5 Darkness Falls

by Christin Lovell

  “If I’m not safe, then she’s not safe.” Mel braced herself against the burly vamp.

  “Don’t fight me. You’re not trained. Get out now while you still can.”

  There was something about him that spooked me, and obviously Mel too, because she immediately backed down. She turned to me. “Um, I don’t think I told you, but Craig wants to stay with me. He said he doesn’t care. I guess that’s a bit like a fairy tale in some ways.”

  “It means he loves you.”

  She smiled. “I know.” She hugged me. “Sorry for going off on you earlier.”

  “Sorry for ignoring you. How about I call you every morning while I’m baking? I can put you on speaker and we can talk while I work. Maybe some days you can even come over and taste some stuff.”

  “Sounds perfect.” She nodded.

  “Thanks for tonight.” She’d been amazing, as usual. She never ceased to surprise me.

  “You really need to get out of here. And take this.” Drex pushed a dart gun into her hands, and shoved her towards the door.

  Mel swallowed hard as she looked back at me. She looked at Drex and then Kai. “Make sure I don’t have to bury my best friend.”

  I watched helplessly as she rushed out the door. Alarm knotted in my chest, squeezing my lungs and banging on my heart.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, looking directly at Drex. Kai was in motion, racing around the apartment, checking windows. Apparently, Drex had opened his mind and let Kai in.

  “It’s better if you don’t know. Leave it up to us, Baby Cakes.” His voice was lax, completely opposite of his body language.

  The baby moved inside my belly, reminding me that it wasn’t only me. It was both of us. That’s the reason I plopped down on the sofa, curling on my side against the arm.

  The next few hours were a blur of commotion. Sanders and a few other army and Bladang soldiers joined us. Whatever it was, I knew it was serious for them to call in back up.

  Chapter 23

  Kellan

  Damn it. I’d royally fucked up.

  I’d lost count of the miles I’d traveled with my dad and Derek still knocked out, in my arms. If Cecilia’s team did catch up to us, Al was going to be angry. He’d specifically said for me to leave him behind, reminding me that I had a baby to think of.

  I guess in the moment, it was easier to focus on what was in front of me rather than what was ahead of me. I thought of all the times my dad had supported me when I’d been nothing but a disgrace. He never gave up on me. Even my mother had been exasperated by me at times.

  Lexi, I feared, was drawing dangerously close to the point of no return when it came to being frustrated with me. Having a baby with her wasn’t changing that. I couldn’t blame her. Staying together for a child would inevitably make you miserable. No child could be happy with miserable parents.

  I slowed as I reached another clearing. It looked familiar. The moment I saw the snapped limb, I knew I was only a couple miles from the car. My dad had said if things got hot in the war zone, our minds would fuddle and we might need signs to assure us we were on the right track in getting back to base. He always thought of everything. Which meant…

  Shit! He’d known. Looking at Cecilia’s house, he knew what we’d encounter. He had too much training not to at least know there was a basement or a cellar. But he’d let me lead. He’d allowed me to call the shots, even at the risk of losing his own life.

  There’s nothing like adding whip cream and a cherry on top of my heaping pile of guilt.

  I sped up, running full steam towards the vehicle. I pulled the keys from my pocket, another switch my dad had insisted on despite him driving here.

  I pressed the button, awkwardly shifting the men so I could launch my dad across the back seat. I slammed the door behind him, opened the trunk and did the same with Derek.

  I hopped in the front seat and locked the doors. After starting the engine, I sped off. I may not know where we were going, but I knew we had to get there fast.

  I whipped out my cell phone to make the necessary calls.

  ***

  Lexi

  “Hello?” His accent was thick as he answered my call.

  “Hi, Jack. I have a huge favor to ask you.”

  “Hello, Lexi. What can I do for you?”

  “If I e-mail you some files, can you run them through the voice recognition software?”

  “Of course.”

  There was a rustling of the phone before the storm came.

