B006P1R39O EBOK Page 9

  Unlike the male vampire, this woman didn’t look the part of an immortal. She appeared middle aged and was wearing a waitress uniform.

  The vampire’s eyes strayed back to the guy sitting alone near the bathrooms. Kathrina had to wonder just how many of the Light Seekers actually refrained from taking human blood.

  “Do you know what happened to her?” Kathrina asked.

  The woman turned back to Kathrina and gave her a sly smile. “Maybe Ray can tell you. He was the last one to see her alive.” She nodded her head in the direction of the blond vampire that Kathrina had noticed earlier.

  “Like I’ve told you a hundred times Viv, she was dead when I got there.” The vampire Ray glared at the woman.

  Again Viv gave Kathrina a wicked smile. “He went there to talk to her, but claims that he found her dead on the stairs of the convent. It was a vampire killing for sure … her throat had been ripped out and she had been drained of blood.”

  Kathrina turned her attention to Ray. “Any idea who could have done it?”

  “Probably Omar or one of his vamps,” he stated

  “Do you think there is any chance that it could have been Luciano?” she asked. Though she wanted to know - had to know the truth, the thought of Luciano being responsible for her mother’s death made her feel as if she had rocks sitting in her stomach.

  At the mention of Luciano’s name, the vampires stared at her as if they were looking at some kind of sideshow freak.

  Ray shook his head. “No, but we don’t mention his name.”

  “Why?” Kathrina was puzzled by their strange reaction.

  The vampire Vivian spoke up, “We are Light Seekers and he is the very definition of darkness. He has no heart … he never was human. He represents everything we want to escape.”

  Kathrina wasn’t satisfied with Vivian’s answer. Their reaction to Luciano’s name had been more than simple dislike. She had sensed nervousness, and maybe even fear.

  “Really … that’s the only reason you won’t talk about him?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Of his own choice, Luciano slipped into obscurity a long time ago. We would prefer he stay there,” Vivian spoke for all of them.

  Kathrina felt the anger boiling up inside her. No one wanted to talk about Luciano, and she needed to know about him. She needed to know if he was the monster that the slayer claimed he was. If she were to be honest with herself, she had to admit that the response she got whenever she mentioned his name seemed to support what she’d been told.

  “You are curious … like she was.” Ray’s eyes locked with hers. “I think that’s what got your mother killed.”

  Kathrina looked away first. There was something about Ray that seemed out of place. It wasn’t just the usual vibe of death and decay that she picked up from vampires. There was something even more sinister about him.

  Before Kathrina could give it anymore thought, she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. She looked up. Jordan Anderson was the last person she expected to see.

  He gave her a dazzling smile; seemingly oblivious to the fact that there were vampires everywhere, and he’d just placed himself in mortal danger.

  The vampires all stood at the same time, ready to defend themselves against the slayer. Though the average person may have walked right by him without a clue to what or who he really was, vampires would know - they could sense a slayer.

  Jordan appeared to be utterly unfazed by the vampires. “Relax … I’m just here to talk to Kathrina. Why don’t we call a truce for the evening?”

  The vampires stared at him, their eyes emitting the promise of death.

  “Would you care to dance?” Jordan asked her, completely ignoring the vampires.

  Kathrina stood up, willing to do just about anything to get Jordan out of there and diffuse the situation.

  Dash grabbed her arm. “Be careful,” he warned.

  “I will. Don’t worry.”

  Kathrina let the slayer lead her out to the dance floor. The song that was playing was upbeat and fast, but Jordan slipped his arms around her waist and drew her close to him. They slowly moved around the dance floor.

  “What is it that you want?” Kathrina didn’t want Jordan to stay in the club any longer than necessary. At the moment she had too much to worry about and might not be able to protect him from the vampires if they decided to turn on him. Vampires could be so unpredictable. You never knew for sure if you could trust them or not.

  “I just wanted to see how you were doing.” He spoke loudly so that she would hear him over the music and people.

  “And you just happened to see me?” Kathrina was skeptical. She didn’t believe he’d come across her by accident.

  “Let’s go for a walk so we can talk. It’s too loud in here.”

  Kathrina hesitated. On one hand she really didn’t want to go anywhere with the slayer, but it would give her the opportunity to get him away from the vampires.

  “Okay, let’s go,” she told him and started for the door.

  Jordan followed her out, but they had barely exited the building before Dash was there. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “We’re just going for a quick walk. It’s too loud inside,” she explained.

  Dash growled and went for Jordan.

  “Stop!” Kathrina yelled.

  Jordan stepped back and smiled at the vampire. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “I’ll be fine.” Kathrina placed a reassuring hand on Dash’s arm.

  Dash backed off, but not before giving Jordan a glaring look of warning. “Ten minutes,” Dash told him, holding up ten fingers to emphasize his words.

  “I’ll have her back soon,” Jordan told him, a false smile spreading across his face.

  After Dash left them, Jordan tried to grab her hand, but she pulled away. Pretending to ignore her rejection, he started walking down the street, looking back to see if she were following.

  “So what did you need?” she asked again.

  “I want to help you.”

