The Dawn of Darkness: A Paranormal Romance

by K. E. Radke

  My last thoughts are of her.

  Did she escape?

  My mind spins, surrounded by darkness. Are these my last moments in this world? Or did he send me to hell? I can’t lift myself up to find out.

  If he’s left me to die, maybe I’ll see the sunrise one last time before I burn to death.

  Chapter 18

  Amelia

  A ll of my bones ache. Numb limbs tingle when I lean forward to stare across the street at the motionless body. My eyes can’t comprehend what happened, and I’m desperately searching for someone else who witnessed all the destruction—the noise—the brutality—and the blood—so they can explain it to me.

  Because if I can’t find someone…if I’m the only one who saw it…that means I’m all alone.

  Someone needs to convince me I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole.

  If I close my eyes, will I wake up in my room and it’ll all be a dream?

  Do not close your eyes. You might miss something important.

  Gabriel does not get up. He shouldn’t be able to get up after his body broke the door. The collision shook the entire building. But he laughed after it happened.

  He’s not laughing now.

  And I can’t blame the dark for playing tricks on my eyes this time.

  Not that the street light helped. It made everything worse. It made everything real.

  All the undetectable movements my eyes tried to understand without using the word superhero. I can almost argue it’s an elaborate scheme Gabriel concocted, but the sound of every hit…

  I shudder involuntarily.

  Gabriel’s not moving.

  The blond man—not man—vampire. His movements were so precise, so quick, Gabriel never left the ring of light. Almost like a hypnotic dance.

  The clock on my dash says I should be home. It’s almost midnight and even if I claim I picked up an extra shift, I’m never home after 12:30.

  My hand reaches for the door handle instead of the keys in the ignition.

  Is he alive?

  What would have happened if I stayed? If Gabriel didn’t show up? What will happen to all those people inside? Is it too late to help them?

  Something ripples in the darkness next to Gabriel where the lights can’t reach it. A shadow emerges into a solid outline of a body. Two glowing red eyes appear to be inspecting the unconscious vampire.

  Leaping out of the car, I jump up and down and wave my arms to get the General’s attention. Those glowing red eyes pierce me from across the street and I shiver. What if that’s not the General? Just because his eyes have a red glow doesn’t mean it’s the thing Rowan introduced me to. I might have flagged down a stranger. A creature that can appear out of nowhere in a blink of an eye.

  “Are you going to help him?” The voice comes from behind me and I yelp loud enough to give away my location to anything sinister skulking in the area.

  The General cocks his head, gazing across the street at the fallen vampire. Technically, he could be looking at anything because his face is one giant black hole. Whatever makes his eyes glow must have run out of battery.

  “I can ask you the same question,” I reply and sound better than I feel, considering I can’t stop shaking.

  “No.” It’s absolute and emotionless. He does not have a problem watching Gabriel die right before his beady red eyes.

  “Not even going to think about it?” I ask. I’m not surprised. But why am I not surprised?

  “His job was to save you.”

  My brow furrows in confusion. “You sent him here? To save me? Why?” I can’t help asking. How did he know I was here, would be a better question.

  “Because I knew you would die.”

  “And he agreed?” After he threatened to kill me himself?

  “No, he didn’t.”

  “Then why is he here?”

  “I would ask him, but he won’t tell me. Maybe you should ask him,” he replies in the same detached voice he uses every time he speaks to me. But he wants the answer as bad as I do.

  “Why do I get the feeling you two are not friends?”

  “Because we’re not.”

  “Are we friends?”

  “Friends.” He doesn’t answer the question. The word sounds foreign in his mouth, and I don’t push the subject.

  “Do you think it’s safe to drive over there? I’m not sure I can carry him across the street,” I say after a few seconds of awkward silence.

  The door to the building is laying in the middle of the sidewalk and there’s a big gaping hole where it used to be. No one has ventured outside. I’m not sure how they’re keeping everyone inside the building, but I don’t want to get close enough to find out.

  Anyone driving around on this side of town is likely to mind their own business than call the cops.

  “Leonard won’t risk coming outside again. But you’d be good bait,” he answers thoughtfully.

  He’s gone by the time I spin around to ask, “What does that mean?”

  I’m convinced he disappeared until I see a black figure squatting outside the light near Gabriel’s body across the road. What’s the worst that can happen with the General watching my back?

  Behind the steering wheel, I’m tempted to keep driving down the road to start a new life instead of parking next to Gabriel. There was a time in my life I considered myself smart. Today I’ve proved myself wrong.

  The car idles quietly and I curse the squeaky door when I get out, checking the front of the building for spies. I drop to my knees beside Gabriel so I can attempt to lift him when the General stops me.

  “Be careful girl. He is badly hurt. And his first instinct will be to feed,” the General warns in a tone that says he does not approve of me helping.

  “Seriously?” I lean back. “You couldn’t have told me that when I was on the other side of the road?”

  “You didn’t ask.”

  “Did I have a chance to ask? You disappeared!” I say frustrated.

  “I thought you would leave,” he answers smugly.

