Midnight Sun

by Lyons, Rene

  “This is going to be too fucking easy,” Constantine rasped out, his voice thick with lust for the coming fight.

  In a flash of movement, the Templars attacked.

  Sebastian went for Buck but Gavin got in the way. He brought his sword up, catching the young renegade across the middle. The vampire’s eyes widened in shock as Sebastian’s blade cut clean through him. Gasping, he fell to the ground, nearly sliced in two. Bleeding, his insides falling out, the renegade clawed at the ground in a futile attempt to get away.

  Without a hint of remorse, Sebastian kicked him over and planted his booted foot on the gaping wound in his chest. The fires of battle blazing in his eyes, Sebastian sneered with evil delight as he took Gavin’s head in a brutal, but clean, cut. The vampire ended in a burst of ash.

  Turning, Sebastian swung at the vampire who struck at him with the katana he had hidden under his filthy macintosh. “What’s your name, boy?” Sebastian asked as he countered the kid, who had the nerve to actually think he was a match for Sebastian. Though the kid wielded his weapon well, he didn’t have the skill to cross blades with a medieval knight who had centuries to hone his prowess.

  “Ethan.”

  Sebastian smiled. “Good to know. I hate to turn a man to dust without at least knowing his name.”

  While Sebastian and Ethan continued their fight, Constantine impaled Pete in both shoulders with his daggers. The kid, too terrified to fight, howled in pain and staggered back. Constantine slapped him to the ground before giving him a solid kick that had Pete curling into a fetal position.

  Coming down on him, Constantine grabbed him by the front of his hair. “The least you could do is put up a fight.”

  Pete didn’t even try to defend himself against the legendarily Templar. He lay with his eyes closed; accepting the death he knew was only seconds away. Constantine couldn’t stomach a coward.

  Pulling the daggers out of Pete’s shoulders, Constantine grunted in disgust, using them to take Pete’s head. The vampire disintegrated into dust.

  It was Buck who gave the most fight. He might not have been on the level the Templars were, but he at least had the balls to back up his smart mouth. He dared to take on Constantine in a hand-to-hand fight. Though he did his best to knock the blades from the Templar’s iron grip, that wasn’t going to happen.

  Nothing was ever going to willingly separate the Dragon and his weapons again.

  Shrugging, Constantine sheathed his daggers. “We gonna throw hands? Good. More fun for me. I get to beat the shit out of you before I end you.”

  Constantine proceeded to do exactly that.

  As Allie watched, awed at how easy the Templars made it seem to take down four renegades, Constantine literally beat Buck near to death. If Buck were human, he wouldn’t have survived even half the battering Constantine was laying on him.

  Constantine hit him so many times and with such brutal force, Buck stumbled backwards. He tripped over his own feet and landed hard on his ass. He tried to fend off Constantine’s booted foot. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t strong enough or fast enough to avoid being kicked until his bones cracked.

  At the same time, Sebastian slowly advanced on Ethan. Even from a distance, Allie saw the glint of enjoyment glowing in the depths of his eyes. For the first time since she found herself part of the Templars’ world, she saw a glimpse of what lay hidden beneath the façade of modern man to the warrior he’d been in life. He was a warrior fighting with the fires of Hell in his eyes and the strength of survival running through his body.

  A swipe of Sebastian’s sword cut down Ethan before he severed the vampire’s head in one fluid motion. Reducing him to a pile of dust, Sebastian tossed the katana to Constantine. Dragon’s branded right hand shot out, catching the weapon easily and using it to make quick work of Buck, not bothering to toy with the arrogant vampire before ending him.

  The fight was over fast enough to make Allie’s head spin. Knowing Constantine’s penchant for violence, the quickness of the battle must be killing him.

  Bending down to retrieve his blades, Constantine grunted with frustration. “I miss the days when we had worthy opponents to fight.”

  Sebastian wiped blood from his face, keenly aware of Allie watching from only a few feet away. He looked over at her. She was holding on to his duster for dear life. “So do I. Just not tonight.”

