“Katerina has offered a sizable reward for your capture.”
“Oh,” she said weakly. “How much am I worth?”
“A cool million.” Andrei cursed softly. When word of this got out, Cutter’s Corner would be swarming with vampires and bounty hunters of every stripe. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”
Lifting her in his arms, he transported them to his lair. He had just removed Tessa’s shoes and tucked her into his bed when his cell phone rang.
He stepped out of the room to answer it.
“Andrei? It’s Luke. You’re not going to believe what I found in that goth hangout on Chatham Road.”
“A wanted poster?”
“How’d you know?”
“I just took one off the vampire who had Tessa.”
“Is she all right?”
“Yes. A little shaken up. We’re at my place.”
“She doesn’t really have anything to worry about anymore, does she? I mean, if a vampire bites her, he’ll die. Shoot,” Luke said, laughing. “She’s the ultimate weapon.”
Andrei grunted softly. Luke was joking, but it suddenly occurred to him that Luke was right. It had taken only a few sips of Tessa’s blood to destroy the vampires he’d held captive. Yet her blood had protected him from Katerina’s bite. A bite that should have been fatal.
“Anything I can do on this end?” Luke asked.
“Just be careful. And check in on Bailey, will you? Make sure she’s okay.”
“I’ll head over there now.” Luke whistled softly. “A million bucks! Damn. I don’t know who’s handing out those flyers for Katerina, but you know when word spreads, this town will be crawling with bounty hunters and vampires.”
Andrei’s hand tightened on the phone. “Yeah.”
There was only one way to put an end to this, he thought as he disconnected the call.
And that was to put an end to Katerina.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Katerina prowled Cutter’s Corner, her rage growing with every step. Impossible as it seemed, Andrei and his friends had thwarted her at every turn. Like scared rabbits, Tessa, the were-panther, the hunter, and his woman were all safe inside their holes.
As for Andrei—the traitor!—try as she might, she couldn’t find him. He had shut her out of his mind. Even more unbelievable, he had managed to block the blood link between them so that she could no longer track his whereabouts, something that had never happened before.
Something that should have been impossible.
She was his sire. It was her blood that had brought him back from the brink of death.
She cursed his name, her anger and frustration mounting with every passing moment.
It was the woman, she thought. Tessa. Something about her blood had transformed Andrei’s, making him stronger, impervious to his sire’s power over him.
How was it possible? If the woman’s blood made Andrei stronger, Katerina mused, it should work for her as well. And if it did, she would again be dominant and he would again be at her mercy. And then she would destroy him for his infidelity.
She lifted her head, nostrils flaring at the scent of prey.
Rounding the corner, she saw a young man strolling toward her. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark brown hair and the muscular physique of an athlete.
Unleashing her preternatural power, she slowed as he drew near.
When he was an arm’s length away, he stopped, his expression slightly puzzled. “Do I know you?” he asked, sounding as confused as he looked.
“No.” She ran her nails over his chest. “But you will.”
“What do you want?”
“You.” She took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. He smelled so good. Young and healthy. And ripe for the taking. Her gaze trapped his, drawing him closer. She had thought to drain him dry but killing him suddenly seemed like a terrible waste. “What’s your name?”
“Noah.”
“I’m Katerina.” She linked her arm with his, tugging him along as she continued on her way.
“Where are we going?”
“So many questions. You’re not married, are you?”
“No.” He glanced around, his expression troubled.
“Relax,” she purred. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m going to give you a gift, a wonderful gift.”
She hadn’t turned anyone—male or female—in a very long time. Killing was so much more satisfying. But the thought of making a new vampire was suddenly appealing. Fledglings could be entertaining in so many delightful ways.
So eager to please their sires.
She would turn him tonight, she decided. And when he woke tomorrow, he would be hers, subject to her every command, her every whim. She knew instinctively that he would be easier to control than Andrei had ever been.
Noah would be a pleasant distraction until she found a way to rid the world of Andrei and his whore.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Tessa stared at the ceiling. All this fuss about her blood. Why was it different from everyone else’s?
She’d had blood tests in the past. Doctors had never found anything out of the ordinary. So, what was it that made her blood so unique? So deadly?
It destroyed fledglings, but not Andrei. Why?
Why did it attract newly-made vampires, only to kill them?
Sitting up, she wrapped her arms around her knees. Maybe she should quit her job at Milo and Max and take up vampire hunting. She could wander the streets, luring fledglings to their death. One quick taste of her blood. One dead vampire.
“I could probably make a fortune,” she muttered. On the other hand, maybe Andrei was right. Maybe becoming a vampire was the answer. She considered it a moment, then shuddered. No, there had to be a better solution. But what if there wasn’t? Andrei said word that her blood was poison to fledglings would spread quickly through the vampire community, but the world was a big place. There was no way to contact every fledgling. And what about the vampires who weren’t fledglings but not yet master vampires? Were they also hunting her?
She glanced at the doorway, wondering who Andrei was talking to, and how long he was going to keep her here. Not that she wanted to go back to her place. Her place! Bailey!
