Colby couldn’t help but laugh as Nicolas related the story to her. He provided very vivid pictures of the incident for her. Rafael looked so young and uncertain, not at all like the dominant man she was tied to. “What about you? What was the first thing you tried to shape-shift into?”
There was a small silence. The mask slipped back over Nicolas’s face. He shrugged his shoulders carelessly, but she didn’t think it was a careless gesture. “I do not remember.”
“You recalled Rafael’s first time so vividly.” Even to the colors of the trees, the individual leaves, the smells and sounds. She’d heard the hum of insects in his mind.
He stood up. “It was Rafael’s memory, not mine. You gave him back those things and he shares with me.”
Colby studied his mouth. There was a cruel edge to it, a remoteness in his eyes. “You’re very close to turning into one of those monsters, aren’t you?” she asked. Her heart ached for him. Ached for Rafael.
“Yes. Without the memories my brother shares with me, I would lose this battle.”
“And yet you came to his aid even though you knew if you battled the vampire you would go a step closer. And you took the vampire blood from Paul, when it could have pushed you over the edge. Why did you do that, Nicolas? I wasn’t even nice to you.”
“You are
família.
You are a Carpathian lifemate and must be protected by all Carpathians. And I love my brother. I may not feel it anymore, but I know it is there, buried deep, and I will not allow anything to happen to you.”
“I will never forget the risk you took on our behalf, Nicolas, and if it becomes too difficult and you need to see colors and feel emotions, I don’t mind so much the sharing of our minds.”
There was a small silence. “It is no small thing you offer, sister kin,” he said softly. “Carpathian men do not share with others, not even kin. My brothers and I are unusual because we had no choice but to bind together to overcome the call of the beast. I know you fear Rafael’s hold on you and you have yet to commit your life to his. Why do you offer this to me?”
It was complicated. She didn’t know if it was watching him push the poisonous blood through his pores after taking it from Paul, or watching him give his brother blood, but she was very conflicted. She certainly wasn’t going to make a commitment to a life of living underground and sucking blood from living human beings—the very idea made her shudder—but she couldn’t leave him so starkly alone any more than she could stop herself from thinking of Rafael.
“You stayed here talking to me because you knew I would never make it through the night without him, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s your answer, Nicolas. Maybe I feel the need to protect you for him, just the way you feel it for me.”
They were silent a moment. Then he spoke again. “I have a vampire to catch.”
“How can you find him?”
“Now that I know who he is, he will be easier to track. I know his ways. It has been hundreds of years, but he had certain patterns, all of us do, and he will keep to some of his.”
“Rafael wants you to wait.” She had sensed Rafael’s concern and it hadn’t just been because he was afraid Nicolas would make another kill and be that much closer to succumbing to the insidious whisper for power.
“I cannot take a chance that he will strike against you. He will be locked in the ground during the daylight hours, longer than I will be, but he can use his human puppets to try to kill you.”
“You mean Paul.”
“I am guessing he has more than one. This vampire is ancient and cunning. He is a skilled fighter and knows all the tricks. A master vampire has no pride to guard, unlike a fledgling or even a slightly experienced vampire. He is willing to run away, to sacrifice pawns so that he might live, and he is called master because he reigns supreme in battle and the magic of our kind.”
“Why would he want to live such a terrible existence?”
“The pain and terror he derives from the suffering of others, from killing, gives him a rush. A high. Like a human drug. It is addicting. He lives for that one moment.”
“How do you kill a vampire?” She was trying to stall him. It was getting close to dawn. Surprisingly she wasn’t tired. She had plenty of time, before the sun became too high, to do the morning chores.
“
You
don’t.” His voice was very stern.
“Your women never fight the vampire?”
“In any species there are always exceptions, but our women hold the light to our darkness. They will fight to defend their lives and the lives of our people, but they do not hunt. We have too few women and our hunters are solitary. If we divide our attention to keep a woman safe, it is an additional risk to ourselves.”
