They Come by Night (23 page)

I knew. I’d been in his attic. It was bigger than ours, but there were windows on every side, so there was plenty of light. I took a couple of flashlights from the closet and handed one to Jimmy. “Come on. Dad’s bedroom is this way.”

It was only a few steps down the hall. I reached inside the door to the bedroom and fumbled for the light switch. Once it was on, we went in and I led the way to the closet.

“Will your dad mind that we’re going in his closet?”

“Fine time for you to ask, but no. Not as long as we don’t touch anything, I guess.” I opened the closet door and flipped on the light switch.

“There’s not much in here to touch, just clothes.”

I shrugged. That was all Dad kept in his closet. And shoes and work boots.

“Okay, how do we get up there?”

“See that cord? We just have to pull it down.” I put down my flashlight and jumped up, trying to reach it, but fell short. “Shoot.” I tried again, but I still couldn’t get my hands on it.

“Hold on, Shorty. Let me try.” Jimmy put his flashlight beside mine, but he didn’t have any more success than I’d had.

I didn’t bother telling him not to call me Shorty. He wouldn’t listen anyway. “Hmm. Maybe if you give me a boost?”

He looked me up and down, then nodded, grasped me around my hips, and hoisted me up. “But you better not fart in my face, Ty!”

“Geez, you’re a jerk.” I stretched my arm up as high as I could get it, gave a bit of a wriggle to get it higher, and caught the cord. “Got it!”

“Good!” Before I could ask him to put me down, Jimmy let me go, and I dropped to the floor.

“Thanks a lot!” I groused.

“The hatch is open, isn’t it? Now, how do we get to the stairs?”

“You’re gonna have to give me another boost.”

“It’s easier to go up in the attic at my house!”

“Yeah, well, this was your idea.” I got a grip on the stairs, and they unfolded, and we picked up our flashlights and climbed up.

“There really isn’t much up here,” I told him as I reached for the string attached to the chain for the light. I gave it a tug.

“Wow, you’re right!” Jimmy looked around, his disappointment obvious. “What’s in the boxes?”

“You’ve seen what’s in them: ornaments, strings of Christmas lights, the nativity scene.”

“What’s in that one?”

“Which one?”

“The one over there in the corner.”

I turned and looked where he was pointing. There, barely visible in the shadows, was a small box I’d never noticed before.

T
HE
UNION
meeting had ended early, and Dad was home. He’d paid M. J., and she and Jimmy had left. He would have driven them home, but M. J. had recently gotten her license, and she drove whenever she could find an excuse for it.

“You should be asleep, Ty,” Dad said as he came in from walking the Giant.

I should, but I’d waited up for him.

“I know. I….”

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to show you something, Daddy.” I fanned out the photos. “Who… who are these people?”

He turned pale and stared at them for a long minute. Then he pointed to each of the children who sat before a Christmas tree, opening their presents. “Matthew. Luke. Sarah. Bethany.”

I swallowed. “Who are they?”

“Your brothers and sisters.”

“And… and this one?” It was of a woman taking a turkey from the oven, smiling up at him. Such a beautiful smile.

He didn’t look at it. Instead he picked up the videotape. “You should see this, Tyrell.” He turned on the television, slipped the tape into the VCR, and hit Play.

I stared at the screen in fascination. Birthday parties and pool parties, and a small reddish-brown dog. Other kids had moms and brothers and sisters, and here were mine!

“Dad!” I turned to my father to see tears had welled up in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks.

That was when I knew he still loved her, and it was because of me she’d taken my older siblings and left.

“It’s… I’ve… Dad, I’m kind of tired. If it’s okay, can I go to bed now?”

“Sure, Ty.” He rewound the tape, popped it out of the VCR, and turned off the television. “Go on. I’ll be up in a couple of minutes to tuck you in.”

I
FORCED myself back to the present. “How do you know about my family, anyway?” I demanded of the vampyr who stood before me.

“I’ve always been fascinated by your line.”

“My line?”

