Night of the Fallen (Dark Tides, Book Two) (5 page)

“What if I say I won’t let you take her?” Shawn whispered, looking towards Belle.

Marcus didn’t need to turn his head to know Belle was still at the other end of the barn. The soft rustle of her movements whispered in the cold air, calling to him. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking I won’t tear you apart if I have to. You really don’t want to stand in my way when it comes to Belle.”

Shawn stiffen
ed. “What about her?”

“I will die protecting her. But don’t expect me to feel the same way about you or any of the other humans here.”

Shawn’s jaw clenched. “Does she know this?”

“I have no secrets with her,”
Marcus said, his eyes searching for her. “The best thing you can do is take my offer and head towards the southern compound.”

“We’ve survived this long here, we can keep doing it.”

Marcus’ lips curved into a half smile. “I see bravery runs in the family. Don’t let it cross into stupidity, though. You have no idea what you are up against. A rabid is not going to stand here and talk to you. You’ll have no second chances with them.”

“I get it.”

Belle walked back towards them and he could almost taste her scent, feel it sitting in his throat. Warm and intoxicating, coiling down into him and tugging at every cell in his body.

“We are short on gas,” she said.

“We’re short on everything,” Shawn corrected.

She
walked closer until she stopped next to Marcus, her hand casually but purposely caressing his arm. Marcus’ heart pounded against his spine, his blood screaming for her. “I think it’s best if the others don’t know about this, Shawn. I don’t know if they could…”

“Yeah,”
Shawn interrupted her. “Would you blame them for not understanding?”

She took a step forward. “I guess not. Can I make you understand, at least?
”

“I’m not sure I want to. The idea of you…”

The obvious hissing disappointment coming out of him washed over the room Another time, another place, maybe she could make Shawn understand, but Marcus had a feeling that wasn’t an option now.

She reached forward and Shawn took a step back almost at the same time. His body was moving with the precision of a soldier.
No emotions, no expression. Just an unnatural stillness. And yet Marcus suspected she was feeling guilty for the weighed-down feeling surging through him.

He put a hand up. Then he turned around and stomped out of the barn without saying another word. 

It took her a few minutes to compose herself enough to walk back into the house. Being away from the group for the entire day would have been too suspicious, but her entire being was aching to get back to the barn. All her senses were on overdrive, her skin pulsing and on fire. She
couldn’t stop thinking about what it meant to leave with Marcus, abandoning everybody again under the cover of night. But it was the only option, because how else would she explain what was happening?

Marcus had agreed to stay hidden in the barn loft until darkness, but he seemed on edge. He
hadn’t said much, though the uneasiness in his eyes was clear enough. He wasn’t made to recede into a corner, to wait in the shadows, and she guessed it bothered him. Still, he’d agreed to remain hidden for the time being.

For the next few hours, Shawn avoided her completely. Instead,
he’d spent time working on one of the cars and moving things from one outbuilding to another. It was obvious he wanted to keep an eye on the barn, either to prevent people from walking into it or because he was worried a vampire was going to walk out of it.

Either way, it was the perfect opportunity to recoil from her and she decided to allow it. It would have been easy for Shawn to let everybody know there was a vampire in the barn, but
he’d decided to keep quiet. It was probably self-preservation. After all, creating chaos would do nothing but scare everybody and put many at risk. In any case, it was a good thing and she was grateful.

She desperately wanted to talk to him, say… something.
But she couldn’t come up with the right words to say sorry when she wasn’t exactly sure what to be sorry about. Loving Marcus? She couldn’t be sorry about that. As much as it all smelled like betrayal, it was also true. Her truth. Whatever happened from then on, it would all be tainted by the reality of monsters and humans sharing more than just the war that had ended it all.

By the time sunset was approaching, all she could think about was going back to Marcus. The shadows were reaching farther over the roads, the wind pushing cold dust all around her. They would have to brave the darkness soon enough. She could still see into the stillness of the road ahead, but soon it would all become Marcus’ domain.

By dusk, her restlessness was overpowering, so she headed back outside. The barn was quiet when she pushed the door open. She blinked a couple of times to adjust her eyes to the dim light, then looked up towards the rafters.

“Hey, baby.”

The voice behind her startled her and she turned around sharply to find Eric standing just steps away. He seemed dazed, his eyes wavering from her to the empty space beyond them. Panic ran through her, quick and cold. The faster she got him out of the barn, the better. Marcus was probably a master at hiding his presence, but the risk was still too big, too chilling, to ignore.

