A few minutes later, Alec’s Mustang came barreling up the road. As soon as the car screeched to a halt in front of the house, Dash jumped out of the driver’s seat. The back door flew open and Alec hauled Ethan out and put him on the ground.
“Come and hold him down while I get something for him,” Alec said to Dash.
Dash took over while Alec ran into the house. When he came back, he had two bags of blood. Lifting one above Ethan’s mouth, Alec opened the valve so the blood was dripping into his mouth.
It wasn’t long before the blood was gone and Ethan started on the next bag.
“Where do you get that stuff anyway?” I asked, wrinkling my nose.
“Black market donors,” Alec said.
Ethan was beginning to resemble his old self, though he still looked ill.
“Are you okay now? Can we let you go?” Alec asked him.
Ethan nodded.
When they unwrapped the chains from Ethan’s arms, there were scorch marks where the chain had come into contact with his flesh.
“Why is he burned?” I asked.
“The chains are made of silver. This is a metal that vampires are allergic to,” Donovan explained.
Ethan sat up slowly and looked up at me, his face flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” he said. “If I had been myself -” Ethan stopped before finishing.
“I know.” I offered a smile.
My father draped an arm around my shoulders. “I must be going. There are issues that I need to attend to.”
I nodded, knowing exactly what those issues were.
“Do you think she is still angry?” he asked.
“Well, yeah,” I said. “Maybe a little, but it could also be a lot.”
Donovan frowned. “I guess that’s to be expected.”
“You probably should have told her why you had to leave,” I scolded.
He shook his head. “If I’d done that, she would have worried constantly about your welfare. I wanted you to have a normal childhood.”
“What about my sisters and their childhood? Do you even know anything about them?”
“I confess, I know little of your sisters. One disappeared when she was a baby, and the other when she was a little girl. They are both younger than you are.”
I couldn’t get over the feeling that my father knew more than what he was letting on. To just let two of his children disappear from the face of the earth and not bother to look for them, seemed too out of character.
“What do you mean younger?” His words sparked my anger. “I thought you said you loved my mother? Did you go right out and find someone else?”
“I do love your mother, more than I have loved another woman, but I also loved their mothers,” he said, placing his hand on my shoulder.
“How is that possible?” I asked, finding no comfort in his words.
“I am a vampire, Nicole. My craving for pleasures of the flesh is just as strong as my hunger for blood. I much prefer human women to vampires. The immortals are too cold for my liking,” he explained. “I’m sorry, but I am what I am.”
“A vampire player.” I rolled my eyes.
“Let’s not forget, according to the prophecy, there was to be three of you. So it was meant to be,” he added as if that was supposed to excuse everything.
“Prophecy?” I echoed. This was the first I’d heard of any prophecy. “What do you mean?”
I knew that we were meant to fight our evil uncle, but I hadn’t realized that it was a full-blown prophecy.
“You and your sisters were always meant to be. It is your destiny to defeat the darkness. It is Omar’s wish to bring back the original vampires so that the immortals will once again rule over humanity. This would not be a good thing.” A shadow fell on Donovan’s face. “I believe that you and your sisters are the embodiment of both darkness and light. You are meant to defeat Omar and be the bridge between the two, so as to bring together the two worlds.”
Wow! I thought this seemed like one heck of a heavy burden for someone who barely knew anything about the situation.
“Is that what you meant by we had to come together?” I asked.
Donovan nodded. “It is the only way to stop the coming storm. I am convinced of that.”
“How will I find these sisters?” I wanted to know.
“When the time is right, you will find each other.”
It was obvious he wasn’t going to give me any information that would help me find them.
Donovan turned his attention to Alec. “Will you see my daughter home?”
The two of them looked at each other as if they were communicating some kind of unspoken message. As soon as I saw this, my stomach knotted up.
Alec nodded.
“I’ll do it,” Dash cut in.
“Alec will see Nicole home.” Donovan left no room for argument.
“Well, I just thought, you know, since it was on my way,” Dash shrugged his shoulders.
My father turned back to me. “I will see you soon.”
“For sure this time?”
“Yes, for sure.” He nodded.
After my father was gone, I turned to Dash. “Thank you for all of your help.”
“Sure.” He grinned. “But when are we going to Wyoming? We’re still going to do that, right?”
“Yes, I have a feeling we’ll be going there sometime in the near future.”
Alec took my hand in his and we started walking toward his car.
“We aren’t flying?” I asked.
I was really beginning to like flying.
Alec shook his head.
Once we were in his car, he sped away. He seemed preoccupied, barely saying two words to me all the way to my apartment.
This wasn’t a good sign.
When he pulled up in front of the apartment building, he got out and opened the door for me.
Still, he said nothing all the way up the stairs. When we reached the door, I asked, “Would you like to come in?”
He hesitated, but then nodded. “Sure.”
As soon as I close the door, I turned to him. “Okay, Alec. What’s wrong?”
“You shouldn’t have gone off like that, not alone.” He frowned.
“I thought my mom needed help. How did you know where to find me?” I asked.
“Followed that beacon,” he said, his features softening. “I suspected Omar had you, and that he’d taken you to the Cell,” he added.
“I should be thankful you are so in tune with my signals.” I sensed that there was more to Alec’s dark mood than just the fact that I’d gone off on my own.
I was right.
Suddenly, he pulled me into his arms and started kissing my face, his lips traveling to my neck. “I have to leave you, Nicole,” he said softly.
Wiggling out of his embrace, I backed away. “No, you can’t leave!” I shook my head. “There’s no reason for you to leave.”
“Sweet, it is best. We both know that.” The pain I heard in his words added to my own devastation.
“No,” I said, tears rolling down my face. “This is my father’s doing. I know it. You’ve been acting strange since we got back from New York.”
“Yes.” Alec nodded. “It’s true that this is what he wishes, but I would have left anyway. I love you, Nicole, and leaving is the only way I can truly express that love.”
My entire world was falling apart. Alec was my heart – the reason I took my next breath, and now he was leaving.
“No! What is best for me is to be with you. I love you, Alec!” I cried.
He reached up and gently brushed my tears away. “I am the last person you need in your life. I am darkness.”
“But I was born to darkness, so none of that matters.”
“Yes, but you will only blossom in the light. You will have children and grandchildren, and you will know through it all, that I will love you for eternity.”
His lips came down on mine, but this time, there was no hunger in his kiss, only s
adness, and regret. When his kiss ended, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close while I sobbed into his shirt.
The embrace was over too soon.
“Don’t do it, Alec. Please!” I cried as he turned away.
He hesitated. “Nicole, don’t make this any harder than it already is.”
“But I can’t live without you,” I managed to choke out the words between sobs.
“Goodbye, sweet,” he said without turning around.
I closed my eyes so that I would not have to watch him walk away, but I heard the door click shut behind him.
When I opened my eyes, he was gone. Not since the day of Jay’s funeral had I felt this alone and empty.
Instead of going after him like my heart was screaming at me to do, I turned away from the door.
# # #
Look for the next book in the Dark Legacy series, Dark Enchantment at, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LFIWWMO
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Author
Lorraine Kennedy is the author of the Immortal Legacy and Realm of the Wolf Series, as well as several novellas and short stories. Ms. Kennedy was born and raised in Utah but has lived in several different states. She attended Weber State University, majoring in Criminal Justice and Anthropology. Lorraine Kennedy and her family now make their home in Utah. You can get Lorraine Kennedy news by visiting her on the web at www.lorrainekennedy.com
Dark Seduction: A Vampire Romance (Immortal Legacy Book 2) Page 8
