Crossroads (Crossroads Academy #1) (32 page)

Nik growls in exasperation. My silence is not
the response he was hoping for. “I’m not saying those things don’t
matter. I’m saying I understand that you did what you had to do.
It’s what any of us would have done in your place. You survived,
Katia. And you came out stronger for it. You can’t punish yourself
for that.”

His words do little to ease my shame. I can’t
bring myself to meet his eyes. Instead, I focus on the flames. I
watch as Luka’s body crumbles into nothing but a pile of dust.

“You have a good heart, Katia. I know it.”
The passion in his voice is unnerving. It reminds me of Aldo.
There’s no reasoning with either of them once they’ve made up their
minds.

We stand in silence until the flames burn
down. Once they smolder, Nik stamps them out with his foot.

“Ready to go?”

“Not really,” I tell him truthfully. “I’d
like nothing more than to run, but if I learned anything tonight
it’s that my problems have a way of following. I’ve got to go back.
I’ll have to face Blaine and deal with the fallout.”

“Everything is going to be alright,” he
assures me, taking my hand again. The sun is coming up. It rises
over the forest announcing the arrival of a new day.

“Easy for you to say.”

We
manage to sneak back onto campus through the stables. I don’t know
why I didn’t think of it before. I’ve seen Keegan jump the horses
over the back corral more times than I care to count. I don’t know
how the Pazitor ever left such an obvious breach in security, but
I’m not complaining. I know that even if Keegan catches us, he
won’t give us any trouble.

Nik escorts me to my room and leaves to
update Anya on the night’s events. I need to call Aldo, but I’m not
doing anything until I’ve had a chance to shower and feed. Or maybe
feed and shower. I need blood badly. Between the stress of the
night and the stab wound, I’m thirsty. I drain two pouches of
blood, not even bothering with a glass. Etiquette is the last thing
I need to be worried about right now.

Every inch of me is caked with blood and
dirt. To top it off, I smell like death. The cloying stench
emanates from me. I doubt any of my clothes are salvageable. I peel
them off and throw everything in the trash bin. I quickly assess my
shoulder and find that it’s fully healed. Other than the layer of
dried blood there’s no evidence of my previous wounds. I climb into
the shower and let the scorching hot water pour over my head. I
wash my hair twice and scrub my body until the water runs clear
down the drain. If only my soul were so pristine, I think, shutting
off the water. I towel dry my hair and avoid looking in the
mirror.

Once I’ve dressed in my favorite sweats, I
climb into bed. I’ll call Aldo after I’ve had a chance to rest. My
head will be much clearer then. As is my habit, I’m stalling. I
tell myself that I have the right after everything that’s happened
in the last twenty-four hours. Exhaustion sets in as soon as my
head hits the pillow, and I easily drift off to sleep.

**********

I’m aware of a presence in the room even
before I open my eyes. I slide my hand under the pillow and grab
Nik’s ruby encrusted dagger. Will this nightmare never end?

“Katia? Are you awake?”

“Aldo?” I release the knife and roll over.
Aldo is sitting at my desk. From the looks of it, he’s been there a
while.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he
apologizes. “I let you sleep as long as I could. I’ve already
spoken to the others.”

I sit up and throw the covers back, trying to
clear the cobwebs of sleep from my brain.

“What are you doing here?” I glance at the
clock. It’s late afternoon. I slept most of the day.

“I was worried about you after our talk
yesterday. I knew you weren’t going to stay put. When I couldn’t
get you or Anya on the phone last night, I had Viktor charter a
plane.”

He says this as if it’s the most natural
thing in the world. Who can’t charter a private international
flight at a moment’s notice? I smile and pull my knees up to my
chest as I wrap my arms around them. It makes a good chin rest. For
the first time I notice Viktor’s presence. He stands stoically in
the corner of the room hands clasped together. I know from
experience that he could spring to action at a seconds notice. His
relaxed demeanor is surprisingly deceptive.

“Hello, Viktor.”

