Fearless (The Blue Fire Saga) (22 page)

“Come in, Marcio,”
Dara invited in a voice that had lost none of its coquettishne
ss over the centuries. “What might
we do for you?”

Marcio stepped into the chamber. The room smelled faintl
y of flower blossoms
, but he didn’
t see any
flowers anywhere
.

“I want—no, I
need
to go out,” he said. “
Since it
i
s forbidden to go alone,
I’d like you two to accompany me.”

Genevieve studied him with her dark eyes. “
Why do you need to go out?
You have a
feeder down below—is
she no longer satisfying your needs?”

Marcio shook his head.
“It
i
s difficult to explain.
I feel like something is pulling at me, but it’s not hunger. I partook of my feeder just yesterday. She was delicious, as always. But feasting
on her blood
did nothing to lessen the pull. I’m tired of resisting it.”

Genevieve lowered her feet from
Dara’s
lap and sat upright on the couch.

“Fair enough.”
She turned to Dara. “What do you think, sweetheart? Are you up for a little adventure?”

Dara smiled.
“
Always
.”
She stood up and crossed to Marcio, linking
both
her arms around one of his. “Marcio is
a
very powerful
man
,” she cooed. “It will
be
good to have him beholden to us.”

Marcio smiled. Of all the vampires in the coven, these were the two he least minded owing a favor.

“I
wil
l meet you an hour after
sunset,” he said.

The three vampires glided through the trees, heading south and east
from their caverns, dark
shadows among the shadows.
Marcio was in the lead, guided by the strange force that grew stronger with ever
y
mile he covered. Dara and Genevieve followed close behind him, racing side by side,
content
to go where Marcio led them.

Despite
their speed, the vampires
moved cautiously, making no sound
in the darkness. No human eye
could spy them when they moved like this, but there were enemies with far keener eyes than humans to be avoided. Volkaanes might also be hunting this night, and though the vampires did not fear their ancient foes, they respected the danger
the vampire slayers
presented.
Equally important, they had no idea what they might find at the end of the invisible trail Marcio followed.

Finally, Marcio motioned them to a halt. They were still deep within the woods, far from any human settlement.

“We
a
re close,”
he
whispered.

Three sets of vampire senses probed the blackness. Dara and Genevieve detected nothing; Marcio felt only the same strange
magnetic
pull, magnified many times now.

They crept forwa
rd, doubly alert now.
They had not gone far when
Genevieve grabbed
Marcio’s
arm.

“I sense a life force,” she said softly.
“Human, but not quite.
It’s very faint, yet
somehow,
it still feels close.
I do not understand it.
”

“I know. I feel it, too. It i
s the source of the pull.
It’s just ahead.
”
Marcio pointed to a shape on the ground. “There.”

He moved cautiously toward the dark, prostrate form
.
It
was
a woman
lying motionless
on her back. Her eyes were closed. Marcio thought she was lovely.

The woman was Kristi
Brolen
.

Genevieve and Dara watched from behind as Marcio knelt over her.

“She is caught between death and
undeath
,” he told them. “Only one of our
kind
could have done this. But why
do such a thing
?”

“
It was probably done unintentionally, by someone
hungry an
d inexperienced,” Genevieve suggested
, “and
who
took her further than was meant.”

Marcio brushed Kristi’s soft brown hair away from her neck. The twin punctures confirmed what he already knew.
At his touch, her eyelids fluttered open. Her blue eyes pierced him to the core. The pull that had drawn him here was nothing compared to what he felt now.

“Can you move?” he asked. “Can you speak?”

Her only response was to blink twice.

Marcio twisted his head around toward Dara and Genevieve. “I’
m going to complete her transformation
,” he said.
“If I am not too late.”

“Are you certain?” Genevieve asked. “
It is forbidden
to do so right now
.”

Marcio shrugged.
“
I don’t think I have a choice
.
I feel as if we are somehow already linked.” He smiled. “This i
s why I
chose you
two
to accompany
me. I k
now you won’
t try to stop me, as some of the others might.”

Genevieve smiled back.
“
No, w
e will not stop you
.”

“
What will you do once you have turned her?” Dara asked. “
You will not be allowed
to bring her into the caverns.”

“Perhaps,”
Marcio agreed
. “But perhaps the Council will make an exception
.
Especially if you two support me.
We recently lost one of our
number
. She could be his replacement.
”

Genevieve took
Dara’s
hand. “We
more than most know what it’
s l
ike to feel linked to someone. And so w
e will support your attempt.”

“Thank you.”

Marcio turned back to Kristi. Her eyes were fastened on his.

“Could you hear that?” he asked. “Do you understand what I mean to do?”

Kristi blinked once, hoping he would understand.

“I take it that means yes,” Marcio said.

Kristin blinked again.

“Do you wish me to do this?”

Kristi’s reply was another single blink.

“Very well.”
Marcio leaned closer. “This will hurt, but only for a moment.”

He let his fangs drop and moved to Kr
isti’s neck. Very carefully, he
fit his fangs into the twin punctures
already there
. Once they were fully inserted, he let the
special saliva in the glands at
the roots of his incisors flow into her neck.

Kristi felt a cold burning
shoot into her throat. The freezing pain
spread swiftly through her body.
After a
n agonizing
moment,
the pain
vanished. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around the back of
Marcio’s
neck, pulling him toward her.

Marcio stood up, lifting Kristi up with him. Her arms remained wrapped around his neck. Her blue eyes, only inches from his, were bright and alive. She kissed his lips softly.

“Thank you,” she said.
“It felt like I had been
frozen here forever.” She released her grip on Marcio and took one step back. “I’m Kristi.”

Marcio introduced himself and the others.

“She will need to feed,” Genevieve said.

Marcio nodded. All vampires needed to feed within twenty-fou
r hours of their transformation
or they would perish. And while they could survive on animal blood, the first feeding had to be human.

“I know,”
he said.

“Well, let’s hunt, then,” Dara said, smiling. “Perhaps there will be some for us as well.”

Perched on a branch high above, a brown and white owl watched the vampires s
lip away into the night. It
waited a few minutes until its keen eyes and ears tol
d it the vampires
had moved far away
. Satisfied
that
it was safe, the owl
fluttered silently to the ground. A soft silve
r glow began to surround the bird
, beginning at its feet and working its way up to the head.

A quick
silver
flash momentarily lit up the spot as the owl vanished. Standing in its place,
Jenna
gently stretched her arms and legs
.
She had been watching and waiting here
for several days
now
a
nd was glad to be back in
human form. She smiled.
Her spell had worked as planned. Kristi had been released from her paralyzed prison.
She would know she had Jenna to thank for it, but would be unable to talk about it. That
Marcio see
med quite taken with Kristi
was an added bonus.
Jenna’s smile widened—you never knew when it would pay to have powerful friends.