Darkness Comes (16 page)

“
And your son?” She looked at Toby and her eyes lingered on the adorable little boy with a mop of light blond hair. He offered her a shy smile and Malorie could see the woman’s heart melt.

“
He just turned three.”

The woman sucked in a breath, her gaze quickly returning to Malorie. She must have seen the desperation in Malorie’s eyes because she closed her eyes and swallowed loudly. “All right; we’ll give it a go today and if it goes well, we’ll see what we can do.”

Relief and joy made Malorie nearly giddy and she beamed at the woman. “Thank you; I’m Malorie and this is Toby.”

The woman’s warm smiled appeared once more as she ran a muddy finger along Toby’s smooth cheek, leaving a streak of dirt in its wake. “Hi, Toby. I’m Liese.”

A few weeks later, Malorie had her hands buried in the dirt and she had never felt happier: Toby was nearby and she was doing something she loved and was good at. No, not just good, very good. She had a talent with the plants, able to coax stubborn flowers into blossoming to their full potential. And it seemed Toby had inherited her green thumb as well. Life was good….

Liese sat down on an overturned box and wiped the back of her arm across her red face, leaving a streak of dirt on the damp skin. With a hearty sigh, she grinned at Malorie, “Hiring you was the best decision I’ve ever made. My word, the plants have never been so healthy and vibrant, and your eye for arrangement quite takes my breath away.”

Malorie smiled slightly at the praise even as she kept working. She was growing more accustomed to Liese’s lavish compliments but they still embarrassed her. But Liese usually didn’t interrupt Mal the first few hours of the morning; that was when the accounting needed to be done. The thought made Malorie pull her hands from the soil and wipe them on the apron she wore over her old jeans and t-shirt. “What’s wrong?”

“
Well,” the woman hesitated, not quite meeting Malorie’s eyes while Mal held her breath. “Your social security number was flagged; but I’m sure it was a simple error, no?”

“
Uh huh,” Mal agreed numbly, figuring it was life’s way of making sure she never had a normal life. Straightening her shoulders, she faced Liese head on, not expecting the compassion she saw in the other woman’s amber eyes.

Liese reached out and touched Malorie’s cheek with the tips of her fingers, her warm eyes full of concern. “You’ve had a difficult life, haven’t you? What troubles are you running from? Is it the boy’s father?”

She would have been able to handle scorn and accusations; the kindness was killing her. Helplessly, she shook her head, “No, Jack was a good man. No; there’s simply no place for the likes of me since the war ended.”

Liese gasped and leaned closer, even though they were the only two people in the whole nursery. With a hushed voice and dancing eyes, she asked, “Are you one of those slayers?”

“
Blade Soldiers,” Malorie corrected. “Yes.”

Liese fanned her face with her hand, her eyes round with glee, “How exciting!”

Malorie still remember the first time Liese had hugged her and how she had stiffened in the unfamiliar embrace. Instead of being offended, Liese had chuckled and continued to hug her until Mal relaxed. It had become a game to Liese to hug Mal – and Toby – as often as possible, showering her with the love of a mother for her child.

She hoped Liese was doing all right. When they had parted, Malorie had been so out of it, she wasn’t sure whether or not she had even said good bye. If she got the chance, she would find Liese and thank her for giving her a chance to live normally.

Mal and Toby made it to the edge of the cultivated garden when a stunning red head spotted them, her blindingly white smile doing little to hide the fact that she wore practically nothing on her porn-star body. Her voice was breathy as she stopped in front of Malorie, her smile friendly and open. “Hello! You must be new here; I don’t remember seeing you and your, er, son around before.”

“Um, sure.” Malorie didn’t want to give the woman any cause to be suspicious but it was difficult to feign interest in a conversation she didn’t want to be having.

“I’m Ginny,” she girl giggled, though she was probably Mal’s age. The woman’s eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ when she actually looked at Malorie. Her voice became even more breathless as she reached out and touched Mal’s face with awe. “My lord, you… glow.”

Mal laughed a little nervously, stepping away from the girls’ hand, remembering that the girl at the hospital had said something very similar. Ginny’s eyes dropped to Toby and she gave a delighted gasp, “So does the boy; I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s so beautiful.”

Malorie pushed Toby behind her, not wanting to encourage the girl and her strange madness. Taking another step away, she forced her lips into a smile, “It’s the early morning light; it makes everyone glow.”

Ginny clearly didn’t believe her but she let it drop. “Who do you belong to?”

Malorie froze at that question, slightly offended by the implications. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

Ginny giggled, her eyes sparkling with genuine amusement, “There are a few of those around here; they hook up with whoever will have them, male or female. While I think it’s great, it’s just not for me; I prefer belonging to one lord. I belong to Jiro, see?”

Ginny tilted her head slightly, exposing the delicate mark that branded her skin. It was intricate and beautiful but it didn’t glimmer and it was a quarter the size of the mark Feryn had placed on her throat…. What the hell? Was she actually comparing the mark Feryn gave her to what the girl wore? She was being ridiculous.

“Doesn’t it… bother you?” Malorie shook her head, finding herself in the middle of an interesting conversation when she ought to be running. At Ginny’s blank look, Mal scowled, “Belonging to someone? Letting them… mark you?”

“We all have ties.” Ginny shrugged her slim shoulders, her abundant breasts threatening to spill from the strings pretending to be a top. “In this… society, the ties are simply stronger and more honest.

“Humans are social creatures and we are always making compromises; it’s the price we pay to live among other people.” She giggled again, the sound oddly incongruous with the conversation they were having. “Here, we have abundant liberties and we are free to come and go as we please but the benefits of belonging to one lord or lady are legion. They offer protection and in return, we provide a service.”

