Whispers in the Dark [A Raven Saga Book 3]

by Crymsyn R. Hart

  Jayd was numb when he turned her head to the side, exposing her neck. His fingers trailed the curve of it. The longer he caressed her, the more she felt she was being comforted by the one man she loved. He was her soul mate. Jayd tried to move within his grip, but there was nothing she could do. Patrick leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. Then, his lips trailed down the side of her throat, claiming his territory. A soft moan lingered on her lips when she took in a breath. This was not happening. Her mind began screaming that she had to snap out of it. She had to keep him talking to give more time for Seth to get back. She had to stay alive. There was no way that she could let this guy bite and make her into some kind of monster.

  Whatever it was, she found a way to break his hold on her mind a little. Jayd moved her hand behind her back again and pulled the letter opener from the waistband of her jeans waistband. With her palm wrapped around the semi-sharp blade, the pain of it digging into her flesh made her mind snap back to normal. What the hell had she been thinking? The curtain of gossamer lifted from her thoughts, and she could think clearly again. The way his lips moved down her throat reminded her of a dead fish. Everywhere Patrick touched her was cold. Could she ever be warm again? He nipped at her neck. She had to control a hard tremor when it shimmied up her spine. She bit her tongue from moaning out in disgust, but he must have thought she was enjoying it so he bit her a little harder. The curve of his fang slid along her flesh. Jayd knew she didn't have much time left. Without thinking, she drove the point of the blade through the heavy fabric of his coat. It stuck squarely near his shoulder blade. Once it hit Patrick, he came up quick from her neck and howled in pain.

  His eyes burned in a cold night. His lips were peeled back in a grimace of pain. The two long, curved fangs that made him into what he was had drops of her blood on them. Jayd sprinted toward the back hallway to the back door. If she could make it out there, she might have a chance. Tears blurred her vision as she ran blindly through the hallway. Her fingers found the doorknob. Patrick's arms ensnared her waist. There was nothing she could do now. She was trapped.

  "Please.” This time her tears ran freely down her cheeks. Jayd was not able to stop them or the fright that encompassed her soul.

  "I was going to make this painless for you, Jayd. Now you don't give me another choice. That little stunt you pulled back there really cost you, love.” His hold on her tightened, and he began dragging her back the way she had run. Jayd slumped in his arms. She had tried to escape from him, but he had caught her. It was inevitable that he would find her and get her again if she tried to run. Where would she go? Seth was not coming back to help her out. Her faith in that was dwindling by the second.

  Patrick threw her down in the middle of the floor. Her fall was cushioned by one of the thick rugs she had on the tile floor. Her butt took most of the impact and moved up her spin so she was motionless for a second staring up at him. He still had the letter opener in his hand. The tip of it was stained crimson. Her stalker came over to her and straddled her. When he did, he put the blade of the letter opener to her throat.

  "I should use this to slit your throat, Jayd, but if I did that, it would all be over too quickly for you. And I so wanted you to enjoy this, Jayd. More than you know.” He sliced the letter opened lightly across her throat and then moved it slowly down the front of her T-shirt between her breasts. “Don't you want to beg me for your life? Don't you want to plead with me not to do anything to you?"

  She shook her head. “No. Because no matter what I say or do you're going to do whatever it is you planned anyway."

  "Very perceptive. You'll make a magnificent night creature. You'll be mine. Just like I said before.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Jayd turned her head away from him. Jayd closed her eyes when he pinned her with his weight. His lips moved down the side of her throat. She braced herself for the pain, but was unprepared for the sharpness of it when he pierced her vein. Her body's reaction was to jump, but he held her down. She tried to get him off of her with her hands, but he clutched both of her wrists and held them above her head with one hand.

  Once his teeth slipped into her flesh, he began to pull on the blood pumping from her wound. Her heart convulsed. It seemed all her veins were filled with liquid silver. She tried to get her breath, but that was hard. Patrick drew on her life sucking slowly so she could feel the blood leaving her body.

