The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld (14 page)

Ian was so warm. He smelled so good. He smelled like youth. Real youth, not a young mask hiding a hundred year old creature. His scent was fresh, like freshly washed clothes. She held him close and nearly melted when he wrapped his arms around her back.

“What’s this?” Ian asked when he felt the blood on her side. He looked genuinely alarmed. “Are you okay? What happened Koa?”

Koa didn’t speak. She was grateful to have someone care about her. All she wanted was to feel cared for…to feel loved. She simply held him. She liked that he was thin. She liked that he was tall. Ian rested his chin on her head and sighed. He loved her. That fact didn’t make Koa feel good.

His wasn’t real love. There was no way that it could be…the glamour made him think he was in love. She wished it was real.

Halston’s face haunted her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block the disappointed look he had given her out of her mind.

“I’m fine, Ian, but you can make me all better.” She gently grabbed the back of his neck and planted a soft kiss on his supple, human, flesh. He nearly trembled with glee.

Koa gave him a gentle nudge, but it was enough to send him falling backwards. She grabbed his collar, lifted him from the ground, and led him to the bed. The instant his head fell onto the plush black comforter, she was on his chest. She tied her hair back, getting it out of the way. Every vein and artery pulsed in her body. She needed him.

Koa moaned and plunged her teeth into his neck. She drank, greedily. She knew why she was so hungry, so out of control, and she yet she didn’t care. Halston could abandon her. Her mother could keep secrets from her. She would have a new family, one that wouldn’t lie to her or hide things from her.

The blood gushed into her mouth and that familiar euphoria radiated throughout her entire body. She could feel his blood rushing and meeting with her own.

She felt powerful. She felt invincible. Koa could feel herself healing as she drained the blood from Ian’s neck.

She nearly cried out from the intense pleasure. Her heart was breaking. Halston had hurt her, but Ian was sustaining her. He was rebuilding her. Koa sucked the blood until Ian was nearly dry.

Dry?
Koa paled.
No
!

Ian let out a whimper and Koa froze. She realized what she had done and ripped her mouth away from his neck. Alarm overcame her when she looked down at his pale face. She grabbed him.

He was cold.

She screamed the most horrified scream she’d ever heard leave her lungs.

“Ian!” Koa tapped his shoulder. “Are you all right?” She shook him. He was limp and unresponsive. Koa’s eyes widened. Terror overcame her.

Ian’s eyes fluttered closed and she squealed.

“Ian!” She grabbed his face and shook his head from side to side. He groaned.

Koa slapped him. She couldn’t let the young man die. She loved him, in her own way. He had been her pet for nearly three years. She was paying his way through the University. She couldn’t lose him. He meant more to her than the blood.

There were nights when they would talk for hours after her feeding. She knew everything there was to know about him. She knew that his mother had died of cancer when he was in high school, and that his father had killed himself shortly afterward. He had been sent to live with an aunt until he was of legal age, and left the states as soon as he graduated.

Ian was smart. He studied chemistry and archeology of all things. He’d always wanted to be like Indiana Jones. Koa nearly smiled at the memory of him telling her that. She couldn’t let this good young man die.

An idea came to her. It hit her full force and wouldn’t back down. Koa had no choice. She would set him free.

She leaned down to his ear. “Ian… do you want to live?”

Ian’s head lolled to the side. He weakly opened an eye and stared at her drunkenly with it. Koa could feel her heart racing.

What have I done? I’ve become a monster
. Koa swallowed. Halston was right to fire her. She had become the very creature they fought to stop.

His life was hanging from a thread. She could see the luster start to leave those hazel eyes.

She felt her heart skip a beat when he mouthed the word,
yes
.

Koa swallowed. She licked her lips of the blood and nodded. “Are you sure?” Koa whispered. “You know what I mean, don’t you?”

Ian nodded and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Koa shot up and bit her wrist. She shoved her bleeding wrist into his mouth and squeezed her eyes shut the moment he started to drink from her. She’d never, ever, turned someone before. She had no idea what it meant. She hadn’t a clue what this would change. She was contributing to the vampire population, the very beings that she and Halston and his organization strove to decrease.

Koa almost forgot. She wasn’t a part of the organization anymore. She could follow her own rules. Besides, Ian wasn’t a bad person. Therefore, he would not be one of the bad vampires that she had once been sent out to kill.

She felt a pang of guilt the instant Ian withdrew his mouth and cried out in pain. She rolled off of him and onto the floor. Like a frightened child, Koa scrambled into a corner. She watched him with wide, horrified eyes and drew her legs into her chest. She held her legs close with both arms wrapped around them and tearfully watched as Ian’s human body died.

