Darkness Comes Read online

  A group of young twenty-somethings walked by the entrance to the store, black and metal the apparent dress code. None of them were carrying shopping bags. Had she fallen asleep or something? Glancing around, she knew something was wrong; the regular masses were racing and the vamp-wannabes wore expectant, sullen smiles. It was a very unsettling feeling to realize that she may have happened upon an open feed. The anxious dread twisted in the pit of her stomach, like a cold, heavy stone settling low in her gut.

  The ringing of her cell phone brought her back to reality and she startled, putting her hand to her chest, her racing heart. Fumbling with her purse, she managed to pull her phone out. Flipping it open, she breathed, “Hello?”

  “Get the hell out of there, Mal,” Gustav’s voice ordered. “Get out of there now.”

  “A feed?” she asked, though she already knew the answer; even if there had been no announcement, she should have remained vigilant. Out in the hall, several of the shops were already closing their gates and the sinking sensation deepened. Pressing her hand to her stomach in the hopes of calming her nerves, Mal shook her head in misplaced anger.

  “Get out, Mal,” Gustav repeated, not bothering with explanations.

  “There was no mention of a Christmas Eve feeding.” She didn’t want to believe what was happening. It couldn’t be happening because that would mean she let her guard down; that she took a breath too soon. With only one more person in line in front of her, maybe she still had time. "I'll be home soon.”

  “Mal….” She closed the phone and slipped it back in her purse before her father said anything else. When it started to ring again, she simply pressed ignore, swallowing against the panic that was rising to the surface. It’s not like the vamps could bite everybody; only a few of the wannabes ever got bit; and with the treaty, hardly any of them died. Few, if any, were converted. No, it was going to be okay.

  She was going to be okay; she still had some time….

  “Um, that will be $33.47, miss,” the cashier said in such a manner that led Mal to believe he had said it once before. Or a couple of times, judging by his expression.

  “Of course,” she smiled, though it felt a little wobbly. Pulling out a debit card, she swiped it in the machine. She only screwed up the pin number twice before she got it right. It was disheartening to see how badly her hand was shaking. It was hard to believe that she was a seasoned warrior with how she trembled; morbid anticipation filled her and she trembled more. Taking the bag from the clerk, she left the toy store, moving as quickly as possible.

  Her heart was pounding furiously in her chest and she knew that her breaths were coming too fast. Nervously, she looked around the mall, wondering how much time she had before the cold-blooded vamps descended. The black-clad youths were animated, but they were all human; there was still time. If she hurried, she could get away before they arrived.

  Tightening her grip on her bags, feeling the blood being squeezed from her fingers, she picked up her pace; desperate to get out of there. A tear trickled down her cheek as she reached the last leg of her race through the mall; just a few more yards and she would be free. The cinnamon rolls were going to have to be forsaken in her need to be out of the mall before…. Before….

  Everything stilled; the air, the Christmas music pumping through the sound system, the smell of cinnamon and cream cheese frosting. Malorie lifted her head and watched a group of vamps swoop in, swarming from all sides. Ice filled her veins. There weren’t a lot, maybe seventy-five, but their presence was… overwhelming and the air oozed with their malice. The useless idiots eagerly embraced their own deaths, willfully ignoring the inherent danger. Time slowed from moment to moment, breath to breath, heartbeat to heartbeat. She always felt this leaden energy right before a fight….

  Excitement rolled off the fools in black; she could taste it – self-indulgent and earthy. Slowly, she turned around, seeing kids being taken, being bit. Rotting and decaying creatures embraced the humans and she could see gray seeping into the kids’ living glow. She wanted to cry out, to warn them, but their smiles…. Her chest rose and fell with each ragged and painful breath; the air was too thick to breathe. Her limbs were heavy; gravity was pulling her into the depths of the earth, holding her still. Malorie’s heart thudded once against her chest, painful in its intensity and her breath rasped. She was too late.

