NightFall: Book One: Bloodlust Is the Cure for the Immortal Soul (36 page)
Read NightFall: Book One: Bloodlust Is the Cure for the Immortal Soul Online
Authors: Anastacia Kelley
It took days
to recover, not ho
urs like it would
have usually taken.
He blamed Saldivar for this and through the centuries, a deep seeded aggression started to grow. Had Saldivar
not needed help so soon, this strange mutation w
ould have never
happened at
all.
But no.
Saldivar had to go on the rampage to avenge his parents’ death. He had to clumsily sneak onto the enemies’ ground and get caught. He had to get beaten, starved and brutalized by the guards.
If Saldivar had just waited longer, Zane could have transformed him without nearly getting killed in the process.
Zane’s life had never been the same after that awful night long ago.
He remained tortured by that event. Every now and again, he would feel ill as if he were human. It scared him to think he would ever, once again, feel like a mortal. Somehow, the mutation made his body go
ba
ck and forth from feeling invinc
ible
to feeling as weak as a newborn human child.
Saldivar did not suffer these problems when the transformation was taking place. Only Zane himself felt it.
And Saldivar was at fault. He would pay for making Zane suffer so.
That’s why he must suffer. That’s why his mate and his friends should suffer. He wasn’t going to make it easy for them. Death, for these four, was going to be torturously slow. He had no mercy and would not show them any went he decided to kill them.
Oh, how he imagined it would be to watch the life drain
slowly
from Saldivar, t
o watch him die as he had watched him
transform.
And his mate, Indea?
Yes, he
would kill her but why not have a little fun first? Knowing
Saldivar, he had already transformed
her so it would be a slow and painful death for a mere immortal infant.
She wouldn’t be able to fight him off any way.
He would make it where she wouldn’t want to fight him off. He had supreme powers of Persuasion after all.
Wouldn’t Saldivar just love it? Watching Zane mesmerize Indea into wanting him before he tortured her to death?
Watching Zane claim her as only Saldivar should?
Van and Simone would be next. Maybe he would restrain Van long enough to watch him
take then
murder his life mate,
Simone. T
hen he would put Van out of his misery.
But not before he witnessed Van’s
terrible grieving for Simone. Not before his heart broke into a million pieces. Not befo
re he could no longer shed a tear for her.
Van would be begging for death long before Zane granted it.
Arathoseous was wrong. Life is not a precious gift. Look what li
fe dealt for Zane. He knew
what helping the Eternal Entity did to him. He saw what happened when he fathered a half breed. Nothing good could ever come from helping others. He could only help himself. He could only take what he wanted without caring if he hurt or killed anyone in the process.
He was an immortal. Humans were nothing and they will always be nothing. They felt too much. They simpered and whined about everything that didn’t go their way. Didn’t they know that t
hey could just take it? Or was it
the fact
they were mere humans give them their useless conscious?
It matters not. They were weak and he would se
e them no other way.
Except as
food.
He was a human once and he cared not to relive the events as a child or a young adult. It would do him no good.
Right now, he needed to devise the ultimate plan of attack on the one for which he f
elt the most hatred. Saldivar would soon feel what it is like to be human once more.
Death could not come soon enough for that waste of immortality.
*
“How does it feel, Indea?” Saldivar asked, stroking her back.
Indea’s head was on Saldivar’s shoulder. She let her hand glide over his smooth chest. “I have never felt so great in my entire life.” She looked up into Saldivar’s golden eyes. “
I know we must live in darkness but I truly think that my life was in darkness before I met you. As long as I’m with you, I won’t be in
the
shadow
s
.”
Saldivar brought his head down to kiss Indea softly on the lips. “I am so lucky to have found you, my sweet Indea. I’m so glad I won’t have to spend my eternity alone.”
“And I don’t want to lose you. I know this Zane character is out for your blood and from
what you’ve told me about him, he could
very well hurt you or worse.
I know I’m new to darkness so it will be no trouble at all for Zane to do away with me. You’re the oldest and yet you say he could kill you though it would take more effort to do so.”
Saldivar hugged Indea closer to his chest. “I won’t let
anything happen to you, Indea,”
he vowed.
“I know, Saldivar. I know.”
*
Simone awoke the following evening with Van by her side. If she though
t
making love to him as a human was so good, making love to him as a vampire was unexplainable. Everything felt different.
She felt new heights of pleasure she didn’t even know existed. She could taste him, feel him,
and
love him with new and heightened senses.
Every nerve, every cell, she felt a hundred times more.
The flame of a candle she could see every hint of blue, orange and red.
Van took her by the hand and he helped her explore her new world.
And even with
the joy of being with Van, Simone knew a dark cloud hovered over them. Zane was that ominous being that lurked just behind them. They just didn’t know when he would strike.
