Darkness Comes (17 page)

“Your kind creates vampires.”

He heaved out a sigh, “Only some of us do but I would be willing to bet all of that would change when word gets out that Breeders once again walk among us.”

It took an amazing amount of effort to feign apathy towards him, knowing she couldn’t afford to let her guard down. But she was just so tired of running, of fighting. She struggled to keep her head clear, to think rationally about everything. “You’re insane if you think I’d just relinquish my son to your kind.”

“My kind,” he repeated with a small smile. He looked at her, his eyes sparkling with laughter, “Don’t you know that your kind was made for my kind? That you were made for me?”

Her heart skipped a beat in her chest then raced to catch up at the heated promise in his voice, his words. He lightly wrapped his fingers around her throat, the touch scorching her skin. “Feel my warmth, Malorie.”

Tilting his head to the side, he exposed his neck to her. His hand slid over her shoulder, to her hand. Lifting it, he pressed her fingers to his throat and continued, “Feel the blood throb in my body; I am not a monster.”

She licked her lips, mesmerized by the sight of her fingers on his skin, watching his throat pulse with his blood, watching his lips as he continued to seduce her with words. “You won’t have to run anymore, won’t have to hide. I will protect you and your son.”

She swallowed thickly, “Can you protect me from the others? Because without Aradians there would be no more vampires; how can I be a part of something that will create more Aradians? More vampires?”

His fingers moved softly over her lips and he simply looked at her. “Not all Aradians that create vampires go vamp-mad.”

Her brows drew together but he didn’t say anything more as he was coming to a stop. She looked around and realized that they hadn’t returned to the mansion. They were parked beneath a cropping of trees in the middle of nowhere looking out over the vast, vast ocean. The water was so very blue and she finally realized that she never had a chance. “We’re on an island in the middle of nowhere, aren’t we?”

“Of course. Now, come,” he said, opening her door and holding out his hand. “Let’s talk while your son stretches his legs.”

She looked over her shoulder and saw that Toby was grinning, already climbing out of the car to explore the sheltered area. She warned, “Don’t go too far, Toby; stay where I can see you at all times.”

His eyes lit up with the promise of getting dirty, “I will.”

Feryn still stood with his hand extended. With a moment’s more reluctance, she took the offered hand and gasped as electricity shot up her arm. Her eyes flew to his as he pulled her out of the car, slightly mollified to see the surprise in his eyes as well.

He led her to a lush area of grass, beneath the trees. A warm breeze caressed her skin and a shiver chased down her spine as they sat down and his thigh brushed against hers. Stubbornly, she looked away from him and watched Toby as he lay down in the dirt and coaxed a small flower into blooming. Of course he would have to emphasize their unique characteristics that made the Aradians covet them. Despite the inauspicious beginning, she could understand where Feryn was coming from, even if she didn’t agree with his questionable methods. Plus, he knew about what she was; he would be able to help her understand her nature as a Breeder.

Or she was simply suffering from a severe case of Stockholm syndrome. Unfortunately, being with Feryn was the first time she actually felt as if she belonged somewhere, a part of something. It was no longer just her and her little family against the world, struggling to remain anonymous and separate. It was no longer her trying to love a man as much as he loved her and feeling guilty for failing to do so.

“You’re strength is that you are soft and you don’t know it.” Feryn’s voice brought her out of the dark thoughts that were swarming in her head. “You’ve had to pretend to be hard for so long you don’t even realize how very soft you are.

“Lean on me, Malorie.” He put action to word, pulling her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head. His heart beat was strong and steady, lulling her into a sense of rightness. “Let me shoulder your burdens; let me be your rock.”

Her breath caught in her throat at his words, as he continued the sensual assault, sliding his fingers through her hair and pressing tender kisses to the crown of her head. “You’ve been so alone for so long.”

“I haven’t been alone.” Her voice cracked as she said the words.

His fingers paused for a moment, just a moment, then he continued the sensuous caress. “You’ve been alone; your… companion does not allow confidences and you would never lay your burdens on your son. Even if you haven’t been alone you have been lonely. You no longer have to be lonely.”

“You make it almost impossible to resist.”

She could feel his smile against her skull, hear his heart beat against her ear; he held her and she was safe. “Then why do you resist?”

“Because I have a son,” she said softly, her eyes automatically going to Toby. “He needs to be given the freedom to make his own choice; I can’t make it for him.”

“We have time to worry about that later.”

“What about my… what about Gus?” She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. “He was never given the choice; he has been locked up and used as a stud.”

“He gets to make love to beautiful women all day long and when he is not making love he is being pampered. Why would he complain?”

She let out a stony laugh, knowing that her father had lived four hundred and fifty years without a cage; she could imagine he would have plenty to complain about. Not to mention the children he would be siring, children that would be kept from him. Sinking further into Feryn’s embrace, she closed her eyes. “Promise me that you will let him go.”

“Malorie….”

“Promise me.”

“I will see what can be done.”

It was the best she could have hoped for though it was far short of what she wanted. Twisting her face to keep the tears from falling, to keep the anguish from consuming her, she knew her father was going to be livid once he gained his freedom, and she had no doubt that he would find a way. But how would he ever forgive her for getting him into the whole mess?

Silently, she promised her father that she would find a way to free him, if he didn’t find a way first. If it weren’t for Feryn, she would have found a way long before now. As pitiful as it seemed, she simply needed Feryn too much, loved him too much, which was absurd but oddly true.

“Talk to me Feryn.” Her words came out soft, almost inaudible. “Tell me about Aradians and yourself; tell me my choice will be the right one.”

