Vampire Apocalypse #2 Cataylst (7 page)

He shook his head, “Nope. I had enough blood,
rather recently, to overcome my freeze-dried food needs.” Kahli
looked down at him.

The way that white suit clung to her drove
him crazy. Will tried not to look at her, but it wasn’t working.
Kahli was impossible to ignore. When he mentioned blood, the smile
slipped from her face. Will took the moment to press her. “We need
to discuss the Queen.”

Kahli glanced at him out of the corner of her
eye, her fingers drifting to her throat. She nodded and slipped off
the tabletop and onto a chair, across from Will. “But the
King—”

“The King is secondary at this point. He
should be removed from the equation before we even step foot in the
palace. The Queen won’t let him get away with all the things he’s
done. The Purging was his only gift. The other things, the other
girls, were stolen. Each and every human belongs to the Queen.
Although she plays the part well, she is stronger than the King.
Stronger than the Regent. That’s why she’s maintained her throne
for so long.”

“How is it that you’re able to speak of this,
but not other things?” She sounded curious, not angry.

“It’s information that wasn’t sworn to
secrecy. Most of the servants in the palace know what I’m going to
tell you, they just wouldn’t have found a crazy wild girl, and
armed her, to kill off the royal family.”

“And you are?”

“That’s the plan,” he grinned.

“And people say I’m the crazy one. What makes
you think I can do anything? I couldn’t even hold you off.” Kahli
looked discouraged, her shoulders slumping as she looked away.

Will’s stomach twisted with guilt. “There was
a reason for that.” Kahli straightened in her chair and looked at
him. He didn’t want to say it, but she had to know the reason why
she lost those fights when she first arrived at the palace. “I used
your name. If I hadn’t, you would have beaten me. I cheated.”

Kahli didn’t move. Her green gaze locked with
his, her jaw tightening as she clenched it shut. “You cheated?” Her
voice was too calm. It made his heart race faster. Stepping toward
him, her emerald eyes locked with his. Kahli’s open hand connected
with the side of his face in a satisfying slap. The sound bounced
off the walls. Will didn’t flinch when her hand connected. There
was something in his eyes that made her hold back before ripping
his head off. Arms tense at her sides, Kahli was so mad she could
barely form a sentence, “That’s not cheating. That’s being a
vampire, Will.” She searched his face wanting to find something
that wasn’t there. Breathing hard, she glared at him, “This is what
bothers me about you. You said you wouldn’t use my real name and
then you did. You must have made me forget, because I sure don’t
remember. And then—” the pitch of her voice continually rose until
it entered squeaky territory, “you tell me! How could you do that
and tell me!”

“You needed to know,” Will said flatly,
opening his hands like he was being reasonable.

Kahli laughed like a crazy person. “I needed
to know, so you told me. Of course. That makes sense. Why else
would you tell me?”

“Kahli—” Will tried to speak over her, his
voice reassuring, but she didn’t feel reassured.

“So, how many times did you use my name? How
many times did you compel me to do something I didn’t want to do?”
Kahli pushed back from the table and stood. She turned her back to
him and closed her eyes.

“Kahli, I did it when I had no other choice.
The first night you were there, when you stabbed me, you were going
to get yourself killed. I couldn’t allow it. I’m sorry. One promise
superseded another, and I had to. And as for the other time,
compelling you not to die was different.”

Kahli looked over her shoulder at him. There
was a softness to his features that was usually hidden, an
insecurity in his eyes that swallowed her whole. Kahli wanted to
believe him. His actions kept her alive. She was in over her head
that night and she knew if he hadn’t subdued her, that the Queen
would have destroyed her. That night she didn’t care if she died.
The idea of living amongst vampires was deplorable. Kahli couldn’t
fathom it. But her time with Cassie and Will had turned into
something else. That existence wasn’t what she thought it would be.
She had friends now.

Kahli was no longer alone.

Will expected her to do something drastic,
like bite off his head, verbally or literally—it was hard to tell
with her—but Kahli seemed to deflate. The longer she stood there
thinking, the more the tension flowed out of her body. Eventually
her eyes met his again, the anger gone.

