B005EMAYWS EBOK Read online

  “It’s me … Lex!”

  Anton heard the words, but it took some time for their meaning to penetrate his impulse to attack.

  “Why are you tracking me?” Lex asked.

  “I need your help?” Anton told him, his voice still rough with the wolf’s growls.

  Lex watched him, his dark eyes seeming to take in every detail of his surroundings. At one time Lex was the leader of the Zen, but he’d turned bad and was banished from Outerlands. Would he care enough to help find Gray Eagle’s daughter?

  “What could a Zen warrior want from an old wolf that has been cast out from his pack?”

  “Summer Gray Eagle has been taken by a vampire. The same vampire that has been killing women in Reno,” Anton explained.

  Lex’s mouth turned down in a frown. “That is indeed a problem. I saw Summer not too long ago. She has been very helpful with my endeavors on this side.”

  “You and Summer working together?” Anton scowled.

  “She’s a good girl. I would hate to see anything happen to her.”

  “What has she been helping you with?” Anton wanted to know.

  “Vampire issues,” Lex smiled. “It could be why she was taken?”

  Anton shook his head. “No, it has to do with me. I did something a long time ago and it has continued to haunt me since. It is why I joined the Zen.”

  Lex’s smile was hard. “Please … enlighten me.”

  Anton turned away. “I’ve never told anyone about this.”

  “Well you must tell me if you have come to ask my help.”

  “When I was young, there was a gypsy girl who lived near my home in Romania. Sabina was so beautiful. I tried to resist her, but she was very persistent.”

  Anton took a deep breath before continuing. “I was with her once … only once, but she became pregnant. I obviously could not marry her and she was devastated. She took her own life. I have lived with this guilt since.”

  “That is unfortunate, but what does this have to do with some wayward vampire?”

  “This vampire fell in love with Sabina. He wanted to help her I think, but she would not have him. He blames me for Sabina’s suicide and has killed every woman that he thought I might care about. He killed my wife. It was then that I decided to live a solitary existence. I did not want to put any woman’s life in danger.”

  “So I take it that he believes you to be in love with Summer Gray Eagle?”

  Anton nodded.

  “Are you?” Lex glared at him through narrowed eyes.

  “Yes,” Anton whispered. “I swear I tried not to love her, but …”

  Lex made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Have you defiled her Anton? Have you forgotten your vow to the Zen?”

  “No I haven’t forgotten.” Anton shook his head. “But I have taken her to my bed, and I would do so again.”

  “Regardless of the fact that she is to marry your brother,” Lex frowned.

  “She refuses to marry.”

  “Does she even know that her betrothed is your brother?”

  “No, but it doesn’t matter. I love her and the only thing that I care about right now is getting her away from that vampire.” Anton’s voice rose, as did his frustration.

  “So how do you believe I can help you when I know nothing about this vampire?” Lex sighed.

  “The Gatekeeper came to me. He said to tell you that you must go to the immortal sisters. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but he believes they can help. He also said to tell you that Summer is important to the destiny of these sisters.”

  Lex arched one brow. “Did he say why?”

  “She is their connection to the wolves.”

  “I see. Well we don’t have any time to waste do we?” Lex told him before turning to leave.

  “Wait! I want to go with you,” Anton called after him.

  Lex stopped, but did not look back. “Anton, if you have a distaste for vampires then you will not want to go with me. I will not have my friends treated with anything but the utmost respect.”

  “Agreed,” Anton nodded.

  * * *

  Summer stirred at the sound of wood scraping against the concrete floor. She held her breath and listened. The door was opening, and as it did, a sense of déjà vu washed over her. She had already lived this moment in her dream.

  Summer had been in the dark for so long that she was forced to bring her hand up to shield her eyes from the radiance of the full moon.

  Her eyes adjusted to the light, but all she could see was an inky silhouette against the moonlit sky. He leaned in and grabbed her arm. Summer shivered when his cold hands made contact with her already chilled skin.

  The vampire pulled Summer to her feet and forced her out of the tomb. Though all she wore was the T-shirt that she’d gone to bed in, the night air was warm in comparison to the icy crypt.

  Her eyes wild with fright, Summer looked around, hoping to get some idea of where she was. It was an old cemetery. Many of the headstones had that gothic appearance common to the Victorian era. When the vampire snatched her from her bed, they’d been less than an hour away from Beaver Creek, but this looked nothing like Wyoming. There was an abundance of trees, and the grass was too green. The cemetery just wasn’t the type you would expect to find in Wyoming.

  Summer struggled to pull away from her captor, and for the first time she actually saw his face. She wasn’t sure what it was that she was expecting, but it wasn’t the person that was standing next to her.

  Sarah was the only vampire she had ever met, and she was a born vampire. Summer had to assume that those that were born with the blood of the immortal would be different. In her mind she had imagined that her captor would resemble monster or some type of pale - lifeless zombie.

  The vampire was pale, like she imagined he would be, but he was stunning. His was a beauty that was breathtaking, but sinister. His light brown hair curled softly around his ears, and his thick lashes managed to soften the glare of his dark eyes. Summer could not recall ever seeing eyes so black, or so piercing.

