Blood Legacy (PULSE Vampire Series #6) by Kailin Gow Read Free Book Online Page A

of air alongside her, heard the parachuting swoop of a cape. Strong, muscular arms were around her, arms that gave her strength, gave her a faint warm glow. Arms that pressed her against a broad chest that smelled of musk and night.
    “What’s going on?” Kalina murmured, no voice escaping her soft and now-bloodless lips.
    But she wasn’t falling any longer. Instead, she was flying upwards, soaring into the sky, held ever tighter by those pair of arms that clutched her as if she was the most precious thing in the world. She looked up, a faint smile spreading across her lips. The figure holding her so tightly, gripping her as if he would never let her go, was Octavius. His eyes were moist with unshed tears, and his face was full of longing for her. He was cradling her with such gentleness, even as the tightness of his grip left faint bruises on her skin. His face was looking down into hers, love shining through his eyes. Immediately Kalina felt safe. Warm. Protected. Somewhere out there, terrible things were happening: Justin was lying dead on the floor of the Au Berge before a blazing fire, Carriers were starving to death inside a hidden compound, but these things all seemed so very far away now. Kalina was with him – they were together – she was safe. She was loved.
    “Octavius,” she whispered softly. “What happened? I was falling.” She was shaking from the cold, from the lack of blood.
    “I caught you,” his lips nudged against her ear, brushing it lightly and sending a shiver down her spine. “I’ll always catch you, Kalina.”
    “But we were so high up…I fell so far…” She opened her eyes, dizzy as she looked about herself. They were surrounded by snow – snowflakes that glimmered in the full moonlight.
    “Before you hit the ground, I caught you.” He nuzzled her gently, pressing his lips to her dark, shining hair. Small flecks of snow were caught between the fine, silky strands – like a crown of stars in a dark night sky.
    “Where are we?” They were at the bottom of an enormous mountain whose peak stretched all the way into, it seemed, the clouds.
    “The hotel was at the top of this mountain,” said Octavius. “We’re all the way at the bottom.”
    Kalina shivered, but she didn’t feel cold. How could she feel anything but safe when Octavius was around? He sat beneath a tall pine tree, pulling her into his lap. Kalina nuzzled into him, feeling his soft cashmere sweater against her skin.
    “Oh, my Kal,” Octavius smiled softly. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again. You’re okay – don’t be scared. You’re fine. But I was so frightened – so afraid, watching you die like that. Watching you come so close to dying. You shouldn’t have come here, Kal. Why did you come?”
    “I had to come…” she whispered. “I have to save them. The Carriers.”
    “You could have stayed in Rutherford,” he whispered, his voice so soft and caressing. “You could have had a normal life. Stayed far away from vampires. Stayed with Stuart.”
    Kalina propped herself up on one elbow. She was still very weak from the loss of blood, and she was shaking. “You know I couldn’t do that,” she said. “I never could.” Seeing Octavius now made her so much surer of it. She couldn’t stop herself from reaching out, cupping his face. She half-expected him to recoil, as he so often did, forcing himself to withdraw from her, to stop loving her. But this time he did not turn away. He closed his eyes and luxuriated in the sensation of her caress. Now she could hear his thoughts, their telepathic connection stronger than ever it had been before. Crystal clear.
    You still love me . Her heart could not contain its joy, even as it still ached and bled with sorrows.
    How could I ever stop? Don’t you know, Kalina – even if you chose another, I would never stop loving you.
    Molotov…
    “He’s gone,” said Octavius out loud. His voice was gruff. “He’s fled now. But now he’s a danger. No