by Candy Crum
Flawless skin or not, he still disgusted her.
“I’m going to break your fucking legs and make you watch me gut her.” He laughed. “Then, I’m going to drag you to my car, and I’m going to take you to see your sister.”
Kailah’s eyes narrowed, rage taking hold. What he’d done to Rachel was bad enough, but mentioning Amanda was a no-no.
“You’re going to watch as I—”
Kailah felt power swell inside of her as her anger took hold. She had never in her life wanted to hurt someone as much as she did right then. She’d never felt such a burning desire to make someone suffer for their wrong-doings.
And suffer, you will.
Kailah instinctively reached up, her hand slapping against his wrist with a loud smack. As soon as her skin touched Jeff, his eyes widened. His mouth quickly dropped as smoke began to waft out from under Kailah’s hand.
“What the fuck?” he said. “You’re not supposed to know how to use your powers!”
Kailah smiled, her feet now fully on the ground and Jeff’s grip lessened. “I guess I just figured it out.”
Her hand clamped down harder, and Jeff screamed.
“Get away from her, you idiot!” a feminine voice called from the other end of the alley. “She’ll kill you!”
Jeff pulled, but Kailah held strong. Her other hand grabbed hold, and the smoke began to roll as the sweet sounds of Jeff screaming echoed around her. Pain exploded in her face as something struck her, twisting her head to the side.
She was knocked backward a little but quickly recovered. When she turned, planning to go after Jeff again, he was gone. No one was there but she and Rachel.
Rachel!
Kailah rushed over, hitting the ground hard. Her knees hurt from the drop, and she was painfully aware of her broken facial bones. She wasn’t sure who had hit her, but she assumed it had been the other woman—the other Vampire.
“Rachel! Please wake up!”
She pulled her best friend’s clothes back, searching her for damage but quickly realized it would have been easier to find places that hadn’t been injured.
Rachel was covered in bite marks. Her skin was clawed open in several places, and her face was smashed all to hell. Her pants were only partially torn, so Kailah hoped that meant nothing more had happened.
Footsteps echoed around her, and she could feel the spike of adrenaline again as she twisted and almost growled at the newcomers.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Doug said. “It’s okay.”
Kailah relaxed a bit when she saw him but stiffened again when she saw Aeric and Brett right behind him.
“Why the hell did you bring them?” she asked coldly. “You should have gotten Kelly!”
Aeric kept his eyes focused on Kailah, and Brett turned away from Rachel completely. He removed his long jacket and handed it to Kailah.
“You can lay this over her, so she’s not so exposed.” Brett’s voice was quiet and somber. He seemed to be genuinely upset by the events.
Once Kailah put the trench coat over Rachel, Aeric knelt on the other side of her broken body. He lowered his ear to her chest. “She’s breathing, but barely. Her heart is barely beating. We have to get her help. Now.”
“Get away from her. Doug can help us,” Kailah snapped.
“What?” Aeric asked. “Kailah, now is not the time.”
“Yes, it is! I wasn’t fast enough to protect her. She’s half-dead because of me. I said, get the fuck away. There is something about you that I flat out don’t like. I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. Neither one of you, but I trust Doug.”
“Kailah,” Aeric repeated her name. “Please. We can help.”
“I’m not trusting her with Vampires. A Vampire did this to her. I don’t get sick around you, but my gut is screaming not to trust you. And Doug said we—as humans—couldn’t fight Jeff alone. He went after Vampires. You’re here, so I guess that makes you the Vampire backup. Fuck off. I’m not trusting anyone except humans. Go!”
Kailah turned to look at Doug. “Please, help me get her to the hospital.”
“This is ridiculous. We’re helping,” Aeric said, putting his arms under Rachel.
Instinct once again took over, and Kailah lashed out. “Get away from her!” she screamed as she leaned forward and pushed him with all her strength.
Aeric fell back, almost hissing from pain. He quickly righted himself. “We’re human!”
