Wake of Darkness (21 page)

Alexander whistled and the vampire spun
around to face them. The vampire hissed in their direction and Sophie stiffened
as his stench wafted toward them through the stirred air. She shifted her right
foot forward ever so slightly in anticipation and sunk subtly closer to the
ground. She never took her eyes off the vampire.

“Easy, Soph,” Jim whispered.

Alexander smiled darkly at the
vampire. “Where are
you
going?”

“None of your damn business,” the
vampire hissed as something in the shadows moved behind him.

“Oh, damn it,” Jim whispered, “do
you
feel
that?”

“I smell it,” Zoey murmured.

Three other vampires slithered out
of the shadows

Do
not
let Sophie out of
your sight,
Alexander warned Jim.

Don’t worry about me,
Sophie
immediately replied.

Yeah, right
, Jim thought
back.

They’re scared,
Sophie
thought.

They’re young,
Jim answered. 

The vampires crouched, waiting to
see who would spring first. Their black eyes shifted back and forth between the
other four as they watched them nervously. One of them rocked back on his heels
and sprang forward.

“Damn it,” Jim grunted.

He drew his handgun from his belt. Two
rounds went into the vampire’s chest through the silencer which muted the sound
of the bullets. Buckling under the wounds, the vampire fell to the ground. He
landed in a ball at Jim's feet, clutching his chest. The other vampires
charged.

Alexander gripped a knife with one
hand, his revolver with the other. He barreled towards the vampire closest to
him. He shot him in the chest at point-blank range; the bullet made a hissing
sound. He crashed into his enemy. He struck in one swift movement, and took off
the vampire’s head. It fell to the ground with a thud and rolled a few feet
away. He pulled a stake from his boot and plunged it into the vampire’s heart.

Another vampire backhanded Zoey. The
redhead spun around on a heel and plunged a wooden stake into the vampire’s
spine. The vampire’s back arched against the pain and he wiggled trying to
reach around and pull it from his back. Jim took the vampire’s head off and the
body was still.

Sophie’s eyes moved to the vampire
in front of her. He was the one they’d followed into the alleyway. He must have
sneaked around the others, because he seemed to appear out of nowhere. Sophie
was too far away from the rest of her family. The vampire walked in an arch
around Sophie, between her and the others, and they wouldn’t be able to get to
her; two other vampires slinked out of the shadows. Alexander realized it
first.

NO!!
His thoughts screamed.

Sophie stood perfectly still, both
hands behind her back, watching her attacker. Her breath was calm and even. Her
eyes were fixed squarely on the vampire’s.

Can you get a read on her?
Jim
asked; he couldn’t tell what his new little sister was thinking. Only half
paying attention to what he was doing, he sent two bullets into the heart of a
vampire moments before Zoey decapitated him.

SOPHIE!
Alexander’s panicked
thoughts yelled as he fought another vampire off of himself. It landed in a
heap of dead flesh at his feet.

Zoey and Alexander traded a look. The
vampire paced from the right to the left in front of Sophie, like a dog,
deciding how to attack his prey. She moved her right leg to the side to crouch
in front of the vampire, pulling her hands slowly out from behind her back, a
gleaming stake in each hand.

I’ll take him on his left,
Alexander
was thinking.

Jim and Zoey inched forward on the
right. The vampire continued to stalk Sophie before suddenly freezing in his
tracks. He was about to attack; Alexander saw it before any of them. He and Jim
took off. But the vampire was on her, spinning around and grabbing her from
behind. He dug his claw-like fingers into her neck. She gasped against the
pain.

“Nobody move!” the vampire yelled.

Small trickles of blood ran from
beneath his fingernails where they cut into the white skin of her throat. Her
eyes were wide with shock.

Alexander skidded to a stop.

Jim looked at Zoey meaningfully. She
nodded.

“No!” Alexander roared at his
sister, throwing a hand up in warning towards Zoey.

The vampire looked at them, his
eyes shifting from one to the other as his lips pulled into a maniacal grin. He
pulled Sophie backwards toward the mouth of the alleyway. She shuffled her feet
to keep up with him.

The vampire laughed. “Pathetic!” he
spat.

Alexander rocked forward, wanting
to spring. His fear for Sophie held him back.

She shot him a warning glance that
he didn’t understand, and then she closed her eyes. Her hands tightened around
the stakes that she held in each hand.

She forced her mind to probe the
vampire’s brain; it was wired differently from a human being’s. It was harder
for her to tell what he was thinking, harder still that she had to concentrate
on surviving the situation. Still, if she could just predict what he would do…

“Sophie?” Alexander asked.

There was a tremble in his voice
that Sophie didn't expect. Her eyes shot open and stared at him. The faintest
smile tugged at her lips.

The vampire licked at the blood on
her neck. “You’re mine now,” he hissed.

Sophie let out a burst of angry
laughter. “Not tonight.”

The piercing grip at her neck
relaxed infinitesimally and the vampire staggered backwards. His hand slipped
from her throat and went to his own. Sophie spun on her heel and faced the
vampire. He stared at her with his wide, soulless eyes. His mouth gaped open,
looking for air.

She felt the heat of her anger
course down her arms, through her fingers. She gestured toward the staggering
figure. The stakes shot out from her hands and plunged into the vampire who
stood several feet away. He stumbled backwards from the force, watching her
with terrified eyes.

She tore another stake from the
belt around her waist and stalked toward him. Her eyes were wild and a feral
growl boiled in her chest. She jumped toward him, suddenly appearing inches
from his face. In one hand she gripped the stake, in another she tore at the
hair on his scalp.

