Dark Redemption (12 page)

         
Gaping in horror, Kate watched as Dominic exchanged fire with their attackers.
The elevator door closed and the stainless steel box descended toward the floor
below.

         
“No, no, no, NO!” she cried, scrambling to her knees to pound at the buttons of
the control panel.

         
She couldn’t leave Dominic up there alone. True, the alpha wolf was perfectly
capable of taking care of himself, but he was only one man. Who knew how many
men lurked in the shadows of the storerooms?

         
All Kate knew was there were several of them and they were gunning for her man.
It would be a cold day in Hell before she sat by and let them hurt him.

         
The elevator began to rise again. The doors folded open and chimed the same
cheerful
bing
-bong
from earlier,
incongruous with the mayhem they revealed as they opened. Bullets flew in a frantic
crossfire, ricocheting about as shots pummeled the walls and shelves of
supplies. Crumbling plaster rained down around them, kicking up clouds of dust.

         
Kate caught sight of Dominic as he rose to squeeze off a round of shots,
then
dropped back down behind the shelter of a desk. Her
heart thrilled. He was alive.

         
Willing to bet the farm that their attackers were vampires and they would avoid
shooting her at all costs, Kate dropped to a crouch and inched her way toward
the place Dominic hid.

         
She lost the farm. At least she would have, if she’d had one to bet. Pain shot
through her, stabbing from her right thigh as a bullet embedded itself in her
flesh.

         
Kate waited for her body to ignite, waited for her life to end as her insides
burned in a flash flood of ultraviolet light. But it didn’t. Her leg hurt like
a bitch, but she was pretty sure she’d live to regret another stupid decision
yet another day. They were definitely not wolves. She’d be dead if they were.
Why the hell would a vampire shoot her though?

         
Katerina snarled from within, ready to tear her attackers apart -- vampire,
human, or werewolf. Kate fought back the haze of red and tried to indicate to
Dominic that she was fine.

         
He ignored her staying gesture and rushed to her side, firing shots as he
moved. Kate heard the anguished cries of his targets as his shots found their
marks.

         
“Are you okay,
cara
?” Dominic asked in a rushed whisper, bending to
inspect the wound on her leg.

         
“I’m fine, Dom. Now’s not the time to worry about a little bullet in my leg. We
need to get out of here NOW,” Kate whispered in exasperation.

         
“You’re sure?” Dominic asked, watching her face as he rose to his full height.

         
Kate opened her mouth to speak, but a scream escaped her lips instead.
Dominic’s body involuntarily jerked again and again in seizure-like movements
as bullets ripped into his chest.

         
Dominic crumbled to the ground, gasping for air. Kate followed him down,
cradling his head as they sank to the floor. Tearing off her jacket, she
bundled the fabric and held it to the gaping wounds peppered across Dominic’s
chest.

         
“
Sil
…
ver
… can’t… heal,”
Dominic gurgled through the blood rising in his throat. “Have to… dig… it out.”

         
“Princess, move away from the wolf,” the shooter ordered in French. They
were
vampires and they knew exactly who she was.

         
Kate glared back at him. “No.”

         
Kate returned her whole focus to Dominic, her fingers searching for the
individual holes in his chest amid the blood and tattered flesh. She felt the
dark figures circle around her, closing in until they completely surrounded
her. She didn’t care. They could hold a gun to her head for all she cared. All
that mattered was getting the silver out of Dominic.
Now.

         
Reminding the balking nurse within her that infection was the least of
Dominic’s worries, she delved barehanded into one of the wounds, her fingers
frantically fishing for one of the tiny silver objects that threatened to steal
her reason for living.

         
Kate’s finger brushed against metal and she forced a second finger into the
opening to drag the offending item out. Several more were embedded deep within
his chest cavity and Dominic’s pulse was weak and
thready
,
but Kate’s heart soared with victory. She could do this. She could save
Dominic’s life. If she could get the silver out, he could heal. She immediately
delved back into the depths of his chest cavity, cramming her fingers into
bullet holes much too small for them. Dominic could heal from any damage she
caused, if she could just get the---

         
Something in the air changed around her, the manner of the circle of vampires
shifting into reverent silence.

         
A familiar voice broke the silence. “What have we here?”

         
Hope rose in her heart like a kite with no string.

         
“Oh, Alex.
Thank God you’re here!” She cried.

         
She’d never been so thrilled to see her friend and mentor. Surely he would call
off the vampire mercenaries and help her. He may hate Dominic, but he would do
anything for her.

         
“You’ve got to help us.”

         
Alexander stepped into view, infiltrating the circle of vampires as his light
footsteps brought him to tower over Kate and Dominic. Alex tipped his head to
one side, analyzing the scene through narrowed golden eyes. Kate held her
breath for a fraction of a second, waiting for Alex to realize how desperately
she needed him.

         
“Say goodbye, Katerina,” Alexander whispered, his voice flat and dead. Before
Kate could react, Alex extended the gun in his hand and fired a shot into
Dominic’s forehead, right between the eyes.

         
Kate screamed, clutching Dominic’s lifeless body to her. He couldn’t be dead.
He couldn’t.

