Fall of Darkness (The Chronicles of Darkness) (4 page)

Dominic watched Kate fight her
tormentors from the shadows of the wooded edge, torn by indecision.

Should he stop this? Yes.

What did it matter to him? It shouldn’t,
but it does.

She had to die anyway, why interfere? Because
he couldn’t bear to watch them touch her, to see them hurt her.

He watched and waited, unsure of himself
for only the second time in his overly long life, both within the last twenty-four
hours.  The internal conflict continued, with his head asking logical questions
and his heart supplying equally irrational answers.

From the moment he’d laid eyes on Kate
Murdock, she’d intrigued him. He felt drawn to her, possessive of her, and for
some damn unexplainable reason, protective of her. An impossible quandary,
that. How could he possibly protect the one he must destroy?

Dominic should hate her for what she would
become. Should kill her and be done with it. But something about the innocent
beauty gave him pause. He admired her. She possessed a compassionate heart and
fiery spirit. She was kind and gentle, an innocent in deed and in thought.

For now.

Any positive characteristic she might
possess from being raised away from her family would be lost when she turned.
She would be one of them.

No, he shouldn’t intervene. Dying by the
hands of these men would be a far kinder fate than the one she would live for.
It would also save him the trouble of killing her himself. The idea of which
had become increasingly less palatable of late. His task could be completed,
without the blood of an innocent on his hands. All he had to do was walk away.

But he couldn’t.

No woman deserved to be subjected to
such injury and humiliation. Not even a Cacciatori. Definitely not his Kate.

He could feel her terror as if it was
his own. The sickening sensation drew his reluctant thoughts to another time,
taunting him with the cruel reminder of another girl. One he hadn’t been there
to save.

Caprice. Could someone have helped her,
but didn’t? Had someone stood by and watched his sister be demeaned, tortured,
and beaten to death? Caught somewhere between the past and the present,
Dominic’s body shook with agonizing fury.

Time was running out. Kate fought with
the ferocity of a cornered animal, but her desperate defenses were no match for
the strength of three men. He watched as they knocked her to the ground and
kicked her again and again. Each blow she took struck him in the gut like a
sucker punch. His changing heart waged mutinous war with his head. He watched
their brutality in soul wrenching turmoil, torn between his duty and this new
found shred of humanity.

The largest attacker smashed Kate’s head
into the asphalt, and the shattering crunch of bone cracked through Dominic’s
iron heart.

He had no other choice.

His whole body vibrated, the air around
him humming with unnatural life. His body quivered and quaked as he erupted
into a giant black wolf, sending his clothes and shoes flying in shreds about
him. The world around him turned fiery red as his subconscious assumed control
of his animalistic form.

In a flash of black lightning, the great
wolf darted across the lot in microseconds, releasing a snarl of rage as he
fell upon the trio.

The powerful animal sank his teeth into
the neck of the nearest attacker. With one quick twist of his jaws, he ripped
out the first unsuspecting man’s throat and tossed him aside. No screams. No
mercy. Just justice.

Warm blood splattered the stunned faces
of the remaining two men, but the wolf was at the second man’s throat,
thrashing and tearing, before they could reach up to swipe the crimson rain
from their brows. Only the third man had time to realize his fate, but far too
late to escape.

The wolf took his time with this last
man. All three had hurt Kate, but this one had dared to touch her, to covet
what the wolf claimed as his own. For this he would suffer.

The man started off in a frantic sprint,
casting furtive glances over his shoulder at the blood thirsty beast that’d materialized
from shadow.

He made it no further.

The wolf dragged him down by the
hamstring. With a snarl of rage, he flipped the man onto his back. The rough,
dirty hands that had greedily caressed Kate’s skin were the first to go,
crushed between the wolf’s powerful jaws in quick succession, one hand and then
the other. The man howled and thrashed in pain.

The wolf moved on to the booted feet
that had kicked a woman when she was down, mangling the offending flesh and
bone through the leather. The bastard had the nerve to pass out. The wolf had
no choice but to reluctantly accept the man’s forfeit.

A rumbling growl reverberated in the
wolf’s chest as he shred the man’s abdomen, eviscerating him and tossing his
entrails aside like the garbage they were. The wolf spit a mouthful of blood
and adipose tissue on the dead corpse. He arched back and let loose a bellowing
howl into the night.

 His purpose met, the wolf straightened.
He stood alone in the darkness of the night, the rhythm of the falling rain
tapping time on the blood stained asphalt in harmony with the soft sound of
Kate’s irregular breathing.

