Welcome to the Darkness (Darkness Trilogy) (13 page)

I raked my
fingers through my hair. She had a good point. Why
was
I enjoying this? I thought about it for another moment. “In the last few days, my family was murdered, I had one of my fingers cut off, I was thrown into a cell, I was shot, and I had my ribs broken. But you know what? That’s all the more reason for me to live in the moment and take what fun I can get. I mean, when else will I ever get to see a place like this? The last few days have been like my personal vision of hell. All I want to do is forget everything and enjoy myself for five minutes. Is that so bad?” The guilt I felt said maybe it was, but right now, I wanted to enjoy this paradise.

Her eyes softened. “It’s funny,” she mused aloud, “but Nathaniel said almost the same thing about taking enjo
yment when he could.”

She seemed teary-eyed, but maybe she was just worn out. “I’m going to try to get some sleep,” she said. She rose from the couch and headed towards one of the bedroom areas. “You go ahead and have a nice swim,” she called before shutting the bedroom door behind her.

“Thanks, I will,” I muttered under my breath. I slid open the glass door and stepped out onto the patio.
Walking down the steps toward the pool, I stripped off my shirt and dropped it on the ground. Next, I removed my shoes and socks and wriggled out of my jeans.

I took a running leap and did a cannonball in the center of the pool. It was only about five feet deep, and I rose quickly to the surface. I stood in the middle and waited for the water to stop sloshing against the sides. The pool felt almost like a bath. I dove under and let the water suffocate the sounds of the Vegas night. I floated in my water cocoon until my lungs were bursting for air. I
broke through the surface again and lay floating on my back, staring at the starry sky.

It all seemed so surreal.
I floated in the still water and thoughts of my family crept in. Every time I started to think about them, I forced those thoughts back down. If dwelled on it, then it would become more real.

And I’m a vampire, said a small voice at the back of my mind.
An honest to God, real life, freaking vampire. I felt overwhelmed and abruptly cut off that train of thought too.

I climbed out of the water and snagged one of the plush, oversized towels waiting in a neat stack on a
poolside table. The cool night air swirled around me and it was invigorating. I gathered my shirt, jeans, and shoes and went back inside the hotel suite. Dropping my clothes on the floor next to one of the couches, I sat down on its pristine whiteness, wet boxers and all.

A bedroom door opened down the hall, and I turned to see Sarah walking towards me.

“That was a quick nap,” I said.

“I still can’t sleep,” she groaned. “I’m crazy tired, but I can’t fall asleep. It’s driving me nuts.” She sat down next to me on the couch,
even though I was wet from the pool and only wearing my boxers. A self-conscious blush crept into my cheeks.

“Uh, what time is it?” I asked.

She glanced at her watch. “Almost one in the morning.”

“I feel like I’ve lost all sense of time. I don’t even know what day it is.”

“I guess it’s officially October the twenty-eighth because it’s past midnight,” she replied.

Her words struck me like a punch in the stomach. S
arah searched my eyes, maybe trying read my mind and figure out what was wrong. Then she opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped herself.

My gaze dropped to
the floor. “It’s my mom’s birthday.”

I glanced up and
Sarah was watching me, waiting. “It’s just a date,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter.”

The most I’d ever done for my m
om on her birthday was to buy something lame she probably wouldn’t even want. I’d never known what else to do to celebrate her birthday, and now I’d never have to worry about it again. I should’ve done more when I had the chance. I exhaled a shaky breath.

Sarah scooted closer to me on the couch, and then leaned in and wrapped her arms around me in a solid hug. She rested her head on my shoulder and whispered, “I’m sorry, Reed. I know it’s hard.”

I closed my eyes and focused on having her pressed against my bare chest with her arms across my back. She was so nice and warm, her hug made me feel better.

The door to our hotel suite opened, and we both turned to see Nathaniel walk
in. Sarah didn’t remove her arms from around me, so our faces were pretty close together. His expression didn’t show a hint of curiosity or surprise to find us this way.

“Did you receive the phones I sent up to the room?” he asked.

“Yeah, I have mine right here,” Sarah replied, pulling away from me. She removed a phone from the pocket of her sweater and held it up. Then she grabbed a second phone from a table beside the couch. “Here’s the phone Nathaniel got for you,” she said and passed it to me. I turned it over to check it out, and I thought about my iPhone, which had probably burned to a crisp along with everything else back home.

“I have booked us a flight to New York tomorrow eve
ning,” Nathaniel said.

Sarah and I looked at each other, but didn’t say an
ything. I felt nervous about what would happen to us when we got to New York, so I wasn’t exactly desperate to get there. But I knew we needed to get away from all the vampires that were after us.

Sarah reached up and
patted her hand on my shoulder. “Hang in there,” she said and her arm dropped back down. Her gaze fell on my chest before moving upwards to look me in the eye. I realized this was the second time I’d ended up half-naked in front of her.

I sniffed, noticing
a yummy smell. “What is that?” I said, and continued scenting the air. I leaned toward Sarah. God, she smells good enough to eat. “It’s like . . . cookies or vanilla or . . .”

Sarah shrunk away from me and gave me a wary look. I frowned at her in confusion until it dawned on me. “
Wait,
you
don’t smell like that. I mean, I wouldn’t think of eating . . . biting . . . I’m not hungry, or thirsty–”

Nathaniel pinched my left ear and pulled me to my feet like a naughty child. “
Ow! What are you doing?”

“Come with me,” he barked and dragged me down the hallway. I swatted his hand away and rubbed my ear. He shoved me into the bedroom and closed the door. “Before you further humiliate yourself,” he said.

“What?” I turned on him.

“That aroma you detected,” he began, watching to make sure I was giving him my full attention. “That was the odor produced by pheromones.”

