B006P1R39O EBOK (2 page)

The vampire lifted her shoulders nonchalantly. “He put up a fight … and besides, I was hungry.”

“Tell Omar we’re coming after him.” Kathrina’s voice was hard, betraying none of the fear she was feeling.

The vampire responded with a squeal of laughter and then she was gone so quickly that Kathrina’s eyes didn’t even have time to see her move.

A dense fog rolled off the black water of the Mississippi - crawling over the riverbank, its ghostly white fingers spread out to cover the streets of the city. A lively jazz tune drifted from a nearby nightclub, but the upbeat music seemed out of place on such a dark and gloomy evening.

Just beneath the music, he could hear soft-feminine laughter. The woman and her lover were no more than shadows in the fog, huddled together against the pastel-pink building.

The vampire walked by, barely glancing in their direction.

He heard the pop - pop of gunfire in the distance, and then screaming. A moment later the stillness of the night was shattered by an onslaught of sirens. Still he continued walking, making his way through the French Quarter and toward his destination. The Garden District was some distance away, but he didn’t mind. It gave him time to become acquainted with his surroundings - with the city of New Orleans.

For the past several nights he’d heard her calling to him. She was close - so close that he could almost smell her. The scent of her blood was like sweet perfume - so alluring - so exotic. With the sound of her angelic voice echoing through his head, he navigated the dark streets of the city - zeroing in on her.

It would not be long now. Soon he would see the face of the woman that had called him out of seclusion. He would inhale the enthralling scent of her blood and delight in the taste of her.

He needed her life essence - he needed to feed from her and take into himself that light in her soul that drew him like a moth to a flame.

The music grew faint as he walked. In the distance, the St. Louis Cemetery became visible. The fog seemed to swallow him - surrounding him in a protective barrier. It was a perfect night to hunt.

He sensed them behind him long before he heard the tapping of their shoes against the pavement.

The corners of the vampire’s mouth lifted in a cold smile.

Their stealth approach would have served them well under normal circumstances, but the situation was anything but normal, and he was not the average victim. The vampire shook his head, amazed at just how foolish these street punks were.

Of course they couldn’t know. He might appear a little eccentric with his long black hair and dark clothing, but certainly nothing extremely out of the ordinary. No, these muggers had no way of knowing that he was not going to be the victim - that he would not fall to his knees and beg for his life while they stripped him of his possessions.

The vampire continued to smile. Just up ahead, he could see the shadows of tombs - no more than silhouettes within the swirling night mist. The St. Louis Cemetery was near. They would wait to approach him until he was alongside its walls. If they waited, it would mean less risk of being interrupted, or that the screams of their victim would be heard by the people in the nearby housing project.

Stepping across the street and onto the sidewalk, he stopped and stared up at the black iron gate to the cemetery. He could open the gate and lead his assailants into the city of the dead, where their screams would not be heard. They would be easy prey, but he had no time for that right now.

He was not surprised when he felt the gun shoved against his back, though he feigned shock.

“Get on the ground!” the rough male voice commanded.

The vampire didn’t move, but continued staring at the entrance to the cemetery.

“Are you stupid or something? I said get on the ground!”

The vampire’s deep laughter caught them by surprise.

“What is wrong with you? Are you some kind of freak? You wanna die or something?”
             

Though he hadn’t turned to face his attackers, he could sense three of them. Three warm bodies - their hearts thumping loudly - pushing blood through their veins.

Again the vampire laughed. “You can’t kill me.”

“You think?” One of them pushed him, but instead of flying to the pavement of the sidewalk, he swung around to face them. His movements were so fast, that he’d taken the gun away before they even realized that he had turned on them. His dark eyes were glowing with a primal hunger so overpowering, that to look into their depths was to gaze upon death.

All three had ski masks covering their faces, but their eyes were wide with terror.

The vampire gave them a dark - sadistic smile. “Kill me if you can,” he said, handing the gun back.

The three street punks were frozen, unable to move. He clasped his hand around the throat of the mugger with the gun. Lifting the man off his feet, the vampire tossed him over his shoulder, slamming him against the cemetery wall. The mugger’s two companions took flight, running as fast as their legs would carry them.

Leaning down, he whispered in the man’s ear. “I should kill you, but you are polluted and not worth my time.”

The vampire walked away without so much as a glance over his shoulder.

She was close now. He could feel her heart calling to him - her life essence beaconing. This was one woman that he would enjoy tasting - her blood would be pure rapture.

* * *

Seeking to escape the noise and the crowd, Kathrina stepped outside. Even after shutting the door behind her, she could still hear the throbbing - pulsating music. The house was full of guests. Many more people than she was accustomed to being around. So many in such a confined place made her feel slightly claustrophobic.

The party was in her honor. It was her eighteenth birthday and her family had decided to celebrate. Kathrina smiled to herself. Her sisters were everything she could have wanted, and they had gone out of their way to make her feel welcome.

Despite the efforts of her family, she’d spent her birthday tense and uneasy. It was almost like standing at the edge of a cliff - knowing that there was someone behind you, just waiting for the right moment to push you over the edge.

She’d felt like this since the night the book had been stolen from the professor. It wouldn’t be a good idea to go to her father and sisters about it. What could she say? That she had taken the book from its hiding place in the St. Louis Cemetery - that she had broken into the crypt where it was being kept?

