Blood Bond (PULSE, Book 5) (2 page)

“Not infected,” said Kalina. “It's a gift, not a curse.”

Her mother and father had given their lives to the syringe that could turn those with recessive Carrier genes into full-fledged Carriers. Her mother...no, she could not think of that now! That young, hard, dark-eyed figure who had fought at her side, who had revealed to her the existence of the other carriers – could that really be her mother? She thought of the woman who had raised her – the kind, round, cherry-cheeked woman that she had called “Mommy” and shook her head. No, Max – whatever she was to Kalina – was not her mother.

But she was the one who had made the other Carriers. The ones who would be in danger, now, if Kalina didn't stop it.

“A gift, perhaps,” said Octavius. “But a dangerous one. For themselves and for those around them.”

Kalina knew what would happen to the Life's Blood children once they turned sixteen and started manifesting symptoms. Mad renegade vampires like Mal would hunt them down, seeking the eternal powers that were given to those who had enough of the intoxicating mixture, drunk straight from the childrens' veins. Or else, worse, they would be caught by saner but more profit-minded vampires, who would keep them as slaves, take vials of their blood, and use these valuable morsels of Life's Blood as currency: selling hundreds of them to powerful vampires or else using them to induce weaker ones – content with a mere taste of the drug – to fight in their armies. Both prospects filled Kalina with horror.

“It's strange,” she said at last, “to think of these other Carriers. For so long I thought I was the only one – or almost the only one.”

“You're likely one of the last natural ones left. These Carriers your mother has created – we don't know how they'll work. Whether they'll have the same...abilities?”

“The same mutations, you mean?” Kalina gave a sad laugh.

“It will be a long road.” Octavius looked down. “I am glad to have you by my side during it.”

Kalina's heart leaped. So he had missed her! She knew it – she had seen it in his face. But still Octavius did not look at her.

“Always.” She took his hand, and he did not shy away. He looked embarrassed; he started to say something and then his words failed him.

“I am sorry I have been so...absent, lately.” He started again. “I am glad to have you close enough that I do not need to protect you from a distance.”

“I can protect myself!”

“I feel better about having you here. With me.”

“That's the only place I've ever wanted to be, Octavius.” Her voice sounded older, Kalina realized. Softer. More womanly. She wasn't a girl anymore – if she had ever been a girl. She knew what she wanted, and she wanted him. “If you'll have me.”

“It was never a question of that.” Octavius sighed. “I cannot make you happy – in the way that you need. And you cannot make me..no, not happy. Being with you makes me happy. But the true happiness, the happiness of breathing, of feeling a pulse once more within me. That happiness I cannot allow you to give me. That happiness I cannot allow myself...”

“But we don't need that!” Kalina rose and went to him, sitting beside him on the long pillows that lined the room. “I don't need to make you human – not yet! I can wait.”

“My dear, you will be long dead by the time I can allow myself to be made human.” He did not meet her eyes. “If ever. You have a lifetime – not a long one, from the point of view of a vampire, but one that could be long enough. You could be happy. You could give great happiness – your destiny is to love a vampire. To turn him – or her – human.”

“But not you?” Kalina's voice trembled.

“You don't know how I wish you could. But there are things greater than love in this world, Kalina, and greater than desire. Something vampires so rarely grasp.” He sighed. “I have turned many men into vampires for the purpose of saving my kind, and for saving the world from those vampires of my kind who wish to destroy it. I have destroyed their lives, their hopes, their promise. I have made them witness the deaths of their grand- and great-grandchildren. How can I take the release while they are still fighting there? While I am still needed to lead them?”

“I don't care!” Kalina said. “I don't want to turn anybody – then! If not you!”

“And lose your chance at happiness? At true love? Jaegar loves you, Kalina – and I know you love him. I know your love for him is strong. And he is the last one left...I am not jealous – or at least, my jealousy is blended with kindness, for I love Jaegar as I would love my own son. I want to give him the happiness I cannot have. And you – I know you love him as well as me.”

“Not jealous?”

“I cannot allow myself to be jealous, Kalina.” Octavius sighed. “I cannot allow...”

“Enough with this allowing!” She twined her arms around his neck. “Listen, Octavius, I want you. And if I can't have you tomorrow then tomorrow I'll give you up. But we have tonight, don't we?”

“Don't tempt me...”

“I just want tonight.” She turned her dark eyes – the color of melted chocolate – upon him, and then she knew he was powerless to resist her. Centuries of battle – centuries of discipline and war and killing – and he could not resist her shoulder bared in the light of the faint-rising sun.

He took her in his arms. “Kalina, this can't last.”

“It doesn't have to.”

“Kalina, I love you…”

“I love you!”

“...too much to hold you back.”

“Let me decide!”

She kissed him roughly, a series of quick, insistent kisses, that made it evident she knew better than he did what she had planned. His lips against her ear; her mouth on his chest, his whispers against her skin – the confessions, battered out of him by her siege, of his love.

And then the door swung open.

Chapter 1

T
he servants were apologizing in rapid Mongolian – the vampire and the boy had been told to wait in the parlor; the vampire hadn't been able to wait and barged in while the butler had gone to order him tea! The humans tea, of course – and vampire wine for Master Jaegar. They hadn't meant to intrude – certainly would never let anyone burst in on the Master's private rooms under ordinary circumstances, especially in these dangerous times. But they knew Jaegar and didn't fear the human, so they hadn't been so careful.