“Your mother is of the Dragomir saborese family. It’s very old, dating back to before the turn of the century.”

“Huh? Nineteenth? That’s not old.”

“The first century.” He sighed. “As for your father, he’s a Lupescu.”

“No, he’s not. He’s a Small!”

He gave me a look, and I shut up. Oh, yeah. The name would have been changed, as so many others had been, when the great-great-grands had landed on Ellis Island.

Though how anyone could misunderstand Lupescu for Small….

“Your mother’s people came to this country during the Terror.”

“When? Oh, you mean the French Revolution. Okay. But Dragomir isn’t a French name.”

“No, it’s Romanian. But my subjects are from every nation in Europe. I—”

“Wait a second! Your subjects? Who the heck are you?”

“I am the rege.”

“The—” I felt myself flush. The king of the vampyrs was in my house? “Uh… should I kneel?”

“No.” He laughed again, and the tug returned, even stronger. “As I was saying, I was needed in France to help the French vampyrs flee.” The laughter was gone now, and he observed me somberly. “A guillotine is as effective in destroying a vampyr as a stake through the heart.”

“Yes, I can understand that.”

“While I was away, an incident occurred back home. A Dragomir sabor was taken before he reached maturity.”

I suddenly remembered some of the nightmare I’d had the other night, and I turned cold.

“When the father attempted to come to the child’s aid, he was drained dry, as was his oldest son. The only one left alive was the mother, and only because she was away.”

“Helping with the birth of a baby?”

“You know? But I thought—” He stopped when he saw my face.

“No! I mean, isn’t it logical that’s why she’d be away from home at night?” I must have turned sheet-white, or maybe just green. How….

“Of course, Tyrell.” He rested a hand on my shoulder, and for some reason my agitation eased. “At any rate, I didn’t learn of the debacle until I returned. By that time, the damage was done. The family was wiped out, and she had disappeared.”

“Wait a minute. If the family was dead, how do you explain my mother?”

“Madame Dragomir was pregnant at the time.”

“Oh. Sure. That makes sense.”

“She raised her child to fear vampyrs and to detest those associated with them—sabors
.
”

“
What
? But they didn’t have anything to do with the family getting dead.”

“She felt it was the boy’s fault. If he hadn’t been born a sabor, the vampyr would have left the family alone.”

“She believed that?” I thought about the bloodsucker in my nightmare. The father and the brother hadn’t been sabors, but he’d drained them anyway.

He shrugged. “Her man and sons were slaughtered. She’d lost everything, and she had to blame someone.”

“That’s so sick.” That poor little kid had done nothing but open the door to a monster. “Why not hate the asshole who couldn’t keep his fangs behind his lips?”

“That isn’t done. Saborese families are raised to revere vampyrs.”

“Even vampyrs who wiped out their family?”

“The vampyr responsible for this act was not a normal vampyr. He agreed to be turned, thinking he would rise up in our hierarchy, not realizing only vampyrs who were born are permitted to rule.”

“Wait a minute! Vampyrs can be born?”

“Of course. Aren’t all living things born?”

“Well, yeah, but…
vampyrs
? How…?” I held up my hand. “Never mind, I don’t think I want to know.” The image of two vampyrs mating made me want to wash my eyes with bleach.

“Vampyr births are extremely rare, which is why those who can reproduce in that manner are considered royalty.”

“What about that creep who was here before?”

“He was turned by Adam’s mother and became… disgruntled when he realized his ambitions would come to nothing, that no matter what he did, he would never rule.”

Well, didn’t it suck to be him? “Hold on a second! You mean Adam is a… a born vampyr? A vampyr prince?”

“Duke, actually, but yes.”

“Does that make Adam related to you?”

“My nephew.”

“Wow!” As an American, I’d always been vaguely impressed by the actions of the royals in Europe, and now I’d not only fed one, but I was entertaining one in my living room.

Mr. Mondragon… His Majesty… Mr. Mondragon seemed amused by my reaction.

Abruptly he became alert, glanced toward my front window, and then down at the watch on his wrist. “I’m afraid I must be off. It will be dawn soon enough.”

