Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger (7 page)

After I sent Dragus on his way, I finished
laundry and worked on my plan.

If this
Nachtmann
was on my payroll,
he had to answer to me, not the
Krieger
. So, I’d put him to
work. He can help me with getting to Adam during the day. But how
was I going to help him? Well, first thing was teaching him not to
eat people. Yuck! I wonder if he would eat animals. Where in the
hell would I get a slab of meat for him? I can’t just walk my
vampire self into the local IGA and ask the meat cutter for his
scraps. That would be too obvious, and most likely would gain a lot
of unwanted attention.

I don’t know a lot about his condition, but I
do know that he is also a telepath. My telepathy only works with
others like myself. Obviously, Adam was looking for the closest
mind sharer he could connect too. He was in a forest, not
necessarily the one in my backyard, and connected to me, but he
could be anywhere. The closest vampires to me are six miles away
and I don’t think they’re telepathic. So, he could be in the wooded
area anywhere on my ten acres, or on Mr. Gerald’s property a few
miles up the road. I wanted to help him, but by no means was I
going to walk into Lycan infested woods in the middle of the night.
No way! I’ll wait till he comes to me.

Dragus

I smiled as I walked out the back door of her
house. Once my blood touched her lips, I felt my body connect to
hers. Her mind wasn’t completely clear, but I could make out the
tone of her thoughts. She was concerned for the hybrid who
contacted her. His information in the system told me he was a very
strong telepath and now I understand why he was on her property.
Charity’s file also said she too was a telepath, but not quite as
powerful.

She wouldn’t tell me that it was Adam who
contacted her, but I knew otherwise. Charity felt obligated to help
him, because he was in pain. For that I felt rage. He was using her
to lure her out of the house so he could attack her. There had not
been any other bodies found over the past few days. This means he
was most likely hungry and knew he could lure her out into the open
because they share the same ability. Even more likely than that, he
was scared and used the forest to hide.

I paced the back of her property line, trying
to get a feel for Adam. He had been here earlier but his scent had
faded slightly; telling me he hadn’t been gone long. I didn’t sense
any other Lycanthropes in the area either.

Before leaving, I carefully walked close
enough by the house to see inside the windows. She was sitting in
the recliner reading a book. I flinched at my intrusion of her
privacy. I could have myself arrested for doing this, but
damn
I had to check on her. Leaving her alone, I made my way
to the Hummer.

As I drove back over to the office, I thought
about Charity. I know for sure she is my destiny. Akalika assured
me that she was the one, and I trust him completely. But how in the
world do I convince her that she is the one I’m destined to be
with?

He was there when I had actually had my first
dream as a
Krieger
. That first dream had scared me to death.
I had awoken and ran straight to his room at the
Krieger
mansion I was stationed at in Germany. After beating on his door,
the man, that was closer to me than a father, took me inside and
told me what those dreams meant. I could dream walk, but only with
my intended mate. So, I learned from him how to find her; how to
walk in her dreams and contact her. I needed to see her again.

Maybe I will stop by her place tomorrow and
formally ask her out. It was my night off. She seemed more than a
little irritable toward me. Did she remember me from the dream?
Could it be that she doesn’t remember me? Maybe she remembers me
and doesn’t want anything to do with me.

Either way, I’m not giving up without a
fight.

Chapter 4

Charity

I returned from the Red Cross the next
evening thinking about Adam. The only way to help him was to
contact him. As adverse as I was to going toward the woods, I
reigned in my fear and made the decision to try a connection with
him. But the first thing I needed to do was look for any
Krieger
. I’m sure they would be back to check on the
property sometime tonight.

Which gave me an idea, a dumb one, but it was
an idea. Dragus was supposed to be off work tonight and there were
no other
Krieger
in the area. You better believed I checked!
Although I don’t get cold, I still grabbed my black hooded
sweatshirt on my way out the back door. It had started snowing
about an hour ago and the wind had picked up out of the north.