 Sucking in and releasing deep, even
breaths, he concentrated on calming his body. After a minute or so of concentrated
effort, the haze of red faded and the wolf phased back into his natural form.

Naked and shaking, Dominic perused the
carnage with complete disconnect. Even after centuries of fighting as a wolf
and as a man, he still found it hard to believe what he was capable of in
animal form. Not so much the unnatural strength and speed, but his lack of
reason. Of humanity.

While conscious of his actions as a
wolf, he was not completely in control of them. Instinct rather than intellect ruled
the wolf mind. It had taken years of practice to master any control while in
his four legged form. Truth be told, the beast still ran the show.

With the way Kate smelt, he could’ve
killed her by accident while consumed by his other side. His chest
involuntarily tightened at the thought. Great, more concern for Kate was the
last thing he needed.

He bent over Kate’s battered,
unconscious form, and lifted her from the cold, wet ground. The rain had picked
up while he was a wolf. The sky let loose a torrential downpour, as though even
the heavens wept for Kate.

Dominic cradled her unconscious form against
his chest, carrying her up the stairs and across the road to his car. After
making reparations to her disrobed state, he placed her gently in the passenger
seat and covered her with his jacket.

For the first and probably last time, he
was grateful her change was near. With the vampire blood so strong, she would
heal quickly. He whispered a blessing in the ancient tongue of his kind, words
of dreamless sleep and healing, and locked her safely in his car.

In silence, Dominic turned back to the
scene of the crime. Time to clean up the mess he’d made and hide the evidence
of his actions. A single foreboding thought hovered in the back of his mind as he
watched the rain wash away the blood he’d spilt.

Some messes couldn’t be unmade.

Chapter
4

Don’t move, it hurts too much.
Kate shifted and moaned in protest.
Every square inch of her body ached. Her head throbbed in thunderous assault on
her senses.

Her eyelids fluttered as she strained to
concentrate enough to open her eyes. With great effort she forced them open.
Blinking, she glanced around. The world spun, dancing tipsy circles around the
place where she sat. The dim light pierced her skull. Her head roared its
aching revolt and she slammed her swollen lids shut in firm acquiescence. Yeah,
so not worth the fight.

What the hell happened to her?

Memories of her violent assault came
screaming to life. Holy shit. Consumed by panic, she pushed past the pain and
forced her eyes open. She struggled to focus on the world around her. Her head
reeled in a dizzy haze of confusion, but at least she could see.

Kate absorbed the scene with wary
interest. She was riding in the passenger seat of a car. Make that a very nice
car, something sporty with an engine that purred like a large cat. The falling
rain pounded violently on the car’s exterior, keeping time with the pounding in
her head. Kate peered out the window, finding it impossible to see more than a
foot past the glass through the thick veil of rain. No luck there.

They were definitely moving. Her queasy
stomach protested the gentle thrumming motion, as the vehicle sliced onward
through the rainy night. With painful effort, she turned her spinning head and
stole a peek at the driver.

What was oxygen for again? Oh yeah.
Breathing.

Her heart thrummed double time in her
chest as she gaped at the man sitting next to her. Shaking her aching head, she
tried to clear the vivid hallucination. There usually wasn’t this much pain in
her dreams, but she had to be dreaming. He was too magnificent to be real.

Kate drank him in like fresh squeezed
lemonade on a hot summer day. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen.
Maybe she had died back in the parking lot. If so, at least she was in Heaven
and the angels were a sight to be seen. She raked her eyes up the big man’s
powerfully muscled chest and broad shoulders. Taxing her bruised ribs with a
deep breath, she lifted her gaze to his face, and was rewarded for the trip.

Shadows caressed strong lines and
contours. A portrait of masculine perfection stretched gracefully beneath tawny
skin. His was the face of a dark, fallen angel, achingly beautiful, but all
man. Her fingers itched to touch as her eyes traced his magnificently sculpted
features. He had a strong jaw with the slightest shadowing of stubble, a
sensual mouth, and a heavy dusting of thick black lashes framed scorching
chocolate eyes. Eyes that burned into hers.

A little too late, she realized he looked
straight at her and not at the road ahead. If she wasn’t already dead, she sure
wished she was now.

How many good hits to the head had she
taken? She ripped her gaze away to stare straight ahead. Heat rising in her
cheeks, beyond mortified that he’d caught her staring at him like he was a
piece of her favorite type of chocolate. Or, in this particular case, her
favorite brand of man candy.