They had a feeling, however, who he would lash out at first.
Saldivar.
No matter how hard they tried, they could not figure out why Zane despised Saldivar; why he still wanted him dead after all these centuries. It was such a shame to see what blind hatred and a grudge could do to a person.
It would eat away at you and Zane was the perfect example of what that kind of feeling could do to you. He was so caught up in destroying Saldivar that he forgot to live, forgot how to enjoy the wonders this world could offer.
Sadly, Zane couldn’t seem to be helped. Simone disliked the guy but at the same time she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. She couldn’t put her finger on why she felt the way she did. She should hate him for wanting to do away with her friends but something must be eating away at him from the inside.
Van understood Simone’s trepidation but they also knew they had to stand by Saldivar no matter the outcome. Zane couldn’t be reasoned with. It was a good thing Raven got out when she did. Zane had poisoned her mind enough with his ways of thinking. It would take her a long time to heal from that. It might be a
wound that never fully closed. But,
Raven was strong and she would survive.
She’d gotten this far. She was family now and they would protect her to the end if need be.
CHAPTER XVI
Zane angrily paced the floor of his home. He felt something was wrong. He just could not put his finger on it. He got rid of Raven, didn’t he?
That alone should have elated him.
So what could be bothering him? Things rarely worried him for he thought worries were of a weak, human nature. It couldn’t be Saldivar that worried him so. He would soon be rid of him, as well as his pathetic friends.
No, it was just the excitement of knowing he would soon destroy Saldivar. Yes, it was a giddiness he felt at knowing that Saldivar would no longer walk in eternal darkness for his eternity would be in hell. He deserved it for
putting Zane through his own hell on earth.
The more Zane thought of how he had suffered for transforming Saldivar, the less he wanted to wait in killing him. He would have to move in on Saldivar’s friends first for they would be much easier to handle. Battling Saldivar would prove exhausting and would, therefore, make it easier for Van, Simone or Indea to move in for the kill. No, he had waited for far too long to taste revenge. It was so close. He needed to be careful. All these centuries of planning could not be wasted on some foolish and impetuous move simply because he was furious.
Zane knew he needed to calm down for anger would clou
d his judgment and he would stum
ble.
Soon, he thought, very soon. I will have my revenge.
Retribution will soon be at hand and Zane could live the rest of his eternity in peace.
*
Weeks went by and Simone and Indea learned more and more about living in darkness. They had mastered communicating mentally. They grew stronger with each passing day.
But still, Saldivar worried for he knew that this was just the calm before the storm. Weeks without any worry of Zane only meant that Zane was lying low, trying to put them at ease. Then when they were comfortable in their lives, Zane would strike.
Things were comfortable for the time being until Simone got a call from one of her co-workers, informing Simone that Mr. Brant’s body had been found in an old abandoned warehouse, his throat slashed and his wallet stolen.
Simone somehow knew that this was no ordinary mugging. Whoever killed Mr. Brant wanted to make it look like a robbery, but Simone knew it was because he came to her and warned her. Simone had a funny feeling Mr. Brant’s death was done by Mr. Hobbs’ goons, knowing
full well
he didn’t have the balls to do it himself.
She hated that Mr. Brant had used her
but she still cried at hearing of his murder. He was like a father to her and she couldn’t just forget the times he was good to her.
Simone vowed to find Mr. Hobbs and have it out with him. She just hoped she didn’t kill him in all her anger for she knew she was a lot stronger than he was and could break him into without breaking a sweat.
Simone needn’t worry of Mr. Hobbs. Not long after Mr. Brant’s death, Simone found out that Mr. Hobbs was found hanging from a tree; an apparent suicide. This was about the same time Raven had left to ‘take care of business’, as she put it.
When asked about Mr. Hobbs
’
suicide, Raven just smiled mysteriously and shrugged, stating with a
faux
innocence that she had no idea. Simone decided it was best to leave it as it was and move on.
She didn’t think there was anything left for her back in the states. She had no family, except for Indea, Saldivar, Raven and Van. All she had to do was go back long enough to get her affairs in order and tell her landlord she was moving. Indea had her parents here so she would only go back with Simone to take care of her business as well.
*
It seemed to rain with a vengeance that night. Almost as if the rain had a personal vendetta against the world. It pounded mercilessly on the roof tops of Paris. Like fists buffeting, trying to break through. Saldivar listened closely, straining to hear the footsteps in the night. The storm was loud enough even for the best vampire ears to hear. He waited with the anticipation of what was about to come through the door. He felt the presence of an Eternal. He waited. His ches
t, heaving. It was so powerful that
Saldivar felt it could knock him right off of his feet if he gave it a chance. He knew that if
It
found in him a momentary lapse of weakness, that would be all It would need to strike. Then Saldivar knew it would all be over.
