Survivor (26 page)

There was a tinkling crash and my eyes flew open.  I
leapt to my feet, heart-wrenching grief warring with earth-shaking anger. 

He’s right here,
I thought,
acidly.

*****

I bared my teeth and closed with the bastard.  The
shattered glass of the sliding doors crunched under his booted feet, but it was
drown out by the growl that ripped from my throat.  In my mind, I had seen
Peter go down under this man’s people- his servants.  I had nothing left to
lose now.  I wanted to die… and I wanted to take this son of a bitch with me.

He struck out at me with a clawed hand, and I was
too slow to get out of the way.  I let him grab me around the waist, smiling at
the thought of how bad I was going to hurt him.  My aura was out of control,
and power ripped over me.  I sank my teeth into the arm restraining me and
pulled, hard and fast, ripping away a hunk of flesh.  Images flooded my mind
and it was all I could do to stay conscious as I took in the blood memory.  I
spat out the gob of skin and muscle as he screamed with rage.  Then I contorted
my body, twisting and eeling until I slid free of his grasp.  He was stronger
and faster, but he could never hold me.

He made a grab for me and I stepped aside, arching
my back so that his hand grabbed air, then bringing my foot up to connect with
his head.  It was a weak blow.  He staggered back, grinning, relishing the game
he thought would end with my death.  He was wrong.  I laughed and shoved a
chair out of my way, knowing before he did that he would have broken it over my
head. 

I knew who he was now.  I had seen the memories in
his blood.  It was him who had organized the attacks on the lesser covens. 
What’s more, something had happened when I tasted his blood.  “I seeee you…”  I
sang at him in a breathy voice that was chilling to my own ears. 

He frowned at me.  “I see.  They don’t keep you here
because you are important.  They only want to protect you because you’re weak. 
Are you touched in the head?  Turn go bad for you, little girl?”  I could feel
his pleasure.  It didn’t matter if I was mentally handicapped.  If anything, he
would enjoy that even more.

I laughed.  “You’re wroooooong,” I sang out in a
beautiful soprano.  I stopped moving.  He was enjoying it too much.  He wanted
to chase me.  Instead, I stood still and let him grab me again.  This time I
hinged from the hips and lifted one leg off the floor.  Lifting it, I wrapped
it around his torso and threw him across the room, my odd movements surprising
him.

I picked up a heavy candelabra just seconds before his
move in that direction.  “Ah-ah-ah,” I chided.  “Big boy like you doesn’t need
a weapon.”

He slowed, glaring at the candlestick in my hand. 
It was all starting to make sense to him now.  I stepped right just before his
feint in that direction.  I ducked just before he threw a punch at my face,
laughing merrily.  “Now you get it dumb ass,” I said mockingly.

Somehow, ever since I tasted his blood, I knew
exactly what he was going to do before he even moved.  “I’ve got your number,”
I whispered, tapping my head in illustration.

He lost some of his cocky aggression and dropped
back a step.  “What the hell are you?”

“You attacked my coven.”  I slowly circled the end
of the couch and began moving toward him, automatically compensating for his
evasive movements before he even made them. 

His aura spiked with fear and I drank it up, pulling
information from him without even having to ask.  The more scared he got, the
easier it was.  I could see it in my head.  He had been a coven member before
Peter or Leah.  He thought he was next in line for master.  He had known John
was going to kill himself and he had been glad, hungry for the power he would
be granted when the old man was gone and he became master.

Only John had ignored him and appointed Leah.  One
of his last actions had been to cast this man out, knowing him for what he
was.  Grasping.  Power hungry.  Not the forward thinking leader who would break
the centuries of vampire ruthlessness and oppression.  I saw it clearly, his
hunger for the deaths of the coven.  Not only Leah, but Peter.  He was
particularly fond of the thought of ripping Peter to shreds.  And in that
moment, I saw too much.

Everything went red, a bloody hue that hazed my world. 
I felt something in me snap, and reason, thought…humanity… faded away into
nothingness as I reached for the terrified vampire.