  Kathrina shook her head. “I really don’t need any help.”

  “Don’t you?” he asked doubtfully.

  Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. The sound of their feet hitting the sidewalk was marked by the silence that surrounded them. They had entered an area where there were residential buildings, many of them with gated gardens. Jordan stopped; taking her hand he led her into one of the gardens. It was overgrown with thick foliage - somewhere behind the bushes she could make out the trickling sound of water flowing from a fountain.

  Jordan reached out and pulled her close to him. Kathrina tried to move away, but he held her tight. “You are so beautiful,” he told her.

  “Please let …”

  Her words were cut off when his mouth came down on hers. His kiss was brutal, nothing like what she’d experienced with Luciano. His lips seemed even colder than the vampire’s - his touch awkward and forceful.

  Kathrina put her hands against his chest and pushed hard.

  “Stop!” she yelled, fighting to catch her breath.

  Her ears caught the sound of sinister laughter from the shadows. That laughter was familiar - somehow comforting.

  From the look on his face, it was evident that Jordan was as startled as she was.

  Again she heard the laughter, but this time it was next to her ear. Luciano pulled her out of Jordan’s arms so forcefully that if he hadn’t been there to hold onto her, she’d have gone flying into the bushes.

  “Do his lips not taste of blood? Is this why you don’t enjoy his kiss?” he whispered in her ear.

  Kathrina recovered from her shock quickly and yanked her arm out of his grasp. “You really should mind your business.”

  “I was,” Luciano smiled. “You are my business.” Though his words were meant for Kathrina, he was staring at Jordan when he spoke.

  “How so?” Kathrina glowered at him. She was overjoyed to see him, but annoyed that he just seemed to pop
in whenever he chose.

  “I am an elder, so that makes you my business.” Luciano’s eyes locked with hers. He was daring her to defy him.

  “You are being very rude …” Kathrina was just about ready to say his name, but stopped herself. He could really ruffle her feathers, but she didn’t want to get him killed, at least not yet.

  Jordan had been silently watching the exchange between Kathrina and the vampire. “What’s your business with the young lady?” he asked Luciano.

  Luciano shook his head. The red gleam in his eyes mirroring the rage that boiled within him. “No … the question is what’s your business with her?” he asked, slowly leaning toward Jordan until the slayer was forced to move back.

  “Boo!” Luciano said with a laugh.

  Kathrina began to worry that Jordan might try and attack Luciano. “He’s a slayer,” she warned under her breath.

  Luciano’s black eyes cut into Jordan. “I know what he is.” Though he spoke to Kathrina, he never took his eyes from the slayer.

  Jordan didn’t respond to the bait. Luciano was obviously trying to provoke the slayer into a confrontation.

  Without another word, Luciano put his arms around Kathrina and they began to ascend into the misty sky.

  “I know what you are!” Luciano’s voice rose over the sounds of the city.

  Kathrina looked down to see Jordan’s retreating form as they rose higher into the sky. She wasn’t sure what exactly it was that she was expecting to see, but it wasn’t the mask of rage that covered Jordan’s face - a rage so black that he was the image of pure evil.

  Kathrina wasn’t surprised when they descended to the rooftop of the orphanage. Most vampires would have relocated to another location once their lair had been discovered, but not Luciano. The most feared and hunted vampire in the world, and he seemed completely unconcerned.

  Luciano climbed through the broken window and then reached out to help her inside. They were in the same attic room where he’d first taken her.

  “What was that all about?” she asked.

  Luciano stood motionless, his eyes shining with hunger.

  Kathrina picked up on the change in him. There was something about his mannerism that seemed so different than she’d seen in him before.

  This is it. He’s finally decided to kill me.

  Why were you with that slayer?” he asked, his voice shaking with fury.

  Kathrina swallowed hard. “He wanted to talk.”

  “Talk!” Luciano’s brow rose. “Is that how you talk with everyone?”

  Kathrina felt the blush spread across her face.

  What business did he have questioning her like this?

  Placing her hands on her hips, she lifted her chin defiantly. “You haven’t told me what you want, or why you were following me. I know you had to have been following me.”

  A slight smiled played on his lips. “You think?”

  Kathrina nodded. “Why?”

  “Someone has to watch out for you?” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

  “And that includes keeping me from kissing anyone?”

  “You didn’t look like you were enjoying his kiss,” Luciano frowned.

  “Well maybe I just wasn’t expecting it, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want him to kiss me.” She was purposely misleading him, hoping to feed the jealousy she sensed.

  But why - why did she want him to care who she was with?

  “So you wanted the slayer to touch you … is that what you are telling me?” The fury she had sensed had returned.

  “I want to experience what it is like to be a woman.”

  “Yes … I think I recall that conversation.” A scowl spread across his face. “But that was when you were facing imminent death. Why are you in such a hurry now? I think you can guess that my plans have changed.”

  “Why did your plans change?” she asked, taking a small step in his direction.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Luciano turned away.

  Just being in his presence - being near him was so overwhelmingly erotic that she began to shake inside. Still she found her reaction to him puzzling. He was a killer - someone that even the foulest of vampires feared. Why did she yearn to be with him?

