NightFall: Book One: Bloodlust Is the Cure for the Immortal Soul (29 page)

She sat down and opened her e-mail and read.

After finishing the letter, Simone was baffled.

“He
never
signs off ‘Love, Davis Brant’.” Simone felt a stab in her chest. Mr. Brant was hiding something. She could feel it. Strange things have been going on ever since she wrote that article on Mr. Hobbs. Maybe she should give Mr. Brant a ring.

She glanced at her watch. It was too late now. And she should really talk to Van first.

She decided to get ready for bed herself when the phone rang. She was reluctant to answer it now. Indea’s parents weren’t home. Should she get it?

“Simone?”
Indea called out in a
sleepy voice. “It’s Van.”

Simone rushed to pick up the receiver. “I got it, Indea. Hey, Van.”

“Hello, sweetheart.
How are you feeling today?”

Simone didn’t want to talk to him just yet about what was going on. “I’m great.
Now that you called.”

“I’m happy to hear it. I haven’t seen you in a while. Can I pick you up tomorrow? I want to take you somewhere.” His voice took on a secretive hush.

Simone smil
ed. “I would love that, Van,”
she said, somewhat breathlessly.

“Good. I will pick you up around seven.”

“I’ll see you then.”

“Sweet dreams,”
he told her then replaced the receiver softly in it cradle.

Van looked at the phone. Something was troubling Simone. He could feel her worry. He would have to talk to her. Tell her everything. He wanted to speak to Saldivar first and see how things went with his mate, Indea. He should be home soon.

*

Saldivar wanted to take the long way home tonight. He wanted to smell the fresh night air. Smell every nuance of the sweet flowers blooming fully in the ground. He wanted to linger over his thoughts of Indea and how it felt making sweet love to her. She was a very passionate woman. She gave her everything to him. He already knew he was in love with her. Perhaps soon, he would tell her she was the Eternal Entity. He hoped she would want the transformation. Like Van, Indea and Simone would not live past thirty.
He wanted-needed-them to believe him and Van.

“Why don’t you tell her now?”
a
sultry female voice asked from behind the shadows.

Saldivar st
opped.
Whipped his head toward
the dark.
This person read his mind? How did he not sense her?

“Your mind is too focused on Inde
a.” The female came from beyond
the darkness.
A vampire.
Saldivar saw this beautiful, young vampires
s
step to him. She had on tight black pants and a white body hugging shirt. Her short, black hair was spiked and the tips were blond. Dangling earrings hung from her petite ears.

“Who are you?” Saldivar demanded.

“Why, Saldivar. Don’t you recognize your very own sister?”

Saldivar’s amber eyes widened.
“Sister?
You mean you’re Zane’s child?” He couldn’t believe it.

“Believe it. I am Zane’s
offspring.
Not his child,”
she told him harshly.

“What’s the difference?” Saldivar wanted to know.

The vampire
strolled around Saldivar before answering. “Yes. There is a big difference. Zane may have sired me, but I don’t consider him my father or my dad.”

“I’ll ask again, who are you?” Saldivar ground out, tiring of this game.

“My name is R
aven.” She went on to explain,
“Zane impregnated a human fifty years ago. My mother died while giving birth
to me. I was under the
care
of Dr. Ganden for a little while, but Zane came and took me in.” She didn’t elaborate on how Zane treated her. She wasn’t ready to humiliate herself just yet.

Saldivar looked doubtful. “
Zane
took care of you?” Somehow, he found that highly unlikely.

Raven waved Saldivar a
way and spoke in a regal tone,
“Believe what you will. I am here. I need to tell you some things, but I’m afraid Zane will find out. He hates you with a purple passion, you know?”

Saldivar shook his head. “I wish I knew why.”

“Even Zane won’t tell
me
.” She made an unlady
like noise. “All I know is that he’s out for blood. He wants to destroy you and any
one
that gets in the way,”
she said darkly, knowing she made herself perfectly clear.

Saldivar noted the emphasis in Raven’s voice.
“Indea.”

Raven nodded gravely. “And Van.
And Simone.”

Saldivar’s brows knotted in confusion. “And just how do you know about Van and Simone?” He perused her mind g
ently. She couldn’t stop him if
she wanted to. He already knew but wanted to give Raven a chance to come clean.

Raven looked down at the ground beneath her feet.
Guilty.
“You are going to hate me for this. And I probably deserve it. No, I
know
I deserve it.” She took in a deep breath and faced Saldivar, eye to eye. “Zane has been making me spy on all four of you and then rep
ort back on my findings.”
Saying it out loud made her feel completely ashamed of her actions.

