The Ties that Bind (The Forever series, Book Five) (26 page)

“Fine. Abridged version though as this tunnel isn’t that
long.”

Hohenschwangau,
Bavaria, 1942 – Katherine

“Come on, Devon, we don’t have much time,” I hissed at
him.

“I’m coming,” he snapped back. “I don’t know why you have
such a death wish. This tunnel could be filled with all sorts of booby traps.”

“I’m just trying to be quick and short of flames or an
axe to the head we will be fine,” I ducked quickly as I heard the whoosh coming
at me and thanked the lord for Vampire reflexes.

“You were saying?” Devon said from behind me where the
booby-trapped axe had nearly took my head off.

I cleared my throat. “Yes, well. Lucky for me I am a
Vampire and not a slow human,” I said somewhat abashed at having been nearly
caught out. “Stop distracting me.” I blamed Devon and he chuckled at me.

He flashed the fiery torch in front of us and we
proceeded with markedly more caution than before.

“Oh wonderful,” he said as we come to a big hole in the
ground. “How are we supposed to get over that? Jump?”

“There will be a way. Just look,” I ordered him. “Esther
said we could use this tunnel to get from the village into the castle.”

“Are you sure you trust her?”

“Of course. She wouldn’t lead us astray. She wants out of
this place and we are her ticket.”

“Here,” I said a few moments later after examining the
walls and finding three small levers in place.

“What order?” Devon asked.

I shrugged. “Who knows? Does it make a difference?” I
asked and just randomly pulled the three levers back.

Apparently due to the lack of anything happening it made
a difference. I sighed and tried again. The third try had a bridge appear from
both sides, joining in the middle.

“I don’t trust it,” he said.

“Just run.” I grabbed his hand and in a flash of Vampire
speed we were across the bridge that collapsed again as soon as we were over.
“Christ. It’s like it was made for Vampires,” I said, a bit breathless from the
adrenaline. “No wonder they hired us to get this damned egg back.”

“I thought it was yours anyway?”

“It was. Awhile ago. Constantine gave it to me after we
left Russia. It got stolen in France and now the Nazis have it.”

“Poetic really then, when you think about it.”

I grinned at him, “Sure is.”

We made it without incident to the end of the tunnel and
waited. A few moments later the trap door opened and Esther popped her head in
and said, “Quickly. You have to make it to the Study Room and back out in five
minutes, that’s when the guard comes back around.”

I nodded briskly and Devon and I went in the direction of
the Study Room, careful to keep to the shadows. A quick search of the room
found us the egg and, checking the secret code was still hidden carefully
inside, I wrapped it up gently and placed it in my satchel.

“Hide,” Devon whispered to me as we heard the guard come
back. We each ducked behind the curtains pulled back and held in our breath.
The guard came in and inspected the room. Oh please don’t let him see anything
is out of place, I thought. I was not in the mood for taking down a bunch of
Nazi guards tonight. He left and we peeked out from behind the curtains.

I motioned with my head that we should get out of there
and silently we also left and made our way back to the kitchens, where Esther
was waiting for us.

“Come now,” I told her. “We got it but we have to leave
now.” There was a commotion coming our way, the guard must have gone back
suspicious and saw that the egg missing.

“Now!” Devon hissed at her as she hesitated. “Katherine,
just grab her.” I pulled on her hand and she got into motion. We dropped down
the hole and she pulled the trap door closed behind us. “Go,” I said and we
ran, triggering a few traps on the way, but we made it back to the bridge with
our heads and other body parts intact. “When the bridge goes up, take hands and
run,” I said, pushing the levers into place as we hear the guards closing in on
us. Esther grabbed Devon’s hand and he grabbed mine and we ran. The bridge
disappeared under my feet before I made it and felt myself falling but Devon
was there to save me, as always. He gripped my hand tighter and pulled me up
out of the hole with a quick chuckle, “What would you do without me?”

