Crossroads (Crossroads Academy #1) (31 page)

Luka was watching the whole time? Of course
he was. While I was left on the streets trying to figure out what
the hell was happening to me, he was waiting in the wings for an
opportunity to swoop in and save me. He was probably beside himself
with joy as I bled the city’s indigent population. I hate him more
than words can express, more than I would have thought possible
even. Just a few more yards, and I’ll have justice, I promise
myself.

“It must have really pissed you off then when
Aldo snatched me right out from under you, huh?”

“You can’t begin to imagine my rage when you
disappeared!” he snarls. “I let you out of my sight for one
evening, and you were whisked away. I’d almost given up on finding
you when that boy began digging into your past. Without him, I
might not have found you. I never imagined you rising to such
heights socially,” he sneers. “Nevertheless, here we are now.
Together again.” Luka stops pacing and squares up to face me. He
pulls himself up to his full height in a weak attempt to look as
regal as possible. He’s mistaken if he thinks I’d ever choose him
over Aldo.

“We will never be together. I will kill you
before this night is over,” I promise gravely.

He goes still at my words. This is not the
reception he was expecting, and he’s not pleased to discover that I
have no interest in being reunited. “After all I’ve done for you,
this is what I get in return?”

“All you’ve done for me? You’re a murdering
bastard! You didn’t do any of this for me. You did it for yourself.
You did it because you’re a sick, crazy psychopath and you enjoy
it.”

I take a step toward him, but he flits away.
I wonder if he’s armed. He shows little fear, but seems to
understand the right amount of distance to keep between his body
and my crossbow. I must be careful not to underestimate him.
Despite his delusions of grandeur, his desire for self-preservation
remains.

“Alas, you are right. That child was
meaningless. He pales in comparison to you, Kate. He didn’t have
half your flair for the kill. You did us a favor by disposing of
him now.” He looks pensively at the smoldering fire. “He would have
just gotten in the way. Together, you and I, we will be great.”

It’s more than I can stand to hear him talk
about Damian this way when he forced me to take another innocent
life, something I swore I’d never do again. Damian might have been
a monster in death, but he was innocent before Luka sank his fangs
into him.

“The only thing you’re going to be great at
is dying.” I pull the trigger knowing it’s going to be a miss. I’ve
been watching Luka. He favors his right, and, as expected, this is
the direction he goes. I move left to intercept him while firing
off another shot. This one glances off his arm. The Annihilator is
activated by the pressure of impact and tears a chunk of flesh from
his bicep. I couldn’t be happier to see him bleed.

“You bitch!” He’s howling in pain, but it
doesn’t slow him down much. He sends a string of curses in my
direction.

“What’s wrong, Luka? Not quite ready to
embrace your destiny?” I shout firing off a third shot. I miss
again. He’s so damn fast.

Luka drops into a front roll, and when he
comes up he’s brandishing a bowie knife. I have no idea where he
pulled it from, and, before I can register the presence of the
weapon, he throws it. The serrated blade hits me between the
shoulder blades and is buried to the hilt in my flesh. The force of
it sends me reeling. I scream in agony and drop the crossbow.
Before I can pull the blade from my shoulder, Luka tackles me
driving my back into the damp earth.

We struggle, both of us trying to get the
upper hand. There’s a lot of cursing and grunting. My right arm
isn’t much use with the knife impeding movement. The pain is
intense, unlike anything I’ve felt before, but I refuse to
surrender to the black clouds hovering on the periphery of my
vision. I’m pinned to the ground. Luka hovers over me, foaming at
the mouth, lips wet with saliva, his hands encircling my neck. I
reach to the small of my back with my good arm and pull the gun
from the waistband of my jeans. As his fingers attempt to crush my
larynx, I bring the gun around and push it into his stomach. I fire
off three shots before he releases me and leaps to safety.

I hadn’t thought to ask Nik about the
ammunition in this weapon. While it’s undoubtedly something that
will do damage to a vampire, I know my shots won’t be fatal. I
should’ve put the gun to his head for optimal results. I lay in the
grass flat on my back. I’ve got to get the knife out. I grab the
hilt and brace myself. The pain is excruciating. It hurts just as
much coming out as it did going in. My scream echoes through the
clearing.

