Love Bites (Bitten Book 4) (16 page)

BOOM!

Something hot and wet showered my face, but I was too weak to wipe it away. My eyelids were so heavy, refusing my command to lift so I could see what was happening. The burning in my stomach intensified and narrowed, until it felt as though a scorching hot knife was being twisted inside me.

I wanted to cry out in pain, but there was no air left in my lungs. I tried to suck in oxygen, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t breathe.

Still fighting for air, I tried to fight the darkness creeping over me, but it was hopeless. I was drowning in the deepest pitch and there was no escape.

My mind shrieked,
Calder!

Then the blackness claimed me one last time.

Calder

I
was on
my way back from yet another pack meeting when my cell phone rang. God, if it was George Hayes bitching about the alliance with the vampires and witches again, I was going to tell him to go fuck himself.

Without checking the Caller ID, I was already pissed when I answered, “Atwood.”

“Where are you?” Conner’s voice was tight and vibrating with anger.

“I’m on my way back into the city. What’s happened?” There was a long pause and my gut clenched. “What the fuck is going on, Conner?”

“There’s been an attack at the house. Ricki and Shannon are there alone. They couldn’t get to the basement, but they’re in the panic room in the master suite.”

My hand gripped the steering wheel so tightly it creaked. “Fuck!” I was an hour away and my mate was in danger.

“Lex and I are ten minutes out. I’ll call you once we reach the house.” With that, he disconnected.

I tossed the phone into the passenger seat and wrapped both hands around the wheel. Though I couldn’t risk using my emergency flashers, I did intend to get to Conner’s house in the least amount of time possible. My foot hit the floor as I stomped on the accelerator.

For the next ten minutes, I split my attention between the road and the clock. When ten minutes turned into fifteen, then twenty, I knew something had gone horribly wrong. Reaching into my passenger seat, I lifted my phone and called Conner.

He answered immediately. “Calder.”

“How is she?”

The silence on the other end of the phone was complete and telling. Finally, he answered, “You need to hurry.”

Ice pierced my veins. I lowered the phone and focused on getting all the speed out of my truck that I could. As the speedometer needle hovered over ninety-five, I wove in and out of the heavy traffic on the highway.

Thirty minutes later, I pulled up in front of Conner’s house with a screech of tires and squealing brakes. I didn’t even bother to turn off the truck, just shoved it in park and flew out of the driver’s seat.

I burst through the front door and the foyer was empty. “Ricki!”

“Up here!”

At Shannon’s call, I took the stairs three at a time. My stomach turned when I saw the splatters and streaks of blood on the floor and the walls. Though I never prayed before, at that moment, I pleaded with God to let her still be alive. I sprinted down the hall, sliding to a stop in front of the door to a guest room. Shannon, Lex, and Conner were crowded around Ricki’s prone form, which was lying on the bed.

I stumbled forward, the scent of her blood making my head reel. As I drew closer, I saw her chest rise and fall in shallow fast breaths. Falling to my knees next to the bed, I reached out and touched her cheek.

“Ricki?”

She didn’t respond, her eyes shut in a semblance of peace.

Conner’s hand on my shoulder broke through the haze of shock that surrounded me. “She’s seriously injured, Calder. If we don’t do something soon, she’ll die. I’ve called Finn. He and Kerry will be here any moment.”

I noticed the wound on his wrist, then the smear of blood on Ricki’s bottom lip. Instinctively I knew it was Conner’s. My lips peeled back in a snarl. “You’ve given her your blood.”

Conner lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. “It was either give her my blood or watch her die, Calder. What would you have me do?”

The aggression drained out of me. “Thank you.”

He nodded, his hands dropping.

“Conner!” Donna’s voice rang out from downstairs and the front door slammed.

With a scowl, his head whipped around. “Damned fool woman! I told her to stay away.”

Seconds later, his fiancée stood in the doorway. As soon as she saw Ricki on the bed, her eyes filled with tears. “Ricki,” she whispered.

Ricki moaned softly, regaining my full attention.

Stroking her hair, I leaned forward and put my mouth close to her ear. “Just hang on, darlin’. Help is on the way.”

She gasped, her back arching as she struggled to breath.

Conner stepped closer. “Her heart…”

“I know, I hear it,” I murmured. Her heart was slowing and I knew that she was losing the fight.

“Let me turn her, Calder,” Conner stated.

I snarled at his words. My mate belonged with me in the pack. If she was a vampire, we could never be together. Vampires and wolves didn’t mate. We might be allies, but the pack would kill us both if I brought a vampire mate to the compound. “No. I’ll change her before I let you turn her.”

“Calder, please. You know she won’t survive a wolf bite.”

I climbed on the bed next to Ricki, prepared to protect her with my own body if necessary. “No. You know what will happen if she becomes a vampire.”

His face was sad. “I know, but at least she’ll be alive.”

I heard the front door slam again and Kerry’s voice calling out, but I didn’t take my eyes off of Conner.

A few moments later, Kerry’s breathless voice asked, “What are you two doing?”

I didn’t remove my gaze from Conner. “He wants to turn her into a vampire.” My words were little more than a growl.

“It will save her life! Would you prefer that she died?”

I glared at him as Kerry approached the bed and started speaking to Ricki. When my mate responded, I almost looked down, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off the vampire who wanted to turn her. I withdrew only enough to allow Kerry the space to get closer and look at her wounds.

