B006P1R39O EBOK (8 page)

Slayers!

Slayers had plagued the vampire for thousands of years. Most believed they were do good humans, intent on destroying the immortal, but Luciano knew they were much more than that. Slayers were the chosen ones. From every generation a few souls would be selected to battle the darkness that is the vampire. Most slayers were not even aware that they’d been chosen, believing that they’d simply happened across a reality beyond the normal vision of humans. They were a deadly pestilence that every vampire loathed.

Shaking with rage, Luciano’s eyes emitted a poisonous light that was a sure promise of death. His handsome face had morphed into something grotesque and evil. He stood up from where he’d been kneeling near Kathrina. Though he could have flown at them with such speed that they would have been dead before they’d known what hit them, he wanted them to suffer.

Luciano moved toward the slayers - his hunger for blood and revenge eclipsed any logical thought he might have had.

When the man lifted his bow and let loose of a wooden arrow, Luciano did not even blink. His hand shot out to retrieve the arrow in midair - his fish clutching it so tightly that it broke to pieces.

Certainly these slayers would know that a wooden stake or arrow would not kill a vampire. Very likely the arrow had been soaked in poison - a poison that would only sicken the vampire. It would render an immortal unconscious. The slayers would then try and destroy him by other means.

It was unfortunate for these slayers that Luciano was far more deadly than any vampire they’d ever encountered.

When the arrow did not stop him, the man and woman panicked. They knew they were in trouble, which is exactly what Luciano wanted. He wanted to smell the scent of their fear before he bled them, and tore them limb from limb.

“You idiotic pests!” Luciano yelled. “You have attacked one of your own!”

The woman shook her head. “She has fangs … she is not one of us.”

“She has vampire blood, but she is one of the chosen.” Luciano was close enough to smell the woman’s terror - to hear the sound of her blood rushing through her body.

“She hasn’t killed you.” The man spoke for the first time. “And you haven’t killed her.”

Luciano’s only response was a ferocious growl. The two slayers backed away, but their retreat was too late. The vampire erupted in a flurry of movement, driven by an incomprehensible anger so intense that he was no longer in control of it. When he was done, there was not much left of the slayers but bone fragments. A slick layer of blood and tissue were plastered over the boardwalk.

He had been so consumed with his rage, that he had not even taken the time to feed before killing them.

Luciano looked back at Kathrina. Her pale form reminded him of a china doll - so beautiful, but without warmth or life. Her ragged - shallow breathing told him that she didn’t have much time. He had to make a decision.

Kathrina was his savior. Her blood was all that he needed to end his dreary - dark existence. Right now would be the opportune moment to take her life. She would never know the difference and would not suffer.

Luciano hung his head in despair.

* * *

Just as the lavender sky signaled the dawn of a new day, Nicole and Sarah rushed into the emergency room, the glass doors opening for them automatically. Wasting no time, Nicole went straight to the receptionist.

“Has a Kathrina Gray Eagle been admitted this morning?”

The receptionist punched the name into the computer. A moment later she looked up at the two sisters. “Yes, we have a Kathrina Gray Eagle. Are you family?”

Sarah nodded.

“She’s in ICU. That’s on the second floor … room 221,” the woman informed them.

“What happened? How did she get here?” Sarah asked.

“She was brought in at about 3:00 AM this morning. It’s noted in her records that a man carried her into the emergency room and then disappeared.”

“Thanks,” Nicole called over her shoulder. She and Sarah were already walking toward the elevator.

Once they reached the second floor it wasn’t too difficult to find Kathrina. She was in a room with restricted access so they were limited to viewing her through a wall of glass.

A petite - elderly nurse approached them.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“That’s my sister,” Nicole pointed to Kathrina. “What happened to her?”

“She has a wound in the side of her abdomen. It was an arrow.”

“How did that happen?” Sarah was taken aback.

“The police just left,” she told them. “I’m surprised they haven’t talked with you yet.”

Nicole shook her head. “We just received the call from the hospital less than an hour ago.”

“An arrow!” Sarah again jumped into the conversation. “That’s not something I was expecting.”

The woman frowned. “It was still inside her when she was brought in. A good thing too … or she would have bled to death before she could get to the hospital. She was taken to surgery right away.”

“Has she been conscious at all?” Nicole asked.

The nurse shook her head. “I was here when she was brought in, and she has not regained consciousness.”

“What’s her condition now?” Nicole wanted to know.

“She’s stable. As long there are no complications … they can move her out of ICU in a day or so.”

“Thanks,” Nicole said.

“We did find something strange though.” The nurse smiled nervously. “She has fangs.”

“Oh,” Nicole had completely forgotten that Kathrina had been born with fangs. She couldn’t very well tell the woman that though. “They are implants. She has a thing for vampires,” Nicole explained.

“I see.” The nurse didn’t seem too convinced. “The dentist did a good job. They look real.”

“Yes.” Nicole gave the nurse a strained smile. “Why? Are you interested in having some fangs implanted?”

“Heavens no!”

“Well thanks for the information,” Nicole told her.

The woman nodded to the sisters before leaving them and returning to the nurse’s station.

“Well that was fun,” Nicole commented.
             

“At least she wasn’t bitten,” Sarah offered, brushing off the whole fang conversation.

Nicole drew her brows together. “Yeah, but what happened. Who would try and kill her with a bow and arrow?”

“I think I can answer that for you.”

