Forever Endangered

By Carolina Montague

Kim Parker and Rakesh Alcourt shelter inside a decommissioned Titan missile silo, recovering from near-fatal wounds incurred in their battle with Kronos, the vampire creator of a virus that is depopulating humanity. While humans die by the millions, Kim and Rakesh search for cures and for Kronos. When they venture into nearby Denver, Kim is captured which sends Rakesh into a tailspin. Just three weeks ago, Kronos threatened to skin Kim alive. While Rakesh desperately searches, Kronos takes Kim on his cargo-container ship and has his surgeon operate on her. Kim fears Kronos may have had something implanted inside her. After she is released, the secret within her body proves more perilous than anything she feared. And the repercussions shake the very foundations of the love she shares with Rakesh.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Mar 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781509219742

Book preview

Paradis

Chapter One

The sapphire and cobalt night sky offered a clear arc above him.

It was his favorite time of night, just after sunset, when vivid indigo, jade, and crimson light jeweled the rim of the horizon. The sky overhead still held dark shimmers of the azure of daytime skies. Seeing these echoes of the day out here where he was safe from the certain death the sun would bring filled his heart with shades of peace. When he drew in a shallow breath, he detected the warmth emanating from thousands of bodies, which told him that a city packed with warmbloods nestled within fifty miles…

Rakesh clenched his hands and gave his head a sharp shake to halt the instinct to seek prey. Hunger had haunted him since he’d been critically wounded only a week ago. His body required more sustenance. But he had no time for that now.

Just fifteen feet away, the woman who defined his existence knelt on the heavy launch doors of the decommissioned Titan-missile-silo main bay. Kim’s abundant shoulder-length black hair was now cinched tight and braided. Her hair used to flow down to the middle of her back, but he’d cut it so they could avoid capture by human police who were looking for them. He watched her usually mobile and expressive face, now imbued with the complete stillness of his own kind, as she contemplated the perimeter of the launch bay.

They were both outside the confines of their underground lair, exposed to the dangers of snipers, bombers, and kidnappers. He had to squelch his vast protective instinct, the urge to keep her safe. She was too far away from him. But she would hate it if he crowded her.

She’d already made that abundantly clear.

Kim now wrapped her arms around her waist and stumbled to her feet. He reached for her but fisted his hands again to stop from approaching unless she really needed his help. She teetered for a few seconds before she planted her feet about a foot apart. Rakesh clamped down on the need to steady her, to insist that she go back inside the silo. After a long moment where she just stood, she tilted her head and stared up into the obsidian sky crowded with stars. The sky overhead no longer held the faint shimmers of fading daylight.

What! Rakesh scanned the horizon, where the deepest blue of early evening had already given way to velvety black. When had complete darkness fallen? He checked his watch. A whole hour had passed since they first came out here at sunset. He’d had no sense of time passing. How could that be? A shiver of alarm crept through his limbs. He needed to be alert for danger, yet he’d fallen into some kind of trance. Kim, we need to—

Kim halted his speech with an upraised hand. My eyes are changing again. She squinted, then opened her eyes wide and blinked several times. Vision seems wider too.

Full transformation usually takes a few years. They wouldn’t even have that long if he couldn’t take her to safety soon. He examined the sloping hill that held the bulk of their silo and didn’t find anything out of place, but they had to get back inside where his human friend was running a computer program to find the safest place he could take Kim so she could heal.

They needed to be underground, where there was a door he could slam shut, with several inches of steel to keep their enemies at bay. Where nothing would happen to Kim if he fell into the same kind of numb slumber he’d just experienced out here.

Do you know what that star is called? Kim stretched her left arm up and extended her forefinger. It’s huge. She didn’t seem at all worried, merely intrigued with the changes in her senses.

He glanced to where she pointed but kept most of his attention on her stance. It looks like a planet. He saw her stand with a wary stiffness. At this time of year, it’s probably Jupiter. Still, by just looking at her no one would ever guess that she had been eviscerated only seven days ago.

I used to watch the sky every summer when I was with my dad. Her voice held a trace of an old grief. She drew in a breath and flinched.

Hey! Rakesh vaulted to his feet, closed the distance between them, and took her arm.

