Blood Born Read online

  “I like this world, very much,” Rurik said thoughtfully.

  “Yeah, so do I,” Jimmy responded.

  “It is worth saving.”

  A chill ran down Jimmy’s spine. It was so easy to get caught up in his own little world, his insignificant life, that the larger picture became fuzzy at times. He’d never given much thought to the world as a whole. Kate did, though, and he wished she were here now, but at the same time he was very glad that she was far away from whatever they were driving into.

  “Where you’re from … it’s not the same?” Might as well try a little small talk.

  “Not entirely. My home is more simple than yours. You have things here that we do not have.”

  “Like beer?” Jimmy asked, looking at the discarded cans on the floorboard.

  Rurik grinned. “We have ale, plenty of it, but we do not have Budweiser.”

  Jimmy laughed, for the first time in what seemed like a very long while. A preference for a specific brand of beer made Rurik seem almost ordinary … almost. “What else do you like?”

  “Your women. They’re … soft. Not like the females in my world.”

  “Your women aren’t soft?” Damn. Did that mean they were hard, like, literally?

  “They are all warriors, like I am. Strong, determined fighters. They are good women, all, and some of them are very beautiful. But your women are different. They are …”

  “Softer,” Jimmy supplied, when Rurik faltered.

  “Yes. I also like your french fries and …” he paused for a moment, as if searching for the right word, “classic rock, and cherry pie.”

  “Women, music, beer, and pie. Rurik, you’re just an all-American guy.” It occurred to Jimmy that Rurik had to have been here before, in order to appreciate all these things. “When was the last time you … popped in?”

  “Nineteen sixty-eight.”

  Jimmy got that chill again. Vietnam. His great-uncle had died there.

  “Dude, you don’t look all that old.”

  “I’ve been around for a very long time,” Rurik said. “And of course, I watch when I am not here. From the other side, we see everything.”

  “Great,” Jimmy grumbled. “Even my most private moments aren’t sacred.”

  Rurik smiled again. “You are assuming that your private moments are of interest to anyone other than you.”

  True enough, but from here on out he’d always wonder … if there was anything for him from here on out.

  “Okay, tell me the truth,” Jimmy said. “I can take it.” At least, he hoped he could. “You’re a warrior, you’re from another world, you’ve been around for, like, forever, you fight in wars …”

  “When I am called, and when it is necessary. There are times when many of us come, and other times when only a handful are called.”

  “And this time?”

  Rurik’s jaw seemed to tighten before he sighed and answered. “Many of my kind have been called, which is a testament to the severity of the situation. I am sad to say, not many have made it through. Not many at all, unless since I have come here, others have also been able to make the journey. Many of the conduits, like your father, have been murdered before they could call their warriors over.”

  Oh, shit, if this wasn’t a recipe for disaster, he didn’t know what was. Not only were they going to be fighting vampires, they’d be badly outnumbered. He wanted to bail. He wanted to drop Rurik off, then turn tail and run—back to Texas, back to Kate. If there was a war with vampires, well, that didn’t mean he had to be a part of it in any way other than as a deliveryman. He’d done enough, hadn’t he?

  He didn’t need to ask but he had to know: “Why are you here now? It’s the vampires, right?” Maybe he’d read the situation wrong and there were just a few of them, something Rurik could handle on his own.

  “Yes, the vampires. The monster who killed your father, she was not alone. There are many more like her. They wish to enslave humanity, to end the world you have always known. If they win, if they ascend to power, then the beauty of your world will fade, and soon die. There will be no more music, because the human spirit will no longer sing. Your women will no longer be soft and innocent. Humans will become cattle, slaves … less than human.”

  He was already speeding, but Jimmy’s foot pressed harder against the gas pedal. After a while, Rurik smiled once more, though the joy he’d expressed earlier was gone.

  “I also like speed.”

  Sorin contained his fury as he watched the white pins being stuck into Jonas’s maps. Most were in the U.S., including one in New York, but others were placed on the world maps throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Maybe the warriors were spread out so far because they realized what was happening to their conduits, and maybe they came in from thousand of miles away because that’s where their only capable descendants lived. Whatever the reason, the revolution had suffered its first failure. They hadn’t been able to stop them all.

  But they’d been able to delay the warriors’ entrance, and some had surely been halted entirely. Fewer warriors to face was a victory, of sorts. There were more black pins than white. But that didn’t lighten Sorin’s mood.

  A warrior had come through in Texas, and Melody wasn’t answering her phone. The warrior was still alive, according to Jonas. Had the warrior killed her, or had she deserted when she’d failed? Either scenario was possible. Given what he’d said to her, if she hadn’t been able to take out the warrior she’d have gone to ground somewhere, hiding rather than taking the chance that Regina would kill her.

  Regina was livid. She was angry with Jonas, ready to take Nevada’s head. She’d expected her plans to be executed without flaw, and they hadn’t been.

  “Do I have to do everything myself?” Regina faced Jonas, her anger coloring everything about her. Her posture, her normally beautiful face, the way she balled her small hands as if she were hungry for something to strike. Her fangs had extended, as if she were hungry for something else entirely. “You were supposed to locate all the conduits before any of the warriors could come through. Tell me why I shouldn’t end your pitiful existence here and now.”

  “I can still be of service,” Jonas said, frazzled and tired, and not as afraid as he should’ve been. Maybe he was ready to die. Maybe he was tired of being Regina’s whipping boy, the puppy she kicked when she was having a bad day … and sometimes when she wasn’t. “I’m still able to track the warriors. I’ll know when they get here.”

  And the warriors, who’d been watching everything from their own world, would know exactly where the rebels had gathered, who their leader was … and how to kill them all. They would also be enraged at what had happened to their conduits. To know exactly where the warriors were as they came closer would be a great advantage, and Regina wasn’t ignorant of that fact. Her rage faded, and she stepped back from Jonas. He was safe enough, for now.

  Nevada was not. Regina had to have some outlet for her rage, and the despised little witch was her next target. She flew out of Jonas’s room and climbed the stairs like a woman on a mission. She pushed past the two surprised guards, opened the door to Nevada’s room, and stalked inside. Sorin was right behind her.

  “I’ve waited as long as I intend to wait,” Regina said in her ice-cold voice “If you can’t break the spell now, then you won’t live to take another breath.”

  Nevada stood, and calmly faced them. A bubble of light, one he recognized, surrounded her. Perhaps she’d known what was coming, or maybe she’d simply been practicing, but she’d protected herself with a sanctuary spell. He waited for the shield to fall, because they’d interrupted her as she’d been working and she’d told him often enough in the past that any distraction pulled her out of her work. Her focus should break, and disrupt the spell … but nothing happened. The shield didn’t fall, but seemed to grow brighter. What was she doing? Didn’t she know her family would pay the price for her rebellion?

  “I’ll break the spell when my family is free,” she said