  Her mind she screamed but only whimpers passed her lips. “Please. Stop. I'll do anything. Please.” She knew that this was what he wanted to hear. At this point, she didn't care if she played right into his hands. All she wanted to do was live. She didn't want to become a cold creature. Patrick stopped working on her neck and stared at her. Her blood gave his lips color. The crimson stain looked like paint against the paleness of his flesh. He smiled.

  "Shh, love. I know you're afraid. You poor heart is racing so fast. You'll die of fright before I finish my mission. I won't let that happen to you. You taste so wonderful, like cherries."

  "Let me go. Please. I don't want to be like you. I'm not anything special."

  Patrick smiled at her once again and then descended on her throat one more time. This time biting her anew. Jayd jumped again. A moan slipped over her lips. The fog descended on her brain one more time and she welcomed it. It helped to ease the pain of him pulling on her veins. Euphoria took hold of her, and she was okay with being his mate. It was a strange trance state that lasted. Her heart slowed and she was cold all over, but this time it wasn't from him touching her. She was tottering on the precipice of death. In her mind, in the distance, there was a dark figure standing and waiting for her. Jayd also saw the figure of her Aunt Gabrielle. She reached out, but her aunt shook her head and backed away. So did the other dark figure. Jayd had the feeling she was not going to be joining them even though she wanted to.

  "Drink, Jayd. Drink and live."

  She heard Patrick's voice in her mind calling her back to herself. She wanted to ignore it, but the pull she felt to him was unmistakable, and she would do anything he said. Jayd turned her back on the figures she saw and opened her eyes. When she did, Patrick was staring down at her and holding his wrist over her lips. She saw the sweet juice dangling from his twin wounds and let it fall into her mouth. Once it did, it burned going down. She raised her head a little and took his wrist to her mouth. Her rational side was screaming for her to spit it out and try to get away, but Jayd was entranced. The only way she was going to live was to drink his blood.

  "That's right. Take all of it, beautiful."

  Jayd drank swallow after swallow, not sure how much she could take, but wanting more with each intake of blood. Then she heard a sound. It was a caw and then the jingling of the chimes above the door. Her soul melted when she heard the cold hard voice of Seth.

  "Get the hell off her, bloodsucker."

  Jayd was free from Patrick's weight. He yanked his wrist away from her launching himself at Seth. She wanted to help, but darkness was dragging her under, and she had no choice but to heed its call.

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  Chapter Ten

  Seth could barely believe what he saw when he appeared back in the shop. A man dressed in a black coat bent over Jayd, straddling her chest, and she was drinking his blood if it was the finest thing in the world. Despair entered his heart. The Raven Warrior watched the scene for a moment while he emerged into the world. When he did, he demanded that the vampire get off of her. The thing turned slowly and then snarled at him. Seth scanned Jayd and heard her heart slowing. The leech's blood had already entered her system. Jayd still might have a chance to be human if she hadn't taken a lot of his blood.

  "Why do you interrupt me? This one was mine,” Patrick hissed at him.

  Seth realized the vampire didn't know what type of being Seth was. He thought he was another vampire. That might be something I could use for my advantage.

  "Why is she yours? I've been watching her longer than you. By right, she should be mine!” Set
h growled back at him. He held his power in check in case the vampire figured out that he wasn't the vampire he pretended to be. The Raven Warrior knew he had to dispose of the leech if he had any chance of saving Jayd.

  "I didn't smell your claim in her. If she were truly yours, then you would have bitten her and claimed her long ago. I've already bitten her and marked her with my blood. For that, she is mine. Now go away, night brother. I was not told that there would be another around her."

  Seth stepped farther into the room. His hand itched to hold his silver sword. Once he did that, he'd take the head of the vampire and whisk Jayd away. But he was taken aback by the statement. There was someone else involved! “Who told you there'd be no one else here?"

  The leech got up slowly from Jayd. When he did, he ran his hand over Jayd's cheek and Seth saw a look of compassion run over the vampire's face. Seth realized that somewhere in the leech's cold, dead heart he cared for Jayd. “My queen, of course. The ruler of my coven. I was told that Jayd was alone and that she would make an excellent addition to the coven, but when I saw her, I knew she was my mate. I couldn't believe it after all this time. I had finally found someone to share the night with."

