Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 06]

by Penetrating the Darkness (epub)

  “First, I’m going to draw my own blood, then examine it under a microscope to see what’s changed since I became a vampire. Then…well…I’ll go from there.” He gathered up his items and headed back down the hall.

  Felicity followed right behind him, fascinated to see what he was going to do. He gathered more items, tied something around his upper arm. Taking one of the pointy tubes, he jabbed the end into his arm. “What are you doing?” She rushed to his side, determined to stop him from hurting himself.

  “I’m drawing my blood so I can look at it under the microscope,” he informed her as the gray liquid slid into the glass tube.

  “I do not understand what you mean by that. Doesn’t that hurt?” She was cringing just looking at it.

  “Not really. The initial poke lasts only a few seconds.”

  He connected another tube to the top of the one on his arm and set the full one aside. When that one was full, he pulled the tube from his arm and set it all on the counter. It was rather fascinating.

  She pulled up a chair to watch him work.

  “This is a microscope.” He pointed to a black metal object with a long cylindrical shape aimed down at a flat piece of glass. There were dials and buttons and it all looked very confusing to her.

  “What do you do with it?”

  “I take a sample of my blood, like this.” He pulled out a sharp instrument much like the one he had jabbed into his arm and inserted it into the tube of blood. He drew some up into the tube, then pulled the pointy end out and pressed it to the glass plate on the microscope. “Now, I look into this end,” he pointed to the top, “and see what my blood looks like.”

  “Why do you need to look into that tube to see what your blood looks like when it is right there for you to see?” She didn’t understand his logic.

  “It magnifies whatever you look at so you can see the molecules…and I’m losing you. Here, look through this.”

  Doing as he asked, she put her eye to the top of the microscope and saw the blood through the tube. “Fascinating.”

  “Now watch.”

  He pressed some buttons which had the image before her changing, growing. “Wow. That is incredible.”

  “Isn’t it? How is it you’ve never heard of a microscope? Didn’t you use one in school?”

  She drew herself away from the image to look at him. “I did not attend school. My mother taught me all I need to know.”

  “Oh, so you were home-schooled. Cool. Didn’t she teach you chemistry?”

  What he asked baffled her. “I do not know what that word means.”

  “Chemistry? You don’t know what chemistry is? Where are you from, Mars?”

  “I told you, I am from the Realm of Mystics.”

  His brow lifted up beneath the curl of his hair. “Okay, so where is that?”

  “It is a heavenly dimension for vampires to live after death has taken them.”

  Dusty pushed back from the microscope, tilting his head at her. “For real?”

  “I would not lie to you, Dusty.”

  “Bizarre. I never knew there was such a place.”

  “You also never knew vampires existed or that creatures could possess magical abilities,” she reminded him.

  “True. Man, this is all so weird. Wait, does that mean you’re…dead?”

  She flinched when he poked her arm with his finger. “I am most certainly not dead. I am as alive as you.”

  “Then how come you live in a heaven for dead vampires?”

  She didn’t like the tone in his voice. “I live there with my mother who took me into her home to protect me from my evil birth mother.”

  “But you’re alive.” He poked her arm again.

  “Please stop doing that. Yes, I am alive. The living have been known to reside in the Realm for protection.”

  “This is all so bizarre. So you come from an evil mother, but what about your father?”

  She spoke as he continued to look into his microscope. “My mother tells me he is brainwashed by my birth mother and he does only as she asks.”

  “Sounds like a scary woman.”

  He pressed some more buttons, turned a dial. She had no idea what he was doing. “Yet I have my doubts. When I spoke with my birth mother, she seemed so nice, so genuine, and I could not feel any bad vibes coming off of her.”

  “Looks can be deceiving.”

  “I never saw her, only heard her. She was locked in the seclusion cell and I could not enter it.”

  He lifted his head, gave her a baffled look. “Okay, I’m a little confused. If your birth mother is locked up in this Realm place, why are you here looking for her?”

  “She escaped with the help of some of her consorts.”

  “Right. Okay, I think I have it. Can I draw some of your blood to compare with mine?”

  His jump in conversation confused her as did many things he said. “You wish to stick me with that sharp implement?”

  “It won’t hurt. Trust me.”

  “I do trust you, Dusty. You saved me and you protect me.” But allowing him to jab her with that sharp instrument was a little scary.

  “Great!”

  He pushed from his chair in a rush, startling her. As he ran from the room, she sat in her chair, staring at the sharp object he’d left lying on the desk. When he’d inserted it into his arm, it hadn’t seemed to hurt him. Still…

  “Here we go.”

  She jumped and her pulse skyrocketed. “I’m not sure I want that device inserted into my arm.”

  He sat down in front of her and his eyes took on a sober, serene look that comforted her a great deal. “I promise you, Felicity, I won’t hurt you. Give me your hand.” When she hesitated, he let out a long breath. “Trust me.”

