B006P1R39O EBOK (19 page)

If she didn’t known better, Kathrina would have thought he was completely normal - just another little boy. Everything about him seemed so innocent, but he was as much of a killer as any vampire. At least he would be eventually. The thought made her heart heavy with sadness.

“Not really,” she told him. “I’m a born vampire and my mother was a lycan.”

He stopped to stare at her. “That’s not what the others are saying.”

“What others and what do you mean by almost human?” Kathrina was curious, and a little startled.

“The Light Seekers,” he told her. “They say that you’re special.”

“Well what do they say I am?”

“They say that you are not just a vampire … that your blood is sacred and that’s why he wants you.”

“Who is he?”

Chad shrugged his shoulders.

Kathrina grew silent. Was it the jester or Luciano they were talking about?

“I am looking for a vampire that goes by the name of Luciano. Have you heard of him?”

The boy grew visibly pale - pale even for a vampire. “Who hasn’t?”

“Why is everyone so afraid of him?” Kathrina was exasperated. She could not help but think that his reputation for being so fierce far exceeded the reality.

“Don’t you know who he is? He’s really the devil.” The tone of Chad’s voice made it obvious that he thought she was totally out of touch.

“Chad, he’s not the devil. Luciano is a vampire … just like you are,” she scolded.

“Not really,’ he shook his head. “He may be a vampire but he’s really scary.”

Kathrina shrugged it off, deciding that it probably wouldn’t do any good to try and change his mind. “Okay … so he’s scary. Do you know where he’s at?”

“No and I don’t want to know where he’s at.”

“Where do you go during the day?” Kathrina asked.

“There are tons of empty buildings now. I just find one and cover the windows,” he told her, just before kicking a can that was in the middle of the sidewalk.

“Yeah … that would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.” Kathrina felt defeated. She might have no choice but to wait until Luciano found her.

She stole a sideways glance at Chad. He seemed about ready to burst into tears. Alarmed that she might have said something to upset him, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

The boy stopped and pointed to the apartments of the housing project they were passing. “That’s where I used to live.”

Kathrina’s heart ached for the child. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be so young, and to be banished from everyone you knew and loved. Chad would exist forever. He would watch as his parents and his siblings grew old - he would stay the same while they drifted from life, leaving him alone in a world of darkness.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you.” Kathrina was sure that she would choke on her words.

“But you’re special,” he said, a bright smile spreading across his face. “Maybe there’s something that you can do?”

This made Kathrina feel even worse. “I don’t know what the Light Seekers think I am, but I’m not really all that special. If I could help you I would.”

They were getting into the heart of the Quarter now and there were more people on the street. The two of them fell silent as a couple passed them on the sidewalk. To see the lovers holding hands - so happy just to be together, made Kathrina feel a little melancholy.

Since she’d been a young child she’d always had family around. At first it was her adopted family, and then Donavan and her sisters. Unfortunately having family had not changed the feeling of aloneness that she’d been plagued with for as long as she could remember.

Kathrina suddenly realized that the only time that she hadn’t felt alone was when she was with Luciano. With him she felt that she’d found someone that understood her - someone that she could feel safe with. That was something that she couldn’t understand. She’d been born to be a slayer, yet she felt vulnerable whenever she was away from the one vampire that had every reason to kill her.

Maybe she was losing her mind.

Kathrina felt the first droplets of rain hitting her face; she looked up to the sky just as they were hit with a strong gust of wind.

“Do you think that the souls of vampires go to hell if they are killed?” Chad asked.

Kathrina pulled her coat tighter. “No. Why would you think such a thing? You were not born with a bad soul. What you have is kind of a medical condition … in a way.”

“That’s good,” he told her with a smile.

“Chad, no one is going to kill you.”

He nodded his head. “Yeah they will. Sooner or later they are going to find me, and when they do …” His voice trailed off.

They were just getting ready to cross the street when Chad stopped suddenly and pointed down Burgundy.

“What is it?” she asked, afraid that he’d spotted the jester.

“That building right there. It’s a vampire den.”

Kathrina directed her eyes to where he was pointing, but all she saw was an old pink building with a balcony railing that looked like it would fall apart at any moment.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “That place looks empty.”

“Yes I’m sure. I’ve seen vampires coming and going from that building. Maybe the vampire you are looking for is there.”

Kathrina turned away from the building and got ready to cross the street. “Well I doubt he’d be there. He tends to avoid other vampires.”

“I’ve heard talk that he does go there sometimes. They keep feeders inside so maybe that’s why he goes there.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this when I asked?” Kathrina was a little bewildered.

“I forgot,” he smiled shyly. “But you probably wouldn’t want to go in there anyway … you being a breather and all.”

“How do you hear all of this stuff if you never talk to any vampires?”

“I listen to them when they don’t know I’m around,” he shrugged.

“None of those vampires will want to feed on me,” she assured him.

Instead of continuing down St. Louis, Kathrina turned on Burgundy Street. At first glance the building appeared dark and empty, but when she got closer she could hear music inside.

“You wait out here,” she told Chad.

He shook his head. “I’m good. I think I’ll go find me a bite to eat.”

Kathrina frowned. “Do you know where to find me if you need me?”

Chad shook his head. “I’m sure I’ll be okay.”

“My father is the vampire Donavan,” she told him.