I had a large open backyard that abruptly
stopped a couple hundred yards back at the tree line. A gust of
wind caught my golden hair and whipped it around my face, so I
tucked it down the back of my hoodie, and stepped off the patio.
The night air was crisp and cool. The faint sound of an owl flying
off in the distance had me smiling at his freedom. Flying was not
something I could do, but others who can tell me that it is the
most exhilarating experience one can have.

As I walked, I let my senses range out
looking for trouble. By the time I reached the tree line, I found a
few Lycanthropes, but they were far away. I felt safe, for now. If
they get to close, I would just rely on my superfast vamp speed to
get my dumb ass back in the house. I’m not a fool, when in
doubt….run like hell! That’s my motto.

Once the wind died down, I closed my eyes,
concentrating on my telepathy. Raising my hands in the air was just
something I did, because I swear it helped channel my mojo. As I
concentrated, I felt for other minds in the immediate area. There
was a bland, sort of humming sound coming from the Lycans that sort
of made my head throb. If I ever tried to connect to someone who
wasn’t telepathic, it gave me a headache.

I pushed harder, looking for him. When he had
connected to me yesterday, his mind was a little fuzzy around the
edges, but otherwise still very close to vampire. That gave me
hope. I mustered up all of my power and called to him.

“Adam Castillo! Come to me,” I heard my voice
echo through the forest and hoped like hell he heard me before the
Lycans did. Once the echo faded, I tried again; this time
louder.

“Adam! I’m here to help you! Please, come
back to me!” The pull of his mind was getting closer, but he still
would not connect with my thoughts.

It was then I heard footsteps. I held onto my
telepathy, trying to reach for him. His mind was there, I know
because I felt it. For some reason, Adam wouldn’t use our shared
ability to connect with me. I was not powerful enough to take over
his mind, like he could do with me.

Along with his soft steps, I heard the
crunching of tiny twigs and leaves under heavy paws. Crap! I was
too close now to stop. “Adam,” I asked, one more time. If he didn’t
answer me in three seconds, I’m gone.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I’m here.”

I lowered my hands and opened my eyes. Adam
was standing just inside the tree line. He looked ten times worse
than he did that night at my club. His hair had once been sandy
blonde, now it was a matted, bloody mess. In the picture, his eyes
had been emerald green, now they’re a strange glowing yellow, just
like a Lycanthrope. His shirt was missing and his jeans were in
tatters. But what disturbed me the most, was that he had started
sprouting werewolf fur. The tops of his shoulders were covered with
patches of fuzzy brown down like hair. Thankfully, that was the
only place he had begun to fuzz over, that I could see. I don’t
know how long the process would take before he became a rouge
vampire-Lycan hybrid.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, because I
didn’t know what else to say.

“How the hell do you think I feel?” he
laughed.

“I’m sorry,” and I was. No one should have to
go through this pain. “Are you hungry? What can I do to help?”

“I’m starving,” he cried. “I didn’t want to
kill them, but the hunger is unbearable.” He fell to his knees and
wept, clinching the side of his head. I felt the brief shot of pain
that ravaged his body. The pain wasn’t as bad as the night
before.

“Okay, look, we have to talk fast. The other
Lycan’s are coming and I don’t have much time,” I said in a rush.
“Can you eat animals, like dear or bears, even rabbits. You can’t
go around eating humans or vampires, that’s just gross.”

“I couldn’t help it. I was in the city when
this happened and that is why I fled to the woods. I knew that I
could get away from people and try to live out here. I’ve been
eating with the other werewolves; they have taken me in. Hell, for
some reason some of them listen to me; follow me where ever I go,”
he shrugged then nodded back over his shoulder.

I looked around to his left and right and saw
the glow of yellow eyes. I gasped and took a few steps back. There
were twelve extra sets of eyes peering out from the forest. They
had arrived in a pack, just like wild dogs.

“I…I’m sorry. I have to go.” My voice
stuttered as I turned to run. I was scared. I swear this was the
dumbest thing I have ever done.

“Wait!” Adam called. “They won’t hurt you, I
promise.” He sounded so sure that I hesitated.

I spun around to see Adam standing there with
his arms out to the side like a crossing guard holding back
children. He stepped forward begging me with his stare to stay. The
face of a child looked back at me; begging for help.

