Avador Book 2, Night Shadows (30 page)

Angus's gaze met that of the stranger, then Angus looked away, willing to bide his time. He had no idea what troubled the stranger, and he didn't care, but he'd found throughout the years that people with anger in their gut–whatever the reason–could easily be persuaded to talk, if given an incentive. Angus had several gold pieces in his tunic pocket and more at this room at the inn. Maybe this man knew Gaderian Wade and maybe he didn't. But it might be worth his while to find out.

* * *

"Must go into Moytura this evening." Gaderian held Fianna's chair as they both rose from the dining room table, she finished with her evening meal and he with a glass of red wine.

"Again?" Disappointment grabbed Fianna. She never wanted him out of her sight, never tired of his lovemaking. She knew her attitude was selfish, but she loved him beyond reason. Afraid she sounded snappish, she smiled and placed a hand on his chest. "You know I'll miss you."

He kissed the top of her head. "It is the same with me. I wouldn't make this journey were it not absolutely necessary. But there is one of the undead who recently crossed over, and he's having difficulty adjusting to his new life." A trace of reflection touched Gaderian's face. "It is that way with many of us, I believe." He embraced her and kissed her on the mouth. "Don't know when I'll be back. It may be quite late, but then again, I may accomplish this mission sooner than expected. Remember, stay in the house while I'm gone. Tomorrow we can go for a long ride before the evening meal. You enjoy that, don't you? And after the evening meal, well, that's something else you enjoy."

She pretended embarrassment by pressing her head against his shoulder, yet even now, her body ached for him.

After he left, she headed for the library, there to finish a book she'd recently started. Since she had remarked to Gaderian how little light two oil lamps emitted, he'd instructed one of the maids to place two more lamps in the room, all of them using paraffin oil. If she sat close to the fireplace with its roaring fire, she'd have plenty of heat and light. Inside the spacious room, she drew her shawl closer about her shoulders and settled into a comfortable chair next to the fireplace, her book lying on a table beside her.  Outside, crickets sang their nightly song, a melody she missed from home.

She picked up the book and found her place, then began reading a beautiful love story titled The Love of Geal about a woman of the fairie world who liked to play tricks on mortals.

But bitter irony! She fell in love with a mortal man, only to find he was playing tricks on her. An old book, the pages crackled as she turned them, the parchment yellowed with age, the binding loose. Almost to the end of the story, Fianna turned the pages carefully but quickly, hoping the romance would have a happy ending.

As enticing as the story was, her thoughts drifted back to Gaderian's question about crossing over. To be a vampire–what would that be like? To live forever, to share eternity with Gaderian. But her mother and brother, she lamented–she would never see them again. After a few moments of silent thought, she returned to her book, telling herself it was a moot question.

Time passed, and she glanced at the hourglass on the table, wondering when Gaderian would arrive home. She sighed, missing him so much. She gazed around the room at all the books, volumes Gaderian must have collected for years, stacks that filled the floor-to-ceiling shelves, many of the books with gold binding and some she had glanced through had colorful illustrations.

Outside the closed library window, she heard kittens meowing. Only a few days ago, a servant had discovered one of the stray cats of the neighborhood had given birth to a litter of kittens, within the protection of a spreading earthberry bush, right below the window. As the meowing became louder, Fianna set her book down, unable to concentrate, worried that one of the kittens might be in trouble. The sound continued, and she sprang from her chair and rushed to the window to look outside. She saw nothing but darkness, the trees thrashing in the wind. The servants had long since sought their own sleeping quarters, so she had no one to call for help.

Don't go outside. Gaderian's warning reverberated inside her head, but she could no longer ignore the kittens' plight, for the constant loud meowing told her that whatever the problem was, it involved more than just one kitten. Perhaps one of the kittens was injured, she agonized, and all of them howled in sympathy. She set her book down and rushed down the hallway, her heart beating frantically with every step. She turned the key at the front door and went outside, then dashed down the steps. Shivering in the chill air, she rushed to the side of the mansion, where the sound came from.

A loud screech from an oak tree drew her attention in that direction, even while the meowing persisted from the bush. Poor little thing, the kitten must have wandered away from its mother and climbed up the tree. Now it couldn't get back down. She thought she saw a movement near another oak, but assumed it was only the wind brushing against the tree. She hesitated for only a moment, and then with purposeful strides, she hurried across the spacious lawn and looked up into the oak tree. Her eyes, now accustomed to the dark, saw that, sure enough, the kitten was stuck in one of the upper branches of the tree, its meowing enough to wake the dead. She wondered why the mother cat hadn't ventured out from the earthberry bush to check on her offspring.

Fianna placed her foot on one of the lower branches and began to climb.  "I'll get you down, sweetheart." She climbed higher and reached for the kitten, its claws scratching against her skin. "Poor little thing, you're frightened, aren't you? But I won't hurt you," she murmured as she clutched the bundle of fur to her chest and moved cautiously back down, branch by branch. Back on the ground, she carried the kitten to the bush, to hide it among its mother and siblings.

Now, that wasn't so difficult, after all. Her teeth chattering in the night chill, Fianna headed for the mansion–

"Ah, I have you now!"

That harsh voice, she'd know it anywhere. No! Angus! Her heart pounded, her skin ice cold. No, no! She turned to flee, but he gripped her arm. Pain ripped through her as his hand tightened on her arm, as if to crush her bones.

"No use calling your lover. I saw him ride off a while ago." He laughed, a harsh sound. "Ever since I found out where your lover lived, I've watched the house, night after night, waiting to find you by yourself. And wasn't it clever how I lured you outside, putting that damned piece of vermin in the tree! Now you're coming with me, and to hell with your lover!"

"My husband!" she cried. "Gaderian and I are married now." Angus had to let her go now; why capture her when she was married to another man?

