Darkness Bred (7 page)

“He has already tried to alter all of us with his blood meddling. And he has altered many—most into twisted forms of what they already were. He has infected a vast number in our world with his failed experiments. Instead of bringing them to him as docile slaves happy to entertain him, he has caused them to stop reproducing. And this mad creature must be eliminated before he manages to unleash an army of mutant monsters on all of us, including the humans.”

Sean stiffened. “But if you are right, that would mean hounds were invited to this island. And they went.”

“The contagion is strong, deadly, it would only take one of you let loose on all the others. There must have been at least one, perhaps more.”

Saul held up a hand for silence.

That silence went on and on and showed no sign of being broken by the vampire.

When Elin couldn’t stand it any longer, she said, “Sean?” forgetting to keep her voice down.

“Hush,” Sean said.

“I need to think,” Saul said.

“This is too weird.”
Elin felt her thoughts reaching out for Sean’s mind.

Sean looked startled.
“I’m hearing you telepathically,”
he said into her mind.
“We will practice, but we should wait until later. I dreamed this would happen for us.”

Elin couldn’t help grinning. She wanted to hug him.

“Perhaps we should continue this later,” Sean said to Saul, who might even have been asleep. “Elin has been through too much since yesterday.”

Rather than argue, Elin bit her lip. She wanted to hear whatever Saul might reveal.

“You are so protective of her, which is a good thing.” Saul wrapped his coat more tightly around him and glared at them. “The vampire attack will have shown you how serious your enemies are. Not that we know how many enemies you have or who they are. Haven’t you questioned how Colin was able to enter the cottage? I take it you didn’t invite him.”

“No one did,” Elin said.

“At some time he was invited in by someone other than a vampire. We need to find out who that was.”

“I want to go home,” Elin said. If Saul had something else to tell them, later would do.

Saul said, “I must ask you not to leave just yet. You are both aware that some of the local women have disappeared over the past few months.”

“Of course,” Sean said while Elin nodded. “Less and less is said about it. And there haven’t been any more incidents lately.”

“Not that anyone is aware of,” Saul said. “They are fooling everyone into thinking it’s all over. Most of the women who were taken have been returned, apparently with no memory of what happened to them. They have preferred to let the incidents drop. Without actual complaints, the authorities could do nothing—they could not have done anything regardless.” Saul appeared tired. “I believe the victims were taken to The Island, the place I’ve already spoken of, and that’s why their memories were wiped clean.”

“Where is this island?” Elin whispered. “What is it called?”

“It is called The Island, that’s all. It’s volcanic and rises from the sea under cover of invisibility, except to those who are allowed to see it. Only The One, he who orders everything there, can make it visible—to anyone—except for the few vampires of my lineage who can also reveal the place, not that we would do so if there were an alternative.

 “I was there because I was invited by The One. It sounded innocent enough, risky perhaps, but an opportunity for vampires to get together and discuss the progress of our world. Then I discovered he expected me to be one of his blood experiments before I went out to convince more vampires to come to him. He wanted all of us to serve him.

“I am of a Parisian strain and we are different, not easily used by anyone. Since The One is also Parisian, he should have known about us. I left and have been working to get rid of this madman.”

Elin shivered and was glad when Sean put an arm around her. “Why hasn’t this wizard, or whatever he is, come after you? I want to see him, and his island.”

There was no mistaking the dangerous edge to what Sean said, or that he was letting Saul know he wanted proof of his accusations.

“Unfortunately I’d be a fool to imagine that I’m not marked for destruction. And this is no wizard, Sean. Sorcerer, perhaps. Possibly living sorcerer vampire.”

Elin clutched at Sean. “No one can fight such a thing,” she told him. “How does he stay alive? On what?” she asked Saul, terrified of his answer.

The vampire’s eyes were black with no visible pupils. “I can’t be completely certain but I don’t think he needs to eat often. Perhaps even as rarely as every few weeks—unless he is ill and I think he may be.” A thin red rim formed around the black of those eyes. “He eats human parts. Living human parts.”

“Enough,” Sean said through clenched teeth. “Save your speculation. How did he get those who disappeared?”

“He didn’t get them. Your friends the werewolves decided to circumvent him by trying an experiment of their own. The infection enters the blood. They have suffered the same fate as so many. They were infected and their females died during pregnancy. But the wolves are undisciplined and think they can take control of anything. They took the victims they stole to The Island because they knew they would not be discovered. They have also speculated that the volcanic vein The One tends may have magical qualities that would help them.”

