“How bizarre this all is.”
She glanced around the room. “Is it?”
“I wouldn’t expect you to think so, seeing as how you grew up here,” Zack replied. “But believe me, this is like some kind of... I don’t know . . . a fever dream, maybe.” He shook his head. “It just isn’t natural.”
“No,” she said slowly. “I guess it isn’t.”
Zack took her arm and they moved to the side as a couple of male vampires quickly folded up the chairs and put them away. The doors closed over the screen, the projector slid back up into the ceiling.
A woman with long red hair took a seat at the piano and began to play a waltz.
Drake took his wife into his arms and swept her onto the dance floor. Several other couples followed their lead.
Zack looked at Kaitlyn. “Shall we?”
“I’d love to.”
It felt good to be in his arms, but it was hard to relax when her parents were nearby, surreptitiously watching her every move. Determined not to let it bother her, she smiled at Zack, her stomach doing a crazy flip-flop when he smiled back.
“It’s like dancing among the stars, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah. I thought the Skylight Room was pretty amazing, but this place beats everything I’ve ever seen.”
“You aren’t . . . you’re not going to leave, are you?”
“Not unless you go with me.”
“I love you, Zack.”
“I know, Katy darlin’.” Bending down, he kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you, too, although I don’t think your father will ever approve.”
She couldn’t argue with that, not when her father was scowling at her from across the room.
“Come on,” she said, taking Zack’s hand in hers. “Let’s go for a walk.”
It was a beautiful, clear night. Hand in hand, they strolled along a winding narrow path behind the Fortress that meandered through a copse of trees and opened into a lush green meadow.
Zack glanced back at the Fortress. It perched on the top of a craggy mountain like some medieval giant bird about to take flight. “Looks like Dracula’s castle,” he muttered. The only things missing were a full moon and a couple of wolves howling in the distance.
“It does not!”
“No? Take a good look. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Bela Lugosi peering out of one of the upstairs windows.”
“That’s my home you’re talking about,” Kaitlyn said, punching him on the arm.
“Ow!” He lifted his head as the breeze shifted, carrying with it the scent of prey. It aroused his innate instinct to hunt and stirred his hunger. “Katy, come hunting with me.”
Chapter 24
Kaitlyn stared at Zack. “What?”
“You heard me. Let’s go hunting together.”
She stared at him, speechless. Was he serious? A part of her was excited by the idea, another part was repelled. It was one thing to share blood with Zack in the intimacy of their relationship, quite another to feed from someone with him there, watching. Aside from sexual intercourse, which she had not yet experienced, she couldn’t imagine anything as intimate or private as hunting.
“Come on,” he coaxed, tugging on her hand. “It’ll be fun.”
“Fun!” she exclaimed. “You think hunting is fun?”
“Don’t you?”
She shook her head. It was necessary, it was satisfying, but it had never been fun.
“Have you ever gone hunting?” Zack asked. “Aside from those times with your father?”
“Rarely. It seems so . . . undignified. So . . . feral.” Truth be told, it embarrassed her.
He laughed softly. “Feral? Yeah, I guess hunting does tend to bring out the beast in me.” He stroked her cheek with his forefinger. “You don’t like that feeling of power, of being in total control?”
“Well, I’ve never really thought of it like that.” Hunting with her father had been remarkably civilized.
“And you call yourself a vampire!” Zack chided gently. “Come on, Katy, give in to your wild side.”
Hunting with Zack. How could she refuse? Just thinking about it awakened something buried deep within her, something that had been dormant for far too long.
He grinned, seeing the excitement in her eyes. “Stay close, Katy darlin’.”
“Zack, wait.”
“Come on, don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind?”
“What if . . . what if I can’t control myself? I don’t want to kill anyone.”
“Trust me. I won’t let that happen.”
“Some vampires turn into savage killers. How do I know that won’t happen to me? Alcoholics don’t know they’re going to be alcoholics until they take that first drink.”
“Believe me, Katy, you’re not the type to turn into some ravenous monster. For one thing, you’re only half vampire. I don’t think you were born with a killer instinct.”
“When I drank from you, I didn’t want to stop.”
“That was different. You’ll see.” He squeezed her hand again. “Are you game?”
“No, I’m the hunter.”
He laughed. “Great. Let’s go.”
Still uncertain she was doing the right thing, she trailed behind him as he moved through the meadow, as silent as smoke. She had expected him to head for the houses clustered in the valley, but he glided past them and moved on.
It took her a moment to realize he was headed for the small town located a few miles away.
“Open your senses, Katy. Feel the darkness around you. Let it become a part of you. Smell the trees, the grass. Listen to the heartbeat of the night. Do you hear that? There’s an animal in the brush just to your left. Can you hear its heartbeat?”
Katy did as he said, surprised at how different the world was when she concentrated on using her vampire senses. Her preternatural power was something she had never fully tapped into, preferring to think of herself as human.
It was as if someone had removed blinders from her eyes and unstopped her ears. The world was alive with sounds and sights and smells she had never truly appreciated until now. Everything seemed brighter, more alive. She saw things more clearly—each individual leaf on the trees in front of her, each blade of grass beneath her feet, each rock, the cricket chirping on top of the rock. Even the air seemed to smell different, fragrant with the scent of foliage and earth and meadow. Why had she suppressed this side of herself for so long? Why hadn’t her father told her it could be like this?