  After using the bottom of his shirt to wipe the blood from his blade, he sheathed it before going over to Allie, making sure he was thoroughly in check when he did. The last thing he wanted was for her too see the bloodlust in him after a kill.

  “Here.” She handed him his duster. “You were amazing.”

  He threw her a lopsided grin. “I’ve had some practice.”

  Her small laugh and the hand she ran over the taut muscles of his arm managed to quiet what was left of his raging fury. It amazed him how she calmed with nothing more than a touch.

  “I bet you have, Templar.”

  As the fury abated the bloodlust hit Sebastian hard and fast. His gut contracted painfully and his mouth felt filled with sand. Everything remotely human inside him was overpowered by the vampire’s need for blood.

  He couldn’t even look at Allie without seeing the faint blue veins pulsating beneath her flesh. Her heartbeat sounded loudly in his head as the smell of her blood called to him, promised to relieve the agony of need burning him from the inside out.

  His fangs ached with the need to pull her to him and take her life into him. “Allie,” he rasped out thickly, “I have to go.”

  She nodded in understanding, glancing at Constantine, who was cleaning off his daggers before replacing them in his boots. “I understand. You stay here with Constantine.” He felt her dejection even as she made an effort to keep her tone blithe.

  “No.”

  He wasn’t going to let her drive away alone when there was a chance more renegades waited for the chance to strike.

  That’s how those pricks rolled, in groups, released in waves. A great battle tactic for success, it was also a pain in the ass as far as the Templars were concerned. They never knew if the fight was over or if an ambush lay in wait for them.

  “Suit yourself, just don’t think I’m giving up a vein if you lose your shit.” She unlocked the driver’s door then hit the master lock control. “Remember, they’ll kill you if you bite me.”

  Sebastian knew the “they” she referred to were the Templars. He didn’t need the warning since he had no intention of feeding from her.

  “Dent my car and I’ll beat you to death,” he threw at Constantine, who was already heading back to the club

  “I’m so scared, Sage,” he retorted without even a glance back before he disappeared into The Gate.

  “I mean it, Dragon.”

  “Go away.”

  Sebastian relented and climbed into the truck. Arguing with Constantine was the equivalent of ramming your head against a brick wall.

  Allie was already in the truck and had the radio on. An Evanescence CD was playing, the music haunting and somewhat soothing. Hopefully he’d be able to make it back to Randall Manor without the hunger completely taking control of him.

  As Allie sped off down the road, taking them further away from where he could feed, he almost felt a sense of panic come over him. He leaned back against the seat, gritting his teeth as wave after wave of the bloodlust coursed through him. The rhythmic beat of the music wasn’t helping him when it came to maintaining control.

  “Talk to me.” He pushed the words out from between his clenched teeth.

  “What do you want me to say?”

  Staring out the windshield, he ran a hand over his head, for a brief moment wishing he still had hair. He wondered what it would feel like to have Allie’s hand run through the long brown hair he’d had before the jailers finally sheared it off.

  “Anything. I don’t care. Talk to me to get my mind off the hunger.”

  She didn’t hesitate to oblige him. “Next Monday mak
es two years since Christian was killed.”

  That blurted out bit of news surprised him. Allie rarely talked about her family, especially her brother. He didn’t even know how he died, only when and where it happened. “I’m sorry.”

  What else was he to say? What could the dead say to ease the hurt of the living when someone they loved crossed over to God?

  “Don’t be.” He noticed her fingers bit into the steering wheel, telling him why she never spoke about her brother. The pain of his death was still tearing her apart. “He’d been addicted to heroin for years, hence my hatred of drugs. We thought we were going to lose him so many times, always dreading finding him dead somewhere. Thank God he got tired of being a slave to his addiction before he got AIDS from a dirty needle or killed himself from an overdose.”

  Allie, usually so animated, spoke now in dull, lifeless tones. He sensed the pain coursing through her as she related Christian’s life and death to him. He knew this was something she had been keeping within her, letting her emotions fester for years.