  “What is going on? No one is answering their phone, but I heard the freaking order for some of our men to get to your apartment.” Gabi didn’t have patience; her tone reflected her ‘I want answers now’ attitude.

  “They’ve left me in the dark, but I assume it has something to do with Kellan, because I haven’t heard from him since he left.”

  “Santos ciruelas de azúcar.”

  I snickered. “I’ve never heard Mel’s phrase in Spanish before.”

  She was quiet, and quiet for Gabi was rare. It meant she was shocked; it meant she was overwhelmed beyond words.

  “I’m going to e-mail Jack some files for him to run through the voice recognition software. The sooner you guys can get those back to us, the better chance we have at locating Kellan.”

  “Of course, chica. We’ll call you in a bit.” Her voice was soft, solemn.

  “Thanks.” I hung up my phone.

  I needed to do something. They’d forbidden me from leaving the condo. They were IDing everyone at the door with badges and retina scans. It seemed like they were going overboard. If it wasn’t for my baby, I would demand that they all leave. I would force them into letting me fight my own battle.

  I needed a distraction, a way to get beyond the chaos within my home. My house had become a temporary base. Meetings, briefings and huddles around the map covering my dining room table were bothersome. Men stationed at windows in every room plus a team patrolling my balcony sent my pulse racing every time I considered the danger that must be closing in on me for security to be so tight.

  I e-mailed Jack the chat files before moving into the kitchen with my laptop. I pulled up the orders that had poured in since this morning’s fulfillment for Bloody Bakes. I strapped the iPod around my arm, stuffed the earbuds in place and blasted the music to drown out the pandemonium.

  I spent the next several hours baking. It was very centering; it seemed to align my chakras in the same way it calmed me during stressful times.

  “Holy shit. It’s like the flipping C.I.A. headquarters in here.”

  I looked up at Gabi in surprise. I yanked the earbuds from my ears, scrubbing my hands on my apron. “What are you doing here?”

  Jack moved in behind her. “We’ve been calling you for hours now. When we couldn’t get a hold of you, Gabi panicked and demanded we come over to check on you.”

  “Thanks. You could have called Kai, you know.”

  “Hm. That someone wasn’t answering his phone either. Guess I’m not important enough,” she scoffed, throwing her nose up in the air.

  “Did you get a positive ID?”

  “Yes.” Jack handed me two sheets of paper.

  “Derek Lucero?” I scanned the information printed. “We’re related?”

  “I dug deeper. Turns out his father was Sharon’s half-brother. This makes you first cousins,” Jack explained.

  I stared at the photo. Unlike Kalia’s, this was a perfect picture, clear as a bell.

  Derek stood about the same height as Kellan, around six feet. His dark blonde hair was a perfect fade into spikes atop. His brown eyes were dark, yet they had hints of honey striations, reminiscent of my own.

  Even though the paper clearly said he was a vampeen, my chest tightened. Why would a vampeen, bred from my grandfather, want to help Kellan, a vampire? The fact that he was a vampeen made me feel somewhat better though, because Cecilia wouldn’t hire a vampeen from what I’d learned. But, what did Derek want from Kellan? Cousin or not, Kel
lan was supreme. I didn’t need his blood running through me to. I had something better. His baby.

  ***

  I rolled over and hit something hard; no, not something. Someone.

  My eyes flew open.

  “Shh. It’s just me.” His voice soothed me. It made all those hours of fretting slip away.

  My heart pounded as I studied Kellan. His left eye was black and swollen. “What happened to you?” I sat up in the bed. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d gotten to the room, but didn’t care at this point.

  I traced a gentle finger along the bruised skin, frowning.

  He chuckled. “Kai has quite a right hook. Socked the shit out of me for putting you through hell.”

  My movements faltered. “You’re not mad?”

  “I’m glad you have someone who would go to the ends of the earth to protect you in my absence.” He grew pensive as he rubbed my hard belly. “I don’t know if the prophecy is true or not, babe. A lot of things are lining up.”

  “Don’t talk like that.” My voice was a soft plea.

