The Black Dagger Brotherhood

by J. R. Ward

  Before she can demand that he talk, he starts asking her a bunch of weird questions. Has she been more hungry than usual? Has she been eating a lot but not putting on weight? Are her eyes more sensitive to light? Does she feel achy? Are her front teeth sore? She thinks he’s crazy and asks what any of that has to do with her father.

  Wrath takes off his jacket and tosses it on the bed. He paces around before taking her hand and sitting her down on the sofa. He tells her that her father’s name was Darius and that he has recently died. She says that she was told her father died before she was born. Wrath shakes his head and explains that Darius and he have fought together for many years and that her father’s love for her was very strong. She asks why, if her father care for her so much, he never bothered to introduce himself. Wrath doesn’t answer but smoothes back her hair. You’re going to get sick soon, he says softly. You’re going to get sick and you’re going to need me.

  Beth loses track of what he’s saying. He’s going on about how he’s going to help her through some kind of illness but she’s only interested in her father. Who was he, she demands. He was as I am, Wrath says. He takes her face in his hands. And slowly opens his mouth.

  Beth takes one look at his fangs and pushes him away, horrified. She leaps from the sofa and runs for the stairs. He lets her go, dematerializing to the front of the house just as she bolts out of the door. She takes his appearance in with utter disbelief and veers away wildly. Wrath lets her run her fear out, keeping close behind. When she finally exhausts herself, he picks her up from the ground and holds her as she starts to cry. She just keeps saying, over and over again, that she doesn’t believe him. She just can’t believe him.

  Back at the police station, Butch drags himself inside and immediately puts out an APB for Wrath and for Beth. He goes to Beth’s apartment but she’s not around. He goes trolling downtown, but when he can’t find her, he goes back to her apartment.

  Wrath carries Beth back to the mansion. Down in the chamber, he draws her against him and holds her. She’s numb but eventually her mind clears enough so that she turns and looks at him. He drops a kiss on her mouth, thinking only that he will soothe her but the flame between them leaps to life. Driven by the insanity of what he’s told her, Beth unleashes her frustration on his body and they make love with an all consuming passion. As Wrath is entering her, he bares his fangs and nearly sinks them into her neck. He comes dangerously close to feeding from her, something that he shouldn’t do because she hasn’t gone through her transition. Feeling his desperation for Beth’s blood and his increasing fatigue, he knows that he’ll have to call on Marissa soon.

  The next morning, Butch goes back to the station and is called into the captain’s office. He’s told that he’s being placed on administrative leave for what he did to Billy Riddle. Butch tells his captain that the kid deserved worse. He leaves his badge and his gun and heads out, determined to keep looking for Beth. He calls Jose at home and tells him what happened. He asks if Jose has found anything out about the stars that were picked up at the two crime scenes. Jose tells him he thinks at least one of the weapons was purchased at the local martial arts academy. Butch decides to go over and check the place out.

  Back at the mansion, Beth wakes up in Wrath’s arms. He’s been awake and holding her for hours. She asks softly what her father was like. Wrath tells her that Darius was brave and strong, everything a warrior should be. She asks him what it is that he and Darius are fighting against. He tells her about the Lessening Society and its history of hunting vampires. He tells her that her half-brothers were slaughtered by lessers. She asks him who he’s lost and he shares with her the horrible deaths of his parents. She strokes his face and says she’s sorry. His anguish is utterly apparent and so is his self-hatred. When he tells her he blames himself, she helps him see how powerless he was, given his physical stature and the fact that he was locked in by his father. She tells him that no one in that situation could have stopped the deaths. No one.

  There’s a knock on the door. Wrath pulls on a robe, puts his sunglasses back on, and answers it. Boo, her cat, bounds through the room and throws himself into her arms. She laughs and hugs him. While she’d been asleep, Wrath had asked the butler to go and get Boo from her apartment.

  Wrath thanks the butler and catches sight of her father’s door. When they’re alone, he tells her he wants to show her something and draws her from the bed. He takes her across the hall to Darius’s bedroom. She walks in and is awed by the sight of dozens of photographs of her at various ages. They’re everywhere in beautiful frames. (She finds out later that Fritz the butler had taken them.) She also finds a picture of her mother. Wrath waits by the door as she explores her father’s room. As he watches her, he realizes that he wants to take her as his uta-shellan, his one and only mate. His wife. The thought then occurs to him that she may not survive her transition. He’s filled with a cold dread.