Eventually, a voice intruded into my numbness.  It
was a male voice, husky and rich, like grey silk.  My conscious mind, and the
last bits of my humanity, began to return to me like old, faded memories. 
Something in me, something wild and primal, flared up in protest, and I heard
the voice of the being that lived inside me- the one that gave me life and
power- but the grey silk voice spoke again and the fire of that other voice was
snuffed like a candle.  I took a shuddering breath, smelling blood and death. 
And Peter.

I opened my eyes and touched the big hands grasping
my shoulders.  I heard him call my name, though I knew he hadn’t said it aloud. 
It was his aura speaking to mine.  My master had pulled me back from the brink
of insanity.  I stifled the part of me that felt sadness that I could no longer
feel that other being.

I looked around the room, still feeling dazed and
unreal.  Others were moving about.  I heard Leah’s voice somewhere.  There were
body parts on the carpet, and I realized the invading vampire was dead.  Really
dead.  Then my awareness snapped back into place with a twang and I gagged at
the taste of his blood in my mouth.

Haine was reclining on the couch while Viktor held
his arm on until it could heal.  Someone had ripped it off.  His silvery blue
eyes met mine and he arched an eyebrow in a wry expression.  “Welcome back. 
Sorry for startling you.”

I looked at Peter, panicked.  “Did I…”  I swallowed
hard.  “Did I do that?”

His silver eyes slowly began to turn green again. 
“You didn’t mean to,” he said tiredly.

I shook my head and Viktor snorted.  “Blood lust.” 
Haine shrugged his good shoulder and waved it off, but he looked awful- weak
and wan.  About what you’d expect after having your arm ripped off.

“Don’t beat yourself up, kid,” he said generously. 
“We’ve all been there.  I’m old enough to know better than to get in the way of
a new turn whose lost control.”

I bit my lip.  I wanted to beg forgiveness, but I
knew he wouldn’t have it.  “Thanks,” I said softly instead.

Then I turned back to Peter.  “The others?”

He nodded.  “Taken care of.”

“I saw you,” I said hesitantly.  “I saw you go down
under one of his creations.”  I shuddered at the carnage that vision had
caused.

Peter laughed.  “You saw me?”  He patted my head. 
“It must be our bond.  I did get injured, but Leah pulled it off me.”

I felt ill.  One misinterpreted glimpse of the
future and I tear a guy to shreds.  “Ug,” I said, rubbing my forehead.  I was
so tired.

Leah came to us and I pushed myself to a standing
position.  Her eyes twinkled as she took in my unease.  “Well, this is the last
time I leave you out of anything.”  She patted my arm in what might have been
apology.  “It seems we need you out fighting with us.”  She glanced at the
blood soaked carpet.  “The coven is in your debt.  Because of you, this whole
mess was just brought to an end.”  She winked at me.  “Imagine, a disabled
vampire doing our work for us.”

I didn’t feel much like laughing.

*****

I leaned against an old table, exhausted.  The room
had begun to empty as Leah’s vampires finished cleaning up the worst of my mess
and, one by one, disappeared into the night to seek food and rest.  Peter was
sticking close to me, still anxious because I had been attacked.  Leah was
across the room talking to Cynthia and Viktor, her back to the rest of us.

Haine’s arm had re-attached itself and he was
standing, cradling the offended member.  His eyes met mine and he gave me a
small smile as he lifted the arm and flexed his fingers.  I crossed to him on
wobbly legs.  I was a vampire damn it.  I shouldn’t have to deal with being
tired.

“I’m so sorry,” I said for the hundredth time that
night. 

He shook his head, dismissing my concern.  “I’m
fine.  I would rather you feel guilty about causing me discomfort than about
going on a rampage and killing all the humans in the neighborhood.”

I wrapped an arm around my middle and grimaced at
the reminder of my loss of control.  “You say you’re fine, but you look as
exhausted as me.  I hate to see you so weakened.”  Haine’s smile slowly faded. 
He straightened and dropped his arms to his sides. 