She shrugged off his grasp. I’m good. A tiny shudder went through her slight frame as she glanced up at him. It’s been a whole week since I got hurt. She now strode along the top of the hill and looked all around. And I don’t want to spend another night inside that room with the doomsday clocks.

A week is not enough time for you to heal. He hated the flooding helplessness when he saw her try to hide the shudder that rippled through her shoulders as she walked. I’ll see if Charles will take down the clocks. They needed this place. Within the underground control center, they could shelter from the sun and use the many computers his human friend had installed. Tracking the activities of their enemies had exceeded Rakesh’s knowledge of computer systems. His human friend Charles was much more conversant with technology.

But Kim’s eyes flashed scarlet when he voiced his concern. Rakesh, you were hurt almost as bad as I was, and you were up and out the door in just a day.

I’m a Born-one. His species had evolved alongside Homo sapiens. We heal fast. But Kim was right. He’d been injured. That could explain his inattention. The Hunger prodding at him told Rakesh he needed more time to heal too.

I know you’re an uber-vampire. Her right shoulder twitched up. I used to be a puny little human, so my healing is slower, right? She looked down, contemplating the slope of the hill that fell away toward the other entrance to his human friend’s home in the decommissioned Titan missile silo.

He waited until he caught her eye and made sure she couldn’t look away. First, don’t ever underestimate humans. He’d had this drummed into him for centuries. Humans can operate in the sun and in the dark. That alone gives them an amazing advantage over us.

She fought his lock-gaze for a few minutes before she gave up. You’re right. I’m just feeling grumpy. What other advantages do we have?

Remember that you’re no longer human.

Right. She shrugged. Force of habit.

He released her from his stare. Humans are clever. We have some incredible philosophers and scientists, but our work in those areas come from building on human ideas, and from having centuries of life that humans don’t have.

That’s what you meant back when you told me the species with the shorter life span burned brighter? She poked at a tangle of weeds that had invaded a seam at the edge of the concrete slab.

Yes. They are the innovators, while we preserve. He gave the slope of the hill, the sweeping mass of grass ending in a tangle of brush, rolling off to the horizon, a thorough scan. My father said you can probably go hunting with me tomorrow. He offered this with reluctance. It had taken three units of blood from each of his parents to bring her back from permanent death. Blood from the elders of his species was the only thing that had saved her.

You mean I get to stay out tomorrow? She flashed a huge smile. I knew there was a reason I liked your father.

Don’t push your luck. He took her hand, checking her nails for signs of starvation. You need to feed.

I’m not hungry yet. She looked up. I don’t sense Kronos, do you?

He’ll be long gone. Rakesh’s former friend who’d turned traitor had escaped after slicing Kim open. Charles and my parents have been searching for signs of him. Kronos could be anywhere. The traitor could be right out there now, lurking, or could be thousands of miles away.

I don’t understand. He should be dead. That huge piece of metal went right through him.

It had. He’d thrust it into Kronos himself.

But now a stab of grief took him by surprise. Rakesh had never raised a hand against another Born-one. His act had been necessary to save Kim and his human friend Charles, but Kronos had once been his closest friend. As I said, Born-ones heal fast. The most important issue for Kronos, besides evading us, is to remove the metal before his body grows around it. It was a huge problem for his species.

"What? His body will grow around it? Is that for real? Kim gave a startled laugh, but her choked laughter ended in a slide to the ground. Damn, damn, damn."

He ignored her motion to shove him away, and he lifted her. We’re going back inside now.

Her pain must have overridden the stubborn independence she craved. She only nodded and allowed him to carry her down the slope to the rusted door leading into the silo complex.

Kim could barely breathe as Rakesh pulled her closer, holding her with one arm and yanking the steel door open with his other. His massive strength always surprised her. How could he hold her with such tenderness, and yet haul open a door she knew from experience was almost as heavy as a truck? His human friend Charles relied upon the door’s counterweights to open it, which usually took a couple of minutes. She certainly couldn’t open it without help from the counterweights now—her injuries were too severe—but Rakesh just ignored the gash Kronos had sliced across his abdomen and manhandled the door open.