When she didn’t speak, he said, “I’m sorry I
did that to you. I shouldn’t have used your name.”

“Compelling me not to die seemed like it was
a good plan, especially since I wouldn’t listen.” Kahli’s arms
folded over her chest, her anger fading. “It made sense then, but
it doesn’t anymore. Tell me what I need to know. Don’t expect me to
blindly follow you, because I can’t. And, now, if you say my name
again for any reason, whatever relationship we have is over.”

Instead of asking the obvious, Will caught on
the thread Kahli never wanted to acknowledge. “What is our
relationship, exactly?”

A chill sprang from her stomach. Kahli
stepped back, as Will tilted his head and looked up at her. “I’m
seriously asking you. Based on everything you said, and everything
that’s happened, I have no clue where we stand. You have no reason
to believe anything I say, and yet—you’re still here.”

He was right. Her actions made no sense. “Our
relationship doesn’t matter,” Kahli finally said. Kahli watched
him, his blue eyes locked with hers.

His voice brushed against her mind,
whispering to her
. It matters to me.
Kahli wondered if he
knew that she heard him. She pressed her lips together and looked
away.

“I mean,” she offered, correcting herself,
“what we call it doesn’t matter.”

“How many rules are you willing to break?”
The pitch of his voice, the intensity of his gaze made her heart
lurch. Kahli could feel her body being pulled to his like a magnet.
She took a step back, but Will took a step closer.

“As many as it takes to win.” She stepped
back again. The room was large and sparsely furnished. Will
advanced every time he spoke and Kahli retreated in response.

“You’re all about winning,” he grinned,
stepping toward her.

“I’m all about surviving,” she corrected,
stepping away.

“What about living?” he asked, advancing
again. “When does that matter?”

“Surviving
is
living,” she said, and
stepped back.

Will stepped toward her, “No, it’s not. It
means running, hiding. It means no friends, no home, no hope.
Tomorrow’s a promise you don’t have.”

“Oh, and you do?”

Will nodded. When Kahli’s back hit the wall,
Will reached for her. “As long as you’re here, I do.”

Kahli’s heart felt like it was going explode.
She knew Will could feel her panic mingling with the lust swimming
through her veins. There was something about him, something that
called to her and she couldn’t ignore it—the way his eyes drank her
in, the way his lips curved into a perfect grin when he saw her. If
he was human, she would have wanted him. The again, if Will was
human they wouldn’t be in this mess. If Will was human, they’d both
be dead.

Kahli took a steadying breath. “What do you
want from me?” He was so close, Will’s body nearly brushing against
hers. They were a breath apart.

“There’s a rule you need to be willing to
break for our plan to work.”

She couldn’t breathe, “Which rule?” Will
couldn’t mean what she thought. Her mind protested his proximity,
but as Kahli breathed him in, her arms refused to push him away.
She pressed her palms to the wall at her sides to keep from
touching him. Everything she’d ever learned was eradicated and
blasted away. Every lesson her mother drilled into her head, every
prejudice she held against the vampires, against their kind
vanished. For a moment, he was just Will and she was just
Kahli.

His dark gaze pinned her in place. “You know
which rule.”

CHAPTER 10

The following sunrise, things at the palace
went crazy. The new dusting of snow covered the events from the day
before, but Cassie knew too much. She remembered the King entering
her room and dragging her from her bed the night before. It had
taken forever for her to drift off to sleep. Kahli hadn’t returned
and neither had her other roommates. Every single one of them went
to the King’s chambers and didn’t come back.

Cole found his sister as early as possible,
and beckoned her into the main sitting area. The white couches were
empty. The drapes covering the windows were pulled back, revealing
the early morning sunlight. It poured into the room giving the
illusion that it wasn’t freezing cold outside. At one time the
world was a beautiful place. At one time there were seasons and
trees and life. Now everything was a glittering tomb.

Her brother was dressed neatly, as usual.
Cassie barely had time to pull on a pair of jeans and a sweater.
She was always cold, always shivering. As they sat, she wrung her
fingers, twisting them in her hands trying to get warm. Cole
watched her, and when she didn’t stop, he pulled out a pair of thin
gloves from his pocket. He handed them to her. Cassie gratefully
accepted them and slid the fabric over her hands. They were
instantly warmer.

