Bite (Vampire Hunter 8.5)

He’ll be your conduit.

Galahad jerked in his bonds, remembering Soren’s prediction that they’d Truebond. That’s it! Hope shot through his chest.

The cultists knew Magi couldn’t work magic, so logically they hadn’t bothered to place a nullification spell on Galahad. If he Truebonded with Caroline, she’d be able to send the spell through the link with him.

It could work. Soren had implied it would work.

But…a chill stole over him as he thought of what contact with his mind might do to Caroline. It could destroy her as thoroughly as the witch’s knife.

But what choice did they have? If there was any chance at all, they had to take it. He’d simply have to protect her somehow.

Assuming, that is, they could form the bond. It would be easier if Galahad had been the one to change her into a maja, but since he hadn’t been, he’d need some other way to reach her.

Closing his eyes, Galahad sought inside himself, searching his mind for some trace of her.

“Arrhhh! Bitch!” Caroline screamed.

He flinched. Running out of time…

Don’t think about that.

Caroline. Caroline arching beneath him, her eyes vague with the hot pleasure of her rising orgasm. The scent of her, pure femininity, the taste of her mouth, of her sex. Her wicked sense of humor. The terrified courage on her white face as she’d prepared to jump through that gate.

Caroline.

There she was—a delicate, ghostly presence in his mind. A fragile link, formed unconsciously when they’d made love.

That had better be enough.

Concentrating hard, Galahad sent his mind flying out along it, reaching desperately for her. He hit some kind of resistance—the blanking spell—but he forced his way through.

Contact.

When he opened his eyes, a ring of fanged faces grinned down at him, gloating lust in their eyes. Sick terror gripped his soul, mixed with a woman’s helpless vulnerability. He could feel the pain of cuts slashing across Caroline’s sensitive breasts. They’re going to kill me, she thought in horrified despair. They’re going to torture me to death and kill me…

Galahad sent his thoughts into the swirling terror that held her. Caroline!

Galahad! How did you…? What are you doing?

We’ve got to Truebond, Caroline. If we bond, you can send the spell through me.

I can’t! They’ve taken my magic! Galahad, they’re going to kill me!

Despite his own fear, he sent a wave of calm authority along the link. No, no, listen. Nobody can take your magic, they only put a dampening spell on you. But there’s no spell on me. If we Truebond…

I can send the spell through you! Oh, God. We’ve got to do it now! She gasped as the knife raked over her flesh again. The cut was shallow, but the sting was vicious and terrifying. Jesus, Galahad!

Reach for me, Caroline!

The link snapped into place with an almost audible click.

THE touch of Galahad’s mind was like standing on the edge of Niagra Falls—a great, pounding mental presence, ancient and profoundly alien. Come to me, he whispered in her thoughts. The Truebond alone isn’t enough. You’ve got to be within my mind to work the spell.

Despite her fear of the cultists, she knew a moment of even greater terror. The vast weight of his mind could rip hers to shreds. There was no way she could survive.

Sharp pain sliced across her ribs, and Caroline jumped against the hard hands that held her. “I’m getting hungry, Marilyn,” one of the male cultists said over her head. “Quit playing with that knife and plunge it in. We’ll feed while she dies.”

“Patience, Roger,” the priestess purred. “This is the best part.”

And once they finished with her, Galahad was next. She was the only chance either of them had. With a mental howl of terror, Caroline plunged through the Truebond and into his consciousness.

Images bombarded her, too fast to process—faces she didn’t recognize, whirling past like leaves in a hurricane; a blade biting deep into a man’s neck; the reek of spilled intestines; a castle burning around her; flames leaping and crackling as heat seared her skin; a woman’s throat beneath her mouth, the give of flesh yielding to her fangs; someone’s sex gripping her cock; Morgana’s voice purring lewd instructions; her own laughter…

Drowning, blinded, Caroline screamed.

“Listen to the gutless little slut,” Marilyn laughed. “I haven’t even started yet, Maja. Just wait.”

But she knew in a moment it wouldn’t matter. Galahad was destroying her.

Caroline! His voice spoke in her mind. She felt him fighting to protect her, to block the memories, to shield her from the black images roaring through her mind. Warm, soothing, strong, he cradled her. All of this is just detail. It doesn’t matter. Touch me.

A bubble of silence formed around them like the eye of a hurricane. They were alone together. Even the cultists disappeared.

Suddenly he no longer seemed like some impossibly ancient predator, but a man. A man who struggled with a thankless, hellish job, yes, a man who despaired even as he continued to fight. A man she’d held and touched and loved. A man as vulnerable and lonely as she was.

Oh, a small voice said somewhere inside her. It’s you.

Yes.

Caroline opened Galahad’s eyes and looked across the chamber at the altar where the vampires held her pinned. She was inside him. The barrier that had blocked her from her magic had been left behind.

“Isc aff argia t’ri ke per,” she said in Galahad’s deep voice. The vampires looked around, startled.

Marilyn realized what was happening first. “Oh, holy fuck!” She lifted the blade to plunge it deep.

But even as it descended, Caroline and Galahad roared, “Ka avi ITA!”

Magic exploded from them in a flaming, boiling wave, whipping the knife from the priestess’s hand. Marilyn screamed as the spell hit Gierolf’s Grail. She tried to throw the cup aside, but it was too late. The grail flared black and imploded, sending a blazing magical shock wave expanding outward.

The magical burst hit Marilyn and her vampire assistants first, vaporizing them instantly.

The watching vampire warriors bellowed and turned to run, only to vanish as the shock wave hit them, too. Even then it kept going. Caroline sucked in a breath as it shot over Galahad and slammed right through the complex walls.

The spell holding Galahad broke. He dropped to his feet with a grunt of satisfaction.

Caroline opened her own eyes and stared at the ceiling of the chamber, then lifted her head cautiously.

Galahad strode naked across the chamber toward her. She rolled off the altar and fell into his arms with a shriek of mingled relief and pleasure.

But just as he lowered his head to kiss her, they heard a tiny whimper. They stiffened warily and looked around. “What the hell was that?” Galahad growled.

The girl they’d come to save lay looking at them, her eyes huge over her gag.

“Oops,” Caroline murmured. “Forgot.” Reluctantly they drew apart and went to free her.

10

CAROLINE lay on her back on Galahad’s bed. Gloriously naked, he leaned on one elbow swirling a strawberry in a bowl of frothy cream. “You know, I think I like this Truebond thing. Open up.”

Lazily, she complied. He stroked the creamy berry into her mouth. She closed her lips around it and sucked gently, knowing the sight—and the mental image of what she imagined sucking instead—would drive him crazy.

“Are you goldbricking, or did you actually accomplish your mission?” Morgana demanded from the foot of the bed.

Caroline screeched and sat up. Only belatedly did she remember to zap jeans and T-shirts onto both of them. “Don’t you knock?”

“No.” The witch rocked back on her spike-heeled sandals, cool and elegant in a white suit that contrasted brilliantly with her black hair. “Nice conjuring. Next time set wards instead, and I won’t be able to do this.”

Bitch, Caroline thought.

That pretty much sums it up, Galahad agreed through their bond. Aloud, he added, “What brings you barging in, Morgana?”

“Do you still need help taking that little nest of yours?”

Disgruntled, Caroline drew her legs beneath her to sit up. “No, it’s taken care of. We returned the surviving victim to her family, and the police think the cult that kidnapped her died in a fire.”