The Vampire's Release, A Paranormal Romance (Undead in Brown County #4) (8 page)

“No, I will not take my hands off you.  You need to understand that I will not be letting you out of my sight for a very long time.  Unless I kill you soon, which I wouldn’t rule out at this point.”

S
h
e
went quiet and stopped trying to dart away from me.
 
I knew better than to assume it was my words of warning that put a stop to her protest, and as I became more aware of our surroundings I realized that we had passed beyond the containment border.  Katie was as still as a doe, her head up and eyes locked on the dead trees before us.

I didn’t see the redhead until she spoke.

“He doesn’t seem very angelic, Meekah.”

There were two females--old vampires who looked like sophisticated young women, out of place among the desolate frozen landscape.  The redhead, I knew without a doubt, was the biggest threat.
  And a stranger.
  Meekah I had met before, but only briefly.  She carried herself with confidence, her dark skin blending beatifically with the gray tree trunks around her. 

Both looked at me doubtfully and then at Katie.

The redhead smiled like a snake.  “So how was the homecoming, Kate?”

“A little annoying.” 

I tightened my grip on Katie’s arm.  “What do you want?”

Meekah moved towards us gracefully.  Her unusual accent was a mix of a
dozen
dialects and not unpleasant to hear.  “We will be taking Katie from you, Alex.”

The warning bells that had been a mild, delicate music in my head began to shriek
.  “What makes you think I’m going to let you do that?”
 
Every nerve in my body was hyper alert.  There was real danger in the air.  I had a feeling these two were not in the habit of making casual threats.
 

“Alex, perhaps you are not aware, but you are not the only immortal to have been mistakenly ‘saved’ by vampires.  There is another very much like you.”

I didn’t miss the warmth that crossed Meekah’s face before the next movement in the forest caught my eye from above us.
  The surprise they had in store for me was another vampire.  Or perhaps much more than a vampire. 

He landed before me in a deep crouch, poised for battle.  Bearing the countenance of a predator, his gray eyes were cautious as he watched me.  He was clothed in all black, so it was hard to judge how powerful his body might be. 
His long hair was blood red, not a natural tone at all.  I could not determine much about his heritage other than an obvious European strain.
  He was as pale as we all were, but there was also a kind of stiffness in his features that reminded me of a corpse. 

Whatever or whoever he was, he made me uncomfortable.  Perhaps he sensed my hesitation.  He relaxed slightly, standing a little straighter and glancing quickly over at Meekah.

“Introduce us, my love.”  The voice was low and guttural.  He sounded like an injured animal.

“
William,” Meekah purred.  “This is Alexander.  The one we have been talking about.”

“Well met.”  He then turned his eyes on Katie. 

The tension increased exponentially.  But this was not directed towards me.  William circl
ed Katie slowly, seeming to have
forgotten me entirely.
  His strange eyes narrowed dangerously as he studied her.  There was a noticeable shift in Meekah’s profile when she realized to whom he had shifted his attention.
  Something savage distorted her features into a jealous
ly
dark mask.

“You are a descendent of
an old friend
of mine,” he said.

I struggled to make sense of this claim.  He continued his appraisal of Katie, even extending a gnarled white hand to touch a lock of her ebony hair.  He closed his eyes and drew in the scent of her, his mouth curling upward in a sick little smile at the end of his inhalation.

“How delicious you are, my dear.”

“How do you know who I am?”  Katie asked slowly, her gaze rapt and fully focused on the intruder.  It alarmed me for some reason.  I didn’t want her to look at him for too long.  It seemed like a trap.

Amanda stood patiently nearby with her back against one of the
trees, watching us all.  She reminded me of a cat—observant and intentionally unattached to the drama unfolding in front of her.
  But she had to have some reason for being there. 

The old one, William, addressed Katie’s question with another queer smile and attempted to explain.

“A very long time ago, I came to this place and met a Pawnee tribesman.  I was going to devour him, you see.  I was quite hungry at the time.”

If Katie felt any revulsion, she suppressed it well.  Her expression was reserved and cool as she watched the old one slowly make his way from one side of her to the other.  He ignored me completely.  Perhaps I should have felt offended,
but I wanted to hear this story from him.  I’d known only a little of what had occurred when the containment zone had been created.  It was unlikely that anything in Jonathan Wood’s journal would be as compelling as this, coming from the mouth of the creature
that
necessitated the containment in the first place.

“He was quite diplomatic,” William said casually. “He asked me if there was anything I would change about my circumstances if I could.  The only thing at that time that was causing a problem was other vampires chasing me to try to get some of my blood
to
increase their own powers.”

“How inconvenient.” I replied.

“Exactly, Alexander.  Exactly.”  He graced me with a perfunctory nod and turned back to Katie.  “He was willing to make a deal.  He claimed to have the powers of a witch.  I was skeptical, of course.  I’ve known many witches and he didn’t resemble any that I had seen.”

“He was a Pawnee holy man.”  Interrupting with a finger in the air, Meekah eyed William with caution.  “He was no witch.”

“Whatever.” Katie said.  “So what was the deal?”

“Patience, lovely girl.”  He told her softly.  I could have sworn that she wilted a little bit under his scrutiny.  “I’m coming to it.  So my new friend made me an offer.  He said that he would create a kind of ‘safe zone’ for me if I promised to never attack any of his people.”

“His people?  That’s not very specific, is it?”

The look William turned on me might have turned a human to stone.  Luckily, I was tougher
than a human
.
  Tougher than most vampires as well.

