Dark Knight of the Skye (22 page)

“Yer okay wi’ me, Grady O’Brian. Keeks we’re tae o a kin noo,” Danny said extending his hand around D`nae. “Fit say ye and Ah be’s partners, ye cannae be fur leavin me wi tae hens agin?”

“You got yourself a deal,” Grady said, taking the hand of what he had thought would always be an enemy - a vampire, and smiled.

“Hey!” D`nae said, elbowing Danny in the ribs. “You can’t talk about us while we’re standing right here. Come on Tabitha, let’s go outside, I need some fresh air. That basement was almost as bad as that stupid mortuary.”

The women walked out with D`nae cracking up and Tabitha looking back at the two men who were now facing each other with smiles on their faces. In all the years that she had lived and all the stories that she had been told, there had never once been a friendship created between the two worlds, and she was a bit concerned about the dominance. What she wasn’t banking on, however, was the way her new found world worked. Grady and Danny started gathering things up on the inside while Tabitha filled D`nae in on everything that had happened. Halfway into Grady and Danny’s conversation, Grady told him about waking up on top of a butchered pig that he had apparently killed.

“Ah woke ben me coffin, mon, in me coffin. An on top o that, Ah hitchet mesel a ride ben ane’re coffin tae cum back here, only it wur fur havin a Jimmy in it. Stank tae aw high heaven.”

“Well, that does sound pretty bad, but try waking up with your dick in the remains of pig. Don’t think you’ll ever be able to beat that one, my friend. Hell, I hope
I
never beat that one again,” he chuckled.

“Ah had sum coo, felt fairly galoot hangin on. Thocht Ah wur gaein tae tak a wee drink, but Ah wur feart fur me life by tha time me bag o milk cam tae a hault.”

Grady had a strange look on his face until he figured out that Danny was talking about being on the back of a cow, trying to drink from its blood, then he just burst out laughing with the veracity of his new lungs, which brought the girls running in to see what was going on. By the time they ran through the door, both boys were in a full out belly laugh; Danny holding onto the door facing that led down the hall into the kitchen, and Grady bent over, holding both knees.

“What happened?” Tabitha yelled, bringing Grady into an upright position as if she held a General’s rank.

Grady didn’t make another sound; he just looked into the eyes of the woman who spoke. “Okay,” D`nae said, walking around Tabitha to Danny who was still trying to hold back the snicker that was slipping past the hand that was covering his mouth. She grabbed a handful of his long hair and gently pulled, mouthing the words, ‘What the hell?’ Danny raised his shoulders, then put one finger to his mouth, pursing his lips and darted his eyes toward Tabitha and Grady, then back down at her. She smiled up at him raising her eyebrows, then turned to watched the show. Danny dropped down, draping his arms over his shoulders, grazing her breast and very much noticing the change in her breathing. She reached up, locked her hands on his forearm and relaxed.

“Listen, can you hear them?” Tabitha asked, turning her head slightly, listening to the howls of the dogs, coyotes, and other animals in the area that were responding to his cry, just as they had when he first changed.

“You have no reason to be sorry. You are your own man, and will take control very soon,” Tabitha said, laying her hand on his arm, then walked around him and picked up a bag. “We must go.” Then she turned and walked out of the house.

“I think you’ve met your match with that one, Grady,” D`nae giggled. “She’s a little firecracker.”

“She helped me, D`nae. It was the worst thing that I’ve ever been through, and if she hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would have happened.”

“I know, Grady. We heard some of it last night from down in the basement,” she replied walking over to him, Danny’s hand sliding off her shoulder as she moved. “I know firsthand how it feels to wake up in a different world. To be dead one minute, then the next you’re in the same body, but feel a whole different sensation running through your veins.”

“I should have never judged you guys like I did,” he said bending down to pick up a bag, then froze when her hand touched his back.

“D`nae, you better stop joking around… I mean it!” he backed up, sliding against the paint peeling wall, getting closer to the exit.

“Who said I was joking, Grady,” she replied, raising her arms out to the sides and closing her eyes. After a few seconds, she opened them and started laughing. “I was trying to float in the air, but I just can’t figure that one out yet.”

“Damn it to hell, D`nae!” Grady swore, “Don’t fuck around like that, you just made my heart leap in my damn throat.”

“One day you will open a vein just as I do. It makes travel easier for those who cannot hunt as we do,” Tabitha said walking through the door, straight up to D`nae.

