Dark Salvation (6 page)

Nicholas attempted to temper the anger in his voice with patience in the hopes of getting her to relax. "Vampires drink blood, sweetheart. I can’t help that.”

“But you killed him. Couldn’t you have let him live to be taken by the police or something?”

“Saints cannot be dealt with by human law.”

“But they’re human.”

“Only by the most literal definition of the word. You think me a monster, but they are the true evil.”

“Yes, sure, they’re bad, but they are human beings.”

“I don’t know what you need me to say.” She was impossible, as irrational as she was at that moment. He half wanted to incapacitate her just to get her to shut up, but that would ultimately work against his plan to get her to calm down and maybe even cooperate. “Kitara, you’re judging me by human standards. I haven't been human in over two thousand years—”

She cut him off. “It doesn’t matter how long ago it was. You were human once. Human life has to hold some value to you!”

“Sometimes people have to die."”

Tears welled in Kitara’s eyes. He knew he’d said something wrong, but there was really no
right
thing to say at that point. “The soldier’s phone might be a tracking device. We need to get out of here. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Her glare hardened and she set her jaw. “You’re just as likely to kill me as he was. Probably more so.”

She was seriously testing the limits of his very finite patience. “Yes, because saving your life three times now clearly means I am going to kill you.”

“I can’t trust you. You have no respect for human life.”

Women!
Why did they have to twist everything around? “I’m offering help. You can either take it or not, but I won’t beg.”

“I don’t need your help. I’d fare better with the Acta Sanctorum guys than you,” she snarled. “By the way, you still have a little of him left on your chin.”

Nicholas wiped his face and turned away. He’d tried the nice approach and that had backfired in his face. “Your choice. Have a nice life, then, however long it may be.”

Nicholas caught the metallic clip of a gun being cocked in the distance. He pivoted and scanned the area, but didn’t see anything.

“What now?” Kitara said impatiently.

“Get down,” Nicholas replied in low whisper. “Lie flat against the ground. Now.”

She dropped to the ground just as he’d instructed, and at that same moment a shot went off. The bullet grazed Nicholas’s leg. Clearly this was no sniper. He took another look in the direction the bullet had traveled and there, bobbing in the distance, trying to take cover behind a trash can, was another soldier.

He was on the Saint before he could squeeze off another round. This death came quicker. Already sated, Nicholas snapped his neck and turned back to make sure Kitara was still safe.

 She looked around and worry replaced the disgust on her face. “Fine. I’ll go with you. Can you promise not to kill me?”

“Don’t ask me for ridiculous things. If I wanted to kill you, I would have. Let that be enough.”

“You’re infuriating,” she mumbled under her breath.

“I know, but so are you.”

Nicholas heard the sounds of occupation before he opened the front door. He smiled inwardly, hoping to get a rise out of Kitara when she realized this was a house full of vampires and werewolves. Hopeful as he was, nothing could have predicted the priceless look on her face as she walked into the foyer.

Alyssa’s half-naked ass bobbing over the top of the backside of the couch was impossible to miss, as were her pleasurable moans as she lapped up blood from Lysander’s neck. The two of them barely registered Nicholas’s and Kitara’s entrance. They were too entranced in their own activities on the sofa in the parlor.

Nicholas couldn’t hold back his satisfied grin. The shock registering on Kitara’s face was priceless. She looked positively horrified.

After a moment or two more, Nicholas cleared his throat.

Alyssa’s head shot up. Bloodlust clouded her pale blue eyes. She looked more beast than beauty at that moment, with Lysander’s blood glistening off her sharp white fangs. Alyssa’s gaze narrowed on Kitara, and she let out a snarl worthy of any nightmarish creature.

Kitara jumped in fright and grasped hold of Nicholas.

That snapped Alyssa back to reality. “Oh shit! Sorry,” she said, embarrassed. She hid her face and threw on Lysander’s button-down shirt.

Lysander, nonplussed, turned toward the frightened Kitara. “Nicholas, I didn’t realize you’d be bringing home guests.”

“Late night snack.” Nicholas joked, hoping to get another rise out of Kitara. “This one has a death wish. I told her I could help with it, and send her out with a smile.”

Kitara seemed to have caught on to his taunting and refused to respond. Pity. He was beginning to have fun with her.

Behind her silent icy stare he picked up the rapid acceleration in her heart. Nicholas could almost smell her sudden arousal. She was intrigued by the possibility but wouldn’t admit it out loud. He’d file that knowledge away for later.

“Ms. Vanders here fancies herself a private investigator. She’s been trying to track down her long lost boyfriend at…. wait for it… the Acta Sanctorum’s church.”

Lysander’s lip quirked at the mention of the Saints, but his tone remained level and calm. “Well, if he’s a Saint, we cannot help. If he is one of us, then he is probably dead.” 

