by Janet Jones
"Comfortable?” she squeaked. She made to ease herself off the pool table. “I've had all I can take for one night."
Ellory didn't move. His expression told her what he didn't need to put into words. He said it anyway. “Talisen, I have no choice. I've told you what I am. That could compromise others of my kind. They're within their right to bring a grievance against me, and they have. I have only tonight to make up for my neglect. If I don't show them I have you under my control, they will attack us to get to you. My children won't survive that."
Her heart thundered in her head as they stared at each other. “Control?"
He pushed a tendril of her hair away from her face, his eyes full of apology. “I have to drink from you. If any other vampire comes within ten feet of you, he will know I've marked you for my own."
Her hand went instinctively to her throat, to the place where he'd nipped her earlier in the evening.
He shook his head. “Not that kind of a mark. Actually, I shouldn't have left that."
She narrowed her eyes. “You wanted to do it then, didn't you? But you practically ran out of the room. Why?"
He hung his head. “I was too hungry. I was afraid I would hurt you. I've fed well tonight. It will be safe for you now."
Talisen blew out a harsh sigh that fetched his gaze to hers again. “Ellory, I think you'd better get yourself another girl to play this game with. It's just too weird for me."
"Talisen, I swear, you can trust me. After we've done this, I'll be able to protect you and be near you in a way I can't right now. Your life depends on that."
She glared at him. “Get out of my way."
Like a door swinging shut, his face became impassive, but for the plea in his eyes. “If you leave this house, they'll find you. You'll be dead before morning."
Icy fear unwound in her middle. She ignored it. “Move."
He took a step back from her. “When you've had enough, speak my name inside your mind. I won't come for you, until you call me."
Talisen sensed the cool assurance in his words that her life was in danger. She felt it to her soul. But she wouldn't believe it. Hopping down from the pool table, she strode to the door. “I'll come back for my things tomorrow. I don't know about doing the portraits. I'll have to think about that."
She was out of the room in seconds, barreling down the stairs. She darted into her room to get her keys and purse and hurried downstairs. She could hear Ellory descending slowly behind her. She had to get out of this house.
She slid to a halt at the front door when the Benedikt children padded out of the den. She rounded on her heel to look at them, refusing to think of them as anything but teenagers. Human beings. But they returned her gaze with glistening, knowing eyes. Their beautiful, unblemished, expressionless faces, their exquisite grace, so like Ellory's, made too much sense to her now.
Ellory came down and paused at the foot of the stairs, his eyes pleading.
Sean was the only one who looked puzzled. Then he just looked sad. For the first time, she saw the physical differences between Sean and his “siblings,” but she just couldn't, wouldn't believe. With one more look at Ellory, feeling as though she were leaving her heart behind, she turned and yanked open the door. Ahead of her lay night, fresh air, and freedom.
She resisted the urge to slam the door behind her. She didn't want to wake Shelby.
* * * *
Ellory was shimmering out of sight before the door closed.
Georgina sprang to his side. “Wait, Ellory, there's something Jenny and I must tell you."
He materialized. “What is it? Quickly."
Georgina's porcelain face went a shade whiter. She held out a hand to Jenny, who joined her. “I've felt him. It's Dylan. He's close. I remember how his presence felt before, when he killed our first family. If you go out there, he'll find you. I should've told you before now. I'm sorry. Jenny feels him, too."
Jenny nodded. “He's tried to speak to me. I recognize his voice. I didn't know he was an old enemy of yours. I've jeopardized you all by being here."
Ellory hugged them close, shaking his head. “I know he's near. Have known. But, Jenny, you must not answer him. Use the strength of your brothers and sisters to stay centered, or he'll use you to get to us."
Jenny put her hand to her head and moaned. “But he's so strong inside my mind."
"Ellory,” said Christophe, “if he takes control of her, our safeguards will be useless. It will be as though Dylan is among us, here in our very house. He knows we'd never risk hurting her to fight him."