“Let’s hope we never have to find out,” I said as I
pushed him down to avoid the gunfire now coming at us. It wouldn’t kill us but
it would hurt like hell and slow us down. We kept running even though there was
no way they would be able to follow us over the bridge, until we reached the
other end of the tunnel some miles away from Neuschwanstein Castle, in the
village of Hohenschwangau. We burst through the trap door into some poor
peasant’s house that we had tied up for their own protection in case they were
caught. With many thanks and compensation we disappeared into the night, hoping
that they wouldn’t get into any trouble for appearing to help us, and we headed
for the Swiss border.

“You lost the egg I gave you?” CK says, clearly miffed and
taking only that piece of information away from my tale.

“I got it back,” I tell him in a huff.

“Humph.”

“Esther? As in Esther, helped you?” Cole says, aghast.

“Yes,” I say. “Why do you look so shocked?”

“I have to admit, I didn’t realize she was a Vampire,” he
says somewhat shyly. “I guess I don’t have the Vampy sense yet.”

“No, probably not,” I concur. Not to mention Esther is very
unassuming, if you didn’t
know
she was there it would almost be as if
she wasn’t.

“But she’s so… you know,” he presses and I have no idea what
he is talking about.

“So what?”

“Old!” he blurts out to Devon’s amusement and my annoyance.

“Older people can be turned as well you know,” CK says
huffily. “You could be ninety and still be a Vampire, albeit an old-looking
one.”

“I’m sorry. I just find it odd. Who would turn her?” Cole
asks, interested.

“Her son,” CK answers.

“Her son?” Cole repeats. “She is able to walk in the sun so
her son would have to be either a…”

“Master Vampire,” I interrupt. “What of it?”

“Who was his sire?” he glowers at CK who glares at him down
his nose.

“Well he has mommy issues and so therefore comes from the
creepy pool. Who do you think?” I ask.

“Gregor,” he says.

“Got it in one.”

“Christ, her son turned her so they could be together for
eternity? That just really is creepy.”

“Well, now that we have established Esther’s lineage, shall
we move on.” It’s not a question.

“What I want to know is, Constantine, your reasons for
picking Sebastian as your first,” Devon says slyly.

CK glares at him but we are now at the door on the other
side and he says with a smile, “Two reasons I won’t tell you. One, we are out
of time and two, it’s none of your damn business.”

“Fine, as soon as you tell Livvie, she will tell me. I can
wait,” he goads and I turn to him with a furious look.

“Enough!” I snap and he looks contrite.

“Cade, you can let Jess go now. She should be calmer now
that Devon has been around her for a bit.” He nods and places his hand under
the orb and closes his hand over it. It dissipates and everyone relaxes a teeny
bit now that Hunter magick is no longer hovering.

“Take her hand,” I mutter to Devon who is still standing
behind me.

He sighs but complies.

“She looks up at him and then all of us and our
surroundings. “Where are we?” she asks.

Everyone ignores her as I push the door release button and
the back of the pantry slides open and we step in.

“How come you use the back of my pantry but your floor?” CK
asks.

“I use mine,” I say nonchalantly.

“So do I,” he says, annoyed. “I do cook, you know.”

“I do know. Very well, in fact. However, I have many people
living in my house. You only have two. Well, three now with Sebastian,” I say
and we all jump in surprise as Sebastian opens the pantry door to us all
standing there and he freaks momentarily before regaining his composure. “May I
ask what you are all doing in the pantry?”

“A secret mission,” I say mysteriously and he looks annoyed
he wasn’t part of it. I stalk past him as does everyone else. CK’s kitchens are
darker than mine. In fact his whole house is. Preferring the shadows to
sunlight, I reconstructed the house to his liking. Most of the windows are high
up at the top of the very high ceilings, letting in light, but a very refined
light. The only room that doesn’t have these is the indoor pool room which we
walk past to get to The Room. The pool room is situated off the main sitting
room and is all windows, frosted windows, a beautiful construction with marble
floors and a long narrow pool running through the middle of it. I love that
room. I used to come swimming here on my own before CK moved in. Just to get
away from everything. He sees me notice it and I can see him making a mental
note to himself about it.

