Savannah Past Midnight (19 page)

Cosette is hysterical, yelling frantically and doing
anything she can to fight off Tristan. It’s no use. He forces her
to watch, saying, “I’m bored now. He was even weaker than I
predicted. Drain him.”

I’m hauled to my knees, forced to face them as the
bloodsucker sinks his knife-like fangs mercilessly into my
neck.

“Noooo!” Cosette wails a heartbroken sob that’s worse
than a fuckin’ dagger to my heart. “I’ll stay with you, anything!
Just set him free, Tristan, please. I beg you!”

“No. You had your chance. Your fate was sealed when
you turned and walked away from me in my
own
club. Your time
is up, my beauty.”

The greedy bloodsucker is drawing me down in heaving
pulls and my vision is starting to waver when Tristan leans over,
piercing Cosette in the neck once again.

How the fuck did it come to this? Should’ve done
more, should’ve fought harder ….

From deep within the shadows I hear a female voice,
so alluring that it sounds almost dreamlike, something like ringing
chimes. In a cold tone she asks, “A party? And no one thought to
invite me? Now that
really
is a shame.”

My last glimpse is of Cosette’s tear-streaked face as
her eyes flare wide. Then everything fades to black.

***

Tristan’s sucking voraciously at my neck and I’ve
just about given up hope when I hear a familiar voice that sends
shockwaves of hope through me.

Impossible!

My eyes shift and I stare at the vision that emerges
from the far corner of the hull.

“Katerina.” The name emerges as a whisper of solemn
reverence from my lips.

Tristan withdraws his teeth from my neck and snarls,
“Who the hell are you?”

She smiles pleasantly at him. “Why, I’m your worst
nightmare, darling.”

“But … but you’re supposed to be dead,” I
whisper.

She tosses a length of glorious hair over her
shoulder, all seductive grace as she smiles down at me. “I don’t
see why a vampire can’t fake her own death, do you?” Before I can
respond she adds, “Now, unfortunately for
you,
Tristan, as
retribution for trying to kill something that belongs to
me,
you and I have a date, one that I’m betting you won’t enjoy in the
least. Oh, and such a shame, too, because that beautifully tailored
Armani you’re sporting won’t fare too well with what I have planned
for us.”

“Get her!” he bellows.

She gives a playful laugh as four of the guards rush
her at once. The first one is closing in on her as she takes a
blade out of the folds of her gown and flips it straight at him. He
howls as it sinks deep into his left eyeball. The second guard
launches over him and she catches him, ripping his throat clean out
with her fangs and discarding his body in a corner like a bag off
trash. These acts of speed and prowess cause the final two vampires
to hesitate as the lead guard snarls viciously and stands, shoving
Colton roughly away. My love keels over onto his side into a
crumpled heap, and my heart sinks.

Hold on for me, please, Colton. I love you.

I watch for any sign of life, but his face and neck
are both coated in blood and it’s not looking good. Frantic, I use
all my remaining energy to scramble toward him, dragging Tristan
along with me. Torn between the distraction of Katerina and holding
onto me, he shouts angrily and releases his hold on my hair.

My hands are restrained in front but I manage to I
run the backs of my fingers across Colton’s shoulder, desperate for
a reaction, any at all. His body is still and covered in a sheen of
sweat and blood. I lean over him. “Colton? Can you hear me? Hang
on! Don’t give up on me, cowboy.”

Blood is spraying from the vicious massacre that’s
happening behind us. From our time together I know Katerina’s
strength and skills as a fighter surpass those of any other
vampire. She could hold her own against twenty of our kind, but
still, I hesitate to leave her in case she needs me. I glance back
over my shoulder in time to see her fangs retract from the final
guard. The man who Colton could not stop drops at her feet. Her
silver gown is now splattered with scarlet, making her look like a
moving abstract painting.

With measured steps, Tristan begins to circle her,
sizing her up for weaknesses. As far as I can recall, she has none.
The only vampire who ever posed a threat to her was her own
creator, Valdon, and now that he’s an ash heap, she fears no
one.

“Your skills are impressive, Katerina. I’ve never
seen a vampire fight like you just did.”