  “Where am I?” she asked.

  He stared at her - his silence deafening.

  “What do you want with me?” Summer glared at him, hoping that her defiance would provoke him into talking. If she could get him to talk, she might be able to forestall the moment that he would take her life.

  “You know what I am … don’t you?” His voice was soft, but still deeply masculine.

  Summer lifted her chin boldly. “Yes I know what you are, but do you know what I am … or who I am?”

  As he squeezed her arm, she felt sharp pain radiate all the way up to her shoulder. The pain was excruciating, and Summer could not stop herself from crying out.

  “The scent of the wolf is all over you, but if you were one of those creatures, I am sure you would have changed by now. It is the stench of that murdering Vilka that you carry on your skin.” His eyes sliced right through to her soul.

  “It is you that is the murderer!”

  His smile was as cold and hard as his heart.

  “Do you know what you are defending?” he asked through clenched teeth, as he was forcing her onto her back in the tall grass. “He defiles young women and then leaves them to face the consequence of his actions.”

  “And you kill young women,” she shot back.

  “So you already know your fate,” he laughed.

  Summer groped for something to say that would keep him talking. “What’s your name?”

  For an instant he seemed startled by her question, but he quickly recovered. “I am the vampire Marius.”

  His eyes had taken on the light of hunger. Baring his fangs, he prepared to feed off of her, but was startled when she drew back her lips to reveal her own ferocious teeth. Her eyes were cat eyes - the eyes of the jaguar. Summer roared and swiped at him with nails that had grown instantly into razor-sharp claws.

  She had not inherited her father’s ability to change into the wolf, but from her mother
she had the shifter blood of the jaguar. Until that moment, she had been completely unaware of the jaguar that slept within her. Her parents had always assumed that if she were able to shift, it would be the wolf. The jaguar shifters were too far back in her family line, but the spirit of the cat clawed its way up from the deepest recesses of her being.

  The vampire moved quickly to avoid her claws, but now it was a struggle to hold her down. The jaguar was far stronger than the woman. She had not changed completely, but the cat was definitely there and struggling to come out.

  Marius stared at her in fascination.

  As soon as the immediate threat was gone, the jaguar retreated. Summer’s golden eyes now reflected her fear, but there was strength behind that fear.

  Chapter Eight

  Pale and distraught, Sarah stared at the Vilka as if he had just handed down a death sentence for her friend. Lex had shown up in New Orleans shortly after she and Darrien arrived from Oregon.

  When she’d been called to her father’s house, Sarah hadn’t the slightest idea of what to expect. She knew that the number of vampire killings had multiplied recently, but she never expected the situation to involved Summer. If the vampire hadn’t killed her friend already, there was no doubt in her mind that he soon would.

  Sarah felt personally responsible. She should never have allowed Lex to involve someone else in her problems.

  “It’s my fault,” she choked on her words.

  Lex shook his head. “This is not connected to Omar at all. Chances are, even if war was not on the horizon, Summer would have been taken.”

  “I don’t understand,” Nicole commented, drawing her brows together in confusion.

  “It was for personal reasons,” he told the two sisters.

  For the first time, the tall man with the silver-gray eyes stepped forward. “This vampire has a vendetta against me. He has taken Summer for revenge.”

  Sarah studied the wolf, admiring how he could have such an air of savagery about him, but still seem so regal. This had to be the man she’d brought to Summer with her spell. If it was, then what happened to Summer was still her fault.

  “How can we help?” Nicole asked.

  “The Gatekeeper says that you will need Summer. She is your connection to the wolves,” Lex told them. “My guess is that she was meant to speak on behalf of the vampire.”

  “We’ll have to go after this vampire,” Nicole stood up. “Alex and Darrien should be brought in on this information.”

  The two vampires had been asked to wait in the other room while Lex talked with the sisters. Sarah had not felt comfortable keeping information from Darrien, but now there wasn’t a lot of choice. She had to tell him what was going on, including the part about the spell she cast on him and Anton. She just might need Darrien’s help to save her friend.

  “Yes, we’ll have to go after her, but there is something else we must do,” Lex told them, taking a deep breath.

  The two sisters looked at him with curiosity.

  “It is time that I took you to meet your sister.”

  Anton shook his head. “Lex, you know the agreement you made with your daughter. Not until after her eighteenth birthday.”

  “We have no choice. If Summer dies, all hell will break loose. The wolves will not distinguish between one psychotic vampire and the entire species. The sisters will be much stronger together.”

  “Then take us to my sister,” Sarah told Lex.

  Lex started pacing the floor. “She will be eighteen within a couple of months. My daughter will just need to understand how important this is.”

  “So our sister is with your daughter?” Sarah asked.

  Lex nodded. “She is my adopted granddaughter. Kathrina is half lycan and half vampire. She is a breed that is dangerous to both the wolf and the vampire. This type of hybrid is a natural slayer. Of the three of you, Kathrina is the most dangerous to Omar. This is why we have kept her location secret.”

  Nicole shook her head. “I’m confused. You mean that my father … and a werewolf mated.”

