Eternal Kiss of Darkness

Mack's voice rang in Kira's mind, just as strong and clear as it had been when he was alive. Save one life. She couldn't do anything to help the humans in the other room with the guards, but here was one person she might be able to save if she tried.

Kira grabbed Jennifer. No way would they make it if she limited herself to Jennifer's human speed; she'd have to carry her. Silently, she begged for the strength to do this without giving in to that overwhelming urge to feed. All her hunger saw was a bundle of juicy arteries in her arms, even if her mind recognized a terrified, traumatized girl who needed help.

Show me, Kira mouthed.

Jennifer pointed, and Kira darted off to the opposite side of the room, where Jennifer had snuck in from.

Mencheres drummed one finger on the armrest inside the Falcon 20 jet. It was the only visible sign of the tension boiling inside of him. It had been four hours since Aken told of Kira's location, and less than three of those hours had been spent flying. It had taken an hour alone to get to the nearest private jet charter company in Chicago and compel the humans into taking Vlad and Mencheres on an unscheduled flight immediately, but then more precious minutes ticked away while fueling and preparing the aircraft.

Then he couldn't force the pilots into pushing the plane to its maximum speed because the plane could only travel fifteen hundred miles before refueling - almost the exact distance from Chicago to the northern center of the Yucatan Peninsula, where the Chichen Itza ruins were. If the plane burned more fuel going faster than its cruising speed of almost five hundred miles an hour, they would run out of fuel before reaching their destination.

But now, it was time to notify others where Kira was, just in case he failed to retrieve her in time.

"I need your phone," Mencheres said to Vlad.

He handed it over. Mencheres dialed Bones first, looking out the small window at the dark expanse of water far beneath them. The Gulf of Mexico. They were less than an hour away from Chichen Itza.

"Tepesh," Bones answered his phone, not bothering to say hello. "Do you know where Mencheres is?"

"I am here," Mencheres replied calmly, even though he felt anything but calm.

"Bloody hell," Bones breathed. "When I last spoke to you, I thought - "

"I thought so as well," he interrupted with a hint of wryness. "But it appears I was not meant for that particular fate." His darkness might still find him, but not in the form of being trapped as one of the Devourer's akhs because he'd failed to complete the ritual.

"Where are you?"

"In a plane on my way to Chichen Itza in the Yucatan Peninsula. That is where Radje has Kira. I need you to come here. If I am successful in freeing her, someone will still need to force one of her guards to confirm to Radje that all is well when I meet with him later."

"You need him for that?" Vlad looked mildly affronted. "I'm twice as old and twice as capable."

"Call Veritas and tell her where Kira is," Mencheres continued, not addressing Vlad's comment. He and Bones had always been at odds with each other, no doubt due to their similar natures. "Tell her to come but not to inform any other Guardians. I can't risk word getting to Radje."

"You're still trying to keep me on the good side of the Guardians in case you don't come back from this," Bones said in rasping tones.

"Yes," Mencheres replied shortly. "Our line must be protected, no matter what."

"Grandsire, I . . ." Bones stopped, his voice breaking off.

Mencheres smiled slightly. Bones might call him grandsire because he'd made the vampire who later turned Bones, but Mencheres knew he wasn't the only one who felt that their relationship was more father and son.

"It doesn't need to be said. I know."

Then he hung up, meeting Vlad's sardonic copper green gaze.

"Why you and Cat care so much for that street peasant, I will never know."

"Because we see deeper into him than you bother to look," Mencheres replied. "You were worse at his age. I remember; I was there."

"If you meant to send for Veritas and Bones, why didn't you call them in time to arrive with us?" Vlad asked, switching the subject.

Mencheres looked out the window again. "Veritas will be more interested in securing proof against Radje than in saving Kira's life. And now Bones and Cat will have the opportunity to mend fences with her by passing this on personally. Veritas is a valuable ally, but they have some history with her to overcome."

"You'll need to keep several guards alive. You don't know which one of them Radje is supposed to call later."

Mencheres gave him a measured look. "That's why I needed more than just you here once I leave to meet Radje - because I can't take Kira with me."

Chapter 33

Kira ran through the jungle with Jennifer clutched in her grip. The sun had set, but that only deepened the spots of shade in Kira's vision instead of plunging it into total darkness as it would appear to Jennifer. She had her arms around Kira's neck, which brought her throat within mere inches of Kira's mouth. The constant booming of her pulse from Jennifer's body pressed to hers was almost enough to make her delirious with need.

That burning pain within her was so constant, she couldn't remember a time when she hadn't felt it. Kira ran faster, trying to do more than elude the guards she could hear chasing her. She was trying to outrun her hunger, that mindless, clawing thing demanding to be sated on the person right beneath her mouth. You can't help yourself, her need all but screamed at her. It's not your fault. You're a new vampire, no one could resist.

I can, Kira told that hunger. She wasn't just a new vampire. She was a new vampire who had some of Mencheres's incredible power running through her veins. That's why Kira awoke hours before the guards expected her to. Why she could go almost two days without feeding and not be insane with hunger. Why she could smash all the bones in her hands and feet without making a sound, and why she could keep herself from tearing into Jennifer's throat now.

Mencheres said she would need extra power if Kira was to let herself be kidnapped by Radje. He flatly refused to agree to her plan otherwise, no matter that Vlad and Veritas insisted Kira was right, and it was the best way to provide indisputable proof of Radje's involvement to the rest of the Guardian Council. So though she'd objected, Kira had let Mencheres will out some of the power Radje had longed for over the course of thousands of years, albeit in a much smaller dose. Then all Kira had to do was wait to be kidnapped when she went to see Tina, cloaking that new power so Radje and the guards were lulled into a false sense of security, never knowing Kira had some of Cain's legacy running through her veins.