Her stare is cold and hard as she replies, “That’s
because none can, you sycophant. Now come, Tristan, it’s nearly
dawn and you and I have a date we must not be late for.”

“A date, you say? You must be mad. I’m not going
anywhere with you.”

She licks her lush lips. “Oh, I beg to differ.” With
her topaz eyes locked on his every move she calls out, “Cosette,
you need to trace your human to Severin immediately. His heart is
about to give out and you’ve lost too much blood to turn him
yourself.”

I strain and manage to break the cuffs as I pull
Colton up and into my lap. Katerina’s dark prediction makes me
cling tight to his unconscious body.

Have to slow my thoughts and focus to trace us
safely.

Tracing with a human is incredibly dangerous. Often
they don’t make it. Only under dire circumstances do we ever
attempt it. And this is the very definition of worst case
scenario.

Tristan’s unholy roar makes me jump and when I whip
back around they’ve both disappeared. Whatever is about to happen
to him is well-deserved retribution, but there’s no time to think
on it now. I have to get Colton help. I only hope that Severin
wasn’t right when he foretold my lover’s death. If he’s too far
gone to be turned, then I may as well be dead, because a future
without Colton would be unbearable.

I
trace us to the center of
the living room, clinging to the thread of hope that someone will
be around.

“Oh my God!” Alina’s shriek cuts through the fight
scene of
The Bourne Ultimatum
and the normally cool,
unaffected Ambrose jumps up in shock at the gruesome sight of our
bloody arrival.

She immediately races down the hall, most likely to
get Severin.

I’m so wired with panic that I struggle to push out
the words from my trembling lips, “Help him, Ambrose, he’s dying.
Please!”

Instantly he springs into action. “Release him,
Cosette. Now!”

He practically has to pry Colton out of my vice-like
grip. I stay close, hovering like a hawk as he sits down on the
floor, his longs legs straight out and his back leaning up against
the end of the sectional. In a smooth motion he drags Colton’s back
against his chest. If anyone can keep calm under pressure, it’s
Ambrose. He’s witnessed multiple lifetimes of carnage and learned
at an early age to methodically process and deal with each and
every chaotic situation that rolls his way. He uses two fingers to
swiftly work Colton’s lips open before ripping into his own flesh.
His wrist is facing up and I watch the blood stream over the sides
as it begins to drip in scarlet drops across battered Colton’s
face. He adjusts his wrist twice, positioning it perfectly before
flipping it over and securing it tightly to Colton’s parted
lips.

“Cosette!”

Severin’s distraught voice slices like a blade
through the tension. Dropping to one knee, he touches my back.
“Cosette, are you all right? Look at me.”

“I … I’m fine, oh God, help Ambrose!” My eyes
shine with tears as I finally look over at him. “He has to make it,
Severin. I … I can’t lose him.”

He goes still, hearing the desperation in my voice.
The only times I’ve ever asked for his help were in rare
circumstances far beyond my control.

Calla and Alina are standing close, eager to lend a
hand. Severin leans over Colton’s chest, holding up a finger for us
to remain silent as he listens for a pulse. I nearly collapse as he
nods once to Ambrose.

“Bloody hell, can’t believe the big bastard’s still
breathing after the beat down he took. I’ve seen numerous men bite
it from far less trauma than this. He’s a fighter all right. Have
to make a mental note to watch this one in the ring, assuming that
he makes it through the change. Hard to even tell if any is getting
down his throat. I have his head tipped back as far as his neck
will allow.”

Severin’s eyes fly between Colton’s chest and
Ambrose. “We’re not out of the woods yet. His pulse is incredibly
faint. Keep your wrist latched onto him. The blood could take a few
minutes to take effect.”

His head turns and his eyes track my own injuries,
which are taking longer than usual to heal because Tristan took so
much blood from me.

“This is the work of Tristan, I presume?”

“Yes.”

“They will regret ever touching you, Cosette. Nobody
harms a Beauvais without payback. You’re low on blood.” He nods at
Calla. “Come, Calla, assist us. Cosette needs to drink.”

“Absolutely.”

She sits beside me on the floor, bites into her
delicate wrist and offers it to me.

“Thank you, Calla.” My lips close over her wound as
she says encouragingly, “Take as much as you need.”