Comprehension momentarily washed
over the vampire’s face. She plunged the stake into the side of his neck and
tore through the flesh. She tossed the head to the side and wiped the back of
her hand on her pants, staining them with black, sticky blood.

She turned to face her family. Her
hair had been torn out of its ponytail and hung wildly around her shoulders. Her
neck ached from its wounds.

Jim and Zoey stared at her
wide-eyed; she saw them over Alexander’s shoulder. She dropped the bloody stake
to the ground and threw her arms around his neck.

“Sophie,” he whispered against her
cheek.

He reached up and tenderly touched
the wounds at her neck. She winced against the pain. He frowned at her.

“I’ll be okay,” she promised.

“How did you do that?” Zoey breathed.

She shook her head. “I wanted him
to die.”

“But you
choked
him,” Zoey
said. “With your
mind
.”

Alexander stroked Sophie’s neck,
wanting to take the pain away. He looked at Jim and Zoey. “We need to burn
these things; the police will be here soon.” He handed Sophie a handkerchief,
which she immediately placed at her neck. 

Jim gathered the bodies and tossed
them in a nearby Dumpster. Alexander struck a match and tossed it in on the
bodies. Zoey watched Sophie approvingly.

“Back to the house,” Alexander
commanded, walking back to Sophie and pulled her protectively into his arms.

They made it back within seconds of
each other, but Alexander didn’t waste any time with pleasantries.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he
said. He pulled Sophie gently into a bathroom on the first floor.

“What happened?” Dante asked, following
them around the corner. Laney and Catherina were on his heels.

Alexander positioned Sophie against
the marble countertop and proceeded to dig through the contents under the sink.
He pulled alcohol, gauze, and myriad other medical supplies out and spread them
on the countertop. He didn’t seem to hear anyone.

“She’s hurt, but she killed a
vampire with her own hands,” Zoey offered quietly. She looked meaningfully at
Dante. “She used her mind to choke him when he attacked. Then she all but tore
his head off.”

From the corner of her eye, Sophie
spotted Catherina as she looked on, an unreadable expression in her cold, hard
eyes.

“Excuse us,” Alexander said gruffly
and closed the bathroom door in their faces.

Sophie watched him carefully. He
frantically doused a cotton pad with alcohol and finally looked at her. He
brought the piece of cotton within inches of her neck. She grasped his wrist
and looked into his eyes.

“I’m okay,” she promised.

He nodded and sighed. “This will
hurt a bit, I’m afraid.”

She chuckled in a whisper. “I’ve
had worse.”

He tried to smile and hesitantly
dabbed at her neck. She sucked air in through her teeth and winced against the
sting. He dabbed at the cut gently and blew on the injury, taking the burn away
and giving her chills all at once. He moved to the next cut; dabbed at it
carefully and then blew on the wound. He stepped closer to her and repeated the
process with another cut. Backed against the sink, she couldn’t have moved away
from him if she’d wanted to.

She closed her eyes to the
simultaneous pain and desire that coursed up her neck. Every hair felt as if it
were standing on end. His body was pressed against hers as he doctored her
wounds. She slipped her arms around his waist and held him.

He moved to the other side, where
the vampire had dug his thumb into her flesh.

“This one is deep,” he whispered in
warning, "but I need to clean it."

He pressed the cold piece of cotton
against her tender neck. She gritted her teeth against the icy burn. He pulled
it away from the skin and blew on the crescent shaped cut that was already
healing. His nose grazed her jaw line. Her breath quickened.

“I thought I was going to lose
you,” he breathed.

She sighed. “I know.”

He dropped the cotton pad into the
sink. He gently held the back of her neck and brought his lips to rest on hers.
She sighed into him and pulled him closer. She clawed at his back and crushed
her lips against his. They lost themselves in the feel of each other, until she
suddenly pulled away.

“I promise I’m not going anywhere. There
was no way that vampire was taking me out tonight.”

He rested his forehead against hers
and looked into her eyes. “I don’t know if you realize how amazing you are.”

She tried to argue with him, but he
silenced her with another kiss.

Chapter 19

Present Day—Near Biloxi, Mississippi

            He screamed. It was a bone-chilling, terrifying,
guttural scream. He scratched down the sides of his face, his nails tearing the
skin away from his ancient bones. Almost as soon as the black blood started to
trickle from the wounds, the skin began to heal itself, stitching the dead--yet
somehow alive--fibers back together.

            “Jacques,” a soft voice said.

            He turned his crazed eyes towards the speaker.

            “What is it?” she asked.

            “Matthew is dead!” Jacques exclaimed. “My
brother! They've killed him.”

            “Who has done this thing?” she asked.

            Another slid out of the shadow. “Elizabeth, it
is our enemies to the west who are responsible.”

            Upon seeing the speaker's face, Elizabeth fell
into a sweeping bow. “My lord Cusick,” she said.

            He stepped closer to her and placed a hand on
her cheek. The room started to fill with others of their family, watching what
was happening in the center of the room. He ran his fingers down the side of
their face. “Would you like to know how they killed him?” he asked.

            “Yes, Councilor,” she replied, looking up at him
reverently.

            His eyes met hers and bore into her inner self.
The look in her eyes changed in response. They widened in shock and she grasped
at her throat, stumbling away from him. He continued staring at her, his head
cocked to the side, as if he were looking at her with mild curiosity.