Blood Curse (Pulse #8) (13 page)

           
Everything went white. Kalina couldn't see, couldn't think, couldn't feel. All she could experience was an all-consuming pain. She couldn't think of Max dying – how could she possibly think of that? Max was so strong – she was invincible, wasn't she? So brave, so powerful. And she was
her mother.

           
Kalina remembered how it had been to lose her adopted mother – the woman she had known as “Mom” her whole life. She remembered how much she had loved her, how hard it had been. And then she'd had another mother enter her life – a mother she'd never known – a mother she'd never fully understood. But a mother all the same. She'd lost her mother, her father, Justin, too, in a way – to the world of the vampires. She couldn't lose another family member.

          She knew the decision had already been made.

         
Octavius – I can't go on. I have to go back.

           
She dropped his hand before waiting for his reply. He might try to stop her, she thought. He might try to make her do the same thing Jaegar wanted her to do – to leave them all behind.

          She wouldn't. She couldn't. There were some things even heroes shouldn't have to do.

          She was flying faster than she had ever flown before. She was bullet-fast through the air, whipping through it, letting the sands scratch at her face as she plummeted back towards the rubble.

          Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Jaegar and Justin, their faces wrenched with pain, as they were pushing against a boulder the size of  a small hill. Beneath the stone was a body – so small, Kalina thought; she'd never seen Max look so small. Her eyes were closed; her skin was waxy, sickly, white. Kalina didn't look at her – she
couldn't
look at her. One look at Max, lying there like that, and she'd burst into tears.

          She leaned her hands against the boulder and began to push. It almost gave way, creaking slightly, but even with the three of them there they weren't strong enough.

          “Where's Justin?” Jaegar asked impatiently.

          “I don't know,” replied Justin. “We've already searched everywhere. I've tried telepathy – I've tried shouting – I've tried everything! I can't get hold of him. Maybe he's been knocked unconscious...or worse....”

          “Then we have to try harder.” Kalina gritted her teeth. “We can't let Max stay here. We have to get her out.”

          Jaegar's eyes were full of pain. “I'm so sorry, Kal,” he whispered. “I don't want to be the one to tell you this...”

          “Tell me what?”

          “Even vampire strength – it's nothing against nature. Nature is more powerful than any of us – you know that.”

          “What does that mean?”

          “This boulder's the size of a mountain, Kal. Pure stone. Even vampire strength won't cut it.”

          “Kal...” The voice was wheezy, whispered. Max croaked out a final sigh.

          “Max?” Kalina rushed to her side. “Max – stay awake, talk to me!”

          But it was too late. Max had closed her eyes, passing out from the pain.

          “Well, we can't leave her here!” Tears were streaming down Kalina's face.

          Jaegar's voice was full of pain. “I’m so sorry, Kal. Max means so much to all of us – you know that – she's family to all of us, now.”

          “And you'll just give up on her?” Kalina's pain had turned to anger. “After all she's done for you – you'll just give up?”

          “I don't want to...”

          “And here I thought...”

          Kalina wasn't even sure what she had wanted to say. In an instant, Jaegar's lips were upon hers, kissing hungrily, sublimating his pain into desire, a kiss that felt like he was trying to remember it, to savor it, to drown in her lips.

          Then he pulled away violently, ramming into the boulder with all his strength.       

          It lifted with a thud.

          “Quickly!” Jaegar cried out. “Justin, Kal! Lift it so we can get Max.”

          It lifted enough for Kalina to stick her hand underneath before it collapsed again, with Kalina barely removing her hand just in time.

          “We've got to pray...” whispered Justin. His face had gone the color of chalk.

          Kalina had never thought to pray before. Her experiences with vampires had pushed all other thoughts of the world beyond this one out of her mind. But now, as desperation flooded through her, she had no other choice. With her eyes closed and her hands together, she began to mutter, whispering her pleas.