“Even in this state, I am the strongest vampire in
this room, madam.”  His voice sounded almost dreamy.  He started to walk across
the room toward Leah and her group, looking odd.  His movements were
disjointed, as if he were moving a beat behind the thought to do so.  

I glanced at Peter to see him frowning at the other
vampire.  I looked back at Haine just in time to see him pick up the large,
wicked looking dagger that someone had left lying on the table near Leah.  His
motions were a bit slower than usual.  That’s the only reason I was able to act
quickly enough.  Peter darted past me in a blur as I screamed.  “Haine, stop!”

There was a twang through my consciousness and Haine
hesitated.  Peter violently shoved him aside and took up a guard position in
front of Leah who had spun around just in time to see that she was about to be
beheaded.  Cynthia and Viktor fell on Haine, taking advantage of his moment of
surprise, and the knife fell to the ground and slid under an end table.

It was all happening too fast.  I knew something was
wrong, but I couldn’t explain.  Haine wasn’t in control of his body.  I had felt
an instant of connection when I shouted at him, probably due to our blood bond. 
In that moment I had felt him desperately fighting something inside himself.

“Stop!”  I dashed to the writhing mass of vampire in
the middle of the room.  Haine, weakened though he was, was holding his own
against Cynthia and Viktor- but only just.

I glanced at Peter, willing him to understand. 
“Stop them!”  He hadn’t moved from his guard position, where he blocked Leah
from view.  Furious, I spun back to the fight.  I waited for an opening, then
lashed out, kicking Cynthia in the temple. 

If she were human it would have killed her, but
between vampires, it was more of a love tap.  She growled at me, but didn’t
release her hold on Haine, steadying him so that Viktor could rip his head
off.  I reared back again and kicked her like I meant it.  I broke her nose and
she howled.  It was enough to distract her and her brother.  Haine threw them
off in a surge of brute strength and I rushed to get between them, sliding to a
crouch.  Cynthia was on the ground; she had hit her head on the table when she
fell and her eyes looked unfocused.  It would take a while to heal the head
injury.  Viktor was still mobile though, and he started toward us. 

I snarled a warning at him, but he kept on coming. 
My eyes met Peter’s and I knew that he could feel my intentions.  I willed him
to understand, to trust me.  I had no way of knowing if he could hear me or
not.  He turned his head to Leah and her voice rang out in the room.  “Viktor,
stand down!”

I stood and took a step back, uneasy with the
truce.  I stiffened when I bumped into Haine. 
Oh yeah, he’s still there.

“So nice of you to decide to play fair, Leah,” he
purred.  It was Haine’s voice, but the cadence was completely off, and there
was a touch of old-world that Haine’s voice never had.  I hoped the others
heard it as well. 

A long arm slipped around my waist, just below my
breasts, pulling me back against Haine’s tall frame.  “Come out from behind
your little toy soldier and play, Leah dear,” he taunted.  “You seem to like
this girl,” He bent to nuzzle my neck and I stomped on his foot.  I struggled,
but it was like being in a steel trap.  “I’ll let her go if you come over
here.”

No one moved.  Haine turned his head to whisper in
my ear, loud enough that the others could hear.  “But why didn’t you go to
defend your master as well, little girl.  Is it because we are lovers?”

Peter growled and Leah put a hand on his shoulder. 
“Who are you?”  Her voice was steady. 

Haine lifted his head, and laughed.  “I’m your
death, bitch and I’m taking your sniveling little coven with me.  John’s ways
are a disgrace to our kind.  Vampires grow weak and timid.”  He sighed.  “But,
if you refuse to bargain…”

He shifted my hair to the side.  He was strong, but
my incredible flexibility allowed me to twist away from him.  Understanding
slowly dawned on me.  It all began to make perfect sense.  Haine had told me
once that if he ever tried to bite me, I should let him.  I met Peter’s eyes,
seeing the confusion there… and quit struggling.

Haine’s teeth sliced into my neck and there was a
moment of perfect union.  It was similar to when I had taken his blood, but
more.  I felt like something inside me had been completed, and I realized we
were fully bonded now.  I closed my eyes and let Haine, and whoever was inside
him, into my head.