by Tina Folsom
It would be an early dinner, and they wouldn’t stay out longer than an hour. Peter was asleep when they left. He’d been fed and bathed and was a happy little boy when he was put to bed. Delilah was to call the old lady who lived downstairs from them should her brother awaken, and she in turn would fetch them from the restaurant.
All went quiet after her parents left for the restaurant. Delilah played with her dolls. She checked on him to make sure he was covered by his blanket. And that’s when she noticed something.
Peter was too quiet. She couldn’t hear anything. He just lay there in the crib surrounded by silence. She shook him.
“Peter, wake up.” He didn’t wake like he normally would when he heard voices. She shook him again, but he didn’t respond. Maybe he was just really fast asleep. Maybe he was so tired he couldn’t hear her.
But he wasn’t tired, and he wasn’t asleep. Fear froze her to the place where she stood, looking down at his quiet body. No breath, no movement came from him. And Delilah just stood there, in shock, unable to move, unable to make a decision. She wasn’t prepared. She only stood there.
Delilah hadn’t moved from the place by the crib when her parents returned twenty minutes later. She barely heard her mother’s screams when her father lifted Peter’s lifeless body out of his tiny bed.
He was gone, because she had hesitated. It was her fault. She was in charge of him, and she let her parents down and destroyed the family.
After Peter’s death, they moved back to the States. Her parents never blamed her openly, but she knew it was her fault. She never saw her mother laugh again. And her father, he tried everything to cope with the loss and to help his wife as best he could, but the loss of his son was too much for him too, and it seemed like all joy had left him.
Delilah blinked the tears away when she felt Samson’s strong arms wrap around her.
“You were eight years old.”
“It doesn’t change anything. I froze. I didn’t do anything, when I could have saved him.”
He shook his head. “No, sweetness. It should have never been your responsibility.”
“But it was.” His embrace felt good, but she knew it was only temporary. She wanted to soak up as much as she could, before she had to leave him.
“Shh. Think of the meadow. Think of how happy you were back then. I was there with you.”
She looked up. “But how? It’s not possible.”
“Every time you kiss me, you take me there. Because that’s where you were happy, and that’s what you wanted to show me. A place to be happy. Take me there now, Delilah.”
Samson put his hand under her chin and nudged her head up. His lips met hers for a gentle touch, then a deeper connection, before she abruptly pulled away from him.
“I can’t. I can’t stay with you.”
“But why?”
“I don’t know you. You’ve been lying to me so many times. It’s not a basis for a relationship.”
“I’ve apologized for that, and I’ve explained why I did it.”
Delilah shook her head and shrugged off his hand. “You want forever from me. I can’t give you forever. I don’t even know how I’ll feel tomorrow or a week from today.”
“I know it’s hard to accept what I am, but you know that I will never hurt you—”
“That’s not the point. You want me to make a decision which will affect the rest of my life. I’ve only known you for three days. How can you want a lifetime commitment from me after such a short time? How can you even be sure?”
She saw a smile form around his lips. His face was soft and gentle. “I feel the bond between us. I know you’re the one. It’s something I’ve never felt—not with Ilona or anybody before her. I know we’re meant to be together. To be blood-bonded.”
“You talk about this with such certainty. I don’t have that. And blood-bond? I don’t even know what it means. I know nothing about your life. How can you make me choose between my old life and a new one when I don’t even know what I’m choosing?” Delilah felt confused. Nothing made sense. What Samson wanted from her was too all-consuming. It was something she couldn’t control.
“A blood-bond is a unique connection between two people who love each other. It’ll tie us together for eternity. We’ll belong to each other. Everything that’s mine will be yours.”
“I don’t want your money. I want nothing. I don’t know what I want. Don’t you understand? This is too much, too soon …” She felt tears build up in her eyes. “How can you even be sure that you love me? You know nothing about me.”