“At last, you’re awake. How are you
feeling?”

The deep baritone of his voice had a
musical tone, laced with a faint accent. Sexy. Exotic. That voice alone could
sweet talk a blind nun out of her virtue.

Captivated, Kate gaped in wordless
wonder.

The man seemed unsettled by her silence,
his eyes widening with concern. “Are you alright?”

“I… uh, um… uh,” Kate stumbled, her cheeks
hot with embarrassment.

The stranger chuckled softly. “We’re
making progress. At least you’re talking to me now.” He offered her a
reassuring smile.

Or what was probably meant as a
reassuring smile, but instead came out downright dazzling. Kate’s heart stepped
out of rhythm with the rest of the drum line again. Everything about him is
perfect. Perfect body, perfect smile… I’ll bet he even flosses.

He seemed to watch her like she was a
ticking time bomb, ready to go off in the blink of an eye. After a few weighted
seconds, his face clouded with worry.

“Maybe you’re worse off than I thought. You
did take quite a beating. Would you like me to take you back to the hospital?”
He asked, his features drawn tight with concern.

“Uh… um… no… please, not there,” Kate
stammered, shuddering at the unbidden memories the mention of the hospital
induced. “I just want to go home.”

Panic overtook her as the usual paranoia
sliced through her hot man buzz. She cast a furtive glance at the gorgeous
stranger. He knew what happened to her. Was he there? Was he one of them? She
didn’t think so. But even the most beautiful of strangers could be rapists and
serial killers. Mama said Ted Bundy had been both charming and attractive to
his victims.

“Who are you?” Kate demanded.

“I’m sorry, how rude of me. I am
Dominic, Dominic Ridolfi,” he answered, inclining his head to her with a gentle
smile.  “I had the privilege of chasing away your attackers.” His husky voice had
a lilting cadence to which her heart wished to dance.

“Kate…  Murdock,” she replied in turn,
extending her trembling hand with an uneasy smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kate” he
answered, taking her outstretched hand in his own.

A tiny spark of electricity coursed up
her arm at the minute contact. Expecting a handshake, her eyes widened in
surprise when those perfectly curved lips brushed across the top of her hand
instead, leaving the skin there tingling in awareness. Kate had to remind
herself to let go of his hand. She was too busy savoring the feel of his warm,
smooth skin on her own, reveling in the all too perfect combination of her
ivory skin against his deep bronze.

Kate dropped her hand with a self
conscious blush. His knowing grin warmed her to her toes. Probably not a serial
killer. Yeah, out of the frying pan and right into the fire. But oh what a
fire. She felt more than a little toasty just being near him.

“You saved me?” Kate asked, her defenses
melting under the warmth of his gaze. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure,” he replied with a slight
incline of his head.

The movement drew her attention to the
thick, tousled locks of dark hair curling at his forehead and down around his
ears. Untamed yet controlled, a head like that could earn some serious revenue
for hair gel companies worldwide. Kate had to restrain herself from reaching up
to run her fingers through it. Just to be safe, she tucked both hands firmly
under her bruised thighs.

“Are you sure you feel well enough to
return home?”

Ignoring the protest of her throbbing
head, aching body and queasy stomach, Kate gave a minute nod.

“Good,” Dominic said as the car came to
a stop, “because we’re here.”

Kate stiffened in alarm at his words,
staring in disbelief at her apartment building towering above them in the rain.
Red lights flashed the word ‘STALKER’ in her head. She never realized what a
great imitation of a deer in the headlights she was capable of until that
moment.

 “I looked at your driver’s license,” he
rushed to assure her. “I needed to know where to take you and wasn’t sure when
you would awaken.”

“Why didn’t you just haul me into the ER
and dump me out there?” Even she could hear the distrust in her voice. “Not to
sound ungrateful or anything,” she added in a rush.

“In my country, I have training as a medic,
of sorts. Your injuries did not seem so severe that I couldn’t tend them on my
own. I’m sorry. I only thought to take you home to safety. Would you prefer I
return you to the hospital?”

Well, didn’t she feel like a prize ass.
This big, beautiful man saved her from being gang raped and possibly murdered,
picked her up and took her home, and how does she thank him? The third degree.

“Oh. No. I’m sorry, I just…” she
couldn’t think of an explanation that didn’t sound lame or paranoid, or both.
“Thanks.”