          Jaegar gritted his teeth and with lightning speed ran back towards the entrance of the cave and back to the rock, ramming it as hard as he could so that it made an explosive sound and caused the rock to slightly lift up again.

          “Holy son of a....” Justin's voice rose in surprise.

          The boulder began to lift higher.

          To Kalina's surprise, Samson was standing before them, lifting the boulder, his strength worthy of that of his namesake.

          “Help me push!” he cried in a hoarse voice. “One, two, three.”

          The boulder lifted just enough for Kalina to pull Max out from underneath.

          She looked different – so different. She had aged in an instant. Her long raven hair was brittle and gray; wrinkles lined her once-porcelain cheeks.

          “Mom!” Kalina enveloped Max with her arms. “Mom, are you okay? We need to get her to the hospital! We need to get her better! Hurry!” She bared her wrist, preparing to bite into it, to give Max the Life's Blood she needed.

          “Stop!” Justin put a warning hand on Kalina's shoulder.

          “She's still breathing!” Kalina cried, pressing her hands upon her mother's chest. “Mom, no, I need you – I've found you now. I need you to pull through. For me. For Justin. For all of us. Please, please...”

          “Kalina, you need to stop...” Justin's voice was low and full of agony. “She's gone. It's over.”

          “She's not! She's breathing! I can tell – she's fine! She's going to be all right. Mom, mom, can you hear me?”

          But no answer came.
        

Chapter 16

         
P
ain shot through her like a bullet, drowning out all conscious thought. How could this be? She had already lost one mother, borne the pain and heartbreak of losing her and her father in one fell swoop. She had already mourned. And now here she was, being asked to mourn anew, to lose the mother – the second mother – she had only just gained. No, it couldn't be real, Kalina thought desperately. It mustn't be real. This woman, this mother – she would save her, couldn't she save her? She had saved so many others, after all – she had to be able to save the woman she cared for more than any other woman in the world.

          Justin was kneeling at Max's side, a mournful expression on his face. His fingers were pressed against her pulse. “She's alive...” he whispered hoarsely, “but only just. She's in a really bad way, Kalina. I don't know that there's much hope, that there's any hope at all...”

          No, it couldn't be! Max was so full of life, so full of strength. Max couldn't be dying – not like this.

          There was one thing she could do, she thought wildly. There was one – only one – way out of this. She bared her own wrist, her teeth shining in the moonlight as she prepared to open up her own veins, to feed her mother the Life's Blood that she knew could save her, could it only save her.....

          “No!” Justin's hand was firm and tight upon her wrist. “Kal, you can't.”

          “But it's the only way,” Kalina heard herself cry. “It's the only way to save her.”
          “You don't know the consequences of your actions, Kalina,” Justin said darkly. “I know you want to save her. I do too....but we can't...”

          “Why not? She's a Carrier, isn't she? With strong Life's Blood in her veins? I could have saved her, I know it. I could give her my blood, help her get her strength back.”

          “She may have been a Carrier,” Justin's voice was gentle but authoritative. “But she was also a human being. A human being with a human heart, human bones, human skin. Injuries that would have been too great, too painful, for any human to bear.”

          “But my blood would have saved her!”

          “It would have kept her alive, yes,” Justin looked down, pain welling up in his eyes. “But is that really healing? If her bones were crushed, her internal organs destroyed – she would be alive, but would she ever be out of pain? Or would she be a vegetable, condemned to suffer for all eternity!”

          “It isn't like that!” Kalina cried. “I don't care – she'd be alive!”

          “Remember what Stuart said about vampires when they are immortal, and met with nature? When we were in the plane, when it was going down – they were so afraid to survive, because the pain of eternal life when your body is that badly damaged is the worst fate of all. Pain and aching, all your days – excruciating pain so bad you couldn't even think or act – is that what you want for her, Kal?”

          Even now, Kalina thought, Justin was the consummate doctor – delivering difficult news with such a calm and gentle manner that she couldn't even feel angry with him. He must have delivered news like this to his patients before. But that was very different from delivering it to her.

