Whisper to Me (Borne Vampires Book 1) (21 page)

His dark eyes met hers, narrowing as he frowned at
her. But he didn’t argue. “Sure.”

Making sandwiches seemed the fastest course to
feed Kai and Lydia, who devoured them and several cans of soda. After they’d
finished, they went upstairs to check out the bedrooms. Mariah was drying off
the last of the dishes when Simon entered the kitchen.

“Hey, where’s Lydia?”

“She’s upstairs.” He made to leave, halting when
she asked, “Simon, how are you doing?”

He gave her a grimace of a smile. “If I didn’t
have Lydia, I-I’d not be in a good place right now. Not after Mother. Seeing
her turn … Mina having to—” He stopped, running a trembling hand across his
mouth.

“You love Lydia, don’t you?”

Self-conscious, he shrugged his broad shoulders.
“I’m not sure if it’s love or what. I do know that when I saw her held by the
Damned, I felt a rage I’d not thought me capable of. I killed them, to protect
her. Is that love?”

“Oh, it’s the right path for it.” She pushed him
gently out the kitchen. “Go on and say your goodnights.”

Grinning, he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“I’m glad Rathe found you. Sister.” Simon left her.

“I am, too.” Rathe said behind her. He pulled her
into his arms. “You saved me again, you know that?”

“Saved you?”

“You dragged my ass to safety when Jarrod tried to
infect me with his blood.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “Forgive me
earlier. I-I….”

“No, there’s no need to apologize for.”

“I can’t believe she’s gone.” Closing his eyes
briefly, he opened them, tears glistening in the dark depths. “Why didn’t I do
like Mother asked? Dammit, Mariah, Mina had to kill her! How the hell is she to
move past that?”

“Mina has Kai and us. She knows we love her and we
will always be there for her.” She leaned back against the counter. “Will the
Elders order us dead since we killed Jarrod?”

“Yes.” He placed his hands on the countertop and
leaned into her. “I promise you and Kai will be safe.”

“I’ll hold you to it, Slayer.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will.” He kissed her slow,
tenderly.

Simon coughed. “Sorry to interrupt, but Kai says
she’s ready to crash.”

Smiling at him, she nodded. “I’m on my way.”

“
We
are
on our way,” Rathe corrected her.

“Night, Simon,” she said as he went out the door.

“Night.” Simon stopped and came back, embracing
his brother. “It’s not your fault. Mother was a tough and loving woman. She
gave all as should we, for what is right.”

Tears glistened in Rathe’s eyes. “Thank you, Simon.
I love you.”

Surprise lit the young man’s eyes. “I love you,
too.” Simon went outside.

Taking Rathe’s hand in hers, they went upstairs
and found Kai already asleep. Kissing her daughter’s forehead, she made sure
her daughter would be warm enough with the down comforter.

“Come, we need to sleep, too.”

“Will she and Lydia be safe here?”

“I will leave this for her.” Rathe laid his gun on
the night stand, next to Kai.

“She doesn’t know how to use a gun.” Worrying at
her lower lip, Mariah allowed him to pull her out of the room.

“Kai knows a lot more than you give her credit.
Forgive me, but she’s not a baby anymore. Just like Mina isn’t. They’ve got a
lot to learn still, and we will teach them. They will survive.”

“Yes, together, they will survive.”

Outside, she gazed at Lake Coeur d’Alene and the lights
of the city. “It makes me sad.”

“What does?”

“Jarrod dying the way he did. I can still feel his
pain, as he burned to death.”

“Do not waste your pity on the likes of him. The evil
he’s done to innocent people, vampire and human alike, is unforgivable,” Rathe
gruffly said as he opened a grave for them.

“Still, the pain he suffered, separated from his
brother, was like an open wound, never healing, grieving endlessly … right to the
very end.”

Rathe took her into his arms. “It’s over now.
Jarrod is at peace. Our battle is done.”

As they floated down into the grave, she had the
terrible feeling their battles had only just begun.

✝✝✝

Crying, she wanted to call out to Mommy,
but something warned her to stay quiet. The bad dream she had left her afraid.
Climbing out of bed, she clutched her teddy bear tight as she shuffled across
the wood floor to find Mommy and Daddy. Downstairs, in the living room, she
heard Mommy crying. Quiet as a mouse, she sat on the step and peered through
the wooden rails. Daddy was lying on the floor.

Where was his head?