He leads us over to the massive bookcase at the back of the
sitting room and pulls out a book. It’s all very clichéd but as I’ve mentioned
before, they are clichés for a reason. Cole raises his eyebrow at me and I
smile back and say, “When you have lived in castles through battles and wars
centuries ago you become well versed in the art of skullduggery.”

“Skullduggery? I like that word,” he laughs.

A door slides open and we all step inside and down the
stairs into a very comfortable room. It is as large as the sitting room,
equipped with every modern convenience, a bedroom, and bathroom.

“What makes this room so special?” Cole asks, interested.

“It’s a modern day dungeon,” CK answers for him to which
Devon suddenly goes all protective on us.

“You are not locking her up in a dungeon!” he yells at us as
he pulls her behind him protectively. “I will not allow you to treat her like
some dangerous prisoner.”

“Oh, calm yourself,” CK says unruffled. “As you can see she
will be perfectly comfortable. She is a liability at the moment, it’s for her
own good as well as the safety everyone else.”

I am snickering at him and it annoys him further. “We’ll
make a sire out of you yet,” I whisper to him and he glowers at me.

“I will stay with her then,” he says and CK and I exchange a
glance. This is good.

“Very well. Your phone won’t work down here but if you want
to leave or need anything there is an intercom system. You will get, Nico?” I
ask of CK who nods. “There is also blood on tap, but only one pint every four
hours is permitted. Make sure she drinks,” I say to Devon. He nods.

“I’m sorry I attacked you, Mrs. O’Dell,” Jess says suddenly.
“I lost control and there was this haze of…”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” I interrupt her.

She smiles, grateful that I am not going to punish her
further. “I would like to carry on with the conversation we were having. If you
don’t mind.”

“Of course. I will come back before dark and we can carry on
talking.”

She nods, “Thank you.”

“Right, well we will leave you now,” I say to Devon as I
pull him closer. “Will you be okay or do you need Cade to stay?”

“I will be fine. I think I can handle her,” he says
sarcastically and I kiss him lightly.

“Use this time to…”

“I will. That’s why I’m staying,” he says determinedly and
kisses me again. He steps back from me and takes her hand. I die a little
inside as I see his commitment to her now. Part of me had hoped he would run,
as far away as he could get from her. He says he feels no Vampire bond but he
does still have feelings for her, that hasn’t changed. I sigh inwardly and turn
to Cole and take his hand. We leave them alone and lock them inside. My eyes go
momentarily to the pool again with longing.

“Come and see me later, before you go downstairs,” CK says
to me knowingly. “We need to discuss a plan for when we are en route.”

“I will,” I say, loving him for making up a decent excuse
for me to come and see him. Well, his pool anyway. Oh screw it, him as well,
hopefully in the pool.

I wrap my arms around Cole and with a little wave, we Astral
out to our bedroom.

“Oh man, I thought we were going to go back via the tunnel,”
he says with a boyish sulk.

“Sorry baby, that would take far too long. I have you
exactly where I want you,” I say and drag his mouth to mine and kiss him, much
to his elation.

We surface from our ardor some time later.

“What day is it?” Cole mumbles and it takes me a minute to
think.

“Saturday, I think,” I chuckle. “Shit, this has been a
hectic few days.”

“It always is with you,” Cole points out.

“True. I long for some quiet days but…”

“What?” he asks straight away. “What is it?”

I shake my head. “Nothing,” I lie. I still have this feeling
of dread that something terrible is coming.

“Liv,” he says. “No more secrets, remember?”

“It’s not a secret. It’s just a feeling.”

“Of what?”

“Dread,” I say before I wish I hadn’t.

“Dread? That doesn’t sound good.” He looks concerned.
“Should we be worried?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what it is,” I say truthfully.

He frowns at me, “Liv, don’t make light of it because you
don’t want me to worry. If you know something, tell me.”

“Cole, I honestly don’t know. It’s just this feeling. Forget
it. Whatever it is, is probably nothing after all we have faced.”

He doesn’t like it but he drops it and I snuggle into him.
“It’s going to be weird having everyone in Toronto with us. I had gotten used
it being ‘ours.’”