  The warmth drained from Seth's body. This thing thought Jayd was his mate? That was impossible. Seth knew that Jayd was his soul mate, his heartmate, the one to break the curse that had held him in the night for so long. He didn't know if it was possible for one soul to be bonded to more than one person. Was it possible? Would the goddess do something that? The vampire had to be deluded. Jayd was Seth's even if she didn't know it yet. If the vampire loved her, he wouldn't have stalked her for months, left her strange messages, scaring her to death. Seth would show her the world and he would do everything in his power to make sure that Jayd was not going to turn into a vampire. She was not going cross the threshold of death.

  "Why would your leader single Jayd out? Doesn't she know there are other covens in the area and that maybe Jayd was earmarked for someone else?"

  The creature hissed and leaped at him. Seth sidestepped him and put himself between Jayd and the vampire. At the moment, this was the best thing for him to do.

  "My leader wouldn't make such a mistake. She knows all. She's been our leader for centuries. She chose Jayd for me, and I owe her everything. Now, if you don't mind, you've wasted enough time. I have to get Jayd back to the coven and get her fed. She will awake in a few hours, and her hunger will cause her to attack anyone she sees. You know this if you have young ones. I do not want to cause a scene in such a small town. Now let me pass with my bride."

  Seth ran his hand over his jaw. “I don't think so. Jayd is mine. Now why don't you tell me where your mistress is so I can dispose of her as well?"

  The vampire laughed. “You'll never find my coven. My mistress has it hidden well. If I do not return, she will come to find Jayd. She will come to find me. Now let me pass!"

  The leech bared his fangs and lunged at Seth again. Seth didn't see him move. He had underestimated the leech. The vampire took a swipe at him. Its claws got him in the side. The sudden pain surprised him. It had been so long since he'd been in a battle with an adversary who had hurt him. Not to say the vampire was a formidable opponent, because he wasn't. Seth was just taken off guard. He'd had enough of the vampire. Jayd's time was running out. Her heart was stuttering. He could hear it even now.

  The Raven Warrior closed his eyes and listened for the rustle of air when the vampire moved around him. Without a second thought, he summoned his sword, and in the mid-arc of his arm's down swing, the weight of it appeared in his hand. When his arm came down from the swing, the blade connected with flesh. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the blade had not missed its mark. Seth had been aiming for the vampire's neck. However, he had sliced the vampire in half through the torso. The two pieces separated in the shop, but the vampire wasn't dead. His top half was crawling over to his bottom half, trying to get back at him. Seth didn't wait and stood over it.

  The vampire put up a hand in surrender. “Please. Kill me, but don't hurt her!” It wheezed. Blood trailed over its lips. Seth's stomach turned in disgust.

  Seth didn't wait for the vampire to beg anymore and brought his sword through the leech's neck, severing it. Once that happened, he waved his hand over the remains, and they erupted in flame. It was the only way to get rid of the body. He sent his sword back to the other realm and bent down over Jayd. When he did, his heart broke staring at her.

  "I'm so sorry, Jayd. I tried to get back to you. I swear I did.” Seth put a hand on Jayd's cheek. Already the ice of death had entered into her skin. Her heart had nearly stopped. “I won't let you die. I won't let you become one of those things.” Seth closed his eyes and concentrated on the power that was inside of him. All Raven Warriors had the ability to heal. Since he was older than the other Ravens, his powers were more developed. The power of the moon above him flowed into his being, and the hot power of the sun joined it. The others didn't understand where their powers had come from, but Seth did. He had discussed it with Caleb during their long nights in Raven form. Caleb seemed to understand that they pulled their powers from the dark and from the light. Nephthys, their ruler, was a night goddess, but they needed balance. Everything did in the universe. And Seth, being a priest of Ra, still held the sun over the moon even though he was ruled over by a goddess.

