A Diamond at Midnight (7 page)

“She’s the real reason you left, isn’t she?” Rafael hissed. “This pathetic little creature meant more to you than me or
The
dominion.”

“She is an innocent! She’s not part of your twisted faction.”

Rafael laughed. “There is no such thing as an innocent, especially a woman. I taught you better.”

Lucas took a step closer and growled, “You taught me to hate. Elizabeth taught me love.”

Diamonique
was fast losing strength from whatever the chains had been coated in, and she was

getting
a damn headache with all the family drama. Then Cain’s eyes landed on her, and she could feel the intensity of his anger even from across the room. Underlying that emotion was love and its warmth gave her renewed strength.

“
Can you free yourself, love?”

His words were as soft as a butterfly touch in her mind.
“I’ve tried, but I’m just not strong enough.”

As his gaze raked her body, presumably searching for signs of injury and found none, she could sense the relief flooding him. She stifled her urge to call out to him and instead used their mind link to send him a message.

“Look at the ceiling, Cain.”

When Cain’s gaze followed where she indicated, noticing for the first time the glass panels, he stiffened.

“The sun will be up soon, love. We need to get out of this room now.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“I see you’ve spied the pretty windowed ceiling. I had this place built specially for you and your little whore, Cain. I knew if I took her, you would follow. I wanted to watch the two of you roast together. Thoughtful of me, don’t you agree?”

“Fuck you, Rafael. By the time I’m through, you’ll be the one in this room, burning to death.”

“I think it’ll be fun to watch as you and
Diamonique
perish together under the morning sun. I’ve set up a special camera just for the occasion.” Then he glanced down at the blonde at his feet. “She’s an unexpected guest of course, but she was readily available and I was hungry. Oh well, she’ll just have to share the room with you. You aren’t upset by that are you, Luc?”

Lucas remained silent, but the rage
Diamonique
saw in his eyes was a clear sign of what he thought of Rafael’s little plan.
Diamonique
shivered at

Rafael’s matter-fact tone.
He was more demented than any of them had realized.

“
Lucas is a true ally now,” Cain told her mentally.

“Be careful, Cain.”

“Always, my love.”
 

Cain looked back at Rafael. “You might think you’ve thought of everything, Rafael, but there’s one thing you didn’t figure into this little plan.”

Rafael’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

He stepped towards Rafael and taunted, “You didn’t count on Lucas being on my side.”

Rafael snorted. “He was manipulated by you, nothing more. In the end, he’s my son and will do as I say.”

“No. He was never truly your ally. You just couldn’t admit that to yourself. And now you’ve taken someone he loves and turned her into a puppet.”

Rafael barely spared the girl a look as he said, “The little slut was asking for it.”

The degrading remark sent Lucas over the edge. He shot across the room and wrapped both hands around his father’s throat. “I hate you! I will never stand by your side, never!”

“Be ready!”
Cain shouted in her mind, then within seconds, he was in front of her and wrenching at the heavy chains, but there were so many. It took several attempts before they all fell to the cement floor.
Diamonique
practically collapsed into his arms. Cain turned, and they both saw Rafael and Lucas in a bloody battle.

Cain tucked her tighter to his chest. The next moment, they materialized inside his home.
Diamonique
was barely able to hold herself upright so he took her straight to the couch.

As soon as she was seated, Cain snarled, “He will die a slow death for this.”

Diamonique
frowned and looked down her body, then shivered when she saw the wounds on her skin.
“How?”

“The chains were dipped in holy water.”

“Then I am truly grateful to be alive.” Cain had saved her. She fastened her gaze on his dear face and then scanned his body.

There were red welts on his hands.
“Cain, your hands.”

“They’re sore, but I’ll live.” Cain leaned in and kissed her cheek, then whispered, “And it won’t matter to me if you have scars. You will always be my beautiful diamond.”

“Cain, I—”

“I need to help Lucas,” he cut in. “I also cannot let Rafael’s crimes go unpunished.
When I return, we will talk, love.”

“See that you don’t come to any harm, Cain.” She had so many things to say. She loved him—had always loved him. It took nearly dying to see the truth.