She reached for her seatbelt and stopped
short. Underneath the soft, smooth leather of what could only be his delicious
smelling jacket, she wore her tattered scrubs. She’d definitely lost those long
before she lost consciousness. At some point he’d replaced them with tender
care. The magnitude of her debt to the man was overwhelming.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes
misting with unshed tears.

“You’re welcome,” he answered softly,
then cleared his throat. “Let’s get you inside.”

“Okay.”

He was out of the car and opening her
door before she could even reach for the handle. Sure, she felt a bit slow from
taking a few good slugs to the head, but the man moved fast.

Dominic stooped down and lifted her
effortlessly into his arms. Kate opened her mouth to object, but the pain racking
her body from the gentle movement silenced any objections. As fun as stumbling
through the foyer and past the doorman in her present condition sounded, she’d
pass.

Silently conceding, she settled against
his broad chest. Mercy, the man smelt good. Clean and invigorating. Mmm.

Leaving his car at the curb, he carried
her through the glass double doors, across the lush lobby, past the gaping doorman,
and to the main elevator, never jostling her tender frame with the movements of
his gait. The elevator chimed as each floor passed and Kate struggled to temper
the dizziness the rising motion incited.

Stopping at her door, Dominic set Kate
gently back on her feet. She hadn’t noticed him carrying her purse, but he
offered it to her now. She hunted for her aggravating keys. After a few minutes
of futile searching, she shook her purse and scanning the contents. Cell phone,
tampon, a bottle of ibuprofen…

Dominic watched her in silence, his perfect
teeth biting his full lower lip as if to stifle the quirk of amusement
threatening to escape. He held out his hand and Kate glared at the outstretched
palm.

Yeah, as if he could find them any
easier. Okay, maybe he could.

With a huff of resignation, she thrust
the irksome purse toward him. With a quick flash of his hands, he produced her
keys from the bottomless pit of feminine necessity. Jangling the keys at her,
he proffered the ring with a teasing grin.

“How the-- thanks,” Kate mumbled,
curious how he’d managed the impossible. Shaking her head, she shoved her key
in the lock and opened the door. She turned to look at him, unsure of what to
say.

“Do you think you can make it on your
own?” Dominic asked, worry creasing the brow of his handsome face.

Kate contemplated his question. There
might not be a right answer. She could probably manage well enough on her own,
but didn’t want to be alone right now. She could wake up Lindsey, but dealing
with a one-hundred-pound grizzly bear dragged out of hibernation didn’t seem
worth the cost to her pounding head. Besides, if she dreamed up this double scoop
of caramel-chocolate yumminess, she didn’t want to let him go. The way her
dreams went, he’d probably disappear forever.

            “I
don’t know,” she answered truthfully.

Closing her eyes, Kate sucked in a deep
breath and took the plunge.

“I would feel better if you stayed.” Still
the truth, no matter what the motive.She might say anything to make him stay.
“You know, just in case… I mean, I might have a serious head injury,” she
justified, more for herself than him. “Do you mind? Just until my roommate wakes
up?”

Dominic hesitated for fractions of a
second. He looked down at her with a smile that rivaled the sun for brightness
and warmth.

            “I
would be glad to stay with you.” That husky voice of his was full of unspoken
promises.

Kate swallowed hard. Leading him into
the apartment, she closed the door quietly behind them. As soon as she hit the
light switch on the wall, she wished she hadn’t. Her eyes burned and her head
throbbed in protest, but she soldiered on.

 The apartment was relatively clean with
the exception of a few books and articles of clothing haphazardly strewn about.
At least she didn’t have to be embarrassed of a huge mess. Kate insisted on a
clean apartment and Lindsey tried to oblige. She threw out a silent thanks to
her roommate, sleeping in the next room.

            “Make
yourself at home,” Kate offered, sweeping her hand broadly over the living
room. “I’m going to hit the shower.” She headed off down the hallway.

Tamping down the completely
uncharacteristic impulse to saucily invite him to help her, she shook her head
in self disgust. What had gotten into her? It had to be the head injury
talking. Great. If she ever got Alzheimer’s she’d be the slutty old woman
hopping from bed to bed in the nursing home. Just fabulous.

            She
gathered a pair of pink pajama shorts and t-shirt with the slogan, ‘Nurses:
Here to save your ass, not kiss it,’ and marched straight to the bathroom,
before she could say something she’d regret. She cast a quick glance into the
living room as she passed to find Dominic lounging on the couch. Remote in
hand, he casually flipped through the channels on the TV.