While his attention was on hefting the door, she peeked up at the incredible glory of his face, the burning golden eyes, the slight asymmetry to his wide, strong mouth, the wedge of his cheekbones, refined brow, the tangle of thick beard and moustache that had grown wild after he’d gone feral to protect her, and all that glorious, dark hair, not as long as he’d worn it before they went on the run, but now framing his face. This was another thing that completely amazed her. His beauty never failed to shatter her.

Yet the weird thing was, even if he looked like a toad, she would still love him.

It had only taken two minutes for cupid’s arrow to ram right through her. One minute happened when she’d witnessed Rakesh’s perfect thirty-foot jump after he’d caught her hiding, way up in an oak tree in the ultra-restricted fire zone of Yosemite. The other minute was when she witnessed an intense, sorrowing compassion burn across his face as he left her there to take down her equipment and leave the park.

Rakesh had promised to return and kick her ass out of the park if she didn’t leave, pronto. And of course, she hadn’t left. She just couldn’t resist thumbing her nose at Rakesh, the incredible night ranger who’d warned her to leave, so she tied a few of her environmental data instruments even tighter to the branches of the tall sugar pines that held her equipment. The fact that she was in a restricted zone, had been warned by a ranger, and hadn’t taken her equipment down as ordered, guaranteed the confiscation of her machines by another ranger who guarded the park with Rakesh. But after Rakesh returned her equipment to her, he kept showing up in her life. She’d had no idea he wasn’t human, and indeed, would have scoffed at the possibility that an intelligent species other than humans shared the planet.

It was only months ago, and yet now she could not imagine a single moment without him in her life.

She was such a goner.

He caught her staring at him as they entered the echoing chamber leading to the other door into the main tunnel. His eyes heated, but he looked away. It’s too soon for that. His voice held a slight quiver of regret as he shook his head.

You sure? She slipped her hand under his shirt and drew little stars across his chest, punctuating them in the middle with her nails. I was kind of hoping I could pin you down in one of the launchers.

Not a good idea. He strode to the inner door.

The truth was the injury had kept her pinned, through seven full cycles of the Rest, the vampire version of sleep. She looked up at the elegant line of Rakesh’s neck, his chin, the little quiver of his upper lip that told her he was trying to manage his reaction to carrying her.

Screw it.

She pressed a kiss under his ear, catching its lobe between her teeth.

That’s not fair. He pulled away and bit off a groan. Can you stand?

I think so.

Rakesh swung her down, but he had to help her stay steady on her feet. Even the deep healing of the vampire slumber hadn’t fixed her yet. Who knew how long it would be before she could run? Hell, even walking was hard. When Rakesh grabbed the handle of the inner door, she drew in a breath of the damp cement laced with the hint of steel that formed the maze of tunnels in their new home. She hated being cooped up and longed to return to her life.

Well, to be precise, her afterlife. But she’d spent seven days and seven nights lying flat on her back while Rakesh had gone outside, courting danger, following leads to find the man who had sliced her open, from her sternum to below her navel. While her injury had imprisoned her, Rakesh had gone out hunting for Agapetos Kronos, the Born-one vampire who had unleashed a designer virus to kill hundreds of thousands of humans, the vampire who had hunted them for months.

But worse than that, she’d spent the same seven nights in the scary company of Amartya, her almost mother-in-law.

Planning her wedding to Rakesh.

And Amartya was from India, from the time of arranged marriages and elaborate ceremonies.

Now it was Kim who bit off a groan as she stumbled toward the inner door.

A veritable ton of bridal magazines waited for her in the missile silo. Rakesh’s mother had ranged out at night and combed all the malls within a fifty-mile radius, returning with crates full of magazines, from American Bridal Glory to Queer Eye for the New Bride and Groom. After Rakesh’s mother had changed Kim’s bandages each night, she had thrust articles and pictures at Kim, asking her what she thought of them.

Rakesh opened the inner door and held it wide, looking back at her, a slight line invading the space between his perfect brows.

She simply shook her head and stifled a shudder. If only they could just elope.

Take it slow, love. He caught her arm and guided her into the tunnel leading to their living area. No need to rush things. He shifted a few magazines out of her way.

She squeezed his hand. Rakesh had an almost scary way of reading her mind. He’d shown this again and again when they had run from Kronos. I know she means well. With one hand holding her abdomen, and the other using the corrugated metal side of the tunnel for support, she looked away from the crates spilling mounds of frou-frou bridal magazines as she walked past them. But this is pretty overwhelming.