  But he saved her life!

  This was the one thing that she couldn’t fit neatly into the image that everyone had created of Luciano, and it was the one thing that she couldn’t put out of her mind.

  “Did you kill my mother?” This was something that she had to know.

  Luciano had his eyes fixed on the floor, but when she asked him about her mother he looked up suddenly.

  “Do you think I did?” he asked.

  “Please don’t play this game with me. I am asking you a direct question and I would appreciate a direct answer.” Kathrina could sense that he was avoiding an answer, and this made her uneasy.

  “I did not kill your mother,” he told her, his eyes never leaving her face.

  “But you intended to … didn’t you? You needed her blood like you need mine.”

  “Yes,” he answered in a low voice.

  “Why? I thought that the blood you needed had to be from a vampire-wolf hybrid. My mother was not a born vampire.”

  “This is true,” he admitted, moving closer to her so that their bodies were nearly touching.

  “Your mother was born of the wolves, but she was more than that.”

  “Not a vampire!” Kathrina shook her head.

  “No … she was not a vampire.”

  “Then what was so special about her blood?”

  “The same thing that is special about yours. It is the reason that I cannot just breed with a wolf and produce a child that could sacrifice their blood for me.”

  Kathrina was confused. There was an important piece of the puzzle still missing, and something told her that if she could find out what that was, she just might be able to put an end to this nightmare that they had been living.

  “You and your sisters have always been destined to fight against the evil that has taken control of the immortal, but you are unique Kathrina. You are a bearer of light … this is both an advantage and a danger.”

  Shaking her head, Kathrina asked, “Why am I different … what is it about me and my mother that makes us different. What is it that makes our blood so important?”

  “Even if I were to tell you … you probably wouldn’t believe me.”

  Kathrina rolled her eyes. “Well let’s see … I am standing here talking to a vampire, my father is a vampire … and I was adopted by wolves that come from another dimension. I think I just might believe anything you can throw at me.”

  A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “But then again … maybe you wouldn’t.”

  Kathrina felt her heart flutter when Luciano put one arm around her and pulled her against him. “I will admit that I intended to do with your mother, the same as I was going to do with you, but your father saved her from that fate. He took her away and kept her hidden.”

  Now that flutter in her heart had turned into an intense pounding. Her fear of him and her longing for his touch were at war, and Kathrina was not sure which emotion would win out.

  She had every reason to fear him, but still she had no desire to pull away. Kathrina knew she was under his spell, but she could not bring herself to flee his embrace. Instead she craved his touch.

  Tilting her head back, she looked into his eyes. He leaned down to press his lips against her cheek. “All that doesn’t matter … because now I have you,” he whispered.

  His lips moved to her mouth. Kathrina had to catch her breath when she felt his tongue dart between her lips. She welcomed his kiss, savoring the sensation of his tongue exploring her mouth - his fangs biting at her lips.

  One hand slipped beneath her shirt to caress her skin while his other hand went to the front of her jeans. Her stomach lurched when she felt him unbutton her pants.

  His mouth moved to her ear. The sensation of his tongue sliding acros
s her skin sent chills down her spine.

  “Poor little Kathrina,” he whispered in her ear. “So curious, and oh so hot.” As he spoke, he unzipped her jeans. Kathrina gasped when she felt his fingers seeking the moistness between her legs. His cool skin against her flesh was like fire and ice - startling, but so delightfully erotic.

  His fingers massaged her swollen - hard clit until she was sure she would burst from the unfamiliar sensations that were racing through her body. His touch stirred feelings within her that she had never before experienced. It felt so good, but it fed the ache between her legs until she burned with an uncontrollable hunger.

  When she felt him pushing her back against a nearby wall, the thought of resisting never crossed her mind. In her heart she knew that this was what she wanted - what she’d needed from him since the first time they’d kissed.

  Luciano had her pinned against the wall - his erection pressed hard against her stomach. He gently took her hand and placed it on his stiff flesh.

  “Is this what you want sweetheart?” he asked in a low voice.

  Kathrina moaned, she was beyond intelligible thought. Her body was on fire and she was running on instinct.

  Kneeling in front of her, he reached up and slid her pants down. Kathrina pulled her legs free and kicked the denim away. Luciano spread her legs, forcing her to brace herself against the wall.

  Kathrina felt his tongue caressing the flesh of her inner thigh - his fangs just barely piercing the skin. A wet heat soaked the soft folds of her sex, and she could not stop the trembling that spread through her body. Her breathing became erratic, escaping her mouth in ragged gasps.

  His tongue danced on her throbbing bud and Kathrina had to clutch his shoulders to stay on her feet. With expert precision, he manipulated her clit until she was thrown into wave after wave of orgasm.

  Moaning, Kathrina was forced to bite her bottom lip to keep from screaming out. It took several minutes for the feeling of euphoria to subside. When she opened her eyes, she saw Luciano standing in front of her, his dark eyes burning with unfulfilled need.

  Kathrina threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “Let me help you to feel better too.”

  Resting his forehead against hers, he reached up and softly caressed her cheek. “No … I can’t let it go that far.”