B005EMAYWS EBOK Read online

  “I know you think I am being overly cautious, but you have no idea what the immortals are capable of. They are not something you have ever had to deal with before. Without the ability to shift, you are just as vulnerable as any human.”

  “The sun is up. Won’t they all be in hiding?”

  “There are a few that can withstand sunlight for short periods of time, plus they have human helpers. Even during daylight, you will need to take care,” he tried to explain.

  She gave him a strained smile. Summer didn’t really mind that he was being protective over her. She just wished that she knew that it was because he loved her, and not out of a sense of duty.

  * * *

  The bleak desert landscape did little to hold her attention. Summer found that she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer and she fell into a fitful sleep. When she finally woke, the sun was nearly gone from the sky.

  “Where are we?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

  “We just crossed into Wyoming. At the next town we will stop for the night.”

  “Thank God!” Summer tried to stretch, but was too confined by her seatbelt.

  Anton pulled into the first motel they saw. Coming to a stop in front of the office, he left the car running while he went in to register. The motel was like many that could be found in small towns across the country. There was nothing particularly memorable about it, with the exception of the peeling white paint and the old wagon wheels that were placed in various locations around the property.

  A few minutes later, Anton returned. He got in the car and drove about forty feet, before parking in front of room ten.

  “It’s not much, but at least we can get some rest,” he said with a tense smile.

  “Looks fine to me.”

  Summer grabbed her small bag and stood by the door while he unlocked it. Inside, there were two double beds, a TV, and not much else. Sinking onto one of the beds, Summer picked up the remote from the nightstand and switched on the TV. Finding nothing of interest, she turned it off.

  “Did you want the shower first?” he asked, dropping his bag on the other bed.

  Summer shook her head. “No, go ahead.”

  “You know Summer … I didn’t want it to be like this.”

  “I know Anton, but what bothers me is that you are so eager to send me to another man’s bed.”

  Anton looked away, avoiding eye contact. “That’s not true,” he whispered.

  Summer watched in silence as he left the room. A short time later she heard the shower running. This time tomorrow she would be with her parents, and her chance with Anton might be gone forever.

  Making up her mind that she wasn’t going to let him go that easily, Summer got off the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom door. Hoping that it wouldn’t be locked, she reached out to turn the doorknob. It turned with no trouble and she quietly slipped inside. The bathroom was full of steam, but she could still see him through the clear plastic shower curtain. His eyes were closed, and he stood motionless beneath the spray of hot water.

  Without making any noise, Summer slipped off her clothes and pulled the plastic curtain aside to step into the shower with him. His eyes flew open, but before he could protest, Summer quieted him with her lips.

  If Anton had reservations about having her in the shower with him, they were quickly dispelled. He pulled her against his hard - wet body and returned her kiss with a savage urgency that made her quiver in anticipation of what was to come.

  Anton’s hands traveled to the back of her thighs, as he simultaneously pulled her tight against his stiffening flesh. Moaning, Summer rubbed against him with her stomach. A deep growl resounded from his throat.

  Breaking their kiss, Anton leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Girl, you would not be so anxious for me to take you again, if you knew the consequences.”

  “I don’t care! I need for us to make love tonight.” Summer told him as she took his stiff flesh into her hand and began stroking him gently.

  Anton kissed her again, while he sought her wet - burning core. Summer bucked against his fingers, while his thumb teased her tingling peak. Her tongue danced with his until his lips left hers. She felt his teeth nipping at her jaw as he made his way to her neck.

  She squeezed his flesh harder. With hot water streaming over them, he backed her up against the shower wall. Anton’s large hands moved to her hips. He easily lifted her off her feet, and lowered her body until he had impaled her.

  Summer gasped when she felt him enter her so abruptly. The pain of accepting him within her so rapidly - was a sweet, erotic pain. She could not help but scream at the utterly exotic feeling of his savage hunger. Her pleasure seemed to send him into an animal like frenzy, and he moved wildly within her.

  “I can’t get enough of you,” he growled as he was driving into her with everything he had.

  Though his size made his lovemaking painful, the pain added to the eroticism of their encounter. Anton’s hunger was like a drug that she couldn’t get enough of.

  She felt an explosion of heat between her legs, and she plummeted into a mind - blowing release. One last thrust and he erupted within her, sending her into sweet bliss once again.

  With her legs and arms still tightly wrapped around him, Summer kissed his lips gently. “I love … you,” she said between deep breaths.

  Squeezing her tighter, Anton kissed her tenderly.

  Summer’s heart ached. Still he would not speak of his feelings. Was he just being stubborn, or did he truly not have any feelings for her?

  * * *

  He watched from the shadows, beyond the neon lights of the motel. Even when he saw their room go dark, he still waited. It had been too easy to find them. The wolf’s scent was overpowering among the humans. He’d followed them until daybreak, and then picked up their trail once the sun had set.

  Before he had been guessing - simply killing every woman the wolf had come in contact with. He had not known which woman the wolf held close to his heart, but now he knew. Now the wolf would pay and he would pay with the blood of his beloved.