“What?” Kailah asked.
Aeric sighed and looked at his brother before turning back to her. “Look, we know what happens in there, but that isn’t us. We’re human. We need to get her some help. Now.”
Kailah could still sense Jeff somewhere close, and she didn’t want to linger much longer because of how bad Rachel was.
“Quick. Show me your teeth,” she said flatly.
Aeric started to protest, but she gave him a look that suggested she wasn’t budging. He leaned forward and opened his mouth wide. She’d seen the gleam of Jeff’s teeth in the light when he spoke, and she had seen Sydney’s. Each of them had four tiny fangs. In Jeff’s case, they were much longer.
Aeric, however, had perfectly normal human teeth.
Kailah nodded. “Fine. I’ll trust you, but I’m riding in the back with her.”
“Done,” Aeric said. “Brett, go get the car.”
Aeric gently reached under Rachel and lifted her. She groaned, and he looked at her with what Kailah could almost swear was sadness.
“Shh. It’s going to be okay,” he told her softly. “I promise. Everything will be okay.”
Chapter Ten
Kailah and Doug both followed him out of the alley, and within a few seconds, Brett was pulling over to meet them. She opened the back door to the Dodge Charger and climbed in first, allowing her to help Aeric guide her friend onto her lap.
Once the door slammed shut, Aeric jumped in the passenger side, and Brett hit the gas.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Kailah murmured to Rachel. “I swear… I’m going to figure all this out. I’m going to learn how to use whatever power I have, and I’m going to kill him for this. I swear it.”
Tears filled her eyes as she checked Rachel’s pulse. It was shallow, but it was there. Not much longer, she thought. We’re almost there.
“The entrance to the hospital is right up there.” She exhaled, relieved it would soon be over. But that relief quickly faded the moment they passed the entrance. “Whoa, hey. You just passed it.” She pointed out the window while looking at Brett.
“We’re not going there,” Brett said, looking at her in the rear-view mirror.
“Oh. The other hospital? Neither one is better than the other. Just get her there, fast,” Kailah replied.
There were three hospitals grouped together in the city, one of which was a children’s hospital. When they passed the first, she had assumed they would go to the second, but she soon discovered that was also wrong.
“What the fuck is going on?” Kailah asked, her heart speeding up. “Where are you taking us? You just passed the other fucking entrance! She needs a hospital!”
“We’re taking her to someone who can help,” Aeric said.
“Obviously the fuck not! The hospitals are back there. The doctors are back there.”
Aeric turned around in his seat. “And exactly what did you plan to tell them? Hmm? What happened to Rachel? What attacked her?”
“Uh… I…”
“Exactly. You don’t have a clue what to say. But you’ll have to come up with something. And when you do, you’ll have to tell a team of doctors, nurses, and then finally—police. That’s a lot of people. A lot of chances to mess up the story. Then who is going to look guilty? You. Who might end up being the one arrested? You. If not that, you’ll have to give a bogus description, and they will continue to hunt someone who doesn’t exist until they find someone who looks exactly like your description and arrest an innocent man. Is that what you want?”
“I
fucking hate you.” The words spilled out with almost no control. She had no idea where they came from or why she had no filter right then. While she did feel quite a lot of disdain for the man, she couldn’t believe she’d been so rude. That wasn’t like her at all.
He didn’t even seem fazed by it at all. “Like it or not, you’re going to have to trust us. We are not trying to hurt you. I could have grabbed you and left her to die in the alley if I had wanted to. I’m a lot bigger than you,” Aeric said, his voice surprisingly firm.
Kailah sat back, unsure of what to say. He was definitely right about what would happen at the hospital. She’d been part of many cases where the family had to explain over and over again to doctor after doctor; then when the police came, they’d had to explain it repeatedly there, too.
“I just don’t want her to die,” Kailah said, a sob escaping her.