Malorie snorted, imagining the “service” being provided. Ginny giggled even harder, “We all earn our keep and it isn’t all on our back, you naughty girl.”

Malorie blushed at the scolding but didn’t retreat. “What if you want something different out of life, something… more?”

Ginny’s smile widened, encompassing her entire face as she threw her arms out to include the entire compound. “The libraries here are vast and among the finest in all of the lands and our masters have extensive, first-hand knowledge of history and they are more than willing to share their wisdom. Whatever skill we desire to learn can be found here and when we’re not… busy, we can apply our new knowledge or improve our old talents. It all balances out.”

“It sounds almost too good to be true.”

“Not while you’re here.” Then Ginny sighed, a forlorn look drawing her mouth down, “Unfortunately, when we leave, it is necessary to… alter our memories of this place; you know, to protect their secrets. In a way, it’s almost like college, or how I image college would be; a place of learning and pleasure.”

Malorie knew there was a price to pay for living in paradise. Oh, dear lord; was this like Olympus? Only with blood sucking and sex instead of lightning bolts? No, Olympus probably had plenty of sex to go around as well.

“Ginny, my pet,” an irritatingly familiar voice called out from behind Malorie. Judging by the way Ginny’s face lit up, Malorie was fairly certain she knew who it was. She wasn’t disappointed a few moments later when Jiro stepped past and wrapped the buxom red head in his arms, burying his face at her neck for a moment while holding Malorie’s eyes. His silver green eyes glared as his voice purred, “Where have you been, my little tart? I’ve been waiting for you to… bathe me.”

“Oh, God,” Malorie groaned and Ginny giggled.

“I’ve been chatting with the new girl.” She twined her lithe body around his, pressing her generous boobs against his chest. Standing up on tip toe, dragging her breasts against his body, she spoke in a stage whisper. “She glows.”

“Really.” With a pat on the girl’s bottom, he never took his eyes from Malorie as he growled, “Why don’t you run along and prepare yourself; I’ll be along shortly.”

“Okay,” Ginny giggled, bouncing away after a quick kiss that even included some tongue.

Jiro narrowed his eyes even more as he glared at Malorie. The sun was high enough to glint off the diamonds, giving him an extremely flashy and severe look that was almost… comical. As if sensing the direction of Mal’s thoughts, his scowl deepened, his silver green eyes flaring with warning.

“Hi, Mr. Jiro.” Toby stepped out from behind Malorie and smiled up at the taciturn man. It was fascinating watching Jiro’s volatile expression soften so rapidly.

Jiro squatted down until he was at Toby’s level, a true smile warming his face. “Hey, Tobes; How’d you sleep last night? Pretty good, I’d bet.”

“Uh huh.” Toby beamed, excitement brightening his face. “It was the biggest bed I ever slept in; I felt like a pirate in my very own boat!”

Jiro reached out and ruffled Toby’s hair, laughing. After a few moments of exchanging words with her son, the man rose to his feet, his friendly smile morphing into one of severe contempt. Once more glaring, he sneered, “And I suppose you enjoyed… the bed?”

Tilting her head to the side, she looked him up and down in a clinical manner. Of course he was gorgeous but he was also bathed in arrogance and she found it extremely off-putting. Then why did she find it so attractive in Feryn? Probably because he didn’t openly despise her.

“It must suck knowing that the mother of your child isn’t even going to be born for at least fifteen years; no wonder why you’re so… sullen.”

His smile was shark-like: all teeth. “I’ll be granted the first female Breeder, whether she is in the group of newly pregnant girls or the next batch.” He gave a negligent shrug, his shirt straining against his muscles. “I’ve waited this long, eighteen or twenty years is nothing.”

She should have learned that it was foolish to taunt someone with so many more years of life experience than her; they always knew where to strike to cause the most damage. Learning that her father was already being used as a stud was painful. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing how close to the target he hit. “And if she chooses someone else because she simply can’t stand your, ahem, charming personality?”

“I can be quite charming, to the right woman.” He looked her up and down, dismissing her with a sneer. “You’re definitely not my type.”

“It’s because my tits are all natural and actually give when you squeeze them, isn’t it?” she asked sweetly, grabbing Toby’s hands in hers and wondering at her own stupidity. Before he had a chance to respond, she turned on her heal and hurried away, her cheeks on fire and her stomach turning over in revolt. She refused to look back, determined to get as far away from the palace as quickly as possible.

*****

After several hours, Malorie nearly sighed with relief as she and Toby finally emerged on the other side of the woods just as the sun was at its zenith. And even more wonderful was the road that would lead somewhere, hopefully somewhere that had a phone. One quick call and she and Toby would be extracted within an hour. Theoretically.

She figured they had a pretty good head start; they were at least five miles from the main Aradian compound. Even if Feryn were to discover them missing, he’d never catch up to them.

Which she realized was a huge error in judgment since he had captured her days after the mall incident. And since she saw him standing in the middle of the road, leaning against a sleek, silver convertible, his arms crossed across his broad chest and a smile on his full lips, “What did you say to my brother? I’ve never seen him so furious?”

“He’s just upset that I got the final dig in.” Closing the distance between them, she automatically handed Toby over before she realized what she was doing. Her eyes widened in astonishment, flying to his and catching the flash of surprise and amusement in his own emerald depths. If she had any hope of keeping her soul intact she was going to have to do a better job of keeping him at a distance.

She just had to figure how to do that.

He settled Toby in the backseat and Malorie slid into the front seat, admiring the soft, buttery leather. As Feryn climbed into the driver’s side, he started the car, squealing the tires as he began driving. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked out the side window, determined to ignore the devastating man sitting so very close to her.

“You need to be rational, Malorie,” he crooned softly, lulling her with his seductive voice. “We’re not vampires and we’re not your enemy.”