When Adele turned back to hold Nicholas one more time, he was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Michael wasn’t going to stop the next morning as he passed her apartment. He hadn’t even wanted to come but his heart had pulled him there. He was just going to walk by, he told himself. He didn’t think he could take it if she didn’t answer the door. He knew she’d gone to him. In his heart he knew.
He wasn’t going to go up onto her doorstep and play the will-I, won’t-I knocking game yet again. He knew his knock would go unanswered. She was with him and was lost to Michael now. Deep in his heart, he’d felt her go.
That deep part of her that had always belonged to him in some unspoken way had been wrenched out of his soul and he didn’t have a say about it. All he could do was stand outside her door like some lovelorn idiot and face the reality he’d always feared deep down. His love for her would always be unrequited. Despite each beat of his heart that called her name. Despite the fact he didn’t know how to take one breath without her. Despite the love, the real, uncompromising love, he could promise her that no one else could… she was gone.
In his heart he knew.
As he turned to leave her stoop he noticed the window to her bedroom. Curtains flowed through the broken shards that clung to the frame. Michael spun back to the door and knocked so loud the door was pushed open by the force.
He rushed into the living room where he found Adele curled up in a ball on her sofa, clutching the tiara in her hand. She lay there, sobs spent, tears dried on her face. Michael rushed to kneel beside her. Her deadened eyes met his.
“Oh my God. What happened?”
This brought a new onslaught of tears as her face crumpled with the memories of the night before. “Go away,” she muttered, curling herself tighter into a ball.
He touched her leg and asked as tenderly as possible, “Did you do it?”
She yanked away from him. “Do what, Michael? What the hell am I’m supposed to do?” She jumped off the sofa and started to pace. “Why am I the one who has to do anything?” she demanded. “I’ve got news for you, Michael Pierce. I’ve done enough!” She flung the tiara across the room.
Michael’s head slumped. To know she was in love with another man was bad enough. To see it – that hurt worst of all. “You didn’t do it,” he concluded. “He’s still out there, isn’t he?”
She spun around to him angrily. “If you mean Nicholas, no. He’s not still out there. He’s dead. He was murdered by the real vampire. My dear ol' dad. Thaddeus Dragomir.”
She collapsed to the floor in anguish. Michael rushed to her immediately, longing to hold her in his arms. He held back, unsure of how much comfort that would actually bring her. “I’m sorry,” he told her.
She cast an angry glance his way. “No, you’re not.”
He sighed. He couldn’t tell her she was wrong. She wasn’t. “Tell me how I can help,” he offered.
She stumbled to her feet. “You can go away, Michael. You can get the hell out of here and never come back. You can forget what happened and leave me alone. That’s what you can do.”
He stood too. “That’s impossible.”
“That’s the only choice you have,” she told him, turning away.
He grasped her arm and turned her back. This time he was angry, and he wasn’t going to spare her from it. “What choice does Dani have? What if he goes back to finish the job?”
“He won’t.”
“And how do you know?”
“Because it’s not Dani he wants.”
Michael let her go. “As far as I’m concerned he can’t have either one of you.”
He stalked from the room. “Michael!” she screamed. “Michael, where are you going?”
Her question was punctuated by the slamming of the door.
That night Adele watched from her perch at her window as night crawled over the city. Her heart was destroyed. Not once but twice she’d been denied her greatest love. What good was remembering when all it did was bring her pain?
She turned from the still night air and went to find comfort in unconsciousness.
Only sleep eluded her as she lay on the bed where Nicholas had touched her, had kissed her… had loved her. After a long night of tossing and turning, Adele went to the hospital to visit Dani. Michael’s warning about the little girl they both loved had scared her. Thaddeus truly was a monster, and he wouldn’t be above using her to force Adele into doing what he wanted her to do. Just because Nicholas was gone didn’t mean he still didn’t have leverage. She had an entire human family he could still threaten.
Dani slept so peacefully that Adele didn’t have the heart to wake her, so she kissed her gently and then left. But before she could leave the hospital she decided to peek in on Roman. He too, was asleep when she entered the room. She lingered at the door and he stirred, as if feeling her presence.
Adele walked silently to his bedside. He was so ashen his eyes seemed to sink into his body. With one look she could tell he was far worse off than Dani. His neck was bandaged and bloody there were no holy water cures for him.
She reached for his hand, which he clutched. Their eyes met and in his she could see his apology. She just nodded.
He opened his mouth to speak but it was garbled. “Shh,” she told him. “Save your strength.”
He shook his head. He had to tell her. He owed it to her. He knew now the strength it took for her tell him the truth, and he wanted to let her know how much he admired her. How much he’d always admired her. “I just never thought…” he managed before he had to gasp for air.
She nodded, holding his hand tight. “I know.” She stood there for a long moment, willing her strength to him.
