Blood Bond (PULSE, Book 5) (16 page)

She hoped it would work.

“You were always a noble vampire,” said Molotov. “That's what made you such a fine general, back in the Rome days. You were always unselfish. You thought for the greater good of others. I have no such qualms. I care for myself and myself alone. You have lived a long time according to your philosophy, but I have lived longer still according to mine. I wish my plan to work – and so I want Mal to tell me where he has been hiding my young Carriers.”

“Yours?” Octavius gaped.

“Yes, mine,” said Molotov. “Malvolio was sent on a mission to find them for me, but it appears he has defected. He has hidden them for himself. I should have known that a bloodthirsty vampire like Malvolio was not to be trusted, but alas – I let myself think he might be worth it for one mission. But now you see, he has betrayed me. And I will torture him until he changes his mind.”

“Then you sent Mal after us!” Octavius turned on him. “I've chased that bastard all over the world, followed him through continents. All the while, I thought he was our greatest enemy. And now I find out it was you all along. You sent Mal after us. You were the reason that my offspring Aaron is dead.”

“I doubt that,” said Molotov. “Even if I hadn't sent Mal on a mission, he might have gone after Kalina on his own. He seems to have a disregard for life, human and vampire alike. He is greedy; he is callous. At least by giving him a mission I thought I would channel his rage into something...profitable.”

“And the Consortium Mal destroyed. My friends! You were behind that?”

“I gave Mal license to do whatever he needed to do to collect Carriers. And yes, in this case, it seems that he chose to destroy the Consortium to do it. They were protecting Kalina. They were an obstacle.”

“How could you...”

“It wasn't personal, Octavius. I simply equipped Mal with the information he needed to get the job done. In any case, as much as I personally regret your loss, I cannot bring myself to mourn the Consortium. Octavius, you and your kind have always applied human rules to vampires. Laws that it is not in our nature to follow. Before Rome, before your order, there was an older way of living. A way of chaos. The victor chooses the rules. He is not bound by them.”

Molotov turned to Mal. “You fool. You think vampires are like humans, their hearing growing worse in their old age? Their ears grow stronger. And I heard – yes, Mal, from halfway across the house – exactly what you planned to do. The fool you tried to make of me – both of you!”

Olga whimpered silently.

“Back in my day, one did not tolerate defiance. And especially not to a Vampire Emperor like me.” He glared at Mal.

“It wasn't
defiance
!” Kalina had never seen Mal look so cowardly. “It was more like...”

“In the old days, I'd have you encased in concrete, to live out your eternal Life's Blood life in misery and captivity. But technology marches on, I see.” With that, before Kalina could even blink, Molotov grabbed a ruby stake from Kalina's hand and staked Mal through the heart.

Mal's last look was an expression of utter shock before he crumbled into dust.

With a scream, Olga bolted for the door, terror wild in her eyes. But Molotov caught her easily by the arm, looking at her with a wry smile, like a cat regarding a mouse. “So, you want to share your lover's fate?”

Olga gulped. “N-no, my master. Never! I tried not to be part of his schemes – but he was my maker...he compelled me...”

Molotov did not look particularly softened. “And why should I believe a word that you say? You have given me nothing but reasons to doubt you.” He pulled her roughly towards him, his lips curling in a sneer. “And I do not tolerate disloyalty, my dear girl!”

“I am yours!” Olga cried, terrified. “Mal was my maker, and you were his – you are thus my master now that he is dead. I will do your bidding. I swear!” Kalina knew she was lying – the Life's Blood had broken all bonds between her and Molotov. Yet in her terror, Olga looked almost convincing.

“I will give you one chance to serve me – just one!” Molotov said. “I'd hate to waste your talents by staking you. But now I am hungry. And that human over there – he's not a Carrier, is he? No...”

Kalina whirled around in horror. The human in question he was pointing to was Justin.

“Molotov, you can't! That's my brother..”

“A human is a human,” Molotov shrugged. “Bring him to me!”

Before any of them could react, Olga set upon Justin, lightning-fast, her teeth sinking into his neck.

“No!” Kalina cried, but no sooner had she rushed to Olga than Olga had dragged Justin's body, increasingly weak, to Molotov, who sunk his teeth into Justin's shoulder. Justin gave a sharp cry of pain that graduated into a soft moan as the rapid blood loss exhausted him.

“Let him go!” Kalina and Octavius rushed to Justin, but his eyes had already closed into unconsciousness.

Octavius grabbed Molotov, shoving him from Justin's fallen body. Kalina's blood seethed white-hot with anger. How dare they attack her brother like that – so callously! Other vampires had smirked at the idea of causing her pain, but Molotov genuinely didn't seem to care or understand what he had done: Justin was a human; he was food. It was that simple. Olga, on the other hand, had smirked as she performed her duty, gleeful at the notion of hurting her newfound rival.

And so Kalina's hatred, her anger, took over. Barely conscious of what she was doing, she pulled Olga roughly off of Justin and sank a stake straight into her heart. “You leave my brother alone!” she cried. “You did it on purpose – you
wanted
to hurt us, you heartless bitch!”

But there was no response. Olga had already crumpled into dust. Kalina looked down at her stake, shocked. She had killed vampires before, but never had she killed with such anger, such rage. She had wanted to murder Olga, to make her suffer – even now, she regretted that she had let the woman die too quickly. This wasn't ordinary self-preservation, Kalina realized with a shudder. This was bloodlust.