Nicholas pushed Kitara forward as he walked to the parlor. “That was my first thought too, but she refuses to see reason and got herself marked.”

She jerked away from him as if his touch burned her. “I didn’t do anything. You’re the one claiming they are after me. You killed that man before talking to him.”

“Talking is overrated.” Nicholas waved his hand dismissively. “Especially when that one was chasing you down.”

“Did you get one?” Alyssa asked, still wiping the remaining blood from her chin.

“Yes, and that’s the most important bit of news. They’re still poking around the church. I didn’t have time to get a good look then, but one came out tonight ready to fight, so clearly Ms. Witch here has stirred up the pot.”

“You’re a witch and you went after the Saints?” Alyssa asked, shocked.

“I’m not a witch. I’m a—”

“She’s a witch but won’t admit it. A witch who won’t last very long if she keeps poking around the damn Saints.”

“Quit calling me a witch.” The angry flush in her cheeks was unmistakable, and though he hated to admit it to himself, Nicholas found it absolutely adorable.

“Look me in the eye and tell me you’re not.” Nicholas glared at her, summoning all of his own power. Again he attempted to delve into her mind.

She squinted, but held his gaze. “I’m… not… a… witch.” Immediately after, she grabbed her head as if the effort had caused her some discomfort. Clearly her power had its limitations.

Nicholas made a mental note of that. “You may not call yourself a witch, but you have a hell of a lot of power!”

Kitara pinched the bridge of her nose, and shot an embarrassed glance at the ground. “I wouldn’t say I have power.”

“Sweetheart, you can stare down a vampire, block my mental intrusion, and send a push back to me. That’s power.” For a human, that was remarkable ability, and one that Nicholas appreciated. Humans with true gifts were rare. Most of them became witches, and yet this woman loathed the word. He wondered what this ex-lover of hers, this
Jeremy
, had done to make her hate herself so much that she would deny something so special. He shouldn’t care, but for some strange reason, a pang of jealous rage tugged at his heart. He found himself wanting to run into Jeremy and teach him a lesson or two on how to treat a lady.

“You guys are giving me way too much credit.” Kitara looked up, her cheeks bright crimson, but not with anger. Nicholas could see the smile she was trying to hide. Had she never been complimented for her abilities? “This is really nothing. Just being on the defensive. You know.”

Alyssa’s curiosity was piqued. “So you mean to tell me you did that subconsciously?” She practically jumped over the couch toward Kitara, eyes wide with amazement. “I’m a vampire and I still can’t hold my own against Nicholas… or Lysander, for that matter.”

“Curious, indeed,” Lysander chimed in, still seated on the couch, his hand resting modestly over his nakedness. “Perhaps she does not know her own strength.”

Nicholas nodded in assent. “Apparently not. She should be on the floor right now.” He hoped she heard the genuine compliment in his voice.

Kitara’s eyes flitted to the naked vampire on the couch, then back to Nicholas quickly. “No… ah… I know I’m blocking you out. That’s just not what I consider a show of real power.”

“Do I need to demonstrate what happens when a vampire enters your mind? It takes one hell of a powerful shield to block. Especially from one as old as me. I’ve never met a human who could do it.”

“Old?” Kitara laughed softly. “You don't look a day over twenty.”

“Sweetheart, I was already double that when Caesar was assassinated.”

“Shit, really?” Kitara’s hand flew to cover her mouth after her outburst. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound that way.”

“Yes. Really.” Nicholas smiled. Why did he have to find her so adorable?

 “Maybe you’re losing your touch,” Alyssa taunted.

“Care to try me, Little Warrior?” Nicholas hoped she would. It would be nice to put the little vampire on her ass and show Kitara the extent of his power; but sadly, Alyssa shut her mouth and took a step backwards. She was no match for him and she knew it. They’d tangled enough times in training for her to know the extent of his mental abilities.

“That’s what I thought.”

Lysander retrieved his pants and quickly dressed. “So, she may not know the true extent of her powers, but the Saints must if they came out after her.”

“Which means that boyfriend of hers, if he is still alive, told them what she is. Time to come clean, sweetheart. Why did he leave you?”

“Look, I’m pagan; I pray to a different set of gods than most people. But that doesn’t make me a witch.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Witches are good,” Alyssa said. “Well, most of them.”

“Not according to Jeremy.” She hung her head, ashamed. Nicholas picked up the way her heart lurched at the mention of her former lover.

“Well, Jeremy is an idiot.” Alyssa stole the words out of Nicholas’s mouth.

“He never cared about my faith before the Saints came along. He just kind of laughed at me a little, but that was it.”

“When did it change? What happened?” Alyssa asked.