  God, I’d been so scared. Facing a reality without him, even a small taste of it, was almost too much, even if I was angry beyond words with him.

  “A while back, I talked to Kai about stepping in if something happened to me. I don’t like him, but I respect him. He’s stepped on my territory a few times, but he’s never betrayed you. He’s been there in every battle and done all he could to keep you safe, even when I didn’t. I don’t like him, but he’s the only person I would trust you with if I was gone.”

  Tears stung my eyes. I’d just gotten him back, and he was already talking about leaving me again.

  He held my face in the palms of his hands. “Hey. I’m not planning on going anywhere, but I want us to be on the same page just in case.”

  I swaddled by belly. Kai was a good substitute. I knew he would always love me and be there for me, perhaps better than Kellan in some instances. But he wasn’t Kellan. My soul didn’t dance freely with Kai at every embrace. My heart didn’t skip a beat every time I saw him.

  I grabbed his shirt. “Never do that to me again. Ever,” I growled as hot tears slid down my cheeks, colliding with his hands.

  “I’m sorry.” His eyes were glossy, full of repentance.

  I let go, wrapping my hands around his wrists, lightly tugging his hands away. “Kellan, what’s happened to us? We were once a really strong couple. Now, I don’t even feel like I’m looking at the man I love sometimes. There’s too much distance; too much chaos and way too many secrets. I can’t even access your mind sometimes when we kiss. That’s new. It’s like…” I shrugged. “I feel like I’m losing you little by little.” More tears built as I kept eye contact with him.

  He sat up in front of me, a pained expression on his face. “I was trying to pull away. Lex, I’ve been studying the prophecy with Will while you’ve been at the office so much lately. We were trying to pinpoint a window of time when…” He swallowed hard, peering down at my baby bump – our baby bump. He lifted his gaze, slowly. “When I would be hit.”

  My heart lurched, my pulse picking up. Anxiety shot through me as fear squeezed my chest. “And?”

  “It’s soon. It’s before the baby is born.” His voice was low, sorrowful.

  I couldn’t hold back the tears that flooded my eyes. “I hate that stupid freaking book! I wish no one ever wrote it. We’re not meant to know our futures. I could still be enjoying the present if it wasn’t for that stupid foreshadow of prophecy.”

  “I was trying to make it easier. I don’t know if I fully believe every word in there, but a lot of it has happened already, which is really compelling. The prophecy is slowly morphing from speculated truth to history.” He grabbed my hands, lacing his fingers with mine. “I thought if I pulled back, if I forced you to let go of me before anything happened, that it wouldn’t hurt as much when it came to fruition.”

  “How could you decide that alone? I’d rather have more happy times, more memories to pass down to our child than to let go of you out of resentment.”

  He stared at me. It seemed like he was beginning to realize the error of his ways, regardless of his good intentions, but rather that follow through, he slipped on a mask.

  “Don’t do that, Kellan. Please don’t shut me out.” I jerked on his hands.

  He mashed his lips together. “I got you into this mess, Lex. The reason all these people are here is because I caught up with Cecilia, and rather than take her out, like I wanted, I pissed her off. She’s issued a death order on you.”

  “It’s not like we haven’t faced this before?” I yelled, exasperated. “Self pity isn’t a good enough reason to hurt me like this, Kellan, and it’s sure as hell not a good enough reason to give up on us.”

  I released him, sliding off the bed and heading for the door. I glanced back over my shoulder. “Think about that, Kellan. What’s the point? Why live the last of your time punishing yourself, and me, rather than making the most of your time?”

  I walked out the door, closing it behind me. I was met with bedlam. Nothing had changed in the time I had slept.

  I studied the space, the men and women conversing loudly, using my home for a stake out. In the middle of the madness, he came forward, moving towards me. I’d recognize him from the picture any day.

  Rage coursed through me. I was on the verge of illuminating as my serum rose. He’d taken Kellan there. He’d dropped Kellan off right at Cecilia’s door. Pendejo!

  He gave me a meager smile, extending his hand towards me. “Hi, I’m Derek.”

