A Diamond at Midnight (8 page)

Cain strode up to them and knocked on their window. The silly fools rolled it down. Anyone with an ounce of sense would check, before blindly rolling their car window down in the middle of the night on a dark and empty street. Hadn’t their parents taught them a damn thing about survival? Before the night was through Cain would teach them a lesson they would never forget.

One of the boys laughed at something the other said, but all Cain heard was their hideous music. He never could figure why young people had to kill their eardrums in order to enjoy the sound of an instrument.

“What do you want?”

The skinny want-to-be stud was entirely too brave for his own good. Cain smiled, allowing his fangs to gleam under the light of the moon. The pierced youth stuttered and stammered, giving Cain ample time to take full advantage. He wrenched his door open and grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt.

“You have something I want, boy.”

The gangly boy flailed about, his feet dangling above the sidewalk, totally at Cain’s mercy.

“What’s your problem? Let me go!”

Cain smiled. He had to hand it to the kid; at least he was attempting to appear brave in front of his girlfriend.

“You’re about to be dinner.” Then Cain dipped his head towards the boy’s throat, stabbing at his jugular with his sharp incisors and then drank greedily. Cain was careful to take only a small amount,
then
closed the holes in his neck with his tongue. The marks would ensure the boy remembered this night. He wanted to instill a little fear in him. Maybe next time he would think twice before talking to strangers.

After sitting him gently on the sidewalk, Cain looked through the open door of the car. The other three stared in awe. As if he were some damned hero from a movie. They should have been scrambling to get away from him! One girl was dumb enough to say, “Awesome.”

What the hell was the matter with kids today? Cain reached in and yanked out the other guy. He had dark hair like the first but was considerably larger. There was no argument at all this time. In fact, this one seemed eager.
Even bared his neck.

“Lord
save
me from teenagers,” Cain growled.

A moment or two later, he sat the second teen next to his friend and turned to stare at the two girls in the back seat. One was a blond who didn’t look any older than thirteen.
The other a redhead.
To his chagrin, they actually smiled at him and got out of the car. The blond sidled up next to him and batted her pretty baby blues. The little chit was flirting with him! Well, hell, didn’t that just beat all.

If they only knew moments ago he’d thrust a stake through the heart of the leader of The Dark Dominion they’d be running in fear. But, like sacrificial lambs to the slaughter, they both bent their heads and bared their necks for him. As if that wasn’t strange enough, the blonde one also tugged at the miniscule tank she was wearing until her tiny breasts spilled over the top, then smiled coyly up at him and murmured, “You can bite me
anywhere
you like.”

Christ, she was just a kid! If he had a daughter who acted like this, he’d turn her over his knee. He frowned at her blatant display and tugged her top back up, covering her barely-there chest.

“Go home little girl, before you find yourselves getting into more than you can handle.” He started off, but not before he heard one of the boys call out to him.

“Hey dude?”

Dude
?

Cain laughed. In his many centuries, no one had dared to call him
dude
. He turned back and arched a brow in question.

“Does this mean we’re going to become vampires now, too?”

So, that’s what this had all been about. They were hoping for immortality. Ah, the follies of youth. The bigger boy was much too eager and excited to truly understand what he’d just asked.

Cain walked back and watched sadly as they anxiously awaited his answer. He decided the only way to make them understand the dangers they were naively putting themselves in was to give them a demonstration.

“That’s not how it works,” Cain said contemptuously. “I told you once to go home, but now it’s too late.” He let a wicked smile slip across his face. “Now I want to play.”

Fear began to register on the blond girl’s features. Finally!
Time to show the boy what he was messing with.
Cain allowed his eyes to change and turn a demon red as he stared, willing her mind to obey his command. Cain then opened his arms and said, “Come to me, sweetheart.”

Her eyes glazed over as she fell quickly under his compulsion. With any luck, one of the boys would jump to her aid before she actually reached him, because he really didn’t want to touch her. But he had to do something, before they really did meet up with something evil. There was no way of knowing if Rafael’s death would scatter his followers to the wind.

Cain smiled cruelly as he became aware that she was trying to fight against his compulsion. Good. At least she wasn’t coming to him so eagerly now.

“Get down on your hands and knees. Crawl to me.” That ought to do it. No self-respecting boyfriend was going to allow his girl to crawl to another man.

