B005EMAYWS EBOK Read online

  Summer repeated what the girl said. The look on Marius’ face told her that she’d hit a nerve.

  “What does it mean?” she asked.

  Marius turned away, a look of sheer torment on his face. “The first time we were together … I spread rose petals across her bed.”

  “She is trying to tell you that your quest for revenge is for nothing,” Summer told him.

  Marius stared at her, his eyes empty and vacant.

  Marius sensed their presence, even before Summer saw them enter the mineshaft from the darkness beyond the reach of the lantern’s light. Turning sharply, his body instinctively shifted into a defensive stance.

  These gods of darkness were so beautiful, but yet so utterly depraved. Their black clothing would help to camouflage them as they took to the night for the hunt, but there was no way to overlook that ethereal light in their eyes. These vampires were killers - their souls knew nothing else.

  All three vampires were male, and in the few seconds that Summer had to sum up the situation, she realized that she would not stand a chance against them. She might take out one before they destroyed her, but not all three. And they were there to destroy her, she sensed that strongly.

  The vampire that stood in the middle was tall, and though his pale skin might have spurred the illusion of frailty to some, it only made him appear more sinister. His dark eyes glittered with the promise of death.

  “Really Marius … you are becoming sloppy.” The vampire’s voice was like ice. “It was too easy to track you here.”

  “What do you want?” Marius demanded.

  “Just the girl Marius. You are free to continue your pathetic existence.”

  Marius positioned himself between Summer and the vampires. “What do you want with her?”

  “Judgment has been passed. She is too lethal to our kind and must be destroyed.”

  “Is Omar such a coward that he cannot take her out alone … that he must send his minions to do the deed for him?”

  Omar was a Lord among the immortals and Marius’ words were considered blasphemy, but he didn’t seem to care.

  “Move out of the way Marius!” The vampire voice quivered with fury. “If you choose to protect her, you will also be destroyed.”

  Summer stood up so that she would be ready if they attacked. Even if she didn’t stand a chance, at least she could take one of them with her when she died.

  Marius stood his ground, refusing to move.

  The vampire pulled a machete from a sheath that hung at his waist. “If this is the way you want it,” he shrugged.

  There was a sudden flurry of movement. The vampire swung the machete, but Marius was able to avoid the blade. There was no time to see what would happen next - one of the vampire’s companions was coming at her.

  The vampire flew through the air, swooping down on her. She was able to hit the ground and roll out of the way, but she could not avoid the blow to the head when he swung at her.

  He was on her with a large knife poised above her throat. Throwing her head to the side, she sank her fangs into his shoulder. With one hand, she swiped at his face with her claws, laying his flesh open.

  Before the rapid healing process of the vampire could repair his wounds, he fell to the ground and began convulsing, a few seconds later he was still. Giving no thought to what she’d done, she rolled away from her attacker and jumped to her feet. Glancing at Marius, she saw that he was still holding his own, but there was a deep gash in his side that was seeping blood.

  There was no time to think. The third vampire was already on the attack. He hit her with incredible force, knocking her into the wall. These vampires would fight until they had been destroyed. To return to their master and report failure would mean a sentence worse than death.

  The vampire grabbed her hair, obviously intending to rip her head from her body. In that instant she felt him pulled away from her. Her attacker lay sprawled on the ground, the wolf’s powerful jaws clamped tightly around his throat. As Summer watched, the wolf tore away the vampire’s throat, rapidly jerking back and forth until the head was severed.

  With blood dripping from its mouth, the beast turned toward Marius and the other vampire. Realizing that he was now the target of the wolf, Marius’ opponent turned away from him to face the beast. Swinging the machete wildly, he went on the attack.

  Summer felt terror ripping at her insides. Unlike the vampire, any wound the wolf received could be lethal. With no thought for her own safety, she leaped on the vampire to knock him off balance.

  The wolf’s teeth were tearing at the vampire’s arm in an attempt to loosen his grip on the blade. Summer went for his throat, her teeth easily piercing through his flesh and into the artery in his neck. She hadn’t fed yet and her thirst for blood overwhelmed her. Even as her victim convulsed and died, she could not stop feeding.

  “Don’t feed on him,” Marius’ warned, his voice weak.

  She felt his arms around her, pulling her away from the vampire, and she instinctively turned on him. Summer’s fangs sliced through the flesh of Marius’ hand. Startled, he jumped away from her.

  As Summer forced the hunger back, the fog lifted from her brain. She stared at Marius, horrified by what she’d done. He had killed her friend and numerous others, but he was her maker and protector. Her ties to him were strong.

  Summer crawled over to him. He was shaking but not yet in full convulsions. He’d only received a small amount of poison, but it was enough to kill. He would die, just not as quickly as the others had.

  She grabbed his hand and held it in hers.

  “I love you,” he whispered. “That was always real.”

  Summer shook her head. “You loved an idea.”

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice raspy and weak.

  Marius’ eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body started jumped around violently. A moment later he was dead.