Tessa dug her cell phone out of her pocket, grateful her vampire-kidnapper hadn’t thought to take it away from her.
“Bailey? It’s Tessa. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Where are you?”
“I’m at Andrei’s. I don’t think you should stay at my place alone.”
Bailey paused before saying, “I’m not. Tristan is here.”
“Oh?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“I . . . I guess not. Keep in touch, okay?”
“Okay. I’m glad you’re all right. Bye.”
Tessa tapped her fingers on the phone, wondering just what was going on at her house. Bailey was young, impressionable, hormones raging. Tristan was a little older, handsome . . . and they had the house to themselves.
She looked up when Andrei stepped into the room. “Everything all right?”
“Yes. That was Luke. I asked him to look in on Bailey.”
“I just talked to her. She said Tristan’s there.”
“Ah.” There was a wealth of understanding in that simple exclamation.
“Yeah,” Tessa muttered. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
* * *
Bailey’s heart skipped a beat when Tristan pulled her into his arms. “I’m crazy about you—you know that, don’t you?”
“You’re not just saying that to persuade me to be your life-mate, are you?”
“Of course not! Besides, I wouldn’t take you for my mate if I didn’t care for you. I mean, seriously, why would I want to spend the next hundred years or so mated to someone I couldn’t stand the sight of?”
“A hundred years!” Bailey exclaimed.
“Yeah. Didn’t you know? Were-creatures live a long time. I have
an uncle who’s almost a hundred and fifty. We don’t age like normal people, either. Once you hit your twenties, the aging process slows way down.”
“Wow, I didn’t know that.”
He nodded. “You’ll be in your prime for a good long time.”
She digested that a moment, thinking that being a were-panther was looking better all the time. “So, if I agree to be your mate, will we get married, like in a church? I’ve always wanted to wear a long white dress.”
“That comes later. Being life-mated is kind of like being engaged. We’ll stand in front of the pack and pledge ourselves to each other. We’ll get married when you’re eighteen.”
Bailey pondered that a moment. It was just as well that they weren’t getting married now because there was no way she could afford a wedding dress. Or a wedding. The Fischers certainly wouldn’t pay for it, not that she would think of asking them! “I’d like Tessa and Andrei to be there.”
“I don’t know if that’s permitted. I’ll have to ask, since outsiders aren’t usually welcome.” His arms, corded with muscle, tightened around her. “I love you, Bailey. I knew you were meant to be mine the first time I saw you. Say yes and I’ll do everything in my power to protect you and make you happy.”
She gazed into his eyes, eyes that burned with a soft golden glow. She basked in the warmth of that glow, filled with a sudden inner peace and the sure knowledge that she was, indeed, meant to be life-mated to Tristan.
His kiss, when it came, was slow and sweet. It made her heart pound and her toes curl inside her sneakers. The warmth that had suffused her only moments ago quickly became a raging fire and she clung to him, her hands restless as they delved under his shirt to caress his skin. Skin that was firm and smooth. The mere touch inflamed her senses, as did his kisses and the sweep of his tongue.
All sense of propriety was swept away in that kiss. He wanted her. She wanted him. If they were destined to be mated, why wait?
Bailey was ready to surrender to the desire thrumming through her when someone knocked at the door. As one, she and Tristan sniffed the air and said, “It’s Luke.”
Sitting up, she straightened her clothing. “How soon are we supposed to life-mate?” she asked, breathlessly.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready,” she said, and went to open the door.
* * *
It was odd, being in Andrei’s bed. In Andrei’s lair. Tessa grinned faintly. The lair of the lion. The lair of the dragon.
The lair of the vampire.
“I’ve seen too many horror movies,” she muttered.
“Did you say something?” he asked, coming to sit on the edge of the mattress.
“No.”
“The lair of the vampire?” he said, arching one brow in wry amusement.
She shook her head. “I’ve got to work on keeping those walls up.”
“I’ll take you home if you’ll be more comfortable there.”
“I like it here. It feels, I don’t know. Kind of dangerous.”
“You have no idea.”
“I’m glad you’ve never brought anyone else here,” she said, though, of course, she meant other women. “Will you marry me when my parents get home?”
“Is this a trick question?”
“Will you?”
“Any day you like, my sweet. Why the sudden rush?”
She punched him on the arm. “Why do you think?”
“Getting tired of saying no, are you?”
She nodded. “You have no idea.”
“You think not?” Moving so that his back was against the headboard, he drew her into his arms.
“Why do you think my blood kills fledglings but not you?”
He blew out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know. It’s a mystery to me, too. All I can think is that it’s because I’m long past the fledgling stage.”
“Why do you think Katerina wants me?”
“Her bite should have destroyed me. It didn’t. I’m sure she wants to taste you, to see if your blood will increase her powers, or perhaps make her invulnerable to another master vampire’s bite. Her sire’s, perhaps.”
“He’s still alive?”
“As far as I know.”
Tessa found it hard to imagine anyone living longer than Katerina and Andrei. Some people lived to be a hundred, perhaps even a few years more. But Andrei had lived in medieval times. It was mind-boggling, the things he must have seen in his long life, the changes in the world, in people, and technology. He had seen things and places that no longer existed.