“No way, asshole!”

Cain wanted to let it go at that, but for their benefit he knew they needed something that would make them err on the side of caution in the future. “Don’t interrupt me, boy,” he growled, then flung his hand out towards the bigger teen
who
had stood up and tossed him through the air. He landed on his ass several feet away and shook his head, dazed but unharmed. He let go of the girl’s mind and watched as she and the other one scrambled inside the car. “Where are you going, I was just getting started?”

“Screw you!”

“Not very nice,” Cain admonished. In two strides, he reached the car and with ease jerked the door completely off its hinges. The two girls screamed and huddled together, trying desperately to get the far door open so they could escape. Cain was delighted to see that the braver of the two boys wasn’t bothering to wait around to see what happened next. He simply ran over to his friend, yanked him up off the ground, and pushed him towards the car.

When he got within arm’s length of Cain he saw the car door lying on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. His bravado melted away. “Look, mister, just let us go, and I swear we won’t say anything about this to anyone.”

Cain tapped his lip with his finger, pretending to consider his request. “You’re certain you don’t wish to become like me?” A smile almost escaped when he saw the teen shake his head
no
.
 

He shrugged, then stepped away from the car and gave them a grand exit. He lifted himself into the air and hovered just a few feet above them. They stared in horror when he contorted his features to appear more beast-like, then he shifted in midair and took off in a blaze of speed.

When he landed several streets away he saw a drunken man stumbling towards him and Cain groaned. Damn, the only thing worse than feeding off a man was feeding off a drunken man.

He quickly took care of the task of replenishing what he’d lost, then left the man to recover. He stepped around the corner and found another man alone. This time he took enough for
Diamonique
. She would be hungry when he returned, and he alone would satisfy her cravings.

Chapter Seven

When Cain reappeared inside his home,
Diamonique
still lay naked on the couch, her eyes closed. In two long strides, he was across the room and kneeling at her feet.

“My love, talk to me.”

Her eyelashes drifted upwards, green heat landed on his face. “You came back for me.”

“Of course.
You are my world, Diamond. Without you, I am nothing. Don’t you know that?”

“Why did you take
Sareena
to bed, Cain?
To
our
bed.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. It was like shards of glass cutting away at his skin. “You scared me, love. The things I felt for you scared me. I lashed out in the only way I knew. If I could take that day back, I would. Believe that if you believe nothing else. But I cannot. There can be no going back.
Only forward.
Will you walk into the future with me, Diamond?”

“Are you planning to...lash out like that again?”

He shook his head, more terrified than he cared to admit at the possibility she would leave him, and he’d be left a shell of a man. That he’d end up like Rafael. “I would rather cut out my own throat than cause you an ounce of pain. You are my precious Diamond, and I will always love you. No matter if you leave me right now, I will always love you.”

Diamonique
reached up and stroked his cheek, then murmured, “I love you, too, Cain. But if you ever hurt me like that again,

I’ll cut out your heart and feed it to the rats. Are we clear on that?”

He laughed and shook his head.
“Crystal, my love.”

Then she frowned and said, “What happened to Lucas and Elizabeth?”

“They are upstairs, in the guestroom. I have a feeling he’s not going to let her out of his sight anytime soon.” Then he thought of something else. “Lucas may not know it yet, but The Dominion won’t let this matter rest. They’ll want his head for this.”

She nodded. “He loves her and he was willing to risk everything to save her. I could see it on his face when he saw her at his father’s feet, looking so broken. It must have hurt him very badly to see her that way.”

“Yes, and I shamelessly used that knowledge to work him into a rage. It was my only chance of getting you out of that room alive.”

“So, none of it was about ancient blood? It was all revenge?”

“It would appear so. Lucas was the only thing that kept Rafael sane. When he left, Rafael’s mind went with him.”

“It’s sad really.”

Cain dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers, then whispered, “Let’s not think of it anymore. I have one hundred years to make up for, my love.”

She tugged on his shirt and growled, “Then why are you still dressed?”

He grinned and with a single thought, he was naked. “Better?”

Diamonique
shook her head and touched one of his burns. “We’re quite a pair, you and I.”

“Yes, we are,” he murmured as he leaned forward, picked her up and took her to his room. The instant he entered, he placed her gently on the bed and lowered his body beside hers.

“Now it’s time for some new and better memories I hope.”