“Never you mind!” Octavius waved the servants away. Jaegar stood with a wry and feline grin in the doorway, Justin weighed down with baggage behind him.

“I say, Octavius,” Jaegar bounded in, plopping down on the cushions that lined the room. “that wasn't very polite of you! Whirling off like that. You may be ancient enough to carry a full-grown girl (no offense, Kalina, I know you're
very
light of frame) a few thousand miles in a couple of hours, but I certainly wasn't interested in carrying her much-bigger brother! (No offense, Justin, I'm sure you're
loads
of fun to hold in my arms, but I haven't been interested in that since the eighteen nineties, and even then just because all of Oscar's friends...Oscar Wilde? Heard of him? Great chap. A bit smug but he always had good snuff.)”

Kalina couldn't help but smile. She hadn't seen Jaegar in this cocky a mood since they had first met. She could see behind his eyes that the arrogance masked a certain pain – he too, had been shaken by almost losing Stuart – but he wouldn't for the world have admitted it.

“Jaegar!” Octavius said lightly. “How did you get here?”

“The plane,” Justin sighed as he unloaded the baggage. “Flight to New York, change for a flight to Heathrow, change for a flight to Ulan Baatur. Luckily, Jaegar sprang for first class.”

“All the best people do,” Jaegar smiled. “Now, we assumed we'd be sleeping in your room – but I see you have company. We'd hate to intrude on an evidently private moment.”

So, he was jealous! Kalina felt herself blush. This relative good humor – tinged with envy – about the trading of partners among vampires embarrassed her – she had not yet learned to treat her love of Jaegar and Octavius (and Stuart!) as things capable of being held side by side. Jaegar and Octavius certainly didn't see the betrayal – they, not she, were responsible for ensuring her love, but Kalina thought of her Catholic adoptive mother and grew scarlet.

Justin, too, looked eminently uncomfortable. One vampire getting handsy with his sister was enough – more than two was a brother's nightmare.

“Don't be silly,” said Octavius. “Of course you can sleep here if you like. Or down the hall, near Kalina's room, there's a few guest bedrooms.”

Kalina's room
. She sighed. Not here, then. The moment was over.

“Shall we get someone to eat?” Jaegar smiled. “The housemaids all seem quite willing – I assume they like it...”

Justin looked a bit green, and Kalina shot him an encouraging smile. She hadn't quite adjusted to that element, either.

“No, thank you,” said Octavius swiftly. “You know I avoid the human.”

“I can see that.” Jaegar raised an eyebrow.

“Justin, shall I order you some more pilaf?” Octavius turned to him.

“You know what? I'm not hungry.” Justin looked like he wanted to avoid the topic of food around vampires altogether.

“I'll go arrange you a room,” Octavius swept out of the room.

No sooner had Octavius gone from view than Jaegar strode forward, evidently aware that his rival was out of earshot. “Hello, m'dear!” He looked down at Kalina. “Missed you.” He took her hands and kissed her roughly on the mouth. “Hope you haven't gotten into any trouble while I've been gone?” He winked.

She allowed him to kiss her, feeling her mouth open to his rough and insistent tongue. She longed for Octavius – in the next room! Already gone from her! But Jaegar's arrival had put her back into reality. She had her affection for Jaegar, their witty repartee, their easy friendship. Couldn't that be enough? If only she could be sure....

“I missed you too,” she said softly. Then she decided to keep things light. “Thank you for babysitting Justin,” she said with a wink.

“I'm no baby!” Justin looked like he had just about enough of vampire humor for the evening.

“Oh, but you are.” Kalina smiled, but she was serious. “To these old hands, we both are, aren't we? And you especially. So ignorant of vampire life! All so human.”
But she wasn't human.
The feeling of strangeness shook her once again. Her brother – her own brother! - was an entirely different creature. The man she had grown up with, who had protected her and loved her and tucked her in at night, was a thoroughly different
thing
than she was herself. The idea terified her.

“Hey, can I have a moment with Justin?” She turned to Jaegar with pleading eyes. She just needed  a moment, she felt – just some time without vampires in the room, clouding the air with hormones and desire, to take stock of herself, to remind herself that she was just a girl called Kalina Calloway, that she had a brother. Panic rose up in her throat; she looked down at her hands and they seemed that they weren't even hers. They belonged to another creature now. A Carrier.

She remembered how she had jumped and run and walked up walls, how her fighting blood had taken hold, how she had performed acrobatics...like a dance, she thought, choreographed by some unnamable force within her.

“As you wish!” Jaegar brushed closer. “But meet me on the balcony when you can.” His voice was low and lilting and against herself Kalina bristled with desire as his lips brushed against her ear. “I want some time alone with you.” His fingers traced the contours of her hip.

It took a while after Jaegar left for the balcony, facing the inside of the courtyard, for Kalina to regain a sense of balance. Why were these vampires always doing this – flying in and out of her life, confusing her as her blood called out to each of them in turn! She sighed. “Well, big brother,” she began. “I'm glad you came along. But you will need more babysitting, you know – if you want to stay safe.”