****

Cain had nearly gone insane earlier attempting to locate
Diamonique
. Rafael was the oldest vampire of any of their kind and hiding his location had been no great feat. An hour had crept by before he and Lucas had managed to break through Rafael’s mental shields. When he’d seen
Diamonique
chained to the wall, fear in her eyes, he’d nearly wept with joy that she was still alive. Then rage had set in, and he’d ached to rip Rafael’s heart out with his bare hands doing away with the monster, once and for all. He thought of the glass ceiling in the dungeon-like room and quickly made a cape appear in his hand. He flung it over his shoulders and wrapped the hood tightly around his head, then made a pair of gloves materialize to protect his hands from the chains. He closed his eyes and focused on Lucas and Rafael. In an instant, he was in the room again.

The sun was coming up. He had maybe ten minutes before they’d all roast.

Cain cursed when he felt the heat stinging him through his clothing.

He swung his gaze around the room. Rafael held Lucas off the ground. The old man was pummeling him, showing no mercy. Lucas was barely recognizable. Cain flew across the room and yanked Rafael backwards. Lucas dropped to the ground and began to crawl towards Elizabeth, her flesh already burned in several places from the rising sun.

Rafael jerked away and ground out, “You’re dumber than I thought, Cain. You should have stayed with your bitch and left me to my son.”

Cain reached for Rafael and grabbed him by his hair. “I had some unfinished business, Rafael. Now you die.”

With
Diamonique
safe from harm in his protected mansion, Cain allowed his rage free rein. He pulled Rafael to the far wall where the chains he’d yanked from
Diamonique’s
body still lay. In his mind he saw her burnt flesh once again. Vengeance gave him the power to throw Rafael against the cold cement wall, where he crumpled. Whether the rapidly advancing sunrise had helped deplete the older vampire’s strength, Cain didn’t care. Any aid he could get was welcome. Before Rafael could gain his feet, Cain struck him with the heavy metal. Blood oozed from Rafael’s arms and torso. Although, the ancient vampire tried to fight back, soon his face resembled a mass of bone and tissue.
 

Cain crouched down and whispered into his ear, “You should never have touched her.” Then a wooden stake materialized in his hand and with all the force of a vampire avenging his mate, Cain slammed it into Rafael’s chest. Rafael gurgled and clutched at the wood protruding from his heart. A ray of sun crept across the bloodstained floor and touched the vampire’s limbs. His body burst into flames.

Cain stepped back, and for the first time realized, the sun had burned through his clothes. The smell of his and Rafael’s scorched flesh filled the air. Anger was a powerful painkiller it seemed.

He turned to find Lucas cradling an unresponsive Elizabeth in his arms, tears streaming down his bloody cheeks. Cain reached out a hand and ordered, “Take my hand.”

Lucas grabbed hold. Cain closed his eyes and instantly they were out of the room and inside one of the guestrooms in his home.

“Where are we?” Lucas asked, as he carried Elizabeth to the bed and laid her down, and then carefully covered her with the heavy red quilt.

“My home.
You may stay as long as you wish.”

“Thank you, Cain.
For everything.”

“Is she alive?”

“Barely,” Lucas muttered, then sat beside her and stroked her cheek. “I will be forever in your debt for coming back for us.”

“Don’t give me too much credit.”

Lucas frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t go back for you. I went back to deal with Rafael. He never would have stopped until one of us was dead. He wanted me to suffer.” In his mind, Cain saw Diamond chained and at Rafael’s mercy. He wanted to kill him all over again. “We’re free of him now.”

Lucas nodded. “Yes, and thanks to you, Elizabeth and
Diamonique
are alive. That’s all that matters.”

“Too true.”

“If you ever have need, I would be honored to repay my debt to you.”

Cain looked at Elizabeth. “You can repay me by keeping her alive. She will save you, Lucas. In more ways than you can know.” Then, before Lucas could say anything else, Cain dematerialized.

When he reappeared, he was standing inside the doorway to the living room. Diamond had settled back into the cushions and closed her eyes, though he could tell she wasn’t really sleeping. With Diamond unaware of his presence in the room, Cain took a second to simply watch her. Christ, every time he closed his eyes he was going to see her bound to that cold brick wall, Rafael smiling. He’d come so close to losing her forever.

Never again.

He yearned to stay close, but they both needed nourishment so he forced himself to leave. He landed in the street, near a nightclub. There was a car close by with two young men and two women inside. They were just girls really, barely out of their teens. Cain didn’t relish taking their blood. He hadn’t really wanted the blood of women since meeting
Diamonique
. However, it couldn’t be helped; he needed whatever he could get tonight.