Between Darkness & Light
Page 11
“I don’t suppose seeing you here means you’ve come back to the fold,” the male vampire in front said. He had short brown hair and dark eyes. He was a little taller than usual, a few inches shy of six feet. I had seen him once before.
“Not bloody likely,” I replied. “The name’s Tyrell, isn’t it?”
He nodded. Another vampire spoke. “What the hell are you doing here? Rome’s not Resistance controlled. You’re a little out of your territory, Julia. You’re in mine.”
I stared at her. She was only a couple inches taller than I. Her hair was a shade darker than Tyrell’s. “Who are you?”
“Amita. The leader of this territory at the moment. Valentino sent
us . . . after the vampire who was in charge was found dead.”
I scowled. “I didn’t do it.”
The vampires looked at each other. “I hope not, Julia. Why are you here?”
“Just passing through. We had some things to deal with here. We aren’t here to hassle you, so you mind your own business and we’ll mind ours. Is that all you needed to know?”
“One more thing. We already suspect we know who killed the leader of this group, as well as two others. A rogue. Lane Marlow. You can’t miss him; he wears a long black suitcoat. Have you seen him in your travels?”
“No,” I said after I processed the question. Inwardly, I winced. It could not be good if Valentino sent people in because he suspected Lane of killing members of Rome’s group.
“Are you sure? Perhaps you do not know about him. He hunts other vampires. He doesn’t care who they are. Your ka-tet is in just as much danger from him as we are.”
I shook my head. “Sorry, I haven’t.”
“You’re lying.” Amita stated. “Why are you protecting him? Are you so confident that your group can take him down and collect the bounty? I’m telling you, he’s a common enemy to us, Julia. Where did you see him?”
I frowned at her words. How did she know I was lying? She can’t sense my thoughts while I’m cloaked. “No, sorry. I haven’t seen him. Except for my group, you’re the first vampires around here I’ve seen.” I took a step back without looking away from them. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way.”
Amita moved to intercept me. “You’re still lying. I can tell. There’s no need to, Julia. You can admit how badly the encounter went for you. We simply want to get a mutual danger out of the way. You don’t have to hunt him yourselves. Our groups can work together.”
I tilted my head and studied her, trying to decide if she was being deceitful. This week just keeps getting stranger. I’ve never heard of Resistance and Loyalists working together for any reason. Was Lane truly so dangerous that the two opposing sides really team up together? Even odder, it seemed that she thought I was protecting his location because we wanted to claim some sort of reward.
“I would help if I could, but I cannot. I honestly do not think I have seen him. Even if I had, I wouldn’t be able to help you because I do not know the city well enough to give a direction.”
It was a final attempt to appease them and ward off a confrontation. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure if I could satisfy their inquiry if I had wanted to. I had known the general direction of where I had seen him when I headed out tonight, but after trying to evade Rome’s group, I was no longer confident that I still knew it.
The vampires looked at each other. Tyrell sighed. “Have it your way, Julia.”
“Patrizia,” Amita said. A female vampire with dark auburn hair nodded and the seven closed in on me.
Matthew seemed to sigh.
“Talk Julia or we’ll force you to talk,” Tyrell snapped.
“I have nothing to tell you,” I said and broke the vampire’s neck.
“You wretch!” the vampire called Patrizia screamed. “Kill her!”
“Make sure you get her to tell us what we need to know first,” a vampire shouted.
“Of course, Dante,” a second man said. The remaining six attacked.
I dropped the body I held and dodged one of the vampire’s thrusts. I grabbed another by the wrist. I broke it as someone else kicked me in the knee. I staggered back and caught a second kick in the stomach. I doubled over as Amita knocked me to the ground.
As soon as I could breathe again, I threw my elbow into her face. She jerked back with a snarl and rolled away. I fumbled for one of my weapons and came up with a stake. I got to my feet when a third attacker kicked at me. I caught his foot and yanked him to me. As he fell, I shoved the stake into his chest.
“Fabian!” a brown haired woman screamed. She and Tyrell both slammed into me. I hit the ground hard, struggling as the surviving three rushed over. Amita pinned down one arm, Patrizia the other. I kicked at the third female vampire but she grabbed my foot and restrained it.
Tyrell slapped my face. “Feisty brat you are. Tell us what we want to know, Julia. You can’t take all five of us alone.”
I spat at him. “Go to hell, Tyrell. And take the rest of your damn Council with you, as well as your leader.”
This time he hit me so hard red dots danced in front of my eyes. “Kill her. She’s obviously not going to talk. Damn little Resistance fighter doesn’t know what’s good for her.”
Heh, at least now I know where Valentino’s people categorize me. They regard me as part of the rebellion again, even if the Resistance itself doesn’t, I thought.
“What about Samuel?” the last vampire said uncertainly.
“What about him? As far as I know, he won’t give a damn if she’s dead either, Giovanni. Do it.”
