Blood Born Read online

  Watching, waiting, her fear began to fade. Intense fear wasn’t going to do her any good at all, and gradually she began to feel the rightness about attacking tonight. They couldn’t wait, couldn’t run and hide. The monsters had to be stopped, and if she was a walking basket case she’d do Luca more harm than good. She knew what to do: light in the eyes, blind the vampire, then stab it in the heart. If they were still kicking after that, she’d hit them with the pepper spray, then stab them some more. It was a decent enough plan. If she was lucky, she could wallow in fear after the fact.

  They hadn’t been watching long when what looked like a family left by way of the front door. A man, a woman, a teenage boy, and a girl ran in a tight knot, as if they were afraid to be separated even by inches. Their clothes were rumpled, the men’s faces unshaved, every head of hair unstyled and unkempt. They sprinted, as if they couldn’t get away from the house fast enough. The woman tripped and the man, her husband perhaps, caught and righted her without even slowing down, dragging her along for a moment.

  “They look human,” Chloe whispered. It was hard to be sure, since judging by the few vampires she’d seen, most of them could easily pass as human.

  “They are,” Luca responded.

  “What are they doing here?”

  “Unwilling blood donors, I suspect,” Luca said.

  “And they’re escaping through the front door? Why are the vampires just letting them go?”

  “They’re not.” Luca nodded toward a corner of the house, and Chloe saw a tall, thin man—vampire, she was certain—watching the family. When the foursome was a short distance away, the watcher began to follow.

  “Are the vampires just playing with them?” Chloe whispered. “Is this some kind of sick game?” Let the prisoners think they can escape, then hunt them down and … she didn’t want to know what would happen next.

  “Maybe.” Luca narrowed his eyes. “Maybe not. There’s some kind of magic around the humans, a kind of protective field. Maybe that’s what let them get free. The magic won’t last long, though; it’s already wavering a bit.”

  She couldn’t see anything like that, but she took Luca at his word.

  “I suspect when the magic fades the rebel who’s following will move in and kill them all. Quickly, if they’re lucky.” He was very matter of fact about it, but then again, he’d seen a lot of death in his years, all kinds of death: natural and unnatural, expected and unexpected, quick and not so quick.

  Chloe’s heartbeat raced again, her mouth went dry. She knew there was a lot to be done here tonight; she realized the importance of what was to come in that big house. But to just leave the foursome to the vampires was wrong. She couldn’t accept their deaths the way Luca did. “Shouldn’t we do something?” Everyone in the little family had looked so scared, especially the young girl, and Chloe knew those poor people didn’t have a chance against even that lone vampire.

  Luca turned his head to look at her. It was new and exciting and scary, the way he caught her eyes and held them, the expression in his. Between the bonding, the intensity of their time together, the love she was beginning to feel … just looking at him was an experience like no other.

  “Stay,” he said, and before she could argue with him, he was gone. He moved so fast he was a blur in the night, beside her one moment, gone the next. It was hard to tell, but she got the distinct impression of flight. Because she couldn’t focus on Luca, she looked instead at the vampire who’d begun to trail the escaping family. He was unaware that he wasn’t alone until it was too late.

  Luca didn’t tear off the vampire’s head, not this time. The sword was a silent weapon. With a movement so fast she couldn’t follow each and every stroke, Luca swung that gleaming blade and separated the vampire’s head from the body.

  Chloe closed her eyes, and a voice that had been absent whispered in her ear. That voice was clearer, more distinct than it had ever been. She went still, recognizing the Warrior from her dreams. “Your vampire saved the humans.”

  “He’s on our side,” Chloe mentally responded. In her mind’s eye, the Warrior began to take shape in the lightning-pierced mist, a woman with strong, clean features and a long, thick braid.

  “Perhaps I will not kill him, then. Perhaps.” After a pause the Warrior—Indi-something, Chloe remembered—said, “It’s time, Chloe. Bring me in. Open your heart and ask for my help and I will be there. Call me to you.”

  “Not if you’re going to kill Luca. No. Promise me—”

  Luca returned as suddenly as he’d left, and the image of the Warrior faded away. “They’re safe for now,” he said as he knelt beside her. “Anyone else I can kill for you?”

  Nevada was at peace for the first time in a very long while. She held her fate entirely in her own hands. The shield she’d built around herself remained strong as she closed her eyes and projected her spirit to Emily. The vampires hadn’t lied. Her family was away from the house that had been their prison for so long, they were running toward safety. They didn’t realize that they were running away from her, too, or that their escape would end in her death.

  Her spirit floated alongside her family, falling into step with Emily, who immediately became aware of her presence. With a little work, Nevada thought, Emily could become a very powerful witch, but she hoped with everything she had that her little sister never knew what she knew, that she never learned about secret languages, musty volumes filled with spells, and hidden abilities that had the power to change her life.

  “When will you meet us? I mean, really meet us?” Emily asked without slowing down. “Where?”

  “Who are you talking to?” their father asked.

  “Nevada,” Emily said breathlessly. “She’s here, and not here, and I can see her but … I don’t know how to explain.”

  “I love you all,” Nevada said. “Keep running, don’t stop until daylight. No place is safe tonight, not even home.”

  “Where are we supposed to go?” Emily asked. This time, she wasn’t interrupted by another family member.

  “Away from here. Anywhere that’s away from here.”

  “What’s going to happen?”

  “Something bad is about to start.” Nevada wanted to believe that the vampires would forget all about her family, but she knew all she could give them was a head start. After that, it was up to them.

  “They’re everywhere, Emily. The vampires are everywhere. Tell the others, and stay safe, and … I love you.”

  “Where are you? Where can we meet—”

  Nevada dropped back into her body, back in the room where the vampires kept her body even when her spirit roamed free. She didn’t want to lie to Emily, but she couldn’t very well tell her the truth either. Sorin and the vampire queen were watching closely. Did they realize what she could do, that she’d been spying on them for weeks now?

  It didn’t matter, not tonight.

  “I suspect somehow you have discovered that I’ve held up my end of the bargain,” Regina said, ice and displeasure in her voice. “Now it’s time for you to deliver on your promise. Break the spell that keeps humans protected in their homes.”

  Nevada wanted her family to be much farther away before she gave the queen what she demanded. “Not just yet,” she said calmly. Knowing she was going to die had removed her fear. She was in control, as much as was possible.

  In the past few days, she’d called on every ounce of magic she could muster. She’d even cast a net, of sorts, asking for help—demanding help—calling, in every way she could think of, on any and all who would fight the vampires with her … or else after she was gone. She didn’t know if the spell had worked, she couldn’t know if anyone at all would show up to try to stop the end of their world, but she had tried. She’d insisted that the time was now, the vampires had to be stopped now. Other than that, all she could do was wait.

  Considering her luck, she’d probably just doomed a few good guys who might’ve been susceptible to her magic. A cop or two, a few firemen d