Tabitha began to pull her sleeve down off her shoulder and tilt her head when D`nae shook her head, then looked back at Danny. “He hasn’t fed on anything but a cow since he’s been with us.” Tabitha went to him, and pulled down on his shirt until both she and Danny were on their knees, his height more than a match for hers. She removed the one sleeve and reached around, pulling her hair out of the way. Danny looked back and up at D`nae, who leaned on the wall and watched. Danny sank in his fangs, not once taking his eyes off the one thing he craved more than blood – to have his hands on the woman that his eyes were piercing. The warm blood running down his throat was filling his survival needs, but his mind was wrapping around the time when she could fulfill his animalistic needs. Grady’s eyes were glued to the two on the floor, until Danny broke free from his tender meal. Tabitha stayed on her knees as Danny stood and walked to D`nae. Tabitha slowly replaced the sleeve on her shoulder, and turned to see Grady looking at her with absolute amazement.

Danny embraced D`nae, pushing her firmly into the wall, kissing her full out, not caring who was in the room or watching. “Ah luv ye, Hen,” he whispered into her mouth. They turned in each other’s arms. Grady looked toward them, then back at Tabitha who was getting up. She walked over and looked up at him, holding out her hand. Grady took it and stepped out, following her lead as she led him over to Danny and D`nae. He looked down at her neck and saw that the two small wounds were already closing. Without thinking, he leaned down and licked the blood off of her flesh, realizing what he did about the time his tongue slid back into his mouth.

“I so don’t know why I just did that,” he said, darting his eyes around, going back to his normal stance.

“It is in us all to crave the life force that runs in our veins. It is in your nature. Now, will you not feed your sister, as you have just fed from me?” Tabitha asked, raising one corner of her mouth.

“She does need to eat, and I can’t just let her run around knocking down the first human she sees,” he replied, bashfully glancing at D`nae.

They both got down on their knees; D`nae placing her hands on his shoulders, then one hand went to the side of his head, pulling it slightly to the side. “Is it going to hurt?” Grady asked, just as her fangs sunk home. He hissed, then went silent. D`nae kept her eyes closed as she filled her stomach, feeling Danny’s hand on her back, rubbing in small circles until she was finished. She sat back, leaving Grady slumped to the side. He swayed as if he were drunk, falling forward and grabbing the floor to keep from slamming head first into it.

“I have had many years to become immune to the full effect. It still touches me, but I manage it well,” she smiled, looking down at Grady.

Danny was smiling and about to say something when a serious expression fell over his face. He stepped around the others, who were still down on the floor, and walked to the door with caution. He peered out, looking in all directions; his eyes searching the night sky more than the woods surrounding them.

“We’ll be fur leavin noo,” he said, rushing back in, grabbing Grady under the arm, and hurrying the girls to grab what they could and get to the truck.

D`nae looked over at Tabitha, and both snickered as they climbed in, Tabitha taking the back and D`nae taking the front. Danny threw the last bag in the back and jumped in the driver’s seat.

“Keys, hen, Ah hae’nt got `em,” Danny said, gripping the wheel, looking around at the others.

“Tabitha, look in his pockets,” D`nae told her as she started going through the glove box.

The moment that Tabitha stuck her hand in Grady’s pocket, he reached up and pulled her down by the back of her neck, and kissed her. That familiar low vibrating growl started and Grady yelled out, sitting up with blood running down his chin, and a very sobering look on his face. Tabitha handed the keys to Danny, sat back licking her lips, and looked out the window as if nothing had ever happened. She had learned to control her outer emotions long ago, afraid of being seen as weak and therefore being put to death. She used that skill now to hide the fact that her heart wanted to burst, the feel of Grady’s lips still tingling the tender flesh of hers. D`nae held her normal outburst. Instead, she turned in the seat, sliding down just a bit, and minding her own business for once. Grady licked his bitten bottom lip, smiling out the side the whole time. He could smell her breath, her skin, her scent, and it was beginning to drive his inner beast into the world of curiosity, over which he held no control. His essence was also overpowering.

Tabitha lifted her hand to her forehead, and let out a breath. “Can you stop, please?” she asked. She leaned up and over and started opening the door before Danny could actually pull the vehicle over. He slammed on the brakes and she was walking out through the trees before anyone could even get out of the truck. It was D`nae that told them to wait, and took off to catch up with her. Tabitha was shaking her hands out in front of herself, mumbling words that couldn’t be understood.

“Hey chica, you alright?” D`nae inquired, running up behind her. Tabitha darted her head around but didn’t slow in her motion to move forward. D`nae made her way up beside her, and just kept her pace for a while. She watched as Tabitha carried on a private conversation with herself, by lightly shaking her head and clamping her lips tight.

“So, he gets furry, I don’t see much of a change. Just has a little bite, bigger bark, ya know,” D`nae said touching Tabitha’s hair.

“The more he grows, the more power he will have, and the more it will call out to me. I can feel it sitting right next to him, and all he has done is taken in breath,” she proclaimed, putting her hands over her face. “What are we to do?”