  Cautiously, she held her hand out to him. When she expected him to use the sharp object on her, he merely pinched her skin. “Ouch.”

  “It will feel no different than that. The pain is gone, right?”

  She nodded.

  “That’s what the needle will feel like. Will you allow me to draw your blood now?”

  Since it hadn’t hurt her when he’d pinched her, Felicity saw no reason not to allow him to jab her. Holding out her arm, she gave him her approval.

  “Perfect.”

  When he took a long rubber string and tied it around her upper arm, she asked, “What are you doing?”

  “This will allow the vein in your arm to plump which will make it easier for me to draw the blood from it.”

  He tapped her arm with his fingers several times, then picked up the needle he’d brought with him and pressed it to her arm. “Ouch.” It hurt a little more than the pinch but not so much that she needed him to remove it. She watched as her blood filled the tube. Soon he untied the rubber around her arm and pulled the needle from her arm, pressing a soft cotton ball to the wound.

  “Hold this here for a few minutes to stop the bleeding.”

  She pulled the ball away, held it out to him. “It is healed.”

  “Holy cow, you heal fast.”

  “I have excellent regenerative abilities. Do you not?”

  “Well, not as good as yours but yeah, I heal fast. Okay, let’s take a look at your blood.” He held the tube up. “It’s not gray like mine, but not red either. Kind of a mix. Weird.”

  She waited as he squeezed a small amount of her blood on another glass plate, then looked into the top of the microscope.

  “Holy shit!”

  She jumped. “What?”

  He pulled his eye away and stared at her with a shocked expression. “Your blood glows.”

  Chapter Six

  With the water at the perfect temperature and the ointments Cooper had supplied in the water, Trinity helped Basil into the
tub, then sat at the edge while he soaked. It still shocked her that she had done this to his body, that she had the power to cook his skin, essentially, much in the same way the sun did. Only her power was far stronger than that of the sun.

  “This feels wonderful.”

  “Is it painful? Of course it is. What a stupid thing to ask,” Trinity chastised herself. When he touched his hand to hers, she actually jumped.

  “Stop blaming yourself. I already told you you’re not to blame.”

  “Yeah, and I told you that was bullshit. What if I do that again, only the next time you can’t escape?”

  He squeezed her hand, shaking his head. “In the months since you were given these powers, have you ever torched me before? No, so stop worrying.”

  “Why did it happen this time?”

  He shrugged. “Not sure. What were you thinking of when you went into your trance?”

  “The same thing as last time. I tried to concentrate on my breathing, which wasn’t as easy this time because I was pissed at Rajana for taking Felicity and for—oh shit. I felt my body vibrate.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Inside.” She stood now, needing to pace off her frustration. “Like an engine was revving inside of me and with each deep breath the engine revved a little more. I felt light, though, airy, and I thought I was relaxed but apparently…I wasn’t.”

  “Interesting. So anger is the trigger. Odd though,” Basil continued as he sunk a little deeper into the warm water, “when you came back to life, you were glowing, but it wasn’t the same. Then it was more of a shimmer coming off of you much like an aura.”

  “Because I wasn’t angry. I felt peaceful. Okay, so as long as I don’t get angry while in a trance everyone is okay.” She felt marginally better with that, but still…she had burnt the man she loved. “Feeling any better?”

  “Nearly a hundred percent. I might feel even better if you joined me.” He grinned in the sly, seductive way that always managed to get her heart pounding and her pulse fluttering.

  “Not a chance. You need to heal. I’m not taking the chance I might pop one of those nasty blisters and leave you with a scar.”

  “I was under the impression women thought scars were sexy.”

  “Not when she’s the one who inflicted it. Tell me what you meant by Rajana possibly planning this all from the beginning.”

  “You’re changing the subject.”

  “Yes, I am.” She sat down on the floor near the tub and waited.

  Basil let out a long breath before he began. “All these years my mother has hinted to me that it would be nice for our race if I fathered a child. It annoyed her that I used protection but, well…I wasn’t ready to become a father and I surely wasn’t about to father a child with a woman I wouldn’t be spending my life with.”

  “Aw…how sweet.” Leaning over the edge, she kissed him and let out a screech when he pulled her into the water with him. “You’re going to—”

  “To hell with my blisters. You’re all I need to help me heal. You might want to remove your clothing though,” he snickered.

  Shooting him a nasty glare, she shifted off of him and began undressing. “Carry on.”

  “I believe when I met you and took you as mine in the truest way—”

  “Made me a vampire and took my virginity all at once,” she supplied as she tossed her soggy shirt to the floor.

  “Right, and maybe she thought I would decide to finally father a child.”

  “But neither of us was ready. I certainly wasn’t ready.” She sent her jeans falling with the damp shirt.

  “Exactly. You were still quite young and, dear God, you are ravishing.”

  She backed away and sat at his feet between his legs. “Finish your thoughts first, Basil.”

  “Spoilsport. We were taking too long,” he continued as he played with her feet now resting on his crotch. “So she found something to speed it up. Planting the ritual for Chaos to find.”