That night Adele resumed her perch by the window. A smoky mist floated by her building just as she opened the window. It hovered there for a moment and she glared at it in return. He was no longer an invited guest, so he could not cross the barrier of her home. She crossed her arms on the other side of the window the mist could not breach. Finally the wind followed its master into the darkness of the forest, where the shrill cry of the hunted filled the night air.
This explained all the wolves, she thought. They had an entire legion of the undead to feed, and they were free to hunt the streets and the forest for human an animal game as the ultimate apex preditors.
Adele hopped up, went over to computer and logged into her webcam. She straightened her hair, noting that the white streak much more profound than before. She wore no makeup and looked like death warmed over, but she pressed the button to record anyway.
“My name is Adele Lumas. This is a special report from Action News.” She trained her camera on the window behind her. “What you hear now is a symphony of death that has haunted our beloved woods for months now. Much speculation has circulated on why and what has been hunting our wildlife and our children. But now this reporter can finally tell you the truth behind all the murders that have happened there.”
When she had finished her report, she popped it on the Action News server and sent an email to Sam. Tomorrow she’d go back to the studio to ensure the truth would finally be told. Let someone else save the world for a change. Her job was done. She’d done all she could do.
In a hospital room on the other side of town, Dani finally turned the last page of the old black book. Her brow furrowed when she found Vincent Capriotti's address on the back.
Just as the nurse entered her room, Dani shoved the book under the blankets quickly. The nurse checked her IV bag, tousled her hair and then left. Dani slipped from her bed and went to the cabinet where all her things were. There was the package that Michael had given her.
Without a second thought she withdrew the package and opened it carefully. It was a tea of some sort. She lifted one of the bags for closer examination. When she brought it to her nose her senses were immediately filled and in a very hazy picture she could see Michael.
In a cheap motel not too far from her, Michael took down
a cheesy painting and replaced it with a crucifix. He dumped a backpack on the bed and withdrew a sword and a plank of wood. He sunk into the springy mattress just before he withdrew a pocket knife from the bag and began to whittle a sharpened edge to the wood.
Dani dropped the tea back into the bed. Michael was going to go after the monster. She snatched the tubes from her arm and slipped into her clothes.
She wasn’t about to let Michael face that killer alone, especially now that she knew how to destroy him.
With a little too much expertise for her young age, Dani crept silently from the hospital as the other patients dozed. Easily she slipped by everyone and disappeared into the night.
She was only ten years old. But she was going to go kill the monster.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Adele was dragged from her sleep by the insistent ring of her cell phone. She didn’t recognize the number so she didn’t even bother to answer. Instead she got up, got dressed and went to work, where she marched straight into Sam Duncan’s office.
Duncan, however, was none too pleased with her independent report. “You want to explain this latest report you sent to me?” he said as he fell into step behind her in her office.
“I think I explained it rather well already,” she replied.
“You sure did. Attacks at night, bites on the neck, victims drained of blood. Who the hell is going to take this seriously?”
“Ask Roman Piccoli.”
He huffed. “I’m not running this.”
She jumped up from her desk and followed him to the door. “But you have to! You have a responsibility!”
He spun on her. “I have a responsibility to the truth! Not the rantings of some sick, irrational woman!”
She backed up, as though shot. He fired on.
“I’ve tried to be understanding. I’ve let you have time off. I’ve let you shape your own schedule. I’ve tried to give you every benefit of the doubt because you’re a damned good reporter. But you’ve flipped your lid this time, Lumas. I want you out!”
She was incredulous. “You’re firing me?”
“You’re lucky I’m not committing you!” he roared back. “I want you out of here by noon.” He spun on his heel and left before he said something he regretted, or worse – something that could get him sued.
Brian, who watched the whole sad affair from his corner of her office, simply picked up his equipment bag to follow Duncan from the room.
“You think I’m nuts too, don’t you?” she accused when he wouldn’t meet her gaze.
He stopped, sighed, and turned to her. “I think you’re tired, Addie. Maybe some time away will do you good.”
She had no words as she watched him leave their office. She had lost Nicholas, she had lost Michael and now she had lost the only thing left in her life that made any sense. There were tears in her eyes as she reached for her jacket. Something tumbled from the inside pocket and clattered on the floor. Adele had to wipe her eyes clear of tears to see what it was.
It was an ornate bottle – the same bottle Michael had used to save Dani with the cunning use of holy water.
She snatched the bottle and rushed toward the church. Sam made it clear that she was on her own. If she was forced to be the savior now, maybe it was time to take a few cues from the one she had always forsaken.
The first order of business was to heal the sick.
Not even an hour later she ran up the steps of the hospital. Gripped tight in the palm of her hand was the cold, ornate bottle still damp from its brief dip into the font at the church.
Only her march decidedly slowed once she reached the fifth floor Intensive Care Unit. An overwhelming sadness cloaked her spirit the closer she drew, and she knew what happened before she even reached ICU. Before she could even enter his room, she wasn’t surprised to see two orderlies wheel what was left of Commissioner Roman Piccoli out on a gurney, his body covered head to foot.