  Summer had no time to think about what would come next. Splinters of excruciating pain spread through her stomach, doubling her over. She thought she heard someone calling her name. When she looked for the source of the voice, she saw that Anton had shed the wolf’s form and was reaching out to pick her up. She felt him lift her into his arms and cradle her ice-cold body against his warm chest. Everything went black.

  * * *

  Summer became aware that a tube was being threaded down her throat. She blinked, trying to open her eyes, but her eyelids were so heavy. Her body was dying for a second time. The pain she was feeling couldn’t mean anything else.

  She could hear the low whispering of several people. Among the voices she thought she heard her mother and father. Summer wanted to see them at least once more, but she couldn’t will her eyes to open.

  * * *

  Anton had been at her side for hours, and though she was showing some improvement, it was slow. She’d done one of the worst things a vampire could do, feeding on another vampire. The blood of their own kind could easily destroy a vampire, and at the very least, would cause a grotesque mutation. Summer had shown no signs of mutation, but she was barely clinging to life.

  Beth had said it was probably the shifter blood in her that had made the poison less potent. The witch had been feeding Summer some type of concoction to heal her damaged cells. It seemed to be working, but gradually.

  Leaning over, he kissed her forehead. Her skin was still so cold it was hard to believe that she was actually improving, but she was. It was time for him to leave. As long as he knew that she would be okay, there was no reason to stay.

  Though she would deny it, Anton felt sure that her heart belonged to the vampire Marius. He’d seen the passion in the vampire’s eyes and the sorrow on Summer’s face. Although Marius was dead, Anton would not try and compete with his memory.

  His eyes took in every last detail of Summer’s face. He knew it would likely be the last time he saw her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  At last Summer was able to sit up in the bed.
It had taken days, but she was finally alert enough to recognize her surroundings. She was in the cabin that her father kept at Beaver Creek. The windows had been covered to keep the sunlight from entering the room so she could not tell if it were day or night.

  On the bedside table a candle flickered, casting its golden light over the room. Right now she was alone, but she knew that her parents had been there earlier, she remembered hearing their voices.

  As Summer tried to recall what had happened, the bedroom door opened. A middle-aged woman came in carrying a glass of white liquid. There was something oddly familiar about the woman, but at the moment Summer just couldn’t place it.

  The woman’s deep green eyes sparkled with humor and a smile spread across her face. “I’m glad to see that you are up and can drink this. Now we don’t have to give it to you through a feeding tube.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s my own creation. It is meant to repair the cell damage that results from the vampire poison. It seems to be working,” she added.

  “Do I know you from somewhere?” Summer asked.

  “I think you know my daughter, Sarah.”

  “Oh!” Summer’s mouth dropped open.

  “Now here, drink this down.” Beth lifted the glass to Summer’s lips. The liquid tasted sour, and a little moldy, but Summer forced it down.

  “If I’m right, this should help to reverse all the damage done to your body by the poison.”

  “You mean I could be normal again?” Summer asked, awed by the possibility.

  “Well maybe not completely, but to a point. We’ve found that it helps the vampire tolerate the sun better, but it also slows down the regeneration of cells so that they do not heal as easily. That would mean that you would age, it would just happen a little slower.”

  “What about having children?”

  Beth shrugged. “We haven’t tested that yet,” she told Summer as she put the glass to her lips again.

  Summer pushed the glass away. “I do want to try this, but I have to wait. There’s something I need to do and I think I will need to stay the way I am.”

  Beth stared at Summer, her eyes full of curiosity.

  “I have to help your daughter and her sisters. I believe that is my fate.”

  Beth turned away. “What you’ve experienced so far with the vampire is nothing. If you girls go after the ancients …”

  “If we don’t, Omar will kill your daughter and the rest of us.”

  Smiling sadly, Beth told her, “I’m afraid that Omar will be the least of the dangers you’ll face. That’s why I’ve spent so much time in Outerlands. We must cleanse the population of the unnatural vampires. Only then will you girls and mankind stand a chance.”

  “What do you mean?” Summers drew her brows together.

  Beth pulled a chain from around her neck and gave it to Summer. On the end was a flat - gold pentagram. “Give this to my daughter when you see her. Tell her that I will keep my promise … I will come for her.”

  Before Summer could say anything, the door opened and her mother walked in. “It’s good to see you up,” Laura smiled. Leaning down she gave her daughter a hug.

  Summer most resembled her mother, though Laura was a lot more petite.

  “I feel much better,” Summer told her.

  “Beth is one witch that can work wonders,” Laura said.

  There was something that had been troubling Summer since the moment she’d opened her eyes. “Where is Anton? Is he okay?”

  “Anton’s fine,” her mother told her. “He received some injuries but nothing serious.”

  “Where is he?”

  Laura avoided meeting her daughter’s eyes. “He had to go away. But he was here with you until he knew you would be okay.”

  “Where did he go,” Summer wanted to know.

  “I don’t know honey. He just left.”

  Summer pulled the covers back and tried to leave the bed. “I have to find him.”

  Beth gently pushed her back against the pillows. “Not yet. You’re not strong enough.”

