Page 64 of Bound By Blood

“I’m always right, Katy.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “I don’t know why, but I’ve always been reluctant to embrace that side of me,” she murmured, speaking more to herself than to him. “I always knew what my father was and I accepted it as normal, you know, the same way I knew and accepted what my mother was.” She frowned. “Maybe I played down the vampire part because I wanted to be more like my mother, because I knew my father had chosen a mortal woman for his wife, and I wanted him to love me, too.”

“I’m sure he loves you.”

“Oh, I know he does. But maybe, deep down, I thought he’d love me more if I was mortal, like my mother.” She laughed self-consciously. “I guess I’m being silly.”

“Not at all. We all want our parents’ approval.”

“Did you?”

“I would have, if I’d known them. My mother died in childbirth. My father refused to have anything to do with me.” Zack snorted softly. “I was raised by nuns until I was twelve, and then I ran away. I’ve been on my own ever since.”

“Oh, Zack, I’m so sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.” Over six hundred years, he mused. But it still rankled that his father had dumped him off at a convent in the middle of the night.

They walked in silence for a time. Lost in her own thoughts, Kaitlyn wasn’t immediately aware that Zack was no longer beside her.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw him standing as still as a stone, his eyes narrowed, his nostrils flared. “What is it?” she asked, starting back toward him.

“Shh. There’s another vampire nearby. One of your kind.”

Kaitlyn glanced around. Had her father followed them? But no, it wasn’t her father. She didn’t stop to wonder how she knew it was someone else.

She gasped when Zack grabbed her by the arm and pushed her behind him. Before she could ask what he was doing, she caught a blur of movement out of the corner of her eye. A moment later, a tall man wielding a sword materialized in front of Zack.

“Give me the woman,” he demanded, “and I will let you live.”

“No way.” Zack rocked back on his heels, his gaze intent on the other man’s face.

“You can give her to me,” the man said, “or I will kill you and take her.”

“You cantryto take her,” Zack replied, “oryoucan die now.”

The other man’s eyes narrowed.

It was obvious to Zack that the stranger had not expected any resistance. And just as obvious that he didn’t know Zack was also a vampire.

The other man didn’t waste time arguing. He lunged forward, his sword making a swishing sound as it sliced cleanly through the air.

Kaitlyn watched in horror as the blade cut through the place where Zack had been standing mere seconds before.

Only Zack was now behind his attacker. Kaitlyn whirled away as the stranger lunged toward her. He hadn’t taken more than a few steps when Zack snatched the sword from the other man’s hand and drove it through his chest.

The man staggered backward, his heart pierced, front and back, by his own weapon. He stared at Kaitlyn, his expression faintly bemused before he toppled to the ground.

Kaitlyn let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding, felt her stomach clench when Zack pulled the sword from the other man’s body, and lopped off his head.

She turned away, sickened by the sight.

“Katy, we need to go. There may be others.”

“The … the body. We can’t just leave it …”

“Yes, we can. I need to get you out of here.”

Feeling numb, she started to walk. She had gone only a few steps when Zack swung her into his arms. She felt an odd sensation, as if she was flying.

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