Free Blood Curse (Pulse #8) by Kailin Gow Page B

the head of a person you hate...I can only imagine what it's doing to you.”
              What it's doing to me , Kalina thought mournfully. At once tantalizing her, offering her the greatest pleasures, those she had for so long been denied, and simultaneously destroying her, breaking her heart over and over again. And she felt, too, the effects of that evil, Nereti's darkness, seeping into her, like an ink spill into her heart. Nereti's darkness was whetting her lusts, her appetites, making her colder and crueler, making her revel in Jaegar's submission to her in a way she had never done before. Nereti was like her dark twin – her other self – “two sides of the same coin,” Uzo had said. A shadow that she could never fully be free from. She swallowed hard.
              “Tomorrow,” she said, “we bring the fight to them. We don't wait for them to strike twice. We go straight to the palace where Octavius is being kept – we slay every last vampire, we fix Octavius, restore his brain...”
              “Kalina,” Jaegar's voice was low and full of pity. “Even if we defeat Nereti, there's no guarantee that it will fix Octavius. There's no evidence that he'll automatically go back to the way he was.”
              She shut out his words. “He will,” it was all she could think to say. “I know him. He will.”
              “In which case,” Samson said. “Let the humans get some rest. Max and Kal should go to a hotel – rest for a couple of hours, get your strength up for the next attack.” He had not flinched. The idea of an attack on Nereti, of an attack that would certainly threaten all their lives, seemed to mean nothing to him now. He had fought too many battles to really know fear.
              The vampires flew the humans into town. “The Marriot Johannesburg should suit,” Jaegar grinned,” at Kalina. “I put my card down – got us the presidential suite...”
    Samson cleared his throat. “As for us...we vampires need to feed.” He looked around at Justin and Jaegar.
              Jaegar took a step forward, clasping Kalina's hand in his. “I can feed all I want right here,” he said. “I'll stay with you, Kal. Keep you safe.”
              “Don't be foolish,” Samson rolled his eyes. “If you haven't fed you're not at peak strength, and then we'd all suffer for it. Do what I have commanded, my boy, and get yourself some fresh blood, if you cannot find vampire wine. Just be...careful with your appetites. Show the young one...” he motioned at Justin. “How to find a willing victim, how to feed without draining.”
              “I know all that already!” Justin cut in, a bit too eagerly.
              “He's still so young,” Samson added.
              Jaegar nodded. “You're right,” he said, taking Justin's hand. “We'll be back soon!” And with that, the two of them flew off, Samson close behind them, leaving Max and Kalina alone.
              They made their way to the suite. Certainly Jaegar's sort of place, Kalina thought grimly. Silks and satins everywhere – gorgeously decorated in a splendor that she still hadn't gotten used to, even after more than a few years with the Greystones and their maker. Still, she could certainly more than get used to the food. Room service brought up dish after dish – meat, fish, vegetable alike – and Kalina and Max wolfed them down, unable even to speak in their hunger.
              “Tomorrow we fight, I guess,” Kalina said to Max. “Do you think we can win?”
              “No,” Max's voice was soft and almost bitter. “But we fight anyway. That's what this battle is about. That's what we always do. We won't win by numbers alone, Kal. But we have smarts, and strategy – things most vampires don't have. And we're on the side of good. Deep down, I really believe that makes a difference.” She swallowed. “It has