The Vampire's Warden (14 page)

Michael shot a quick look at me that warned me clearly to keep my mouth shut. A hundred sharp retorts sprung to mind, but my temper could hold until I was sure that my sister would be safe. I clenched the muscles in my jaw to fight the anger swelling in me and looked away from him. If Katie were not in so much trouble, I would have walked up and hit him. Stupid vampires.

“
I trust you’ve been properly introduced to my hostess?” Michael said.

Victoria glanced at me briefly over her shoulder, “I gave her my name, nothing more.”

“
Sarah” Michael began steadily, “This is Victoria Stanley. We met in Boston in 1816.”

My mouth remained closed.

“
She was one of the last vampires I created.” His eyes flicked quickly over to Alex, whose face was a mask of instant hatred.

“
Are you going to try to leave with them?” I asked him quietly.

“
What do you propose, Victoria? You have Sarah’s sister for a good reason, I presume?”

She sighed, “As insurance only. I needed an invitation.”

Nathan, who had remained silent up to that point, suddenly spoke out in a harsh tone, “Insurance? You promised we could have her once you got Michael. You promised some of his blood as well!”

The two burly vampires that stood on either side of Katie tensed. One of them let loose a growl that sounded like the throaty cry of a cougar. I saw Katie begin struggling, and then Nathan echoed the same spine-tingling scream of his companion. One of the vamps holding my sister turned to her with eyes that were lit with fiery, desperate hunger, and I saw the canines in his mouth suddenly lengthen as he howled in anger.

However, it was the lightening flash of movement across the clearing and sudden heart-wrenching scream from Alex that frightened me more than anything did. Gunter had come to join the party, and he was hungry. Jerking Alex’s head back using a fistful of hair, he promptly sank his teeth into the flesh right above Alex’s shoulder and tore a steaming chunk of flesh away, blood dripping thickly on the gray lapel of Gunter’s silk sport coat. Alex collapsed in the vampire’s arms, his eyes wild with pain and his screams shrill in the cool night air.

I froze for just a few seconds; my instinct to flee was at war with my need to help Katie and the horror of seeing Alex being attacked. However, Michael had intervened. One of the two vampires holding Katie was writhing on the ground, clutching his head in his huge hands and moaning while Michael held one of his own hands out, palm up with his eyes squeezed shut. The other one had dropped my sister’s arm to defend himself against the sudden and unexpected attack from Victoria, who was circling him in a crouch, her eyes bright with bloodlust.

Rushing to Katie, I twisted my ankle and landed hard on the wet ground, my hands splayed before me. Pain shot through my palms and fingers. Glancing up, I realized that Gunter was nearly done with his late-night snack and had set his sights on me for dessert. I shrieked and tried to rise to my feet only to find that my right ankle was nearly useless. The pain flowed up my leg like molten metal, curling through me with a rush that left me gasping.

The image of Gunter striding toward me, his fangs pearly white and his dark face set in determination was the stuff of nightmares. I had never known such a paralyzing fear before; it stopped my breath and made me go cold all over. Death was walking in my direction in slow motion, and my limbs refused to obey any commands to move, to help me get away from the monster stalking me.

I tried to shrink back as the vampire closed in on me. As his terrible white hands reached for my throat, I heard an awful ripping sound. Gunter froze, his fingers already brushing the sensitive skin around my collarbones. He fell partially on top of me, his eyes open but unseeing. The fingers did not wrap around my skin as I had feared but fell lifeless to my side.

Gasping and sputtering in terror, I scrambled back on two good hands and one good leg. When I saw the long wooden stake that had penetrated Gunter from the back, a scream tore from my throat that I hardly recognized as my own. I saw Victoria across the clearing, her arm still aloft and her expression cold as stone after having thrown the stake that had saved my life.

“
Sarah!” I heard Katie’s familiar voice and soon felt her warm fingers grasping at me.

“
Alex needs help.” That was Victoria’s voice, hushed and serious, “Michael, he’s dying.”

I heard a responding curse and then Michael was there beside me, his clear blue eyes searching my face in desperation “Are you alright?”

“
Just my ankle. Don’t worry about me. What about Alex?”

“
He’s lost too much blood, Sarah.”

“
Oh, no. No, you have to get help for him! Call Dr. Fleming!”

“
It’s too late for that.”

I considered his words and then firmly shook my head, “No, he would never choose to be a vampire again.”

“
He’s going to die, then.”

Katie spoke up, “We can’t let that happen, Sarah.”

“
You don’t know what you’re saying. He doesn’t want that.”

“
You can’t just let him die!”

I felt like I was on the edge of committing some great unpardonable sin. However, I could not think of losing Alex like that. He had stood up with me to try to help Katie. Was it a fair trade? Was it what he would want? My God, why did this decision have to fall on me? Hadn’t he wanted to be human again? He had to have known the danger he would have been in, coming here to help me deal with damn vampires!

“
Decide, Sarah. Before it’s too late.” Michael demanded sharply.

What I was about to do would probably haunt me for the rest of my life. I hated myself for having to make the choice and I hated Michael for even thinking of changing him. Damn it, I could not just let Alex pass from this earth!

I dropped my head, “Do it.”