  Marius was patient. He would wait until they felt safest, and then he would strike.

  * * *

  The explosive sound of splintering wood brought Summer out of a deep sleep. Before she had time to react, she was pulled from the bed, where she had been sleeping next to Anton. It all happened so quickly that Anton barely had time to stir before she was being dragged out through the gaping hole, where the door had been only seconds before.

  Screaming, Summer watched in terror as she rose above the ground. Below, she saw Anton emerge from the room. His eyes were glowing yellow with rage - the bones in his face twisting as the wolf’s spirit erupted within his soul.

  But wolves could not fly.

  She was at the mercy of this immortal, and she had no doubt that her fate would be the same as Penny’s.

  They rose higher into the night sky. The vision of Anton retreating, until he was so far away that she could no longer see him. Without regard to the consequence, Summer struggled against her captor.

  “Foolish girl,” he growled.

  They came down on the desert floor, miles away from where he’d taken her. The vampire held her tight with one arm, as he pulled something from his pocket. Summer felt a prickling pain in her leg, and then she descended into black nothingness.

  * * *

  Anton struggled to push his rage back so that he could hold onto his human form. A wolf could stand against an immortal, but it would be a lot more difficult to track him through the air. He would need his reasoning, and just maybe he could get to Summer before she was killed.

  Though he regained his form, his rage still boiled within him, and there was something else. He was experiencing emotion that he could not remember feeling before this moment. He was feeling fear and pain. As he’d watched the immortal lift her into the sky, he’d felt his heart being ripped from his chest.

  The others had been killed within a couple of days, excep
t Penny. She had been killed instantly. The vampire had murdered the women that he’d seen Anton with, but he suspected that now the immortal knew the truth. It was Summer that held his heart. The vampire had realized this, even before he himself had.

  He could not endure the pain of losing her to death. It would drive him insane. When his wife had been taken from him, he had experienced grief, but it paled in comparison to what he was feeling now. Anton knew that is exactly why she’d been taken from him. It was retribution for something he’d done a very long time ago. But with the immortals, not even an eternity was long enough to forget.

  When the Sungmanitu pack found out about Summer, there would be a war with the immortals.

  Anton shook with rage. A war with the vampires was exactly what he wanted, but not before he could get Summer back.

  “You must try and avoid a war with the immortals.” The singsong voice came from behind him.

  Anton spun around, unsure of what to expect. Though he had never encountered the Gatekeeper personally, he knew that’s who he was looking at. Sirus was even taller than Anton. He had long brown hair that fell past his wide shoulders. It was his eyes that gave away the fact that he was not human. They were like a reflection of a summer sky one moment, but would turn as black as night the next. The eyes of the Gatekeeper were a reflection of the natural world - the world that Sirus helped the Sungmanitu protect.

  “There must be.” Anton frowned. “They have taken Gray Eagle’s daughter.”

  The Gatekeeper shook his head. “It is not the immortals that have taken her, but a solitary vampire.”

  “It makes no difference. They are killing recklessly. Soon the humans will figure out that the vampire exists, and then us. When the Sungmanitu find out about Summer, they will call for war.”

  “That is why you must not tell Gray Eagle … at least not yet,” Sirus smiled.

  “He would kill me if I did not.”

  “Before we let this lead into a war that could last for centuries, you must seek the assistance of the immortal sisters.”

  “I don’t have any idea what you are talking about.” Anton was becoming agitated. The Gatekeeper was supposed to be the apex of wisdom, but what he was saying made no sense. He was a Zen warrior, and his instinct was to go on the attack when someone trespassed against the wolves.

  “There will come a time when the wolves must accept the presence of the immortals. The sisters are the chosen ones. They can help cleanse the immortals, and bring them to nature. Summer is their link to nature and to the wolves. She must live … and she will live, but there cannot be war.”

  “Where do I find them?” Anton asked.

  “Lex will know. He is near the gathering site at Beaver Creek.” The Gatekeeper nodded to Anton, and in a flash he was gone.

  Chapter Seven

  Layers of darkness peeled away from his consciousness, and he began to wake. His sleep had been so deep that he felt as if he were coming back from death. Blinking rapidly, Dash tried to make his eyes work, but everything was a blur. He’d been drugged, that much was obvious.

  Dash had no idea where he was, or how long he’d been out. Lifting his arms from his sides, he was relieved that at least his limbs were not bound. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he took in his surroundings. He seemed to be in some type of dungeon. The walls were made of large gray rocks, and the front of his cell was closed off with rusty bars. The only thing between him and the earthen floor was the filthy mattress that he’d been lying on.

  “I guess I should be glad that they haven’t killed me yet,” he muttered to himself.

  He tried to stand up, but as soon as he put weight on his feet, the room swayed and he fell to his knees. Whatever they’d given him was still messing with his sense of balance. Giving up, he crawled to the bars to see what was beyond his little dungeon cell. All he could see was a large corridor lined with cells similar to the one he was in. There were torches placed along the rock walls to illuminate the passageway.