  “But …”

  “There will be time enough for that later,” Beth shook her head. “Right now you need to drink more of my mixture to get your strength back.”

  Beth handed her another glass filled with the blood mixture.

  “This is Dash’s recipe.”

  “No, he only thought that it was. It’s another invention of mine. It was my familiar that he found on the road that night. We arranged it so that we could give him the instructions to make it. He doesn’t remember of course,” she added.

  “He’ll be disappointed,” Summer frowned.

  “I think he already knows.”

  Giving in, Summer took the drink. She was willing to do whatever it took to get well enough to search for Anton. Despite what Marius had said, Anton had come after her and he had helped save her.

  * * *

  Summer looked for Anton, but he was not in any of the places that she thought he would go. She’d been certain that he’d go to his hideout in the old ghost town, but he wasn’t there. The door was still torn from its hinges and it didn’t appear as if anyone had been there since the night Marius found them.

  She hoped that he had not returned to Outerlands. If he had, he would be completely out of her reach, but Summer didn’t think that he’d left Wyoming. There was a call for war, and Anton was a warrior. He would go into battle with the wolves.

  Summer still didn’t have the ability to take to the air so she was forced to search for him on foot. Thousands of wolves had come together at Beaver Creek, but he was not among them. Anton had always been somewhat of a loner and she had no doubt that he would want his solitude. If he was near, it is possible that he had gone further into the mountains.

  Already the moon was nearly full again. It was difficult for her to believe that it had already been a month since Marius was killed and she became ill. She could not remember seeing Anton after he’d picked her up and took her out of the mineshaft, but she’d been told that he’d been at her bedside for days.

  The sorrow squeezed at her heart. She’d fought for so long for his love, just to lose it. That was not something that she was willing to accept.

  Summer kept to the shadows of the forest where the moonlight couldn’t reach. The less noticeable she was the better. Far in the distance she heard the baying of wolves. The Sungmanitu were on the prowl. Hunting by the light of the full moon was bliss to the wolves.

  Anton would be hunting too. She realized that her search would have been so much easier if she could have done it during the day, but she was still confined to darkness.

  A tiny flicker of light caught her eye. Summer stopped and turned in that direction. Through the thick pines she could see firelight some distance away. She started moving - now she had direction. It could be just campers, but it even if it were, she should warn them that it was unsafe to be out tonight.

  As she moved closer, her keen sense of smell picked up the scent of the wolf. Summer’s heart soared.

  It could be Anton!

  She started running. The only thing that she could think about was seeing him again. The time that she’d been without him she had existed in a black haze of grief.

  If she could just touch him once more.

  Summer came to a clearing in the trees where a small fire burned. He was there, standing by the fire with his back turned toward her. He was wearing jeans, but was naked from the waist up. Oh how she longed to scrape her nails across his back again!

  Her heart screamed at her to jump right into his arms, but she held back. She knew she must take it slow.

  Summer stepped into the clearing. “I thought you would be out hunting.”

  “And what makes you think that I’m not hunting?” he asked without turning to face her. “Maybe I have set a trap.”

  Moving closer to him, Summer could not resist any longer and she reach out to touch his back. “What kind of trap?”

  He in
haled sharply when her hand made contact with his skin. “The kind that you set for a vampire.”

  “Would you kill me Anton?” Summer was alarmed by his words. Ultimately she knew she would not care if killing her were his intention. One last moment with him was worth her life.

  “Did I say that?” he asked, finally turning to look at her.

  “What do you mean then?”

  “Maybe I wanted to see where your heart would take you … back to the vampires, or to me.”

  Summer grabbed his hand and placed it over her heart. “I have loved you for almost as long as I can remember. My heart belongs to you and only you.”

  “Even if I am your natural enemy?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “If that is what you are, I would rather die in the arms of my enemy, that live an eternity without you.”

  Anton pulled her into his arms and his lips were on hers. Summer felt so much happiness in that moment that she was sure it could never get better, but she was wrong.

  Anton’s lips moved to her ear. “I love you”

  “It’s not just sex then?”

  “It never was. I just couldn’t risk something taking you from me.”

  “He is dead now,” Summer told him.

  Anton stepped back and stared down at her with gray - stormy eyes. “Is he? Will your heart still long for him in the years to come?”

  Summer shook her head. “It never did Anton. I just felt compassion for him.”

  Getting on her tiptoes, she brushed his lips with a kiss. “It was always you and always will be.”

  His arms tightened around her waist until she was crushed against him. In all her life she’d never been so happy. Everything she’d ever dreamed of had just come true. Anton loved her. No mattered what happened in the days ahead, she knew that his love would make her strong enough to conquer any enemy, including her own dark nature.

  * * *

  Kathrina sat inside the gazebo, thankful that it shielded her from the sun and brought some relief from the afternoon heat. Thick green vines hugged the rails of the gazebo and a variety of flowers grew nearby, their sweet aroma strong in the thick - humid air. From where she was sitting, she could see the back of the house and would be forewarned if anyone came looking for her.