Endless Chase (20 page)

He ignored her as he lowered his body over hers, feeling his chest against hers.

Katya’s eyes flew to his face as he touched his lips to hers. “This isn’t over.”

Panic filled her eyes, but he ignored it. He was still angry about what she’d done, that she’d manipulated him, put his family in jeopardy. But he understood her need to avenge her parents’ murders. In the end, she’d tried to make things right. That went a long way to soothing the fury that seethed inside him. She’d lied to him and used him, but he still wanted her, still felt the connection between them like a tangible, living thing.

“It has to be over.” Her voice was slightly hoarse and, as he watched, a lone tear leaked from the corner of one eye and rolled down her temple to be lost in her hair.

“No, it doesn’t, and it’s not.” He stretched over her, putting his neck in front of her mouth. “Drink.”

She turned her head away. “No.”

The rejection stung. “You need to feed.”

“I already did.”

Fury roared through his veins with the speed of a locomotive. Logically he knew that she’d had to feed at some point. But the thought of another person, another man, giving her what she needed to survive had jealousy eating at his stomach like battery acid. “Who?” he demanded.

“That’s not your concern.” She shoved at his shoulder.

He thought about pushing the point, about holding her face to his neck until she gave him what he wanted, but the reality of the situation was that she could get away from him any time she wanted. As a vampire, even a hybrid one, she was stronger and faster than he was.

Although it gnawed at his gut, he stepped away, hitching his jeans back around his waist and zipping them. He grabbed Katya’s hand, tugging her into a seated position.

She looked a mess, not that he was much better.

As if she could read his thoughts, Katya raked her hands though her hair before sliding off the table. She wobbled, but leaned against the edge for support as she bent down and tugged her pants back up.

Her necklace was tangled behind her and he gently pulled the pendant around to the front. The gold was warm from resting against her skin. He held it in his hand for a moment, wrapping his fingers around it as he said a prayer. Releasing it, he stepped away.

Neither of them spoke as they finished dressing. When they were done, Chase took her hand and led her to the door. Before he opened it, he leaned down and kissed her.

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Katya went up on her toes, returning the caress. Unlike their earlier kiss, this one was soft and gentle.

“Katya,” he began, but she kissed him again, smothering his words.

“Later,” she promised. Squaring her shoulders, she pulled open the door and marched back down the hallway to the study.

The family was still there, discussing matters when they stepped into the room.

Katya ignored all of them as she grabbed her pack, slinging it over her shoulders.

Grabbing up her crossbow, she headed back to the door. “I’m going to set up outside. I suggest that one or two of you do the same. We can’t assume that Vasili is coming alone, not against all of you. He thinks that I’m on his side, so that should help.”

“Wait.” She stopped at Cristofor’s command. “We’ve got an idea.” She turned slowly, her entire body stiffening as Cristofor laid out the plan the family had come up with during their absence.

“That’s dangerous.” She chewed on her bottom lip and then nodded. “But it could work.” She scanned all of them, one by one. “I’m sorry I brought this trouble to your door.”

Stefan shrugged as if he hadn’t been ready to kill her with his bare hands just hours before. “If you hadn’t brought it, someone else would have.” He glanced at Cassidy and Blythe. “It’s been pointed out to me that if that had been the case, we might not have been as well prepared as we are now.”

Katya inclined her head slowly. “I’ll set up outside and do my part.” Whirling around, she strode from the room.

Chase followed her out into the hallway, leaving the rest of them to prepare to face their enemies. “Wait.” She stopped, but didn’t turn around.

“We’ve already wasted too much time. It’s pure luck that he hasn’t already attacked.”

Her shoulders hunched slightly, but she held her ground as he took her by the arm and turned her to face him. “Why don’t you use the back entrance? It’s probably safer.”

She stared at him, her dark eyes giving nothing away. The soft woman was gone, replaced by the warrior. Nodding, she headed toward the back. He walked beside her and watched as she slid out the door into the darkness, never once looking back.