  “He entered rehab and worked the twelve step program for a year before feeling confident enough to venture out and try life as a sober man.” She looked sad. It left him helpless, unable to take the sorrow from her. “He met a girl who didn’t judge him about his past. She even came to his funeral. I like to believe she genuinely liked him.”

  Sebastian couldn’t speak, robbed of words as he sat, watching her talk. Her pain cut through him, forced away the bloodlust and replaced it with her grief.

  “They were out on a date when he slipped into the street and was hit by a car. The doctors said he never knew what hit him. I don’t know whether that’s true or not. I hope it was. It kills me to think he was aware of getting hit and rolled under the car.”

  Her broken heart reached out to him, begging him ease its pain. “I’m so sorry, sunshine.”

  He saw she was holding back tears. “So am I,” she whispered. “He was a sweet boy. But he was lost, Sebastian.”

  “You don’t have to explain him to me, sunshine. I’m not judging him. How could I? Look at what I’ve become?”

  Someone not judging Christian would be a first. Everyone judged him. Including her, Allie thought guiltily.

  She spent years hating him for his addiction, not merely unable but unwilling to separate the drug from the person. Even now, she still hated him for the lost years and the memories they would never have.

  “Sorry I’m the buzz kill.” She smiled weakly. “I shouldn’t have gone on like that.”

  “Don’t be, sunshine. You needed to talk about it and I needed to listen.”

  Changing hands on the wheel, she steered with her left, her right going to rest on Sebastian’s knee. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  She absently rubbed her thumb back and forth. “For being you.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Allie saw the small smile pulling at Sebastian’s lips. She meant what she said, she was glad the events of her life brought her and Sebastian together. With all of the Templars, actually. Funny how God took one brother and gave her back four.

  The rest of the ride to Randall Manor seemed to take forever, yet it wasn’t nearly long enough.

  Allie was reasonable enough to know she couldn’t—nor shouldn’t—keep Sebastian from feeding. He needed to do it to continue his existence, even if it galled her to know he’d be taking the blood from another woman. The fact of the matter was, if she wasn’t willing to let him tap a vein she better step aside so he could go do what he had to in order to survive.

  It didn’t mean she had to like it, however.

  By the time they arrived at the manor it was plain to see the bloodlust returned to him in full force. He looked as if he was in terrible pain, which he likely was since she knew the hunger hurt them. It was also clear Sebastian didn’t want to leave her when he made no move to get out of the truck after she pulled to a stop in front of Randall Manor.

  “I have to go.”

  Reaching out to lightly stroke the side of his cheek, Allie gave him an understanding nod and a small smile. “I know, baby.”

  A rumbling growl came from deep within him when Sebastian cupped her chin. He captured her mouth in a hard, fast kiss. “I want it to be you, Allie,” he ground out against her lips.

  As soon as those words left him, he was gone.

  She sat and watched as he took off on the back of his black and silver custom chopper. Her entire body was numb except for her heart. That particular part hurt so badly she wished she could claw it right out of her chest.

  Tears in her eyes, Allie drove away, trying hard not to imagine Sebastian running his hands along another woman’s body, coaxing her to open for him and give the one thing Allie couldn’t.

  She shook her head to dispel the vision, but it was no use. Her Templar bringing another woman pleasure, his mouth pressed against her neck as he took her blood into his own body, branded on her mind.

  By the time she reached her house the thin thread of control she clung to in order to keep her emotions in check snapped. She hated the tears falling freely from her eyes and the pain that tore through her. This was the reason she always kept her heart to herself. It couldn’t be broken if she kept it to herself.

  But she had given it away. Before she even realized it happened, Sebastian owned Allie’s heart. And now it was laid bare and cut to the core, the pain of it coursing through her as she dragged herself in. Through her tears she saw Lex sitting crossed-legged on the floor typing furiously away on her laptop. Barely sparing her sister a glance, she headed toward the stairs, needing the sanctuary of her room to hide away in until she could get a grip on her emotions.