Ian writhed and cried as his body was thrown back and forth across the bed. He begged in agony for help. Koa couldn’t control her sobs when he cried out for his mother. He was delirious with pain and it hurt her to hear him suffer.

Koa wished she could help him. She’d never seen this before. His cries cut into her very soul.

His cries continued for far too long, and then, there was silence. The silence was so thick that Koa realized that she was holding her breath. She looked at his body through a blurry film of tears.

Did I do it right
? Timidly, Koa crawled onto all fours. She peeked over the side of the bed at his body. Ian lied there, sprawled across the bed, as if frozen…or lifeless.

His black hair was wild and covered his face. It was soaking wet from his sweat.

Koa sucked in a breath. Tears choked her. “No,” she whispered. She climbed onto the bed. Something was wrong. “Ian. Please.” She touched his face. It was cold as ice, even colder than before she fed him her blood. She buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with her wracking sobs.

Koa was devastated. Ian had been more than a pet. Ian had been a friend. Koa felt her heart breaking. She’d never had many friends in her life. She began to hate herself for what she had just done.

The bed creaked. Koa moved her hands from her face. She was almost too afraid to look… too afraid to hope.

Through tears, Koa looked at Ian’s face. It was blurry, but she could see, with delight, that he was looking back at her.

Koa gasped and tackled him with glee. She littered his face with dozens of kisses. She laughed maniacally.

“Ian! You’re all right.”

He nodded and smiled. He hugged her tight and Koa
could feel that he was stronger. His arms no longer felt weak. His grip on her felt as hard as stone. She felt safe. She felt relieved and joyous.

“Yes, mistress. Thank you.”

Koa pulled back. She held his face in both of her hands and gave him a serious look. “No more mistress. Understood?”

His smile widened. “Yes mis--.” He paused and laughed. Koa couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, Koa.” He ran a hand over her side again. He looked up in surprise. “You’re all healed!”

Koa smiled warmly. She gently kissed his forehead. “Thanks to you.” After all of the inner turmoil she experienced only seconds ago, she felt at peace.

A knock came at the door. Koa glanced at it. She knew who was there. She knew her scent. Cinnamon and sugar.

“Come on in Lexi.”

Lexi opened the door and peeked inside. She smacked on her cinnamon flavored gum and looked at the two of them. She sighed and shook her head. The door closed behind her.

“You two are getting a bit loud, don’t you think?” Lexi looked at Koa who sat on Ian’s lap in nothing but what she left Halston’s loft in. Her panties and bra.

Koa came to her feet. She walked over to the nightstand where she kept a few of her belongings in case she actually wanted to stay longer than a night. Koa pulled out her credit card. She nodded to Ian. “Welcome Ian Pratt to the club. He’s my sire.”

Lexi looked at Koa in disbelief. “You sired someone?” She stared at Ian and smirked. “Not a bad choice.”

Ian was on his feet and looking at himself in the mirror. Koa and Lexi watched as he checked himself out. He smiled as he fixed his hair which seemed to have a bit more luster. His eyes were a little brighter. Ian examined his neck, which was smooth and clear of fang marks. He looked over at them.

“Sweet!” He turned and looked at his profile and held his shirt up. “Call me crazy but is it just me, or did my abs become more defined?”

Koa shook her head with a smile glued to her face. It had worked. Lexi took her card.

“You know what this means, right. You sire him, you have to take care of him.”

Koa looked at her and shrugged. “I have been taking care of him for the past three years.”

Mischief danced in Lexi’s eyes. “Oh no, Koa. That’s not what I mean. He has to live with you now. He’s like a baby, and you have to watch over him until he is prepared to go off into the world on his own.” She mocked a curtsy and winked before leaving. “Have fun,” she sang as she left the room.

Koa stood there after Lexi left and felt something new. She thought of what Lexi had said and it didn’t bother her. She had purpose. This was just what she needed to take her mind off Halston.

She felt proud. After twenty-one years as a vampire, she had created something. She watched Ian, who turned to her with a sweet, childlike smile.

Then, she thought of her mother, Raven. She was still cross with her, but after all, Raven was still her mother. She had cared for her all alone for years, and it hadn’t been easy. Koa felt a little guilty for being so vengeful all of the time. She had left Halston’s loft with hopes of hurting him. She wanted him to feel the way she had felt.

Koa almost wondered if what Raven and Halston was keeping from her really was for her own good. She frowned at the thought. She wasn’t prepared to let Halston be right about this too. Still, she had to go home or Raven would go insane with worry.

What will she think about Ian
? Koa cringed. She could already imagine the scolding she’d receive. She remembered bringing home a stray kitten when she was a child.