Saldivar crossed his arms but found he could not fault Raven for doing what she
did. Z
ane is very powerful. H
e’s o
ver two thousand year old. Raven is only half vampire and a neo
phyte;
a mere fifty years old. She would be nothing to Zane. He felt that that was the case any way.

He decided he could
be lenient. “We must talk some more. Come. We will finish this discussion in my cabin.”

Raven followed Saldivar into the cabin. She knew she had to tell him everything. If not, he would go into her mind. He was strong enough to use the powers of Persuasion on her. She could do it herself but the age difference made it somewhat useless to try. Besides, she felt she could trust him with anything. She sensed no evil in him.

Raven explained the constant spying, the threats, her time at Wilsbrook and even her link to the OVI and that an unknown r
eporter was doing a story on
Mr. Hobbs for the editor of the paper about the possibilities of immortals in the states. She knew Saldivar was angry at the fact that she had been leaking out information. He also wondered what
mortal
reporter in his right mind would write and believe about vampires.
Most didn’t truly believe in the undead any way.

He decided to leave that alone for now.

Saldivar started calmly,
“Why could you not stand up against your father, Raven? What kind of strong hold did he have against you? And why did you not come to me for help? I am, in some way, your brother.” Saldivar smiled weakly.

Raven squeezed her dark eyes shut for a moment before answering. She opened them, looking defeated. “What could I have done, Saldivar? You of all people know the true strength of Zane. I know it is only physical strength. That’s where his power ends.” Raven paced slowly across the carpet. “Zane kept me from deranged experiments. Crazy doctors who would like nothing more than to torture half breeds like me or true bloods like you or Van.” She shook her head and balled her fists at her sides. “I hated it, Saldivar.” She unclenched her hands. “But what could I have done? I didn’t want
to go back to the laboratories and sterile hospitals that had the sickening smell of blood, death and disinfectant.
I was tired of being poked and prodded and examined in a glass cage. I was nothing more than an animal
to them. Tell me, Saldivar,”
her eye boring into his. “What choice would you
have taken? Working
with Zane or being in that hospital of horrors?”
Raven asked quietly.

Saldivar only needed to think for a second before answering. “What does it matter what I think? Either way, I would have been imprisoned. I vowed never to go through that again. One choice does not sound any better than the other. I am only glad I was
n’t given those kinds of options
.”

“I have to do what I can to get by. Until I have a chan
ce to flee from Zane, that is.
He’ll kill me if he finds out I’m even speaking to you. He doesn’t even like me mentioning your name in the positive context.” Her eyes glistened in pain as she concluded
, “
I regret every bit of it. I am sorry, Saldivar. Maybe I should have stood up to him.
Told him where to put it.”

“You know as well as I Zane would have crushed you into dust.” Saldivar put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I do not blame you, Raven. You wanted to live so you did what Zane wanted you to do. It is not wrong to want to have a happy life.”

Raven snorted.
“A happy life?”
she
asked incredulously.
“With Zane?
He doesn’t know the meaning of happy. The whole time I have been working for him, he’s made my life a hell on earth. Well, I don’t think hell compares to Zane. He’d find
a
way to make Satan bow to him,”
she stated flatly.

Saldivar laughed deeply. “I will have to agree with you on that one, Raven.”

Raven laughed
with her ‘brother’. It felt good to laugh again. She couldn’t remember a time when she felt totally at ease.

Saldivar became serious. “Maybe one day you will tell me what Zane has done to you to make you feel so bad about yourself, sister.” He smiled warmly.

Raven swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “I would like that……brother.” They hugged each other firmly. Raven felt tears slip from her eyes. Finally, she had a family. Finally, she felt she was home. It felt good to be appreciated. It felt good to trust again.

*

Zane lingered in the dark back ground of the night. He knew to follow Raven this time. True, she had been keeping tabs on the two immortals and their mates. But he knew something else was going on. Raven was keeping something from him. That was one of the worst things about fathering her. She had abilities far beyond that of a normal
vampire. Even for a half breed neophyte,
she was powerful.

He watched in Invisibility. Raven had cut her hair! She was also talking to Saldivar, his
im
mortal enemy.

I will teach her,
he thought, his whole body feeling enraged. He wanted to finish them both off now, but knew it would be stupid to do so. Saldivar would alert the others. And he knew he could no longer count on Raven for help. What a sorry excuse for a daughter. He should have done away with her at birth. Drowned her in the lake, confident he wouldn’t be suspected. He could have saved himself the hassle.

Zane waited. When he saw the two come out of the cabin, he sunk back into the shadows even more. He knew Raven wouldn’t detect him, but Saldivar was a true
vampire. Raven, only half. He saw them walk away into the night. They already began acting like brother and sister.