Darkness In The Flames (27 page)

“Nooo.” Thérèse hissed out the words. “You will not speak of him.”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed as he realized his shot had hit home. “St. Chesswell. A good man with an interest in things beyond his knowledge. An interest which included evil things. Like you.”

He focused his mind, combining it with the movements of his sword in a lyrically psychic dance that pushed Thérèse backwards until she stood knee deep in the stream.

Her gaze hardened and Adrian bit back a gasp as she grew larger and more threatening, red sparks of anger darting from her ink black eyes. “You foul little pest. As if one such as you could ever hope to defeat me. I have lived longer than you can possibly comprehend with that tiny mind of yours.”

The sword still held protectively in front of him, Adrian refused to backtrack, but held his ground as Thérèse gave full vent to her inhuman fury.

“I should suck you dry then snap your neck. I should grind your bones and cast them into the darkest pit. To think that I would even deign to touch your inadequate body now makes me ashamed of my own weakness.” She stood tall and frightening, a halo of fire surrounding her. “I shall scorch you to cinders for your presumption.”

She raised a hand and Adrian ducked as a bolt of heat shot toward him, narrowly missing him and searing his cheek.

Thérèse laughed and repeated her action, tossing unearthly missiles at Adrian at will. “You are lost, you poor vermin.”

Adrian ducked once more—the sword snagged on a lump of turf—and he
fell
, awkwardly, to his knees, the harsh pain numbing his legs as the jagged rocks battered his nerve endings.

“And that is exactly where you
should
be, in my presence.
And
a fitting position from which to die.” Fangs bared, Thérèse lunged forward, ready to finish off her prey.

There was a mighty bolt of lightning, thunder deafened Adrian and then another brilliant flash of light illuminated the one thing he never expected to see at that moment—or in fact ever again—
Katherine
.

*~*~*~*

Seeing Adrian stumble and fall to his knees in front of Thérèse stopped Katherine’s heart for a brief and terrible moment. She’d awoken alone, groggy and disoriented, but aware that she was desperately needed
somewhere
by someone.

Her sense of urgency grew as she hurried from the house, not even pausing to grab a cloak or anything else to cover her hastily-donned nightgown.

She did not even realize she was barefoot.

All she could see was certain death bearing down on her husband. And all she could feel was a determination to prevent that from happening. She’d slithered down the side of the Chyne, noticed Sidney moving a little on the ground some distance away, and headed straight for the two combatants in this duel to the death.

With a strength that surprised her, Katherine grasped the sword from where it had fallen beside Adrian and before he could regain his balance she had it in her hands and was pointing it toward Thérèse.

“Move away, bitch.” Her words were redolent with the fury that flooded her.

Thérèse paused in her attack. “Well, well. The little woman come to rescue her man. How sweet.”

Katherine could see Thérèse clearly, the lightning barely necessary to illuminate the ivory curves of the other woman’s body.  Strength flooded her limbs, a new and unaccustomed energy that robbed the sword of weight and awkwardness, letting Katherine wield it with all the skill of an ancient knight at a tournament.

“He’s not yours. He never will be.” She leaped fearlessly at Thérèse, blade held high, a mighty jump that cleared Adrian and soared towards the other woman through the crackling night air. To Katherine’s surprise Thérèse never avoided the blow. Perhaps she thought it impossible, perhaps she had faith in her own powers—at the time Katherine neither knew nor cared.

She crashed down onto Thérèse with the point of the sword before her, slicing into the very heart of the vampire.

The scream that erupted from Thérèse’s throat was deafening in its intensity, and Katherine staggered as her feet finally hit the ground. She moved backwards, wrenching the blade free of Thérèse’s breast.

There was a sudden silence as if the entire world held its breath. There was no thunder, no lightning, no sound from Adrian or Sidney. Even the stream at the bottom of the Chyne had ceased to burble.

Slowly, Thérèse lowered her head and looked at her own body. A ragged gash had marred the creamy skin, and small droplets of blood were oozing downwards towards her belly and beyond.

Katherine gritted her teeth. It would have been a deathblow to a mortal. What would it take to kill this evil creature?