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Katya was barely keeping it together as she melded into the shadows of the castle.

She felt raw, exposed, as if her skin had been turned inside out. The encounter with Chase had shaken her to her core. How was she going to live without him?

She snorted and notched a bolt into her crossbow, positioning her quiver for easy access. The question was a moot one. She didn’t expect to live the night, but there was no way she was allowing her parents’ murderer to escape. Nor would she allow any harm to come to Chase and his family. The most likely outcome from that scenario was her death.

Vasili wasn’t stupid. She expected him to try to kill her. He didn’t have a reputation for being a trustworthy soul and he hadn’t become the leader of this organization of sick and twisted degenerates by being anything less than utterly ruthless. Once she saw his face, her death sentence was signed.

Or perhaps he’d already decided to kill her simply because she knew of his plans for the Dalakis family. Either way, it didn’t matter. She was ready to face death.

Crouching in the notch of a large oak tree, hidden by its foliage, she opened her senses to the night. An owl hooted in the distance and she could hear the steady swoosh of a bat in flight as it hunted down prey. A fox darted through the bushes and a wolf howled. All the nocturnal hunters were out tonight.

There was no sense of the Dalakis brothers anywhere. They were good.

But so were the people hunting them. Letting her breathing deepen, she relaxed her muscles. She needed to be fluid, not tense, able to move at a second’s notice.

The night seemed to hold its breath and all movement ceased. Katya cocked her head to one side. Listening.

Off to the right, she heard the first footstep, then another. Closer and closer they crept. She counted at least six, maybe more. Her fingers reflexively tightened around her weapon. She preferred it to a gun. It was quieter, more deadly and more personal somehow. The crossbow might be an antique, a weapon that had been in her father’s family for generations, but the bolts it shot were the best money could buy.

She all but ceased to breathe when she sensed someone passing below her. Not moving a muscle, she waited, all her senses open and attuned to the forest around her.

The animals had all hidden and even the insects were quiet, as if sensing the evil slowly penetrating the woods, tainting it with its presence.

Katya licked her lips. She could almost taste the foulness on her tongue.

She waited. It was hard not to jump down and take out the first man. He was definitely human, his thoughts easy to read. Some people were closed up tight and it 105

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took a lot of energy and focus to even sense their emotions, but others practically broadcasted their thoughts to the world around them. The man who’d just passed below was in the latter category. He was afraid and excited all at the same time. The promise of blood, strong blood, lured him.

It would also bring him death.

Katya felt no pity for him as he proceeded closer to the castle. He’d chosen his path.

The Dalakis brothers would show no mercy and neither would she. She could see or sense a half dozen of them now, spreading out as they approached.

As planned, the front door opened and Cristofor stepped out into the night. The humans might be hampered by the night, but none of the vampires were. Katya saw Cristofor as easily as she would have in full light.

He tugged the door closed behind him and cocked his head to one side as if listening. The whistle was low, but with her preternatural hearing, she heard it, saw Cristofor jerk as the dart struck him. His hand shot to the side of his neck. He grunted as he yanked it out and tossed it aside.

Whoever had fired it had a hell of a shot.

Cristofor stumbled, his hands blindly searching for support. He barely caught himself on the outside wall. A low curse split the night and loose stones crunched beneath his feet as he slowly side down the side of the wall, coming to land on the walkway with a heavy thud.

Katya slipped from her perch in the tree, as soundless as a wraith. She was one with the darkness as she moved steadily closer. The man who’d passed under the tree was between her and Cristofor. Without a moment’s thought, she slung her bow over her shoulder and moved in behind the intruder. His shoulders tensed, as if he sensed her at the very last second, but it was too late. She slapped one hand over his mouth and nose, even as her other arm slipped quickly around his neck. With a quick snap, she broke his spine, easing his body to the ground.

She kept her gaze forward, aware of her surroundings as she shifted through the shadows. A man moved from the left, separating himself from the trees, as he closed the distance between himself and Cristofor.

