Blood Curse (Pulse #8) (7 page)

          “My friend!” Samson embraced him quickly. “My dear Uzo. We have come to warn you. You are in grave danger. Nereti's men march on you tonight – they'll be here any minute.”

          The vampire's brow furrowed, but he betrayed no fear. “I knew she would come to seek vengeance,” he said. “I did not know the hour. I am not afraid to die for my cause, if I must.”

          “You need not perish!” Samson said.

          “They have Carrier blood with them.”

          Kalina smiled. “
We
have Carrier blood, too.”

          The vampire looked her up and down. “You mean...?”

          “A Carrier,” said Samson. “And what's more, she is one who knows the secret of how to defeat those vampires with Life's Blood in their veins.”

          “Look!” Justin opened his backpack to reveal fifty or more stakes, newly sharpened, rubies set into the wood. They shone with a blood-red vengeance.

          “This kills them,” Kalina's voice was harsh and firm. “Let them try to stop us now.”

          “I have heard tell of such an antidote...” The vampire took the stake in his hands, fingering it with reverence. “But never until now have I believed it existed. I thought it was merely a fairy tale, designed to console those of us about to turn to ash that perhaps one day there would be others who could fight back against those who would seek to oppress us.”

          “No longer,” said Kalina. “We can fight back. We can win.”

          “They expect it to be a surprise attack,” Jaegar said, “which means we have the advantage.”

          “The caves,” Uzo said, a grin spreading across his face. His teeth shone bright white in the moonlight. “They are a vast labyrinth. We know the way. Our enemies do not. If we hide outside them, our enemies will come looking for us in the caves, expecting to slaughter us while we slumber. Once they are safely inside, we can surround them and re-enter.”

          “I like the way you think, old friend,” said Samson. “You see, Uzo is an old ally of mine.”

          “I saved his life plenty of times in the old days,” Uzo's laugh was deep and throaty. “So perhaps it is good that now you will save mine. We are even today, old friend.”

          “Not so,” Samson said, putting his hand to his chest. “For if I recall rightly, you saved my life at least three times.”

          “Let us hope you will not have occasion to need to rescue me two more,” said Uzo, and with that they set about to subvert the ambush. The vampires moved swiftly, leaving the cave network and hiding in the brush and stone that surrounded them.

          Then, they had only to wait. Kalina felt her heart pounding and tried to swallow down her fear. Even with the element of surprise, Nereti's men were not the most welcome bunch. Could they hear the drum-beat of her terrified heart, she wondered, hoping she had been able to keep her pulse quiet from their ears.

          “Shh!” Jaegar whispered into her ear. “They're coming.”

          And come they did. Fifty vampires were marching towards them.

          “I recognize the one at the front,” whispered Samson. “That's Perseus. One of Nereti's most devoted followers. Once her great General, though I think from that particular position he has been deposed...”

          Kalina winced as images of Octavius and Nereti intertwined flashed through her brain.

          She could see Perseus in the distance – the familiar crazed eyes that signified Life's Blood coursing through the veins. She shuddered at the sight of him, shuddered thinking about what young Life's Blood Carriers had been slaughtered to get that blood down his throat. He had been handsome once, she could see that much, but evil had transformed his features, casting his whole expression and countenance in a waxwork model of cruelty. Was this what Octavius too would one day become? Kalina shuddered at the thought. Would her beloved Octavius turn this fierce, this ferocious, this insane, under Nereti's noxious influence?

          But she couldn't think about that now. There was no time for wondering or for recriminations. She had to focus on one thing and one thing only – saving Uzo and his men.

          “It's working,” hissed Uzo in her ear as the vampires made their way into the caves, their footsteps virtually silent upon the soft desert sands.

          “Those fools are asleep in the darkness yet,” sneered Perseus as he passed by, just over Kalina's head. “We shall slaughter them, each and every one, and we shall at last find that which we seek.”