“Anything yet?” Alina asks, her voice worried as she
stands beside Ambrose, arms folded.

His blond brows snap together. “Wait … I felt
something. Yes, just there! He’s drinking. I felt him drawing from
me. Thank fuck for that!”

Covered in dried blood, Colton’s body suddenly jolts
hard as a guttural groan of pain comes forth from deep within his
chest. Ambrose urges, “Go on, drink up. You’ll be right as rain
before you know it.”

Calla’s blood is already nourishing me, and my former
strength returns in a rush. My eyes slide shut for a moment to try
and comprehend what’s occurred.
He made it. Now I can only hope
that he’s not furious that he didn’t have a choice in his
future.

I release Calla’s wrist, wipe the traces of blood
from my lips and say apprehensively, “There’s something else.”

All eyes fly to mine as I continue hesitantly, not
knowing how to deliver the shocking news. “Tristan and his men are
gone, wiped out, and I wasn’t the one to do it. I know this will
sound unbelievable, but it was Katerina who saved us tonight. She
showed up at the eleventh hour. She’s back.”

A bomb could have detonated in the center of the room
and nobody would have noticed.

***

Thank fucking Christ that the burning has let up!
Hell, for a while, it felt like my own blood was boiling me alive.
I desperately want to pry my eyes open, but just that simple act
seems exhausting. I’m worried about Cosette and I need to get my
shit together because my last coherent thought was the stuff of
nightmares that happen in filthy back alleys.

Cool fingers slip between mine. Her angelic voice
floats down to me, “I’m here, Colton. You’re going to be all right.
Can you hear me?”

I manage to squeeze once, letting her know that I
heard her. I replay the events from the ship blow by graphic blow
and wonder if that last voice, the one of the strange woman, could
have been that of the vampire who saved our doomed asses.

I focus and finally blink my eyes open. The room is
dim, the only light coming from a bathroom or closet off in the far
corner. Strangely, I can see her perfectly in the near darkness.
She’s sitting against my right hip, holding my hand.

In a feather light whisper, she smiles and greets me,
“Hi. Welcome back.”

I struggle to get my throat to work. I feel like I’ve
gone three full days of endless rounds with a gold belt heavyweight
champ. After two attempts, I croak, “Hey.”

I have to know
. “Am I ….”

She hesitates before answering in a halting voice,
“Yes. There was no choice. Well, other than death.”

The shock hits me like a sucker punch and I turn my
head away, not wanting her to witness my look of blatant shock.

“Are you angry? Colton, please look at me.”

I rasp, “Just give me a minute, will ya? This is a
lot to fuckin’ process, all right?”

A new life. As a vampire. Holy fucking shit. How am I
going to manage this?

Her touch is soothing as she runs her fingers lightly
across my shoulder. “You’re right. It is overwhelming. You heal and
take your time. You’re safe here. I won’t be far. If you call for
me, I’ll hear you. I really should devote some time to planning
with the others. Severin is very concerned about settling the score
with the rest of Tristan’s conspirators, and then there’s the
matter of the remaining wolves that they plan to use as weapons in
the fight against us.”

She begins to leave and immediately I feel like a
total dick.

“Wait.” I twist my head to look at her. “C’mere.
Don’t go.”

She takes two steps then stops. “Are you sure? I
understand if you’re angry.”

“Nah, not at you, never with you, my wildcat. Come
back, sit with me.”

Strangely I feel my muscles and bones knitting back
together, the traces of pain a nightmarish memory. I try pushing up
on my hands and manage to scoot back to a sitting position. I’m
beneath the covers with what feels like just my underwear on.

I glance down at my chest as she sits next to me
again. “We had to cut your clothing off you. It was drenched.”

Odd silence hangs thick in the air between us until
finally I sigh heavily and tell her, “I’m sorry.”

She flinches as if I’d just slapped her across the
face. “Sorry? For what, Colton? You didn’t invite that attack or
being turned.”

“No, I sure as hell didn’t, but it really fuckin’
bothers me that I wasn’t able to defend us, either.”

Her head moves back and forth. “There were too many
of them. Victory wasn’t even a remote possibility. Few vampires
could have taken on those odds.”