  Beth is incredibly touched at both her father’s obvious adoration of her as well as Wrath’s quiet support as she goes through the room. He answers her questions thoughtfully and each bit of information he shares is a precious gift to her. When she finds a diary, she asks him to come over. She can’t read the writing because it’s in a language she doesn’t know. As she holds the journal out to him, she realizes that he’s not even looking at it. She puts the book down and reaches to his face. She slowly takes off his sunglasses. Whenever he’s been without his glasses previously, it’s been dark. Here, in the light from a lamp, she sees that his irises are a pale, milky green, the pupils tiny, unfocused pinpoints. You’re blind, she says softly. Wrath feels an instinctive shame at his disability and tries to push her hands away. He worries that she’ll think he can’t protect her and tells her that he can still take care of her. Somehow, I don’t doubt that at all, she whispers while kissing him.

  Out in town, Butch arrives at the martial arts academy and sees Billy Riddle leave. Butch goes inside and talks to one of the instructors, a guy named Joe Xavier. Butch can’t put his finger on it but there’s something not right about the man. Xavier answers his questions about throwing stars and then casually asks Butch who he’s looking for. No one in particular, Butch replies. He asks if Mr. Xavier would mind if he bought one of the stars. They’re not for sale, the man says, but I’ll give you one. Butch takes the star and puts it in his pocket. He leaves and drives over to the newspaper to see if Beth’s come in. No one’s seen her.

  Beth leaves the mansion later that day, thinking she should go to work. She stops by her apartment, changes, and heads downtown. When she gets to the paper, her editor demands to know where she’s been. She’s missed two deadlines and he threatens to fire her. She sits down and writes two columns but her mind is really on Wrath. As fantastically unbelievable the story he’s told may be, it somehow makes sense. It explains why she’s always felt so different from the people around her. And how for some reason she’s always felt as if someone was looking over her.

  As the sun sets, Wrath calls for Marissa. She arrives in the chamber, pleased that he’s reached out for her because he’s obviously disturbed. On Wrath’s side, his mind is consumed by Beth. He’s worried that she’s out in the city without him, he can’t get the memories of making love to her out of his mind, and he’s petrified of her coming transition. Marissa offers him her wrist but, as Wrath closes his eyes, he sees Beth. In a surge of remembered passion, he goes for Marissa’s neck.

  Marissa feels him take her in her artery and she’s shocked. His body is fully aroused as he drags her against him. This is what she’s always waited for and she grabs onto his shoulders, reaching into his mind with hers. She gets a vivid image of the female he’s thinking of and her heart breaks. She finally lets her hope go. She knows that he will never, ever feel this way about her. A tear slips from her eye as he drinks.

  Across town, Mr. X sets out in search of another prostitute to use as bait to catch a vampire. This time, he’s brought a net with him that’s strung with silver cordi
ng. He kills another woman in an alley, leaving her to bleed out. When a vampire comes by, he traps the male in the net. Mr. X walks over and shoot several darts into the male. When the vampire loses consciousness, Mr. X drags him over to his car and drives him out into the country where Mr. X lives.

  Beth walks back to her apartment to pick up some clothes and checks her messages. Butch has called her several times and she’d also heard at work that he’d been trying to find her. She gets him on his cell phone. He tells her to say put because he’s coming over. She’s waiting for him when her stomach starts feeling nauseous. She pops a couple of TUMS but the feeling just gets worse.

  Wrath finishes with Marissa, and when he pulls back, she tells him that she’s releasing him of their covenant. He takes her hands in his and tells her he’s sorry. She murmurs that they were a bad match from the beginning. He vows to always protect her but she tells him that she’ll find someone else to do that. She dematerializes.

  Wrath goes upstairs and the warrior brothers come to him. While Wrath was with Beth the night before, they were watching the martial arts academy. They noticed a steady stream of lessers going in and out at three a.m. and believe that it is the center.

