The Dark Rising (28 page)

“And what happens to the donor?” I asked while I watched him finish off the contents of the container.

He dropped his head to look at me, a puzzled expression crossing his face before he gave a shrug.  “Never really thought about it I guess.”

“Well you should,” I said feeling angry with him over his nonchalant attitude.  “It doesn’t just magically appear for your benefit.  Someone is probably dying to give you your fix.”

I evaporated out of the house to where our picnic items had been left and gathered them up before returning back into the kitchen.  He was standing right where I had left him.

“I hate it when you do that, just so you know,” he said roughly and he walked over to take the items out of my arms, placing them on the counter.

“And I hate it when you do that,” I replied, glancing over at the empty blood container now on the counter.  “So, I guess we’re even.”

He didn’t reply, just giving a slight shake of his head instead.  He rummaged through the basket, pulling out the sandwiches and chips we’d intended to eat earlier, carrying them over to the table.

“Eat up,” he said gesturing to the food and he pulled a chair out for me.

I sat down and he sat across from me, slouching in the chair with his arms folded over his chest while he watched me.

“Aren’t you going to have some?” I asked him while reaching for a sandwich.

“Nope,” he replied brusquely.  “I just ate.”

I paused at his comment before taking a bite, trying to decide if he was baiting me. Deciding not to fall for it if he was, I began eating instead.  We didn’t say another word to each other while he watched me finish off my sandwich and a bag of chips.

He brought me a glass of water when I was done.  “Are you sure you got enough?  You don’t seem to be eating much lately.”

“I’m fine, Vance,” I said, reaching up to take the glass from him while wondering if things were always going to be this uncomfortable between us.  “Thank you for the drink.”

He stood there, waiting for me to finish the water, taking the glass from me and placing it into the sink when I was done.  I realized he seemed awfully protective of me again this evening, and this made me completely curious as to why.

“Is there something going on I should be aware of?”

“No,” he said quickly.  “Why do you ask?”

“You seem … I don’t know … different, ever since Mayla and her cronies showed up,” I replied watching him carefully.

He turned to face me.  “I’m really tired, Portia.  Can we just go to bed now, please?” he asked with almost a pleading quality.  He did, indeed, look very tired all of a sudden.

“Okay, sure.”  I offered my hand out to him and reaching up to place a kiss on his cheek when he came to take it.

He led me up the stairs without saying another word as we walked, nor while we changed our clothes.  When we crawled into bed together a few minutes later he didn’t even try to kiss me, instead he pulled me up close to his body so we were spooning together.

He still wasn’t very talkative, so I let my heavy eyelids relax and just enjoyed the feel of him as I slowly fell asleep.  I was almost completely gone, when I felt his lips brush lightly against my hair.

“I love you, Portia,” he said.

I was awakened in the middle of the night when Vance suddenly pulled away from me and crawled out of the bed.  I opened my sleep laden eyes trying to adjust to the darkness and I automatically reached for where he had been.

“What’s the matter?” I asked quietly.

His head turned toward me, his red eyes glowing in the darkness.  “Stay here.  Someone’s in the house,” he replied with a whisper.  “I’m going to check it out.”

“Let me come with you,” I said, throwing the covers back.

“No,” he said firmly.  “It’s probably just someone from my coven, but just the same I prefer you let me check it out first.”

His words cut me instantly to the quick.  He called it his coven and it suddenly reminded me our magic was no longer bound by the strength of our coven … my coven.  We were separated in that way and he now belonged to someone else, a bunch of people actually, and they were my mortal enemies.

Vance finished slipping on his clothes before he made his way to the door, quietly moving through it and closing it behind him.

I slipped out of the bed and tiptoed over to grab the knob, turning it slightly to see if I could hear who was there and why it was so important for them to meet with Vance in the middle of the night.

“What are you doing here, Mayla?” I heard the deep timber of Vance’s voice drifting up the stairs.

“I brought you some more blood,” her voice answered in return.

There was a moment of quiet before Vance spoke up again.  “You already gave me blood tonight.”