Tyrell’s words caused goosebumps to break out on my arms. Um, I guess Valentino’s people are well aware of the discord in the Resistance and my ka-tet itself. I renewed my struggles even as his words planted a seed of doubt. Where the hell were Samuel and Matthew? I knew seven on one hadn’t been great odds, especially when the third and fourth ranked vampires from Valentino’s Council had been among them.
I had been stupid to defy them, to have chosen Lane over my own safety. Hadn’t Matthew and I just had a conversation about how out of practice I was? Desperately, I reached for the ka-tet’s power, intending to throw one or more assailants off and buy myself a few extra seconds.
Tyrell hit me again. The force knocked coherent thought from my mind and with it the power I had attempted to draw upon. My vision darkened and with all my strength, I clung to consciousness. If I blacked out now, it was all over. I tasted blood in my mouth as I lay still. When I could see again, Giovanni was straddling me. He grinned as he raised the stake he held. A blur of black slammed into him, pushing him off me.
Tyrell and the female vampire who had pinned my legs spun away to help their comrade. I kicked up and back into Patrizia’s face, taking advantage of the confusion. She whimpered and let go of my right arm. I twisted away from Amita. “Samuel . . .?” I whispered as I struggled to my knees. It had to have been Samuel who had tackled Giovanni – except I swore he had been wearing a white shirt, not black, when he left the villa.
I sucked in a breath and took out another stake but there was no need. The rest of Rome’s group tur
ned and fled. I raised my head to look at my rescuer. I caught sight of the black suitcoat before I looked high enough to see his face. Lane.
I stared in amazement. “What the hell is with you? Everything I’ve heard about you makes you sound like an insane killer, yet . . .”
Lane turned to stare down at me, his expression unreadable.
“Why did you save me?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I thought I could get dinner.”
I inched backward a little, questioning if he simply thought I was easy prey now that I had been wounded. If he decided I was his meal for the night, we both knew I would not be able to stop him, even with the stake I still held. Struggling to my feet, I muttered, “Well then. I’ll leave you to it.” I backed away another step.
For the first time I wondered if Matthew was right – that Lane shouldn’t be crossed no matter what. After panicking a moment, I realized that the supposedly insane vampire in front of me hadn’t moved since he had chased off my assailants. None of this made any sense.
The second I realized this, my curiosity was roused again. I looked back at him. “Why didn’t you attack me last night? From what I heard, you aren’t too particular about which vampire you feed off. So why didn’t you?”
Lane studied me for a moment. I saw a flicker of bewilderment in his eyes. “Why didn’t you attack me?” he countered.
I opened and closed my mouth several times, unable to process his question. “What? Um, I asked you first,” I stammered.
“There was no need to.”
“No need to?” I echoed.
“I had been distracted. Most vampires assail me on sight. You took me by surprise, yet you did not attack. Why?”
I couldn’t help the soft giggle that escaped. “This is unbelievable,” I whispered to myself. Addressing his question, I said, “Honestly, Lane, the reason I did not was because I had no idea who you were. At the time I thought you were an ordinary vampire – as ordinary as one can be at least – that I mistook for a mortal. It wasn’t until later that night that I learned who you are.” He nodded and I repeated my earlier question, “Why did you rescue me now?”
“Because you were fighting vampires that want to hunt me down. Why did you protect me when they wanted to know where I was?”
“I did not want to risk becoming your enemy after you let me go last night. There was only one way I could think of to repay you for that. By not telling them what I knew.” I smiled. “Besides, it will annoy Valentino. He hasn’t heard from us for a while.”
“I know Valentino. I don’t like him,” Lane said, then looked past me at something. “I have to go. Two vampires approach.” He turned and sprinted down the street toward the forest on the edge of the city.
“Lane – wait!” I called but he had vanished. I turned to look behind me but I already recognized the presences.
“Julia, are you all right?”
“Yes, no thanks to you,” I said sarcastically. I touched the right side of my head where Tyrell had struck me. A sizable lump was forming along my cheek and temple.
Matthew looked concerned. “How badly are you hurt?”
“Only a few bruises,” I mumbled.
Matthew and Samuel looked at each other. “Sorry,” Matthew said. “We ran into a problem reaching you.”
“You just missed Lane.”
“What?” he asked. “I thought it was Rome’s group that attacked you?”
“It was,” I said wearily.
Samuel was gazing at the ground. “So I see,” he said. He looked back up at me. “What happened, Julia?”
“And how does Lane fit into all of this?” Matthew questioned.
“Tyrell and six other vampires intercepted me. They wanted to know what I knew about Lane’s whereabouts.”
“And you told them what?”
“Nothing. I told them I never saw him. They didn’t believe me and got angry.”
Matthew sighed in exasperation. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to tell them?”
“No,” I snapped. He looked surprised. Samuel looked thoughtful. “Lane saved my life. If it weren’t for his help, I would be dead now,” I stated.
Matthew’s jaw dropped. “Is this some kind of joke? Lane helped you?”
“Yes, he did. I’m not jesting.”