Octavius had pulled Molotov aside, and Justin lay in a heap at Kalina's feet, barely breathing. “Wake up!” Kalina whispered to Justin. “Please, wake up.”

Molotov looked up at Octavius in surprise. “You disturbed my feed,” he said incredulously. “Why would you do that? Do you know what great disrespect it is to a vampire to disturb him while he is eating?”

“Certain things trump etiquette, Molotov,” Octavius growled. “This is one of them.”

“I do not tolerate disrespect, Octavius,” Molotov sneered. “I have let you rouse me long enough. Prepare to die!”

Chapter 17

“
J
ustin, hurry, wake up!” Kalina had dragged Justin to the corner of the room, Stuart and Jaegar shielding her from Molotov. But Molotov was only interested in Octavius, it seemed. The two of them were locked in battle on the other side of the room, their arms and hands like swords and spears, slicing through the air in single combat. They were nigh-on-evenly matched; Octavius's brute strength and courage against Molotov's agile grace. They punched and kicked each other, reeled back, and then returned for more. Kalina's heart started pounding. If Molotov overpowered Octavius, he would come for her, next. And Justin...

“We have to get out of here!” Jaegar said. “Hurry!”

“No!” Kalina clutched harder on Justin's body. “We can't move him. He's lost so much blood already!” She ripped a portion of her shirt and tried to use it to stop the blood gushing from Justin's neck. They had punctured an artery, she knew, and Justin didn't have much time. “If we move it'll kill him!”

Two or three of Molotov's minions, summoned by the noise, rushed forth, their mouths agape with shock. They knew that their master never deigned to fight himself unless he had a truly worthy opponent; few of them had ever seen Molotov fight before. They watched in amazement as Molotov ducked and then flew up again, jumping to the rafters and then launching himself onto Octavius. Octavius, too, fought bravely – his massive fists colliding again and again with Molotov's chiseled cheekbones.

But Kalina wasn't watching the fight. Her ears were pressed closely to Justin's chest, trying to make out an ever-fainter beat...

Jaegar, help! Justin's dying. We need your blood.

Stuart and Jaegar both knelt at Justin's side.

“Hurry!” Kalina said. “We can't get him out of here until you feed him!”

Jaegar hesitated. “But...Kalina?”

“What?” She snapped. “Not now...”

“You don't want me to feed him.”

“Of course I do!”

“Kalina, you don't understand. Justin's lost a lot of blood. A
lot
of blood. If I risk giving him my blood, he could die with that vampire blood inside him. And you know what that means, don't you?”

Kalina gasped. If Justin died with vampire blood inside him, she knew, he would turn – become a vampire. “You can't turn him,” she cried. “He doesn't want to turn – he said so! Do something else!”

“There's nothing we can do,” said Stuart gravely. “Either of us. Unless you're willing to take that risk – on his behalf.”

“I can't just let him die!” Tears were pouring down Kalina's cheeks. “Stuart – your blood....”

“It's the same thing,” said Stuart. “Vampire blood is vampire blood. I can't turn him, Kalina. I can' t bring myself to take the risk – for Justin's sake. And for yours. It is better for him to...whatever happens, Kalina, anything is better than turning him! I know from experience.”

“You want me to just let him bleed out?” Kalina was sobbing harder now.

“No!” Jaegar cut in. “Stuart may not be willing, but I am. If you want me to give Justin my blood, I'll do it. It'll be a big risk – it will probably turn him – but it
will
save him!”

“Save him?” Stuart cut in. “Jaegar, you'll damn him!”

“I'm not letting Kalina's brother die in front of her!” Jaegar shouted. “Listen, Kalina. Nobody but you can make that call right now. You tell me what you want me to do. If you want to wait, and pray, and hope he pulls through – I'll do nothing. But if you want me to turn him...”

Kalina hesitated. How could she make this choice for her big brother? She knew as well as they did that he wanted nothing less than to become a vampire. But if the alternative was dying instead – how could she bear to lose him? How could she bear to refuse to do anything in her power to save him? But would her desire to save him curse him for all eternity?

“Justin, please – if you can hear me. Give me a sign! Tell me what you want to do!” Kalina could barely breathe. “No – no!”

“Kalina, you need to decide.” Jaegar said. “Molotov's minions are joining the fight – and Octavius can't beat them off alone.” He looked up. “Stuart, you go! Clearly you won't do anything useful around here.”

“Don't do it, Kalina!” Stuart pleaded. “You'll only destroy him – it's not saving him!” He gave her one last longing glance before springing to his feet and running towards Molotov and his men. Octavius was still fighting bravely, bearing each blow square to the jaw and nose, but Stuart knew that he was growing tired.

“Listen, Kalina,” Jaegar took her hands. “It's not all bad being a vampire. You have powers. We'd take care of him, take him under our wing, make sure he's all right. You'd see.”

Kalina took a deep breath and shook her head. “Please,” she whispered. “I want to save him more than anything. But if I did that by taking away his humanity – it wouldn't be for him. It'd be for me. And he'd never forgive me...” She broke down into tears. “Just leave me alone with him. Let me say goodbye...”

“I need to join the fight,” Jaegar said. “Do what you need to do – and if it gets bad,
run
. Justin wouldn't want you to put your life in danger, too!” He leaned in and kissed her one last time, his touch electric to her skin. “Don't worry – we'll keep you safe. It'll be fine. I promise. I'll be back for you.”