I’m staying in tonight if you need my support. Our wedding should be as you want it to be.

What about you?

I don’t care what you wear, or where we are married—his tawny eyes smoked right through her—as long as it means you’ll be by my side. He bumped into another crate and gave a startled frown when he shifted it out of his way. Wait. This one has men’s fashions.

Ha! You thought you’d get off easy. She enjoyed a full minute of watching Rakesh’s look of horror when he thumbed through the latest issue of The Man, featuring the hot new actor in Bollywood, Sidhartha Rao. Where did you go last night?

His eyes were still glued to the magazine. He held it with one hand and waved the other as he said, We were looking into visits to hospitals in a hundred-mile radius surrounding us.

Hospitals?

He’d need to have someone cut the metal grate from his body. Rakesh dropped the magazine and moved over to the bed his mother had set up for her.

Rakesh, how could he go to a human hospital? She limped over to where he stood. No human could have survived what you did to him. The grate Rakesh had rammed into Kronos was a five-foot-long metal span of the floor near one of the launch bays that Kronos himself had torn up and hurled at her. When Rakesh launched it at Kronos, it had gone through his upper chest on the right side, and all the way out his back. She’d been certain Kronos was dead.

But of course, he wasn’t. So she was locked up in here, just in case Kronos might return.

Better get you back in bed. Rakesh wouldn’t look at her now. When he wanted to hide something, he refused to look her in the face.

Rakesh. Look at me.

Come on, Kim. He stood by her bed but turned to face the arch to the control room, where five computers worked furiously on programs designed to trawl the net for anything that could point to Kronos. She checked the area of the circular room for Charles and Amartya, but the control room was empty. Rakesh’s father must still be roaming around outside too.

For now, they were alone.

Okay. There were other ways to get Rakesh to answer questions. Thanks for taking me out there tonight. She trailed her fingertips over his thick, sable hair and carefully stood on her toes so she could press a kiss against the back of his neck. Of course, even that chaste kiss had her fangs jutting out, and instead of sliding her lips softly across his skin, she grazed it with her lengthening canines.

He stilled but grabbed her wrists, pushing her slowly away. His eyes burned a track down her face before he closed them and moaned. He reached out and very gently cuffed the back of his hand under her chin.

All in good time, love. He still wouldn’t look her in the eye.

Aw, you’re no fun. She leaned in, nuzzling the space right under his chin, a place that for some reason drove him wild. When he gave a low, rumbling groan, she whispered, Which hospital?

He groaned again, this time in earnest as she lightly pierced the skin there. Ah. Hospital? His groan now sounded strangled.

Which hospital? she persisted, while she nipped and traced the space under his chin with her tongue, then drew her razor-sharp canines from side to side, drawing tiny droplets of blood.

Rapid Central— He shuddered but abruptly straightened, stepped back, and tightened his hold on her wrists. You are not going there.

Every cell in her body hurt, but she wanted so much to do something, anything, that was useful. Charles said he has a truck, so I won’t have to walk. Can’t we drive it there? But suddenly, what Rakesh had said stopped her. Wait. You said Rapid Central?

Yes.

That’s where they have my cousin JJ! Shit. Had that asshole Kronos taken JJ? Is he going after my whole family? Is that why you’re keeping me inside?

No. He still avoided her gaze but released her wrists.

Tell me! She tried to raise her hands to grab him, but instead she sucked in a tight breath when the hot ache down her abdomen lit on fire from her motion.

The aggressive clacking of spiked heels climbing metal stairs announced Amartya Alcourt. Her almost mother-in-law.

Amartya came around the curve of the huge metal tube encircling the winding stairs that climbed from the level below into the control room. And of course, she’d heard Kim’s comment. How can you help your cousin when you can barely walk? Amartya took Kim’s arm and turned her. Sit.

I just want to see that JJ’s okay. Kim shivered and did what she was told. She knew how strong Amartya’s hands were and how ruthless Rakesh’s mother had been in patching her up. As drugs don’t work on vampires, Amartya’s stitching had been an entire symphony of pain.