"Why, you bitch! You're coming back to Ros Creda, no matter what. Who there will know you're married to another man? No one, my dear. I intend to make you my wife."

"I'll tell them! They'll believe me! And why do you want me as your wife, when you know I love another?  When you know I can't bear your touch?" Fianna's pulse raced. She prayed harder than she'd ever prayed in her life. Gaderian, please come back to me.

He tried to drag her, but she wouldn't budge. "Come now, Fianna, don't make this so hard for both of us. I've two horses waiting on the road ahead.  You are coming with me."

"Damn it, no!" She jerked and pulled, but he held fast.

"Don't you know by now that I always get what I want? I won't let a stupid formality stop me from–"

"Stupid formality? A wedding ceremony! A binding ritual in which I became another man's wife!" She realized now that he had lost his mind, that he was so blinded by his desire to own her that he'd let no impediment stand in his way. She thought she heard hoofbeats in the distance but feared to hope. Please, let it be Gaderian. Either Angus didn't hear the sound or he ignored it.

He jerked her arm. "Come now, we've wasted enough time. You are coming with me."

"Must we go through this again?"

Fianna and Angus both looked toward the voice. Gaderian! Thank the Goddess! Relief dizzied her so she feared her knees would give out under her. He walked their way, the horse's reins held in his hands. His gaze on them, he slapped the stallion's reins to send it to the stable.

He approached Angus, his eyes burning with anger. "Release my wife."

"Like hell! She's coming back with me."

Ready to bolt, Fianna looked from Angus to Gaderian. Apparently, Angus surmised her intention, because his grip on her hardened, his nails digging into her skin.

Angus drew a knife from a sheath at his belt. He held it aloft, the metal flashing in the moonlight. He looked Gaderian's way. "You come one step closer and she gets this knife in her chest. Do I make myself clear?"

Gaderian stopped a few feet away, a look of angry frustration on his face. "
Kendall, what can you possibly gain by stealing another man's wife. If you take her back to Ros Creda–"

"Not Ros Creda, somewhere else where no one knows us."

"And you would be happy, knowing she's married to another man whom she loves?"

Angus snickered. "Who said anything about happiness?  It's a matter of pride, something you obviously don't understand. She was pledged to me," he said in a whining voice. "She broke her vow to me."

"No!" Once more, Fianna tried to jerk away, but he held fast, holding her with her back to his chest. "The pledge was given without my consent. I never said I'd marry you. My stepfather gave that pledge." Held in his tight grip, she breathed hard and fast, her heart pounding wildly. She eyed the knife, frightened out of her mind that he would use it.

Angus sighed heavily. "Mere semantics. We have wasted enough time." He waved the knife in Gaderian's direction. "Don't try to stop me. If I can't have her, no one will. She'll get this knife through her heart."

"No!" Gaderian rushed his way, raising his hand to grab the knife. But Angus was quicker. Gripping the knife, he stabbed the weapon into her chest.

Blinding pain throbbed through her as she crumpled to the ground. Goddess, no, I don't want to die.  Pain, pain, pain, like nothing she'd ever known, a blinding, searing pain clutched every cell of her body. She was weak, so weak, her life draining from her.

"You bastard!" Gaderian grabbed Angus, pushing his fingers against his windpipe, harder, harder, suffocating him.

"Ahh." Angus staggered and fell to the ground, his face set in surprise. His eyes stared upward as his breathing stopped and his head lolled to the side.

Gaderian dashed toward Fianna and drew the dagger from her heart. Another flash of pain gripped her, an agony of torment. Through her agony, she felt the blood gushing from her body, knew she was dying. Still, she looked his way, her eyes hazed with pain as her life ebbed from her. "Gaderian, I love you so much," she whispered, every word an effort.

"My darling, we'll have eternity to tell each other of our love." He sliced the knife across his wrist and held his wrist to her mouth. "Drink my blood, sweetheart." She hesitated, even as all life drained from her.

"Please," he urged. He pressed his wrist to her mouth and she began to suck, slowly at first, then faster. Colorful lights flickered around her as she sucked, images she wondered if she had only imagined. At the same time, he bent over her chest and drank her blood. While they consumed each other's blood, she felt changes in her body, a new sensation inside her, of power and strength, of happiness beyond imagination. Moments passed, a time of never-ending bliss, then the transformation was complete. Yet still she didn't understand the changes within her, failed to see she was no longer the same woman as had first emerged from the house this night.

She looked at him and blinked her eyes, a look of confusion on her face. "What happened?"

He clasped her hand and spoke in a voice low and comforting. "You are as I am now, my dearest. One of the undead. It was the only way to save you."

Her eyes shone with love. "Ah, yes." She looked up at the sky. "How beautiful the stars are, each one shining like the brightest diamond. And the trees! Do you hear the trees singing? The grass, it smells so lovely, the most exquisite perfume! Everything is so beautiful!"

"Yes, dear Fianna. And it will always be this way, for you and for me. For always."

A worry made her frown. "My mother and brother . . .?"

"We can still visit them, but only at night. They will have to accept your explanation. Now that the vampires are no longer in danger of capture–we hope!–it should be safe to declare your essence."

"What about him?" She raised herself on her elbow and glanced over at Angus.

"Dead, my darling. Don't worry. I'll take care of the body, remove all evidence."

He helped her rise from the ground and held her close. She wrapped her arms around his waist, knowing she would never tire of him. "Sweetheart, I love you so much." She touched his hair and feathered her fingers down his face, this face she could never tire of, this man she would love forevermore. Ah, they had years, centuries! to spend with each other, time without end to share their love. She sighed and pressed her face to his chest, absorbing the very essence of him. "I love you," she repeated.

"And I love you. We belong to each other, for all eternity."

The End