Darkness Comes (14 page)

“How can you even ask me that?” she asked painfully, her heart thudding harshly in her chest as if the rest of her life depended on the next few moments. Pressing her hand against the agonizing organ, she bemoaned, “You ask me to step into a cage and give up… everything.”

“It is not as if you have a lot to give up; a menial job and a dung-pile of an apartment, a broken down truck, a life always on the run.”

“Stop.”

“You and your son would be very well provided for,” he cajoled, his expression earnest; only, she didn’t know if she could trust a single word that came out of his beautiful mouth. She desperately wanted to believe him but she knew better than to place her trust in a creature hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. She knew so little about him, about Aradians. About herself. How could she make any decision? “You would want for nothing.”

“No matter how fancy the packaging, a gilded cage is still a cage,” she retorted.

“It was so much easier to deal with Breeders when they had to rely on their lord and master to provide for them,” he lamented once more. “Do you honestly want to live a life of hardship when your every desire, your every whim, could be fulfilled in a heartbeat if you simply accepted your fate?”

“It’s not the life I want.” She tightened her arms, trying to physically hold herself together when the walls inside her head were crashing down. “I just want to raise my son in peace; no more monsters.”

“If you leave I cannot protect you from what’s out there.” He reached up and brushed the hair from her face, letting his hand linger on her cheek a moment longer than necessary. “If one of the less… honorable Aradians captured you, you would be made to wear their mark and you wouldn’t be given any choice. There are those of us that can be very cruel, especially to Breeders.”

“They’d have to find me first.”

“Pardon?”

“You said if they caught me,” her voice was low, fierce. Looking up, she boldly met his eyes. “They’d have to find me first.”

“I found you.”

“But I had stayed hidden for twenty-five years.” Licking her lips, she continued, “My… companion has stayed hidden even longer.”

“We know that Breeders exist now.” His gaze bore into hers but she didn’t flinch. “They will be looking for you.”

“Fine.” Glaring up at him, she scowled, “Let’s say I do give in, that I give you the child you want, that I give you a dozen children; what will happen to me when you no longer need me; when you grow tired of me? Am I to be given to another Aradian?”

“You are mine,” he declared hotly, closing the distance between them and taking her in his arms before she even knew he moved. His eyes blazed down at her and she had to swallow back whatever words she would have said had she remembered how to speak. She hadn’t realized how much bigger he was than her; he towered over her and she had to tilt her head back to see his face when he was standing so close. While he held her firmly and his grip was gentle, she could sense the latent power within him; he could crush her so easily without even breaking a sweat. “No one else will touch you. Ever.”

Then, before her eyes, he seemed to almost shrink in size, compressing the space he took up into a more comfortable and less threatening aura. Relaxing his grip on her arms, he smiled mockingly and stepped away from her and she wasn’t sure if he was laughing at her or at himself. “You have no idea what you are up against, Malorie; you wouldn’t be so quick to refuse me if you knew.”

“I didn’t say I was refusing you, just the cage you would put me in.” Her words were quiet and she was barely able to get them past her dry throat. How had he done that? Grow without growing; take up all of the oxygen in the room and make it impossible to think. At his look of disbelief, she took a step backwards in a vain attempt to keep her sanity. “I just… it’s hard to come to grips with everything that has happened the past few days. I need time.”

Turning away from him, she walked over to the wall, desperate to get her thoughts in order. She had been through too much, learned too much, in such a short period of time; there was simply no way she could make such a monumental decision right away. Especially since it affected those she loved; it affected Toby. And if she made the choice to stay with him, her father would be sentenced to a life as an Aradian puppet. How could she do that to him, after everything he sacrificed to keep her safe? To keep her out of Aradian hands?

As a million thoughts and doubts and worries played havoc in her head, she looked at the various photographs and paintings on the wall, needing something to concentrate on so her brain didn’t explode. She had to decide whether or not she could trust Feryn or if she just desperately wanted to because of the connection between them. What little she knew of the Aradians was not necessarily accurate, considering the source. Perhaps her grandfather had a jaded perspective when it came to Aradians, considering he lost the woman he loved to… Oh, dear God; the women he loved with her womb cut open….

She glanced over her shoulder while pressing her hand against her rebellious stomach. Looking at him, even knowing he had to have existed for many, many years, it was hard to comprehend that he was so… old. Even older than her father, who was actually much older than she could imagine. He met her eyes and she quickly turned away, afraid he would read her thoughts on her face.

Doing a hasty genealogy chart, she figured out that even though it was probably her grandmother – her grandmother!! – that had Feryn’s child, Feryn was in no way related to her. His son would be; he would be her great uncle; no, just her uncle. Her father’s half-brother. Now her heart was racing with all of the ramifications of having a relationship with someone who had seen and experienced so much, who had intimate knowledge of her gr….

She simply couldn’t dwell on the grandmother connection; that would be simply too creepy and weird. Staring intently at the photograph in front of her, she pushed the troublesome thoughts aside; it was just another obstacle that might prove impossible to overcome. She would….

Her eyes narrowed as she finally focused on the man in the image, with his black hair and luminous, green eyes, he was obviously Feryn’s son, her uncle. But there was something so very, very familiar about him.

“Malorie,” Feryn’s voice came from so far away. “What do you think?”

“
Malorie, what do you think?” Jack asked, a huge grin on his face as they broke into the mansion reputed to be vampire nest. He had been with them for nearly a year now and had taken to vampire hunting with remarkable ease. She had to admit that he looked very nice with the sword strapped to his back and a pair of well-worn blue jeans. In the time that she had known him, he had put nearly twenty pounds of muscles on his tall frame and had filled out very nicely; he was very handsome in his boyish way, with his warm, brown eyes and shaggy blond hair.