  As she stood there, a preternaturally beautiful man with spiky blond hair and a darker goatee caught her eye. Diamond earrings adorned his eye brow, his ears, running along the shell, sparkling in the fluorescent lights. Several carats of diamonds winked at her as he prowled, his movement fluid and graceful. Predatory. He turned his head and her breath caught in her throat as his silver green eyes met hers; eyes that mesmerized, that were lit from within, that burned with life. Eyes that no vampire had. It wasn’t just his eyes that burned, his entire being burned with life. What the hell was he?

  Was he the one responsible for changing the tides of war?

  She hadn’t known how the war had come to such an abrupt end. The vampires had been winning and she knew that it was only a matter of time before all of humanity was enslaved and she feared the world her unborn son was going to be inheriting. And then in one moment, thousands of vampires imploded and she knew, she simply knew, that there was something out there even more powerful than vampires. It was terrifying not knowing whether the new player was a friend or an enemy.

  Her father had become even grimmer but when there were no attacks on humans and the remaining vampires seemed to behave, even he had to admit there was no immediate threat.

  Looking around the mall, she saw that there was one other creature burning with life, his auburn hair gleaming under the florescent lights, his face just as exquisite. Were these the new enemy? Or perhaps a possible ally? And could they truly keep the hordes of vampires in line? As soon as she got home, she would talk to her father about it, after she endured his lecture for getting caught at an open feed.

  The man with the silver green eyes looked past her, an odd expression on his beautiful face as he continued on. Relaxing a fraction of a moment, Malorie almost convinced herself that she was to be spared. When she got home, she was going to drink a large glass of wine to calm her nerves; maybe take a hot bath.

  A hand slid around her waist, pulling her back against a solid wall of flesh and steel, bone and sinew; but he was not cold, was not dead. Masculine heat enveloped her as her body was lifted off the floor, her feet dangling in the air. A dark and seductive aroma invaded her mind, making the world disappear, leaving her alone with the enemy and no desire to fight. All of her training, everything she knew, vanished. She simply froze. Or melted.

  Strong fingers grabbed her jaw, tilting her head to the side; warm, moist breath fanned across her neck, fangs grazed her skin. The dark, spicy scent of him swirled in her head and the tight grip she had on her bags loosened and the packages slipped away. If they made any sound, Mal didn’t hear it. Her mind and body were no longer connected and she was lost. With his heat, was he simply a living vampire? Is that what the others were?

  But, no, that wasn’t possible. Vampires were cold and dead and she hated vamps; her father trained her to be a slayer; she fought against them for all of those years. Her husband was killed fighting them. She hated them. Why wasn’t she fighting?

  Maybe she was still dreaming, still standing in the toy store picturing the man with green eyes. Her fears, her desires, were simply taking a new form because she knew that it was wrong to dream about cold, dead vamps, about having sex with cold, dead vamps, no matter how hot his body, his breath, how strong his heartbeat. It was a dream and in her dreams she always surrendered....

  No, it wasn’t a dream. There were too many other people there, too many vamps. The fools were laughing and moaning in pleasure as vampires grabbed them and surrounded them with their cold, pale bodies. The two men she had noticed just stood there, watching the proceedings, stoic expressions on their too handsome faces, in their too
brilliant eyes; eyes that were alive. The man with diamonds was watching her, the odd expression morphing into one of bafflement as he watched the creature that held her. It was almost comical how Diamonds frowned but it wasn’t a dream; it wasn’t funny.

  The hot breath teased her skin and her eyes slid close. His tongue moved along her vein just before she felt the points of the creature’s teeth. Swallowing hard, her body tightened in anticipation of the pain. His teeth pierced her skin and any pain was quickly replaced with intense pleasure, the likes of which she had never experienced before. As bliss ripped through her body, she arched her back, unable to bare it. Her mind fell and she wondered briefly why she had ever fought this. Then she wondered nothing at all as ecstasy consumed her, body and soul.

  It didn’t matter that this creature, this hot-blooded vampire, was going to drink her dry; it didn’t matter that she promised to always fight; it didn’t matter that she was going to leave behind an almost six-year-old son. The only thing that did matter was this… sensation; being devoured by darkness and passion.