Andrei drew her closer, his lips moving in her hair as he whispered, “Can we talk about something else now?”
“What did you have in mind?”
His gaze moved over her, hotter than any flame, as his hands caressed her. “What do you think?”
“You don’t play fair!” she squeaked as his tongue burned a path along the side of her neck. She felt the touch of his fangs, knew he was waiting for her to say yes or no.
But refusing never crossed her mind. She was determined to wait until they were married before surrendering her virtue, that was true, but the sensual thrill of his bite and the exquisite pleasure that followed was not to be missed.
* * *
Tessa was still thinking about the uniqueness of her blood when she woke the following morning. Andrei rested beside her. He lay on his back, one arm across his waist, the other at his side.
Sliding out of bed, she tiptoed out of his lair and up the stairs to the living room.
Settling on the sofa, she called work and told Mr. Ambrose she didn’t feel well and needed the day off.
Her next call was to her mother. “Mom? Hi. What? No, I’m fine . . .” She frowned as static came over the line, and then the sound of music. “I guess I caught you at a bad time.”
“Not at all,” her mom said. “I was going to call you tomorrow. We met the Harringtons in Sydney. They’re on their way to New Zealand and your father and I decided to extend our vacation another few days and go with them. I mean, who knows when we’ll be in this part of the world again? What was it you wanted, Tess?”
“I was wondering . . . I mean . . . do we have any psychics or mystics or anything like that in our family background?”
“Is that why you called?” her mother asked incredulously.
“It’s important, Mom.”
“Why the sudden interest in your ancestry now? I tried to get you to help me with our genealogy a few years ago with no success.”
“I’ll explain it all to you later, I promise,” Tessa said, and hoped it was a promise she would be able to keep.
“Well, your paternal great-grandfather was a Cherokee medicine man rumored to possess mystical powers of some kind, but that’s all I know. I tried to find out more about him once, but there was no one left to ask. His wife and children all passed away before he did.”
“Mystical powers,” Tessa murmured.
“What’s that, dear?”
“Nothing. Do you happen to know his name?”
There was silence on the line. Tessa could almost see her mother’s face scrunched up as she searched her memory. “It was Chea Sequah, I think. Yes, that was it.” Her mother spelled it out. There was more static on the wire. “. . . means Red Bird.”
“Thanks, Mom. When are you coming home?”
“We’ll be back on the twenty-third, just in time for Christmas. You’re coming home, aren’t you?”
“Of course.” Tessa worried her lower lip, debating whether to tell her mother about Andrei. In the end, she decided that the news that she was marrying a vampire should probably be conveyed face-to-face. She was about to say good-bye when static crackled over the line and the phone went dead.
Sitting at Andrei’s computer, she logged on to Google, the researcher’s best friend. “Chea Sequah,” she muttered, typing the name in the search bar.
And there it was. Chea Sequah. As her mother had said, he had been a powerful medicine man
. Those who knew him believed he could change shape and travel through time. There were rumors that he had dwelt in darkness and that his blood had magical powers. When freely given, his blood possessed the power to heal; when consumed by his enemies or taken by force, it had been fatal....
Feeling cold all over, Tessa sat back in her chair. It was a story too fantastic to be true. And yet, her blood—freely given—had healed a bite that should have been deadly.
Maybe it wasn’t Andrei who was destined to bring her death and life, but the blood of an old Cherokee medicine man that ran in her veins.
* * *
Andrei listened carefully as Tessa related her conversation with her mother. Some might dismiss what her mother had said about the Cherokee medicine man as so much nonsense, but not Andrei. He had spent time with some of the Plains tribes, seen things he could not explain, heard things that sounded impossible until he viewed them for himself.
He had seen a Lakota shaman who could shape-shift. He had talked to a Cheyenne medicine man who claimed to be able to walk between worlds.
And he had seen a Comanche warrior who was also a vampire, and another who was feared because it was believed he was a witch. One and all, they had possessed mystical powers that could not be explained logically. Why not a Cherokee medicine man whose blood could heal or destroy?
“So,” he said when she had finished. “Chea Sequah’s blood killed his enemies or those who took it by force, but healed those he favored. Much like yours.”
Tessa nodded. She hadn’t really expected him to believe her and yet, why wouldn’t he? If anyone knew there were things beyond mortal ken, it would be Andrei.
“So, what do we do now?” she asked.
“I’m not exactly sure how best to put this knowledge to use,” he replied, choosing his words carefully. “Katerina knows your blood has had some effect on me. I don’t know if she’s figured out exactly what it is. Hell, I’m not sure, either. There’s no telling if she wants to kill you or drink from you.”
“Or both,” Tessa said, grimacing.
Andrei nodded. “Probably.” Katerina might be an ancient vampire, but she was also a jealous, vindictive female. He had no doubt that, given the chance, she would kill Tessa. He was reasonably certain that turning Tessa would protect her from most vampires. But nothing he could think of would protect the woman he loved from Katerina’s wrath.