“I could feel Rafael’s resolve. He was willing to die to keep
me alive, to keep Paul alive. He knew if he fought the vampire he might be defeated.”
“Kirja is a very powerful fighter. He had a reputation for hunting. He has grown in strength since that time. His blood was different and I would very much like to know why. Something is not right here, Colby.”
“I still want to know how to kill one. I’d feel better if I knew it could be done.”
“Not with a rifle. Juan and Julio could have slowed it down by shooting it in the heart, but it would not kill it. The heart has to be completely removed and incinerated or it will find its way back to its evil host. The body is then incinerated so there is no hope of regeneration. The blood of a vampire burns like acid, Colby, and they can command with their voices just as Rafael and I can. Leave them alone.”
“Did Rafael use his voice to seduce me?” She looked him straight in the eyes, needing an honest answer.
“I do not know what Rafael chose to do to bind you to him, but if I had a lifemate, Colby, I would use my voice, my gaze, and everything else at my disposal to make her mine. I would not take any chances. My woman will do as she is supposed to do.”
“I hope your woman is an Amazon,” she muttered under her breath. She could see she had kept him as long as she was able to. He walked out into the cool of the night and she followed him. “I already feel the need to touch him again,” she confessed, rubbing her hands over her arms. “Is it going to be like this all the time?”
She hated weakness in herself, and grieving over Rafael as if he were dead just because he wasn’t touching her mind was a terrible weakness.
“Yes. I will help during the nights, but stay close to Julio and Juan during the day. They will help you as much as possible. Remember everything I said to you. You
must
survive.”
“I don’t plan on anything else,” she assured him.
Colby watched in wonder as Nicolas simply dissolved. At first his human form shimmered, became transparent so that she could see right through him. Tiny droplets of mist formed and he was nothing but vapor, streaking through the air away
from her toward the hills. She blinked several times, trying to make her mind accept what she’d just seen.
The moment Nicolas was gone, she let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t realized how tense she was. She needed to be alone, to be with the familiar chores that might make her feel normal again, even if just for a few moments.
She went to the makeshift stable, surprised at all the work the Chevez brothers had accomplished while she slept that afternoon. Sean Everett must have sent both materials and additional men over to get a shelter up so quickly. She sighed again, this time for her pride. It seemed to be going right out the window. She didn’t even know what was happening on her ranch anymore.
Colby spent the next couple of hours attending to the horses and treating burns. Most of the burns were nearly healed, and the horses already seemed stable again, a remarkable achievement when they’d been so traumatized. She became aware then that she heard a slight noise, the door to the kitchen open and close. She caught a glimpse of the dog running up the slope and took a deep breath. The day was already starting. Juan and Julio would be up soon, in spite of their need for sleep. And in a few hours she would be going to bed and leaving Paul and Ginny in their hands.
She rubbed her hand over her eyes. Rafael had no right to bring her partially into his world when she had such responsibilities. She was trapped between the two worlds now, with no clear way out of either one and no idea what to do about it.
She forked hay to the horses and filled the water basins with fresh water. The shelter constructed to keep the horses out of the heat was solid and, as the sun came up, it protected her skin as well. All the while she thought of Rafael. Her body ached for him and her mind refused to think of anything or anyone else. Colby had no chance to solve problems when all she could think of was wanting to touch Rafael, to see him, to know he was alive and well. She was disgusted with herself, but it didn’t stop the tears tracking down her face or the terrible grief welling up unexpectedly and often shaking her to her very core. She worked steadily, trying to use normal chores to make her feel normal again. It was the only thing she could think to do.
She was just finishing and about to go to the hay field when she heard the kitchen door again. This time Paul’s steady footsteps could be heard walking across the yard toward her.
Colby shook off the sudden dread. She needed a few hours alone without worrying about whether or not her brother was suddenly going to turn into a monster in front of her eyes. She didn’t want to watch him every minute. She turned to greet him with a determined smile, grateful for her acute hearing.
“You’ve been crying,” he said immediately.
