Seduced by the Night

by Robin T. Popp

Climbing through the rails of a wood fence, he walked across the pasture, heading for the barn. He had only gone a few feet when he found the first animal carcass. Though it was night, he had no trouble making out the two puncture wounds in the neck. He walked a bit farther before spotting two more dead cows. These bodies hadn’t been dead that long. He climbed the upward slope of the pasture until he stood at the very top and then, looking down into the small valley below, he saw the darker forms.

  The adult was feeding, but she must have sensed him there because she stopped and looked up. He froze, not wanting to scare her away. It was enough that he was this close and she wasn’t running from him.

  He remained where he was until she finished eating and then he used the shared psychic link to send her an image of her own departure. He didn’t want her remaining at the farm long enough to be spotted. That wouldn’t be good.

  She stood watching him for several seconds and then finally turned and lumbered off. Once she was out of his sight, Harris turned around and headed back to his car. He was feeling good. He’d gotten this close and she hadn’t run from him. Tonight’s encounter could be considered a success.

  Bethany placed a drop of her latest batch of synthetic extract on a slide and placed it under the microscope next to the first one. She’d run every test she could think of and in all cases the synthetic had reacted just as the original—for about ten minutes. Staring at both the original and synthetic for the thousandth time as if the answer were in front of her if she could only see it, she tried to accept her own failure.

  She tried to be objective, but couldn’t. She didn’t like failing. Taking a deep breath, she set up another round of experiments, refusing to give up.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Dirk’s sudden appearance startled her and the sound of his voice set her pulse to racing, though she tried not to show it. “I’m working.”

  Coming up behind her, he grabbed her arm and spun her around on the stool until she was staring up into angry blue eyes tinged with a red glowing light. “I told you specifically not to go out by yourself.”

  She glared back. “News flash,” she said heatedly, “I don’t take orders from you.” She started to turn her back on him, but he grabbed her arm again and refused to let her go.

  “What you did was dangerous.” His eyes practically shot sparks of light and his lips curled, revealing his fangs. She didn’t know if he was trying to frighten her on purpose or whether he was even aware of how he looked. Either way, he was crowding her, making it hard for her to focus on anything but him. It wasn’t fear, though, that she felt. Despite everything, she still wanted him and that, to her, was the cruelest blow of all.

  She managed to push off the stool and stood toe to toe, looking up at him. He didn’t move. “You’re in my way,” she said between clenched teeth, staring up at him defiantly.

  “We’re not through talking.”

  “Oh, yes, we are.” She placed her hand against his chest and shoved. He didn’t budge, making her feel small and ineffectual. Anger, frustration, and hurt bubbled up, almost choking her as she shoved at him again, this time harder. “Get away from me.”

  “You should have told me where you were going,” he growled.

  “Told you where I was going?” she yelled, incredulous. “Why?” She fisted her hands and rode the wave of anger coursing through her. “Would you have believed me? After all, in your twisted little reality, I’m a liar and a cheat. You don’t give a damn what happens to me.”

  “I don’t want anything to hurt you,” he said—and she lost it.

  Pounding him with her fists, she started yelling. “You don’t want anything to hurt me? Well, guess what, you jerk? In the last two weeks, the only thing that’s hurt me is you. You. You.” Each word was punctuated with a blow to his chest.

  Dirk stood there and let her vent, guilt hitting him with a force far stronger than anything she could dole out. After finding the ring in her drawer, it had never occurred to him that she had been honest with him—that she would give up the wealth and affluence Miles could give her for a chance to be with him.

  He stood there patiently waiting as her blows grew weaker and then finally stopped. He looked down and saw that she wasn’t trying to fight him now, wasn’t glaring at him. She was merely standing there, her head bowed, crying.

  He pulled her to him, not allowing her to resist, and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry . . . for everything.”

  He stroked her back, relishing the feel of her in his arms for as long as she’d let him hold her. She hated him—how could she not? And it was his own fault.

  Looking down at her, he put a finger under her chin and tipped her tear-streaked face up toward him. Her eyes were swollen, her mascara had run, and her nose was red, yet he’d never thought she looked more beautiful. He wanted one last kiss—to last a lifetime.

  He moved slowly, giving her time to pull away or turn her head, then his mouth was on hers and his tongue teased the seam of her closed lips until she opened for him. He heard her sigh and realized he was wrong when he’d thought that all there was between them was a physical attraction.

  Somewhere along the way, Beth had become the most important thing in his life.

  “I finished.”

  Patterson looked up as Stuart walked into the chamber where he kept the prisoners. “Really? And this is different from the others how?”

  “The problem was the enzyme—”

  Patterson held up his hand, silencing the young man. “Spare me the technical explanation. Just tell me—how sure are you that this is a perfect match to the real venom?”

  He saw Stuart’s confident, cocky expression. “Positive.”

  Patterson smiled, not bothering to hide his fangs. “Positive?” he echoed. “Then let’s test it, shall we?” He looked at the wall where the bodies of the previous test subjects lay withered and dead on the floor. All but one cowering man.

  “Do you have a syringe?”