Her father would be beyond angry with her. The book was forbidden, except to the ancients. Her sisters would be annoyed with her for not sharing it with them. Nicole’s husband, Alec had been searching for the Book of Anu for a long time.

Why hadn’t she told her sisters?

The truth was that she didn’t know why she hadn’t shared the information with them. It was almost like the contents of the book and its author were too personal to share with others. As she’d read the journal, Kathrina began to feel like she knew the vampire intimately - almost as well as she knew herself.

Kathrina stood on the large porch, staring out into the thick fog. She could not keep her thoughts off the vampire - the author of that journal. He was the oldest of all vampires. That much she’d been able to discover from the Book of Anu. She’d also learned that many of the immortals believed that if they could kill him, they could break their curse. If there was any truth to this, then Omar was not the only vampire that they would have to kill.

The thought brought on a twinge of sadness that she couldn’t explain.

Kathrina was jerked back to the present when the door opened and Dash stuck his head out.

“What are you doing out here? They’re ready to do birthday cake.”

“I’m coming.” Kathrina smiled.

All eyes were on her when she stepped into the ballroom. Though her father never used the room, Sarah and Nicole thought it would be the perfect place for their little sister’s birthday party.

Donavan hadn’t been happy about the party. He worried that mixing company of vampires and humans could lead to trouble, but so far the people that were attending the party hadn’t a clue that many of the guests were vampires. Fortunately, the immortals that were in attendance were Light Seekers, and posed little risk to their human guests.

The Light Seekers were those vampires that resisted killing humans. They spent much of their time searching for a cure to their curse.

The ballroom was decorated with colorful balloons and party streamers that hung from the tall ceiling. Near the far end of the room, a table had been setup, and on top of that table was a large birthday cake with eighteen candles.

Kathrina blushed. Everyone was watching her as she made her way to the cake table. Throughout her life she’d shied away from attention, ashamed of being different than the others. But when she was with her biological family, she wasn’t really different, but special. She was one of the immortal sisters, destined to bring balance back to the world.

Nearly everyone was there. Standing close to the table were her sisters, Nicole and Sarah, along with their lovers, Alec and Darrien. Her father had even stepped into the room to join the party. Of all of the vampires that were present, Dash appeared to be the most dangerous. With his bald head and tattooed skin, he resembled a rough and rowdy biker. The truth was that Dash was one of the few vampires that she would trust with her life.

Ethan had also missed her party. He’d taken an unexpected trip to Rome to visit with Father Rovati. He’d said that it was urgent that he speak with the priest in person. If it wasn’t for the fact that Ethan had a way of being a little overdramatic about everything, Kathrina might have been troubled by his sudden trip to see a slayer, but that was just Ethan.

Summer had sent word that she would not be able to attend Kathrina’s party due to an urgent situation at home. Summer was really the cousin of her adopted father, Vance. Until recently, Vance had been the only father she’d ever known, but her adopted relatives were of the wolves, the natural enemy of vampires.

Kathrina feared that the urgent business that Summer had to take care of might have something to do with the trouble that had been stewing between the wolves and the vampires. She had loved ones from both species; the last thing she wanted was to be caught in the middle of them during a war.

As soon as Kathrina stepped up to the table, the crowd started singing happy birthday. When the last voice died away, she took a deep breath and blew out the candles.

* * *

If he had not had a millennium to learn patience, the waiting would have been maddening. As it were, the time he spent watching the house barely troubled him at all. What were a few hours when he had already waited thousands of years?

From the shadows where he hid, he could easily see her inside the house. As soon as the girl stepped onto the porch he knew she was the one. It was her blood that had called to him from across thousands of miles and the vast expanse of time. He could have approached her then, but he’d held back. The moment that he took her blood had to be perfect - it had to be respectful of the life that was being sacrificed, but there was something else.

He had expected there to be vampires in the house, so that was no surprise. She was after all, a born vampire. She would have to be. Only the blood of a born vampire and a lycan could reverse the damage to his body. But there was more. There had to be another element to this blood before it would work. Alone, a union between these two enemies would not produce an offspring with blood potent enough to restore him to his natural state - to the way he was before Ophelia betrayed him. There had to be something else in the blood, and this girl was the only one on earth to have all three elements.

Taking the girl from beneath the noses of a few vampires was child’s play. The vampires that were with her didn’t trouble him in the least. No, the undercurrent of danger that he was feeling wasn’t coming from inside the house, but from outside. The threat he sensed was hidden within the darkness and fog.

Inside the house, the crowd sang loud enough to be heard from across the street. It wouldn’t have made any difference how loud they were, the crickets and other night creatures had become silent before the singing had begun. The vampire stared into the darkness, his eyes shining with an ethereal light that penetrated the fog. He could see the murky shadows moving through the mist - getting closer to the house.

* * *

Only half of the candles were extinguished, the rest continued burning - casting flickering light on the faces of the guests. Kathrina took in another deep breath, but before she could blow out the rest of the candles, the windows in the room exploded inward, showering everyone with a spray of sharp glass.

The first thought that jumped into Kathrina’s mind was that there was so much blood. The flying shards of glass hit and wounded several of the guests. The vampires were already attacking - bodies flew in all directions. Those among her guests that were immortal had turned on the interlopers. The human guests were caught in the middle of the chaos and were trying to escape through doors and windows.