Cat's Choice (5 page)

Finally, Tripp nodded his head. Caterina had been watching the two with interest and was trying to figure out what was going on. She had never met him, why was he acing so protective?

When the door shut, the tall woman turned to her and said, “Okay, I don’t lie to patients and don’t expect them to lie to me. So let’s get down to the hard questions. Before we do, I want you to know my name is Cloe, and I am a member of the New Council , the Alpha female asked me to personally come and see you.”

Caterina was resigned to the fact that she was going to have to talk to this doctor, but when she made the announcement that she was a member of the New Council, Caterina felt relief begin to flo w through her tense muscles. Then her eyes began to water. Adolfo had trusted these people —she was finally safe.

***

Diavolo sat back in his chair and looked at Roarke with half-open eyes. The stupid shifter thought he would actually take orders from him? Diavolo was using the man for money, just as the shifter was using him for muscle. It was a win-win situation, although right now he was getting a little pissed at the high-handed way, the shifter was talking to him.

“We almost had her. All you were supposed to do was find, and track her. Now she ‘s safely in the arms of the New Council Pack , and we won’t be able to touch her. Don’t you see; we needed to know more information about where she was planning o n going? According to some of my sources, the humans who have the special quality in their blood tend to attract one another as well. It’s like there ‘s something calling them. She could have led us to where the rest were.”

Diavolo laughed. “No, she wouldn’t have, because she had that hound with her. He would have made sure she never went somewhere that her blood called to; he was t oo smart for that. Now that he’s gone, she may do just that.”

Roarke frowned and then slammed his hand down on the table that separated them . “You fool ! She is right now at the New Council Pack. That’s where she went, what if the rest of them are drawn to her now, then we will lose all of them. How could you be so stupid?”

“Because he is still untrained, brother.” Roarke’s sister walked into the room without knocking, and sat on the arm of his chair. “He has much more invested than we originally thought, don’t you Diavolo.”

“Who the fuck is this,” the Vampire snarled, ready to come out of his chair. How dare she call him untrained, like he was a dog or something. He sniffed and then his eyes widened; she wasn’t a Werewolf. She was one of his kind.

“This, is my half sister, her name is Tina, and her husband Frank is down with the prisoners we are keeping until such time we don’t need them anymore. You see; this is not some stupid little plan that you can barge in here and screw up with your rash behavior.” Roarke said calmly, Diavolo was a little surprised that the wolves were this organized. “Our plans have gone on for far longer than you realize, now, what is my dear sister talking about?”

The Vampire made a menacing noise from deep in the throat , and looked at the wolf in front of him. He refused to accept orders from anyone. The reason he had agreed to this partnership in the first place was because he wanted more information than he had about this New Council . All the Vampire clans were talking about it —not that it mattered to him —and he wanted only one thing. And he was going to get it. Caterina thought she could run from him—she was wrong.

Even when he had drained her of blood and almost killed her, her blood had not satisfied him. She refused to drink his blood even though he had tried to force her. He knew she was his life mate . She was supposed to feel the connection, but the stupid bitch refused to acknowledge him or their connection. And he could not feel their bond. This could mean only one thing. That she refused to allow the connection to develop. Well, she was going to. He was prepared to hold her in a dungeon for as long as it took for her to accept the mating.

“So what, then they will be where you want them anyway. You wanted the New Council , adjust your plans and figure out a way to get them. I, on the other hand, have a few things I must take care of before we are going to be attacking anyone . There have been rumblings in the community that the Vampire s are sending over an old friend of mine. It will play right into your plans.”

Tina laughed without any emotion and said, “Old friend my ass; I know all about your little attempt to mate with the Prince. We peons even hear the gossip. Brother, Diavolo here is a bit of a renegade in the Vampire community, if you would have asked I would have told you he would be worthless to hire. He is hell-bent on getting the girl, what’s her name? Caterina? And then he is going to try to take over the Vampire s again. . Useless , they will never allow it. Besides, he will create such an uproar it will mess with our plans. The ones we have now will be ready to comply soon. We don’t need him.”

“What is she talking about?” Roarke growled. He had not been able to talk to his half-sister much since her arrival. Tina was his half-sister, hard to explain how a Vampire and a wolf were related. But his father was married before he was turned into a wolf. They had a child, a daughter, then his father was turned, and he no longer wanted a human for a mate, and so he killed Tina’s mother. Then he found his, bringing a human child into the magical community had been dangerous. As Tina found out on her twenty-first birthday when she went on her first date, only to be turned by a Vampire who was looking for a meal. Tina and Roarke had been vicious when they were young, taught by a father who wanted more out of life than what he deserved.

His sister readily signed up for this crusade many years ago; she met her husband and had agreed to raise Josephine until she was old enough to be of use. Unfortunately, they had mistakenly thought she was not able to shift. Poor move on their part not taking her when she turned eighteen. But, he had not been in charge then. Now he was, and things were going to be different. No more of this shit, Roarke planned for every contingency.