“Yes, but this is fresh from our outing which you declined to go on this evening.  Your refusal to participate caused quite a bit of discord in the rest of the coven.  It doesn’t bode well for you.”

“I told you before, I’ll not leave Portia unprotected,” Vance answered in a frustrated voice.

“Portia’s on a different path than you,” Mayla replied.  “Your destinies are no longer intertwined.  I’ve foreseen it.  It’s unwise for you to try to hang onto something which is no longer meant for you.”

I felt my anger rise instantly to the surface at her words.

Vance’s voice lowered and a menacing quality over took it.

“I’m aware of what you claim to have foreseen, Mayla, but you need to listen to me and listen carefully.  I’ll never kill Portia and nothing you say or do will convince me otherwise so just drop it.”

“She’s tricking you with her powers, Vance,” Mayla lied to him, and I found myself suddenly wanting to bolt down the stairs after her.  “She knows what she’s doing is wrong.  If she truly loved you, like she says she does, she would not stand in the way of your destiny.”

“Even if you’re right Mayla, I’ll not harm her,” Vance said firmly, and I heard her sigh heavily.

“Then come back to the bayou shack with me now and show the others in the coven you’re still united with us.  We’ll hold a ritual together and it will help to diffuse the unease your actions have caused among us.”

“No,” Vance replied.  “I won’t leave her here alone where she could be vulnerable to an attack.”

“I give you my word she will not be harmed by anyone in the coven.” Mayla promised.  “You’ll be with all of us, so who could be left to harm her?  Or do you not trust her to stay with you if you leave?”

She was baiting him into a trap.  If he refused to go, he was saying he didn’t trust me and he was no longer standing with his coven.  Mayla was definitely crafty I had to give her that.

“Fine, I’ll come.  Just let me go get some shoes on and tell Portia where I’m going,” he replied, sounding defeated.

I went back over to the bed, climbing under the covers just as he entered the door.

“I really wish you wouldn’t go,” I said as he strode to the closet, placing the jar of fresh blood on the dresser as he passed.  “You have nothing to prove to those people.”

“So you heard everything?” he asked me, sitting down on the edge of the bed to put his shoes on.

“Yes, I was eavesdropping,” I replied honestly, wanting him to trust me and not believe the lies Mayla was telling him.

“I have to go, even if it’s just to appease them—it will help protect you.  They’re my coven now, Portia.  What would you have me do?” he asked in frustration.

I climbed out of the bed and walked around to face him as he stood up.  “No.  You don’t have to go.  Stand up for yourself and what you believe in.  Show them who you really are,” I said, placing my hand against his chest.

He grabbed me brusquely, pulling me hard up against him, his grip digging into my tender flesh.  “This is who I really am,” he said angrily, his red eyes burning as they stared into mine.  “I’m a demon now and that’s never going to change.  There’ll be no cure and no going back for me.  The sooner you get that through your pretty little head the easier things will go for you.  Remember you’ve pledged to make the change with me.  I intend to hold you to your word.”

I started crying.  “Vance, you are hurting me.” I pulled against his arms.

“It can’t be any worse than how you’re hurting me,” he replied squeezing even tighter.

“How have I ever hurt you?” I asked staring up into his face.

“I can see that you don’t want this, Portia,” he said tersely.  “I can feel your disgust at the whole situation coursing through your very being.  You don’t want to be a demon, you’ve made that plain and clear, but by refusing to do so you’re refusing me.  There’s no way our relationship can continue if you don’t make the change.  Every time I feed from you the connection becomes stronger now.  You may not realize it yet, but it is happening.”

“So don’t feed from me anymore,” I said weakly.  “That’ll stop the connection from continuing.”

He laughed at me.  “You are so naïve sometimes!  Asking me to stop drinking from you is like asking me to quit breathing.”

“You have other blood you can drink,” I said looking away and feeling guilty for encouraging him to hunt others.

