Darkness Comes (37 page)

Excitement filled the air as the other vamps smelled her blood; even after the destruction they were still getting off on her conversion. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she felt her blood rushing through her body to her throat, to Jack’s mouth. It wasn’t nearly as erotic as when Feryn drank of her; it was cold and dark. True death.

Her legs were buzzing, her fingers were stiff, and her head was pounding hollowly. She was going to die because Jack didn’t seem to be able to stop. God, she wished she would have been able to see her child one last time, to let Toby know how very much she loved him; she wished she could have told Feryn how much she loved him. Maybe he knew. It didn’t matter anymore; she was floating above her body, warm, weightless.

She was finally at peace….

She was thrust back into her cold body as a flash of light illuminated the back of her eye lids, and then the weight of her vampire husband was gone. Silence descended and the blood lust that burned the air had disappeared. She opened one eye a crack and saw that the rest of the vamps were all gone.

She was lying in the middle of the deserted street wondering what had just happened. Lethargically, she brought her hand up to her neck and felt the slick blood pulsing from her wound. Jack didn’t take enough to kill her and he didn’t give her any of his blood but she was still bleeding pretty heavily. Wasn’t there supposed to be an enzyme in their spit to slow the bleeding down once they were finished drinking? Maybe they only released it once they were done. Maybe she was going to bleed to death after all.

A harsh laugh escaped at the thought; by some miracle she was saved only to bleed to death because she was saved too soon. Or too late. She wasn’t sure. It would have been nice if the vamps had disappeared before biting her.

Where did the vamps go?

Footsteps pounded towards her and she managed to turn her head enough to the side to see large, black boots approaching. A man fell to his knees next to her and she had to warn him. “It was Taella; she killed your son, not Jack. Taella.”

“Shh,” he whispered, his hands moving over her body, his fingertips pressing against her throat.

“But… Taella,” she said. Or tried to say; no sound came out of her mouth and she was too tired to try again.

“Oh, gods,” he cried, gathering her up into his arms and cradling her against his broad chest. His familiar scent washed over her and his heart pounded against her ear; it was the most wonderful sound in the world. There was a world of difference between the cold dead vamps and this, her warm, living Aradian. His fingers moved over her face, her neck. “I’m going to finish it.”

Malorie nodded, knowing that he had to kill her; it was the only way. Licking her lips, she forced her eyes to stay open, “I love you.”

He didn’t say anything for a long time but then his hot mouth moved over her throat and she felt the strong pull of his sucking, the rough rasp of his tongue. Her body shivered in pleasure and she had the brief thought that it was insane to desire him, to want to have sex with him, while he was killing her.

Unable to fight any longer, she let her eyes drift shut, falling into the blackness.

Chapter 17

Feryn stared out the window, replaying his earlier conversation with Malorie, feeling the strangest ache in his chest. Perhaps there was a reason Aradians did not fall in love; it was not a comfortable emotion. Absently, he rubbed the tender spot, picturing Malorie in his head, the tears that glistened on her eyelashes as she looked at him and begged him to go.

She was so young, even in human years. It was hard to fathom that he could love such a creature but he did. Desperately. He would give anything to see her smile, even carve out his own heart should she wish it. Gods, it had torn him apart to let her go. If he had to do it a second time, he would have to join the original Aradians on the next plane of existence and hope that memories of her didn’t follow him.

When he had walked through her memories, he had wanted to crucify every monster that had hurt her, both human and vampire. But that had been tame compared to what he wanted to do to that… boy she married. Every time that little prick touched her, Feryn had wanted to rip the boy’s fingernails off. When the boy made love to her, he went insane with jealousy, especially when the boy took his own pleasure without giving any in return. As much as the infant loved her, he was still very much a child.

It was not without some shame that Feryn felt an overwhelming sense of joy when she admitted that it was her young husband she was forgetting. As difficult as it was to believe that he had failed in changing her memories, it pleased him that she hadn’t forgotten him. After everything, he couldn’t seem to remember his reasons for sending her away in the first place; reflecting back, they were inconsequential and he had been a fool.

A blind idiot of a fool who almost threw away one of the best things that had ever been given to him.

It was extraordinarily obvious that there was something very unique and wonderful about Malorie Sinclair; she was unlike any of the Breeders that had come before in her abilities and her effect on him. He had never witnessed a Breeder with her talent with plants and it had taken his breath away when she had thrust her hands into the nearly dead greenery during their first interview and the thing came roaring back to life. In fact, only a few drops of her blood had created the lush garden she had puttered in while she was living amongst the humans.

And then there was her talent of sharing his memories; he still didn’t understand how she was capable of doing something that should have been impossible for a Breeder and nearly impossible for Breeder-born Aradians. It was a skill that had taken him hundreds of years to master and she simply... did it. He was certain she had untapped power that even she was unaware of; he was looking forward to discovering all of her secrets.

Most miraculously, she was going to be giving him another child. Words could not express the depths of his joy when he thought about the small being that grew in her womb; the little Aradian that was the best of both of them.

Even without the child he would have gone after her; he had started to disintegrate the moment he had taken her memories. By the time he had set her up in the human village, he was barely recognizable as Feryn. Without the child, he might have lasted another month, two at most, but he would have gone after her. The child was just an excuse to reclaim her sooner.