I toss the knife aside and sit up, gun in
hand. As I seek to locate Luka, he descends upon me from above and
delivers a perfectly timed kick to my gun-hand. The weapon goes
sailing from my grasp and lands somewhere near the fallen tree.
Damn it! I instinctively roll backward and tumble onto my feet,
landing in a crouching position. If I have to tear him limb from
limb, I will. He is not going to leave this clearing tonight.

“I see you’ve been busy,” he leers. Luka’s
midsection is stained with blood from the bullets that ripped
through his stomach. However, he seems to be feeling okay and isn’t
letting the damage put a damper on his mood. The wounds are
probably healing as he speaks. “But do you really think it’s going
to make a difference? Do you really think you can defeat me?” He
laughs maniacally, as if this is the funniest thing he’s heard in a
while. His overconfidence feeds my determination.

“Come a little closer, and I’ll show you,” I
challenge. “Unless you don’t think you can handle me?”

“I created you, Kate. I know every thought
that passes through your silly little brain. You don’t stand a
chance against me. You’re too weak!” Luka screams, raising his
brows and fixing his eerie red eyes on me. As I watch, his pupils
dilate, and I’m overcome by the same feeling of helplessness that
saturates my dreams. “I control you, Kate. You will not lift
another finger against me.”

I scoff at his suggestion, but realize I’m
all but immobilized. I desperately try to launch myself from the
ground to attack, but my movements are sluggish and imprecise. I
feel as though a heavy veil has been dropped over me, smothering my
freewill. I barely manage to stumble forward for all of my effort.
I no longer doubt the validity of the studies on the Vampiric
Nexus, as his wicked psyche invades my mind and takes control.

Luka holds my gaze, and, although I try to
look away, I find that I can’t. He’s salivating now, panting like a
dog as the thirst overcomes him. “If you won’t join me, then you’re
only good for one thing,” he says, parting his lips and revealing
his fangs. It seems he’s decided that if I won’t be his mate, I’m
fit only to die.

I say a silent prayer and will myself to be
brave. I will not cry. I will not beg. I don’t want to die, and for
the first time in a long time I realize how desperately I want to
live. Really live. Despite everything that’s happened, everything
I’ve done, I want a chance to make things right, to make my parents
proud. As I prepare myself for the inevitable, I hope that I’ll at
least be rejoined with them in death.

As Luka closes in on me, his grin widening
with every step, Nik charges into the clearing and tackles him.
Their bodies roll sideways, and Luka is thrown into the air. He
lands on his feet and wastes no time launching a counterattack
against Nik. Their bodies collide in mid-air at full force. Nik
lands a fist on Luka’s jaw and the sound of crunching bone
resonates through the air. I find it deeply satisfying. Still, I’m
worried for his safety.

With renewed determination, I focus all of my
energy on pushing Luka from my mind. I have no idea what I’m doing
really, but I concentrate on expelling the poisonous tentacles that
seem to have settled over my brain. I have to do this. I have to
help Nik. I know he’s a skilled fighter, but he’s still in danger.
Because of me. This isn’t his fight, and yet here he is engaged in
a bloody death-match with Luka. I won’t be able to live with myself
if anything happens to him.

I will my body to follow the commands I
issue. I find that I can move slowly if I direct all of my energy
on one simple task—walking. It’s difficult to do with the battle
taking place just a few feet away, but it might be our only chance.
I just hope I’m fast enough.

I move deliberately toward the discarded
crossbow. Thankfully, I find it just a few feet away. I’m gaining
better control of my motor skills now, although I still feel
lethargic. I reach to the ground and scoop up the crossbow,
bringing it immediately to my shoulder. As I take aim, I falter.
Nik and Luka are embroiled in an all-out slugfest. They’re moving
so fast that it’s almost as if they occupy the same space. If I
don’t time the shot right, I could kill Nik. There can be no
hesitation when I pull the trigger.

