Free B006P1R39O EBOK by Lorraine Kennedy Page A

that she didn’t even know.
    “First I want to apologize for what happened to you.”
    “You’re a slayer!” Kathrina’s eyes turned hard.
    “It was a mistake. I hope you understand.”
    “So what do you want from me?” she asked.
    “I just want to help you. I know that you are planning to attack a coven of vampires. You are going to need all the help you can get,” he explained.
    “Go on,” Kathrina urged.
    “There are several of us and we could add to your forces significantly.”
    “Tell her the rest,” Nicole prompted.
    “We can also help you destroy Luciano … the vampire that held you hostage,” he added.
    Kathrina felt her chest tighten. She stared at Jordan, unable to say a word.
    “There is no way that the three of you can do this without help,” he told her.
    “I will not kill Luciano.” Kathrina finally spoke. “Why would I want to destroy him when he saved my life … after your people tried to kill me?” she reminded him.
    Jordan cleared his throat. “There’s something that you should know about this vampire.”
    Kathrina said nothing, but waited for him to continue.
    “Maybe you should be the one to tell her,” Jordan said to Nicole.
    Biting her bottom lip, Nicole looked at Kathrina with uncertainty.
    “Well I wish someone would tell me something.” Kathrina frowned.
    With a deep sigh, Nicole stepped to her bedside and took Kathrina’s hand in hers. “If we kill Luciano, the curse will end. That means that those we care about would be cured.”
    Kathrina shook her head. “That’s a myth!” I read the Book of Anu, and there is nothing like that in it.”
    Shocked, Nicole stared at her.
    “I’m sorry,” she told Nicole. “I didn’t want to risk telling anyone that I’d found it.” Kathrina was shamed by the half-truth. It was true that she’d felt it was too much of a risk to let others know about the book, but part of her had wanted to keep the words of the vampire to herself. It almost felt as if those words were for her alone.
    “Where is it now?” Nicole asked.
    “It was only partially translated so I sent it to a language expert. Omar’s vamps took it when they killed him.”
    Nicole shook her head, her disappointment evident. “You should have confided in us. We could have helped you.”
    “I know … and I’m sorry,” Kathrina apologized. “But I’m telling you that killing Luciano will do no good.”
    “Are you sure? Is that what is in the book?” Nicole wasn’t convinced. “Remember … you only read part of it.”
    Kathrina hesitated. It was true that she’d never gotten the chance to read the entire book translated, so she wasn’t absolutely sure. “No,” she told Nicole, “but what I did read and what I’ve learned from Luciano … I don’t believe it would cure anyone if we killed him.”
    “I just don’t understand why it is so important to protect him.” Nicole frowned. “He was going to kill you.”
    “She has that Stockholm syndrome … where the victim becomes attached to their captor,” Jordan offered the explanation.
    For just a moment, Kathrina had to wonder if the slayer was right. Could that be why she felt compelled to defend Luciano? As quickly as the thought entered her mind she dismissed it. There had been a connection between them, even before the night that he’d taken her from her father’s house. She was beginning to wonder if there wasn’t something to what Luciano had said about their souls being connected somehow.
    “You’re wrong,” she told Jordan in a matter of fact tone. “I just don’t believe it.”
    “You really do not understand the true extend of Luciano’s evil … do you?” Jordan asked her.
    “Enlighten me.” Kathrina gave him a frigid smile.
    “He is the one that killed your mother … not Omar.”
    For several moments Kathrina was unable to say anything. Each word that Jordan spoke seemed to take forever to penetrate her shock.
    Kathrina’s dark eyes turned black. “I don’t