Blood Secrets - By Jeannie Holmes Page 0,38
Her sudden flight ended when she crashed into something flat, hard, and cold. She lay for a moment, mentally adjusting to the abrupt termination of motion.
Groaning, Alex lifted her head, expecting to see the forest but was alarmed to find herself lying on a darkly stained hardwood floor in an unfamiliar room. Shelves lined all four walls, even above and below the bank of tall windows. Hundreds of eyes stared at her from the blank faces of dolls lining those shelves.
She sat up slowly.
And then the screaming began.
nine
VARIK FOLLOWED THE WIDE SWATH OF BROKEN TWIGS and churned-up earth that marked Alex’s and the shadow’s passing. The forest had grown eerily quiet around him, as though it waited, but for what remained a mystery.
He crept through the underbrush, senses on full alert. Reaching the edge of a basinlike hollow, he could see where someone had slid down the steep slope but saw no signs of either Alex or the shadow-thing, as she’d called it. He carefully navigated the slope, tracking the faint smell of jasmine and vanilla—Alex’s personal scent—that abruptly ended next to a jagged stump.
Fear kicked his pulse into overdrive. Casting caution aside, he called to her. “Alex!”
Silence.
“Damn it,” he muttered and used a controlled slide to reach the bottom of the hollow. He inhaled deeply, searching for any trace of her scent, but found none. “Alex!”
“She’s gone,” a voice answered from behind him.
Varik spun, lowering himself into a crouch and baring his fangs. When he spotted the man near a half-dead tree, his tension eased. He sighed as he drew himself up to his full height. “Where is she?”
Bernard Sabian stepped forward. The dappled light played off his snowy hair and highlighted the bright copper streak through his bangs that was the only remnant of his once-red hair. Dark green eyes, the same color as Alex’s, fixed Varik with an appraising stare. When he spoke, it was with an Irish lilt that never gave way to the Kentucky drawl possessed by his children. “Gone, as I said.”
“You made that part clear. Care to expound on it?”
“Her consciousness has slipped back into the physical world, but it didn’t return to her body.”
Varik stared at the shade of the vampire who’d been his partner and friend for nearly a century. When Varik first joined the Hunters, he’d been singled out as one of the most promising recruits and assigned to the Special Operations unit. Eventually he worked his way into the position of tracking corrupt Hunters and eliminating them, but to find them, he relied on the psychic readings of Bernard Sabian in addition to traditional investigatory methods.
He crossed his arms over his chest. Dread nibbled at his spine and knotted his stomach. “Where is she, Bernard? What’s happened to her?”
“For lack of a better term, Alexandra has become a ghost.”
“Where is she?”
“I’m not entirely certain.”
“Can you track her?”
“Yes, but I need to send you back through the Veil first.”
“I’m not leaving without Alex.”
“Where she’s gone, you cannot follow.”
“Bernard—”
He held up his hand to stave off Varik’s protest. “I will retrieve her, but you have to leave—now. The longer you remain in the Shadowlands, the greater the risk becomes of you never leaving.”
“I know the risks. I’ve been here before, remember?”
“Yes, and if I hadn’t pulled you back through the Veil, you would’ve been a permanent resident. You barely survived the transition as it was.”
Varik dropped his gaze to the leaf-strewn ground. When he was young and still inexperienced, he was given the task of tracking down a vampire who’d killed several humans. He found the rogue, but unbeknownst to Varik or his superiors, the vampire was a moderate Talent. Varik ultimately achieved his goal and eliminated the other but not before he dealt Varik a psychic blow that left him on the wrong side of the Veil.
Bernard had found Varik, saved him, and took it upon himself to train the young Hunter in psychic self-defense. Even though Varik was a Nil, a vampire with no discernible Talent, he learned to construct elaborate shields to protect his mind. A skill he’d found particularly useful blood-bonding with Alex.
A hand clamped on his shoulder, and Varik met the steady gaze of his deceased mentor.
“Once I find Alexandra, returning her consciousness to her body won’t be easy. The transition will be difficult, and you must be in the physical realm to provide an anchor for her.”
“Blood calls to blood.”
Bernard nodded.
“I’ll go,” he answered the unspoken question in Bernard’s eyes. “But answer one question first.”
“Yes?”
“How