         
“Please, Dominic,” she begged, shaking his lifeless body. “Please don’t die.
Please… don’t leave me here alone.”

         
The cold stillness of Dominic’s body was his only response to her desperate
pleas. Kate sobbed over his mangled chest, her body trembling with pain and
rage as her tears mingled with his blood.

         
“You promised I wouldn’t have to lose you again,” she whispered, choking on her
tears. “But you lied.”

         
A firm hand clamped around her bicep, attempting to lift her from her position
on the floor. Kate snarled and turned to face the offender. Alex.

         
Alexander had ignored her pleas and murdered the man she loved in cold blood.
After months of battling her inner demon, she’d come to believe herself to be a
monster. How wrong she’d been.
He
was the monster.

         
Her eyes no more than narrow slits, Kate glared at him. If only looks could
kill, she’d gladly take the bastard out right then and there.

         
“Come, Katerina. It’s time to go home,” Alexander said, his voice soft, the
epitome of gentle reason.

         
“Burn in Hell, you selfish bastard,” Kate spit at him. “I
was
home. I
had everything I needed and you took him from me.”

         
Alexander arched a golden brow at her.

         
“It was for the best,” he reasoned. “I’m sure in time you’ll see that.” He
extended an outstretched hand to her. “Come.”

         
Kate snarled and lunged at him, throwing her whole weight into the attack.
Katerina raged within her, but Kate told the bitch to sit down and shut up.
This was her fight. She’d rip Alexander’s black heart out of his chest before
she finished with him.

         
Driven by grief and fury, Kate crashed into Alex and slammed his body to the
ground, smacking the back of his head against the floor as they fell. Her hands
closed around his throat. Alex gaped back at her in surprise, but made no
attempt to stop her.

         
As his face turned beet red beneath her grip, Kate wondered if it was possible
to successfully strangle a vampire, or if he would just start breathing again
when she let go. What the hell, it was worth a shot. If it failed, at least she
got the pleasure of trying to choke the life out of her ex-friend.

         
Before she could test her vampire strangulation theories, strong arms dragged
her off of her victim. Kicking and flailing in the air, she resisted their
hold, but with little success.

         
A sharp sting pricked the side of her neck. A chill blossomed in her blood
stream as whatever came from that needle spread through her system. Her pulse
involuntarily slowed. Her limbs became heavy. Her lids drooped. The world faded
away into nothing but darkness.

Chapter
11

Kate
rolled over in bed, burrowing her face into the soft down of her pillow. Her
arms and legs tingled with pins and needles as she stirred from her slumber.

         
Resigning to her wakeful state, Kate rolled lazily into a sitting position and
stretched her heavy arms at her sides. Man, she hadn’t slept like that in ages.
And the dreams she’d had. What a trip.
From fantasies of
Dominic to nightmares.

         
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced about her room. Alexander stood
still as a statue at the foot of her king-sized canopy bed. He watched her
through hooded golden eyes, the muscle in his jaw working overtime.

         
Reality came screaming back to her. It was real.
All of it.
Dominic was dead. Alex had killed him. She’d begged him to help them as Dominic
died in her arms.

         
These realizations brought her to snarling attention. She lunged for the son of
a bitch she’d once called friend. Or she would have lunged, had her arms and
legs been taking orders from her brain, instead of flopping around like
over-cooked noodles. Kate fell to the floor in a lump of angry vampire and bed
linens, glaring up at Alex.

The
corner of his mouth tipped up in a rueful smile. “I take it you’re still mad at
me?”

         
“Mad doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about you right now,” Kate growled.
“I’d kill you right now, if I could get up. What the hell did you do to me?”

         
Alexander chuckled.
“Sedated you.
There’s not much
that can take a vampire down, but we have a few tricks. I trust you slept
well?”

         
“Go to Hell.”

         
“Now, now.
I thought we could at least chat civilly.
After all, you still need me.”

         
Kate puffed at the wayward strand of hair in her eyes. “Yeah, right, like a
snowman needs a sauna. What could I possibly need you for?”

         
“Your transfusions, of course.”
Alexander grinned. “I
assume that’s why you ventured into the blood bank, although why in Paris is
another matter altogether.”

         
Kate bit her lip. Honeymooning, that’s why they’d been in Paris. Visions danced
through her mind…
Kissing atop the Eiffel tower.
Eating delicate pastries and strolling past quaint shops.
Dancing
in the moonlight.
Laughing and making love as though they hadn’t a care
in the world.

         
It all seemed so frivolous and ordinary, given the devastating end result.
Those were her last moments with Dominic, her last memories. All she had left
of him to hold on to. They were too precious to sully by sharing with
Alexander.

         
“What I was doing in Paris is none of your business. There’s nothing that
I want
nor need from you,” she hissed through clenched
teeth. “I’d rather die than accept one drop of blood from you.”

         
Alexander clicked his tongue at her. “Now, Katerina, we both know that isn’t
true. How long do you think you can go without feeding before you can no longer
control your blood lust?
A day, maybe two?
I give you
a week, at best.” Alexander shook his head at her.
“No, my
love.
You don’t have the backbone
nor
the
self-control to starve yourself to death.”