Ellory nodded. He ran a hand over Jenny's silken head. “We need to put you to sleep, so far under that Dylan can't reach you. But I am too connected to Dylan by my hate to do it. He'll eventually trace my compulsion and break through it. We need someone who is as powerful as I am, but not as connected to Dylan emotionally. Meical is skilled at this, Jenny."
Jenny recoiled. “No."
An aberration glimmered at Ellory's side, and Meical appeared. “Ellory, an execution party has been dispatched. They're tracking her, even as we speak."
Ellory looked down at Jenny, begging for her trust.
She shook her head, her eyes wide. “Only you."
Meical took a step toward Jenny, but halted when she glided into Sean's arms. Ellory had to admire his friend's adroitness. Meical's strong suit was a smooth and elegant breed of coercion that none could resist. He did nothing but stand there, returning Jenny's gaze, as though no communication passed between them. But Jenny relaxed.
A moment went by, and Meical quirked a brow. He held out his hand. That was all. Jenny reached for him, let him pull her closer, sighed once, and let her eyes close. Seconds before she slumped against him, he bent and caught her up in his arms.
"And sleep sweetly,” he drawled. He handed her over to Sean. “There you are, boy. Your Sleeping Beauty will need plenty of blankets when you wake her."
Sean's mouth gaped. “When I wake her? I thought since you're the one who put her under, you have to wake her up."
Meical shrugged. “After she trusted me enough to let me pack her off to the sandman, it hardly seems considerate to let her wake to see me ogling her.” He added with a scurrilous grin, “She'll wake to you and you alone."
Ellory gave Meical an appreciative smile. They vanished together, binding the door closed behind them with a spell that would strike a stranger dead.
Ellory heard Talisen's frantic heartbeat in the night. Her thoughts were chaos. Disbelief had driven her into defiance. Even now, she refused to speak his name.
He picked up the sound of six other heartbeats close behind her. Dark hearts. The execution party. He knew each of them. The borders of their domains touched his own.
He launched himself into the air, with Meical following like a shadow, and skimmed over the countryside, tracking the sound of Talisen's heart. Picking up speed, he willed himself to become mere particles that moved through the damp air like a cyclone. He had felt this same pall of panic long ago, rushing to save his loved ones, those who could not be saved.
But no one would take Talisen from him.
He roared, clenched his teeth, and became a streak in the night sky. Thunder broke the stillness that blanketed the forest. A storm at sea swept inland. Lightning lit the world in sporadic silver-white, and then died, leaving only darkness again. The rain hit just as he heard Talisen's frantic thoughts scream through his mind, then scatter.
The death squad had found her.
* * * *
Talisen floored the accelerator. The camper groaned and growled. She ignored it. The windshield wipers worked like mad to peel the sheets of rain away. Splat, screech, splat, screech, splat, screech.
Her mind dulled. The steering wheel felt like rubber. She just drove. Moments later, she blinked and looked around her. What road was she on?
She cast a glance out the window. Woods and more woods. No headlights ahead or behind her. There was bound to be a place to turn around. She locked
her gaze on the road, peering through the slobbery windshield.
A buzz in her ears bit at her concentration. An image filled her mind. A quiet place in the forest. Remote. Still. Its peace beckoned, even as it repelled her. Terrified her.
She shook her head. No, turn back. Back to town. Back to people. Go back. She let up on the accelerator. Pain splintered through her head, causing her to jerk the wheel hard. The camper's tires screeched and fish-tailed on the wet pavement. She screamed, slamming both feet on the brake and clawing at the steering wheel.
The forest yawned in front of her, stunning white in the lightning. The thunder rumbled just as she threw her arms up to brace herself for collision.
The camper stopped. Her body kept going. The seatbelt bit into her and slung her back into her seat. Seconds passed. She hadn't run into anything. She'd just stopped.
She exhaled and opened her eyes. The camper was dead.
The lightning creased the dark. Talisen looked up. Movement. Someone was out there. The rivulets of rain on the windshield made the figures dance and vacillate like monsters. And they were approaching her.
Darkness again.