Who was he kidding? He would have been there in a matter of days. Every day that she had been gone, he had played a game: to see how long he could last before he had to check in on her. The first day he made it all of twenty hours; the second eighteen. By the end of the first week, he was watching her just about every moment of the day and all through the night, wishing he knew what she was thinking, what she was saying.

And in those moments when she had spent time chatting with Jiro, he was twisted up inside with envy because Jiro could talk to her, see her, breathe her in.

He was surprised he had lasted as long as he did.

He would give her the time that she needed but he wasn’t going to make it easy on her. If necessary he would be on her doorstep every day, prepared to seduce her, cajole her, plead with her if it came down to it. He would do anything….

An overwhelming, soul crushing terror brought him to his knees; he could hardly breathe. Spikes of frost slashed through his body and his skin was on fire.

Malorie! Something was very, very wrong – he could feel her heart racing in his chest, the terror that was clawing its way through her belly.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on her as he stepped through the Netherspace only to come up against a block on the other side. Desperate to get to his heart, he slammed his fist against the invisible wall only to have it bounce off. Whoever was terrifying Malorie was very powerful; he or she had put up an effective force field; he was going to have to find a way to break through and pray that he didn’t arrive too late.

After only a few minutes that had seemed an eternity, he felt a sort of strange calmness wash over Malorie and he cried out in alarm; she was coming to peace with herself and her fate. Frantically he began to force his body through the dense space, ignoring the pressure on his cells; if he didn’t get to her soon, it wouldn’t matter if he joined his predecessors earlier than he would have wanted; this life would be empty without her in it.

Time seemed to stand still as the pressure continued to compress his cells, until he felt as if he were going to be ripped apart from the inside. But he pushed on, desperation giving him the strength of a hundred Aradians. Ignoring the fissures erupting on his skin, the cracks racing along his bones, he concentrated on Malorie; if he made it through, the injuries would heal in a matter of moments. If he made it through….

And suddenly, he was on the other side, or rather, the force field was no longer there, and he came to a stop, momentarily discombobulated. Shaking it off, he started forwards, an awkward lope quickly turning into an all-out run. He barely noticed the destruction of the human zoo, the lifeless bodies littering the streets, the burning cars, the shattered windows. The stench of vampires was strong but they were nowhere to be fou….

“
No,” he breathed, as he finally came upon Malorie’s street and saw the reason why there had been no vampires; they were all congregated around a central form, blood lust making them howl and dance around. Reaching out his mind, he tried to find her but he couldn’t and he knew….

Rage and grief like he had never known before, even when he had destroyed thousands of vampires, welled up inside of him. All of the vampires were going to pay; every last one of them. And then he was going to take care of the Aradians who continued to play with such vile creatures, binding them if need be so they would never be able to create another abomination again.

Without breaking stride, he crashed through the creatures as they imploded, his screams joining those of the dying bastards. Without the noise of hundreds of vampires, he could finally find a trace of Malorie; she wasn’t gone yet. Skidding to a halt next to her, he fell to his knees and gathered her into his arms, feeling her life slipping through his hands.

“
Malorie,” he gasped, unable to find the voice to beg her to live. She was so pale….

“
It was Taella.” Her lids fluttered as she struggled to open her eyes and her voice was broken as she tried to warn him. “She killed your son, not Jack. Taella.”

“
Shh,” the simple word shook as his hands moved over her body, his fingertips pressed against her throat. If he lost her, he would take care of the traitorous Aradian before he moved on.

Her lips moved but no sound came out of her mouth and he feared the worse.

“
Oh, gods,” he cried, gathering her up into his arms and cradling her against his broad chest. His fingers moved over her face, her neck. Blood was still trickling out but it was moving much too slow. “I’m going to finish it.”

She whispered, “I love you.”

“
Malorie,” he rasped, his breath hitching in his throat. Jostling her body to make her stay awake, he knew it was too late; she had lost too much blood. But she was strong. He had to remind himself that she had survived his bite, that she was a Breeder. That he couldn’t lose her.

Ignoring the carnage, he stood up, carefully cradling her against his chest, and sprinted back to the house she had been staying in. Without wasting any more time, raced up the stairs and into the bedroom that they had made love in just a few days prior. Carefully he placed her on the bed, brushing her damp hair away from her cool cheeks.

Blocking the pain that was threatening to consume him whole, he pressed his fangs against the delicate skin of his wrist and opened his vein. With a shuddering breath, he pressed his wound to her throat, his blood to hers. He was mortally tempted to pour his blood down her throat, to make her a vampire to keep her by his side forever but he couldn’t; she would loathe him for it.

It would almost be worth it but he couldn’t – he wouldn’t – do that to her.

“
Come on, Malorie,” he pleaded, his free hand moving over her face, needing to touch her, to feel the little spark of life that lingered, hoping it was enough to catch fire. “Don’t you dare die on me; don’t you dare….”

His voice hitched in his throat and he realized that moisture was leaking from his eyes. He wiped the liquid from his cheek just as her arms flailed out and her eyes shot open, looking wildly about the room. Acting instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her steady, “I’ve got you.”

Her heart was fluttering erratically in her chest until her gaze landed on him and it was if her entire body sighed. Her eyes fluttered shut as her lips curled upwards in a lazy smile, “Feryn.”

And then she exhaled, taking everything with her.