I stared at him, waiting for him to continue. “I don’t get it,” I said.

He sighed.
“Whether consciously or not, Sarah is attracted to you on some level.”

She
was? A silly grin plastered itself on my face. Then I realized Sarah was probably “listening” in on our whole conversation and my cheeks heated up.

Nathaniel left the bedroom and I followed him back to the main room. I took a couple of deep breaths, but my cheeks were still on a slow burn. I had trouble meeting S
arah’s eyes, and I shrugged as if to dismiss the whole thing.

“I’m going to get something to eat,” she said with an amused smile
and stood up.

“No, you should remain here,”
Nathaniel said. “For your own safety,” he added.

“No. I’m going out,” Sarah replied. “But you guys are welcome to come along if you want to keep an eye on me.”

We found a local diner a block away from the hotel and sat at a booth next to the window while Sarah had her very ea
rly breakfast. We were the only customers in the diner at this time of the morning. Besides us, there was a young waitress and the cook in the kitchen at the back. The place was nothing special, but it seemed clean enough and it was open 24 hours. The neon light overhead flashed on and off right outside our window, lighting up the empty sidewalk.

Nathaniel sat frowning in silence. His crossed
his arms over his chest, leaning woodenly against the red vinyl seat. He was like a crabby old man trapped in the body of a twenty-something year-old.

I sat next to Sarah, who was digging into a pile of pa
ncakes. Nathaniel and I had ordered coffee, which cooled, untouched on the table. Everything smelled good, but I didn’t test Nathaniel’s theory about what would happen if I ate or drank anything.

“You’ll be able to sense vampires if they come around here, right?” I asked Nathaniel. “
Are we as safe here as we were at the hotel?”

“I preferred the environs offered by the hotel,” he r
eplied, looking about the diner with a grimace. “And I don’t ‘sense’ vampires, I smell them. As could you, I might add, if you paid closer attention.”

“Well, Mr. High-And-Mighty, I haven’t gotten used to my
suped-up senses yet, that’s all.” Gee, what a grouch.

“If you two will excuse me for a minute, I’m going to visit the ladies’ room,” Sarah said, not quite hiding her amusement at our bickering. She wiped her mouth on her napkin and plopped it on the table beside her empty plate
before walking to the restrooms at the back of the restaurant.

I turned back to Nathaniel and he stared at me.

“You are attracted to her,” he stated.

“I . . . what?”
Was he accusing me of doing something wrong? “Sure. Yeah, I guess so. I mean, what’s not to like? She’s beautiful, and smart, and . . .” And she could probably “hear” this whole damn conversation from the restroom. Why did Nathaniel keep bugging me about this?

“Is there any special someone in
your
life?” I asked to change the subject.

His eyes darkened and I was convinced he wasn’t going to answer, when he finally spoke again. “No, there is not. Not since . . . my wife. It was a long time ago.”

“Oh,” I said, unsure if I should press for more. “I take it she’s, um . . . not alive anymore?” I held my breath, waiting to see if Nathaniel would snap at me.

He let out a slow breath and stared at the
tabletop. “My turning was not dissimilar to your own, Reed. My human wife and son were killed in cold blood and my humanity was lost.”

I swallowed, and the sound echoed loudly in my ears. Nathaniel was sharing something about his past with me! I was curious to learn more, but it was obviously a painful subject. In a way, his story made me feel less alone though, and I realized I needed someone who understood what I was going through.

“Did you ever catch the bastard who killed them?” I asked. A surge of anger hit me at this unknown vampire that had destroyed his life the way mine had been ruined.

H
is shoulders slumped. “The bastard who did it is sitting right in front of you,” he admitted in a soft whisper.

I blinked as hi
s words sunk in. “You mean you . . . ?”

“Yes, Reed.
I killed them. I was newly turned, and I lost control to my raging thirst. You know what that overwhelming desire for blood is like when you are first turned. If your family had not already been killed, you would have destroyed them yourself. Can you imagine the heartache of losing your family, and knowing their death was at your own hands? You were lucky the closest source of blood were your neighbor’s cattle.”

Man, I so did not know what to say to that. I desperat
ely tried to think of something to change the subject again. “Hey, what’s taking Sarah so long?”

Nathaniel sat up in alarm. I tensed at his reaction. “What? What is it? You didn’t smell any vampires, did you?”

“No.” He stood and moved quickly to the restroom area.

I leaped out of my seat and darted ahead of him. I rounded the corner of the narrow hallway at the back of the restaurant, bumping into the waitress who was coming out of the ladies’ room. “Was anyone else in there?” I asked her.

“No, it’s a single washroom,” she said and rubbed her shoulder where I’d run into her. “Did you lose your girlfriend?”

I ignored her
and turned to Nathaniel. “I don’t understand. No one can sneak up on her because she can tell when people are planning to catch her by surprise. Trust me, I’ve tried it.”

“The back door,” Nathaniel snapped
. He continued to make his way further down the hall. He pushed open the door into the alley at the back of the diner and I stepped out behind him. I turned, looking both ways down the alley in a panic.

“Sarah?” I called out. “Sarah!” I shouted, my voice a
bsorbed by the darkness.

Nathaniel punched me in the shoulder. “Use your sen
ses and catch her scent!” he growled.

I was tempted to punch him back and
my own anger rose. Instead, I did as he’d instructed and sniffed the air. There! The scent seemed obvious when I searched for it. I followed the trail to the left down the alley. We rounded a corner and stopped at the street when the trail went cold.

“Now what?”
I yelled.

“We have been outsmarted,” he seethed, nostrils fla
ring. “There is nothing we can do, but wait. They will contact us and tell us where to go,” he said. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it as though willing it to ring. “The Queen wants all three of us. Clearly, she devised a way for her minions to take Sarah and use her as bait.”