Samson shook his head. “I know everything about you.” He put his hand to where his heart was. “I can feel you inside me. When you’re in pain, I can feel your pain. When you’re happy, I take part in your happiness.”
“It’s not possible. You just want me because you were starved for sex, needed it like a drug to fix your ‘condition.’ What you feel now will vanish, and then? What are you going to do then? Discard me? No, I can’t do this.”
“Delilah, what I feel for you is true. It won’t go away. So what if we’ve only known each other for three days? Have you never heard of love at first sight? I fell in love with you the moment you fell into my arms when I opened the door. I just didn’t know then. When I’m with you, my world is perfect. The things you make me feel … I’ve never been a tender man, but with you, I yearn to be tender and loving. You bring the best out in me. You soothe me, you warm my heart. I know I’ve made mistakes, but I’ll start all over again for you. I’ll give you anything in the world you desire. I’ll do anything to make you happy.”
His words touched her. She couldn’t deny it. But she wasn’t ready to make a decision like this, a decision she couldn’t reverse. Forever was too foreign a concept.
“Samson, I can’t—”
A loud knock at the door interrupted them.
“Samson!” It was Amaury.
“Not now!” was Samson’s reply. “Please, Delilah, stay with me. Be mine. Let me be yours.”
“We have a traitor in our midst!” Amaury’s voice was insistent.
Samson yanked the door open.
“I think it’s Thomas; he’s behind it.”
Samson’s face froze. “Oh, God, no.”
He looked back over his shoulder. “We’ll talk later, Delilah. You are my life now, whether you want it or not.”
Delilah gave no indication whether she believed him, but Samson couldn’t wait any longer. The unshed tears in her eyes made his heart constrict, and more than anything he wanted to hold her, but he had to take care of this problem now. Thomas, of all people. He didn’t want to believe it.
He rushed down to his office, flanked by Amaury.
“Show me.”
Amaury pulled up the transaction screens and explained what was happening. “Here, see, Thomas is logged on as we speak, and he’s authorizing all of John Reardon’s encrypted transactions.”
The screen was littered with pop-up windows showing approval notices.
“What are they?” Samson scanned the screen.
“Wire transfers. He’s wiring all our cash to offshore accounts.”
“All?”
“Yes, all he can get his hands on. Millions. If we don’t stop him, you’ll have to shut down the company tomorrow—we wouldn’t be able to even make next week’s payroll.”
The news was devastating. Thomas, his friend of almost a hundred years was betraying him, stealing from him. And not only that, he was the one who’d tried to harm Delilah. No matter how long his friendship with him had lasted, there was only one thing to do now.
“Let’s go,” he ordered Amaury. “Carl?” he called out into the hallway as they rushed out. Carl appeared out of nowhere.
“Yes, Sir?”
“Protect Delilah.”
“Yes, Sir.”
They jumped into Amaury’s Porsche which was parked on the street and raced toward Thomas’ house. Samson pulled out his cell phone and instructed Ricky to m
eet them there and bring two of his men. They needed all the help they could get. A vampire out of control was a dangerous animal. They had to be prepared for everything.
“Doesn’t this thing go any faster?” Samson couldn’t contain his impatience.
“I’m going as fast as I can without killing anybody. I’m just as angry as you are,” Amaury confessed.
“I know.” Samson looked out the window, recalling what Delilah had told him.
“Do you love her?” Amaury’s question was unexpected.
Samson gave him a sideways glance. “More than my life. But she doesn’t understand what that means. She’s resisting. I don’t think she’s forgiven me for hiding things from her.”
“Does she know that you’d never hurt her?”
He nodded. “And I told her I’ll give her anything she’ll ever want. I explained to her that she’ll have a right to everything that’s mine.”
Amaury shook his head. “Sometimes you’re so dense, it’s not even funny.”
What the hell was his friend talking about? “I’m not dense.”