Talisen slapped the lock down on both doors and twisted the key in the ignition. The engine gurgled, choked. “Come on, come on. You can't do this to me. Not now!"
The sky brightened again, silver-white. They were there, six of them, closing around the camper. One sidled around to her side. Talisen jerked the key hard, bruising her fingers.
Gurgle. Choke. Darkness.
The door on the driver's side exploded off its hinges.
Talisen's scream was lost in the rumble of thunder that followed. The lightning flashed. A long, pale hand closed over the seatbelt. It snapped like thread.
She threw herself to the other side of the seat and kicked at the thing, crying. He caught her flying heels and slid her out of the camper, setting her on her feet before she slithered into the wet road.
She pushed her soppy hair out of her eyes and looked around at them, stunned. Death dressed in jeans, windbreakers and sneakers. Their faces shone with pallid brightness. Beautiful faces. Glittering eyes. Hungry eyes.
The one who held her shoved a lock of rain-drenched gray hair out of his face. When he flashed his fangs in a sudden smile, she knew what he was, knew he was real.
She leaped away. The wrench to her hair made her neck pop. She saw her feet fly up in the air ahead of her and clenched her teeth. Still she struggled. The vampire shook her until her eyes bulged, then caught her close.
His mouth moved against her ear. “Escape is impossible. You do yourself harm with this senseless wiggling."
"We should take her farther out of town, Blazek."
She couldn't tell which one of them spoke. All she could see was a blotchy version of trees and sky.
"That won't be necessary,” answered the vampire who held her. “We'll go deeper into the forest."
The world fell away from her feet. Talisen squirmed against the sickening weightlessness, while the night wind caught her breath away and the woodland around her flew past her at a dizzying speed. She was dropped into a puddle in a clearing and caught before she could run.
The gray-haired vampire, the one they called Blazek, shoved her backward against a pine. The bark bit into her back, and she yelped.
He was on her in an instant, saying over his shoulder, “When we're finished here, we'll return her to her car. She had an accident. Agreed?"
Murmurs of assent echoed around her.
An accident? Her gorge rose.
Perfect, deadly face above her. She opened her mouth to scream again. His hand closed around her trachea just enough to silence her, turning her cry to a cough.
His voice mesmerized, the sound of pure reason. “Benedikt has revealed our nature to you, and that is something humans cannot be made privy to, unless they be guided most carefully. In his effort to protect you from what he is, he has killed you. Take that knowledge with you, where you go."
Grandma ... are you waiting for me? Please, be waiting for me. I can't do this by myself.
"I can make this unbelievably difficult for you. You have no idea. Yield, and I will send you gently from this life. It's your choice."
She clawed at his arm, but couldn't feel it. Her hands were numb, her legs shaking. She buckled against him. Hot breath fanned her cheek, reeking of a familiar fleshy odor. She'd smelled it tonight, when Jenny was ill. Blood.
His mouth brushed her forehead. Death-cold lips, not warm like Ellory's. He ran a hand through her drenched hair and pulled her head back to bare her throat.
Benedikt has revealed our nature to you.... Why hadn't she listened to Ellory? In his effort to protect you from what he is....
She believed now, but too late. She was far from safety. No way could he find her.
She couldn't see through her tears. Please ... not like this ... not when I can't see.... The demonic face above her swirled and spun into a hundred dancing death masks. His head dipped. She felt his mouth open luxuriously against her throat.
Her silent scream exploded from her soul. ELLORY!
A bolt of lightning slammed the earth less than a hundred paces away, blinding her. Its loud companion bellowed and crawled inside her roaring head. She looked around her, seeing through spots. The vampires clasped their hands to their eyes and wailed, but then closed ranks around her again.
Blazek's body pressed the air out of her, and she ground her shoulder blades against the pine in an effort to squirm away. Bile gurgled up from her stomach when his icy, soft lips touched her throat again.
A cry of pain stunned her. Hers? No.
Blazek leaped away, gray hair flying, clasping his mouth with both hands, his eyes wide as he stared at her. When he dropped his hands, his mouth was blistered and bleeding.
