. Survival instinct overtook the two of them, and it was a desperate, quick fight. Having originally trained as a Hunter, Nicholas quickly got the upper hand. He stood, trembling, ready for the next assault.
Hannah stood over the corpse of the other Dissenter, breathing heavily. Only Christopher and Arena were left.
“This is where it ends,” Nicholas said.
In the back of his mind, images flashed like an old home movie. His brother as a toddler, laughing gleefully as Nicholas carried him on his shoulders. Arena standing among the fragrant honeysuckle where he’d proposed to her on a moonlit night.
Then his mind drifted in a new direction, and he saw Hannah as a child, staring at him in wide-eyed terror with the odor of her family’s blood hanging thick in the air. The way her trusting eyes had looked into his only hours ago as they’d made love.
He snarled.
* * * *
Christopher and Arena dropped into defensive crouches. Christopher leaped, taking Nicholas down. Arena dashed for the mouth of the mine and was out before Hannah could stop her. She turned and pursued Arena, catching the feral vampiress before she could disappear into the dark woods.
Clouds obscured the night sky, but her heightened vision easily made the surroundings, and her quarry, visible. Arena spun around and lunged at Hannah.
Hannah sidestepped her, grabbing a handful of her attacker’s hair. Arena screamed, her nails digging deep into Hannah’s hand. Adrenaline prevented any pain from registering in her mind as she flung the vampiress to the dirt.
Arena hissed and sprang at her again. This time, Hannah stood her ground and absorbed the impact. She brought her hands to Arena’s head and, in one quick motion, snapped her neck. She fell in a heap on the ground, temporarily immobilized.
Hannah grabbed a long piece of wood nearby and plunged it into the Dissenter’s heart, destroying it completely. Arena was dead.
Order of Terminus Page 17