Faintness started a buzzing in Elin’s head.

“I don’t believe any of this,” Sean said, starting to pull Elin toward the stairs.

Saul cut them off. “If you don’t believe, we’ll all be lost. The wolves took women and transfused them with blood to match their own. It was their own blood they used. They think if they can change women who aren’t part wolf, they will reproduce for them.”

“Let’s go,” Elin said.

“What they did—if they did it—didn’t work,” Sean said. “The women are all back and involved in their former lives, just as they were.”

“You know that’s not true,” Saul said. “Come with me.” He walked to a corridor that led into darkness, and from the way he moved, he seemed to assume they would follow.

“What does he mean?” Elin asked. “We know it’s not true that those women came back?”

Sean pulled her into an embrace. “Just go with this. If we need help, I can get it here in moments. But I don’t believe he intends to harm either of us.”

“Are you strong, Elin?” Saul asked. He didn’t turn to look at them. “Let me know if you faint easily.”

“Perhaps you should stay—”

“No,” she cut Sean off. “I don’t faint at my own shadow if that’s what you mean, Saul. We’re right behind you.”

“Those other women show no sign of harm,” Sean said.

Saul did glance over his shoulder then and his smile was more a grimace. “It’s what we can’t see that should worry us. Who knows what they are now, or what they are capable of becoming? Or if there are others we don’t know about.”

Elin’s skin was clammy and cool. She was rarely aware of temperature and the sensation scared her.

Saul held a swinging door open for them. Bright, white light shone in a large room where stainless steel glittered from sinks and tables.

“I think you should wait here,” Sean said under his breath.

Elin entered with him.

Along one short wall was what Elin recognized as a bank of refrigerated compartments. “This is a mortuary,” she said, deliberately steady and clear. “I’d forgotten you’re also the medical examiner when the usual one isn’t available.”

“I’m glad to do what I can for the people here,” Saul said. “Every service is necessary and should be performed with respect. Sean, you will know the reasons for my concern soon enough.”

He slid open a drawer in the refrigeration unit and Sean immediately moved in close.

Saul looked questioningly at Elin. “You don’t need to do this,” he said.

If she were honest, she would admit she didn’t want to be there but she stood beside Sean and nodded.

When Saul peeled back the sheet covering a small adult body, he revealed a woman with pale, matted hair. Her discolored face was peaceful.

“Rose?” Sean sounded disbelieving. “She’s still here? She died months ago. I understood…” He stopped and glanced at Elin, then shook his head.

“Yes, Rose,” Saul said. “She is the only link I have. I know she was transfused. I know it did not go well, and as with a lot of The One’s specimens, she was allergic to the blood she got from the wolves. But that isn’t enough to kill in most cases. She had returned here and eventually might have done as well as the others—or as well as they seem to have done. Her body has already helped me immeasurably.”

“She is so vulnerable,” Elin said, wanting to cry for the sad, broken little body. “This can’t be right to keep her here. She should be treated with respect.”

“I have more respect for this body than you can know,” Saul said. “It is our answer, if only we can find it. I have to be certain why she suddenly died when the others didn’t.”

“Certain?” Sean said. “You mean you think you know?”

Saul turned Rose’s head to one side and lifted her hair away from her neck to reveal the base of her skull. “There,” he said, pointing.

Elin’s skin grew tight. It prickled, but she got closer. Behind the left ear, on the bone, a mark shone. It almost glowed. A tiny, brilliant red O.

Shaking, Elin reached out and touched the mark.

“I think it is the mark of The One,” Saul said. “His initial, perhaps. And I believe she died when that was put there. I’m searching for what makes the mark.”

“A deadly poison?” Sean peered very closely. “Is it an O? Or a Q?”

Saul also bent to reexamine the patch. “There could be a tail,” he said.

Elin couldn’t stop her fingers from returning to the spot. She heard high-pitched wailing and felt herself begin to fade.

“He knows Whidbey well,” Saul said. “The One. We don’t know who he is, but he has an agent working for him here. I believe we look into his eyes, talk to him—too bad we don’t know who he is when he comes.”

 
S
o, what’s the deal with barging in on Elin and me?” Leigh said, finding Niles at work in the addition to the back of Gabriel’s. “You gave me a headache with all those orders.
Don’t ignore me. I know you can hear. It’s important for Elin to leave now.
No pressure, hm?” She was darned if she’d resort to mind talk when they were only feet apart.

Niles kept right on stapling wallboard in what was to become her enlarged office, making a noise like an assault weapon on steroids.