“He went out with some drinking buddies. There was a brawl. One of his buddies died. He swears it was a monster who killed his buddy. Says he was next to be killed, but this Saint stepped in. He saved Jeremy and then recruited him. After that, it all went downhill. He started taking all of these self-defense classes. He stopped hanging out with his regular buddies. And then finally, he started getting on me for my faith.”

“I’m surprised he let you live, knowing what you are.” Nicholas didn’t mean it to come out so harshly, but it was the truth. The Saints never suffered a witch to live unless they served a purpose, and then once that purpose was finished, so was the witch.

“Jeremy would never hurt me.”

“You say that now.” How could she defend that man? It was beyond Nicholas’s understanding. And angered him in a way it shouldn’t.

“You’re such an asshole!”

“Enough with the compliments, you’ll give me a big head.” Nicholas tried to suppress a smile.

“That’s not something to be proud of.” The angry flush in her cheeks was hard to ignore. Her heart pumped so fast in her chest, it was almost calling out his name,
Nicholas, Nicholas, Nicholas
.

“You have to face reality. Whatever the reason, he’s gone, and never coming back. You chasing him down though, that’s just asking for trouble. They know what you are, even if you don’t fully know it yourself.”

“Which brings us to the matter at hand,” Lysander said. “Why are they poking around at the church again?”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to find out. But before I could do that, I got sidetracked.”

“What do you intend to do with her?” Lysander asked.

Kitara gasped.

“No harm will come to you here,” Alyssa tried to reassure her. “Contrary to Jeremy’s belief, not all vampires are bad. In fact, some of us are very good.” Alyssa shot a lusty gaze to her shirtless man and mouthed the word
later
.

“Says the woman who still has blood at the corner of her mouth,” Nicholas laughed. 

“Jealous?” Alyssa teased.

Nicholas ignored the taunt. “She’s got no friends or family here. I think it best we keep her until we know what’s going on with the Saints.”

“Did anyone think to ask me what I wanted?” Kitara asked.

“No,” Nicholas replied.

“Well, I’m not staying in a house filled with vampires.” She crossed her arms and all but put her foot down. Not that it would do her any good, but it was a cute attempt at stubbornness.

“You’re safer with us than you are out there.”

“You’re kidding, right? I’m human, you’re vampires.”

And just like that, she was back to the anti-vampire campaign. “Oh, don’t start. How many times have I saved your life… this week?”

She held her tongue in puzzled silence as if trying to find a way to retort, but failing.

“I don’t want you here any more than you want to be here, but you seem to have a death wish, and though I’m usually one to assist in that sort of thing, your time has not yet come. Just be a good girl and sit tight until we have a better place to put you.”

Her face flushed red. Nicholas heard the angry pound of her heart. “‘Good girl’? Could you be more patronizing?”

“Yes, actually, he can. Just ignore him and he’ll eventually stop.” Alyssa jumped in before Nicholas could. “He means well, really. He just never learned any manners.”

“Fine.” Kitara huffed. “I guess I have no choice. I’ll stay.”

“Great. I’ll keep you company, how’s that?” Alyssa asked.

Nicholas leaned over toward Lysander. “Don’t let your girl get too chummy with Kitara. She’s not staying long.”

“It sounds like you’ve already gotten a little chummy with her,” Lysander replied.

Nicholas did not give in to his brother’s taunting. “Why are the Saints hanging around the old Church again? That’s the most important question.”

“Right you are there.” Lysander rubbed his chin and began to pace. “Perhaps this little lady’s appearance has something to do with that?”

“Coincidence.” Nicholas shook his head.

“I don’t believe in pure coincidences.”

“Well, I do. I patrol that area regularly.”

“But it was she who drew them out of hiding to give chase.”

Lysander was right. Nicholas had been on patrol for weeks and had yet to see any activity. One night after he’d found Kitara poking around, one of their soldiers had found her. It might seem like coincidence, but the timing was too good to be just that.

“And now that we have spotted the Saints at the old church, we must discover what they are after.” Lysander relaxed back into the cushion of the couch.

Nicholas looked to Kitara. “Why did you go to that church again?”

“The guy in the bar. The one you killed.”

“The one who put something in your drink with the intention of raping you later… yes… I remember him.”

Kitara scowled for a moment. “He was the one to tell me about the church. He was bragging about being a special ops kind of soldier. Said he killed vampires and werewolves. That kind of thing.”

Nicholas fisted his hands to hold back the anger building within him. He could not wait to find the Saints again and kill every last one of them. “And instead of running scared, you ate up every word of it, I’m sure.”

Kitara shook her head. “He sounded like all the other jerks Jeremy had brought over to the house, so I told him what he wanted to hear, that I wanted to see his big guns and how hot it made me to think of him plunging a stake through a vampire’s heart.”