She let out a strangled gasp as she slid into a nearby chair along the wall where other people waited for their own miracles.
She pocketed the bottle of holy water. There was only one person she could see now that would ground her once again in reality – one love left that still needed her to stay strong.
But she sensed something was wrong the minute she stepped off the elevator to Dani’s floor, too. Finding her abandoned bed only confirmed it.
“Where is she?” she demanded softly of the frantic nurse who chased her into the room.
“We’ve been trying to call. She disappeared sometime last night.” Adele gulped hard as she listened. “We found this left behind on her bed.”
Adele glanced down and saw one of the vampire books she had gotten from Vincent. A vice closed tight on her heart as she let out a moan, and the nurse had to steady her or else she would have wilted right to the floor.
Ten minutes later Adele burst through the front door of her apartment. She nearly came out of her skin the moment an arm grabbed her from behind and a hand covered her mouth. She struggled momentarily like a wildcat but was quickly spun around to see who held her captive.
Her eyes went immediately to the scar across his face and with a cry of relief she threw her arms around her brother.
“Vincent! Thank God. I just came from the hospital. Dani’s…”
“Gone,” he finished for her. “And the police commissioner is dead.”
She nodded as she fought back tears. “Tell me what to do.”
“You know what to do,” he said. “You have to kill him.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know how.”
He was firm. “You will remember.”
She clutched his arms with her hands. “Come with me. Show me.”
He shook his head. “I have something else I have to do.”
“Denise,” she concluded, and he nodded sadly.
“He isn’t the only one. There is a legion of the undead and they’re growing in number by the day. There is no time to lose, Adele. Soon the commissioner will rise again as one of them. The only way to stop this army from growing is to cut off the head of the snake.”
“How do you kill something that is already dead?” she pondered aloud, but the question was dead serious.
“At dusk,” he said. “Right after he’s awakened but before he’s fed. That is when his life force is the most vulnerable.” He took her hands in his. “Make the next time he opens his eyes the last.”
It was her turn to nod. She pulled him in for another hug, and held him just a few beats longer than necessary. Neither of them acknowledged their dangerous mission ahead, or whether or not they’d see each other again.
There were tears in her eyes when he disappeared from her home under the emerging cloak of dusk, blending in effortlessly with the descending shadows.
As she stooped to retrieve her keys, something sparkled out of the corner of her eye. The sinking sun splintered off the tiny gold crucifix that lay exactly where Michael had dropped it. Her heart lurched as she thought about the last moments she shared with her dearest friend. She pursed her lips in a grim line and then bent for the necklace, fastened it around her neck and turned for the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The minute she slid the plastic card into the key slot and the light turned green, she heard a familiar male voice behind her. “I figured you’d show up here sooner or later.”
She turned to face Michael. “And I knew you wouldn’t leave this alone.”
They stared at each other for a moment before she reached for his hand. He gave it a squeeze before he told her, “You’ll never be alone.” With his other hand he produced the staff he had painstakingly sharpened.
She nodded and led the way into the hotel suite.
The door to the tomb room swung open with a dramatic gasp of death that took Michael’s breath away the instant she hit the light. He instinctively crossed himself as they entered the room and passed the rows of coffins with dead bones and flesh that lay in wait for the set
ting sun.
Adele didn’t even stop as she stalked purposefully toward the elevated platform across the room. Michael had to trot to keep up with her until she finally came to a stop right in front of the ornate coffin that contained the undead body of her tormentor. His heart softened as he watched the flood of emotions that crashed across her face. He reached out to touch her arm. “Do you want me to do this?”
She absently shook her head. “I did it before. I’ll do it again.”
She took the stake from his hands and stepped up onto the platform. Her hands trembled as she poised the stake high above the hollow, sunken chest of the grotesque creature. Seconds almost audibly ticked by as the light retreated across the floor from the sinister shadows that took their place.
Just being in the room surrounded by the beasts about to waken did a serious number on Michael’s nerves. He couldn’t understand what she was waiting for. Why not just stab the monster in its black heart before it could have a chance to wake up? Isn’t that what everyone knew from watching every vampire movie ever made?
“Just do it!” he finally exploded in a harsh whisper.
Adele started so badly she nearly toppled backward off of the platform, dropping the stake from her hand. Michael caught her and tried to get her upright, and both missed the very second Thaddeus opened his eyes. In a shot he flew up in the air in an angry red mist that knocked both Michael and Adele to the ground, jostling her precious crucifix free without her noticing. A loud hissing filled the air as the other vampires rose from their slumber to surround the intruders.
He hovered in the air over them, and Michael, though frightened, pulled Adele closer in a protective gesture that did not go unnoticed by Thaddeus.
“I knew you’d return to me,” he purred to Adele, “but I had no idea you’d bring a gift.”
Before he knew what was happening, burly vampires pulled Michael up by the arms and dragged him away from Adele, despite his loud protests. “No! Adele!”
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