         
That which we seek?
Kalina furrowed her brow.
Isn't this supposed to be putting down a rebellion? What are they looking for?

           
“If we can get a fresh taste of the Carrier, too!” one of Perseus's underlings licked his lips, showing gleaming fangs.

          “Nay!” Perseus rounded on his underling with a horrific growl. “You know Nereti's orders. She wants the Carrier alive.”

          “All the better...I know ways to torture that don't leave marks.”

          “No!” Perseus said. “You know the orders. Nereti wants to do all the torturing herself.”

          Kalina felt her stomach lurch as Perseus and his men vanished inside the cave.

          “They're all in,” Jaegar said.

          “Very well,” Uzo brandished his stake. “Now it is time for attack.”

          And with that, they rounded on Nereti's men, following them into the caves, tiptoeing up behind them and goring them straight through with ruby stakes.

          The first round was the easiest. Caught unaware in the midst of their stealth attack, the vampires dropped to the floor and vanished into ash so silently that their compatriots did not even hear them. It was not until Kalina and her allies had each killed two or three vampires that the others began to notice what was going on.

          By then it was too late. Uzo and his vampires would have been formidable enough on their own, Kalina guessed, but with ruby stakes between their fingers they were unstoppable.

          Soon, they had slaughtered each and every one of the invaders.

Chapter 8

          “
W
e did it!” Jaegar turned to Kalina, joy in his glimmering eyes. The ash of the vanquished vampires was floating in the air all around them, shining in the first light of dawn. “Kalina, you were amazing.” He took her in his arms, holding her tight, kissing her softly. “I'm so proud of you.”

          Kalina stood for a while, staring at the stake in her hands. Her heart was beating louder than ever now; it felt like thunder breaking through the morning sky. She'd killed vampires before, she knew, hundreds of them by now. But something felt different this time. The act of killing had boiled her blood in a new way. She felt happy, tired, but more than that, she felt a strange rush of adrenaline coursing through her, a strange joy. As if...she had
enjoyed
it. Enjoyed the killing, not merely as something that needed to be done, for the common good but as something in its own right, an act of power, an act of vanquishing, that gave her a bizarre kind of strength.

          Kalina shivered. Could Nereti's influence be stronger even than she thought? Strong enough for her to
enjoy
slaughter?

          “No,” she said aloud. “No – that can't be.”

          “What is it, Kal?” Jaegar rushed to her side.

          “It...feels good, doesn't it?” Kalina swallowed hard. “Killing.”

          “Sometimes,” Jaegar admitted. A shadow flitted across his face, and Kalina knew that he was thinking of all the innocents he had killed, back in the old days, back in his days of evil. “Sometimes it felt
too
good.”

          “I can't stop shaking...” Kalina said. “It's...invigorating...”

          “No,” Uzo took a step forward. “No, it must not be that way. Not for a true warrior.”

          Samson nodded. “Human, vampire alike – I must learn to despise what I do. For only when I look upon the true horror of death can I kill with honor. Octavius taught me that.”

         
Octavius!
Kalina felt another pang, a strong one, at the mention of his name. Had he really been the one to wreak such devastation on the caves? Had he really been the one to send Nereti's forces to this South African tribe?

         
Octavius
!

          No sooner had she thought the name than she saw him once again in her mind's eye – a vision so strong that it blocked out her human eyes and left her blind and reeling. Before her was Octavius, naked and glistening, his stomach taut, his muscles chiseled, his expression full of darkness and rage. And rage, too, seemed to course through her, an infernal and primal anger that manifested itself in a wailing, furious scream that almost deafened her.

          “No!” Nereti was shouting. “No!” It was the scream of a queen whose will had never once been defied, whose demands had never once been question. A scream of ancient, evil power mingled with the all too human note of disbelief.

