Blood Curse (Pulse #8) (10 page)

          Kalina gritted her teeth and hoped that it would not be her.

          At last the caves appeared in the distance, glimmering in the horizon of early dawn. They had been running all night – flying through the desert sky – and Kalina's muscles burned with exhaustion. She hoped Nereti too was fading, her energy flagging just as hers was – that it might, at least, be a fair fight. But Nereti showed no signs of slowing down. As she entered the caves, slipping as quickly like a lightning bolt into the labyrinthine web beneath the earth's surface, she was as agile as ever.

          Kalina would have to take her anyway.

          She just hoped her Life's Blood was up to the task.

          Kalina landed with a start, reeling as her feet touched the earth once more. There was no time to rest. She had to hit the ground running. Immediately she raced into the caves, following Nereti's scent, trying to use the force of the Life's Blood to sense where she had gone.

          They were the same caves she had been in earlier. But something was different this time, Kalina noticed, with a sudden jolt. Something had changed. To her eyes, her ears, her nose, everything was the same. The place looked no different. But her blood was prickling, boiling, burning; her veins felt like they were on fire. A sudden pull – so strong she had no choice but to submit to it – overwhelmed her body, her mind, her soul. She felt as if she were an animal that had been snared, that was now being drawn in, closer and closer, to the hunter who had caught her out...

          She found herself in a large cavern, deep within the belly of the caves. The room was enormous, hexagonal in shape, lit only by a few candles scattered in candelabras about the room. Nereti stood in the center of the room, a cruel and mocking smile upon her porcelain white face, the ruby lips curved like a scimitar. In Nereti's hand was the one diamond she had taken from Kalina. Slowly, deliberately, she took the diamond and pressed it into the ground.

          What was she doing? Kalina craned her neck to see. But no sooner had she taken in Nereti's action than the whole cavern began to shake. The diamond was trembling in the earth, causing a shudder to spread throughout the whole cave network, cracks splintering in the floor, along the walls, separating the ground. A deep chasm appeared, as if from the bowels of the earth, cleaving the room in two.

          Kalina gasped as she looked down into the chasm. It seemed to have no end. Darkness followed upon darkness – an eternal abyss.

          “So, this is what it's all about?” Kalina's words were quiet, so quiet that she didn't think Nereti had heard her. But as soon as the words were uttered, Nereti looked up and saw Kalina, a burning look of fury upon her austerely beautiful face. Surprise spread across her features. “How dare you follow me here?” she bellowed, her words echoing off the cavern walls. “How dare you try to usurp me? This is mine to have, not yours, imposter!” Her words hissed – they were terrible. “Just because you look like me does not mean you will be the one to inherit its power!”

          Overcome by anger, Nereti stamped her foot. But the force was too great. Immediately, the whole cavern seemed to tremble and shake, the fault lines becoming more and more numerous, until the whole cave network had started to crumble.

          “Kal, no!” a voice cried.

          Kalina turned to see Jaegar and the others – horror and confusion on their faces. But they had come a second too late. No sooner had she spied them than a huge conglomeration of rocks fell down from the ceiling, separating her from the others.

          “Kal!” It was Max – her voice drowned out by the sound of the crashing rocks.

          She was trapped. The rest of the vampires – both Nereti's and her own friends – were on the other side of the barrier. She was alone with Nereti.

          Or was she?

          A dark figure she had not noticed earlier was standing silently in the shadows. Slowly, calmly, he stepped into the light of the candelabra.

          Her heart skipped a beat.

          It was Octavius. He was as desperately, devastatingly handsome as ever, his broad shoulders powerful, his taut muscles rippling, the sweat glinting from his tanned, toned chest. He was shirtless, his long dark hair in sensuous tresses, his mouth as wickedly seductive as ever, the thick lips curved in an intoxicating pout. Against herself, Kalina felt the sudden compulsion to run to him, to embrace him, to bury herself in his arms. Surely the sight of her must bring back old feelings – old goodness?