  The power filtered into his hands and he felt a great weight on his heart. He was not going to lose Jayd. He lifted her in his arms and laid one hand over her heart and another on her forehead. She appeared to be a sleeping angel. Her lips were a slight shade of blue turning gray. Her breath was ragged. Her heart was barely beating to push the blood through her veins. In short, she was dying, and he could feel the life leaving her body. He closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer to Nephthys, begging her to bring Jayd back to him. When he opened his eyes, he let loose the power that had been gathering inside of him. Once it was unleashed, he saw the gold of his power flow over Jayd like lava. It warmed her skin. It arched her back, and she opened her eyes and moaned. She did not see Seth, though. Her eyes fluttered shut in another moment. The gold of his power touched her lips. But when he poured the power into her, he felt that even though it was battling the affects of the vampire blood, it was not going to be enough. It would take all of his strength to fight it, and he did not know if he had that kind of stamina. He pulled Jayd close to him and hugged her. When he did, tears streamed down his cheeks. It had been ages since he'd cried, but it still surprised and frightened him. The Raven Warrior had never felt this way about anyone. When he held her, focusing on trying to bring her back to life, he realized that there was only one person who might be able to help him. If not stop the transformation, at least halt it long enough for Seth to find a cure. He would not lose his heartmate to the darkness he fought against, that he protected other charges against. The alternative of taking her to Robyn, the Raven Warrior sorceress, chilled his heart. There was no other choice. He couldn't take Jayd to Betha because she was off with Linnea and the girl. Even now, when he focused beyond his own power, he heard the council calling him and his other brothers. He had told Tremain to get the council before he had come to Jayd. Now they were waiting on him. He didn't have much time and his power was waning. The vampire blood was trying to fight against his power. It was a virus in Jayd's system he couldn't conquer. Robyn was his only hope.

  He hadn't seen the sorceress in centuries. She lived by herself near the realm of fey, where she was not bothered by Raven Warriors, humans, or banshees. She was free of the curse because she had been given the gift of immortality to save her life. Seth had been the one to give her this gift. All because he thought he was doing the right thing at the time for saving her. Now he had avoided Robyn. The others knew of her, of course, but they stayed away from her also. Robyn hated all of the Warriors, especially Seth. Over the years, her mortal witch powers had grown, and by living in the other realm, she had learned much more and had been accepted by the fe
y. She hated banshees and stayed away from the council. Seth had given her the one gift he could to save her life. All Ravens were allowed to turn one mortal into a Raven. Normally, this gift was reserved for their heartmates but, if needed, could be used on anyone. Seth had used it on Robyn to save her life. Robyn hated him for it. It was unlikely she would do him any favors, but he at least had to try.

  "I can't leave you to die, Jayd. And I can't let the darkness claim you. Forgive me for what I'm about to do. Leaving you again.” Seth wrapped the shadows around himself and Jayd. When he reappeared, he stood outside a neatly kept cottage. Ivy and roses grew on the outside. This should have been in the English countryside and not in the other realm. He did not see Robyn and hoped she was home.

  "Robyn!"

  There was silence all around them. Something groaned in the forest behind the cottage. Birds chirped and other things lurked in the darkness. He could feel the shadows were none too friendly in this place. They were reacting to Jayd's presence. They did not like the fact that she was infected. Seth searched with his mind, trying to find the link that connected him to the sorceress since he turned her into a Raven, but it was silent. Somehow, she had managed to cloak herself from him.

  "Robyn!” His voice echoed in the woods. Jayd began to mumble something in his arms. Seth listened with all his might and did not hear anything in the surrounding woods.

  "I heard you the first time. What do you want?"

  Seth spun around and saw Robyn, unchanged. Right before his charge, convicted of heresy as well as witchcraft, was burned at the stake, he had been able to save her. He could not get to his charge before the guards dragged her off. He was still in Raven form, and with every cry of his charge's dying breath, he willed the sun to rise so he could try and save her. Even trying to call the Shadows could not be done because were too many people around. Having his charge disappear from the fire would've caused the rest of her coven more harm. The others were let go, and he turned into a man and saved Robyn while she tortured. Robyn was a short woman, in her mid-twenties when she had been mortal. Her hair was a russet red the color of a bleeding sunrise and her eyes a striking reflection of silver. He noticed some of her hair was shot through with silver when the light hit it. She was not old, but all the power she used must have been turning her hair and her eyes silver. Robyn had more of a round shape with gentle curves. He had forgotten how she looked, it had been so long.