Now keep your arms down. Amartya slipped a metal tube into Kim’s mouth. It wasn’t anything like a thermometer, except in its placement under her tongue. Electric wires stretched from the tube to Amartya’s laptop.

Did you go to JJ’s room? Kim mumbled around the metal tube.

Somehow, Rakesh understood her. No.

Amartya removed the tube, tapped the laptop with her exquisite nails, and frowned.

Rakesh, please. Kim leaned toward him, now ignoring the tug on her stitches. When I saw JJ, it seemed like he was dead, and they were just waiting to do organ donation. She gripped Rakesh’s hand. Can we please go see him?

Absolutely not, Amartya answered for him. Rakesh, her core temperature is too high.

Let me see. Rakesh leaned over the laptop screen. After rubbing his chin and staring at the numbers, he shrugged. She’s okay.

So you say. Amartya disconnected the tube’s wires from the laptop. Let’s check your bandages. She unwound the mound of cotton dressings with a practiced hand, easing it off when parts of it stuck. Ah! Aside from a little tearing here and there, you are doing well. She set the old bandages aside. Stay right here while I get some fresh dressings. And don’t move!

Kim waited until the click of Amartya’s heels faded down the long stairway that led to rooms below. I don’t get it. Your mother is a doctor, but you know more than she does about what my temperature should be.

She doesn’t have a lot of experience with Transformed-one physiology.

She’s never turned a human? This was a surprise. Amartya seemed invincible, as if she’d done everything.

My father has; she hasn’t. The lower lid of his left eye twitched. Before you, I hadn’t either.

Oh. He’d turned her into a vampire to save her life. She still wondered if, in his heart of hearts, he regretted this.

Don’t worry. You’ll eventually become more like me.

I don’t have that human warmth anymore. Do you— She took a breath. Do you miss that?

He froze. All the life in his face stopped, leaving his features in repose, like a gorgeous statue.

She sat trying not to glance at the gigantic wound that jagged down her abdomen and instead watched the doomsday clocks tick into the silence as Rakesh slowly unfroze and life came back into his face.

When she was sure he was breathing again, she said, "This whole freezing-when-something-surprises-us is so not adaptive. She huffed out a laugh. The tug on her stitches turned it into a gasp. It’s a wonder your species ever survived."

But we did. He waited until she looked him in the eye. Kim. He took her hand. I don’t miss it. The clocks ticked into a silence that spread out over the peace in her heart at those four words.

I’m glad. She was much more than glad, but that would have to do while his mother lurked somewhere below them. But I’m not forgetting about JJ.

He snorted, but just said, I never noticed any disadvantage in the freeze reflex before. I’ll ask my father about it.

Hey. At least we took advantage of that when the evil Born-one Kronos froze.

"You mean you took advantage."

But you were the one who caught that damn heavy grate and used it on him. It had taken everything she had in her to keep her insides from spilling out while she lifted the long metal piece of the floor and slid it over to Rakesh.

What I don’t understand is why he froze after you spoke to him.

I don’t know either. I just spoke Lakota to him. It was her primary language when she was a child. She had no idea why it had disturbed Kronos. Maybe he knew someone from our tribe. She didn’t want to go into how her own inner bitch, her own pushy version of the still, small voice inside, had told her to speak Lakota to Kronos. Who’d have thought that it would unsettle Kronos so much, he fell into the vampire deep freeze?

You said something to him in English too.

I don’t really remember. Not true. She looked away so Rakesh wouldn’t catch this lie. Every bloody word she’d said was emblazoned into her memory. But she did not want to go into it, at least, not while his scary mother was still around them. She’d have enough trouble explaining to Rakesh how her inner bitch came into existence without detailing how this voice inside her had saved them. She didn’t even know why it had her say the things she’d said.

And she didn’t know why it had totally disappeared after she’d been wounded.

Kim. He waited until she looked over at him. "We don’t have to talk about this until you’re better, but we will discuss it."

What?

You’re a terrible liar. He leaned in. "When you lie, a glistening shimmer of your pranamayakosha bubbles up here—he ran the tip of his forefinger down her face, from her forehead to her neck—to here." He dipped in and grazed a kiss across her throat.

She shivered. Can all Born-ones see this? A fire alarm rocketed in all her erogenous zones.

