Vampire Apocalypse #2 Cataylst Read Online Free PDF Page A

make-shift
bowl. “You killed every Tracker, except me.”
    “Yes, except you and the deviant who took my
mother,” she pressed her lips together hard, like there was a
secret burning her tongue.
    “How’d you adapt so quickly? You were so
young when she was taken.” Will was careful, wording it so she
couldn’t tell that he’d been closer than she knew for longer than
she thought. He turned and went back into the cave with Kahli in
tow. Her voice soothed him in a way that nothing else could.
    “We were close to the safe house when that
happened. I should have gone onto the next, but I turned and went
back. At first I thought that Mother would come and get me, but
when I realized that she wasn’t coming back, I tried to make do on
my own. I was careless in the beginning. I stayed too long. I was
too small to fight the wolves. I could barely shoot a gun. Besides,
the shots attracted the Trackers.” She shrugged, watching Will put
the pot of snow over the fire, setting it on top of the logs.
“Where’d you find wood?” He had the feeling that she was going to
ask something else, and the fact that there were logs distracted
her. Trees that weren’t covered in ice were scarce.
    “It’s not wood,” he replied. “It’s a firelog.
They burn forever. Each bike is outfitted with a pack in case a
storm sets in and the guard can’t return to the palace. They were
in the frame of the bike, along with other things we need—well, the
basic stuff anyway.”
    She nodded and watched the logs. They weren’t
wood. Kahli could see it when she looked closer. Although it had
the appearance of bark along the surface, it was too perfect to
have grown that way. The fire did not consume the log. Instead it
glowed an orange-red and danced with flames, but the log was still
the same size as it was when she awoke.
    “So,” Will said, steering her back to the
conversation, “How long did you stay in that safe house?”
    Kahli watched him, her pink lips parted. He
felt her emerald eyes on the side of his face, burning a hole with
her contemptuous gaze. “Why are you asking?”
    Will sat in front of the fire and shrugged.
“Seemed like a good question. Everyone wonders how you survived so
long, alone.” His voice trailed off. He didn’t want to push her and
he wasn’t ready to admit what he knew.
    Kahli stared into the flames, breathing
softly, until she admitted, “I wasn’t completely alone.” She
glanced at Will.
    Will didn’t pretend to be surprised.
Misleading her was bad enough, he didn’t want to compound it by
lying, too. He cursed to himself when he realized it was the same
thing—an omission was a lie. They were two parts of the same
deception.
    “But you knew that,” she added after watching
him for a moment. He didn’t look at her. Instead Will removed the
steaming liquid from the fire and set it down. “It was you, wasn’t
it? The food and water? The one who chased off the wolves that
first time I left the safe house?” Her jaw hung open like she
couldn’t believe it. “Why?” she breathed, and inched toward him.
When he didn’t answer she touched his arm. The sensations she
caused, the river of heat that flooded up his arm, made him jump.
She was right there, those endless green eyes right in front of
him. “You never lost track of me, did you?” Her eyes darted back
and forth between his, wanting an answer that he couldn’t give.
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he
lied, but he was sure she felt it. He was certain she knew.
    Kahli didn’t press him. Instead she sat back
and lifted off her coat, revealing the torn dress beneath. Blood
soaked through the once violet front panel of her bodice. Kahli
reached around to unlace the corset strings. They were looser than
they had been. Will must have done it when he saved her. She pulled
the strings and felt the bodice loosen.
    “What about the clothes? They’re covered in
blood.”
    Will nodded. He handed her something white.