I began to shake. My hands trembled and the
hair at the back of my neck started to rise. All of my instincts
roared to life. This was wrong. I was scared.

“There has to be a cure. I don’t know how
much humanity I will lose once I complete the transformation. There
are others who still have some part of their mind, but mine is
slipping. I’m trying to hold on to my memories so that I don’t
forget. That’s how I found you. I sensed your telepathy at your
club that night and I had to connect with you.” His head turned to
the left as we both heard tires turn off the main road into my
driveway. Adam backed into the tree line and I felt his connection
slam into my brain. I knew he had more to say, but needed to get
back into the shadows. The other Lycanthropes stood their ground
and did not move.

I raised my hands, closed my eyes and spoke
to the hiding hybrid. I only had a few minutes before whoever was
in my driveway came around back looking for me.

Please stay in the woods, don’t go into
the city. The
Krieger
are looking for you. I will do what I
can to help, but you can’t eat any more people. Okay?
I
begged.

Thank you. I will connect with you at
midnight tomorrow. I’ve told the Lycans not to harm you. You should
be safe. The
Krieger
are coming. I…I must go.

The connection was lost and then I heard the
heavy pounding of footsteps running toward me. I opened my eyes and
saw the werewolves slink back into the trees, one by one. When I
turned to my right, three
Krieger
were coming up on me fast;
weapons drawn. Oh shit! I was in trouble now, because Dragus was in
the front, flanked by Ashby and Rowland.

They swarmed and made a triangle around me,
all facing out; their shoulders touching. I felt like a three-sided
warrior sandwich. How the hell was I going to get out of this one?
I couldn’t lie now; Dragus has probable cause to listen to my
thoughts. If I wouldn’t let him, he would get a court order and
then I would probably end up in a judge’s office. A hassle I did
not want to deal with.

“Everything is okay,
Krieger
. They’re
gone,” I sighed heavily.

“Charity,” Dragus’ accent thickened, which
was bad. “What happened? Are you hurt?” He reached for me as if to
check me over inch by inch.

“No!” I snapped. “Let’s go inside and get
this over with.” It took a lot of work, but I managed to push
Dragus out of the triangle. I stifled a giggle when he grunted,
obviously frustrated. As we walked toward the house, Ashby and
Rowland escorted us with guns drawn watching the tree line. I knew
it was pointless for them to be on guard, but there was no way I
was going to waste my breath telling them different.

Once inside in the living room, Dragus sat in
my recliner. I pulled a stool over in front of him and sat
down.

“What happened out there?” he demanded. Ashby
and Rowland sat quietly on the couch; Rowland held a notepad and
pen, transcribing our conversation. Ashby tinkered with a handheld
video camera; obviously meant to catch every moment of the
questioning. He pointed the contraption at me and I heard the beep;
not needing to look to see if it was recording.

“Go ahead and read my mind. I don’t like
repeating myself,” I huffed.

Dragus looked at the Ashby and said, “Note,
Charity Harwood, has given verbal approval for me to read her
thoughts. I will translate.” He turned toward me and placed a palm
on each one of my temples. I closed my eyes and relaxed.

It was a little odd having my thoughts read;
it was like watching my memories replayed on DVR. Dragus repeated
every moment I had been with Adam Castillo. Even the plan to feed
him; I knew Dragus had seen that part, because he laughed.

Just as I saw my reaction to when I first saw
Dragus, being pulled out of my thoughts, I pulled back releasing
his hands from my head. I glared at him. He was trying to find out
what I thought of him. Jerk! I heard the beep of the camera and
knew I was not on tape; so I lit into Dragus.

“You asshole! What was that?” I whispered,
trying to keep this conversation between us. I heard a muffled
sound and looked over to see Ashby trying his best not to laugh.
Rowland was carefully studying a very rare painting that was hung
over my fireplace. Dragus stood and spoke quietly to Ashby and
Rowland before dismissing them, so we could chat. Yeah, chat, my
ass! I was going to burst his bubble for sure.