Aeric nodded. “I know. She’s not doing very good, but she’s stable. Just keep checking her pulse. As long as it’s beating and she’s breathing, we have time. She shouldn’t bleed out, but she’s already lost a lot of blood. Just try to relax. She can hear you. You’re all she has right now, so you need to be strong for her.”
Like him or not, he was right. At that moment, she was in no position to protest. She couldn’t get away. She couldn’t go anywhere. Rachel needed her, and she needed her to be strong.
Kailah sat back reluctantly. Her mind was so cluttered, she couldn’t think. It felt as though hundreds of thoughts were swimming through so fast that she couldn’t focus on any of them.
The street lamps illuminated the inside of the car, Rachel’s bloody and bruised face brightening every time they went under one. Tears continued to stream down Kailah’s face as she gently brushed Rachel’s matted hair back.
Fifteen minutes later—fifteen minutes longer than she had expected Rachel to last—they pulled into the driveway of a large, beautiful, suburban house. The yard was larger than what was typical for a city.
The area was on the outskirts of Louisville, and each home looked as though it had an extra lot placed between them. This house had a beautiful white privacy fence around the backyard, and she could smell chlorine from a pool she imagined was in the back when Aeric opened the car door.
He gently pulled Rachel out, and Kailah helped him as much as she could with what little strength she had. Just as he had before, he picked her best friend up with grace and gentleness that moved her in spite of her unexplained hatred of him.
They made their way up the driveway and onto a large porch. Brett quickly opened the door for them, and Kailah began to feel woozy before she even made it to the threshold.
Her legs began to shake, and her stomach began to twist and turn. A headache was coming on faster than any other she’d ever had, and she was afraid to take another step, but she knew she had to.
A strong arm wrapped around her waist, and she looked over to see Brett steadying her. “It’s okay,” he said. “We’re almost inside, and you can sit down.”
Once Kailah was inside, Brett closed the door and went to help Aeric lay Rachel out on a stunning—and expensive looking—white sofa. Well, that’s ruined, Kailah thought to herself.
Her head throbbed, and she cried out as she gripped the sides, groaning deep in her throat. “What’s happening?” she managed to choke out.
“Try to relax,” Aeric said.
She opened her eyes, her rage suddenly spiking at just the simple sound of his voice. At that moment, she felt murderous. She wanted to hurt him like she’d hurt Jeff, and she had no idea why or how. He was human!
Her head throbbed again, stopping her in her tracks as she began to cross the room toward him. Her body was acting on its own. She couldn’t seem to stop herself.
Then she felt something, an overwhelming presence in the room, watching her. She turned to her left. Her eyes barely focused on the petite, dark complected, raven-haired woman who was slowly descending the stairs. She couldn’t see the features of her face, but she could make out her shape and general attributes.
The very sight of her brought a myriad of emotions. She was torn between wanting to murder the strange woman and just curling up in a ball from pain and throwing up everywhere.
The closer the woman came, the worse the feeling became. Soon, the woman was standing on the last step. She seemed to be staring at Kailah, but she couldn’t tell because of her fuzzy vision.
The woman took one more step, and Kailah’s mind seemed to break. Pain exploded in her head, her entire body suddenly feeling like it was being rolled in hot coals. Her muscles tightened as much as they could, and she could feel unconsciousness descending upon her.
The very last thing she heard before darkness finally took her was the woman’s accented voice. “Grab her.”
Chapter Eleven
Kailah awoke, but she found it was very difficult to open her eyes. She groaned, still feeling a lot of pain in both her head and body. Her stomach still wanted to rebel, but she hoped it would go away soon. This life was getting harder and harder to deal with—not easier.
“Try not to move, child,” said an accented feminine voice.
Kailah found the motivation to open her eyes then, sitting bolt upright on what turned out to be a couch. This couch was an off-white, creamy color, and she was in an enclosed room. Not in the living room where she had been before.