  On the other side of the corridor was another cell. A set of wild eyes peered at him from behind the cell’s bars. The eyes were set in a face with so much hair, that at first Dash wasn’t sure if he was looking at a beast or a man.

  “What is this place?” Dash asked, though he wasn’t sure if the man would even understand the question.

  “You’re a bloodsucker … yes?” The man’s voice was rough, as if his throat was lined with sandpaper.

  “What of it?” Dash glared at him.

  The man erupted in a fit of laughter.

  Dash shook his head in disgust. The only person he had to talk to was an insane werewolf. That would just be his luck.

  He was ready to turn away from the bars that held him prisoner when the man’s laughter died away.

  “I’ll bet you think you were lucky … getting through to Outerlands.” Again the man laughed hysterically.

  Dash didn’t respond. He had to be in some type of prison for the mentally disturbed.

  The man’s giggling stopped abruptly. “You are in the Keep.”

  “What’s the Keep,” Dash asked.

  “That’s where they put all of the undesirables in Outerlands. Those creatures that are a danger to man and beast.”

  “So what will they do to me?” Dash questioned him, though he wasn’t all that sure he could believe anything the man said.

  “Probably execute you. It’s been a long time since a vampire made it to this side. I think that is what they will do to you.”

  “Isn’t there anyone I can talk with? Maybe someone that will see reason?”

  “No one that will listen to a vampire.” The man smiled to reveal rows of sharp – white teeth.

  Dash leaned his head against the bars and closed his eyes. Had his search really done nothing but bring him to his end?

  * * *

  When Summer opened her eyes she was in complete darkness. She could feel the cold cement beneath her, and when she moved, her muscles screamed in protest. The pain let her know that at least she was still alive.

  The last thing she remembered was hitting the ground, and then the needle going into her leg. Summer concluded that the vampire must have drugged her in order to keep her from struggling with him.

  Getting on her hands and knees, she crawled across the floor until she came to an object that blocked her progress. Reaching up, she felt it with her hand - hoping to identify it.

  Summer’s breath caught in her throat when she realized that the object she was feeling was a coffin.

  She was in a tomb, just like in her nightmare. Terror ripped at her mind, but she willed it away. She would need all of her wits to survive, if she could survive. Summer hadn’t the slightest idea how to fight a vampire.

  Moving away from the coffin, Summer leaned her back against a wall. She had to assume that she was being held in the same way as the vampire had held his other victims. At least he hadn’t killed her right away. That might mean that she had a couple of days to try and escape. But how could she get out of a tomb?

  If there had been even a small amount of light, she could at least see outlines of darker areas and find her way around, but no light made it into this place of death. She would need to use her hands to guide her. Scooting away from the wall, Summer held her hand out in front of her and moved slowly until she found what she believed to be stairs. Those stairs would lead her to the door.

  There was no rail to guide her, so Summer stayed on her hands and knees. She crawled up the stairs until she reached the top. The door was made of heavy wood, and it was locked from the outside. She made a fist and started pounding.

  “Help! I’m locked in here!” she screamed.

  She had no idea if it was day or night, but it was possible someone might hear her.

  The vampire would be sleeping if the sun were out. If the crypt she was being held in were in a cemetery, there would likely be a caretaker.

  Determined not to have her life end the same as all of the other
victims of the vampire, Summer screamed at the top of her lungs and continued pounding on the door.

  Anton would be looking for her, and so would her father.

  Out of breath, Summer gave up for the time being. Closing her eyes, she pictured Anton’s face. Keeping him close to her heart was the only way she would make it through this nightmare.

  * * *

  Anton stared up at the silver moon, a mask of despair marring his handsome features. In the distance he could hear the wolves gathering at the large encampment around Beaver Creek. He had not yet sought out Justin Gray Eagle, Summer’s father. It was the Gatekeeper’s wish that Anton not tell Justin of his daughter’s fate.

  He wondered if he could keep this from the Sungmanitu leader. What if the vampire did kill Summer? How could he live with himself? How could he justify his silence?

  Anton was haunted by the vision of Summer as she looked the last time he held her in his arms. He could almost feel her at that moment. It was as if her essence was there with him - calling to him to save her and bring her home.

  Forcing his thoughts back to the moment, Anton peered below into the dark canyon. Lex was close. He’d picked up the Vilka’s scent not far from Beaver Creek and had tracked him to the cliff’s ledge.

  Though he’d be able to track Lex more efficiently if he were in his wolf’s body, he would be far too easily distracted. He had to stay in control if he were to have any hope of rescuing Summer from a sure death at the hands of that rogue vampire.

  Suddenly he picked up on the wolf’s scent even more strongly. He stood completely still - listening. There was movement in the trees behind him. Anton was ready to slip into a self-defense mode. His eyes changed to those of the wolf - their shimmering yellow radiance seeing far better in the dark than his man’s eyes.

  A shadow crept forward and he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. His caution quickly turning into full-blown rage as the beast within him made ready to take over. When Anton went into self-preservation mode, he would no longer be able to hold the wolf back.