          But there was no love for her in his eyes. Nor was there even the slightest bit of desire – or recognition. His eyes were glassy and blank: a cold, cruel stare.

          Nereti laughed, a laugh that was almost a cackle. “My general has no interest in you, Imposter,” she said. “Octavius doesn't feel the same way about you anymore. He is now my loyal general. He listens to, answers, serves, services, pleasures...only me.”

          Kalina hadn't expected it to hurt this much. She'd suffered Octavius’ betrayal nightly in her dreams, but the sight of him here, in the flesh, was overwhelming.

          She needed him like she needed oxygen. But she couldn't touch him. She couldn't kiss him. She couldn't make him hers.

          And anger flooded through her once again.

          Nereti had taken everything – but this,
this
, she would not let her take.

          She would fight.

          She would kill.

          She would win.

Chapter 12

         
K
alina felt the rush of blood through her veins like a tidal wave. It wasn't the ordinary beating of her heart – the solemn and straightforward rhythm, like that of a drum beat by marchers off to war. This was something utterly different – utterly profound. Her heart was not merely thumping, not merely pounding, no. In fact, she couldn't even hear the beat at all, so quick was it to pump blood through her veins. It was like a tsunami of blood, a storm of energy coursing through her so quickly that the beating of the heart almost seemed irrelevant – she was beating everywhere; everywhere, she was pulsing with new strength. Everywhere, she was alive.

          Seeing Octavius awakened something new in her, something violent. She was overcome with emotion, physical, palpable. She gazed upon his form – shirtless, he glistened, his muscles rippling in the vague and shadowy light of the catacombs. She could make out every single one of his muscles, each abdominal bulge perfectly formed. Against herself, she found herself licking her lips, shocked by her own desire. Her Life's Blood was acting up now – that much she knew. It was making her more susceptible than ever to that profound erotic need that took hold of her body, of her mind, of her senses. Even watching him there with Nereti, there loving the woman she despised, she could not bring herself to feel angry with him. Instead, she felt an imperious and triumphant jealousy – she
would
bring Octavius back to life, back to sense, back to her. Not even Nereti, wicked and cruel, would be able to stop the force of her love.

          Her mind was racing. Her body was shuddering. Even now, all she wanted was for Octavius to rush to her, to take her into his powerful and sinewy arms, to kiss her so violently that she screamed. She wanted to feel him inside her, moving between her thighs, splitting her in two with the irascible force of his need. Even now, all she could think about was having him. She had had him before, of course – possessing Nereti's body, she had felt every move of his flesh against her flesh, every little moment of fire and electricity that passed between them. But now, as she caught Octavius out of the corner of her eye, she knew that all that she had experienced in her mind's eye was nothing, absolutely nothing, in comparison with the real thing. She didn't simply want to make love to Octavius telepathically. She wanted to make love to him in the flesh, to give him everything. At that moment she felt, despite herself, that she would sacrifice all the power of her Life's Blood if it meant holding him in her arms again.

          But there was only one way to do that. There was only one way to bring Octavius back from the brink, to shock him back into consciousness. She would have to defeat Nereti. She would have to destroy her power, once and for all.

          She could not even feel fear. Her adrenaline coursing through her had seen to that. She could not worry about her own life, her own body, whether or not Nereti would break her, drain her, destroy her as she had done to so many other Carriers throughout the years. She had to believe – she had to let her Life's Blood
make
her believe – that she was a power as palpable, as invulnerable, as her nemesis. She had to let herself believe that she, too, might be Queen.

          “You fool,” Nereti's voice was sweet and sticky, like honey spilled upon a marble floor. “You think he wants you, now? He has seen the error of his ways. He knows what a real woman can offer him – a real woman, like me. Not an indecisive little virgin accustomed to
fooling around.
He knows the pleasures of the flesh, dead or  undead. He is done with you.”