I bring the scope to my eye and watch them. I
study their moves for what seems like an eternity but in reality is
only seconds. Nik kicks Luka in the stomach and follows up with a
second rapid-fire kick to the jaw. Blood spurts from his mouth. Nik
is also bleeding. Luka’s likely broken his nose judging by the
blood that’s gushing from it. The blood runs freely down his chin
and onto his shirt. I feel my own stomach tighten at the sight of
it.

I take a deep breath and let my instincts
take over as Nik has taught me. I free my mind allowing it to
anticipate their next moves, my finger balanced precariously on the
trigger. I take the shot almost without knowing it.

Luka’s head explodes as the Annihilator
enters his temple. His body drops to the ground twitching. Nik
places his boot on Luka’s chest and pulls a knife from his belt. I
watch silently as he removes what’s left of the head.

It’s over. I feel the last remnants of Luka’s
grip on me slip away. The Vampiric Nexus has been permanently
severed.

“Nice shot.”

“Yeah? Well, I had a good teacher.” I walk
over and stand by Nik’s side, forcing myself to look at the bloody
heap at his feet.

“For a minute there, I thought you were going
to shoot me,” he teases, wincing in pain.

“That makes two of us.” I smile wryly as his
arm encircles me protectively. For once, I don’t resist and lay my
head softly on his chest. I’m too tired to fight anymore. “Let’s
get a fire going and get out of here. I don’t know about you, but
I’ve had enough fun for one night.”

Nik wipes the blood from his face and adjusts
his broken nose. I cringe at the sound of the shifting cartilage.
Although I know he has to set it quickly, the pain must be
agonizing. He moves efficiently from this task to the next and once
again collects kindling for the fire. I leave him to it and stare
grimly at Luka’s remains. He doesn’t look nearly as menacing in two
pieces.

“He got what he deserved,” Nik says rejoining
me. He squats to the ground and stacks the firewood before throwing
Luka’s remains into the pile.

“I know.” I don’t feel remorse for killing
him. It’s all of the lives he destroyed that weigh on my mind. All
of the lives I’ve destroyed. There are a lot of bodies on my
conscience, and now it seems I’ll have to add my parents to the
list.

Nik lights the flame, and we step back to
watch Luka’s body burn.

“It’s not your fault, Katia.” Nik reaches out
and takes my hand. “The things he did. They weren’t because of you.
He twisted his actions to make you feel guilty. He was a plague on
this earth.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” He asks turning me to face him. “I
don’t think you do. There was nothing that you could have done to
save your parents. There was nothing you could have done to save
Damian.”

He heard everything. He must have been close
by the whole time, just waiting for an opportunity to catch Luka
off guard. I shift my weight and cross my hands over my chest
defiantly. “Now you know all of my dirty little secrets.”

“I don’t care about any of that stuff, Katia.
So what if you were born human? That doesn’t matter to me. It
doesn’t change who you are. It doesn’t change how I see you.”

His words get caught up with emotion at this
last part. He runs his hands through his hair, pushing the dark
curls back from his forehead in frustration. His hands settle on
the back of his neck, and he turns his back to me so that I can’t
see his face. It’s too late. I’ve already heard the anguish in his
voice.

I feel my resolve melting. He too has had a
rough night. Not only did he find out that everything he thought he
knew about me was a lie, he’s faced a demon from hell. His clothes
are dirty, his shirt is torn, and he’s covered in blood. I can only
imagine what a train wreck I must be.

“Don’t act like it doesn’t matter,” I tell
him running my hands over my wrists, touching my scars
self-consciously. “I lied to everyone. I killed innocents. Those
aren’t small matters.”

He turns to face me again. “You lied because
you had to. You fed in order to survive. And, from the sounds of
it, those victims,” he emphasizes the word to imply he doesn’t
think they’re victims at all, “were far from innocent.”

There’s nothing I can say to justify my
actions. Even if there were, I wouldn’t try. It doesn’t matter how
despicable my victims were. What I did to them was wrong. I’ll
never be able to forget what I’ve done. I’ll never be able to
forget their faces. Nor would I want to. I push a strand of bloody
hair back from my face and come to the realization that Nik can’t
understand because he’s never taken an innocent life. He’s never
drained a human and watched as the light faded from their eyes,
leaving nothing but an empty husk.