Endless Chase (22 page)

Planting her hands on the ground, she pushed herself to her feet, weaving from side to side as she found her balance. A hand came out to steady her, but she shook it off.

Stumbling, she righted herself and headed toward the woods. All she wanted to do was go off by herself and lick her wounds. Her heart was broken, but she would survive.

Chase was alive. That’s all that mattered. She knew she wasn’t welcome here.

“Where are you going?” Delight’s voice gave her pause. Chase’s sister sounded more curious than angry, but Katya didn’t stop, didn’t turn around. She could still see the horrified look on Delight’s face, hear the accusation in her voice. Knowing that Delight was right didn’t make it easier for Katya to bear. This was her fault. Tears all but blinded her, but she kept going.

“Katya.” Cristofor appeared in front of her and she practically ran into him. She stopped, but kept her gaze pointed toward the ground. She couldn’t bear to see their disdain. What she’d done was unforgivable. She’d risked all their lives for her own vengeance. That made her as much of a monster as Vasili.

“No, it doesn’t.” His voice was gentle.

She hadn’t spoken the last aloud. Realization came too late. Her mind was still open to all of them. She slammed her defenses into place, but it was too late. They’d sensed her vulnerability, felt her self-loathing.

He put his hand on her arm, but she dug in her feet, refusing to move. He swore and reached down, scooping her into his arms. She tried to fight him, but she was too 113

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damn tired and worn out. “Chase will want to see you when he wakes. He’ll need to talk to you.”

She stilled, sensing the sincerity of Cristofor’s words. Unable to fight any longer, she nodded. She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at the others as he carried her into the castle.

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Chase came awake slowly. He’d been having one hell of a dream—a fight in the courtyard, decapitating a vampire, getting shot. What had he eaten before crawling into bed last night?

His head ached, a low throb at the base of his skull, but that was normal these days.

He ignored the discomfort as he pried his eyes open. Everything blurred before him, a mass of color with no distinction. He blinked several times, thankful when his vision gradually began to clear. A noise off to his right startled him. He swiveled his head to look, barely swallowing back a groan as the movement sent a shaft of pain through his forehead and down his neck.

He closed his eyes and counted, concentrating on each number, until the pain receded. Opening his eyes again, he peered at corner of the room where the noise had emanated. There were no lights on, but he could see perfectly.

Katya was slumped in the hard-backed leather chair, her neck twisted to one side as she snored softly. Her arms were folded across her chest, her hands tucked under her armpits as if she were cold, and her legs were sprawled out in front of her.

Chase started to smile at the picture she made, but frowned as he noted more details. Dark circles were evident beneath her eyes, made even more pronounced by the pallor of her skin. Even her lips appeared pale and lifeless. Dirt smudged her right cheek.

Her shirt, dirty and bloodstained, was torn away from her shoulder. He could see a thin pink line, about six inches long, with dried blood around it—obvious remnants of a serious wound. His eyes narrowed, anger surging through him. She was injured. What the hell was she doing sitting upright in a chair when she was hurt?

She shifted slightly and one of her hands came free. It too was stained with blood, from fingernail to her knuckles, all the way to her wrist. He could smell it. The sharp metallic tang filled his nostrils. That realization stopped him cold. It was dark, but he could see every inch of her perfectly.

It hadn’t been a dream.

His memories came flooding back—the mind-numbing anguish that had filled him as he’d waited inside the castle, all the while knowing Katya was outside with the monster who had killed her parents, the absolute feeling of helplessness, and the utter fury that anyone would dare threaten his woman or his family.

He’d paced like a man half crazed. When no one had been paying him any attention, he’d grabbed one of the ancient Dalakis’ swords from the wall and raced for the front door, flinging it open. The scene outside had been something from a 115

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nightmare. Cristofor was lying on the ground at the feet of the monster, his body unmoving. Katya was fighting for her life, a knife clutched tightly in her hand, while her opponent taunted her.