The boy’s eyes went wide. “No kidding! Wow, I bet you don’t sass your dad.”

Smiling, she winked and told him,” No … it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Kathrina put her hand on the door and Chad backed away.

“You be careful in there.”

“You be careful out here,” she called to him. “Stay away from the wolves.”

“And the clown,” he called over his shoulder.

Inside was a major contrast to what she’d seen outside. Though the music was loud, it still had a peculiar seductive quality to it. The strobe lights made it difficult to get her bearings. She tried searching for a familiar face, but the flashing of the lights made it almost impossible to make out features.

Moving from the door, she pushed her way through the crowd. She hadn’t gone ten steps before a vampire was beside her.

“You look as if you are lost,” he said to her. At first his words were difficult to understand because of his French accent. When he smiled at her, it was clear that he was taking full advantage of his vampire charisma.

Despite the fact that Kathrina was aware of what he was, as well as what he was trying to do, she could feel herself being drawn in by him. The vampire was extraordinarily good looking. It would be fun to run her fingers through his soft brown hair and she could easily get lost in those brilliant blue eyes. He was wearing a black shirt with half of the buttons undone to reveal his muscular chest. Several gold chains dangled from his neck.

Kathrina blinked as if she were just waking up and realized that someone was talking to her.

“No I’m not lost,” she told him. “I’m just looking for someone.”

He gave her a wicked smile. “Will I do?”

Kathrina was swayed by his charm, but she knew that his only intention was to make a feeder out of her. The vampire would be in for a big surprise if he did try and feed on her. When he died in front of all of these vampires, her identity would be revealed. They may not feed on her, but they might kill her.

“No … actually I’m looking for a friend I was supposed to meet here,” she told a little white lie, confident that he would not be able to read her thoughts.

“How about a dance while you wait?” he suggested, inching closer to her until she could smell the sweet spice of his cologne.

His eyes locked with hers and she felt herself falling into those pools of blue fire. Her breath quickened when he wrapped one arm around her waist. “Just one dance,” he smiled. “It will be fun.

Kathrina didn’t resist when he pulled her onto the dance floor. At the back of her mind there was a little voice screaming at her to run away, but she couldn’t. She wanted to be there in his arms - dancing with him.

She was still a virgin. Hadn’t she wanted to experience what it was like to be a woman?

The thought of lying beneath this vampire and letting him take her into womanhood, was undeniably tantalizing. He would do that much before he fed on her, this she was sure of. The vampire’s hunger for sex was nearly as insatiable as their thirst for blood.

Kathrina closed her eyes and let herself experience the moment. She was torn from the trancelike state when she heard him yelp. Her eyes flew open just in time to see the look of terror on his face.

Luciano had one hand on the vampire’s shoulder. His fierce black eyes were ready to slice the other vampire to pieces.

“Luciano … no!” Kathrina yelped. She had witnessed firsthand what Luciano could do, and she didn’t want to be responsible for something like that.

“Why do you care?” he snarled. “He was ready to feed on you.”

“No!” The vampire was shaking his head. “It was just a friendly dance … that’s all.”

“Sure it was,” Luciano growled.

Kathrina placed a hand on Luciano’s arm. “Can we talk?”

“Never again will I let you walk away,” he said, still glaring at the vampire.

“You won’t see me again,” he vowed.

Luciano removed his hand and the vampire quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Kathrina was furious. “Was that really necessary?”

Now Luciano’s sharp eyes were cutting right through her. “You were acting irresponsible and ready to brazenly walk right into his trap.”

Kathrina stuck out her lower lip. “I knew what I was doing.”

But that wasn’t completely true. The fact was that she had let herself be hypnotized by the vampire. The thoughts that had been going through her head were not like her at all. Part of why the vampire’s spell was so powerful was that they could sense your wickedest desires.

“Sure you did,’ he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the door.

“Well … you said that you didn’t mind if I experimented with someone else,” she reminded him.

“I didn’t mean a vampire that was planning to feed on you.”

“Well he’d have gotten a big surprise when he did?” she told him before adding, “I did ask you to do this for me, and you won’t.” Kathrina was trying to yank her arm from his grasp, but he was too strong.

He stopped in mid stride and stared down at her. “Is that what you want? Do you want me to take you to my bed and then feed on you?”

“Well maybe the first part anyway.” She gave him a sly smile.

He rolled his eyes and again started pulling her toward the door. A moment later they were outside. Taking her hand in his, he led her to the side of the building where he pinned her against the wall with his body.

Kathrina began to tremble and her heart started thumping wildly in her chest.

He was kissing her neck, his lips close to her ear. “What do you want?” he whispered.

“You,” she gasped.

She heard him chuckle and felt his fangs scrape against her neck.

“If I do this for you … then what?” he asked, his voice low and trembling with his own pent up desire.

“I don’t know … and I don’t care.”

It was true. In that instant she really didn’t care about anything else but being in his arms. The other vampire had only managed to weave a spell over her because of her longing for Luciano, but she had not lost sight of the one that she really wanted.

His lips moved to her mouth. Kathrina responded to his kiss with an unabashed display of passion, her tongue darted in and out of his mouth. She then caressed his lips with her tongue, teasing him into wanting to taste more of her.

Luciano threw his head back and growled. “You are driving me insane.”