A man shouted, “Where is the abomination?”
He had Mommy’s hair bunched in his hand, a knife held to her throat.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

“The girl! Where is the dhampir?”

“I don’t know what you mean!”

“Enough,” another man said, sounding bored.
“Kill the bitch. We’ll torch the place. If the kid’s hiding, we’ll find her that
way.”

With a swipe of his blade, the man cut her
mother’s head off.

Pressing her teddy bear to her mouth to
still her scream, she watched as the men made a fire. Silently, she went back
to her room and hid under her bed. Crying, she hugged her teddy bear as the
smoke crept upstairs. Terrified, she prayed he’d come and rescue her. Shouts
downstairs made her jump. Through the smoky haze, she saw a man emerged. His
green eyes beacons in the darkness.

“Mariah? Where are you?”

Relieved, she scrambled out from under the
bed. “Uncle Alex!” She ran to him and he picked her up, hugging her tight in
his strong arms.

“I’ve got you, Mariah. Those bad men can’t
hurt you now.”

Sniffing, she told him what they’d done to
Mommy and Daddy.

“I know, sweetie. We’ve got to get you out
of here.” Behind Uncle Alex, a woman tapped him on the shoulder.

“Master, the fire is out of control. We
cannot return down the stairs.” She had long black hair, green eyes, but not
like Uncle Alex’s. She looked really scared, too.

“Take her. I’ll hold back the fire for us
to escape.” He handed her to the lady.

Her perfume smelt familiar. Mariah touched
her hair, saw into her mind. The woman smiled at her. “Yes, child, you know me.
I was the one whom Master trusted to care for you when you were a wee babe.”

“I remember you, Relle. Why didn’t Mommy
take care of me when I was born?”

“Another time, sweet Mariah. First, we
must survive the fires the Slayers set.”

Flames ate at the walls below. Scared, she
wrapped her arms around Relle’s neck. “It will be fine, little one. Master will
protect us.”

They followed Uncle Alex. He held out his
hands, and she could feel the power as he pushed back the flames. “Go, Relle,”
he ordered, clenching his teeth as he fought to hold back the fire.

Relle ran down the stairs, shielding her
when they went past Mommy and Daddy. Uncle Alex was behind them.

Outside. Safe!

“Relle, I want you to put the spell on
her. She needs to become human.”

“Master, I know you want to protect her,
but to contain her nature is a prison for the child. She will suffer.”

“Not any more than she already has. To
protect her, she needs to forget.” Tears were in his eyes as he withdrew a flat
box out of his pocket and took off the lid. Inside was his necklace. “Mariah,
take it.” When she held it in her little hand, he smiled. “It’s yours now. A
part of me will always be with you when you wear it.” Uncle Alex laid his hand
against her hair.” Forgive me, Mariah. It’s the only way I have left to protect
you from him.”

“Uncle, please don’t leave me!” she tried
to pull him to her, but he stepped back, shaking his head.

“Mariah, you won’t remember this, but I
love you.”

“No! Please don’t go, Uncle. Don’t leave
me, too!”

To Relle, he ordered, “Use my medallion to
seal the protection spell. Put the spell on her. Then take her to them. They
have agreed to raise her.”

“Yes, Master.” Relle carried her away.

Crying, Mariah held her hand out to him, but
he stayed, watching them leave. Tears streamed down his face.

She forced the dirt off her and leapt out of the
grave. Shaken by what she’d seen, she felt Rathe beside her. He waved a hand and
the dirt on their clothes vanished.

“Mariah?” His concern and worry gave her the
strength to force a smile.

“I’m fine. Just disoriented is all.”

The others began to rise out of their graves.

“Rathe, I’m gonna head inside.”

He grabbed her hand. “You need to feed.”

She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

“I’ve got to head into town. Will you be alright
here?”

“Yes.”

Anya offered, “If you want me to stay, I will.”

“No. We’ll be fine. Really. Go on and feed.”

“I’ll feed you when I return.” Rathe asked Simon
and Mina, “You want to come with us?”

Mina shook her head, standing next to her. Kai and
Lydia exited the cabin.

“Lydia, want to go into town with us?” Simon asked
her.

“Yeah, we need to get our clothes out of the car. The
vampires parked it a block from the club when they kidnapped us.”

Rathe looked relieved. “We can return it and the
SUV back to the rental agencies.” He warned Mina and Kai, “If you decide to
explore, be careful. There are wolves out here, and they’re not like Salish.
They’re very dangerous and will attack you.”