The surge of energy struck her like a bolt of lightning. Hidden until now, it flared outward, searching. Unlike the power she’d felt from Stefan and his brothers earlier, this was tainted. It made her skin crawl, but she didn’t move from her position.

“I know you’re there, Katya.” She recognized the voice immediately. It was the same one she’d heard over the phone.

She jerked, unable to contain the involuntary movement. Squaring her shoulders, she shifted her weapon from her shoulder, holding it steadily in her hands as she stepped forward into the dim light of the moon. Cristofor was still slumped by the wall, not moving. It appeared the vaccine hadn’t worked after all. Either that or Cristofor was very good at playing possum. She just couldn’t afford to take the chance.

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“Vasili, I presume.” Her voice was calm, steady, and for that she gave thanks as she stared into the face of the man who had beheaded her beloved parents. No doubt, the same fate awaited Cristofor, maybe even herself, if she didn’t come out the winner in this deadly contest.

“It is never good to presume.” His voice was pleasant, almost melodic. He glanced down at Cristofor’s inert body. “The others are inside?”

“Yes.”

“You have done well. What I wonder is, why?”

“Why?” She didn’t know what his game he was playing now, but she knew he was toying with her.

“Hmm.” Suddenly, brutally, he kicked Cristofor in the ribs. The vampire didn’t cry out, didn’t try to defend himself.

Katya’s palms began to sweat, her heart beating rapidly. She had to keep him talking and give the other vampires time to take out the humans in the woods.

Vasili smiled at her and it sent a shiver down her spine. She was in the presence of pure evil. “I know you betrayed me.” Reaching down, he grabbed Cristofor’s inert body with one hand, dragging him away from the castle wall. “I tranquilized the two in the woods. They will not help you.”

Oh shit
. Something had gone wrong.

A wolf howled. Then another. Their howls were getting closer with each passing second.

The vaccine didn’t seem to be working. Katya had no time to think. She could only hope that the other two were still alive. Stefan, Lucian and Zane had all taken positions in the woods. That meant at least one of them was still out there.

“You are a mystery to me, Katya.” Vasili dragged Cristofor’s unmoving body beside him, as if it weighed nothing at all, as he walked farther away from the castle and closer to the woods. His strength was enormous.

“Who are you?” she whispered. He was more than human. Her mind couldn’t seem to wrap around the horrible possibility.

“The real question is, what am I?” He laughed. “Isn’t that what you really want to know?” He smiled then, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight. “My name is Vasili Harkov and I am a vampire.” He shook Cristofor’s limp body. “Not like these ones.

They’re babes in comparison to me. I have lived for fourteen hundred years.”

Katya’s mind reeled. Her papa had been killed by another vampire. “But you’re like them.”

“No!” His temper flared for the first time. “They are a pale imitation of me. They’re not worthy of the name vampire. Drinking blood from blood banks, rather than taking all they want from the human sheep who populate the earth. The power is in the blood, but the most powerful of all is vampire blood.”

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He suddenly yanked Cristofor’s body closer, leaning down toward the vampire’s neck. “Your papa’s blood was especially thick and rich, Katya. I hadn’t had blood that powerful in more than a century. And your mama…” He laughed again. “Your mama’s blood was innocence personified. I can still taste it on my tongue.” He smacked his lips.

Katya stood frozen in horror. He’d known who she really was all along. She thought she was luring him into a trap, but he’d been playing her right from the very start. This creature had killed her beloved parents.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get to you…eventually.” Ignoring her, he started to sink his fangs into Cristofor.

She started to move and felt the sting of a dart in her neck. Her hand automatically slapped at it. Ignoring the dizziness, she raised her crossbow. The sensation would pass. She knew it would. The vaccine had been tested on her several times to ensure it worked.

Planting her feet, she took a breath and let out half. Steady as a rock, she fired.

The bolt flew through the air, hitting its mark. Vasili jerked back, a look of pure disbelief on his face. He dropped Cristofor’s body and grabbed at the heavy bolt that went all the way through his neck. Blood covered his hands, rolling down his forearms.