“Eric, what are you doing here?” She eyed the barn door behind him. It seemed miles away. “I was just leaving to look for Shawn. Want to come along?”

“Nah. Was hoping to get you alone somewhere.” He took a wobbly step forward and she stepped back.

Then she blinked a couple of times as realization hit her. “Are you drunk?”

He shrugged. “Probably. Shawn found some vodka on his last run. I guess I haven’t had a drink in a while…”

“Yeah, you should go sleep it off, then.”

But it was obvious Eric wasn’t ready to go anywhere. He stumbled towards her, his body hovering closer. He smelled like he had nursed the entire bottle of vodka on his own. He looked like it too, his eyes bewildered and a smirk splattered on his face. When he tried to reach for her, he tripped and almost fell, his hand making contact with her forearm.

She tried to shake him off.
“Eric, what the hell? Go back to the house!”

His hand clamped on her arm, the sticky fingers so tight on her skin it was almost painful. She pushed his chest, urging him away.
“Time for you to go to bed.”

Eric
didn’t seem to hear her. He slammed her against a wall. “Come join me, then,” he said. “You gave it up to the bloodsuckers, so why not me?”

Suddenly, Eric sounded a lot more dangerous than a friend should ever sound. She moved to the side, trying to slip away, but Eric reached for her waist, knocking her back against the wall and blocking any exit.

His face got close to hers and a pang of disgust hit her stomach. “Get your hands off me!”

She pushed him again, hard enough for him to struggle to stay on his feet. Obviously hard enough to enrage him, because he swung forward, aiming for her face.
A blind swing that could have caused a lot of damage.

Before he could connect, before Belle realized what was happening, Eric went flying through the air. His back crashed against one of the walls of the barn. The loud thud was followed by a series of
moans and curses as Eric slid down the wall and slammed against the ground, his face twisted in a mix of pain and horror.

“She said hands off.” Marcus’ voice was so low it sounded like a growl.

It took what seemed like endless minutes for Eric to refocus his eyes. Isabelle’s body and mind revolted, freezing her in place for just long enough. Then she saw the blur of motion at her side and when she turned around, Miles had materialized from the shadows. The two vampires looked stoic and ready for war.

And then
Eric’s eyes landed on the vampires in the room and all hell broke loose.

~ * ~

Seconds before the human started screaming, Marcus heard Miles jump down and take his place next to him. He’d been hoping to avoid a confrontation, but that was no longer possible. Maybe it was better this way, out in the open. He was growing tired of playing hide-and-seek with humans.

Belle twitched forward and his hand shot up, grabbing her tightly. She tried to pull away, almost out of reflex. Then she looked towards the barn gate and the trampling of steps coming from the house and towards the barn and she stopped resisting. Instead, she took a step backward, pushing against his body. Whether she was trying to protect him or send a message to the approaching group, the gesture rattled him. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her even closer, until their heat molded them together.

“Eric, stop screaming and get up,” she pleaded without moving towards the human on the floor. “Eric!”

But
the screams kept coming, reverberating around the room, almost muffling the approaching footsteps. The entire barn shook as the gates split open and ten people ran in, guns up in the air. The scene was so familiar it reminded him of another encounter, back in Prague. Too long ago, it seemed. Too bloody long ago.

That one had ended in bloodshed. Among the screeching of terror and the frantic clicking of swords and firearms
, he and Miles had slaughtered over twenty humans before they had a chance to even try to fight back. Back then, he’d had no reason to even blink at the carnage. He’d even enjoyed it. Right now, Belle was standing between him and the enemy and all he could think about was making sure nobody hurt her.

The group stopped in their tracks so suddenly they all rammed into each other. The screams multiplied and the familiar clacking
of firearms filled the air.

“Quiet, everybody quiet!”
Belle yelled, but her voice got lost in the chaos around them. At least for a few minutes.

Then everybody who had a gun cocked it in
their direction. Towards Belle. He tried to push her out of the way, but she held on to his arm. If she was trying to send a message to the group, it was working, because he could see the questions in everybody’s eyes.

“Let her go,” an older
guy said and despite the brave demand, Marcus could hear the shaking in his voice.

He let go of Belle’s waist, moving his hands away to show he
wasn’t holding her against her will. “She’s not a prisoner.”