“I will tell you anything you want to know, Malorie.” His words whispered through her, his chest rumbling against her cheek as he spoke. Kissing the top of her head, he whispered, “Anything.”

Chapter 8

Forcing herself to turn around and meet his eyes, desperate for a something to let her know she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life, she asked, “Have you ever created a vampire?”

He was silent for a long while and she knew she wasn’t going to like his answer.

“Yes,” he said, his voice grim. “When I was younger, I… experimented.”

The grimace on his face spoke volumes but she was unable to prevent the disbelieving gasp. Covering her open mouth with her hand, she tried to listen to his words before giving in to panic. “You… experimented? What does that mean?”

“I experimented.… It was a very long time ago, Malorie.” He took her hand in his, his expression troubled. She had to concentrate on keeping her anger but his remorse was almost tangible in its strength. He pursed his lips, choosing his words carefully, “It… it was a rush of power and ecstasy. It was incredible. And in my youth, I created a dozen, maybe more; and I felt indestructible.”

Her brows drew together; was that a lot of vampires? Or hardly any at all? “If it was so amazing, why didn’t you create more than twelve or fifteen?”

He laughed ruefully, “I don’t know; it just felt wrong. The power felt corrupt, unnatural. After a while, I couldn’t bear my own company and I… released my creations.”

When she tilted her head to the side in a silent question, he glanced away, a flush burnishing his skin, “I staked them.”

“That’s horrible!” she gasped, though why she thought it so horrible was strange; she would have staked the bastards in a heartbeat. “First you created them and then you just discarded them when they were no longer wanted?”

“I had them for almost a hundred years,” he replied defensively. “And trust me, it hurt me a hell of a lot more than it hurt them; it took me months to recover.”

The indignation in his voice took her aback; did he want her to praise him for destroying the monsters he had created in the first place? As she opened her mouth to say something, he continued, “And I only had a few for such a short time; imagine the damage an Aradian suffers when he creates a vast army of vampires over a long period of time? If enough of his vampires are eradicated, he can be incapacitated for years.”

Still, she couldn’t reconcile his hatred of vampires with the knowledge that Aradians created them; that he had created vampires. “Why kill them at all if you create them? How are they a threat to Aradians?”

“We cannot afford to have the vile creatures draw attention to things we’d rather keep secret and I have to make the often unpopular decisions to… cull the herd. Aradians who do not comply face severe penalties; most prefer to abide by the law though some lose their way and give in to vamp-madness.” He arched an eyebrow as if she should have known as much. “When there are too many, the vampires become bold, reckless; reveling in their power and infamy.”

“Poaching on your food supply.”

He laughed, “We don’t eat humans, Malorie.”

“You drink their blood.” She tilted her head to the side, running her fingers over the bite marks that had already disappeared, to prove her point.

It was obvious he was fighting a smile, and losing. His lips tilted and he said, “Among other things, it increases sexual potency.”

Malorie felt the heat spread across her cheeks, down her throat, across her breasts. And then the heat sank through her skin and into her belly. Suddenly he was leaning over her, his eyes molten green and burning into her, his breath moving across her face. Blood rushed through her veins and her body softened, melting beneath the heat of his gaze. It was impossible to get enough air and her lips parted as he filled all of her senses.

Her eyes dropped to his lips and she saw the moment he knew he had won that minor skirmish; the corner of his sensual mouth curved upwards in another cruel, mocking smile. She turned her head away, desperate to break the spell he so effortlessly weaved. Her relationship with Jack had been nice and pleasant; she knew that whatever she had with Feryn was going to be tumultuous and demanding. It was a terrifyingly exciting thought. “What do you mean when you say it hurt you more that it hurt them?”

His curled his lip in remembered torment as he began to explain, “When an Aradian creates a vampire, they use a part of their… power to convert a human.”

“But wouldn’t that diminish their power?” Malorie interrupted, at once wondering why he was telling her all of this and eager to learn more. It was the strategist part of her that sought clarification; the more she knew about vampires and those responsible for creating them, the better she would be at fighting back.

“No,” he shook his head. “The vampires… amplify the Aradian power; so the more vampires an Aradian creates….”

“The more power he acquires,” Malorie whispered, with horrible understanding.

“But it is a… tainted power,” Feryn repeated before she could ask why wouldn’t all Aradians create vamps if they gained such power in exchange. “The creation of vampires does something to the Aradian, changes them; numbs and corrupts them. And when a vampire is killed, the power is drained from its creator.”

“When a whole bunch of vamps are killed….”

“The Aradian creator is severely weakened,” he answered, clarifying.

“So when thousands of vampires were killed at the end of the uprising,” she said slowly, her eyes meeting his, excitement bubbling in her stomach. But how could she kill enough vampires to weaken the vampire creators? As soon as she could manage it – if she got the chance – she would track down some of her former soldiers and come up with a contingency plan. One never knew when there might be a vampire uprising and if they could weaken the source, they could win the war. “There were Aradians who suffered greatly; who probably still suffer.”

He nodded grimly, “Yes.”

“Good,” she bit out harshly, her nostrils flaring in just retribution, her thoughts whirling in her head. With enough time, they’d be able to coordinate a massive attack, taking out hundreds of vamps….

He chuckled, the warm sound disrupting her flow of tactical planning and bringing her back to the present and the realization that there probably weren’t enough Blade Soldiers left to pull off such an attack and that was kind of a depressing thought. “I doubt they would share your sentiment.”

“I don’t care what they think,” she bit out, a fierce scowl emphasizing her conviction. “Because of them and their... lust for power, we lost a lot of good soldiers.” Looking away, her gaze landed on Toby, who looked so much like Jack. Lowering her gaze, she added softly, “I lost my husband.”