Katrina, The Beginning (27 page)

“Let’s go, Nulla,” I urged,
and we cantered on.

There in the woods was
Theo, beautiful Theo, and stepping out behind him, Damien, his hair
and his cape being tossed by the wind. He was taking off his riding
gloves when I rode up beside him.

“I wasn’t expecting you for
at least another week.”

“I couldn’t wait, and I’ve
completed all the preparations I could, so here I am; but I can go
back if you wish.”

I swung my left leg over
Nulla’s shoulders and hopped down right in front of him.

“I don’t think so,” I put
my arms around his neck. My stomach was full of butterflies as his
eyes met mine.

“Why didn’t you just come
to the castle?”

“I wanted some time with
you alone.”

He put his arms around my
waist, pulled me closer, and leaned down to kiss me. It was not the
needy, lustful kiss from before, but a deep loving one that made my
knees weak. I didn’t want it to end, but all too soon he pulled
back.

“I missed
you,”
he said without speaking.

“I’m
right here,”
I replied.

We spent the morning in
each other’s arms, nurturing our relationship, walking, sharing
reminiscences, telling secrets and sharing our hopes and dreams
until it was time to return. Whatever lay ahead we would handle
together. At least in these moments, my doubts were
gone.

“Well, well, it’s amazing
what you can find out in the woods,” Rosa smirked as we
approached.

“Nice to see you too,
Rosalinda,” Damien chuckled.

“Are you joining us for
lunch, or do you have something else planned?” Rosa was in her
element.

“We’ll join you as soon as
we get the horses taken care of,” I interceded.

We walked Theo and Nulla
back to the stables and left instructions for their care and
feeding.

“Nulla is looking good,
healthy and gaining weight. I see you are giving her extra oats. Is
there a reason for that?” he teased as we walked away.

“You know very well what
the reason is.”

“And you aren’t upset about
it anymore?”

“I should be, but now I’m
sure it’s going to be a colt that looks just like his beautiful
father.”

“You might be disappointed;
I don’t think you should get your heart set this early.”

“No, not usually, but…I’ve
seen him.”

Then I instantly regretted
telling him that.

“What does that
mean?”

“Well, I’ve been having
premonitions,” I said reluctantly.

“That’s a feeling; you said
you’d
seen
him.”

“Well it started with
feelings, but now it’s more like visions,” I admitted.

Why was feeling hesitant
about telling him this?

“In that case, we should
pick out a name for him.”

Just like that, he let it
go; no other questions, nothing, it was really strange.

“Look who just arrived,
Father,” I said as we entered the dining hall.

“Damien, good to see you.
How is your father?”

“He’s fine sir, thank you.
I completed all my preparations early, so I decided to come ahead.
I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, I’m sure
everyone is glad to have you here. You remember
Elizabeth.”

“Of course. How nice to see
you again. You look lovely,” Damien bowed slightly and took her
hand.

“I hope your trip was
uneventful,” she inquired sweetly.

“Lonely, but yes,
uneventful.”

“We’ll talk of your
upcoming trip this afternoon,” Father said.

“Of course, Fredrik. I look
forward to it.”

The girls arrived
then.

“How was your training?” I
asked.

“Gunter is relentless,”
groused Kate, “but he’s really happy with us.”

“He just wants our fathers
to be impressed with our progress,” Letta added.

“I’m sure they will be,”
Mother assured them. “You’ve all been working very
hard.”

“Your father tells me you
had a surprising afternoon at the mission yesterday.”

“That’s for sure. Thank
goodness for El; she really saved the day,” Kate stopped loading
her plate long enough to smile over at El.

“What happened?” asked
Damien.

“The mission hospital was
full of sick patients and their physicians didn’t know what was
causing their illness or how to treat it. We discovered it was
caused by vampire feedings, Through El’s gift of healing, she was
able to make them well enough so they could recover on their own,”
I said, not totally sure we should reveal our gifts yet.

“I have forces out, as we
speak, looking for this rogue vampire,” Father said.

“Never a dull moment,”
quipped Kate.

“These attacks seem very
odd,” Damien considered. “Fledglings would normally kill because
they can’t control themselves; but this seems more like someone
trying to be discovered.”

“The feeding sites were
varied, as if to prevent humans from seeing a pattern; and the ages
also were varied, as if the choices were random,” El
explained.

“How did you keep the fact
you were healing them a secret?” Damien asked.

“Oh, they had been
collecting and compounding herbs. They think they found a
combination that finally started to work, and the patients had no
memory of what had happened to them,” El explained. “Father Jonas
told us people had been falling ill for several weeks now. He also
said he would let us know if they received any more people with the
same symptoms.”

“These things can start
panic in the villages, and if people suspect for one minute a dark
force is responsible, no one here will be safe,” Father was
adamant.

“Humans are always quick to
blame, even without any proof,” Mother said and shook her
head.

“True. Once again, I think
you helped avert a disaster,” Damien said smiling

.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

W
e
finished lunch, and Damien and Father excused themselves in order
to discuss the travel plans for the envoy, so the five of us headed
over to the library to study.

“So you just
happened
upon Damien in the woods?” Kate asked,
suspiciously.

“I’m going to have to go
into the woods more often if that’s the case,” Rosa
joked.

Letta probed. “How long
were you out there before you informed us?”