  When Lex looked up, the welcoming smile faded, as did all the color from her face. “Allie? What’s wrong?”

  Allie shook her head. One word was all it would take for that thread to snap. Taking the stairs two at a time, she only wanted to get to her room and shut herself away from the world.

  Lex followed her, wringing her hands nervously. “Please talk to me, sis. You’re scaring me.”

  Allie tossed her keys on the floor and sank down on her bed. “I’m being stupid, that’s all.”

  She was fighting hard to hold in her tears. She didn’t want to cry, afraid if she started she’d never be able to stop.

  “Are you hurt?”

  Allie shook her head. “Not physically, no.”

  It was her heart that was bleeding.

  She gave her heart to Sebastian, who through no fault of his own, managed to shatter it into a million pieces.

  Allie peeled off her uncomfortable Goth outfit, slipped into a large tee and men’s boxers, and then climbed into bed. Lex settled in next to her. Her sister’s love and support was her undoing. The thread of control snapped and a floodgate of tears spilled forth.

  As Allie wept, Lex held her, rocking her gently. She whispered soothing words in her ear, as Allie had done when it was Lex who needed comfort.

  That’s how they stayed for the next hour. Allie in Lex’s arms as she cried out her frustration and hurt over what Sebastian was out doing.

  Neither of them heard the hum of the motorcycle engine coming from the open window.

  Chapter Ten

  Storming into Seacrest, Lucian slapped the newspaper down on the table in front of Tristan. “Another girl is missing.”

  Buried under a mountain of bills, Tristan looked from the picture of the young woman on the front page to Lucian, who could barely contain his frustration.

  “So I’ve heard. I believe they said her name is Amanda Driver on the news.”

  “This can’t go on, Tris.” Lucian began pacing back and forth beside the long table. Though he couldn’t age, the stress caused him to look well past the twenty-six years he’d been when he died. “If only I could get a fix on the bloody bastards! Constantine can’t either. Somehow, they’ve managed to block themselves from us.”

  Tristan leaned back and steepled his fingers u
nder his chin. “Either that or they’re mobile, jumping from place to place.”

  “So they can go on like this indefinitely.” Lucian looked about to explode with fury. Such a powder keg of emotion was never a good thing in a vampire.

  “I understand your frustration, Luc, believe me I do. But now is the time to remain levelheaded. Too much is on the line for you to go off half-cocked. We have to stay focused and keep pushing the search.”

  Lucian stabbed his finger at the face of Amanda. “Tell that to her,” he thundered. “If she’s not fucking dead already.”

  Remaining calm in the face of Lucian’s fury, Tristan stood and clapped a hand on Lucian’s shoulder, stilling his furious pacing. “Most likely she is dead, or else wishing to God she was. All we can do is continue on and hope no other women are going to die before we locate the Daystar.”

  Lucian turned on Tristan. All the rage inside him was reflected in the abysmal depths of his eyes. “The Daystar could be nothing more than a bloody myth for all we know.” He let out a frustrated, but empty, breath.

  “You know full well we wouldn’t have been sent here if the Daystar was mere myth. You of all people know how important it is to hold fast to faith. Don’t go down that road again, Knight. Only Hell awaits you at the end of it.”

  Lucian’s eyes took on a haunted glow as the memories of the past came back to him. Those long tortured years at Chinon, their death and damnation, they all rushed to him until he felt as if a hand were squeezing his dead heart.

  Fighting past the sensation, he leveled a glare at Tristan. “I’m being played with and you know it,” he ground out roughly. “I don’t like someone headfucking me.”

  “And I do?” Tristan rose and faced off with him. For the first time in years Guardian’s civility stripped away to reveal the vampire beneath the façade. “Think you I don’t want to rush headlong into war with this scum? I’d love nothing more than to cut down the legions of renegades until every last one of them is in Hell where they belong.” He calmed somewhat, backing away as the silver fire ebbed in his eyes. “But that’s not going to happen, since all I can do is stay cloistered behind these fucking walls with my hands tied as innocent lives are taken and souls stolen.”