“Why?” This question came from Samuel. I looked toward him in surprise. His voice held no ire but was instead filled with curiosity.
“He helped me because I didn’t attack him. You see, Lane overheard my conversation with Rome’s vampires before they attacked me. I killed a couple of them but the group was large and it had two of Valentino’s Council members leading it. Tyrell and Amita. Wait, Amita said she was in charge, since Rome’s leader turned up dead. Well, they had me pinned to the ground and were about to stake me. Lane stopped them, took out the vampire who held the stake. He did so because I did not attack him last night and he heard me protect him from them, who are going to hunt him down.”
Matthew frowned. “Whoa, Julia, slow down. Are you saying he decided to help you because you didn’t attack him?”
I nodded and immediately regretted the motion. The entire street seemed to blur slightly. “And because I didn’t give him over to Rome’s group.”
“Good luck there,” Samuel said and shook his head. “They’re just asking for trouble.”
“And you didn’t tell them about Lane . . .why?”
“It was the only way I could think of to repay him for not making me dinner last night,” I answered, giving Matthew an exasperated look.
“This goes beyond the definition of ‘strange,’” he muttered. “Befriending a vampire believed to be mad is not helping your sanity argument any, Julia.”
I sighed and carefully turned my head toward Samuel. He had been quiet for the most part. He glanced at us. “She’s not crazy, Matthew. At least not this time. I am beginning to believe Lane isn’t either.” A smile appeared on his lips. “This is perfect.”
Matthew scowled. “You’re as daft as the rest of them. Don’t you know how royally pissed off Valentino is going to get if we ignore the order to kill Lane? As if he’s not angry enough at you already?”
“Exactly,” Samuel said, still smiling pleasantly. “Nothing can make him angrier than for us to ignore a direct order. And ignoring this order is possibly what will infuriate him the most.” His smile widened. “Besides Lane has never caused harm to any of us and now he’s saved her life.”
“Not to mention we have enough problems. I wonder what happened to that group of Hunters?” I mused.
“I hope we lost them near Sienna but I doubt it. They really seem to have it in for us for some reason,” Matthew replied, turning to head to the villa.
Although I was amused that Samuel had reached a similar conclusion about Lane, I couldn’t help but grimace at the throbbing starting to pulse through my face. As I moved to follow them home, dizziness overtook me. Whatever instinct that had kept me alert and relatively pain-free was wearing off.
Someone grabbed my arm. “Maybe that hit to your head was harder than you thought. You need to rest, Julia,” Matthew murmured.
“I’m not arguing with you,” I whispered. Samuel walked up on my other side and put his arm around my waist. He lifted me into his arms without a word. I hesitantly rested my aching head against his shoulder. I expected him to flinch away or drop me but he didn’t. “Samuel?”
“What?”
“I miss you.”
“Sleep, Julia,” Samuel answered, his voice sounding unusually kind, considering he was talking to me. I closed my eyes and drifted off.
Chapter 7
I woke the next night, expecting to be in my room alone. Instead I opened my eyes to see Samuel sitting on a chair beside my bed. “I didn’t expect to see you in here. Were you in here all night?”
Samuel ignored my question. “How are you feeling?” he asked instead.
“Better,” I answered. I glanced down and realized his fingers were inter
laced with mine.
He smiled. “Good.”
I gingerly pressed against the area that had been swollen last night. There was no pain or dizziness. Being a vampire had its advantages. After taking a beating that would have crippled a human for days, I was fine in just about twelve hours.
“How long have you been in here?” I asked, sitting up. “You did not have to come in.”
“He left only to sleep,” Matthew answered from the doorway.
Samuel turned to glare at him. He then looked back at me. “So what?” he snapped, letting go of my hand. He sat back and crossed his arms.
I closed my hand, pained by his withdrawal. Forcing a smile, I said, “Thank you.”
Samuel looked away and shrugged.
“I talked to Mary Anne. She and Jeffrey are insisting on coming down,” Matthew said. “She believes the Hunters have moved on.”
“Is she planning on bringing Stephen and Kali?” I asked.
Matthew nodded. “Though I’m not sure I agree those Hunters have left the area.”
“If not, we’ll deal with them,” Samuel said.
Matthew walked in and stood beside him. “On a related note, Samuel and I discussed a few things last night.”
I looked between them uncertainly. “Should I be worried?”
“In light of what occurred, I think it prudent for you to restart training.” Matthew paused then said, “After some debate, we also agreed you should be armed properly when you leave the villa.” He stopped talking and shifted his gaze from me to Samuel.
I also turned my attention to him, sensing Matthew was waiting for a reaction. Samuel locked gazes with him for a few tense moments before looking down.
“Here,” Samuel murmured. Glancing up, I saw he was holding one of the sheathed knives that we had played darts with. I took it and laid it across my lap. It was a symbolic gesture, but not one he looked comfortable making. His frown deepened as he stood up and left. I wondered if their ‘agreement’ was more like a compromise. If so, what did Samuel get for allowing me to have weapons again?