Shiver (17 page)

Of course he wouldn’t. The idea had only just struck him. Knox made his way to Vera’s side and kneeled beside her. “Hey,” he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open. “Lian will be glad you got out alive.”

“What about you? Do
you
want to live?”

Vera shook her head before a coughing fit wracked her body. Spots of blood colored the snow and Hogan made a move to help her, but she waved him away.
 

“You’re dying, but I can save you.”

She coughed again. “No.”

Knox leaned closer. “Are you sure?” He hadn’t been able to save Lian, but he could do something to help this woman.

“Just let me be. It’s my time.”

He stared at her. “Are you sure?”

“Vera, you don’t have to do this—”

“Yes, Hogan, I do.” She placed her hand on her fellow guard’s and tears shone in Hogan’s eyes. “Take care of the others.”

 
Knox stood. He wasn’t about to force vampirism on someone. He might be one, but it didn’t mean he would take what wasn’t offered.
 

“Thank you,” Vera said as he walked away.

Where the hell do I go from here?
He’d finally found his freedom, yet didn’t know what direction to turn. First step was to search the rubble for Lian.
 

“Knox, what happened to Lian?” Hogan asked.
 

He stalled long enough to collect his thoughts. “She’s gotta be in the rubble somewhere.” He took a step but Hogan grabbed his arm.

“Don’t be crazy. Fire will burn you as much as the sun.” Hogan dared to look him in the eye. “She wouldn’t want that to happen to you.”

“Let me go.” He yanked out of Hogan’s grip. “I have to do this!”

“Do you know the locks miraculously snapped open all over the house,
at the same time?
I spoke to some of the others and they were as trapped as we were.” Hogan dropped his arm. His eyes were watery. “Don’t you see what that means? You said it yourself—she helped you out of those chains. If Lian was in the control room, we both know who set everyone free. Don’t dishonor her bravery by getting yourself killed.”

Knox’s vision cleared as he stared at the guard, making sense of everything. “She was strapped to a machine. I couldn’t save her.” The loss hit him so deep, he was sure his soul was bruised. Who would’ve thought he would find an instant of belonging and connection with someone after everything he’d been through?

So the old coot was right, then.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Hogan said. “I’m sure you did everything you could.” He pointed at the bullet scars on both shoulders.

“Not enough.”
Never enough.

He looked away, past Hogan to focus on the others milling around the burning embers of the dying fire, the only source of warmth left in this tundra. Some had their heads down, probably paying their last respects. Others kept as much distance as they could, but no one made a move to leave the site.

“Why aren’t they leaving?”

Hogan sighed. “They’re afraid their collars will blow their heads off if they step out of the estate’s boundaries.” He pointed at the ground, where two silver collars lay discarded. “I had to rip mine off because it was starting to burn my skin. That’s when I showed them they’re no longer active, but they’re still skeptical.” He shrugged. “Besides, the closest town is miles away, and they only got out with the clothes on their backs. They’d freeze.”

Knox remembered avoiding the collars while biting both Moe and Hogan. He was grateful he hadn’t gotten one. A cuff half-molten into his skin was enough. “I’m sorry.” What else was there left to say?

Hogan shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got a transport coming. The one we were going to smuggle you out on before everything went to hell. We’ll get everyone on that.”

Knox rubbed his hand over his head. Even his hair was growing faster than expected.

He looked at the survivors. Their hearts still beat like a soundtrack inside his head but no longer made him hunger for their blood. Acceptance, distraction and loss helped him stay focused. Several guards and staff suddenly dropped to their knees. He narrowed his eyes and spotted something rising from the flames.

No, it was
someone
.

“What the hell?” He pushed past Hogan, stepping right up to the line of shade.

“What’s going on?” Hogan asked.

The awed gasps answered his question, followed by murmurings about a miracle. A single voice chanted, “She’s the phoenix,” and others soon joined in.

The outline of a body slowly made its way out of the ruins, solidified like the ashes had taken form. He knew who it was before he could see her soot-covered face. Lian’s dress was a charred mess, and some of her skin was red in places, but all he could think about was the fragrance of her blood and the healthy pounding of her familiar heart.

She’s still alive.
 

He took one step, then another. Nothing was going to keep them apart—not even daylight. He ran out at full pelt, pushing past the dumbfounded crowd and sweeping her up into his arms. He lifted her off the ground, pulling her out of the fire and ashes.

Knox squeezed her slight frame tight, pressing his face into her singed hair while she whispered his name over and over. He didn’t give a shit about the smoke coming off his body. A little singed skin wasn’t going to dampen the joy of having her in his arms.

Lian wrapped her legs around his waist and she pressed her lips against his. He carried her from the ruins to the rocky overhang, kissing her the whole way. He didn’t put her down until he was gasping for breath. Even then he couldn’t keep his hands off her as he checked for injuries. Aside from blackened, heated skin she appeared to be okay.

“How?” was all he could ask.

Lian shook her head.

Explanations would have to wait. When he cradled her head he felt the harsh port at the base of her skull and she recoiled. He put her down and she stepped back.

“It’s my only way of connecting with her now.” She looked sad and vulnerable, ethereal. “I have to find them another home.”

Knox didn’t know what she meant, but didn’t press the matter. “You’re really here.” He touched her face, shoulders and hands to make sure he wasn’t imagining this. She was still alive and he couldn’t contain his relief. “You actually made it.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again.

“What happened?” Hogan stepped up beside them.

Lian opened her mouth to respond when a blur tore her away from Knox in one violent motion. She landed in the clearing with a strange man on top of her. He moved fast. Knox had only seen one other creature move that fast before—at the arena.

“No!” Knox yelled.