The bowing, bucking trees glowed golden-red. Two tongues of fire erupted from opposite sides of the clearing, splitting into six tributaries of death. The six vampires leaped heavenward. Two exploded like Roman Candles, raining burning flesh that sizzled when it hit the wet earth.
Talisen felt herself scream, but the roar in her head, the wind, and the thunder made the sound seem far away. Her attackers gnashed their teeth and growled, hovering a foot off the ground, poised for flight.
Blazek spun in a circle. “Benedikt! Show yourself!"
"Look, Meical, it's a neighborhood block party, and we weren't invited. We're part of the neighborhood, aren't we? And here they are, using my prey for their entertainment."
The relief Talisen felt at the sound of his voice stole away the last of her strength. Her knees buckled, and she sobbed his name aloud. Blazek slung her into an icy puddle. She lifted her head to look for Ellory. Two figures approached. She recognized the set of Ellory's shoulders, his stealthy pace. She drank him in. Then she saw his eyes glow feral red, ablaze with killing rage.
He glided closer. The air heated, turning the rain steamy. The storm intensified. Trees bent and whipped like dancers. Lightning speared the earth again a few yards away, setting a spruce on fire. It lit the clearing like a giant torch.
Her mouth went dry. Ellory curled his lips and bared his fangs at Blazek like a demon.
Blazek's voice shook. “Fraternizing with humans without taking the necessary precautions carries a cost."
Ellory's voice purred with menace. “Impetuous me."
He and his blond companion halted twelve feet away from Talisen. Why didn't he look at her? Why didn't he speak to her? Just one glance from him was all she wanted—something to make him seem himself.
Blazek roared his defiance, and she clapped her hands to her ears. “We are in my domain, Benedikt. I decide matters of law here. Not even Freya will interfere. She solicited our tolerance for this night only. You shouldn't have allowed this human to leave your protection, once you told her what you are."
There was no mercy in Ellory's voice. Only retribution. “You're somewhat premature, I think. Sunrise is still four hours away. Obvio
usly, none of you have a taste for aesthetics. Have you never played with your prey before you run her to ground? It's the most unforgivable fun. Eh, Meical?"
Ellory's companion snorted. “They have no idea of the joys they're missing."
"It's a fault of my nature that I delight in such games.” Ellory took a step closer. “It's beneath me, I know, but I can't resist the look in their eyes when they realize escape is impossible. And, after all, I had plenty of time before Freya's dispensation ran out. Still do."
Was this what Ellory really was? A monster?
She hid her face in her hands and cried. A fleeting caress of her left ear arrested her breath. A hand brushed the top of her head. She jerked her head up to look. No. She'd only imagined it. Ellory was too far away from her to touch her, had not even glanced her way. And yet....
Her heart pounded in her head. The wind blew warm and dry against her skin. The rain above her parted like the Red Sea to fall without touching her.
Another bolt of lightning slammed the forest floor, shaking her out of her daze. Ellory's voice reverberated through the clearing, bounced off the trees, plummeted to the earth with the rain, swept through her brain like a fever.
"Relinquish what is mine, Blazek."
One of Blazek's companions drew nearer. He sounded uneasy. “He does have until sunrise. Dylan will understand if we let her go."
Ellory laughed. “I'd be very careful about the advice Dylan gives you where I'm concerned."
Blazek floated backward, loomed over Talisen, turned and looked down at her with a smile that made her queasy. He dipped to run his knuckles over her cheek. There was dried blood under his fingernails. His hand stank like his breath did. Her stomach rolled and pitched at the thought of smelling blood on Ellory's breath, his hands, his clothes.
The thought of it was the last straw. Her mind closed down. She felt it happening and embraced it. She didn't want to feel anymore. Didn't want to think.
Ellory growled a warning at Blazek.
The white-haired vampire backed off, his companions in tow. Ellory filled her vision. The burning tree illuminated him in golden red. He was so beautiful. So wild. His wet shirt displayed every inch of his muscled torso. Wind-whipped hair clung to his inscrutable face. He was here. Just as he'd promised her.