He wore an industrial headset and goggles.

Leigh made do with her fingers pushed in her ears and shouted, “Niles.”

Niles didn’t hear her and pretended he also didn’t know she was there, which was dopey since there was no way to creep up on the man.

She wasn’t a woman to waste an unfair advantage. With both hands above his head, one holding the wallboard, the other aiming the staple gun, Niles was an irresistible target.

For a few wonderfully wicked moments, she took in the torn, paint-spattered T-shirt that didn’t hide much of his tanned body and none of his taut, muscular midsection. Speaking of paint, his faded old jeans might have been applied with a brush. Surrounded by the scent of new cedar shavings, she closed her eyes, tried to steady her pounding heart and the rush of blood to her head and other places.

That was a wasted effort.

Leigh moved in, wrapped her arms around him, rested her face on his back, and wormed her fingers under the front of his shirt.

He jumped but at least he stopped stapling, even if she was glad she couldn’t make out everything he muttered under his breath.

His belly sucked in tight and her little fingers slid so easily under the waistband of his jeans.

“I asked what was so important that I had to interrupt my visit with Elin?” she said.

“Sean needed her. Do you know how dangerous it is to attack a man who is using a staple gun?”

“Nope. Never did it before. And when did you start caring about Sean and Elin?”

“I try to be an understanding man.”

She let that go. “Have I told you lately what your chest does to me? What every sexy inch of you does to me?”

“Remind me.”

“Mmm.” Leigh ran her fingers up, rib after rib, until she reached his instantly tensed nipples. “Is it coming back to you?” Hugging him with all the strength she had, she clung to him.

“Not sure yet.” But he sounded a little short of breath. He braced his arms against the wall and made no move to stop her. “Give it time, though.”

“How come the rest of the guys left right after Sean and Elin? And how come Innes made a big deal of stopping by to let me know you gave them the rest of the day off?”

“They’ve been at it since early this morning.”

“If they worked twenty-four out of every twenty-four, they wouldn’t suffer too badly.”

Niles’s breathing got heavier with every stroke and probe of her fingers. “Maybe I wanted to be alone,” he said, his voice taking on the low, husky quality she understood so well.

Leigh held still. “Should I go? I understand needing space sometimes.”

“Don’t you dare,” he said with something close to a laugh.

It’s hard to laugh when you’re sucking in breaths at the same time.

“Okay,” Niles said. “I’ll fess up. I sent them all away because I just want to be with you. Is that a sin?”

She pulled his shirt up and kissed him between his shoulder blades. “Why don’t you take this off,” she murmured. “So much easier.”

He did as he was told at once and gave her a speculative look over his shoulder. “I thought it was time we had some serious discussion that affects our lives.”

His tone, the slight frown, made her stomach flip, but she kept a smile on her face and sidled over to lock the door. “A door that locks,” she said, raising one brow. “In a room that isn’t even finished and won’t be for a while.”

Looking smug, he leaned on it. “Finished the lock after the others left. Never say I don’t plan ahead.”

“I wouldn’t,” but she didn’t entirely buy his playful words or approach. She was too in tune with him not to sense a darker undercurrent. “You do a lot of planning.” Some of which made her suspicious of his motives.

“Maybe we should go home,” Leigh said. That would buy her some preparation time and he might soften whatever was coming by dropping unintentional hints.

Niles faced her with his hands on his hips. She was confronted with his naked torso and powerful arms and she didn’t need to know any more about anatomy to see that every muscle and sinew was tensed. The muscles in his jaw flicked and she could almost hear his teeth grinding.

“What is it?” she said. And her own temper thinned. “You look as if you’d like to have me for dinner.”

His face relaxed a fraction. “I’d like you for every dinner. That’s not the point.”

“Niles, just spit it out. I can’t stand seeing you upset—and don’t argue, because you are upset.”

He held out his arms and she flung herself at him. They held on to one another with the kind of ferocious desperation that excited Leigh while it frightened her. Something was very wrong.

She almost pulled away. This maelstrom of confusion and sexual tension that hung on the edge of something unknown was the last thing she could face when she was already so anxious.

Niles buried his face in her shoulder. “I love you more than I can explain,” he told her indistinctly. “Without you I’d have nothing.”

“The same goes for me. But we have each other. Are you afraid of something?” Leigh knew at least part of the answer and wished it weren’t true. She had hoped he would relax the longer they were together. The reverse continued to happen.