  “I am not going to drink her. But I will admit, I’m very tempted. Did you kill Leonard?” Gabriel’s voice is a painful rasp. It hurts me just listening to him. There’s a slight moment when I want to willingly give him the blood he needs. Because he needs it more than I do.

  Shaking my head, I fall backward, wondering why I need all my blood.

  Gabriel turns on his side to face the General and winces. “Since you’re quiet, that means you did not kill Leonard. Are you trying to kill me then?”

  “I would have intervened, eventually,” the General replies, but doesn’t sound convincing.

  Gabriel laughs too loudly and I want to shush him before he gets us all killed. “Next time I’ll stay home.”

  “Hello, I’m right here. If you stayed home, I’d be dead. Can someone please tell me why I want to sacrifice all my blood to you?”

  Both of them stare at me, and then Gabriel sighs. “Sorry, that would be my doing. It’s what I need, so the allure is telling you to do it.”

  “Him too?” I nod toward the General. I catch myself extending my arm to Gabriel and pull it back with my other hand.

  “The Boogeyman plays by his own rules,” Gabriel reveals. He tries to sit up and fails. “I might need a helping hand.”

  The General steps protectively in front of me. “Leave girl, and do not come back.”

  In my peripheral vision, there’s a flash of blue at the broken entrance. An overweight teenager with blue hair slips back inside the building.

  “It’s time to go,” I whisper frantically. My gaze flees to Gabriel. I have to get a vampire inside my car in order to save him. But if he decides to attack…who will save me? “Help me get him into the car.” Stupidity wins again.

  The General doesn’t move.

  “His powers are limited. He cannot touch what he does not intend to kill.” Gabriel’s voice is lyrically taunting.

  “I will show you how limited I am,” the General
says with a calm voice that guarantees Gabriel will regret his remark. A tone that promises he can prove how powerful he is. And while his eyes are only two glowing red dots, I know he’s glaring at Gabriel.

  Of course, he can’t help. I reach for Gabriel’s hand, but before his fingers graze mine, the General warns, “Girl, your eyes deceive you. All the markings of a man, but do not forget what lies beneath the surface. He is made of death and destruction. Same as me.”

  “Coming from you, that’s a compliment,” Gabriel wheezes out.

  My fingers curl inward and Gabriel senses the hesitation. Imploring promises don’t rush out of him in a desperate attempt to trick me. Nor does he get angry at the General’s confession. His hand drops to his side, and he rests his forehead against the pavement. Lying on his stomach, he sighs with resignation.

  The General hovers over us, observing the entire interaction like we’re caged animals.

  Courage comes out of nowhere. This vampire saved you. The least you can do is return the favor. My fingers wrap around his shoulder and he jolts, almost cringing away from me. Because he knows everything the General says is true? Or does he think I plan to kill him before he can hurt someone else?

  It doesn’t matter because I can’t hold him upright long enough to get him to stand. Breathing heavily beside him, I remove his arm from around my shoulders and get behind him. The second I squeeze around his torso, he flinches and a low growl rumbles through him.

  The sound crawls along my arms, and all the hair stands up. Something ancient and inhuman is wrapped in the snarl. I shudder at the prickling sensation over my skin and scramble away from him.

  Something deep down inside of me screams to run. An old warning you learn to listen to when you’re in danger. The intuition everyone claims is the sixth sense.

  The General is at my side in an instant.

  “Old wounds,” Gabriel explains in a softer voice, so you can’t tell if he’s in pain or not. “Try again. I promise I won’t bite.” He’s still upright, leaning back on his shaking arms.

  His arms give out at the same time I hook mine under his armpits and pull him toward the car.

  “Since you’re made of the same stuff, does that mean I shouldn’t talk to you either?” I grunt at the General once I get Gabriel situated against the car and open the back door.

  “I am not controlled by the life source that keeps you alive,” he answers.

  “That’s not exactly a no.”

  “Because I do not want you to run when you see me.”

  “That’s not a yes either.”

  Gabriel interrupts us. “While this is all enlightening and new territory for both of you. Can you work this out when I’m not so thirsty? I’d like to get home and order fast food.”

  “There’s a delivery app for vampires?” I ask, astonished.

  “Let’s hope so.” Gabriel uses the car to stand up, his fingers curl around the metal and he bends it out of shape. I stare open-mouthed.

  “Sorry,” he says sheepishly.

  “You can’t do that to my head, can you?” I inquire not sure if I should help shoulder his weight to get him inside the car.

  He doesn’t answer me and flops into the backseat without my help.

  I’ll take that as a yes.

  The General disappears without saying a word. Not even a goodbye.

  I shut the back door, jump in the driver’s seat, and get on the road. At the first red light, I glance at Gabriel in the rear-view mirror. “Where do you want me to take you?”

  “Preferably somewhere dark and atrocious to humans. I think the only thing I can hunt right now is the dregs of society. Someone so high they can’t run away even if they tried,” he answers with a sigh.

  Someone honks behind me because the light turns green. My foot hits the accelerator, but I can’t help staring back at him in the rear-view mirror. In a shriek, I ask, “You want me to take you somewhere to kill people? Live people? People with families?”

  “Unless you’re offering to feed me, I don’t have much of a choice.” Not a hint of remorse in his voice.