  “I know little of the particulars. That is something you will need to talk with your father about. What I do know is that Kathrina was left at the portal entrance when she was an infant. She was taken to the Keep, and that is where she stayed until Kayla and her husband took her in.”

  “What’s the Keep?” Sarah wanted to know.

  “It is a place in Outerlands where the criminal and insane are kept,” he told them.

  “And they kept a baby there?” Nicole was shocked.

  “As I told you … she is very dangerous to the wolf, as well as the vampire. Her bite would mean death to any wolf.”

  “And to the vampire?” Nicole prodded.

  “Unlike you and Sarah, Kathrina carries the poison of the vampire though she has not experienced the changing … at least not yet. She has all of the talents of the wolf and the vampire. This is what makes her so deadly to the immortals. It is also why these hybrids are so often used as slayers.”

  “Is that what you planned for my sister,” Sarah was angry.

  “It is her fate … her destiny, as it is yours. All three of you were born to be slayers.”

  “Against Omar maybe, but never against those that we love,” Nicole’s dark eyes were shimmering with barely controlled fury. “I cannot believe my father willingly created a hybrid for this purpose.”

  “I seriously doubt he did. A child was probably not his intent at all,” Lex’s voice was laced with sarcasm.

  Dark laughter filled the room. All eyes turned to the vampire that had sired the immortal sisters. Donavan’s very presence was commanding, but yet being close to him was an enchanting experience. He was a vampire that was as ancient as the species of the immortal. His sinister good looks could easily sway the heart of even the most cynical female, but as a father, he could be formidable and unyielding.

  Donavan’s black eyes rested on Lex. “How can you be so sure that wasn’t my intent?”

  “Why would you intentionally father a child that would grow to be someone so dangerous to your species?” Lex cocked his head to one side, his doubt obvious.

  “Are you aware that we are coming up on a time that has been prophesied as being a turning point for mankind … for all species on this planet?” Donavan directed his question to Lex.

  “As I understand, it has been foretold that the source of the immortals will return in the year 2012.” Again, Lex’s doubt shone through in his eyes.

  “And you learned this from my brother Cato. The only vampire ever permitted entrance into Outerlands?” Donavan smiled.

  Lex nodded.

  “What he has told you is true. It is all in the Book of Anu.”

  “Alec suspected as much,” Nicole frowned.

  “I can’t tell you if this will really happen. What is important is that Omar believes it will happen. It is his hope that when the creators return, they will name him lord. The earth will be his domain and its inhabitants his subjects.”

  “But why would they do this?” Sarah asked. “I mean … if there is any substance to this story in the first place.”

  “There are a few among the creators that share Omar’s view of the humans … and the wolves. Some believe that the immortals are the masters of all races on earth. Basically, it was a common attitude among these creators that the humans were little more than cattle, meant to serve the immortal, and as a food source. The wolves were hated and envied.” Donavan’s voice trailed off. He stood at the large window, gazing out into the night.

  “Are you and your brothers members of this race of creators?” Nicole asked, fascinated by the story her father was telling. All of this time he had been very reluctant to share information with them, but it seemed that was changing.

  Donavan shook his head. “No … we are the children of these creators. There are a few of us left, but there is only one vampire on earth that was one of the original immortals. If I were to tell who this was, it would mean a sure deat
h.”

  “And the wolves … what about them? What are they and why does this Outerlands even exist?” Sarah wanted to know.

  This time Lex was the one so speak up. “Sarah … you are a witch. You know that there is much more to our existence than what the normal person can sense. There are a total of eleven dimensions to this universe, Outerlands is but one of those. It is a place that is as solid and as real as this dimension, but different species live there. It is a place where the spirits of nature are in physical form.”

  The wolves lived on this plane of existence at one time, but after the arrival of the immortals, they retreated into Outerlands. Some still live among the humans, just as if they were one of them, but they are the minority.”

  “Tell them the rest of the story,” Donavan urged.

  “In ancient times there was a war between the immortals and the wolves. The wolves are the guardians of the earth and its creatures. They are hunters, but also guardians. The vampire … they are hunters with a thirst that is insatiable. They have no regard for human life. There was only peace between the two species when there was an agreement. The vampire would live on the earth’s plane and hunt, as long as they did not upset the balance of nature. Omar has broken that treaty, and now with a child of the wolves taken by a vampire, there will be another war.”

  Nicole looked at her father. “So you are saying that you fathered us for the purpose of fighting these vampires that are to return?”

  Donavan shook his head. “That was not my intent, but I came to realize that it was fate. After the three of you were born, it was revealed to me what your destiny would be. I was to protect you, and the best way to do that was to disappear from your lives. Lex is right. Now is the time to bring the three of you together.”

  * * *

  Dash lay on the cold stone floor, curled into a tight ball. His muscles throbbed and his body trembled uncontrollably. The pain of blood deprivation was far more agonizing than he had ever imagined. His thoughts were clouded with a ravenous thirst that was all consuming. Aside from his hunger, there was one thing that managed to come into the forefront of his mind. It was the knowledge that his quest to find the light had been for nothing.