“Just a few
hours.”

“And…anything you want to
tell us?” Letta asked with a smile, but her eyes were
serious.

“No, we just wanted some
time alone…to talk.”

“Talk, I see.” Kate raised
an eyebrow.

“Oh!” El put her hand over
her mouth. “Remember when we talked about how dangerous it was to
feed from humans directly because it could be addicting? What if
it’s a young vampire biting these villagers and that’s what’s
happened?”

“Where did that come from,
El?” I asked.

“I don’t know it just
popped into my mind.”

“He or she would have to be
strong enough to be able to stop feeding before killing the
person,” reasoned Rosa.

“And probably about be our
age or a little older,” I was certain El had stumbled on to
something.

“Your father will take care
of it, don’t worry,” soothed Letta.

“Yes, he will have them
killed, but if the vampire responsible could be isolated for a
while, they would get better. The addiction would wear off like it
did with Quinn and me. Maybe El could even help them,” I
said.

“You don’t even know that’s
what it is,” Rosa said. “Or is it one of
those
kinds of
feelings you’re having about it?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe if we
all concentrate together Kate and I will see something
more.”

We hurried to the library
and sat around the table at the far end of the room. We held hands
to make the strongest connection possible. A bolt of energy slammed
me into the back of my chair. When I closed my eyes I could see a
room, small and dark except for a fire in the fireplace. A young
man sat on a cot across from it with his head resting in his hands.
I could feel the fear and sadness surrounding him, and in that
moment, I knew we had to help him. The door opened, and in strode a
tall dark-haired man wearing brown leather pants, a bronze long
sleeved shirt, and a dark leather vest.

“So, are you willing to
tell me all I wish to know, or shall I bring in your next
victim?”

As he spoke he walked
closer to the young man and was followed by a swordsman of
incredible stature, almost the height of the door.

“It’s been days since you
fed, so I know you won’t be able to resist. Tell us where to find
the leaders of your kind and I will end your torment by killing you
swiftly. My father and his followers died trying to extinguish your
evil from this land, and I mean to avenge their deaths by finishing
the job, no matter what I have to do. That I happened upon you
feasting on a deer was a gift from the gods, their way of helping
me in my effort. Sooner or later you’ll either talk or some of your
kind will come out of hiding to end the plague you are creating;
and I will use them to lead me back to your—what my father
called—you clan and put an end to your kind once and for
all.”

Volator, I thought to
myself.

The young man raised his
head then and looked up.

“Do what you must. I am
not from these parts and know no one. I have only been as I am for
now these past three years and have no knowledge of these clan of
yours or the leaders of which you speak. For all I know I am the
last of my kind. So either kill me or leave me alone with the
horror which you have laid upon me.”

He was handsome - of course
most vampires are - with blond hair and light eyes, I assumed were
blue. He was very likely a made vampire, and a very rare type of
vampire indeed.

I realized we needed to do
several things now—pinpoint where they were, call back the
warriors, and reinstruct the Watchers. First, for the
pinpointing.

“Kate, can you hear
me?”

“Yes.”

“We need to find out
exactly where they’re holding this man. You ‘see,’ while I seek the
scent. The others will help.”

I took in a deep breath and
tried to find them. I hoped Kate was having better luck, since I
hadn’t smelled them before and my senses were becoming confused by
all the other humans and vampires around.

“You’ll help us even
without consent; you can’t stop yourself. Bring in supper for our
young friend.”

The huge swordsman
retreated and returned with a young girl no older than sixteen. The
girl was sobbing, her hands tied in front of her. A peasant’s dress
clung to her small frame; her bare feet and dirty unkempt hair made
me think she must have been held for some time. She trembled as the
man pulled her forward to place her directly in front of the young
vampire.

“I beg
you, kill me instead,”
the young man pleaded.

“If you don’t tell me what
I want to know, you leave me no choice.”

And with that he pulled his
dagger and cut the girl’s arm on the inside of her elbow, deep
enough to let blood rush down her arm. As she screamed he shoved
her forward. He was right, there was no way the new vampire could
stop himself from feeding like a ravenous animal. The swordsman had
to turn away, but the other man watched intensely, as if sickly
pleased by the sight.

Soon after the young
vampire began feeding, the girl stopped crying and went into what I
can only describe as a trance, after which she seemed to wobble and
become faint. That’s when the man pulled her away and quickly
headed for the door and handed the girl to the
swordsman.

“Drop her at the mission
gates like the others. We don’t want dead bodies that will turn the
villagers into mobs. We only want to draw the vampires out. It says
in my father’s journals, they protect themselves by taking care no
one will draw attention to their kind like this.”

With that, he backed out
the door, which he slammed behind him and locked.

“Got
him,”
said Kate. “
I see him coming out of
a stone two-story building that looks like it was once an inn or
something. There’s an old sign on the front, that says ‘Fair’—no
‘Fardale’— and a number two.”

“I think
I know where that is,”
I said to her, and I turned my gift
toward that area. Yes, I smelled the bloodlust. Ten miles to the
south there was an abandoned mill—that must be it! I didn’t sense a
guard close by, which meant they were very sure of themselves, but
if he wasn’t trained by his Volator father and only learned by
reading his journals, he wouldn’t know much. For that matter, no
human did.