“Sure you are. A woman like Delilah doesn’t want money or worldly goods. She wants a man who will always be true to her. Somebody who’ll never lie to her, somebody she can always rely on.”
“But I’ve told her I love her. I told her, I’ll never hurt her. I even apologized for lying to her. I’ve done everything I can.” Samson felt exhausted.
“Words. It’s all words. She doesn’t trust your words. She only trusts your actions. You’ll have to show her what you feel. You have to do something for her that’ll prove that you mean what you say.”
“But do what?”
“How would I know? You’ve spent the last few days with her. You know what’s important to her. You feel the bond with her—”
“You know that?”
“You forget that I can sense your emotions. I know you feel the bond with her. Use the bond to find a way to convince her. Give her want she wants, truly wants in her heart, and she’ll be yours.”
His friend’s words made sense. Samson closed his eyes and opened his heart to reach out to her. Too much pain clouded her heart. She had to let go of it before she could recognize what else her heart was hiding. He had to help her with this journey. He suddenly knew what he needed to do, and he hoped it was the right thing.
Samson dialed Gabriel Giles’ number in New York. His call was answered almost immediately.
“Gabriel, I need your help on something.”
***
Thomas lived in a home built into a hillside below Twin Peaks. It afforded the most stunning views of San Francisco. The house was modern, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city and a hidden cave carved into the mountain behind. This was where Thomas’ bedroom was, shielded from any daylight.
Ricky arrived at the same time as Samson and Amaury and was accompanied by two other vampires in Samson’s employ. This situation needed to be handled delicately, and Samson was pleased to see Ricky had chosen two of his most loyal and discreet employees. While Samson didn’t know many of his human employees, he knew virtually every vampire on staff. Ricky was in charge of vampire recruitment at Scanguards and selected every vampire personally.
They all nodded to each other. Ricky’s normally cheerful face was overshadowed by solemnity. It mirrored Amaury’s. Nobody looked forward to what they had to do. They were a tight-knit group; finding out that one of them was a traitor hit all of them equally hard.
“Amaury, can you sense him?” Samson asked his friend.
Amaury looked at the house and closed his eyes. “Yes, he’s here.”
“Let’s go,” Samson ordered.
“Wait!” Amaury’s voice was a command, stopping the four other vampires in their tracks. “Something is wrong. His emotions don’t make sense.”
“What do you mean?” Samson inquired.
“Too many emotions all at once. All jumbled.”
“Could it be that he’s not alone?” Ricky interjected.
Amaury shook his head. “I can only sense him.”
“We have to go now.” Samson pulled out a wooden stake from his pocket. What he had to do was painful, but there was no other resolution. Thomas had been his friend for many years; at least he would make it quick. No torture, no pain for Thomas. He owed him that much.
Samson caught his friends’ looks as they glanced at the stake, and shuddered inwardly. But he couldn’t show weakness now. This betrayal warranted the highest punishment.
The two vampires Ricky had brought were positioned outside the house to prevent Thomas from escaping.
Ricky opened the door with his spare key—a security measure they’d put into place years ago, making sure the four friends could gain access to each other’s homes in emergencies. Quiet and darkness greeted them as they entered.
Samson’s eyes adjusted to the dim light and quickly scanned the interior. The great room they found themselves in was empty as was the adjacent kitchen and bar area. A wall with a door separated the house into two parts: the open and public area, and the private and dark quarters behind.
Samson made a sign to Amaury and Ricky, indicating he was going in first. The corridor was even darker than the front of the house, but just as empty and quiet. He inched forward, his feet making virtually no sound.
Behind him, Ricky and Amaury were as quiet as he was. A small sliver of light came from beneath the door Samson knew to be Thomas’ bedroom. They stopped in front of it.
Samson knew that even though the three of them had been quiet, Thomas would have heard them. A vampire’s hearing was sensitive, and Thomas would have picked up any or all of the noises they had made. It was strange that he hadn’t made a move yet, unless, of course, he had set a trap for them.
