Catalyst Page 0,34

the law, were no longer palatable. The constant reminders made him restless.

If there was a time to turn on Sophia, it was now. For years, he watched Sophia wither away, her power dwindling like a dying ember. For many years, their strength was matched, but when he found a wild woman about two decades ago, things changed. The blood cured him. The blood from that woman was like nothing that they'd been able to breed. All of the years of weakness would have vanished if he hadn't lost her. Greed doomed him before. The King would not make that mistake again.

Shifting in his seat, the King watched his men through the windshield. They were trying to determine which direction the girl went, which path to follow. There were two snow mobiles and a bike. The motorcycle had spikes on the wheels that cut into the top layer of ice. As long as they kept ahead of the storm, they had at least one traceable path.

The King watched and waited, patiently planning the moment when he had Kahli in his hands again. There were so many things he wanted to do to her, but the thought of sucking every last drop of blood from her body dominated them all. There was no reason to wait this time, no need for prudency. Clenching and unclenching his fingers, the King thought about wrapping his hands around her neck and squeezing tight. The look of panic that would fill those green eyes, as he choked the life out of her was a bonus. Since he met the girl, she was defiant. No, it was beyond that - she didn't recognize him as her lord. She didn't think he was more powerful, better. Kahli would soon find out. It was a lesson that he couldn't wait to teach her. And then, with the untainted blood in his body, he could finally defeat the Queen and take over the monarchy. This was the beginning of a new life, a turning point which he intended to utilize.

A hand rapped on the glass window next to the King. The driver lowered it and the pane of glass slipped down. "We found a trail. They couldn't have gotten far, but - " the Tracker trailed off, his eyes darting to the side, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news.

The King looked at his nails, casually saying, "I could kill you now and ask someone else what's wrong." It sounded like a proper solution to a normal problem. The King sounded completely reasonable even though his statement was dripping with malice.

The Tracker swallowed hard. His skin had that sickly pallor like so many vampires had. It was too sickening to look at. The wind gusted hard, revealing more of the Tracker's face as his hood blew back and fell to his shoulders. They'd followed the vehicles to this point and then stopped. The storm was nearing rapidly. The King didn't want to wait.

"Both vehicles fell," the Tracker explained. "The snow mobile crashed. We found the remains along with one of the vamps from the garage. He was killed before the fall. Impaled."

"How do you know he was dead before? He could have been impaled from the fall. He could have helped her escape." The King glanced up at the man.

The Tracker shook his head. "No, the wound is old. Looks like the wound was executed the same way as the vamp in the garage. She took him to try and throw us off. His scent covered hers in the beginning, but she lost too much blood, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to track her."

"And?" the King snapped, sensing there was more bad news.

"Her vehicle flipped. It was decimated," hesitantly, he added, "and the bike that was following her went down as well."

The King didn't react. He stared into the Tracker's face, his voice perfectly calm, "You're saying they're both dead?"

"No, sir. There are no bodies. And if the wolves got them, there'd be blood everywhere, even if they were dragged off." The Tracker turned and looked at the place where the accident occurred before looking back at the King. "We think they're alive, or were, when they left here. They can't be far, traveling on foot and injured."

The wind gusted and blew the dry snow into the King's face. Wiping it with the back of his hand, he said, "Just find them," and put the window back up.

If he'd had more of Kahli's blood, there would be