But
nobody in the group seemed to believe it. The few people who weren’t holding guns stepped back, seeking refuge behind the armed ones. But the terror in everybody’s eyes was the same.

Belle took a step forward and he had to fight the urge to reach for her. “I’m OK, Robert. You can put the gun down. Anna, check on Eric, please. I think he had a little too much to drink tonight.”

Despite the eyes flying from them to the human on the floor and back to them, nobody moved. Perhaps they were expecting the vampires to attack as soon as they moved. Or maybe they weren’t sure who to trust. In any case, he was starting to lose patience. If it weren’t for Belle standing in the path of gunfire, he could disarm everybody in seconds. Except he was worried about a gun going off and hitting her in the process.

Then the gate opened again and Belle’s brother rushed in. Shawn watched the scene with a hint of annoyance.
There was so much of Belle in the way he moved and reacted. The same strength, the same resilience. It was a fascinating thing to watch.

“Jesus,” was all Shawn said. Then he stepped closer to the front of the group and placed a hand on the older man’s shoulder. “It’s OK, Rob. “

Robert blinked, his head cocking to the side. “What the hell are you talking about? They’re vampires!”

Shawn sighed, his eyes searching for
Belle’s. “I know. Isabelle knows them.”

“She…
knows
them?”

Shawn’s eyes landed on Miles.
“One of them, at least. I’m sure they’re not planning on killing all of us at the moment. Right?”

Shawn looked towards the three of them, looking for reassurance. Grudgingly, Marcus nodded. “We’re not here to hurt anybody. I just came for Belle.”

A gasp of horror swept through the barn.

“We won’t let you take her,” a young girl said from the back. 

Belle moved back against him again, her scent tightening around him. She already belonged to him, even if part of her was still fighting it. He could feel the yearning in every inch of her when she got close. The pull of her skin and her blood. The calling. “They’re not forcing me to go with them, Anna. I want to.”

A few gasps, a few vigorous shakes of the head. “No, that can’t be true.”

“Remember what I told you last night? About the search for a cure? I need to go with them and keep working on it.”

The girl shuddered.
“Isabelle, no!” 

Marcus saw movement out of the corner of his left eye.
The drunk human, making an effort to get up. “Just fucking shoot them,” the human mumbled.

The older
guy in the group seemed to consider the request, cocking the gun up.

“I don’t recommend that,” Marcus said. “Bullets won’t
kills us. Maybe slow us down for a few seconds, if you hit just the right spot. Chances are you’ll just make us mad.”

It was clear by the look in everybody’s faces that they understood how
bad of an idea that was. He was already very close to losing the last remnant of patience he had left. Human chitchat was exhausting and part of him understood why Patrick jumped right into killing everybody who displeased him. By now, they could have been on the road. Or he could have been sliding into Belle’s body, her soft curves moving against him as she screamed his name.

This was all a waste of time and he was annoyed.

Belle must have felt the growing edginess festering inside his chest, because she moved closer, her hand on his arm. When her fingers squeezed his skin, the tightness in his chest eased up a notch. That was the power she had over him. She could make things fade away. Dissolve the pain of centuries of loneliness. Even erase the once-strong urge to kill, to just destroy any human in the way.

He reached back for her, his hand squeezing her hip. Her entire body melted
closer and his heart roared and his body twitched.
Mine
, his blood screamed.
Always mine.

All eyes were on them, on the dance Belle’s and his
body were playing. Part of him knew she should have been on the other side of the room, among the ones like her. But he didn’t care. She belonged to him and that had never been more clear than at this moment. Once the line had been drawn and the players had picked a side, Belle had chosen his. She had surrendered to it. Like she had always known she belonged there.

The silent extended over the barn as a thick fog.
It was Belle who broke it by taking a step forward and calling out her brother’s name. Shawn remained still for a second longer, lines furrowed between his eyes as he looked at her, then him. Then Shawn reached up and touched the barrel of one of the rifles pointing forward.

Robert’s aim wavered but he resisted, so Shawn pushed down harder on the barrel. “Put it down, Robert.”

Eric was screaming obscenities and urging everybody to start shooting. Or at least he was until the young woman rushed to his side and started whispering to him. When she realized she wasn’t getting anywhere, her eyes moved back to the group and another man joined the calming-down efforts.

Robert finally put the gun down and the silence in the barn crackled.

“Thanks,” Belle said softly, but the eyes looking back from the other side of the line weren’t returning the warmth. “We’ll leave soon.”