“Look at me!” he said, shaking me roughly until I returned my gaze to him.  “It’s your blood I crave more than anything.  And while I can hardly bear the thought of not being able to feed on your blood anymore, if you don’t make the change then you’re in constant danger from me.  One slip is all it would take and then you would be dead!  Dead at my hands, which is something I could never overcome.  I won’t risk it.  The fact of the matter is I want to do it.  Killing you would be so easy.”  He released my arms then sliding his hands up them to rest them on the sides of my face.  “Don’t you get it yet? I’m asking you to do this because I’m trying to protect you, and because I love you … desperately.”

His gaze bore hard into mine for a moment before he lifted my face to meet his and his lips crushed to mine.  He moved one hand to slide around to my neck and then down my back pressing my body harder up against his before moving the other hand to match so he was embracing me tightly. 

His teeth tugged at my lower lip and I opened my mouth to his, letting him invade with his tongue while I wrapped my arms lovingly around his neck.

Oh, how I wanted this man!  I knew there would never be anyone else for me, only him, and I wished I could somehow fix this tangled universe we were living in where true happiness always seemed to be just outside of our grasp.

He pulled back from me then, his hands sliding back up to cradle my face.

“I’m sorry,” he said.  “I wish I could stay here with you right now, but I need to go.  I don’t want to give the members of my coven another reason to come hunting you.”

I nodded in understanding.

“Mayla has promised me nothing will happen to you if I go.  I want you to know you have my blessing to evaporate away from here if you feel the need.  Just do whatever you have to do to stay safe, okay?”  He searched my eyes carefully.

“Thank you,” I replied, knowing it cost him a lot to give me permission to leave.

“Be careful, baby,” he said, leaning in to kiss me on the forehead before he released me and headed for the door.

“Vance?” I called after him and he paused to look at me.

“Yes?”

“I know things are difficult right now, but I love you too.  More than you will ever know.”

He came back to me and grabbed me up into his arms, once again, to kiss me swiftly on the lips.  “I know you do.  That’s something I’ve never doubted even when I was in my deepest, darkest places.”  He squeezed me tightly once more, before stepping over to pick up the jar of blood off the dresser and then he was gone.

I tossed restlessly in the bed, tangling myself into the sheets even farther waiting for Vance to come home again.  Trying to go back to sleep had proven to be an unreachable idea.  My mind imagined every creak and moan in the old house was some intruder bent on assaulting me.

I was also worried about Vance and what he might be dealing with right now.  Images of him fighting with an angry coven by himself danced in my head making me nervous.  Not that I was worried about his strength at all.  I knew he was plenty capable of fighting a whole coven if necessary, but I still worried about all of the things which could possibly go wrong.

Throwing the covers back with a huff, I untangled myself from the clingy material and climbed out of bed.  I wandered into the bathroom deciding to take a shower to calm my nerves a bit.

I let the water work its magic, cooling my feverish skin.  When I was done, I dressed in shorts and a tank top before I combed and braided my wet hair.

Vance still wasn’t home.

Wandering restlessly, I made my way down to the kitchen and opened the fridge.  I sighed in frustration over the obvious lack of real food in this house while I rummaged through the drawer trying to find a spoon for some peanut butter.

I moved to sit at the recently reassembled table and began to eat my midnight snack. I tapped my fingers restlessly on the surface while I sat in the dark, staring out of the windows to the moonlit grounds beyond.

“How are things going?” a voice permeated the air from behind me, and I jumped up from my seat before I realized it was Hex.

“Are you trying to kill me?” I asked, as I placed a hand over my chest trying to still the rapid beating inside.

He chuckled softly.  “No.  I’m just checking to see if you’re letting your guard down.”

“Well, I guess I failed that test miserably,” I said with a laugh, gesturing over to one of the chairs across the table from me, inviting him to sit.  “Would you like a spoonful of peanut butter?” I asked.

“No, thanks,” he said raising his hands slightly.  “So where’s your demon warlock this evening?  Is he asleep?”

I shook my head.  “He’s at a ritual with his coven.”

“What kind of ritual?”

“Beats me.”

We both sat in silence, contemplating things for a moment.

“What brings you here tonight?” I asked.

“Your father is about to die from worry.  I promised to check on you tonight to help calm him down.”