  Her body was weakening; too much pleasure, not enough blood. Her toes tingled, her fingers tingled; everything tingled, as her life was being drained. A low, rapturous moan came from deep inside of her. Somewhere within the dark recesses of her mind, she registered the long, hard arousal of the god holding her, drinking her. Sex was nothing like this; mere shadow play compared to the richness of Death.

  The hand on her stomach tightened, pulling her closer; taking her into his body. Heat burned her from within, from without. She was going to melt into him and cease to exist on her own. From far away there were voices yelling, muffled by the pounding in her head. She didn’t understand the words, but it didn’t matter; she was where she was meant to be.

  But then the heat was gone; the arm, the body, all gone, and she was falling. Falling out of him. Her feet touched the ground but her legs no longer had any bones and she continued to fall forward. Painfully, her knees hit the floor and she kept falling. Instinctively, she put her hands out to break her fall and her palms slammed against the hard floor. Bolts of pain shot up her arms, jolting her brain from its dream-like state. With the last of her strength, she pushed herself onto her back, needing to see the creature that nearly destroyed her.

  Brilliant green eyes met hers; familiar green eyes set in a devastating face of angles and planes, of sheer male beauty. Long, black hair fell to his shoulders, emphasizing the harsh splendor of his chiseled face. And his lips – good God his lips! Lush, wicked, even with her blood staining them. She watched helplessly as he touched the glistening crimson with the tip of his long, elegant finger; as he slid the finger into his mouth and closed his eyes in ecstasy. In that moment, she knew that it was the man who had been haunting her dreams since she was a teenager and he was real. She had been dreaming about a fucking vampire!

  No, vampires were cold. Dead. This man was vividly alive; what was he?

  Her neck became unable to support the weight of her head, and she started to fall the rest of the way to the ground. Two men – two vamps – were standing on either side of the green-eyed man of her dreams, one was Diamonds and the other was one with auburn hair. They were talking to him, their movements agitated as they yelled words that made no sense. But he didn’t move; he just continued to stand there, staring down at Mal. Each man – each vamp – grabbed an arm, pulling him away from her, still talking to him.

  Mal and the man continued to stare at one another as he was dragged away and she was losing consciousness. As the last remnant of awareness slipped away, a tear slid down her cheek. She was betrayed by her own body and she was willing to let everything go for just one more moment of deadly bliss.

  And with that disgustingly depressing thought, everything faded away and Malorie sank into nothingness.

  Chapter 2

  “I can’t do this.”

  “Yes, you can, Jack,” she stood before him as they prepared to enter the supposedly abandoned warehouse, a known haven for vampires. It was Jack’s first mission since joining her father and he was understandably nervous. “You’ve been trained and you have natural ability; you took out four vampires on your own.”

  He smiled up at her, his brown eyes warm, “You’ll stay by my side?”

  “Of course.” Holding out her hand, she helped him to his feet. “We’re partners.”

  “Until the end?”

  “Until the end.”

  A hollow voice spoke over the intercom, “Code red in progress, all necessary personnel to the vamp ward, stat.”

  Malorie could hear the world around her but she was having a difficult time getting her eyes to open. Her head ached in rhythm to the beat of her heart and her limbs felt as if they were lined with lead. Somewhere in the very back of her mind she knew that it was necessary to move, to… escape, though she couldn’t remember from what she was supposed to be running. And when she tried to move, her stomach lurched and everything ached. If she just lay still, it was almost tolerable. It was probably a better idea to leave her eyes shut for a while longer, just until the queasy sensation passed.

  Her mind drifted back to the days they were living in an old hotel in the middle of some forgotten town that had three bars and not much else….

  The men were out blowing off some steam from a major victory and she was heading to the kitchens for a glass of orange juice, happy to have some peace for a change. She froze outside of the door when she heard the schick-schick of her father sharpening his sword.