“Watch your backs,” Mina said quietly. “We didn’t
kill all the vampires last night.”

Rathe and his brothers sobered at her warning. Mariah
asked him, “Can you bring my clothes back from the house. I’m getting tired of
wearing leather pants and silk shirts.”

Warm black eyes met hers before he whispered in
her ear, “I’ll never grow tired of seeing your cute ass wrapped in leather.”

Blushing, she pushed at his chest. “Thanks but I’d
like to wear something warmer please.”

“Will do.” He winked at her.

She and the girls watched them fly away. Sighing,
she said to them, “Well, let’s head inside.”

Rebuilding the fire, she went into the kitchen and
made Kai a couple of sandwiches. The girls decided they wanted to go outside.
Searching for coats they could wear, she found several hanging in the foyer closet.
Bundled against the cold, they went out the door.

“Remember to watch out for wolves,” she warned them before
she went into the kitchen.

✝✝✝

On the outside, Kai acted as if she were calm.
Inside, she was a mess. Seeing Tereza rise as one of the Damned was awful, but
to watch Mina kill her own mother had went beyond the gore and bloodshed
earlier. Lost and scared, confused and angry that Rathe hadn’t done what Tereza
had asked; she couldn’t process it when Mina’s anger assaulted her mind.

Mina wasn’t just mad — she was terrified she would
become one of the Damned, too. If Mina was a human, she might have known what
to say to calm her down, but a vampire’s emotions were a hundred times
amplified, and she was drowning in Mina’s helpless rage.

Mina stopped, glaring at the moon above. “I killed
two people. Why do I still have my soul? My father’s teachings … I don’t
understand!”

“Mina, you did not kill because you like it. You
did it to save us. Candy would have gone after my mother, if you hadn’t stopped
her. Tereza … she knew she was turning. You stopped the demon rising and saved
her soul. You did what a Slayer would have done. Heck, if we want to, we can
become Slayers, too. We will hunt evil and destroy it, like your brothers do. Like
Anya. Like your mother had.”

“You are not a vampire. You will grow old, and I will
watch you die, as I have watched so many others in my short lifespan.” Her
shoulders slumped as she fell silent.

Trying to find the right words, Kai heard a branch
snap. Searching with her mind, she found no humans — no vampires. Peering into
the gloom shrouding the dark forest, she saw yellow eyes watching them.
Glancing back at the cabin, she couldn’t see it.

“Mina, we’re not alone!” Howls pierced the quiet,
deafening, as the wolves spoke to each other.

“Run!” Mina shoved her in the direction they’d
walked from.

Bursting out of the bushes, a huge gray wolf
jumped on Kai. Screaming, she fought to curl into fetal position, but the wolf had
his weight on her chest. Using her arms, she tried to protect her face and
throat as the wolf’s powerful jaws ripped into her, tearing into the heavy
winter coat she wore.

The wolf yelped.

Unable to hold her arms up any longer, she dropped
them, resigned to die. In her line of vision, the greenest pair of eyes she’d
ever seen met hers. Handsome didn’t remotely hit how gorgeous the man was. He
snarled at the wolf, his fangs long. The wolf tucked tail and ran into the
woods. Looking back at the vampire, Kai found him gone. Searching for him, she
saw Mina lying on her back, ten feet away from her.

Mina scrambled to her side. Faint, Kai realized
the warm liquid she felt soaking into her clothes was her own blood. She was
dying. Saw it in Mina’s bleak expression.

“Kai, stay with me!”

“Sorry. I-I am so stupid.” Crying, she whispered,
“My mom. Take care of her. Tell her I love her.”

“No,
we’ll
take care of her!” Mina's fangs lengthened and she ripped her wrist. Before Kai
knew what she was doing, she pressed her bleeding wound to her mouth.
Swallowing the hot liquid, she found she
wanted
to drink it.

Faintly she heard Mina. “Stay with me, Kai. Please!
Without you, I
will
be Damned.”

✝✝✝

“Mom!”

Her daughter's scream exploded inside her mind,
Kai’s fear… her pain as she tried to fend off the wolf’s teeth. Jerking open
the kitchen door, it flew off its hinges, bits of wood flying everywhere. Running
down the path, tracking the girls’ footprints, she saw Kai lying on the ground,
Mina holding her hand. Snow around them was stained red with blood.