This room was even bigger than her living room at home. Across the room on the exterior wall was a seventy-plus inch wall between large arched windows. On the left wall was a full-length, built-in bookshelf, and on the right side was another overstuffed couch and two overstuffed recliners.
The woman she had seen on the staircase earlier was sitting on the arm of the couch across the room.
“I’ll stay over here for now. Your body is still adjusting to my presence.”
As Kailah’s eyes adjusted, she was finally able to see the woman’s features. Emerald green eyes. Obsidian hair worn high in a tight ponytail that hung all the way down her back and partway down the side of the couch. She had deep olive-toned skin and Egyptian features. She was stunningly beautiful.
Also, very familiar.
Kailah immediately recognized her from her dreams as well as the picture hanging behind the bar at the club.
“You’re the Vampire queen.”
The woman nodded. “I’m Khanae. It’s so nice to finally meet you. How are you feeling, minus the obvious?”
Kailah lifted her hands. “Sometimes—” she bounced her right hand “—I want to burn you alive. And sometimes—” she bounced her left “—I want to puke so hard my insides come out, and I die.”
Khanae smiled. “And how’s that going for you?”
Kailah shrugged. “It varies from moment to moment.”
The queen laughed. “It’ll pass. I’m very old and very strong. Your body isn’t a fan of me right now.”
“I can tell. So, what happens next?”
“Next is the hard part. You step into your new life,” the Vampire said.
“Considering I want to burn this house to the ground with you inside it, I don’t see how I’m going to be much help.”
Khanae nodded. “Khia, who is technically the queen of your people, was the first supernatural creature to exist—minus demons and gods, of course. Anubis—though it was purely accidental—had a hand in creating me. He tried so hard to chase me away from my fate but instead drove me right to it. Not long after, he created Werewolves.”
“By accident?” Kailah replied sarcastically.
Smiling, the queen said, “No. That was very much on purpose. He created the Wolves as a failsafe in case I became a murderous bitch like Khia.”
“I’m assuming that didn’t happen,” Kailah said.
“You’d assume correctly. But even together, the Wolf queen and I have not been able to best Khia. It’s a very long story, but one you will learn eventually. Right now, your body and mind are not in sync. Your powers are awakening, and they are controlli
ng your body. They are telling your brain danger, danger, so your brain triggers the release of adrenaline and puts your fight or flight response into overdrive—even when you’re not in danger.
“That’s why you’re always so sick around Vampires. I am the oldest and most powerful, so I had a much greater effect on you. Sayen tried binding your powers a bit while you slept, but you’re already too powerful to control. She was only able to tone it down enough that you can stand to be in the same room with me. But once you get used to me, you’ll calm down.”
“But that doesn’t sound like a good thing. I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Kailah said, giving a short laugh, “I want this pain and sickness to go away quick, fast, and in a hurry. But if it does, doesn’t that put me in danger?”
Khanae shook her head. “Once you learn to use your mind to sense Vampires, your body will tingle when one is near. You won’t feel violently ill. Right now, your powers are out of control and trying to get your attention. Once you gain some control, you’ll be able to sense us from farther away. You’ll be in no danger.”
Kailah nodded. “Okay. Fair enough. So, what caused this war, and why am I supposed to fight in it?”
“I suppose that’s a fair question. Thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, Khia was an Egyptian princess. The Pharaoh and his queen were incredible people. You won’t find them in history books because Khia had all traces of them destroyed. Though, I suspect if someone were to dig deep enough, they’d unearth evidence of their existence.
“Khia was a beautiful, sweet little girl. I was a slave, although I was treated much better than most slaves under that Pharaoh and queen, who treated all their people very well. I tended to Khia every day and watched her grow. Over the years, she turned cold and manipulative. Power was never enough for her, and that hunger only grew over time.”
“You were her slave?” Kailah asked. “It’s hard to believe a queen would ever be a slave.”