  Stuart nodded, holding it up. “I’ve already filled it.”

  “Excellent.” He reached for the syringe and was stunned when the other man pulled his hand back out of reach.

  “Remember our agreement,” Stuart said. “I know you’re planning to sell this and I expect you’ll make a ton of money. All I’m asking for is a piece of the action. I think that’s only fair.”

  The two stared at each other while Patterson fought to control his temper. Then he smiled. “Of course.” He held out his hand again and this time Stuart gave him the syringe. Patterson took it and held it up to the light. “I trust you’ve made extensive notes on the formula?”

  “Of course,” Stuart mimicked Patterson’s condescending tone.

  “Good.” Patterson never gave Stuart a chance to anticipate his demise. The first rush of warm blood filling his mouth was like ambrosia and he drank deeply. Whether the venom worked this time or not, he was glad to be rid of this young man.

  When Stuart sagged in his arms, Patterson lowered him to the ground. Pulling the syringe from his lifeless fingers, Patterson injected the contents into Stuart’s heart. “A piece of the action—as promised.”

  Chapter 16

  Bethany woke late the next day still feeling tired and emotionally drained. She and Dirk were no longer fighting, but their relationship was still at an awkward phase.

  After the kiss, he’d let her get back to work. It had been hard to focus with him so close, but she had run a battery of experiments and finally concluded that the latest batch of synthetic plant extract was as close to the real thing as anyone was likely to get—but it wasn’t close enough. In her professional opinion, if the pharmaceutical company wanted to use the plant extract in a new drug, they were going to have to get it from the plants themselves.

  By the time Dirk had driven them home, the sun was already coming up over the horizon and as soon as they’d arrived at the ma
nsion, they’d gone straight to bed—Dirk to his and she to hers.

  Tired and depressed, she slept fitfully throughout the day. Every time she woke up, she merely rolled over and forced herself to go back to sleep. There wasn’t much point in getting up, as far as she was concerned. She didn’t have to go into the lab, and having tentatively made up with Dirk, she’d put her plans to leave town on hold.

  Thinking of Dirk made her groan and she pulled the covers higher. The truth was that she didn’t know where she stood with him, which meant their next encounter was bound to be uncomfortable. In anticipation of it, she rolled over and closed her eyes, determined to stay in bed as long as possible.

  Finally, by late afternoon, she was starving and tired of hiding. She took a leisurely shower, dressed casually in jeans and a sweater, and went downstairs.

  She hoped she might be able to enjoy a cup of coffee by herself, but those hopes vanished when she walked into the kitchen and found Dirk sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in front of him and a dour expression on his face.

  “You’re up early,” she said, surprised to see him before nightfall. “Didn’t you sleep well?”

  “Well enough,” he answered vaguely.

  Bethany couldn’t judge his mood and it worried her. Trying to act as if nothing was wrong, she poured herself a cup of coffee and joined him at the table.

  “You had a phone call earlier,” he informed her.

  “Really? Who?”

  “Miles.” He made it sound like an accusation.

  She couldn’t help it if Miles called her and she refused to let Dirk make her feel guilty. “What did he want?”

  “He didn’t say, but I’m guessing it had something to do with this.” He pushed the folded newspaper across the table to her. It was opened to the society section and when she looked, she saw her own face staring back at her.

  “Oh, no.” She set down her cup and picked up the paper, needing to take a closer look.

  “It’s a good photo of you both, don’t you think?” His tone was snide and Bethany wanted to scream.

  Instead, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I broke up with him, but this is the last time I’m going to do it. So listen up. I. Broke. Up. With. Him.” She tossed the paper back at him. “Despite all evidence to the contrary.”

  “Yeah? Maybe he didn’t get the message.”

  She stared at Dirk in disbelief. “You’re being absurd.” She pushed away from the table, going for the phone. She punched in Miles’s phone number and waited. After a few rings, he answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Miles, it’s Bethany.”

  “Oh, I’m so glad you called. Listen, I wanted to warn you that our engagement announcement is in today’s paper.”

  She heaved a sigh. “I saw it.”

  “I’m sorry, Bethany,” he said, sounding sincere. “I tried to cancel it, but it was too late. I can ask them to print a retraction. I’m sure they won’t mind. That kind of scandal is sure to boost their sales.”

  He was right. As a member of the prominent Van Horne family, the papers would have a heyday with this latest twist over his engagement. The media wouldn’t be satisfied until they discovered why Bethany and Miles had called off their plans. In pursuit of an explanation, there was a good chance that Dirk and the rest of the admiral’s security team would be dragged into it. She didn’t think they’d appreciate the exposure.

  “No, don’t do anything. The less publicity, the better.”

  “Really, Bethany. It’s no problem.”

  Bethany glanced at Dirk’s sour expression. “Just leave it.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure. Listen, I’m glad you called,” he continued. “I wanted to go over your lab notes.”

  “All right. I’ll come in so we can go over them.”

  “That won’t be necessary. I have your notebook here in front of me.”

  Bethany frowned. “You have my notebook?” She’d been tired and distracted last night, but was almost positive that she’d locked the notebook in her desk before leaving. She never left it lying about in the open.