Nicole and Sarah looked up at the same time. The owner of the voice had been standing nearby and listening to their conversation, but they hadn’t paid him any attention. Now Nicole eyed him curiously.

He appeared to be in his mid twenties, and was extremely good-looking. His collar length brown hair curled softly around his face and he had the most magnetic blue eyes that Nicole had ever seen … aside from Alec’s of course.

“And you are?” she asked, stepping back as he moved closer to them. Until she knew who this man was, it was best they keep their distance.

“Name’s Jordan Anderson.”

The man held out his hand to Nicole, who took it reluctantly. She instantly noted that he was warm, so at least he wasn’t a vampire. Obviously he couldn’t be a vampire. The sun was already up.

“I’ve been here since shortly after she was brought in,” he told them in a matter of fact way.

“Do you know Kathrina?” Sarah asked, her voice tight with suspicion.

Jordan shook his head. “Some acquaintances of mine witness the incident and followed the man that brought her in.”

Nicole’s mouth dropped open. “Did they tell the police what they witnessed?”

“They were slayers,” he whispered.

Nicole’s eyes turned cold. “And they shot my sister with an arrow?”

“I’m afraid the ones that hurt your sister mistook her for a vampire.”

“But they let the real vampire get away?” Sarah glared at him.

“There were others nearby that saw him kill the slayers that attacked her,” Jordan told them, his face twisting into a scowl. “But not before the bloodsucker made a claim that she was a slayer.”

The two girls stared at him, but said nothing.

When the sisters didn’t respond, he continued. “What I’m curious about is why he brought her to the hospital instead of killing her … especially if there is any truth to his claim that she is a slayer?”

“That’s a good question.” Nicole spoke in a low voice, talking more to herself than to Sarah or Jordan.

“Who exactly is your sister?” he asked, nodding his head toward Kathrina’s motionless form behind the glass wall. “The vampire claimed that she had the blood of the immortal.”

“We don’t know you!” Sarah glared at him. “Why would we tell you anything?”

Nicole gave Sarah a look of warning. It was true that they didn’t know this person, and they sure didn’t want him guessing that they had too much interest in vampires.

They had to be careful. The slayers were a danger to the men that she and Sarah loved, including their own father.

But why hadn’t Luciano killed Kathrina?

To kill her had been the vampire’s plan from the beginning. He’d made no effort to hide his intention.

“You don’t have to answer me,” Jordan smiled. “I suspect I know who you are. The three of you are the immortal sisters. I’ve heard of you,” he said as he took a couple of steps toward the viewing window into Kathrina’s room. He was staring at her, as if he could see something that was invisible to the rest of them.

“And if I’ve heard of you … it’s a sure bet that you are being hunted by every vampire in the city … the country for that matter.” The Slayer turned back to face her.

Nicole kept her features impassive so as to not give away too much.

“That’s why it is so curious that the vampire let your sister live,” he added.

“What exactly do you want?” Nicole asked.

“To apologize for the mistake that led to your sister’s injury … and to offer our services,” he told her.

“We don’t need any help,” Sarah put in, not bothering to hide her dislike of the slayer.

“Oh I believe you do. I don’t think that you really understand what you are up against.”

“How do we know that we can trust you?” Nicole asked, her eyes never straying from the man’s face. She was looking for any sign of deception.

“Because I know whom it is that you have to kill to end the curse and save those that you love … and it isn’t who you think it is. It isn’t Omar,” he informed them.

* * *

When she first opened her eyes, the world was a blur. The glare of the overhead fluorescent lighting only made it more difficult to focus. Giving up, Kathrina shut her eyes. Though she still felt as if she were only half conscious, the side of her stomach was throbbing.

Moaning, she tried to lift her head but it was too much. The effort only made the pain worse.

“Luciano,” she forced his name from parched lips.

“Shhh … you need to rest.” It was Nicole’s voice.

Kathrina again tried to open her eyes.

Where was she?

The last thing she could remember was walking with Luciano.

“You’re in the hospital,” Nicole told her.

Blinking rapidly, she was finally able to force her eyes to work. “Where’s Luciano?” Kathrina asked.

Nicole shook her head. “I don’t’ know. You don’t have to worry … you’re safe now,” she added.

Kathrina was too weak to ask any more questions. She would just sleep a while longer, and then she’d try to remember why she was in the hospital.

Kathrina managed only a couple bites of the tasteless vanilla pudding before she gave up and pushed the tray away. She needed meat – red meat, but that would be going against the doctor’s orders. They said she wasn’t ready for solid food yet. The arrow had damaged internal organs and she’d lost a lot of blood. According to the nurses that came in to check on her several times a day, she was lucky that she wasn’t dead.

Throughout the week that she’d been in the hospital, her family had come to see her everyday, including Donavan. Even Dash had snuck in after visiting hours to say hello.

The one person that she hadn’t heard a peep from was Luciano, but then again, there was no reason to believe that she would. Kathrina knew that she should be grateful to the vampire. He’d let her live when he could have easily killed her that night.

She was grateful, but she was also angry. Kathrina had been sure that there was some kind of connection between them. That he might actually care what happened to her.

She must have been wrong because Luciano had dumped her at the hospital like an old suitcase that he no longer needed. Then he’d simply walked away, disappearing into the night and from her life.

Her sisters were ecstatic that he’d spared her life and then left her alone.

Why wasn’t she?

Kathrina was jerked from her thoughts by a knock at the door. She insisted that they keep the door to her room shut. She didn’t like the idea of people walking by and staring in at her while she was sleeping.