Frank and Tina were instantly put in charge if interrogating the prisoners that he held. He wanted to know everything there was to know about each of their communities. He planned to take them over one by one, until the Chosen were the only ones left to fight him. Then they would pay with their arrogance. This plan had been in the making for years, now that he was in charge; he was going to make it happen.

Roarke refused to let the Chosen reveal themselves to the humans; it would ruin his plans for ruling the magical community, and thus, ruling the humans.

Diavolo glared at Tina, “That is not your concern; all you need to know is I will be on your side when the time comes. I will also make sure you have leverage. The girl is my mate; she has the special blood to Vampire s, one that every Vampire will seek out until she is mated. There are more, but no one knows who they are. She is the key.”

“You fucker, you knew all along and didn’t tell me. What the hell does it mean she is the key?” Roarke demanded.

“What he means is, she wil l be the key. When she mates with th e Vampire Prince, and a Werewolf, like the old p ro ph ecy has spoken of, she will attract the others. But he is not her mate; the Prince is, he is the one the prophecy is about. Anyway, t heir blood will unite all the communities together with their mating. Some will be mated to the Sidhe, the other Vampire s , and more. But it all starts with her. The Chosen will undoubtedly , not know what they have.” Tina smirked.

“Damnit, I should have been informed of this, what the fuck is it with all these prophecies. You would think we were living in the fucking middle ages.” Roarke roared and slammed his hand down. He should have staked this asshole when he had the chance. Now, he had no options but to work with him.

“I will take care of it. We are still in a position to help one another.” Diavolo said.

“Whatever, this time don’t fuck up and cause me to have more work. I will get some people on tracking where Caterina is and what’s going on. This was the first step in my plan, and already we ‘re having problems. Just a little reminder, if you don’t do what I want you to, the consequences will be dire. We have a special roof top that gets the morning sun. Remember that.”

Chapter
3

The hunger overtook him, forcing him to slip his hands through the woman’s golden tresses, moving her hair out of the way of his target. He watched the flutter of the vein near the base of her neck. He could hear her heart beating against her chest and was sorry she was afraid of what was coming. She always was —no matter how many times they had done this.

“Stai tranquilla, Tesoro, ”
Be still, my treasure , h e whispered into the woman’s ear.
“Sai che non sara male .”
You know I will not hurt you.

First, he licked where he intended to bite, tasting the saltiness of her skin. For some reason, it always seemed to compliment the sweetness of her blood. It also served to numb the area slightly. Then, quickly, so he wouldn’t prolong the pinch of pain, he pierced her skin with his elongated fangs, and began to drink in the precious gift she shared with him .

With each drop, he felt the hunger die away slowly. As he listened , her heart slowed, and he felt her body relax . She was drifting now into the pleasure state induced by enzymes in his venom, a small a m ou n t injected along with the bite taking away pain, and also preparing the wound site to quickly heal after the Vampire fed. Her body went lax; she was no longer able to stand on her own. She was drifting away on the high induced by the enzyme; he held her up and suck l ed gently from her vein. He wouldn’t so much as leave a bruise to mar her skin.

After only a minute or two, he withdrew his teeth and swiped his tongue over the puncture holes several times to seal them; within a few hours, they would be completely healed . The woman sighed in euphoric pleasure. When he pulled back, he saw the satisfied smile and the clouded daze in her eyes.

“Grazie,” the woman whispered in his arms.

He signaled for his servant to come and retrieve the woman to take her to her chambers to rest. As he passed the now unconscious woman into the servant’s arms, he whispered against her ear, “Dormi bene .”
Good night .

He turned from them as the servant carried her away. Looking out the window at the early night sky, Orfeo sighed in disappointment. The feeding had not slaked his hunger as he had hoped it would. It was barely even enough to wet his appetite.

He put his hand against the windowsill and leaned against it, until he could feel the cool glass touching his forehead. His body always ran warmer after a feeding, and he reveled in the subtle changes in temperature in his environment, because usually they weren’t as noticeable.

He remembered when he was much younger; h e would take two to three donors a night to feed his hunger for blood . Then , he would head out to the Vampire clubs to slake another thirst —to find sexual partners for the night . He smiled at the memories of the menages he had taken part in; men and women, with legs intertwined, writhing in heated passion, all giving and receiving pleasure from each other. Being a Vampire , he didn’t only copulate with women. Some of his greatest lovers had been beautiful, virile men. Men definitely knew what men liked sexually. But Orfeo equally loved the soft , delicate caress a female could give. The silky tightness of a woman’s sheath was like heaven on earth.

As he got older, he found that he didn’t need as many donors to satisfy his blood hunger, and no one could satisfy the other. As it was with Vampire s, the older and more powerful, they became, the less blood, they needed to maintain it. Younger Vampire s were still growing, and the y leaked their power away easily, not knowing how to hold it in until they needed the magic.