It would? I checked my own wristwatch. Wow. Talk about time flying. It was almost four in the morning.

Four in the morning? I groaned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have class at eight. I’m going to be wiped out.”

“You could take the day off.”

“The third day of school? I don’t think so. Besides, my chem professor will have my ass.”

The rege brought his hand to his mouth, but I had a feeling it was just to hide a smile behind it. “I don’t think so. However, if you insist on attending class, I can see you sleep, and wake rested.” He arched his eyebrow.

“What will that entail?”

“How do you put it? One for the road?”

I wanted to say no, but how could I? This was my destiny.

“Okay, I guess.”

“Your enthusiasm overwhelms me, Tyrell.”

“Sorry.” I found myself smiling at him, my dick suddenly interested, and I yanked my sweatshirt over my head and offered him my neck.

He turned me around, his body firm against my back, wrapped his arms around my chest, and licked my birthmark.

I shivered. It felt good. Not as good as when Adam did it, but….

“You’re going to sleep now, Tyrell, and when you wake in three hours, you’ll feel as refreshed as if you’d slept for eight hours.” There was a slight sting as his fangs entered my throat, and I waited for the euphoria of a fantastic orgasm, but if it washed over me, it must have done so after I’d fallen asleep.

T
HREE HOURS later, as if my alarm had gone off, I woke up in bed, and it was as the rege had promised. I felt as if I’d had a solid eight.

I stripped off my sleep pants, took a quick shower, and then dressed for the day.

The glasses on the dish drainer were the only sign I’d had a visitor the night before, and how cool was it that the king of the vampyrs had washed them?

I didn’t have time to pack a lunch, so I made sure I had some cash in my wallet as well as the pill fob with the lactase tablets in it. Then I stuffed my books into my messenger bag, put on my jacket, and grabbed up my keys.

The air was crisp and clear.

After class I’d pick up Mina and spoil her for having had to spend the night away from home.

And I didn’t even care I hadn’t been able to finish the English essay.

It was going to be a beautiful day.

C
HAPTER
S
IX
:
C
OME
A
L
ITTLE
B
IT
C
LOSER

J
UAN DE Vivar stared at the door that had just closed in his face. He could feel fury rising up from the center of his being, up behind his eyes, threatening to explode like steam from a geyser. How
dare
this sabor treat him like some newly turned vampyr?

It had taken quite a bit of maneuvering to get the sabor’s mongrel away, and it had cost him a great deal in the way of power to ensorcell those needed to insure everything went according to plan. And now, to have this happen….

His belly cramped with hunger. He hadn’t eaten, the better to enhance his enjoyment of taking this sabor, and he needed to feed
now
!

He took a step forward, reaching for the doorknob. He would have this sabor at any cost! The sabor might be unwilling to begin with, but what did de Vivar care?

Then he paused, a sixth sense hinting at danger.

“¡
Mierda
!”

The rege
,
miserable son of a thousand whores that he was, was approaching. What had called
him
here?

“You’re not supposed to be here,
Duque
. You know you have been forbidden to approach any sabor. Leave.”

“Please, Highness….” It galled him to have to beg, but it had been so long since he’d last tasted a sabor. And to come so close to having this one….

“It has been our policy not to interfere….”

De Vivar curled his lip, but he took care the rege didn’t see. The man had the haughtiness of a Castilian, for all he’d called Walachia his home.

“…but your arrogance has cost the vampyr community too much. Disobey me at your peril.”

“But, Highness—”

“If Terese were not my favorite sister, and had she not a fondness for you, I would have seen your talisman seized long before this.”

In spite of himself, de Vivar cupped his palm protectively around the cylindrical pendant that dangled from his neck. “Highness, indeed I’ve no idea what you mean. It is true Terese turned me, but if she had any fondness for me, would she not have taken me as her consort?” He would have acceded to that minor position, certain in time he would have become king, but the bitch hadn’t even suggested it. Instead, she’d left him for a so-called born vampyr.