Her ears detected a sound, and as they did Thérèse also turned her head. A gurgling rushing noise grew louder, and fast upon it came a shout from Sir Sidney.

“
Katherine—move. Get away from the water
.”

Instinctively, she moved backwards, leaving Thérèse standing in the stream, a stunned look on her face. Katherine tripped over rocks and finally ended up against Adrian who had managed to regain his feet and was coming to her aid.

“We have to get above the water.” He shouted the words over the increasing noise.

Katherine blinked. “What water?”

“
That
water.”

The rumble grew to a roar and with incredible suddenness torrents of water turned the small stream into a raging rush of liquid fury.  The rains from the storm had not fallen on St. Chesswell, but they’d traveled to the Chyne and swelled the trickling brook to a flood.

“Stand back.” Sidney was fumbling with something and Katherine saw a silver spray arc over the angry stream.

It was the holy water, now bearing down on the wounded Thérèse with all the savagery nature had at its command.

The three of them turned as one to watch.

Thérèse was looking at the wound on her body once more, as if in disbelief. Then she too looked upstream, and opened her mouth to scream. She didn’t get the chance. The holy water had turned the rain-swollen rivulet to silver, a magical torrent of blessed liquids that crashed into her with a vengeance that made Katherine’s throat close.

“
Noooo…
” Thérèse howled as the river reached high around her legs. She braced herself, then—incredibly—rose
above
it. “You cannot do this—“ Her fury twisted her face into an angry mask of evil. “I cannot be destroyed. I am
immortal
—“

But not beyond the reach of the waters. They splashed and churned, sending glittering waves of pure and blessed spray over Thérèse. She screamed once more as they soaked her body and with a shudder she disintegrated, a flash of red fire lit by a stroke of lightning.

She simply disappeared, right in front of Adrian, Katherine and Sidney Chesswell. And the flood lessened, expending the last of its strength in a headlong flight to the sea.

*~*~*~*

Adrian moved as soon as Thérèse disappeared. He gave Katherine a quick hug then hurried to find his father, hoping against hope that he would not find the old man had succumbed to his injuries and his last desperate gesture to save them all.

Katherine was right behind him. “Sir Sidney—where is he?”

“Over here.”

Adrian sighed with relief as his father’s voice crossed the small space between them, and he quickly found him lying on one arm.

“Don’t fuss. I’ll be quite all right. ‘Tis only my leg.” He whimpered a little as Adrian put his hands beneath his father’s arms and lifted him. “Hurts like the very devil, though.”

“Hold on, Father. I’ll get you home.”

With sure strides he negotiated the tricky footing carrying his burden close to his heart. These two people had risked everything for him, and what had he done? Bloody fucking
tripped
.

Berating himself, he walked rapidly back to St. Chesswell and the lights that beckoned them all to safety. He knew Katherine was behind him, and did not pause until they were all inside and the door locked and securely barred.

“My study. Take me there, lad. I have supplies.” Sidney’s voice was weakening, and Adrian could not but be aware of the warm dampness soaking his hands through the stout fabric of his father’s breeches.

Gently he laid Sidney down on a chaise. “Now, let’s see what the damage is.” He reached for a knife on Sidney’s desk and quickly sliced through the trousers. There was a gasp as the wound was revealed, although whether it came from Katherine or himself he could not have said.

Sidney’s leg was truly a mess. “Father, this is not good. I have no knowledge of how to help you.”

“Brandy first, lad. Give me a glass. A full glass. Then we’ll see.”

That was the easiest command to obey, so Adrian quickly poured the required liquid and held it to Sir Sidney’s lips. After a few moments, Sidney sighed.

“Better. Now I need you to clean up any bits of my breeches left in the wound. Can you do that?”

“Yes.” Adrian gritted his teeth. He
must
.

“I can help.” Katherine was beside him, horror in her voice.

“Get me clean cloths. A bowl of water.” He looked around. “And my father’s chest over there. It has some healing herbs in it.”

He heard her move from his side, feeling her hand lightly brush his shoulder as he bent to his bloody task. Gingerly he cleaned as much as he could without hurting his father, biting his lips as he removed tiny particles of cloth and dirt, leaving only the harshly jagged gash that had ripped Sidney’s leg open from thigh to calf. “You’re damn lucky you didn’t bleed to death, father.”