  “Yes, it was on the counter when I went into your lab hoping to find you.” Now he sounded a little confused. “Is there a problem?”

  She guessed she’d been more tired than she remembered. “No, no problem. Okay, if you’ll turn to the last couple of pages, you’ll see . . .”

  For the next ten minutes, while Dirk sat at the table and drank his coffee, she rattled off her findings and answered his questions. She could tell that Miles didn’t like her conclusion.

  “Are you positive?” he asked when she was finished.

  “I’m sorry, Miles. I know you were counting on selling the formula for a good price.”

  She heard his sigh. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

  She hung up the phone and turned to find Dirk watching her. His expression hadn’t changed much and she was getting tired of his constant distrust. “He tried to cancel,” she told him, glancing again at the article, “but it was too late.”

  “Bullshit.”

  She jerked her head up in surprise. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” He shoved a slip of paper across the table toward her. She made no move to take it, but saw it had a phone number scrawled across it. “That’s the phone number to the paper. When you decide you’re ready to face the truth about Miles, call the paper and ask when their deadline for canceling an announcement is and if anyone called to cancel that particular one.”

  With that parting statement, he stood and walked out of the room, leaving her alone at the table, silently fuming. She counted to ten, then got up from the table, fixed herself a snack, and poured another cup of coffee. As she passed the kitchen table, her gaze fell on the slip of paper. With a disgusted sigh, she snatched it up and went back to her room.

  That night, Julia, who had now learned all about the vampires, stayed for dinner. With a few hours to kill before they drove into town to patrol the streets, Mac and Dirk joined the others in the great room.

  As they took their seats, Gem appeared. She’d just finished consuming a meal of pig’s blood, which Lanie purchased from the local butcher shop. Now, she walked to Julia, sitting beside the admiral on the couch.

  “I just can’t believe that vampires and creatures such as this exist,” she said, stroking Gem’s head. “Where did she come from?”

  “Gem was found in the Amazon jungle,” the admiral replied. “At least, that’s where we found her and the adult, but if you mean where the species originates, I don’t really know.”

  “There are various theories on the chupacabras’ true origin,” Lanie piped up. “One is that they are aliens stranded on Earth from some earlier visit. Along those same lines is a related theory that the chupacabra is the result of a NASA alien/animal experiment gone awry—although I think we can now discount that one since the admiral’s family has been hunting vampires long before NASA existed. Of a less scientific nature is the theory that chupacabras are transdimensional spirits or dark angels, children of Lucifer, which manifest into physical form while in our dimension, turning to stone during the day to avoid detection.”

  Julia looked as confused as Bethany felt. “Which one is correct?”

  “Maybe none of them,” Lanie said. She pinned the admiral with a look. “You knew chupacabras existed before you sent my father to study them last year, didn’t you?”

  “I knew there were creatures that had the ability to convert humans into vampires, but I didn’t know, specifically, that it was the chupacabra, although your father and I discussed the possibility at great length over the years. It’s one of the reasons I asked him to be the one to study them. However, I never expected we’d lose him like that.” His expression grew sad. “Sending him was a mistake that I’ll regret the rest of my life.”

  “No, you mustn’t,” Lanie hurried to reassure him. “You gave him the opportunity of a lif
etime. It’s what he always wanted and I know that even with the way things turned out, he doesn’t regret it. You mustn’t either.”

  He nodded, but the troubled look remained on his face.

  “Your family has known about vampires for generations,” Mac said to the admiral. “They had to have learned something in all that time about vampires and where they come from. I mean, the person who forged the Death Rider sword wasn’t an average blacksmith. How did your family get involved?”

  The admiral smiled. “No, Ewan Winslow was no ordinary blacksmith and I don’t know what went into making that blade—how much magic and how much science. That line of the family is charged with making the blade and they’ve passed down their secrets from father to son, just as my side has handed down the charge of finding the changelings.

  “Much of the legend has been lost over time,” he went on, “but the story goes like this. Centuries ago, four brothers were out doing some night hunting when they came across a creature in the woods. Not recognizing the beast, the eldest brother, Angus, advised his brothers that they should leave the creature alone and return home. Ewan and Sean, the middle twins, agreed, but the youngest and most foolhardy, Erik, thought it would be great sport to hunt the creature and he took up his sword and tried to slay it. The creature attacked and killed Erik before his brothers could react. By the time they’d drawn their weapons, the creature had run off.

  “The three brothers bore Erik’s body home and for two days the townspeople paid homage to it. On the second night, the eve of his burial, Erik came back to life as a vampire. He was crazed and hungry, yearning for blood. He’d killed several people before he realized what he was doing and then was horrified both at what he’d become and what he’d done.

  “The townspeople wanted him slain, but Angus, Ewan, and Sean, who loved their youngest brother, couldn’t do it. Instead, they took him home and allowed him to live in the basement of their castle where they fed him the blood of animals and kept him safe. Sean, who dabbled in the black arts, began looking for a spell that would reverse what had happened to his brother. He needed the blood of the creature, so Angus and Ewan armed themselves with weapons and went to find it.