Without thought, he’d thrown himself into the fray, raising the blade and swinging it with all his might.

With the momentum and strength behind it, the blade had easily sliced through the villain’s neck. Chase could still see the sightless eyes of the man he’d just decapitated staring up at him as the head rolled close to his feet. Blood. There had been so much blood.

Then pain.

He’d felt the bullet slam into his chest, stealing his breath and knocking him backward. Excruciating agony came next, quickly followed by a bone-deep numbness, along with the inescapable knowledge that he was dying. He’d been so cold as he’d felt his life slipping away.

But he was still here.

He shoved the covers down and stared at his chest. It was tender and there were several faint scars, the largest about four inches. They radiated out from a common center, as if the bullet had torn his chest open. But other than that, it looked perfectly fine. The wound was incredibly close to his heart, missing it by a mere inch.

What the hell happened?

“You’re awake.” Katya’s voice was low, filled with concern, yet she made no effort to move closer to him. If anything, she pulled her legs closer to her body and wrapped her arms tighter around her waist. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been shot.” His voice was raw and he could taste something metallic in his mouth. Blood. He licked his lips, tasting it on the tip of his tongue.

She flinched, but steadied herself quickly. “You were.”

Chase pushed himself upright. He was weaker than he thought, each movement a strain on his muscles. It wasn’t an easy process, but he managed to prop himself up.

The crisp white sheets pooled around his waist. He was naked. Obviously, someone had stripped him out of his clothes last night before putting him in bed.

He was sweating by the time he managed to lean his back against the headboard.

His stomach roiled, but he ignored it. A minute passed before he understood that Katya wasn’t going to volunteer any information. “What the hell happened?”

She moved then, rising slowly to her feet. With her arms still wrapped around her body, she began to pace back and forth. Just watching her was making him dizzy.

Finally, she came to a halt by the side of the bed. Bloodstains marred her shoulder and neck. Chase’s entire body tightened and he felt an unfamiliar hunger welling up inside him.

“What do you remember?”

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“I was shot.” Her mouth tightened, but she said nothing as he continued. “I was dying. I died. Or thought I did.”

She nodded, confirming what he already knew. “You did.”

“Yet I’m still here.” What he was thinking was impossible.

Katya sighed, released her death grip on herself and shoved her hands through her hair. “I had to do it. Had to try.”

Her agitation hit him like a ton of bricks. He didn’t want her upset. “Hey.” He patted the mattress next to him, wanting her closer. He needed to touch her, to reassure himself that she was all right. “Whatever it is, it’s okay.”

A laugh, more like a sob, broke from her lips as she took a step away from him. He tried to ignore the blast of hurt that passed through him at her withdrawal.

“It’s not okay, but it is my fault you were injured. I should have checked to make sure the woods were clear, but I didn’t, and you were shot. The man who shot you was a skilled mental blocker, able to keep me out of his head for a split second too long.”

Chase could feel the guilt weighing down on her, could practically see it in the way her shoulders curled inward. He didn’t like it. “Were you the only vampire out there in the yard? I seem to remember seeing Cristofor, Lucian, Stefan and Zane. None of them picked up on the threat until the last second either. None of them were able to stop him in time.”

Katya firmed her lips, the muscles in her jaw clenched. “It was my responsibility. I brought trouble here.”

Chase’s head was pounding so hard he could barely think. “Fine. It’s your fault,” he snapped. She reeled back as if he’d hit her. Almost as soon as the words left his lips he wished he could take them back. Regret was a bitter pill.

His stomach lurched again and he could feel his body breaking out in a cold sweat.

Obviously, he wasn’t quite recovered yet. “What happened then?”

Katya stood still as a statue, her gaze just beyond him, as if she couldn’t quite bear to look at him. “You were dying, so I attempted to convert you.”

Holy hell!
Chase’s mind whirled with the implications. “You’re saying I’m a vampire.”

She nodded then shook her head. “We’re not sure. We think you’re a hybrid, like me. Not quite full vampire, but not human anymore either.”