They took him to the edge of the creek. Victoria shielded us from most of what happened. She had managed to kill one of the vampires who had been holding Katie. The other one was laying flat on the ground, not moving. Nathan had been dealt with by Michael. While Gunter had been stalking me, Michael had decapitated Nathan and the evidence of the battle had turned the pristine green field into a bloody mess that I barely had the courage to look at.

Katie helped me back to the house. My ankle felt like it was on fire, the pain shooting through me and leaving me nauseated. On the other hand, it could have been all the blood I had seen spilled. The knees of my jeans were dark with mud and dew from the wet grass. My hands were scraped and raw from falling. Katie called the doctor as soon as she had me settled on the sofa in the sitting room.

I tried not to think of what was happening to Alex out there by the creek. Whirling, disturbing images of him gulping down hot blood assailed and strangled me. He was going to hate me for making that decision, I knew. However, the choice
had
been made and I would have to live with the consequences for the rest of my life. So would he.

Chapter Twelve

I sat in the window seat of the dark-paneled study, among the shelves of books and encyclopedias, maps and long-forgotten personal effects of my departed father, and I stared out into the night with a decimated sense of my own heart. Katie had gone to her own room upstairs after the doctor had left, and I sat there in the darkness waiting for the sun to come up.

My cat, Whiskers, lay beside me on the cushions of the window seat, her eyes half closed, and her dark fluffy tail twitching occasionally. I reached out to stroke her in an effort to bring myself back to reality.

The doctor had been shocked when he had heard that Gunter had turned on us. The disappearance of Luanna had yet to be explained, and I had heard nothing from either Victoria or Michael since Katie had helped me hobble back to the house on my sprained ankle. Dr. Fleming was sure that it was only a minor sprain, but advised me to have it x-rayed as soon as possible to check for a possible hairline fracture of my foot. He had brought in a pair of crutches he had had in the trunk of his car and had left me there in the study after assuring me that he would be contacting the Council to get their assurance that Gunter’s actions had not been condoned by them. But what if that had been the plan all along? After the doctor had walked out, I considered the possibility that the Council may want me out of the way.

If a group of ancient, deadly vampires wanted me dead, then what hope was there that I might keep my sister and me safe? What about Victoria? Could she be trusted? Whiskers purred soothingly beside me, lessening the increasing panic that was beginning to take root in my head.

A light tap at the window yanked me back to the present, and I saw Michael outside waiting for me. Whiskers hissed and leapt away from the window in a streak of black fur. I watched her dully, feeling oddly unconcerned about her reaction and walked over to the French doors that led out onto the back patio.

I twisted the knob and pulled the door open just a little. He stood beyond the patio; the shadows surrounding his lithe, masculine body were frighteningly dark. Determined not to step outside, I just watched him and waited patiently for news.

“
You’re not coming out?”

I shook my head.

He lowered his crystal blue eyes and the brows above them crinkled in worry, “I can understand you wanting to be cautious after what happened tonight.”

“
Just tell me what’s going on.” I replied tightly, “I’m tired.”

Pursing his lips, his gaze rose again to my face and I almost started to weep, feeling all the pent-up fear and black anger rise up in me like a thunderstorm. I was so tired and so sick of being strong under all the pressures that had been brought for me alone to bear.

“
Alex is recovering. He’s been turned successfully.”

“
I see. I guess I owe you some gratitude. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not terribly thrilled about this whole thing.”

“
He’ll be very angry when he realizes what’s truly happened.”

I shivered, imagining how deep Alex’s hatred for me would run. It had been selfish to choose to keep him here, with me, when he had wanted real life. Real life included death, didn’t it?

“
Victoria will be staying a little while, if that’s agreeable to you.” He voice had become clipped and stern; the words came faster, “I’ve looked for Luanna. She has hidden herself well. I’d advise you and Katie not to be out after dark until I can find her.”

“
And I suppose you will not be trying to escape?” I inquired a little hastily.

“
I will not.”

“
Okay. Dr. Fleming is checking with the Council to see what went wrong with Gunter.”

A cloud of rage slid over Michael’s features, “He was probably sent to kill you.”

“
Or you. If you can catch Luanna without killing her in the process, we might be able to get some information out of her. If they were sent here to kill me, they had several chances and didn’t take them. I think they were after you.”

“
Either way, the Council’s responsible for this.”

“
Yes.”

He crossed his powerful arms, “And can you trust the doctor? If he’s working with the Council?”

I bit my lip, and the pain helped me focus, “I don’t know. Probably not.”

“
Come out here.” He insisted quietly.

“
No. I’m going to bed. We’ll talk again tomorrow night.” Without casting him another glance, I shut the door and locked it. I leaned against the door and wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold in the maelstrom of emotions flying through me.

I had forgotten to ask him about Victoria’s calling him a prince. I was not sure I even wanted to know. I grabbed my crutches, hopped to the front door, checked that it was locked, and did the same to the back door before heading very slowly up the stairs. Katie’s door was closed and the light was out. I hesitated beside it, wanting to see how she was doing. However, I truly was exhausted.

Going into my own room, I leaned the crutches against the wall and tugged off my hoodie, leaving the short-sleeved t-shirt on. I closed the door as quietly as I could and turned to my bed.

“
Hello, Sarah.”

My breath caught painfully in my chest and I wheezed with strain, trying to catch my breath upon seeing the person sitting so calmly on my bed. And I had thought the night could not possibly get any worse. Shows how wrong I was.