She glanced over her shoulder at Conner. “Have you tried vampire blood and saliva to start the healing process?”

He nodded. “It’s the only reason she’s not dead now.”

My heart skipped a beat at the knowledge that vampire blood had saved my mate from death. I should have been here. If I had been, she would never have been hurt.

“Maybe we should call an ambulance,” Kerry suggested.

Conner moved closer. “We can’t. You know we can’t. Even if we managed to adjust the memories of all the humans involved, there would be records, both electronic and hard copies. It’s too risky.”

“So we just let her die? Or you turn her?” Kerry asked in a low, tense voice.

Conner merely looked at her and I knew that, if push came to shove, I would have to fight him to keep him from turning her.

“No. If she changes, she’ll be a wolf. She’s my mate, it’s my decision.” I couldn’t let my mate become a vampire. I would lose her just as certainly as if she died.

“No, it’s not your decision, Calder,” Donna snapped. Then she turned to Conner. “And it’s not yours either. It’s Ricki’s. We should ask her what she wants to do.”

The thought terrified me even more because I wasn’t at all sure what she would say.

“She’s too weak to endure a werewolf bite right now. The transition would kill her,” Conner argued.

Donna ignored him and approached the bed. I bit back a growl. She looked at me, a pleading expression on her face and I knew she was only thinking about what was best for Ricki, so I remained silent.

I heard Kerry and Conner speaking, but I wasn’t truly listening as I looked down at my mate. She was so pale and motionless that I knew death wasn’t far away. I would have to act quickly.

“Are you willing to tie your life force with Ricki’s?”

My head came up at Kerry’s question. “If it will save her, I would give my own life, so, yes.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay, I want to ask her what she wants before we proceed.”

Kerry approached the bed. “Ricki, I need you to wake up for a second, okay?”

I listened as my mate moaned, but didn’t open her eyes. I ground my teeth. It was killing me to sit here, doing nothing, while she was in pain.

“Ricki, you need to look at me,” Kerry insisted.

Ricki gasped and her eyes suddenly opened wide. She stared blankly at Kerry for a moment before recognition filled her gaze.

“You’re badly injured, Ricki, and I need you to make a choice for me,” Kerry continued.

“What do you mean?” she asked softly.

Kerry stroked her hair and then lifted her hand, cradling it in her palm. “If we don’t do something drastic, you’re going to die.” She paused. “Conner can turn you or I can bind your life force with Calder’s. You’ll have to ingest his blood and you’ll become a wolf like him. If I do this, then you two would be irrevocably linked. If he is killed, you would die also. If you die, so does he.”

Ricki tried to speak, but her voice fell short. She cleared her throat. “And if Conner turns me, what then?”

“You live the rest of your very long life as a vampire.”

Ricki’s eyes drifted from Kerry’s face to mine. The look in her eyes made my heart ache. “Did you mean what you said to me yesterday? About the mark and everything else?”

“Every fucking word.” It wasn’t an answer, it was a vow.

Her eyes closed and I saw her decision on her face. “Do the spell,” she whispered.

While Kerry spit out orders to the others, I moved back to my position on the bed with Ricki, cradling one of her hands in mine. Her breathing became lighter and slower and I could hear the time between heartbeats growing longer. I wanted to scream for them to hurry, but I knew that magic couldn’t be rushed. Kerry had to do this right or the spell would fail and Ricki would die.

“Ready?”

I looked up at Kerry’s question. “Yes.”

I listened as she began the incantation, my heart pounding. I took the bowl she held out to me, then released Ricki’s hand so Kerry could prick my finger with her knife. As my blood mixed with the water and herbs in the bowl, power flared in the room, buzzing along my skin like an electrical current.

When Kerry repeated the process with Ricki, the magic in the air doubled, causing goose bumps to rise on my skin. As Kerry carved symbols on to the white candle in her hand, the power continued to swell until it felt like biting flies crawling on my body.

When the candle was lit, it was time for me to drink from the bowl. I grimaced at the taste but drank until Kerry motioned for me to stop. Then I tilted Ricki’s head up so she could finish the mixture.

“As I will it, so mote it be.”

As the spell was completed, the magic swarmed me, pouring down my throat into my chest. It threatened to crush me beneath its unseen weight. I gasped, my body snapping taut. Vaguely, I heard Ricki suck in a pained breath as she became rigid next to me.

My lungs refused to work. They burned and shuddered as I tried to breathe. I clutched my chest, drowning in magic as my consciousness faded away into nothing.

Ricki

M
y head throbbed
unmercifully, waking me from a sound sleep. God, had I drunk too much tequila again?

I moaned and lifted a hand to my aching skull. This had to be the worst hangover I’d ever experienced.

The tang inside my mouth reminded me of the stench of stinky feet and felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton. I licked my lips, but even my tongue was dry.

Gentle hands cradled my head, lifting it slightly so I could take a small sip of blessedly cool water. After the third mouthful, I began to cough, my throat burning. The glass was pressed to my lips again.

“No more,” I croaked.

The glass was removed and my head lowered back to the pillows beneath it. Somehow I found the strength to pry my eyes open into slits. I hissed and winced at the brightness of the room, clenching my lids shut tightly. There was movement and a click.

“Okay, the lights are off,” a quiet voice murmured.