Chapter 11
It had been a week since Kate’s transformation, and at last, she was finally beginning to feel like herself again, or at least, like a version of herself she could live with.
The hunger and overwhelming sensations were becoming manageable now, thanks to Sophia’s training and regular feeding from medical blood supplies.
Most importantly, she was learning to build mental walls against Aleksander’s intruding thoughts.
The episodes were becoming less frequent, and they were easier to recognize and dismiss.
For the first time since waking up in that alley, Kate felt hope.
She and Devon had been given a private suite in Sophia’s compound, a beautiful room with French doors that opened onto a garden courtyard. It was there, in the soft light of evening, that Kate finally felt ready to reclaim some of what Aleksander had stolen from them.
“You’re sure?” Devon asked, his hands gentle on her face as they stood beside the bed. “We don’t have to rush anything. We have all the time in the world.”
Kate smiled, her hand reaching up to trace along the edge of his jawline. “I’m sure. I need to feel connected to you again.”
Devon leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to hers. His kiss was soft, filled with all the love and patience he’d shown her during the darkest week of her life. Kate melted into him, and for a moment, everything was perfect in the intimate little bubble they had created.
This was Devon, her Devon, the man who had held her in the shower while she cried, who had promised to kill for her, who had never once looked at her with anything less than complete love and acceptance.
His hands moved to the buttons of her shirt, and Kate felt her body respond with an intensity that was both familiar and new. Every touch was magnified, the brush of his fingers against fabric, the heat of his skin, the sound of her own quickening breath.
She could feel the heat of his skin through the thin cotton of his shirt, a low, pleasant warmth that contrasted with the cool night air.
She could hear the whisper of fabric against skin, the subtle shift in his breathing, and could smell the change in his scent, which spoke of desire and love and absolute devotion.
“I love you,” she whispered against his lips.
“I love you too,” he replied, his voice rough with emotion. “So much, Kate.”
Devon’s shirt joined hers on the floor, and Kate ran her hands over the familiar landscape of his chest, marveling at every detail of his skin, every subtle change in temperature where her touch lingered.
This was right. This was them. This was—
Does he touch you the way I would, little Pet? So gentle. So hesitant. Does he know how much you secretly crave a firmer hand? Shall I show him?
Aleksander’s voice slithered through Kate’s mind like ice water, and she gasped, her body going stiff in Devon’s arms.
“Kate?” Devon’s voice was immediately concerned. “What’s wrong?”
Kate blinked, trying to focus on Devon’s face, but the image kept shifting. For a moment, she saw Aleksander’s pale hair instead of Devon’s dark locks, saw his cold blue eyes, saw the cruel smile that had haunted her nightmares.
“No,” she whispered, pressing her hands against her temples. “Get out of my head.”
You belong to me now. Every touch, every kiss, every moment of pleasure, I will be there. I am the author of this moment. I am the ghost in your machine. I will always be there.
“Kate, look at me,” Devon said urgently, his hands on her shoulders. “Focus on my voice. It’s me, it’s Devon. You’re safe.”
But Kate couldn’t focus. The room seemed to spin around her, and when she looked at Devon, she saw Aleksander’s face superimposed over his features like a double exposure. The maker’s mark on her breast burned like a brand, pulsing in rhythm with her racing heart.
“I can’t,” she gasped, pulling away from Devon’s touch. “I can’t do this. He’s here—”
Tell him how it felt when I turned you. Tell him how you begged.
“Stop!” Kate screamed, her voice carrying enough power to physically rattle the windows. “Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!”
The intrusion vanished as suddenly as it had come, leaving Kate gasping and shaking on the edge of the bed. Devon knelt in front of her, his face a mask of controlled fury and helpless love.
“When you were touching me, kissing me,” Kate whispered, tears streaming down her face. “I could see his face instead of yours.”
Devon’s hands clenched into fists, but his voice remained gentle. “It’s not real, Kate. It’s just the bond, just his way of trying to hurt us.”
“It felt real,” Kate said, her voice breaking. “For a moment, I couldn’t tell the difference between you and him. What if… what if I can never tell the difference again?”
Devon moved slowly and gathered her into his arms. Kate tensed up for a moment, afraid of what she might see, but this time there was only Devon, only the man she loved. Holding her while she fell apart.
“We’ll find a way,” he said against her hair. “This won’t last forever.”
“But what if it does?” Kate pulled back to look at him with despair. “What if every time we’re together, every time we try to be intimate, he’s there? What if he’s stolen that from us, too?”
Devon was quiet for a long moment, his jaw working as he fought against the rage that threatened to spill out from his chest. When he spoke, his voice was deadly calm.
“Then I’ll kill him sooner rather than later.”
Kate searched his face, seeing something there that was both comforting and terrifying. “Devon—”
“No, Kate. Listen to me.” Devon’s hands framed her face, his thumbs brushing away her tears. “Aleksander thinks he’s clever. That he can use the maker bond to drive a wedge between us and make us suffer for the rest of eternity.”
“Can’t he?”
“Only if we let him.” Devon’s eyes burned with fierce determination. “The bond is strong, but it’s not stronger than what we have.”
Kate wanted to believe him, but the memory of Aleksander’s voice in her head, the image of his face superimposed over Devon’s, made her doubt everything.
“What if I hurt you?” she whispered. “What if the bond makes me do something terrible?”
“Then we’ll deal with it,” Devon said simply. “Together. The way we’ve dealt with everything else.”
He stood and moved to the dresser, pulling out one of his shirts and bringing it back to her. “Here. Put this on.”
Kate slipped into the shirt, grateful for the coverage and the familiar, comforting scent of Devon that clung to the fabric. “What now?”
“Now we go downstairs and tell Sophia that the mental shields aren’t working fast enough. We accelerate your training, we find more techniques, and we hunt down the bastard who’s doing this to you.”
Devon’s voice carried a promise that made the hair on Kate’s arms stand up. This was the predator beneath the gentleman. Not her predator, but a predator nonetheless. Something ancient and dangerous, awakened by threats to what he loved.
That’s my man.
“And if we can’t block him out?” Kate asked.
Devon’s smile could cut glass. “Then we’ll make sure he doesn’t live long enough for it to matter.”
Kate felt something change inside her. It wasn’t the unwelcome influence of Aleksander. It was a resolve that matched the firmness in Devon’s voice.
“Good,” she said, her voice sharpening. “Because I want to be there to watch him die.”
Devon’s expression shifted to a mix of pride and concern. “Kate—”
“He violated me, Devon. He stole my choice, my humanity. He’s trying to steal my relationship with you, my ability to be intimate with the man I love.”
Kate stood up from the bed, Devon’s shirt falling to mid-thigh, the movement fluid in a way it had never been before.
“I want him to pay for that. I want him to suffer the way he’s made me suffer.”
Devon studied her face, seeing something there that hadn’t been present before her transformation, a capacity for violence that matched her capacity for love. It should have frightened him, but instead, it filled him with a fierce sense of pride.
“Then we hunt him together,” he said.
“Together,” Kate agreed.
Somewhere in the shadows of the night, other vampires were following Aleksander’s trail, gathering intelligence, and preparing for war.
But in this room, two predators had just discovered they were perfectly matched.
Devon watched as Kate’s gaze drifted to a silver letter opener on a nearby desk.
She didn’t pick it up, but her focus on it was so intense, so full of purpose, that he understood completely. The artist was gone, for now.
In her place was a hunter. His hunter. Their hunt had begun.
Aleksander had created a monster when he turned Kate.
He just hadn’t realized that the monster would be hunting him.