  Dread filled her stomach at the thought of having to face her father after he had caught her spying on Jack bathing the previous morning. She had been so fascinated when she realized the door to the bathroom was opened a crack and she could see Jack taking off his cloths. She knew she should have looked away but Jack’s body had riveted her with its maleness; his long, lean muscles and the dangly bits in front.

  His penis. She was sixteen, almost seventeen; she could at least call it what it was.

  But then her father had appeared, a single eyebrow arched amusingly as he looked at her. “Enjoying the display?”

  Her face had gone up in flames and she had run, avoiding both of them for the day.

  Taking a breath, mentally preparing herself to encounter her father, she was stopped by the familiar sound of Jack’s voice. “Why don’t you go into town with the others?”

  “It’s too risky,” Gus answered simply, not breaking the rhythm of his sharpening.

  “You mean, like diseases?”

  There was a slight pause before Gus replied, “I’m more concerned about accidental pregnancies.”

  “You could use a condom.”

  “Have you ever had sex with a condom?” Gus huffed a breath.

  “Um,” Jack cleared his throat with embarrassment, “I’ve never had sex.”

  “I see.” Gus contemplated his next words before he spoke, “A condom is okay for casual sex but it’s like fucking a rubber doll. Besides, I have a hand; it’s not as good as being with a woman but there aren’t any complications.”

  The two males chuckled over that while Mal’s cheeks burned; she didn’t want to know that much about her father. She was about to turn away, not wanting to hear anymore, when Gus asked, “Why don’t you go?”

  “I think it’s obvious.”

  “Enlighten me.”

  “I’m in love with your daughter.”

  The blood rushed from her head and Mal had to grab onto the wall to keep herself upright. She held her breath waiting for her father’s response but there was a long, long silence before he spoke. “At least wait until she’s eighteen.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jack answered respectfully, a trace of excitement in his voice.

  Malorie’s heart pounded erratically in her chest, in joy and in fear. If she had Jack, maybe she wouldn’t keep dreaming about a vampire and the things he did to her, the things he made her feel. If she had Jack, she would be safe.

  Thinking about Jack broke her heart because sh
e loved him for the wrong reasons and he had been taken from her. He always told her he would never desire a vampire like he desired her; there was no comparison.

  She had scoffed at that, “Vampires are almost plastic in their appearance, Jack; they are not all that attractive. In fact, they look like deadly mannequin.”

  “They are exquisite, Mal,” he whispered in her ear, playing with the button on her shirt as they enjoyed a rare moment to themselves beneath the golden sun. “With their porcelain skin…”

  “Waxy, embalmed flesh.” A slight smile playing at her lips as she kept her eyes closed. The tension was melting from her muscles and she felt so tranquil.

  “And their seductive charm,” he continued, ignoring her comment, his fingers finding the warm skin of her ribs. “If they weren’t monsters, they’d be irresistible. And the closer one gets, the more… magnificent they become.”

  “The closer I get a vampire, the worse it looks.” She was enjoying the feel of his hands on her skin. He was real, not a fantasy. Arching her back, she silently encouraged his exploration and he didn’t disappoint. His hand slid over her breast and her nipple hardened in expectation. “It’s as if its soul is rotting even as its body lives on after death. At least, that is how father and I see them.”

  “I would love to see them the way you do,” he breathed, his lips pressing gentle kisses along her neck as his fingers squeezed her breast before returning to her buttons.

  “And I wish I could see them like you.” A sigh escaped as he finished opening her blouse. She felt him shift, twisting so he could look down at her. Tentatively, his fingers moved over the jagged scars and horror filled his voice, “My God, Mal; what the fuck happened to you?”

  Flinching, she jumped up and ran, not wanting to see the revulsion in his eyes.

  Malorie sluggishly moved her hand to her stomach, ignoring the sorrow that filled her when she thought about Jack. Her body was weak and she was in danger and she needed to figure out what the situation was and come up with a plan. Clearing her head, she listened to her surroundings, the sounds familiar but wrong.