          “It can't be...” But she knew this was no longer true.

          “I'm afraid it is,” Justin said.

          “After all this...”

          Normally Kalina could handle her emotions, but not today. Her Life's Blood was boiling, burning, in a way that it had never burned even for Jaegar or Octavius. This bond was stronger than any bond of desire. It was the bond of mother and daughter, of blood shared, blood twinned. The bond that every creature had with the mother that bore it. She felt as if she were experiencing Max's pain, Max's agony, as if the boulder were crushing her own organs.

          The pain was so powerful that she collapsed.

          Around her, she could feel Jaegar's arms, holding her tight, pressing against her, doing all they could to take away her pain.

          “No...”

          Her field of vision had gone blank. Everything was moving, swaying, shuddering, shimmering with the pain.

          “Kalina, please, Kal, Kal...” Jaegar was murmuring in her ear. “You have to be strong, Kal. You have to fight that pull. I'm not letting you go, too. I won't let you go. I can't.”

*****

Kalina woke up not too long after – at least, if the position of the moon in the sky was anything to go by. But it felt that she had been sleeping for centuries. Her head was heavy; her whole body ached; she felt as if she were supporting hundreds of pounds' worth of weight upon her shoulders.

          She awoke to the clanging of swords. She could hear shouts – echoes – murmurs and hisses. What was going on? She craned her neck to see the shadows flitting across the cave walls. Justin and Jaegar had lit a fire, and the firelight made the shadows even darker, even larger.

          “Where is our queen?”

          The voice was sharp – deep and rough – the voice of a man on the prowl. Sword steel clashed against sword steel in the distance.

          “Beats me.” Kalina could identify Jaegar's cocky swagger, even without looking at him. “As far as we're all concerned, you can have her anytime you want her. We want nothing to do with her.”

          “Insolent swine!” The minion's voice careened into a roar. “I'll just have to make you suffer extra hard before you die. I'll break your neck, stomp upon your chest, break all your bones before I stake you...
          Jaegar's voice was almost a purr. “Well, you can
try...
”

          Kalina sat up straight. She no longer thought of her pain, of her fear, of her worry. She thought only of the need to survive. It made her strong. She reached for her stake, ready to go fight.

          Then she saw them.

          They were so many of them – so many she could not believe it. A swarm, like maggots or buzzards, descending upon the labyrinth of the caves. At their head was a vampire larger than almost any she had ever seen – taller still even than Octavius – with rippling muscles and hands that looked as if they were formed to tear apart unsuspecting victims. He was fearsome, terrifying. This was no ordinary minion – cannon fodder, sent by Nereti to the slaughter. This was a true rival.

          And the vampires he led were no less frightening. With their red eyes and their vicious smiles, they were prepared to wreak as much havoc as possible, and enjoy the pain and suffering they caused.

          They stretched across the corridors of the cave and out into the desert sands, black and great dots – like oversized locusts. Nereti's army had come to seek its victory, its queen. They had come for the woman they worshipped.

          Kalina had to think fast. They were outnumbered – there was no hope of fighting them off now. Even at full strength it would have been a challenge, and they were hardly at full strength now. Jaegar was injured barely holding it together. She could see the bravado in his eyes, the false courage, but she knew that his injury was too deep for that now. He wouldn't be able to take out more than five or ten vampires at the most. Samson was there, to be sure, and Justin too – an unmistakably human look of terror in his vampire eyes. But Max was lying there with her closed eyes, her wrinkled skin, her long gray hair fanned out around her like a halo. Max was gone – and there was nothing to save them now...

          There was only one thing she could do.

          She had to use her wits.

          She straightened her back, rumpled her hair, assumed the most imperious and cruel expression she could. These minions had never seen Nereti up close – she had to bet on that, that the Queen would never let her lowly attendants near enough to see her face.