Fall of Darkness (The Chronicles of Darkness) (28 page)

“I don’t even know what that means,” she
panicked, inching backward. Away from him and his words about a destiny of
which she wanted no part.

“It means,” Alex cajoled as though she
were a spooked horse, “you have the power to lift our curse.” He gently grasped
her arm to slow her backward progress. “You alone can free us from our
dependency on blood, from our prison of darkness. You, Katerina, and you alone,
have the power to save all of our souls.”

“Yeah, and all it will cost is the
destruction of an entire race,” Kate countered.

Alex stood so close behind her she could
feel the warmth of his proximity like an electric current. When he spoke, the
whisper of his breath against the shell of her ear raised the soft down of hair
at the nape of her neck.

“A small price to pay for your soul and
so many others. The wolves killed your parents.
He
killed your parents.”

Kate closed her eyes as though she could
shut out the pain, but uttered in a breathless whisper. “I know.”

“Then why do you still wear this?” Alex
asked softly. His finger caught the dainty chain she wore around her neck,
dragging the charm it bore into view above the neckline of her shirt. He let
Dominic’s ring fall to her chest.

Kate inspected the ground near her feet,
heat flooding her cheeks. “I wear it as a reminder.”

Alex arched one golden brow in question.
“Of what?”

“Never to trust. Never to love. Never to
let anyone that close again.”

“Never say never, Katerina. Forever is
an awfully long time.”

Kate whirled around to face him, anger
flashing in her eyes. “No. I will never allow myself to be manipulated or used
again. People can only hurt you if you give them the chance. I let him get too
close. I got hurt. That was my mistake. I learned from it and I won’t forget.”
She shoved the ring back under the neckline of her shirt.

“Then help us. Destroy the werewolves.
Embrace your destiny.”

The cool metal of Dominic’s ring burned
against Kate’s skin as her heart burned in protest. Dominic had hurt her, not a
fact easily forgotten. But could she destroy him and all he held dear? For
revenge? For destiny? For her soul?

“I don’t think I can,” she whispered in
answer to her own silent questions. Turning her back on Alex and his demands,
she rushed from the hall in silence. But Kate couldn’t run from the echo of his
words in her mind.

Chapter
24

Running off in a strange place, when she
could easily get lost in a paper bag with a GPS, joined her growing list of
regrets as Kate wandered the castle in search of her room. The once blue sky
above her faded into the soft hues of sunset as the morning hours approached.
Luckily, Lorenzo found her and led her back to her room.

            Emotional
and physical exhaustion vied for precedence as Kate readied herself for bed.
She stripped out of her clothes and donned a silky red night dress from the top
drawer of the armoire. With its dainty straps, low back, and short hem, it
looked like something she shouldn’t be sleeping in alone. However, alone was
the only way she was going to be sleeping, so she figured it would be a crime
to let the pretty nightie go to waste.

            Drawing
back the heavy down comforter, she slid into the soft sheets and surrendered to
her mounting fatigue. She faded quickly into the darkness of her dreams.

Running. A beast chasing her. The other
Kate. The darkness within. No escape. A man. Reaching. Falling….

Kate hit the floor and woke with a
thump. The same dream haunted her sleep as a vampire, just as it had as a
human. She thought her subconscious would’ve realized by now, she had enough to
deal with in her waking hours. Nightmares were superfluous when your life had
become one.  

“Rise and shine, Katerina,” Alexander’s
voice called from her sitting room. Kate crab walked and scrambled to get off
the floor. He rounded into the room as she tumbled back onto the bed in a
tangle of bare skin, tousled hair, red nightie, and bedding.

Kate heard a sharp intake of breath as
Alexander froze where he stood at the foot of the bed. “Forgive me. I did not
realize this kind of welcome waited for me. I would have come better prepared.”
Golden brows arched high above heat-filled golden eyes.

“Oh, get over yourself,” Kate growled at
him, chucking a pillow at his head with bad aim. “Is there something wrong with
wearing something pretty for me?”

“I’d prefer you wear something pretty
for me.” He jibed as another pillow sailed past his head.

“Let me guess, you’re either not a
morning person or your thirst is making you grumpy again.” His leonine eyes
danced with laughter.

“Both. Haven’t you ever heard of
knocking?”