Leaning his head back against the hard headboard, Chase swallowed. Did that mean he would live long? What about his brain tumor? He had so many questions, but couldn’t manage to utter one.

His stomach lurched, bile surging up his throat. He was going to be sick.

Shoving the covers aside, he rolled to the edge of the bed. Katya was beside him immediately, her hands gentle as she half carried, half dragged him to the bathroom.

He reached the toilet just in time, heaving his guts up.

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It was humiliating to have her see him like this. He tried to send her away, but she wouldn’t go. Chase had no idea how long he knelt on the cold stone floor with his head hung over the commode. This was worse than the bender he’d gone on when he’d turned twenty-one and vowed never to drink to excess again. Every muscle in his body ached. His head felt like it was one second away from exploding and he was certain his stomach had been turned inside out.

Throughout it all, Katya stayed by his side. She dampened a cloth in tepid water, sponging the sweat from his face and torso. When he shivered with the cold, she went back into the bedroom and got a blanket, wrapping it around his shoulders. When he was sick, she supported him, holding his head when his neck was too weak to hold it upright.

She talked to him in a language he didn’t understand. He knew it was Russian, could pick out one or two words, but that was all. There was one phrase she whispered over and over, but he had no idea what it meant. He wanted to ask, but even just thinking about talking was too much for him to handle. It took all his energy to keep from toppling to the floor.

After what felt like hours, Katya helped him stand long enough to wash his face and brush his teeth. While he did that, she washed his back and chest, both of them ignoring the fact that he was totally naked.

His cock stirred, but he was too exhausted to even think about doing anything about it. Still, it was a sign that he was on the mend.

With his arm slung over her shoulders, he managed to stay upright and make his way back to bed. Katya eased him down onto the mattress. She started to leave him, but he grabbed her hand and tugged, tumbling her down beside him. “Stay.”

Not giving her a chance to deny him, he rolled to his side, wrapping his arm around her to keep her close. She tensed, but slowly began to relax. “Sleep,” he whispered. “We’ll get a shower and talk more later.” His words were slurred as exhaustion finally took him under.

Katya knew the second that Chase slept. All vampires were attuned to the rising and setting of the sun and she knew that daybreak was upon them, could feel the shift from night to morning.

Slowly, she disengaged herself from his arms. It was an almost impossible task. Not because he held her so tight, but because she really didn’t want to leave him. She knew his family expected her to stay, but she couldn’t. Chase would be fine without her. The worst was behind him now that the conversion was complete. She still couldn’t believe that she’d managed to do it. Even with all the combined strength of the Dalakis family, it had been close. They’d almost lost him.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them back, staring down at his handsome face. Even tired, and with dark circles under his eyes, he looked good. His hair was 118

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tangled, his skin pale, but she knew that by the time he woke at dusk, he would be as good as new. Better, in fact.

His senses would be sharper, his reflexes faster. She wasn’t quite sure what his reaction to daylight would be. Only time would tell. She worried about that. Chase was an artist. Being able to see the world in daylight, to capture shadows and textures and colors, was important to him. More than just important, it was his life, his livelihood, who he was. Katya had no idea if he would still be able to go outside like she could.

There was no precedent for their kind. Every day would be a day of discovery for him.

Very lightly, she trailed her fingers down the side of his face, noting that the old scar beneath his left eye was almost gone. The dark stubble on his jaw rasped the pads of her fingertips, making a scratching sound. Rather than make him look unkempt, it made him look more handsome and just a bit dangerous.

She worried about the brain tumor he’d said he had. She was almost certain that it would be gone now, that the conversion would have healed it. It would be so easy to force her way into his mind and check, especially in his vulnerable condition, but she wouldn’t do that. She didn’t have any right to do so. He would be able to discover that for himself when he awoke.

Chase’s family would help him adjust to his new life and powers. They would have blood ready for him when he woke hungry, needing to feed. Her time here was done.