Mal’s hair barely brushed her shoulders and her breasts were, if not very large, noticeably feminine. And while she wasn’t as physically strong as Jack, in fact, she wasn’t anywhere near as strong as Jack; she could definitely hold her own in a fight; she was quick on her feet and she could be quite devious. Jack was an excellent sparring partner and as he beamed down at her, she shouldered him in the gut and entered the enemy’s domain.

He followed close behind, his running commentary both a comfort and an annoyance. “How many vamps do you think we will take out tonight?”

“
It’s a recon mission, Jack,” she whispered back, constantly scanning the seemingly deserted house, shining her flashlight back and forth as she took in the rooms. They had been told about the house by some kids that swore up and down that vampires lived there, hosting parties for the idiot college kids who preferred partying to studying. Having done some research on the house, Malorie had come to the same conclusion. It was a hell of a deal for the vamps: fresh food all of the time and if they kept the deaths to the minimum, there would be no ramifications.

Still, something didn’t sit right with her. The vamps seemed to be almost too compliant; as if they were up to something more than just a few midnight snacks. Hence the recon mission on a night when the vamps were out scrounging up some more fools. "We need to get an idea about their plans, Jack; we aren’t supposed to do anything reckless.”

“
Honey,” he smiled his crooked smile. “Reckless is my middle name.”

She had to smile at that, even as she rolled her eyes. He was just so… Jack. “If we’re quick, we shouldn’t run into any vamps at all.”

“
Pity,” he sighed, taking the stairs to the next level, knowing the drill. Malorie would make a quick sweep of the main floor before heading up to the bedrooms. Both of them would hit the basement after all of the upper floors had been searched. As she made her way through the dining room and living room, she realized that the rooms were way too orderly, too clean, to be a normal vampire nest. Usually, sleeping all day and partying all night made for less than fastidious housekeeping.

Generally, vampires were filthy beasts, indulging in blood and not worrying about the mess. Most of the nests she had infiltrated had at least one or two bodies barely concealed. But the house she was in didn’t have the seven day old stench of death; the air was clean and breathable. It didn’t make any sense and the sooner they got out of there, the better she would feel. If vampires were picking up after themselves, there had to be some serious crap about to happen.

An alarm was quietly going off in the back of her head and she stopped to listen, wondering if she should be concerned or if she was being paranoid because of the change of routine these particular vampires had. It would be best to get out of there and come up with a plan far away from the place. Turning, she ran up the stairs to get Jack and tell him they had to go.

“
We have to get out of here, Jack,” she whispered as loudly as possible, hoping he hadn’t encountered anyone or anything. When he didn’t answer, she softly called out, “Jack?”

Making her way down the hall, she heard some scuffling noises and cursed beneath her breath; there was a vamp up there with Jack. Without a second thought, she grabbed her stake in case Jack needed assistance and rushed down the hall to the back room. The image that greeted her eyes was not what she expected. There was someone up there with them, and Jack was fighting him, but he had the most dazzling aura she had ever seen; he was fairly burning with life.

“
Jack! No!” she screamed, rushing forward as Jack plunged a stake into the man’s chest. Shoving Jack out of the way, she caught the black-haired man as he fell, crumbling to the ground beneath his weight but cushioning his landing.

“
What the fuck, Mal?” Jack roared, pushing himself off the ground and picking up the sword he had dropped when he fell. “He’s a vampire!”

“
He’s not,” Malorie protested, caressing the beautiful man’s hair back from his face. She had never seen another person who was so gorgeous, with his brilliant green eyes and thick black hair. His face looked as if it had been lovingly carved by the Italian masters, the planes and angles so perfect if only to emphasize the firm fullness of his lips. Even with all of his masculine beauty, she was not attracted to him, though he felt so… familiar.

Tears irrationally filled her eyes as she glanced down and saw the wooden weapon sticking out of the man’s bare chest. Ignoring Jack, she asked, “What can I do?”

“
Remove the stake,” he gasped in obvious pain.

“
Mal, no,” Jack protested, grabbing her arm to stop her. She shrugged him off, concentrating on what she had to do.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the stake and jerked it out, the squelching sound of blood and bone making her queasy. The man’s back arched and he hissed in agony but she was pleased to note that it hadn’t pierced his heart. Blood bubbled out of the wound and she was afraid that he was still going to die and she couldn’t stand to lose someone so bursting with life. She was going to do everything in her power to save him. “Now what?”

“
Goddam it, Mal!” Jack cursed. “What are you doing?”

“
Blood,” the injured man managed and she hesitated only a moment before she held her wrist up to her mouth. Just as she was about to bite down, he grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth. Startled, her eyes flew to his as he bit down, puncturing her skin with his fangs. Holding her eyes he drew some blood into his mouth and closed his eyes in pleasure.

Taken slightly aback, she was even more surprised when he gently maneuvered her wrist, placing the oozing blood over the gaping wound on his chest. He inhaled sharply and she could feel his agony and his ecstasy as if they were her own. His eyes opened once more and she felt herself being pulled into him. His memories raced through her head, too disjointed and too numerous for her to make sense of any of them, just that he had seen so much, had lived through so much. And through it all, he relished every moment; he had abounding love and joy overflowing within him.

Tears filled her eyes once more, only they were tears of intense happiness, the likes of which she had never experienced. A smile quivered on her lips as she soared with her new friend.