Samson braced himself when he turned the knob and swung the door open. Within a split second he’d entered the room and surveyed the scene. Ricky and Amaury did the same, positioning themselves so the three of them formed a triangle at the outer edges of the bedroom. In this formation they could attack.
Only, there was nobody to attack. The room was empty. No Thomas.
“Amaury?” Samson’s question was as clear as if he’d spoken it.
“I can still sense him. He’s in the house.” Amaury closed his eyes again, concentrating. “Downstairs in the garage.”
The house had a garage as well as other caves reaching into the hill.
“He should have been alerted to our presence by now,” Ricky claimed.
Samson nodded. “I don’t like it.”
They stalked downstairs and made their way through the garage which was filled with various motorcycles and a sports car. Nothing out of the ordinary.
“Behind this door. I can feel him.”
Samson was about to put his hand on the door knob when Amaury jerked him back.
“No!”
Samson gave him a questioning look.
“Thomas is in pain.”
“In pain?”
“Silver.”
All of them stared at the door knob, and now Samson noticed it. The knob was covered with silver foil. He shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around his hand before testing the knob. He could feel the effect of the silver even through the thick cloth, but it was muted.
Silver was the only metal capable of burning a vampire’s skin. It served as the only way to restrain a vampire.
Samson nodded to his friends, then jerked the door open. Before them was the dungeon. Samson had always suspected Thomas of having a room where he unleashed some of his baser fantasies, but he had never expected it to be quite like an exhibit as could be seen at the Folsom Street Fair. Flogging galore. Not for the faint of heart.
Samson rushed into the dimly lit room, Ricky and Amaury on his heels. The source of Thomas’ pain was evident instantly. He was restrained against a wall, held in place by silver chains. Chains he would be unable to break. His skin was covered in painful sores where the silver touched him.
>
Relief flooded through Samson instantly. Thomas hadn’t betrayed him. Somebody had overpowered him.
“Thomas!”
Thomas’ head lifted an inch, but he appeared too weak to look at them.
“Ricky, Amaury,” Samson ordered with a shrug of his head toward the chains.
Ricky and Amaury did like Samson and took off their jackets, wrapping them around their hands to work on releasing the chains.
When the last chain fell free, Samson caught Thomas’ injured body in his arms and placed him on the chaise in the corner.
“Ricky, get him some blood. Upstairs.”
He stroked a hand over Thomas’ burned face and heard him wince.
“Who did this to you?” Samson’s voice was low.
Thomas’ lips moved. “Milo.”
“Amaury, find him.”
Thomas’ hand instantly gripped Amaury’s to hold him back.
“No.”
Samson looked at Thomas, not understanding.
“He’s dangerous.”
Ricky arrived with the blood. “Drink.” He led a bottle of blood to Thomas’ lips and let him gulp it down. Seconds ticked away. Amaury’s impatience showed.
“Milo stole my password. He’s going to ruin you,” Thomas pressed out. “I’m sorry Samson; I didn’t see it coming.” Genuine regret flooded Thomas’ eyes.
“None of us did. We’ll get him, don’t worry.” Samson’s voice was calmer now. Knowing that he didn’t have to kill his friend Thomas had eased his pain.
“I can reverse it. Get me upstairs to my computer. I can do it.”
Samson and Amaury helped him up. “Can you stand?”
Thomas nodded. “I’m better. But you have to hurry. Milo will get away, and so will Ilona.”
“Ilona?” Samson stopped in his tracks.
“Yes. She’s his sister. He’s doing this for her. She’s been after your money all along.”
So she hadn’t given up after he’d dumped her. He should have known.
“How did you find out?”
“Just a hunch that Milo was hiding something from me. And then, when Ricky and I went to find John … When we got to his house …” he hesitated and looked straight at Ricky. “I know I should have said something right then, but that’s when John’s wife screamed and we ran inside.”