“I did,” he said with a shrug, “you
didn’t answer. I heard a thump and came in to investigate. Perks of the job I
guess.”

“Next time, assume I’m fine and wait for
me to let you in. We need some boundaries.”

“Yes, princess,” Alex agreed with a smug
grin that said boundaries were the last thing he wanted between them.

“Thank you. Now unless you’re going to
help me transfuse, get out. I need to shower.”

“Only if I can help you shower too.”

“Funny. Out,” she ordered him.

“Alright, alright,” he resigned, backing
out of the room. “Meet me in your sitting room in forty-five minutes.”

“Will do.”

Kate listened to his footsteps fade and
the door to her sitting room close behind him. She shook her head. The man was
a walking oxymoron. Disciplined, but rowdy. Cruel, but kind. Whether she liked
it or not, he was her only friend at the moment and she owed him more than she
could ever repay. It pissed her off to no end.

Moving quickly through her new blood
transfusion routine, Kate started her line and hooked herself up. She expelled
a sigh of relief as the rapid infuser pumped the liquid manna into her system.
Her muscles relaxed and her mind cleared. As soon as the transfusion was
complete, she ripped the IV out, bagged the evidence for Alex to discard, and
hit the shower.

Afraid she might go over her forty-five
minute time limit and find Alex banging on her shower door, Kate soaped and
rinsed with hurried movements. She pulled her damp hair back into a ponytail
and put on workout clothes. Maybe she could talk Alex into taking her for a run
outside the castle tonight. Tense with anticipation, she stepped out into the
sitting room.

In the hours that followed, Kate watched
her
tutore
transition from flirty friend to regimented instructor. He
was an excellent teacher. Patient, but focused, he led her through the basics of
Latin, recounted centuries of vampire history, and worked on developing her
powers of compulsion.

Each night proceeded in a similar
manner, only Alex never ventured into her bedchamber again. Kate would awaken
to find him in her sitting room. Waiting patiently while she transfused and
showered, he would then lead her through the day’s predetermined curriculum,
feeding her mind and challenging her limits.

Amazed at how much sharper her brain was
after transition, Kate learned quicker than ever before. She’d always been
smart, but the explosion that had destroyed her human life had also torn down
the road blocks in her mind.

History facts were simpler to remember
and understand. Languages came much easier. Gone were the days when others
could talk around her without her understanding. If she ever did make it to
Paris, there would be no more talk of bathrooms and nonexistent black cats.

One night, Alexander rose from his seat
and announced, “Time for a change of scenery.”

Kate set aside the book,
Vampirism in
the Etruscan Era,
he’d brought for her from the Hall of Histories.
“Really?”

“Yes. It’s time to start your physical
training. Go change.”

A wave of excitement rushed through her
as she dashed into her bedroom to get ready. She would finally escape the
confines of her quarters, maybe even the castle. She felt like a reclusive
hermit… or a pampered prisoner. Regardless, it would be nice to get out.
Dressing in a pair of black workout capris and a hot pink tank, Kate laced her
gym shoes and hurried back out to Alexander.

Alex led Kate out an alternate door, on
one of the sides of the castle, nodding at the pair of guards who bowed as they
exited. Together, they trekked down the side of the ridge, following a winding
trail of switchbacks that led to a cluster of large stone buildings at the base
of the incline. Alex greeted the two guards at the entrance to the first
building. The guards bowed, holding the heavy steel doors open for them.

The bulk of the building was one open
room. Gray stone surrounded them on all sides, illuminated in bright white
industrial lighting. A series of tracks ran the length of the high ceiling.
Paper targets hung at the distant end of each track, varying between human and
wolf silhouettes. A solid red line ran across the width of the stone floor,
delineating a predetermined distance from the targets.

“Are you ready to learn to shoot?” Alex
asked, leading her to the cage of weapons on the front wall.

With no desire to shoot anything ever,
Kate shrugged. “As I’ll ever be.” She caught the bulky head phones Alex tossed
her way and examined them in confusion.

“To protect your ears from the noise,”
Alexander explained.

“I know. I didn’t realize vampires
needed to. Don’t our ears heal anyway?”

“Oh, they’d heal alright,” he chuckled,
“but with our sensitive hearing, gun fire in closed quarters like this would
make you wish you couldn’t hear at all.”