“Thank you,” she said. “You always know what
to do.”

“I’m not so sure, this time, Cass.” In hushed
tones, Cole and Cassie whispered. Cole filled in the pieces of
information that were missing from Cassie’s mind. Eventually he
said, “The Queen will want to speak to you, you know. She’ll find
out that the King went to your chamber, and she won’t overlook the
fact that every single one of the girls was one of your roommates.
She’ll think you know something.”

Cassie nodded, fearing as much. Her curls
bobbed forward, swinging into her face. She tucked them back and
looked up at her brother. “I know. I’m the last one who saw
anything.”

He nodded, “And, you’re the only proof that
the King was consuming blood last night. I seriously doubt that he
left a blood trail for them to follow. He’s too smart to get
caught. If I hadn’t seen you—”

Cassie stared blankly ahead at the dark blue
walls, only half listening. She blurted out the question lurking in
the back of her mind, the one she was too afraid to ask, “Do you
think they’re dead?” Her voice caught on the word making her heart
constrict.

Cole looked at his sister. Death was a part
of life. Their kind dealt with it frequently. A simple paper cut
could end their fragile existence. But, no one expected anything
like this. Palace humans didn’t get brutalized by the royalty. “I
don’t know.”

Alice entered the room and passed in front of
them. She wandered through the halls like she was lost. Cassie felt
bad for the girl and called to her, “What’s the matter, Alice?”

Alice stopped, surprised to hear her name and
turned back. She walked over to them and stood in front of Cassie
and Cole. Her normally pale skin was sullen and sickly looking. It
reminded Cassie of a bleached sock. Alice usually had a little
color in her cheeks, but it was gone. The girl looked like she was
in shock. “They pushed up my Pairing.” Alice’s voice was barely
there and devoid of emotion.

Cassie’s jaw dropped. She leaned forward and
took the girl’s hand. “Alice, when is it?”

“Tonight.” Before Cassie could ask her more
about it, Alice turned and wandered off. The lost expression in her
eyes was shock. Alice had been chosen to be bred for offspring.

Cassie and Cole looked at each other. For a
long moment, neither of them spoke. Then, Cassie finally asked,
“Who’d they pair her with?”

“I don’t know,” Cole replied. “I left before
breakfast to come and find you. This is the first I’ve heard of
it.” Cole didn’t like this. Something changed last night, something
big enough to force up a premature Pairing.

“She’s not ready for that. It’ll kill her,”
Cassie said, leaning closer to Cole to make sure Alice couldn’t
hear. Alice was staggering down the hallway letting shock steer her
feet. They could still see her from where they sat on the
couch.

Cole nodded, “We need to find out what’s
going on. The Queen’s entourage moved through the palace last
night, so it was hard to sneak around. I was lucky to find you
after the King questioned you, but I didn’t really find anything
else. Just that several vamps died, and that those moving around
were looking for the missing girls. They were in our chambers,
looking for Kahli and the other two, as if they were hiding.”

Cassie stared blankly. She wished that was
it, but her gut told her something very different. She gazed after
Alice. “Do you think they bumped up other the Pairings? Do you
think they would really risk one generation to breed the next?”
Cassie’s voice was small and frightened.

Cole knew he couldn’t save her from the
Pairing. It was something they all had to do eventually, but it was
worse for the girls. Many of them didn’t survive childbirth,
despite the vast quantities of blood given to help alleviate the
hemorrhaging that followed. The blood disorder was too far
gone.

“I don’t know,” he finally said. “Whatever
happened here last night has everyone on edge. It feels like a
power shift is coming.”

“What do you mean?”

Cole stared blankly. He didn’t want to say
it, but Cassie needed to know that they were in danger. “Remember
when we were younger? Remember Deliverance Day?”

Cassie’s face paled. She’d never forget that.
It seemed like nothing at first—some people running around trying
to figure out what happened, while she and Cole played quietly. The
night ended in more spilled blood than she’d ever seen in her life.
The Deliverance Day Cole was referring to was a massacre. She
nodded once, her throat too tight to talk. Cole saved her that
night. “Do you think that’ll happen here?”