No. He gave a very satisfied chuckle and retraced the line, from her neck back up to her forehead. I think I’m the only one with this ability.

She put her face in her hands. Oh, God, that is massively unfair in so many ways.

"I’ll see if I can teach you how to see the koshas. The percussive click of Amartya’s heels attacked the stairs again. We’ll talk later."

Amartya came around the corner, laden with a stack of fashion magazines. Rakesh’s human friend Charles trailed behind her, carrying the bandages.

Well, here we are. Charles shaded his eyes from the sight of her uncovered body and deposited the bandages to Amartya’s right side.

Charles, you can see much more on any beach in this country. Kim had a sports bra on, oversized to keep it from touching her wound, but she was covered.

Ah, well. But I have programs running. And so did he, skipping off into the living room area.

When Amartya set the magazines down, Kim glanced at the thick volume on top. It was the latest issue of Wedding Affair. The cover displayed a young woman seated upon a white velvet chair, garbed in a diaphanous and nearly sheer sari. She swallowed and looked over at Rakesh. He was already backing away, holding up his hands.

Yes, Rakesh. Leave us for now. Amartya flicked her hands at her son. Kim and I have much to discuss. She turned to Kim. I will teach you how to wear a sari. But we shall have to first see that all of this—she nodded toward Kim’s eighteen-inch scar—is healed.

Kim watched Rakesh join Charles at the humming computers scattered around the cluttered living room, on the couches, on the tables, even on the floor space.

Well, now. Amartya deftly removed Kim’s brassiere and started winding several feet of bandages around her, fragrant with lavender, sage, and some other herbal combinations Kim did not recognize.

Tonight, we shall consider color schemes.

Chapter Two

What’s the news on the virus? Rakesh kept a wary eye on Kim and his mother. Kim’s bed stood near the kitchen area at the outer rim of the circular living space, about twenty feet from where he stood with Charles. I’ve been out with my father every night this week looking for any signs of Kronos. I haven’t checked into the virus Kronos loosed in the human world. He glanced over at the mounds of paper, electrical cords, power strips, modems, desktops, monitors of all sizes, and tablets strewn around the living space in the center of the control room. A set of three couches gathered around a low coffee table. Lamps stood by each couch, and recessed lights in the ceiling cast a soft glow, so lighting was abundant, yet not harsh.

I’ll tell you in a minute. Charles ran from desktop to laptop, grunting at one that displayed a cascade of data and running his hands through his hair when he looked at a screen showing a system bar. Huh. This one is still updating. Well… He rushed over to Rakesh and tugged him to a stubby computer with a wide monitor resting on the table between the couches. Here, I set this one up for you.

Thanks. Rakesh checked the screen and located a browser. All my equipment was lost to me when we went underground last year. He guessed he could call his descent into hell underground. If he told Charles what had really happened, his human friend would have nightmares. Dad told us the virus had mutated. He entered his passcodes and frowned when he couldn’t get access to his files in the cloud. What gives?

Oh! Charles darted over. I, um, changed your passwords. He made a few entries and backed away when the system asked for Rakesh to change his passcodes.

You hacked into my system? He fisted his hands to keep from sliding into the vampire freeze. How the hell did you do that? His system had been protected by the best experts money could buy.

Well, I am a genius. Charles offered this without any indication of pride or unease.

That’s not news to me. Why did you hack in?

Now Charles ducked his head and fiddled. When you contacted me last week, telling me that you and Kim would be arriving soon, I checked your system.

I’m glad you did, but why?

When you and Kim disappeared last year, I ran some tests on our joint systems. Charles cleared his throat. That was back when everyone thought you were dead. He blinked furiously.

Charles, we ditched the plane to make Kronos think we died. But Kim had died. And he’d died a thousand deaths until he saw the instructions his father had given him had worked, and Kim had come back from death to the life he’d offered her.

It took hours of digging into the underground news to find you were still alive. Charles removed his glasses and used a handkerchief to mop his eyes.

Rakesh looked at his screen to give his human friend time to recover. Which projects were you checking? They had several joint ventures over the years, from investments in renewable energy systems to importing meditation supplies from Chennai.

All of them. Charles shook his head. And when I ran tests, I found that someone was almost through our firewalls.

"I thought we fixed the