“Katia.” He’s a man of few words. It’s one of
the things I like about him. He hasn’t changed a bit since I last
saw him. He’s a hulk of a man, standing 6’4. His head is shaved,
and the only telltale sign of his natural hair color comes from his
goatee, which is brown like his eyes. More often than not, Viktor’s
eyes are hidden behind dark sunglasses. Today is no exception. He
always wears a black suit with a black shirt and shoes. I’ve never
seen him wear anything with color. Everything about him says he
means business. I feel safer just having him here.

Aldo clears his throat, and my attention
returns immediately to him.

“I owe you an apology, Katia. It was arrogant
of me to assume that I could protect you from the harsh realities
of this world. I knew from the time Viktor and I found you that
your sire might come looking for you some day. When the dreams
started, I should have told you what I suspected.” He pauses,
shaking his head. “Instead, I tried to control the situation by
having Anya keep an eye on you. I just wanted to protect you. You
had been through so much already.”

“I know you did what you thought was right
Aldo, but I’m not a child. I don’t need to be protected from
everything that goes bump in the night,” I tell him lovingly. “You
have to let me stand on my own two feet. I’m stronger now. I
deserve the truth, and I deserve the right to choose for
myself.”

“You killed him?” he asks. His tone is
emotionless and I wonder how my answer will be received, if it will
please him.

“Yes, with Nik’s help.” I can’t take all of
the credit. I might not have lived through the night on my own.

“Despite the Nexus you were able to maintain
your free will and overpower him?” he asks, now clearly intrigued.
He moves to the edge of his seat anticipating my reply.

“It wasn’t easy. To be honest, I wasn’t sure
I could do it at first.” I wrap myself in the comforter that lies
at the foot of the bed. It’s not really for warmth. It’s for
security. “But, I couldn’t let him kill Nik,” I say fiercely. “I
couldn’t let him kill anyone else. I did what had to be done.”

He looks out the window, seemingly
contemplating his next words.

“Do you remember the night that Viktor and I
came for you in that tenement?”

“How could I forget? I’d just drained a drug
dealer. But he was a child. He couldn’t have been any older than
sixteen or seventeen.”

“We came to kill you.”

His words are a revelation to me. I had never
considered that Aldo had come for me with the intent to kill. He
never presented himself to me as a threat. Not even then.

“I was in New York for a Council meeting, and
there was talk of a murder spree in the city. We all suspected it
was the work of a mixed-blood.” He leans back in his chair and
crosses his legs. “They were going to send a local Linkuri team,
but I volunteered Viktor instead.” He pauses. “I will never know
what compelled me to do it. I just knew that I had to go, that it
had to be us. I hadn’t been on a mission like that in ages,” he
tells me shaking his head.

I’m speechless. I guess I hadn’t thought
about what kind of irregularity it would have taken to get Aldo on
the hunt again. To say it was beneath his position would be a gross
understatement.

“When I saw you crouching over that child,
remorse evident in your face, repulsed by your actions and longing
for death, I knew that you could be saved. I had great faith in
you, and that is why I brought you to my home in Romania. You, too,
were a child in need of help.” He looks at me guiltily, and I
wonder what’s coming next. “I did something then with the best of
intentions that I never disclosed to you.”

I look from Aldo to Viktor and back. Their
faces reveal nothing. The suspense is killing me! Aldo has never
been so forthcoming with me before. Usually our conversations are
fraught with obscurity and cryptic messages. We’ve never talked
much about the things that happened before I came to live with him,
before he adopted me into his family.

“I began feeding you with my own blood. I
stored it and diluted it with small amounts of animal blood so that
you wouldn’t know. I only wanted to offer you control. I wanted to
give you the ability to tame the thirst that comes with age. But
with that control came speed, strength, and wisdom.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Aldo’s
blood runs through my veins? He is one of the oldest living elders.
The power of his blood is virtually unmatched. There are those who
would trade their soul for a vial of it. I wonder if it was the
presence of his blood that allowed me to neutralize the Vampiric
Nexus with Luka. I have no doubt that, although I’d already been
transfigured, the effect of his blood passing through my body would
have sparked additional changes, not the least of which would be
increased mental and physical strength.