  Meanwhile, Butch arrives at Beth’s apartment and buzzes the intercom. When she doesn’t answer, he goes around to the back. Through the glass door, he sees her laying face down on the floor, curled in a ball. He breaks the glass of a window with the butt of his gun and goes inside. She’s writhing in pain. He starts to call 911 when she stops him. She gives him an address and begs him to take her there. He tells her he’s not taking her anywhere but an emergency room. She grips his arm and drags his face close to hers. She tells him if he wants her to live, he has to take her to Wrath. It all becomes clear to Butch. Wrath has gotten Beth hooked on heroin and she’s in withdrawal. If he takes her to an ER, she could die if she can’t get the drug. He picks her up in his arms and carries her to his car. Driving like a bat out of hell, he goes to Darius’s house.

  Wrath and the brothers are in the drawing room when they hear a pounding on the door. Drawing their weapons, they go over in a group. Wrath opens the door. Butch barges inside with Beth in his arms. Wrath takes her from him as the brothers watch in astonishment. He carries her as if she is utterly precious and disappears into the drawing room.

  Across town, Marissa has returned to her room and crawls into her bed. When her brother comes up later, in hopes of bringing her out to a party, he looks in horror at the fresh wounds on her neck and the bruising of her pale skin. Havers is consumed with rage at Wrath. He goes into his laboratory, convinced he has to do something.

  Back at Darius’s, Wrath lays Beth gently on the bed in the chamber. She’s suffering and his hand shakes as he takes out his dagger. He makes a move toward his wrist but stops because he wants to hold her close when she drinks. He makes a small cut in his neck and picks her up, cradling her. As she drinks from him, he rocks her back and forth, ancient prayers he thought he’d forgotten falling out of his lips.

  Upstairs, the brothers circle Butch. Butch is distraught about Beth, tired of dealing with drug pushers and their carnage, disillusioned about his job. When one of the brothers pauses in front of him, Butch lets his rage out, taking the larger man down to the floor. In a matter of moments, Butch is flat on his back, totally pinned, with an elbow crushing his wind pipe. The guy sitting on his chest is smiling tightly and commenting to the others that he kind of likes Butch. Just as Butch is about to pass out, one of them comes forward and pulls the man off him.

  Butch looks up at his savior while he gasps for breath. The man staring down at him has a scar running over his cheek and the deadliest eyes Butch has ever seen. This is really it, Butch thinks. This time he’s finally going to die. But instead of killing Butch, the man pronounces that they will wait for Wrath before deciding what to do. At that moment, a butler dressed in black livery bustles in with some hors d’oeuvres. Butch can’t believe his eyes. The guy passes a silver tray around and then tells the men that if they’re going to do any killing, would they please be so kind as take their business out into the backyard?

  Down in the chamber, Beth finishes drinking and Wrath holds her through the pain. At one point, he’s convinced she’s dying but she pulls through. Two hours before dawn, the agony finally relents and she falls asleep.

  Upstairs, Butch is stripped of his jacket and his captors go through his pockets and find the throwing star. You have a background in martial arts, one of them asks. Butch tells him no. So what are you doing with this is, comes the next question. It’s a friend’s, Butch replies. They ask him some questions about the marital arts academy in town. For some crazy reason, he almost thinks that they’re all after the same thing: the man who set the car bomb and might be killing prostitutes. The butler interrupts with an announcement that dinner is served. While the other men start to head out of the room, the one with the scar hangs back and tells Butch that he’s welcome to try and escape. The front door’s unlocked. But if Butch leaves, the man’s going to hunt him down like a dog and kill him in the street. When Butch is alone in the drawing room, he considers his options. He’s worried about Beth and decides, Scar Face’s threat not withstanding, he will not leave.

  In her bedroom across town, Marissa rolls over fitfully. She feels weird and it takes her a while to realize she’s mad. No, she’s beyond mad. She’s way into fury. She throws the sheets back and dematerializes. She figures that Wrath will be coming back home soon so she reappears in Darius’s drawing room. She’s tired of hiding herself away with Wrath and hopes his warriors are with him when he returns. She wants to tell him off in front of an audience.

  Butch is walking around the drawing room, pausing to look at the antiques and thinking that drug dealers end up with way too much money, when suddenly, there’s a woman in front of him. He feels his breath catch. She’s so ethereally beautiful, he almost forgets how to breathe. She has a delicate face, bright green eyes, and cascades of blond waves falling her back. She’s dressed in some kind of flowing white gown or robe. With a knee jerk protective instinct, Butch looks out in the hall, thinking he should take her away. He can’t imagine what a delicate beauty like her would be doing with a group of rough neck thugs like that. She’s so pure, he thinks. She’s so utterly pure.