Hogan clamped a hand over his shoulder before he could give chase. “You can’t walk into the sun again. Do you want to end up like an overdone eel, like Moe over there?”

He didn’t care. Lian was pinned beneath the man, squirming against his grip as he rammed her body into the snowy ground. The man hung his head back and hissed, flashing fangs heading toward her pale neck.

Knox recognized him. He wasn’t wearing a thick coat and now resembled a wild animal, but this was the guard he’d bitten after the crash. He smelled like Hogan—familiar, like kin.

“Moe, stop!” Hogan yelled.

“He’s not going to listen,” Knox said, though he wondered if he could compel him as he’d seemingly done with Hogan earlier. “How the fuck did he survive?”

“After you attacked him we tried to contain him, but he ran off before we could. Must be why he’s all burned up,” Hogan answered.

Knox couldn’t stand here and watch this asshole butcher Lian, so he jerked his arm out of Hogan’s grip. As soon as he stepped clear of the overhang, the first patch of sunlight broke through the clouds, burning him. But he didn’t stop. He had to get the feral vampire. The asshole’s fangs were already closing in on her throat, but she struggled against him, keeping him at bay.

“Get away from her, you son of a bitch!” Knox screamed.

“No.” Moe hissed. “She has your mark. I’m going to take her!”

So much for compelling him!

Knox reached them in no time and wrapped his fingers around Moe’s neck, trying to yank him off Lian. He wouldn’t budge and thrashed against Knox, still gripping the hem of her ruined dress like a rabid animal.

When Moe flaunted his bloody teeth, every fight instinct Knox had gained in the arena poured back into him. His muscles tensed. Countless brutal clashes flashed through his mind as he relived the barbaric violence he was forced to partake in to survive another day. All of it culminating with the blond-haired vampire. Amon had done to him exactly what Moe was about to do to Lian, and he would
not
stand for it.

The audience here wasn’t cheering and bloodthirsty, but terrified and screaming. He was still determined to win this fight.

Knox knew this was his fault. If he hadn’t attacked this man, they wouldn’t be in this situation. Now he had to face this mistake—born of hunger and weakness—and correct it.

Lian punched Moe in the face, hard enough to make his head whip back.
 

Moe’s mouth spread into a smile. “You’re mine.”

“Over my dead body,” said Knox, baring his own fangs. The sun might be baking his skin but the snowflakes soothed some of the sting.

“Gladly.” Moe threw himself against Knox barreling into his shoulder, and sending them both flying several meters into the air. They landed with a hard thump, Knox on the bottom. A flurry of ash-covered snow flew up around them like icy dust and the crowd scattered.

Moe landed a punch to Knox’s jaw. “I’m gonna tear your throat out.” He leaned closer. “Then I’m gonna eat her. And fuck her!”

The words pushed Knox into a rage so thick the anger threatened to consume him. He kicked his legs up and catapulted Moe right off his body, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

He sprang to his feet, enjoying the rush of speed he now had at his disposal. This newly-turned vampire was going to be sorry he dared challenge Knox. He’d faced crazed and beastly Recasts, huge Thropods with spiked limbs and poisonous pincers, four-armed blue warriors from an amphibious world. He’d fought more terrors than this asshole could even begin to fathom. This miniscule speck of a would-be vampire wasn’t going to get the better of him.

Before Moe could rise to his feet, Knox straddled the bastard and pounded one hammer fist after another into his face, until Moe’s features twisted into a bloody pulp of shattered bone and gore. He was about to punch the long fangs out of the rabid vamp’s mouth when Moe caught the underside of his wrist and closed his fangs tight around Knox’s blackened skin. Moe shifted his hips, causing Knox to lose his balance and fall over. He landed on his face—just what the asshole needed to gain the upper hand. Moe hopped onto Knox’s back, trapping his arms while wrapping a forearm underneath his chin, and pulling back.

Knox felt a surge of strength flow within him, almost as if every fight he’d ever faced had led to this. His right hand, though torn and bloody, wasn’t useless. Besides, Moe was taking the brunt of the UV rays and expelling far more energy.

“Die, you fucking asshole,” Moe screeched. “Die already.”

Knox wanted to laugh. He’d been in worst situations in the arena. With one last tug, he freed his hand and elbowed Moe in the ribs. He pummeled him with so many elbow strikes Moe’s grip began to loosen.

Knox pressed both hands against the snow and pushed hard enough to make his muscles burn. His arms quaked but he managed to lift himself off the ground with the asshole still on his back. When he got to his knees, one shrug was all it took to shake Moe’s weight off.

Still on his knees, he closed the gap between them and smashed his fists into Moe’s face, chest, wherever he could. Until the shine of the half cuff caught his eye and he stopped punching long enough to yank the silver from his wrist. He rammed it into Moe’s mouth—smashed past his teeth and shoved it down his throat. The former guard was now a gurgling, ruined husk.

The sun disappeared behind a cloud and that was enough for Knox’s body to begin to heal. He watched the singed and scalded skin repair itself before his eyes. It felt like tiny ants were scuttling beneath his skin. He had never felt more alive.
 

This time, he had
really
won his survival.

 
“Knox.”

When he heard Lian’s voice, he stood and spun around. She limped into his open arms and he held her close. He wanted to sweep her away from this horrid place, away from everything. Now that they’d both endured such odds, he knew the only way he planned to spend his life was getting to know her.

“Thank you,” she whispered in his ear, after kissing his cheek.

“What for?”

“For trying to save me, even when you couldn’t.”

He kissed her with a lot more vigor, almost forgetting they weren’t alone.

“Watch out!” Hogan’s warning echoed loud enough to start an avalanche somewhere.

The weak blow struck Knox in the back, but he kept his grip on Lian and remained upright while turning to face his would-be attacker.