  I glared at him. Pulling back, I sent my right fist flying into his face. I felt his bones crunch beneath my impact.

  He stumbled back. “Fuck!” His hand flew to his cheek.

  The entire apartment silenced. No one moved a muscle.

  “Thanks for nothing, primo,” I snarled, stomping past him towards the kitchen.

  Chapter 24

  My pulse was jumping as I looked out from behind the island. They all watched me from a distance; no one dared move towards me. My features were still twisted; I felt the telltale tugging on my face. Shock registered deep in my chest. I’d just punched someone. Hard.

  This wasn’t like me. I didn’t knock someone out at the first greeting. Maybe I was hormonal. Maybe I was a nightmare pregnant woman. Maybe Kellan was just being nice about it.

  I grabbed the Lysol wipes and proceeded to scrub the counters. I needed an outlet for my aggression, and a body wasn’t the optimal choice.

  I lost track of how much time passed before Anthony, Bobby, Sal and Rashik showed up.

  “Where’s Kalia?”

  “Dropped her off to Auggy at headquarters,” Anthony said. “She kicked and screamed the whole way.”

  “His parting gift was a spit wad to the face,” Bobby laughed.

  I focused on Rashik. “How are you?” I looked him up and down. He seemed to be in good health. His pulse was solid; his heart beat present and strong for a vampeen, but I didn’t miss the darkness in his eyes.

  I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the study, still empty aside from a guard on duty. “It’s safe in here. You can tell me anything.”

  “How is my family?”

  My heart broke. Fear had him fidgeting; concern wrinkling his brows. “I spoke with your wife yesterday, the moment you were found. She and your girls are doing well and anxiously waiting for your return.

  His eyes glossed over, and he pressed his lips together, as if trying to control his emotions.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “I want to get home to my family.”

  I understood that. “I’d like to change your territory if you don’t mind.”

  His head whipped towards me.

  “You can decline, but I’m thinking about you and your family’s safety. Do you have any other family?”

  “In India.” He’d cloaked his emotions, slipping behind a mask, as if he didn’t want to hope.

  “Alr
ight. Then India will be your new territory. I’ll find someone else to cover South Africa.”

  He stood silent before me, mulling over my words I was sure.

  “There’s no rush to get back into things, especially after all that happened. And moving continents is a big deal. Is two months long enough if the vampeen army covers the moving expenses?”

  He cocked his head. “I’m afraid I misjudged you. You are certainly not your grandfather.”

  “No, at least I don’t want to be.”

  “My family will be very happy.” His dark eyes seemed to light up, as if a weight had been lifted off him. “Thank you.” He extended his hand.

  I shook his outstretched hand. His warmth engulfed me. A tingle went up my arm and sent my heart soaring. He was my proof that a good leader didn’t have to be a dictator. Kindness and humility were good qualities to retain in the highest positions.

  I released my grip. “I’d like for you to give a detailed report of what happened in your time with Kalia. I’m not going to rush you, but if you could have it to me by that two month deadline, that would be great. It can be a verbal recording or a written document. Just e-mail it when you’re done.”

  “That is very fair.”

  “Alright. Then let’s go book your ticket home.” I smiled, leading him back to the living room.

  I saw Derek sitting on the couch icing the side of his face. It was already healing from what I could see around the edges of the Ziploc bag. Kindness and humility, those had been my words.

  “Drex?” The guard appeared at my side in a second. “Can you please book a flight back home for Rashik? The company card is in my wallet.”

  He nodded, immediately moving towards my purse. I rarely used it, but when I was home, it was a drop bag for all that I used regularly when going out.

  I turned to Rashik. “Drexel will help you, okay?”

  “Thank you.” He ran a hand through his shaggy black hair. He was anxious to get home, I was sure. I felt bad taking him so far away only to send him back, but I had to see that he was okay for myself.

  I braced myself, moving towards the sofa. “How’s the healing coming along?” I sat on the other end of the couch and angled myself towards Derek.