B00528UTDS EBOK (16 page)

If only she could tell someone about her dreams, about her need to see Darrien again - a vampire that had been ready to kill her.

* * * *

Darrien boarded the flight to New Orleans. When he stepped onboard the 747, he saw that his assigned seat was right next to Jeanie Fabre. It was just as he knew it would be. It had taken some effort to find Sarah’s aunt, but he’d finally located her at a small cottage in the woods.

He hadn’t approached her then. He’d sensed the intense suspicion of the witches she was with. The last thing he needed right now was to do battle with some overzealous witches. His time would be better spent searching for Sarah.

Instead, Darrien had watched Jeanie, waiting for the perfect time to talk with her. But the witch had not been left alone for even a moment. Then he’d followed her to the airport in Portland where Jeanie had bought a ticket to New Orleans. Darrien used his charm and power of persuasion to convince the girl at the ticket counter to assign him a seat next to Jeanie.

“I see,” Darrien said, reaching out to pull a magazine from the pouch that was attached to the chair in front of him. He began flipping through the pages, but without paying any attention to what he was looking at.

Darrien said nothing. What could he say? The Light Seekers were responsible for spreading false hope. They were dreamers, and would always be chasing something that they would probably never find.

“So tell me. Why so much interest in my niece? You were going to kill her anyway?” Jeanie asked.

He struggled to find the right words, but finally he decided it was best to say it as simply as he could. “I love her,” he told the witch.

Darrien had no answer for her. It was all he could do to keep his hands off of Sarah when she was near. How could he be sure that he would not pull her further into the despair of his love?

Closing his eyes, Darrien let his thoughts wander to that long ago night. Even now that he’d found her again, the pain still tore at his soul. He could almost taste her lips - feel her soft mounds of flesh in his hands. He loved the way her perky brown buds hardened at his touch, and how she’d gasp when he pinched them.

Caroline struggled, but only halfheartedly. When his mouth came down on hers, she parted her lips to accept his probing tongue. The more he tasted the warmth of her mouth, the more he wanted her.

He had to have her then, even if she protested.

Darrien lifted Caroline into his arms and carried her to the feather bed near the fireplace. After laying her gently on the bed, he began unbuttoning her dress. Slowly at first, but his hunger drove him to madness and he ripped the remaining cloth from her body.

“We can’t,” Caroline whispered. “You killed my husband.”

“I should have been your husband,” he told her, licking at her budding nipples.

And then there were no more words. She offered herself to him completely. Just as he joined with her, the door to the cottage flew open. An angry crowd stood at the door, their torches bathing the naked couple in revealing light.

“The witch has taken the devil to her bed!” someone screamed.

Darrien flew at the crowd, but there were just too many of them. He felt the flame of the torch ignite his hair, and then he was ablaze, his body melting away. Rolling onto the ground, he eventually put the fire out, but he had already received grave injuries. He was too weak to help protect her.

For years he’d been haunted by the sound of her screams as they drug her away. Though he’d not healed completely, within a few hours he’d been strong enough to go to her, but he’d only had moments until sunrise. They’d taken her to a local jail where she’d received a mock trial before she burned.

The witch trials had been over for two hundred years. But in such a religious parish, they would still burn witches in secret.

Darrien stood outside of the barred window and called to her. “Caroline.”

He heard movement from inside, and then he heard her voice. “You still live
monsieur?”

“Yes, but I am still recovering. Let me take you out of there. Let me turn you so that you no longer have to worry about this.”

For several moments she said nothing. When she finally did speak, she did not say the words that he’d hoped to hear. “I will suffer my fate my lord. If I try to cheat death, it will come to my child. I ask only that you do something for me. Please take my daughter to the Coven of Lazar? They will care for her.”

He’d left her then - left her to a fate that she had not deserved. The plague had taken the lives of many of the locals, and they had to blame someone. Naturally it had to be the witch that slept with the devil. Never mind the fact that it was Caroline that had actually nursed many of those that had survived the plague.

Bitterness burned within Darrien’s heart. He could barely endure thinking about what they’d done to her. The next night they’d taken her deep into the swamps and burned her. They would have killed the child too, if Darrien had not taken her away before the townspeople could find her.

Darrien jumped awake when he felt a sharp pain in his side. Opening his eyes, he saw Jeanie staring at him, ready to poke him with her finger again.

Alec swallowed hard. It felt as if his skin was on fire. His body was so weak from not feeding that he could barely move. His mind filled with images of blood - blood gushing into his mouth as he bit into a beating artery - a soft neck. Saliva dripped from his mouth at the thought.

He was only lucid for moments at a time. Beyond that, everything was a blur. He remembered a sharp sting, and then he’d blacked out. It was dark - the air was cool and musky. He was sure he was somewhere within the catacombs, but he had no clue who his captor was, or for what purpose they were keeping him alive.

Someone stroked his face softly and he instinctively growled. “Oh Alec! I know you want to feed, but your dinner isn’t here yet,” the female voice cooed.

Julia stepped closer, taking care to stay away from his fangs. He was suffering from blood deprivation, but he could still see her, though the image was dim.

“Alec, would you like to hear a secret?” Julia asked, her voice purring. “If you inject a vampire with liquid folic acid, it will drop his blood count instantly. It will render him unconscious? The vampire becomes blood deprived as soon as it goes through his system.”

Again Alec growled and pulled on the chains. The rattling and clanking of the chains echoed through the tunnels of the catacomb.

“Don’t fret dear. Your human bitch will be here to feed you soon,” Julia laughed. “She really is a disobedient child … going against everything her father tells her.”

Her last words reverberated through his head, gradually fading away as he slipped into blissful darkness.

* * * *

Jeanie stared down at the name of the coffee shop she’d scribbled on the notepaper. The Hole was on the first floor of the mall. An unlikely place to meet a vampire, but it was where Donavan had instructed her to be.

Darrien was still with her. She’d tried to talk him into waiting at the hotel, but he wasn’t having it. Jeanie had to admit that his concern for Sarah seemed genuine enough, but she was worried how Donavan might react to one of Omar’s assassins showing up with her.

The two of them stood outside the coffee shop instead of waiting for Donavan inside. She wasn’t sure what to expect, it had been years since she’d seen him, and even then she’d not been too cordial. As soon as Beth had told her about Donavan, she’d known that the vampire would eventually bring heartbreak into her sister’s life, just like she suspected would happen with Sarah.

When Jeanie caught sight of him, she was struck with his dark charm, just like her sister must have been. He was tall, and his dark eyes spoke of mysteries better left to the imagination. Even though the style was outdated, he still wore his black hair long, as many vampires did.

As he rode the escalator from the second floor, his eyes strayed to the two people waiting in front of the coffee shop. Donavan stepped off of the escalator and started toward them.

“Sure.” Jeanie followed him into the dimly lit coffee shop. It was different than most cafes, which were usually illuminated with bright fluorescent lights. Jeanie knew that vampires had an aversion to bright lighting.

When they were settled into an isolated booth and had received their drinks, Donavan turned his attention to Jeanie. “I’m assuming this must be about my daughter, Sarah?”

Jeanie nodded. “She was forced into hiding because your brother sent assassins to kill her.”

Donavan shook his head, a sadness entering his eyes. “This does not surprise me. Omar will not stop until he has his way … or he is dead.”

“What do you plan to do about it?” Jeanie wanted to know.

Donavan was silent for a long time and then he asked, “Is she in imminent danger at the moment?”

Jeanie shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. When she went into hiding, I was not told where she would be. A lycan took her away.”