          Kalina caught sight of Octavius’ face, of his eyes. If only she could see
something
, she thought desperately, some glint in his eyes, some change in his expression, that might reveal that he still felt something for her, that there was a power in him that could rebel against the spell Nereti had put him under – then she would know that he loved her still. But he betrayed nothing. His eyes were glassy and vacant. There was no hatred, no anger, no fear, no nothing. There was only a dull and neutral look – the look of a living doll.

          “If you're so sure he wants you,” Kalina's voice dripped with sarcasm. “Then why don't you unglamour him? If you're as special as you say, he shouldn't need to be transformed into a zombie to want you.”

          Nereti's mouth thinned into a tight, hard smile. “Insolent girl,” she muttered. “Do not speak of what does not concern you.”

          “Why?” Kalina felt her face grow hot with anger. “Are you scared? Are you afraid that if you let Octavius off his leash, you'll find that he doesn't want you anymore? Is that the only way you know how to keep a man – with magic?”

          Nereti's laugh was terrible as it echoed around the caves. “Says the girl whose power lies in the magic of your blood!” She snorted. “You think you're special, after all? That all the vampires between Mongolia and Mont Blanc love you because of
you
? No, my sweet. You're just a source of blood to them. Of sweet, tasty, Carrier-borne Life's Blood. That's all you ever were to Octavius. To Jaegar. To all those foolish brothers who lost their heads over you as a dog might for meat from a bloody bone.”

          Her insult had landed. Kalina felt the blow deep within her heart. Nereti was lying – she knew she was lying! – she knew Octavius had loved her, that Jaegar loved her...

          But Nereti looked so confident, so sure, as she watched Kalina react to the sting.

          “But no more talking,” she murmured. “You don't want to waste the last moments of your life in idle conversation, do you?”

          “Not a chance,” said Kalina through gritted teeth.

          At once they were at war. At once, Nereti was gliding through the air, her lithe limbs slicing through the empty space between them, her rippling muscles taut.

          As much as she despised Nereti, Kalina felt a sense of awe. She was in the presence of a great warrior – of an ancient power – she could feel Nereti's power all around her. How could any woman, how could any
vampire,
be so graceful, so strong?

         
Help me.
Kalina closed her eyes, trying to tap into the power of the Life's Blood within.
Carriers past, present, and future – hear my plea. Let me tap into your strength. Let me be strong enough to bear this.

           
Suddenly, she felt as if her whole body were shaking. No longer did she move by her own will, by her own choice. Something else was controlling her body – a force as powerful as that she sensed lurked within Nereti's muscular frame. It was her Life's Blood, boiling, coursing, nearly bursting her veins, carrying within the red blood cells memories of Carriers old and new, of that ancient race of women who had given their lives to fighting against evil.

          She heard a murmuring all around her – echoes of whispers. Names of women who had fought, and suffered, and died. Names of women who had loved. Names of all those Carriers who had given everything to get a plague like Nereti off the face of the earth forever.

          Kalina began to fight.

          She matched Nereti blow for blow, feint for feint, dodge for dodge. She was agile as she sidestepped every attack; she was powerful as she struck Nereti clear across the face, causing the latter to stumble back. She had never felt more natural, more in tune, more in the flow, than she felt in this single moment. She didn't even have to think. Her body knew what to do.

          “What...power....is....this?” Nereti was spluttering, her face a mask of shock.

          Kalina knew what she was thinking – she could sense it, too; all her powers of telepathy had been heightened, endowing her with a new and strange consciousness.

         
Who is this girl? Why can she fight like this – when no mortal, Carrier or otherwise, can fight like this? What is her secret? Why is she so strong?

           
It was something Nereti had never before experienced. Fear. She was fighting harder, fighting longer – fighting, for the first time in her centuries of existence, for her life.

          “You never had to try before, did you?” Kalina heard herself speaking. “You're used to slaughtering the innocent, bullying those weaker than you?” She spat on the ground. “Well, your time's up. This time, you'd better give it everything you got. Because this time, you know you're not going to win.”