  Marissa is surprised at what’s in front of her. It’s a human. In Wrath’s house. And the man is staring at her as if he’s seen a ghost. He clears his throat and sticks out his hand. Then he withdraws it and wipes his palm vigorously on the seat of his jeans. He puts the hand out again and introduces himself as Butch O’Neal. She considers the palm he’s offered her but takes a step back. He drops his hand and just keeps staring at her. What are you looking at, she asks, bringing the lapels of her gown closer. She wonders if maybe he senses she’s a vampire and is disgusted by her. A flush hits his cheeks and he laughs awkwardly. He apologizes and says she’s probably sick of men laying eyes on her. She shakes her head. No males ever look at me, she murmurs. To herself, she thinks that this was one of the hardest parts of being Wrath’s shellan. No males and few females would even meet her in the eye for fear of what Wrath might do. God, if they’d all only known how little she’d been wanted.

  The human takes a step closer. I can’t imagine the men don’t stare, he says. He smiles at her and his eyes, they’re so warm, she thinks. She’s heard so many stories about humans. How they hate her race, would burn her kind at the stake if they could. This one doesn’t seem violent, though, at least not towards her. What’s your name, he asks. She tells him and then he wants to know if she lives in the house. She shakes her head.

  Butch cannot take his eyes away from her. He knows he’s behaving like a perfect ass but he really wants to reach out and touch her, just to make sure she’s real. Would you mind—he shuts his mouth. What, she prompts. May I touch your hair, he whispers. She seems shocked and then a look of determination crosses her face. She takes a step towards him and he loves the way she smells. Li
ke clean air. She tilts her head down and one long lock of her hair falls forward. Butch takes the silken strands between his fingers. Soft, he thinks. So soft.

  Marissa closes her eyes as his hand grows a little bolder. She feels the touch of his fingertips on her cheek and instinctively she turns her face into his palm. Her body starts to feel warm and time seems to slow. She’s confused by the change in herself, a little frightened of the attention of this male. But she likes it. She likes the way he’s looking at her.

  Back at his home, Havers has spent the night pacing in the garden. He knows how to take Wrath out of his sister’s life but the method goes against his principles and his commitment to his race as a healer. Unsure, he goes up to her bedroom. When he finds she’s gone again, he makes up his mind. He dematerializes and projects himself to a retched part of the city. Dressed in his expensive clothes, he looks totally out of place among the leather and chain set downtown. He begins to pace the streets and alleys.

  With Beth sleeping soundly, Wrath leaves her to go talk with the brothers. When he pushes open the painting and steps into the drawing room, he sees Butch and Marissa standing close together. Wrath is astounded at the attraction he senses between them. It’s on both sides. Before he can say anything, Rhage comes in from the dining room, a dagger in his hand. He’s heading for Butch, having obviously seen the same thing Wrath has and believing that Marissa is still Wrath’s shellan. Wrath’s commanding voice pulls Rhage, Butch and Marissa up short. Wrath notes with approval the way Butch instinctively protects Marissa with his body. Rhage smiles and tosses the dagger over to Wrath, obviously assuming Wrath wants to kill the human. Relax, Rhage, Wrath mutters. And leave us.

  Butch looks up at the bigger man, thinking about Beth and now also worried about the blonde woman behind him. He feels a movement and realizes that Marissa is actually putting herself between him and the drug dealer. As if she could protect him. Butch starts to protest when Marissa speaks sharply in a language he doesn’t recognize. She and the dealer talk for a moment and then the dealer actually smiles. He walks over and kisses Marissa on the cheek. And then with a quick movement, the dealer reaches around her body and grabs Butch around the neck. From behind his sunglasses, the man’s shooting a glare right into the back of Butch’s skull. Marissa starts to push at the dealer’s chest but she gets nowhere. The dealer then smiles tightly and whispers in Butch’s ear, she’s intrigued by you. I don’t disapprove. But hurt her and I’ll- Butch cuts the man off, tired of having people vow to kill him. Yeah, yeah, I know, he mutters. You’ll bite my head off and leave me in the street to die. The dealer’s lips open as he grins and Butch frowns. There’s something wrong with the guy’s teeth, he thinks.