“Feeling sorry for myself, nothing bad,” she explained. “What about you? You should still be in bed. Can’t you sleep? You aren’t hurting, are you?” Colby pushed back her hair. Paul
looked
fine, but it made her nervous to know that the vampire could still use him. It was difficult to forget the memory of his young face twisted with hatred as he threw her into the herd of stampeding cattle. What did you say to a boy who’d been bitten by a vampire and tried to kill his own sister? How did you comfort him? She was out of her depth.
“I’m fine, I just had too many nightmares. I don’t want to sleep, even though I’m exhausted.” He handed her a piece of paper. “Ginny already went out for a walk this morning. She took King with her. She said she’d water the garden and make breakfast when she gets back. It’s hard to think about things as mundane as breakfast and chores.”
“I saw King taking off and thought she’d just let him out and had gone back to bed. She likes to pick berries for breakfast, but I don’t like her going off too far with all this going on.”
“I could go after her,” Paul offered. “I don’t like it either.”
Colby didn’t want Paul out of her sight. “We’ll just let her have a short walk and if she isn’t back in a half hour, we’ll casually walk after her so she doesn’t think anything is wrong.”
“What about the vampire?” he asked uneasily.
“He can’t be up this time of day; the early morning light is too much for him. We should all be safe.” And Paul was with her, so he couldn’t be used unknowingly. The sun was barely out but her skin felt it. She rubbed her arms. There was an awkwardness between them that had never existed before.
Paul patted several of the horses as they moved restlessly. “I helped put this shelter up yesterday with Sean’s men and Juan and Julio.” There was pride in his voice.
“It’s wonderful.” She didn’t mention money. Paul needed to feel good about something.
“How are the horses doing?”
“They seem to be recovering fast. I like to see Juan and Julio working with them, whispering in their ears the way Dad used to do.” Colby exchanged a smile with her brother. “I love watching them do that.”
“Me too,” he admitted. “Did they go back to the Everett ranch to get some sleep?”
“No, they’re both in the house. I put Juan in Dad’s room and Julio in the guest room.” She smiled at him.
“I can’t believe the horses are so much better already. How do they do that?”
“I think it was Rafael,” Colby said. “Every time he’s visited with them, they’re improved. I think he uses some kind of healing technique on them.”
An awkward silence fell over them. Paul pressed his hand to his throat. “I can still feel him, Colby.”
“I know, Paul. I’m trying to figure out what we’re dealing with here. We can’t exactly go to Ben and tell him there’s a vampire on the loose—he’d lock us both in a mental ward.”
Paul shrugged, attempting a smile. “He’s been wanting to do that for years. It wouldn’t be anything new.”
Colby turned her head, movement catching her eye along the slope just above their ranch. Her eyes were already burning and it was early morning. The sun wasn’t even high, yet she could feel the light poised to stab at her. She squinted, shading her eyes. “What is that, Paul? An animal dragging itself?”
Paul swung around, his eyes tracking the slope. Immediately he stiffened. “That’s King, Colby. He’s hurt.” He took off running, streaking across the yard toward the injured dog.
13
T
he dog crawled
toward them, dragging its body along the ground. When King saw them approaching, he flopped into the dirt and whined, his dark eyes looking at them with trust.
Paul knelt beside him and ran gentle hands through his fur. “He doesn’t have any wounds that I can find.”
A chill went down Colby’s spine. She leaned closer to stare into the dog’s eyes. “He’s drugged, Paul.”
There was a small silence. Paul shook his head adamantly. “It wasn’t me. I swear. I woke up remembering everything this morning, Colby. I don’t remember the things Nicolas showed me I did when he was removing the vampire blood, but I knew I lost little parts of time. I haven’t this time. I didn’t drug the dog. I didn’t.”
Colby put a hand on his shoulder. “That’s not even important right now, Paul. What’s important is that King was with Ginny. Take King into the house and leave him on her bed and wake up both of your uncles. Tell them to saddle a couple of horses and follow us, then get out here fast. I won’t wait long.”