That was reason enough for Kate. She
crammed the massive muffs onto her head without further argument.

Rolling his eyes, Alex tugged them off
her head and let them fall to her shoulders. “It’ll be easier to hear me with
those right there.”

Oops. Heat filled her cheeks. “Sorry.”

Following him deeper into the cage, Kate
watched Alexander survey the vast arsenal, his golden eyes narrowed in concentration.
He selected a small black handgun from a rack on their right. Weighing the
weapon in his hand, he inspected the pistol and gave a satisfied nod. “Nine
millimeters. This one will do. Come on.”

Alex led her from the cage and over to
the red line, with the gun and a box of ammunition in hand. Ejecting the
magazine, Alex showed Kate how to load the ammo. He made her practice again and
again, not satisfied until her fingers no longer fumbled as she popped the
magazine out, loaded it, and locked it back in place.

He nodded his approval. They both donned
their noise canceling ear phones. Assuming a firing stance, legs planted apart
and arms extended at shoulder level in front of him, Alex squeezed off a shot
with a sharp crack. Kate didn’t need the pulley to bring the target closer to
see the quality of his marksmanship. A tiny white hole winked in the dead
center of the black silhouette’s head.

“Show off,” Kate grumbled, reluctantly
accepting the gun as he held it out to her, butt first. Imitating his position,
she held the gun between her two hands. Alex nudged her foot here, shifted her
hip there, tweaked her shoulder a bit, and stepped back.

Kate pulled the trigger. The recoil of
the shot jarred her, her arms and shoulders protesting the unexpected impact.

“Hey,” she griped. “Why didn’t it do
that for you?”

“Because I’m used to it. You just need
practice,” Alex assured her. A recalcitrant smile crept onto his face. “Maybe
next time you’ll actually hit the target.”

            Kate
didn’t. Not the next time or the time after that. She was a horrific marksman.
No matter how many times she tried, no matter how many adjustments Alex made to
her form, she couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn in broad daylight from a
few feet away. Bullets struck everywhere, except her paper target, as she fired
again and again.

            “Congratulations,”
Alex grinned, triggering the pulley to bring her target forward for inspection.
“You didn’t get him, but I’m pretty sure you got his neighbor three houses
down.”

            It
was true. She achieved all new levels of suck-itude.

“Shut up,” Kate growled, squinting at
the target in the distance and wondering why those damn bullets wouldn’t go
where she told them to.

            “On
the bright side, you won’t ever really need a gun. You have an entire guard to
protect you.” A mischievous grin spread across his face. “But if you get your
hands on one when I’m around, I’m ducking for cover. I have no desire to die
from friendly fire.”

            “Don’t
be so sure it’d be friendly,” Kate laughed, handing him her firearm. “Can we
try something else? Maybe something I don’t suck at?”

            Alex
shrugged. “Sure. Follow me.”

Alex led Kate out into the circle and
over to another nondescript stone building, this one situated across from the
firing range. Kate gaped in wonder as they stepped into a huge gymnasium,
complete with a basketball court, track, racquetball courts, cardio and weight
machines, and a fighters’ ring.  Everything was state of the art and in
pristine condition, which led Kate to wonder if anyone ever actually used it.

            Kate
admired the track, her heart soaring. She could run here. Running had always
been her escape and she’d never needed to escape more.

            A
hulk of a man leaned against the ropes of the fighters’ ring with his t-shirt
clad, heavily muscled back to them.

            “Hey,
asshole,” Alex called to the man. “Come say ‘hi’ to your cousin.”

            The
man turned to face them, a cocky grin on his face. He was tall, dark, and
handsome in a cliché bad boy way immortalized by Hollywood films.

“Hey shit head, why don’t you come make
me?” The guy ducked under the ropes and crossed the room to where they stood.
Kate prepared for a confrontation, but the two men slapped each other’s backs,
greeting each other as friends.

            Men.

            “Katerina,
this is your cousin, Massimo. Massimo, this is Katerina.” Alex conducted the
introductions with a wave of his hands.

“Well, well, well. The long-lost
princess returns at last. Welcome home, little cousin,” Massimo said with a
mock bow. The expression on his face said, ‘I’m going to torture you like the
brother you never had and love every minute of it.’