“The Pawnee,” he answered coldly. “If I agreed to his treaty, I could only take blood from the whites.”

“So he created the zone to protect you.”

“Yes.  But he added a little rule that I didn’t agree to.”  Anger suffused his hardened face,
transforming
it into a hideous mask
of hate
.  Katie took a half step back from him.
  “I could only leave with his permission.”

“So you’re the one who started it all.”  Katie murmured. 

William gave her a curt nod.  “Moon Chanter thought he had me cornered.  He brought me white victims.  But it was his blood that I really wanted.  Eventu
ally, he slipped up.  One night he miscalculated his steps and I caught him.”  Another smile turned up the corners of his cruel mouth.  “I drained him completely.  His blood was exquisite.”

A tremor went through Katie.  Maybe in that one moment, she saw the reality of what might become of her as one of the undead.  Perhaps she was fearful of the way he looked.  Perhaps the horror of the vampire’s thirst was making itself plain.  But she was very much afraid, whatever the cause.  Her slim body, covered in mud-caked designer cloth
ing closed the gap between us.  She pressed herself against my side but kept her gaze locked on William.

I glanced down at her.

“I want to go home.”

Meekah shook her head.  “That’s not going to happen, Kate.”

The redhead came forward
then, her sparkling eyes filling
me with a sense of doom.

“What did I tell you?” she asked Katie, leaning forward in a menacing stance.  “I told you there was no going back.  You’re done with all that.  You’re a killer now.  You’re no better than any of us.”

“I am better.”  The response was heavy with hesitation.

“She doesn’t have to go with you,” I said.  “I’m going to keep an eye on her.”

Amanda rolled her eyes at me.  “
You have no power over us, Alex.  You can’t go against William.”

“He doesn’t need to.”

All of us turned at once.  Standing at the tree line with his two most powerful allies at his side was Michael.  There was definitely something different about him.  There was something different about the three of them.  Victoria and Jones kept their eyes focused on William, but Michael nodded to me deferentially before he addressed the others.

I nodded back.  Michael knew these vampires, and I was willing to follow his lead.  What I didn’t know was what he intende
d
to do about Katie.  Amanda was right.  She couldn’t go back home, but what would she do out on her own?

“William, I should be surprised to see you here,” Michael said coolly.  “Somehow, I’m not.”  The look he flashed at Meekah was malicious.

The old one chuckled.  “
Indeed?  Well, I am here.  We are going to collect this lovely young thing and take ourselves off.  Hopefully with
out too much trouble.
”

“Take her then,” Michael said.

I stared at him in question.  But his face was as smooth as stone.

CHAPTER 11 – Michael

“What the hell, Michael?  Why’d you let them get away?”

I shot Alex an angry look.  “You’d rather have her back at the house?  Standing over Sarah in the middle of the night, debating on whether or not she could get away with slaughtering her sister?”

“No.  But what’s going to happen to her now?”

Meekah’s defection was disturbing, and I had little patience for Alex’s questions.  As far as I was concerned, Katie had sealed her own fate the moment she
assisted Amanda take
the life of the hiker
that had been found in the barn
.  Whether Amanda had encouraged her mattered little to me.  While I understood that Amanda could be very convincing, I also knew that if Sarah’s sister hadn’t been focusing all her anger on Jackson at that time, she would have made a better choice.  Misplaced anger seemed to run in the family.

Victoria spoke up suddenly.  “She will be furious with you for letting Katie go like that.”

“It was a low blow, mate,” agreed the Captain.

“Stop and think,” I said. “They wanted her for bait.  They won’t turn her over to the Council.  It’s too much of a risk.  She can’t stay at the farm
,
and Alex is far too valuable to play babysitter.
  I will deal with Sarah.  What I’m worried about right now is the fact that
no one
told me that
Meekah’s William
is the same William who started this whole mess.”

“I didn’t realize it, Michael.”  Victoria looked sad.  “She never spoke of his past.”

I cursed and ran a hand through my hair.  “God damn it!  How long has she been working with Amanda?”

Of course they didn’t know.  I had suspected for a long time that Meekah’s loyalty had been compromised. 
But to know she was working with William and Amanda made the treachery doubly hard to handle.
  Meekah knew far too much about me for me to feel comfortable, but she also still had visions of the future.  That combination could spell disaster.  Not just for me, but everyone close to me.

“Vic, see if you can get Teddy on the phone.  I don’t like the idea of waiting for Isaiah to pounce on us when we’ve just had this happen.”

“They could be working with him, too.”  Alex backed himself up against a tree and sighed.  “If they are, having me isn’t going to do you much good.  William could easily beat my ass in a fight.  Did you see that guy?”

Jones nodded.  “He’s a tough one, that chap.  From what I’ve heard, the bloke can’t be stopped.  A perfect addition to Isaiah’s coup if things end up getting hairy.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Victoria replied smoothly.  She looked at me carefully for a few long moments, but said nothing more about it.  She pulled out her cell phone and began searching for Teddy’s cell phone number. 

I hadn’t told anyone about drinking Isaiah’s blood.  But there were things that Victoria could discover with her unique powers that didn’t require words on my part.  Most of the time, it was a benefit.  Occasionally, it caused problems.

“Where’s Sarah?”  Alex asked, suddenly alert.

“Safe at the farm for now,” I replied.  Victoria handed me her cell phone.

“Teddy?”

“Michael, we’ve all been very worried about you.  You should have called as soon as you were free.”
  Her voice was something familiar and warm.  It gave me a sense of stability in this hot little mess.