“I don’t understand. Why?” I’m totally
confused at this point. Feeding on Aldo’s blood is completely out
of the realm of things that are likely to happen. We are way past
the impossibility of dying a human and waking up a vampire now.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you
to doubt your own morality or control. Your initial transgressions
do not define you, Katia. You will be so much more than that, if
only you would let go of the past and embrace your future.”

He sees me in a way that no one else does. I
have no idea what gives him such confidence in me, but I’m touched
by it. Still, my mind is reeling with the enormity of this news.
What kind of untapped power am I sitting on? If what Aldo says is
true, then it may only be my conscious mind that is holding me
back. And what of the risk? It’s dangerous enough that he’s passing
me off as his heir. But, if anyone knew that he’d fed me with his
own blood? I can’t even think of the repercussions.

“Aldo, you take too many risks for me.” I
watch as he toys with the bloodstone ring. Anastasia. “I can’t
replace her, Aldo.” His body goes rigid. I’ve struck a chord.

“I never expected you to.” His face is sad.
I’ve hurt him. I throw back the blankets and climb from the bed. I
go to Aldo’s side and kneel by his chair. Wanting to make things
right, I kiss his hand gently to show gratitude for his continued
grace.

“Tell me about her.” We’ve never discussed
Anastasia. Although I pretend to be born of her bloodline, even I
don’t know the real story about what happened to her. Lissette
warned me long ago that the subject was off limits. But today is a
day of revelations, so I decide to push my luck.

“Anastasia.” He says her name reverently and
closes his eyes. They remain closed as her story unfolds. “She was
always strong willed as a child. As a young woman she was no
different. She was like you in that way.” He opens his eyes then
and looks out the window. “Things were very different then. Women
did not enjoy such equality, nor did vampires who were de sange
amestecat. The Consiliul de Batrani was less forgiving, and
punishments from the Linkuri were swift and bloody. Our father was
a ruthless man. He ruled by fear. Anastasia was one of the few
people that ever crossed him and lived.” He smiles sadly and I am
anxious to know the rest of the story.

“I found out that Anastasia had entered into
a relationship with one of our servants, a vampire of mixed-blood.
I was afraid of what would happen if someone else told my father,
so I did it myself. In hind sight, I don’t know if I was trying to
protect her or myself.” I glance at Viktor to see if he’s as
engaged in the story as I am. His stony face gives nothing away. I
quickly return my gaze to Aldo.

“My father was so angry with her when he
found out. He tore his chamber apart. I was immediately sorry I’d
told, but the damage could not be undone. He would not stand for
such a betrayal.” Aldo pauses again turning to face me. “Back then
this type of scandal would have cost him his reputation. Imagine
how it would have looked if he couldn’t even control his own house.
His own daughter consorting with de sange amestecat? It was the
worst kind of betrayal.”

The implications are obvious. The story would
have spread like wildfire and would have been used to undermine his
authority. Still, I’m disturbed. Maybe it’s because I was born
human, but I really don’t see what difference it makes. Purity of
blood has nothing to do with strength of character or the bonds of
love. Crossroads has shown me that.

“I’ve never known for certain, but I believe
my father had Anastasia killed that very night by the Linkuri. I
never saw her again and was forbidden to mention her name.
Eventually stories spread about her running away.” He shrugs,
raking a hand over his closely cropped hair. “I’m certain my father
perpetuated them.”

Aldo’s guilt is tangible. Living all these
years with the death of his own twin sister on his conscience
couldn’t be easy. I guess that explains his fondness for me. And
his need for redemption. I feel the full weight of his need descend
upon my shoulders.

Anya was right. His judgment is clouded when
it comes to me. Not that it matters. This revelation does nothing
to shake my loyalty to him. Aldo gave me a second chance at life,
and I intend to make the most of it.

“Enough of this gloom,” he orders, strength
returning to his voice as he stands. I join him, straightening up
as well. “This is a day for celebration. You are free of that
abysmal creature Luka and those horrific nightmares.”