“Didn’t hit anything vital, thank God.” Sidney hissed the words. “More brandy. Damn thing burns.”

More brandy was rapidly administered as Adrian finished cleaning the wound and took the wet cloths Katherine had procured. He heard her speak to Cheverly, but wisely she did not allow him in. The old retainer would have been gravely upset by his master’s condition. No reason to add to their worries at this particular moment.

“Now if you can ease the skin back as close as possible and then sprinkle on the herbs from the pue blacket…” Sidney’s voice quavered. “I mean the blue packet. Fuck. Never could hold my drink.”

Adrian smiled in spite of their situation. “Never mind, father. Get drunk. It will hurt less, I’m thinking.’

“Good idea.” Sidney finished off the last of the brandy as Adrian began to gently wrap bandages around the leg, keeping them tight and making sure the healing herbs were where they needed to be.

“There.” He sat back on his heels and surveyed his handiwork. “I have no idea if I’ve done it right, but thus far there’s no blood soaking through.”

“Goo’ sign, my son.” Sidney burped a little. “Ver’ goo’.” He turned his head more comfortably. “I’ll be right ‘s rain now.” He giggled a little, an unexpected sound. “Right as rain. The rain did it, didn’t it? All our clever plans and it was the good ol’ rain that did the trick.”

“Perhaps.” Turning away from his father’s gaze, Adrian quickly used the knife to cut a small gash in his wrist. He let a few drops of his blood fall into the fresh glass of brandy Katherine held ready.

“Is that wise?” Katherine’s whisper reached his ears.

“It cannot hurt. He’s fed from me before with no ill effects. If it will strengthen him enough it will be worth it.” He bent to allow his father another draught of brandy. “There you go. That will speed your healing.”

Sidney licked his lips. “You’re a good boy, Adrian. My son. Never had one with Josephine, you know. Would’ve liked one just like you.”

“You’ve got one now, father.”

“I know. Gift from God, you are.” Sidney’s voice faded as his eyelids drifted lower. “Gift from God. Strange how things work, isn’t it?”

He slept.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Adrian soothed Cheverly with reassurances that Sir Sidney would be fine after some rest—something he wasn’t absolutely certain of, but that went a long way to calm the household.

He also mentioned that the doors should be kept locked, but he hoped the danger was past.

That
he wasn’t convinced of at all.

He voiced his concerns to Katherine as they reached their suite. “I don’t know, Kat. I don’t know if we destroyed her or not.”

“We hurt her, Adrian. I know that for sure.” Her words were calm, resolute and a balm to his troubled soul.

He turned and looked at her for the first time since they’d faced down evil together.

And his breath caught in his throat.

“What?” She stared at him.

“Your—your
eyes
—“

They widened as he gazed at her, unable to stop looking into the deep midnight blue orbs that had once been as bright as the noontime sky.

“Oh my God. What have I
done
?”

Katherine crossed the room to the mirror and checked herself in the reflection. “Well, at least they’re not black. I wouldn’t have liked that at all.” She tilted her head to one side and studied the change. “And I did like the amazing strength I find I now possess. It came in very handy when I grabbed your sword, didn’t it?”

Adrian’s voice cracked. “
Kat
.”

She held up her hand to halt his agony. “
Stop
. Stop right there. We did what had to be done. We are both here.” She moved to him and gripped his hand with her own, a tight almost painful grasp. “We’re
alive
, Adrian. So is your father. That is
all
that matters.”

He felt an unusual stinging sensation as he looked at his wife and saw what he had made of her. He’d
turned
her, created a new being out of the loving woman he’d married. He choked. “Is this alive? I don’t know, Kat. I’ve made you into what I am, a shade of a human, a creature of the darkness.”

With amazing aplomb, Katherine began to undress. “Oh stop being so dramatic.” She slid from her nightgown and began to brush her hair, letting it fall over her naked back. “I fell in love with
you,
Adrian. I didn’t care what you were—darkness, light, whatever it was, it was
you
.” She put down the brush and turned, unconcerned about her nudity. “Do you now no longer love
me
?”