He looked into her face and for an instant she thought he would let her into his deepest thoughts and allow her to share his fears. But then he crushed her against him again, found her mouth with his, and kissed her until she pushed on his shoulders and gasped for breath.

As quickly as she separated her mouth from his, Niles continued kissing her.

Leigh drove her fingers into his hair and squeezed her eyes shut. Cool air hit the overheated skin around her ribs. Niles pulled her sweater over her head and dropped it. His hands were all over her and with such desperate concentration that she could scarcely hold on to any part of him.

“There’s nowhere,” she managed to pant. “Can we go home?”

“Too late. I want you now. Any way I can have you.”

Her legs turned to water and she almost sagged. Everything female in her burned until she longed to lie down and take him with her.

Niles’s feverish, shocking blue eyes lost focus. He moved like a man obsessed, obsessed and separated from reason.

He didn’t need her help to strip off the rest of her clothes, and his own. “Can’t slow down,” he panted, lifting her by the waist and kissing her breasts, the sides of her neck, her mouth, and returning to suck in a nipple.

Leigh gritted her teeth. All she could do was let him make love to her. She was no match for his strength or his mental and physical concentration on pleasuring her body.

Niles lifted her again, just enough to join them. Down onto him he guided her and she was lost to the searing, scalding penetration that was always their lovemaking. She held his slick shoulders through an explosive climax. Her cheeks were wet with her own tears.

Still embracing her as if he wanted to fuse their bodies, Niles slid down the wall, still inside her, until he could clamp her with his thighs and hold her where he could stare at her, his face still dark with passion but the tension drained away now.

The gently intense smile he gave expanded her with joy. She shook her hair back and laughed. “How did I get so lucky?” she said. “I can’t help it, I just wonder why someone else hadn’t snapped you up long before we had a chance to meet.”

“We were meant to be,” he said, and he was serious again. He leaned forward and kissed her face, kiss after kiss, drawing back from time to time to look at her.

Niles laced his hands loosely around her neck, stroked her shoulders, her arms, her breasts. Inclining his head, he looked at her breasts and spanned her ribs at the same time.

A very big man, every ounce of flesh was muscular. The solid leanness of his belly and hips fascinated her. She started her own touching, testing trail.

Niles softly rubbed her hips, fanned his fingers forward and over her stomach. He framed her breasts again, supported them.

Leigh saw a subtle, gradual change in his expression and his gaze flew to meet hers. She tried to smile but bit her lip instead. Niles shook his head slowly. His mouth made a soundless “No.”

The instant before he took her in his arms again, the instant before he shut his eyes, a sheen was there. A hard swallow jerked his throat.

“Are you?” he whispered.

She nodded on his shoulder, “Yes.”

“But you’re taking—” He broke off, running his fingers through her hair over and over again, his cheek pressed to hers.

“I was already pregnant. I think it happened the night we were sealed.”

He shuddered. “My fault. All my fault.”

Leigh held him tight. “This was how it all started, Niles. You wanted the hounds to start having children again and for the children to bring you closer to being human. You wanted this and now you have it. And I want it.”

“I made assumptions,” Niles said. “I chose to believe what seemed logical, that with human women we could not only reproduce again, but both woman and child would live and we could have what we’ve truly wanted—to become closer and closer to being the humans we were born to be.”

Leigh made him look at her. She held his head with both of her hands. “I’m not surprised you’re behaving like this. I don’t know what’s changed but you completely stopped talking about us having children. I was afraid to tell you. This should be the happiest moment in our lives but I’m afraid of your anger.” She was close to tears but blinked them away.

“You will never be afraid of me,” Niles said, at the same time struggling to keep his voice from rising. “Never, do you understand me?”

Leigh didn’t answer.

“What changed for me is that all I care about is having you with me. If all the calculations were wrong and you can’t carry this baby safely…and I lose you…” He turned her until he could hold her against him. “It’s you I want. I don’t care about anything else.”

Gently taking hold of one of his hands, she pressed it to her belly. “Don’t say you don’t care about this little one. The baby needs your love, too, and your care and guidance when the time comes.”

Stroking the little thickening at her middle, he rested his head against the wall. Leigh watched his expression go from confusion, to pain, to desperation.

“I want to hold our child, love it, care for it, but only with you beside me.”

“I will be beside you.”

“Leigh.” He stared into her eyes. “If the child begins to sap you as the female werehounds were sapped. If I can tell you are fading, I—I will do whatever I have to do. If there is a choice to be made, I won’t wait. I’ll choose you.”