  “Would it mean saving other people?” I query.

  A wolfish grin appears over his dreary face. Even beat up, he can be terrifyingly beautiful. “You cannot quench my thirst without dying. If you value your life, the answer you should give me is no.”

  “What about animals? Like a few stray cats?”

  He curls his upper lip in repulsion and scoffs. “I’ll drink stray cats when you eat out of the dumpster.”

  “I could die from eating out of the dumpster.”

  He lifts his head and grins lazily. “We can’t have that. It would be a waste of an excellent source of blood.”

  “Do you want to go back to your place? I don’t remember exactly how to get there. I can drop you off and go to a Mexican meat market and try to buy you some blood.”

  He hisses through his teeth while trying to sit up. I’m not sure he heard me until he starts to give me directions. Something magnetic draws my gaze toward him. Bruises and swelling don’t line his face, but blood is smeared over his brow and dried down his cheek.

  In the mirror, he seems harmless. Not the predator the General warned me about. He moves closer to the door and leans against it. The beating he took should have been mine.

  A warm, fuzzy feeling sits in my stomach because he saved me. Again.

  And the moment I find the courage to thank him, the car door flies open and he tumbles out.

  Automatically pressing on the brakes, the car jerks to a stop. Stumbling out of it, I run toward the dark lump in the middle of the road behind me. He lifts his head at the sound of my footsteps.

  “I guess it was too much to think you wouldn’t notice I was missing,” he croaks out.

  My arms are out in disbelief, and my mouth is wide open from shock. I can’t think of anything to say.

  “Get back in your car, you’re ruining my rescue.” After fighting for his life, he still sounds like he has everything under control.

  “I can’t leave you here!” My feet move forward to help him.

  “If you don’t, I will drain you myself. And if you haven’t noticed, we’re not in the safest area. I’d rather you not see what’s about to happen next.” His eyes dart away from me like he’s ashamed.

  The confession should scare me. I halt a few feet away from him. “I can’t leave you here defenseless. What if something bad happens to you?” The worried tone gets me a sideways glance.

  “Worried about a vampire?” He sounds bewildered and crotchety. Completely offended that I would suggest such a thing, but there’s a hint of something else in his tone. “I’m the worst thing out here. A deadly predator. Surely you listened to all the warnings from the Boogeyman. My biggest fan.” The last part has a sarcastic ring to it.

  The argument I have ready dies on my lips because I’m not sure if he’s hurt from the General’s accusations or my concern.

  He lifts himself on his elbows, frowning, and my gaze drops to the ground because I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. Sitting up with speed he didn’t have before he fell out of my car, I feel the need to step away from him.

  Something triggers my instincts to run. The sudden urge is so strong I don’t remember why I’m standing in the middle of the street.

  Dread trickles over me when Gabriel is almost on his feet. My foot slides backward. We’re completely alone. If something happens to me, no one would know. I’d disappear without a trace. No one would know where to begin looking. I swallow hard.

  I’m terrified he can’t control his thirst.

  And the only living person out here is me.

  Chapter 19

  Rowan

  F rustration and fury combine with the violent edge for revenge to seek justice for the person you lose to the supernatural world. But no one ever loses one person if you decide to wage war with the underworld. Death is an old acquaintance hunters can’t avoid.

  My gaze flinches away fro
m Miguel’s lifeless body to Valentina’s trembling hand as it jerks back for the third time in a row. Everything in my chest constricts with sorrow like a rope slowly cutting off the oxygen to my lungs.

  Tears don’t spill down Valentina’s cheeks. She rocks back and forth on her knees, muttering incoherently until a noise between a shaky inhale and agonizing cry shudders out of her. Her hand finally grasps the wet material of his bloodstained shirt and she falls over him protectively.

  Luis watches from a dark corner of the room like he’s waiting to wake up from a dream. I’ve seen the haunted expression countless times when a creature out of nightmares takes a loved one from a person unaware of its existence.

  Amelia’s expression was identical to Luis’s the other night. Her glassy dead eyes stare at nothing when I finally glance at Miguel, taking his place. I rub my face and give my head a good shake, avoiding the carnage in front of me.

  But it doesn’t matter. Terror pushes its way into my mind, filling it with the horrors of Amelia’s future if I don’t stay away from her.

  “This was my fate,” Valentina’s muffled words break through her shuddering cries. “It followed me home—.” She chokes on a whimper.

  Broken glass reflects in the moonlight, highlighting wood fragments and the blood spatter spread across the bedroom like a trail of bed crumbs. The French doors leading into the bedroom from the patio were pulverized.

  A harpoon sticks out of Miguel’s abdomen. He never had a chance.

  The Baykok shot the harpoon right through the French doors and yanked Miguel out of the house. It couldn’t cross the wards and protection symbols etched into the glass. Stalking the house from a distance made the creature less threatening.

  It never crossed Valentina’s mind it was planning an attack. She thought of it as a sinister pest they needed to exterminate.

  Gage returned from the barn. He dragged the Baykok’s carcass out there and watched it burn to ashes. We don’t know if the fire or its own poisoned arrow killed it. He nods at me, a signal that it’s my turn.