          “How can this be?” Nereti was shouting at Octavius. “Who was it that betrayed us? Surely they must have had advance notice – that is the only excuse for this travesty. One among us is a betrayer. I will find him. I will torture him. I will slaughter him. I will
destroy him utterly.
”

          “We shall torture him for centuries, my Queen,” Octavius promised, kissing Nereti deeply and roughly. Kalina moaned slightly at the sweet, tantalizing taste of him. “He has led to the deaths of many of your finest soldiers.”

          “Do you think I care about my warriors? Carrion, they are. Mere machines, fit only for death – theirs or those of another. No, it is the diamonds I care for! We needed those diamonds...”

          Immediately Kalina remembered what Perseus had said.
We will find them.
What was it that they were looking for? What were these diamonds?

          “Diamonds,” she said aloud, flashing back to her surroundings. Uzo and Jaegar were standing over her, looking worried.

          “Kalina, what happened?” Jaegar took her hand.

          “What are these diamonds that Nereti was looking for?” Kalina asked Uzo. “Why did she want them?”

          Uzo sighed heavily. “We have been keeping that secret for many centuries,” he said. “We are the guardians of something very precious indeed. Nereti's raid was not only about defiance. We also had something she wanted badly. Very badly.”

          “What's so special about these diamonds?” Kalina asked.

          Uzo took a step forward, looking around at the others, hesitating. “I must tell you all,” he said. He barked orders at his men, demanding that they begin the work of cleaning up the mess. “I must tell you in private,” he said.

          He led Kalina deep into the caves, deep into their darkest hidden heart. He produced a key from around his neck and unlocked a carved wooden door, intricately decorated with some of the finest woodwork Kalina had ever seen. Once they were safely inside, he locked the door once more behind them.

          Kalina gasped. All around her were the most beautiful jewels she'd ever seen. Each crystal, each glimmering diamond, shone with the light of a thousand moons, catching the glow of the candles all around them. In each she could see reflected her own face.

          “These diamonds,” Uzo said to her, “are no ordinary diamonds. They are powerful. They can destroy the most powerful, the most ancient of any vampires. Or at least, they will be, in the hands of the right person. These diamonds are in fact the strongest substance that exists, or ever has existed on earth. When wielded by the one who has been prophesied, they can be used to defeat whole armies. We could not harness their power before. But now we can. Nereti believes she is the one fated to use these diamonds. But now, as I look at you, I am more sure than ever that she is wrong.”

          He took out one of the diamonds and placed it in Kalina's palm. Immediately it began glowing bright, dark red.

          “Light and life defeat the bringer of death and destruction,” said Uzo. “You look just like her, you know. But whereas her heart is black, yours is full of the sun. There must be a reason that you two are so similar – a connection.”

          “No connection!” Kalina cried.

          “You are opposites, linked by what divides you. Light and dark, life and death, are bound together always. You bear her image, yet you have goodness within you, the human and the vampire together, vampire speed and strength and a human heart, capable of the greatest love. The most bountiful love. I see from your face you have loved much.”
          Kalina flushed. “Yes,” she said.

          “I believe you are the one who is prophesied to use these,” Uzo said. “These are the diamonds that are your bounty. When the time comes to use them, you will know what to do.”

          Immediately another flash came over Kalina, another series of images flitting across her brain. The rage came once more, stronger this time, overwhelming, even.

          “We must send another trope out there,” cried Nereti, her voice terrible in its anger. “We must get our hands on these diamonds. We cannot allow them to keep them. We cannot allow our enemies to reach them. Take all the vampires you can spare, we must go immediately.”

          “But my darling, you said this was only a minor raid,” Octavius kissed Nereti, tracing his lips along her naked shoulders, her naked back. “Why do you wish to spend all your energy on this minor tribe?”

          “Defiance must be punished!” cried Nereti. “And besides, it pleases me to take their bounty. These diamonds – I shall wear them, and then the whole world will know what happens to those who cross me.”

          “We can get diamonds anywhere, my love,” Octavius said.

          “These diamonds will be stained with the blood of my enemies,” Nereti replied, “and they will be all the more beautiful for it. I will have these and none others to wear in my crown.”