  “But how could she know Avadur would kill me?” She sighed. He had such wonderful hands.

  “I’m not entirely sure she expected that but I think what she thought is that in the face of danger, we might forget about protection and act recklessly. I love your feet. They are so cute.”

  She pursed her lips, then gasped when he bit down on her toes. “Behave. Okay, so when Avadur killed me—”

  “When you stepped in front of me to save me from my father’s wrath,” he reminded her and licked the spot he had just bitten.

  He definitely knew how to get her juices flowing. “Yeah…you’re playing dirty.” He knew just how sensitive her feet were.

  “Yes I am,” he laughed wickedly.

  “Rajana saw it as the perfect opportunity to bring me back to life so we would fuck like rabbits and produce a child.”

  “With the added benefit of having her powers. There is no other reason I can see as to why she would have given you her abilities.”

  Trinity narrowed her eyes at Basil from across the tub. “Maybe she just saw me as worthy of having her abilities and kicking some evil ass.”

  “My mother could care less about evil. Why would she want you to destroy her own kind, our kind? No, she had other plans.”

  Trinity sat up, kneeling between his knees and took hold of his member despite the wince when she closed her hand tightly around him. “You’re not helping yourself, ace.”

  “Yes, darling, she saw you as a fierce warrior worthy of her abilities. Want to lighten your grip now? That part of my anatomy is a little tender.”

  She released her grip and he smiled. “Thank you.”

  “So she had it all planned. Did she plan to take Felicity right after birth too and if so, why?”

  “I was taken from her before she had a chance to really groom me to take over should anything happen to her. I think she saw this as the perfect opportunity to remedy that”

  Trinity’s heart ached for her daughter and was filled with anger towards the woman who had taken her away from them. “The longer Felicity’s with your mother, the more Rajana can turn Felicity into her. We have to get her, Basil. Now. We need to finish the spell.”

  “Yes, on that note.” He pulled the tie from her hair, releasing it to flow over her bare breasts and onto the water. “The entry way to the Realm is locked.”

  “What?”

  “Starla was kicked back when she attempted it. There is some sort of spell blocking entry to the Realm. She doesn’t know what but she’s going to ask around. When we can, we will try again.”

  “Rajana did it. Damn her!”

  Taking her into his arms, he soothed her anger with gentle kisses to her brow. “We won’t stop until our daughter is safely back in our arms.”

  Taking comfort in Basil’s arms, Trinity hoped they weren’t too late.

  ***

  “What do you mean my blood glows?”

  Dusty had never seen anything like it in all his life. “Here, check it out for yourself.” He turned the microscope towards her, waiting as she looked inside. “See,” he said when she gasped.

  “How is that possible?”

  “Well, either you sucked back a few gallons worth of radioactive material or…it’s just magic. I’m going with the latter. Jeez, this is so weird.” He just had to see it again “This is incredible. I need to do some comparisons.” He’d need to grab another vamp, test their blood against his and see the differences. But how? It wasn’t like he had super powers or was more than moderately strong. Then the idea came to him.

  He turned to her, keeping his voice soft. “How would you like to help me out while I help you find your parents?”

  She toyed with the ends of her hair, twirling it around her hand, then releasing it. “In what way?”

  “I just
want to see if all vampire blood is the same, but to do that I need another vampire to test from. Do you think you could use those powers of yours to grab a vamp and bring him back here?”

  “Couldn’t you just ask another vampire to allow you to test their blood?”

  If it was that easy, he wouldn’t have asked. “See, the thing is…I’m worried this bad guy who held me against my will for the past few months might have his people out searching for me. If I could get you to grab someone and bring them back here, no one would know it was me.”

  “I cannot go out there alone. It is too scary and dark. What if someone attempts to capture me?”

  “Well, all you have to do is use that glow technique and incinerate them.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Are you asking me to harm someone? I cannot do that.” She stood up, backing away.

  “Not on purpose, but if you were in danger you could do it.”

  “I will not.”

  All he was doing was freaking her out and that wouldn’t get him what he needed. “Okay, don’t worry about it. It was just a thought.” He pushed from his chair, rolling his neck. “Why don’t we start looking for your parents? Do you know their names?”

  “Trinity and Basil.”

  “Seriously?” She simply shrugged. “Small world.”

  “You know my parents?”

  “Not personally, no, but I’ve heard their names more than once. The people who captured me talked about them all the time. They really didn’t like them much.”

  “Oh…” Her voice took on a sad tone.

  “Yeah. I’d overhear them talking about how the two and their friends were always trying to kill them.”

  “Oh, my!” she gasped, her hand coming up to her mouth.

  “Yeah…but, that doesn’t mean they’re bad people.” And he really should have kept his mouth shut. Still…if her parents were as bad as he’d heard, maybe she was better off not knowing them. “Tell me something, Felicity. When you find your parents, what are you going to do?”