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They made their way around to the back of the house where the pool was. While Katlynne swam back and forth, he tried to think about what he was going to do when Colton got here. It wouldn’t be easy, not to kill him, but even to speak to him. Rutger didn’t want to die, but he didn’t want to have to kill the vampire to live either. None of this was their fault but that of a group of people with nothing better to do with their time than to get others into trouble. And that’s all it was too. Trouble.

When she was finished swimming, he made his way to the house with her. She’d been able to change into her swimsuit while swimming, and he wanted her to keep it on while he made love to her. It was nothing more than a couple of scraps of material held together by some skimpy strings. He could have it off her in no time.

But they had to plan things before Colton got here, and that would take up a great deal of their time. Especially if they wanted to be safe from him. And Rutger would do everything in his power to make sure that his mate was safe, even if he lost his own life while doing it.

Gathering up the others of the kiss, he decided that they would be helpful in keeping his lovely mate safe. They’d also lend a hand in dealing with the other vampire, and he could use all the help he could get. Even Brew’s mother said she’d be there for him, and she was just what he needed to keep Katlynne safe.

“We can only wait for him to get here. As soon as he does, we’ll try dealing with him with words and not violence. There is no reason for anyone else to die, don’t you think?” He asked Rance if he thought it would come to that. “I don’t know. Not until he gets here. Perhaps we can just pay him off. Or better yet, he’ll decide that there is no reason to come after you and he’ll give up. I don’t think he will, but there’s always that chance.”

“I don’t think he will either. As I was telling Katlynne, for every death that he causes, it will make his beast stronger. And him being out of his mind right now, it’s only going to be a matter of him showing up to kill us before he does.” Yosef asked if he would need his sword. “I think we’ll need anything that we have to work with to deal with him. I’m only worried for Katlynne and nothing more.”

“We’ll protect her.” Sirous said that he’d give his life for her. The others said the same thing. That they’d die for Katlynne, and he couldn’t have that. He wanted them to protect her, but not at the cost of their own mates too. “She’s in our hearts too. And bears the mark of the council. The first thing we need to do is get them out of a job so that this never happens again.”

Rutger agreed, but he didn’t think it was going to solve anything to have the marks removed. He was coming after them, and his mind wasn’t right. As soon as he was there, he wasn’t going to bother with marks or money; the man was going to kill him simply because he was going to blame him for his own mate’s death. He thought that it would be what he’d do if it were to have happened to him.

Chapter 5

Colton knew that he was going to be in trouble if caught. It had been easy for him to search for the man who took his titles away, and he knew that as soon as he found him, he was going to kill him. His beast had nothing more in mind but to kill. And he’d been leaving a string of deaths in his wake since he’d left his home. No one was going to stop him from avenging his Gloria’s death, and that was final.

Sitting quietly in the line of trees, Colton didn’t dare wake his beast again. The monster had been telling him that he was going to avenge her death since the beginning. It had been his fault that Gloria was dead, and there was no one going to dispute that. Trying to calm his beast for the last several days had only gotten him hurt. The beast had turned on himself, and he knew it wasn’t good. His mind was a jumble of thoughts, and he was having a hard time separating them from the beast’s.

“I must find the king.” He wasn’t entirely sure what he needed from the king, but he knew that talking to him seemed important. The beast didn’t know that he’d had a link to the great vampire, and he was hoping to get him to talk to his beast. Suddenly he was his monster again, and he could no longer control him. “I will kill the upstart who murdered my mate.”

That’s where the confusion had started with him. Did someone come to his home and kill his mate, or did the monster kill her? He didn’t know which but was willing to bet that as soon as he got with the king, he’d know the truth of it all. Colton was afraid that once he found out where the king was, his beast would try to kill him as well.

“What are you talking about? You know as well as I do that the upstart killed our mates. And no king is going to stop us.” He tried reasoning with him, but it wasn’t working. “You wish for her death to be unavenged? You wish for the man who is responsible for her death to get away?”

“I just don’t know that anyone killed her but you.” The roar startled him, and then he tore at his chest. “You’re hurting me. Stop what you’re doing right now before you kill me.”

“You’re better off dead, with you thinking that we killed our mates. She was the perfect woman for us.” She wasn’t, and he pointed that out to him. “She was, by the gods.”

The roaring got worse as he got stronger. Colton had to wait for his beast to need to rest before he could think on his own. But that was getting harder and harder to do. As soon as he rested, lying down in the soft grass, Colton hurriedly reached out for the king.

“I cannot hold him back for much longer. You have to kill us.” He asked where he was. “I don’t know. We only walk when he’s in charge. You’ll have to kill us both in order to save the man Rutger Smith. It’s his only chance.”

“You have to tell me where you are. I cannot fight you if I can’t find you. What sort of markers do you see?” He told him of the great basket that they’d been hiding near since getting to Ohio. “I know where that is. You stay there, and I’ll come to you.”

“Who is this? Who dares to tell me what to do?” Colton felt himself being pulled away. His control over his beast was getting harder to control. As soon as the king answered him, he told him that he’d kill him as well. That no man nor vampire was going to stop him.

Colton felt himself black out again. This time it was too dark for him to see what was going on. He could no longer hear the voice of the beast nor that of his king. Wishing for his mate to calm him, Colton cried out for Gloria and begged her to forgive him.

The next time he had control, they were outside of a little town called Dresden. He knew where they had started from, and Tennessee was a long way away from where he was. Just as he was getting his bearings, he saw people out and about and wanted to warn them. His beast had been killing others simply because he could, and he was sick of the deaths.

“I’ve no time. We’re in Dresden. Come to me now and kill me.” He told the king what was surrounding him and how he’d been out of it since he’d taken over. “Come to me, sire. Come to me and kill me so that I might join my mate in the afterlife.”

“I’m coming.” He could hear the urgency in his voice and was glad for it. But almost as soon as he realized that the man was coming, he was pulled back into himself and didn’t know what was going on.

“Please, no. You’ll die if you don’t stay where we are.” He beast had laughed then. Laughed in a voice that he’d never heard before. It was insanity. Harsh and maniacal. Colton was suddenly afraid for the king. He was going to be responsible for his death, and that would make him a monster no matter how many deaths he took from now on.

“You shall be quiet now. You’ll no longer be able to talk to anyone outside of myself.” He said that he was the one in charge. “You’ve never been in charge of myself, and you know it. Killing our mate wasn’t our fault but that of Rutger Smith. I know his name now, and I will find him. He’ll pay for what he’s done to us.”

“What’s he done? Nothing more than be marked with a mark that shouldn’t have been mine for centuries. You know that as well as I do. We were never meant for that mark in the first place.” He said that it was his. “‘Tis no one’s anymore. You will leave the young vampire alone and not harm him or his mate. I have spoken.”

“You have spoken? What do you believe that means to me? Nothing. You are no more than a man with a set of fangs. I hold the power now, not you. I am your beast, and I hold all the powers. The longer I’m out and about, killing as I see fit, the stronger I become. No one will be able to hold themselves against me. No one. You hear me? I have spoken now, and you will keep your mouth shut until I say you can speak.”

“I’m your master.” The beast laughed again, and he wanted to kill him. If he could just get him to the king, then things would be all right. He’d be killed for sure, but that would be all right; at least he wouldn’t be running around as a monster, killing everything that moved. “And you will obey me.”

The roar hurt him. Not just his body, tearing into his flesh like a hot iron, but his mind as well. Colton was getting weaker by the moment, and he was afraid for anyone around. They would know his wrath, and with it, they’d die. He no more wanted that than he did his mate to be dead. She was his mate, and he should have taken better care to make sure she was all right.