Blood Bond (PULSE, Book 5) (8 page)

“I'm pretty charming. I'm sure I'd get picked up by some other vamp.”

“Who'd want you for your blood, no doubt!”

“Or my boyishly handsome good looks.”

“Hey, I thought
I
was the pretty one.”

“Shut up, you two,” Kalina said. “Let's get moving!”

And so Jaegar took off in mid-flight, his powerful legs running faster and faster until he was gliding above the earth. Kalina took a deep breath and tried to remember what she could from JV Track. She started running after them, her taut calf muscles tightening with each step she took, breathing harder and harder. She coughed and spluttered with exhaustion as she ran, trying desperately to keep up with Jaegar's superhuman strength. But Jaegar was already on the horizon and already she was growing weary, the acid in her muscles aching.

No, she told herself.
No, you have to do this.

Jaegar was getting smaller and smaller in the distance; Kalina felt as if her chest was going to burst with the sheer force of agony within her. She couldn't breathe; her throat felt hot and raw.

Concentrate, Kalina
, she told herself.
You need to work harder.

But it was to no avail. Jaegar had almost vanished in the distance and, although she was running quickly by human standards, it was nothing compared to vampire powers.

Damn it, Kalina – you have Life's Blood within you. Listen to it.
And a dark voice within Kalina's brain, a powerful voice that was not hers and yet dwelt within her mind, was saying the same thing – louder, clearer, faster.
Let it take over you. Let go. Let the blood do its work.

Kalina closed her eyes.

Let go.

And then she was not Kalina at all, not conscious of herself as a human or as anything at all. Everything had gone black. Something else had taken over her body; something else was running. It wasn't her legs spiriting forth so quickly beneath her torso – no, those legs were somebody else's. Those feet, running faster and faster until Jaegar was visible again – growing larger, at her side, behind her...those weren't her feet, were they?

And then Kalina's consciousness returned to her, bolstered by the power of the Life's Blood within her veins. The blood was making her run; the blood was running. She was only watching, an observer in her own body, as she outstripped Jaegar – who naturally ran faster to keep up. There they were, side by side, neck and neck, the wind whipping at their hair.

“Kalina...” Jaegar whispered, his eyes growing wide with amazement. “Kalina, you're
flying
!”

And indeed, her feet were barely touching the earth any longer; she was gliding alongside him. She gave a whoop of joy, feeling that glorious strength, that power, coursing through her. She felt Jaegar brush against her softly as they ran, and her skin tingled at his touch, the electricity of their desire made only ever stronger by the adrenaline coursing through both of them.

She could feel their telepathic connection click into place – his thoughts began pouring into her all at once. His pain when he thought he had lost his brother Stuart, his depression over losing Kalina, his love, his desire for Kalina, his desire to become human. The times he had locked himself in the old vineyard, growing drunk on vampire wine or human blood, in agony at the sight of Kalina wrapped so tightly in Octavius’ arms.

She knew Jaegar could feel his memories, his feelings seeping into her – as if against his will. He looked embarrassed as she stared up at him, and she could see the pain in his eyes. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort him, to take the pain away.

Kalina
, she heard Jaegar's voice in her mind.
I don't know how much longer I can do this. I can't hold onto Justin and still keep up. You need to slow down.

Kalina laughed.
And you thought I couldn't do it.

I need to feed. And I think Justin does too. I heard his stomach growling.

And I thought you wanted to ensure he didn't get any heavier!
But she slowed down, and she and Jaegar came to a complete stop.

They were on the outskirts of a small village. This area was far more populous than the land they had left behind; the village was bustling and even seemed to have some outsider presence, if Kalina could judge from the number of souvenir shops in the vicinity.

“Look!” Justin cried. “It's beautiful.”

And then Kalina noticed it. The village was on the outskirts of a small lake, from which mist seemed to rise in spiral, soft clouds. The water was cool-looking and fresh, and a rainbow shone over the mountains in the distance, its arch coming to rest at the center of the water, turning the ripples red and orange, yellow and blue and purple and green. By the lake stood a rickety pagoda – evidently an inn – with tables laid out on the lakeside. Beyond that Kalina could see rows and rows of emerald trees, shimmering in the light of the mist.

“This looks like as good a place to stop for grub as any,” Jaegar said. “Although somehow I doubt there's a vampire wine dealer anywhere in the area. I'll have to go free range.”

“Jaegar!”

“Not you, Justin. You're not tasty enough.”

Even walking felt different to Kalina now. Something had happened – some change had taken place within her. She was not walking like a human. She felt as if she were gliding on the surface of the earth. Like something supernatural. Like a vampire.

She saw Jaegar looking her up and down. He noticed it too, she knew, and blushed with quiet pride. She had been able to keep up – she was special, just as he was.

“Right,” she said, trying to conceal the desire on her face. “Food. Sounds good to me.”

