“How could she just throw her arms up and freeze a three-hundred-year-old vampire like a fucking icicle? You don’t have that skill and even if you did, you two haven’t bonded yet, have you? And how did she even find us in the first place? Did someone leave the door open?”
Dev sighed. He’d been wondering all the same things. Unfortunately, they were going to get no answers until Kate awoke. He had a feeling she wouldn’t be much help in providing the answers either.
“I don’t know, Ren. I guess we’ll have to wait until Kate regains consciousness and try to get some answers. In the meantime, I need you to help Giselle keep control of the situation down there. By now, the way she and Damian constantly go at each other, one of them may already be dead.
“Tell them as little as you can for now. They’ll be demanding answers soon. Answers that we don’t even have ourselves yet. And make it clear in no uncertain terms that no one is to touch Kate.
“One more thing. We need to get Big D here. Tell him it’s urgent. I want him here ASAP.”
“Why do we need the doc? You said you think she’s gonna be okay.” Ren looked genuinely concerned.
“Because we need some of her blood drawn and analyzed. Shit is not right here, Ren, and we need to find out what it is. I’d prefer to have the blood drawn before she wakes up. I’m quite sure she won’t be in such an amenable mood then.”
“Right. I’ll let you know if I run into any issues.” He turned and made it to the door before turning around. He spoke softly. “Do you need anything, my lord?”
Ren and Dev were as close as brothers. They were so close they could feel each other’s emotions and that happened in very few vampire-to-vampire relationships. Ren could feel the fear, concern, and confusion coursing through his friend’s body and Dev was momentarily touched. Two days ago, Ren would have never asked him such an innocuous question, but even Ren had apparently noticed the subtle changes in him since Kate had swooped into his life. He’d have to be very careful around everyone else. They would perceive emotion as a sign of weakness and he would be challenged for his position as Lord. That was the last thing he could afford at the moment.
“No, my friend. Thank you.” Ren nodded sharply once and left the room, Leo on his heels.
Dev had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. The skill of stasis that Kate demonstrated earlier was most definitely a vampire trait, not human. But vampires were not dreamwalkers. Only human females were dreamwalkers. And Kate was definitely a dreamwalker. Of that he was one hundred percent certain. So if Kate was exhibiting a vampire skill but was a dreamwalker, what did that mean? He’d never heard of such a thing.
After the brutal murder of his entire village, his only family, he’d tried to figure out how a single vampire could have possibly killed everyone and escaped unscathed. Decades later he discovered Xavier had a very powerful gift that no one was aware of because they didn’t know his lineage.
Vampires had many skills superior to humans. All vampires could compel. All vampires had superior strength, speed and agility. And each vampire bloodline possessed a unique skill, passed down only within their bloodline, such as reading thoughts, emotions, flashing or telekinesis. His was the ability to make someone believe an illusion was real.
It couldn’t be possible, but he knew of only one bloodline that boasted the particular skill that Kate had demonstrated earlier.
Chapter 31
Kate
Kate tried opening her eyes. They felt heavy, the inside of her eyelids like sandpaper against her tender eyeballs. Her head hurt like a mother and she reached up to feel a knot on the side of her skull. What happened to her?
She managed to crack one lid and look around. She was in Dev’s house. Dev? Oh crap. Everything came hurtling back so fast, she forgot about the wound and sat up without thinking. Oh God. Bad, bad idea. A thousand needles stabbed her skull and forced her back down, groaning in agony.
Dev came rushing out of the bathroom to her side. “You’re finally awake.” Thank God. Thank God. He cautiously sat on the edge of bed, like he wanted to touch her, but didn’t dare.
Oh no, it’s happening again. She was hearing him in her head. He most undeniably had not said Thank God aloud. What the hell was happening? It all started when she came to this godforsaken house. Tears pricked her eyes.
“How are you feeling, love?” Dev crooned.
How am I feeling? Hmmm…let’s see. Scared, confused, completely weirded out. Ready to fucking lose it. Instead she settled for, “My head hurts a little, but I’ll be okay.”