         
His words made Kate see red. How dare he? After all the time they’d spent
together, he obviously knew little about her. She was one of the most stubborn
creatures on the planet. And he had stolen her only reason to live. She’d
starve to death if she damned well pleased and there was nothing he could do to
stop her.

         
“Listen to me, you heartless bastard,” Kate snarled. “The only thing I want
from you is to look into your eyes as you die a slow, painful death.”

         
Another dark, throaty chuckle from her golden tutore.
“You are a bloodthirsty she-devil, nowadays. Aren’t you?”

         
“This is what you wanted. Now you’ve got it. You don’t even need Katerina to
run the show. You’ve managed to bring out the killer in this part of me as
well. You don’t know the half of what I’m capable of.”

         
Excitement sparked in his golden eyes, as though her words thrilled him, as
though he liked the change he saw in her. “That may be, but in time you’ll see
the wisdom of my actions. The wolf had to die. I’m just glad you were there to
see it happen.”

         
A low snarl built deep within Kate’s chest. She made another futile effort to
attack. But her limbs were not her own and her body would not obey.

         
Trembling with rage and frustration, Kate resigned their battle to a later time
and settled for shouting instead.

         
“Get out!” she cried. “Get out of my sight and out of my life. It sickens me
just to look at you.”

         
Alexander executed a mocking bow.
“As you wish, Princess.
We will speak again when you have had time to realize your foolishness.”

         
“Yeah, and if I’m lucky, one of us will die,” Kate tossed at his retreating
back. She flopped back onto her back, still shaking with anger and pain. Her
eyes bled tears as the brave façade faded away. Angry sobs racked her body.

         
Alexander was not her friend, but her enemy. Thanks to him, Dominic was dead.
He’d left her all alone in this dark world of which she’d wanted no part in. It
was too much. She’d already lost her family, her humanity, and her life. Now,
she’d lost her soul mate. How many pieces could her shattered heart break into
before there was nothing left but dust?

***

Kate’s
eyelids fluttered as she awoke from her dreamless sleep. Her head throbbed and
her chest ached. Swiping at her cheek with the back of her hand, she found only
the dried trail of tears on her face. All cried out, her eyes and cheeks felt
raw and puffy from hours of sobbing.

         
One glance at the night’s star-encrusted sky, reflected on the high ceiling
above her, confirmed the hour to be one of daylight. She should be fast asleep,
but she felt well rested, thanks to the unnatural slumber induced by whatever
drug they’d injected her with. Kate stretched her arms above her head, reveling
in the fact that she could control her limbs again.

Whatever
sedative Alex and his French army of vamps had given
her
had at last worn off. Her head throbbed like the countdown on an explosive, but
it couldn’t compare to the ache in her heart. Though her mind was clear, the
raw pain was so sharp and so real, stabbing through her like a knife.

There
was no escaping reality. Dominic was dead. Alexander may as well be. The
bastard shot her husband as she begged him to help her. The memory of holding
Dominic in her arms as he took his last breath stuck like an axe in her chest.
The foundation on which she’d built her dreams was gone, the light in her dark
world extinguished. Her whole existence felt empty and pointless.

What
would become of her now? More lessons for survival in a world of which she’d
rather die than take part in? How could she possibly return to life at the
castle? Pretend Dominic never happened?

Oh,
he’d happened alright. Kate felt the bittersweet stamp of his claim on every
inch of her soul. She missed him with every fiber of her being. Though he was
gone, he would never truly leave her heart.

The
grief was unbearable, the ache of loss overwhelming. Kate sank back into the
cold, empty comfort of her bed, looking up at the starry sky. Memories of
Dominic flowed through her, so achingly beautiful and tragically perfect. 
Dancing beneath stars just like these. Laughing and playing.
Making
love.
She could stay there forever, wrapped up in his memory like a
blanket.

Kate
lost all sense of time as she stared at the stars, lost in her own mind as the
darkness faded into daylight. Dominic couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be gone.
She could still
feel
him.

There
was no other way to describe it. The logical voice in her head knew her denial
for what it was.
A survival tactic.
She had no desire
to live in a world without Dominic in it, so she denied his absence.

Katerina
begged to be released from her prison in the shadows of Kate’s mind. If Kate
had no desire to live, then she should let
her
do it. The vampire had no
qualms about a Dominic-less existence. Sure, he was a hot piece of ass and she
would miss the amazing sex, but she could find that elsewhere.

The
demon’s thoughts sickened and enraged Kate. Her darker self was so selfish, so
cold. Kate hated her even more for it.

Ignoring
the demon’s protests, Kate retreated fully into herself without relinquishing
control. She curled up in front of the prison door in her mind, standing watch
over her troublemaking alter ego.  An odd feeling of separation settled
over her as she floated off into a catatonic state.

Here
she was numb to the pain. Here she could weave her own reality, one filled with
Dominic. Here she could stay until death claimed her and Dominic welcomed her with
open arms.