Chapter 8

A
s they entered the pagoda, which was rich with silk embroidery and smelled strongly of incense, Kalina felt her blood prickle once more. Something was strange about this place. Something amiss. She looked at Jaegar, whose brow was furrowed with concern. So he sensed it too?

“I smell vampires,” Jaegar pronounced, looking around. But the place was empty; with the exception of a pretty waitress in the corner, who had showed them to their seats in fluent, barely-accented English, there was nobody about but them, human or vampire.

“I smell them too,” said Kalina, and Jaegar looked up, confused. “You? But how can you...”

“I don't smell anything,” Justin butted in. He did a double-take as he turned to Kalina. “Kalina, are you OK?”

“I feel fine, why?”

“It's just – you look kind of...pale. Like, really-pale. Sick-pale. Vampire-pale.”

“Hey!” Jaegar cut in. “Some of us like the way we look.”

“You're English, originally,” said Justin. “It's natural on you. But me and Kalina – we're dark. And I can tell when something's wrong...”

Kalina looked down. Her normally-olive skin had a deathly pallor she had not seen before. Justin was right – she
did
look like a vampire.

“It's probably just the running,” Jaegar said nonchalantly. “I'd wager that you just accidentally kick-started something in the Life's Blood when you ran like that. I'm sure it's no big deal.”

Kalina looked down uncertainly at her skin. She quite liked her deep, olive tan, and wasn't sure how she felt about looking as if she'd just been striken with cholera. But she said nothing.

Jaegar sniffed the air. “No, the vampires are long gone now,” he said. “What I smelled was just a trace. Octavius and the lot passed through here a few hours ago. We're in the right place, that's for sure.”

“Just at the wrong time,” said Kalina.

And then they saw it. Piles of dust upon the ground that looked, to an untrained eye, like exceptionally large cigarette-ash deposits. But Kalina knew better. Those piles were vampire dust. She felt a sudden pain and fear in her chest. Was one of those – could one of those be Octavius? She felt at once that she could not breathe, and leaned against the walls.

“There was a battle here,” said Jaegar.

“Was it...him?”

“Don't worry,” said Jaegar. “I'd have felt it if something happened to Octavius.” He scooped up some of the ash with his fingers and sniffed the dust. “Not him. Not one of ours.”

“Thank God,” Kalina sat down shakily. What would she have done if it
had
been him, she wondered? She could not bear to even think of such an eventuality.

They heard the shuffling of feet. The waitress – a pert, attractive young woman of about twenty-five, with long raven-dark hair that shone like silk in the dimmed light – had returned from the kitchen, bearing a single, well-worn English-language menu for the three of them to share.

“Can I get you anything?” She smiled broadly. “Tea? Coffee?” She turned to Jaegar and the smile vanished from her face. From the looks of it, she had learned long ago how to recognize vampires. Her lip trembled in fear.

“My good friend,” Kalina patted Jaegar's hand nonchalantly. “Isn't such an adventurous eater. Just give him an extra portion of whatever I'm having.”

The waitress seemed calmed by the lie.

Jaegar turned to the waitress, his eyes boring deeply into hers. He was giving her his most seductive gaze, Kalina saw, a mixture of vampire glamour and his natural charm. “It's just that I have awfully...particular tastes,” he said. “It's awfully hard to gratify them just anywhere.”

Her fear gave way to a slow, seductive smile. “I see,” she said. “I'm sure we can find something on the menu to satisfy you. Or off the menu, if you have special tastes.”

“Oh, I do,” he purred. “If you wouldn't mind preparing a special order. These two will order from the menu, of course!”

“Uzbek pilaf!” Kalina said quickly, in a sharper and more defensive voice than she had intended.

“Me too!” Justin looked down, blushing. It was evident that Jaegar was hungry, and that he intended to feed – and probably more than that – on this woman.

The waitress barely heard them. Her breathing grew louder and harder; she brushed back the hair from the side of her face. “You would like to come inspect the kitchen, then?”

Jaegar turned to Kalina. “If you don't mind...”

“Not at all!” That same harsh voice escaped Kalina's lips. “Go ahead!” Fair was fair, after all, Kalina thought bitterly. If her arrangement with Jaegar allowed her to kiss Octavius with impunity, then surely Jaegar had the right to do the same thing, particularly if his flirtation was a means of attracting a source of food.

“Come inspect our wares when you're ready,” the waitress murmured.

“Hey, don't forget our two pilafs!” Kalina knew she was being rude, but she didn't care. She could feel hot jealousy burn against her will in the pit of her stomach.

The waitress smiled and glided away; Kalina could hear her heart beating swiftly with desire even from this great distance. She frowned and muttered to herself. “Not that you haven't put us off our appetite.”

“Wow,” Justin sighed. “That was...”

“Hey, I need food too, you know?” Jaegar did not look at Kalina. “If you want me to carry you around another hundred miles.”

“Well yeah, I know. But it was awfully
smooth
.” Kalina could see Justin putting on his Protective Big Brother face. “And you and Kalina...”