Darkest Hour (New Adult Paranormal Romance)

by Bullard, Catherine

  It was cruel irony that the day that followed was his worst.

  “Darling, could you fetch some water from the well outside?” Emily asked one evening. “I would like so much to put on a pot of tea.”

  Malachi looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at the sight of his wife—he could never get enough of saying that, either in his head or out loud—standing in the doorway, the candlelight from the kitchen backlighting her so that she appeared to be glowing. How could he deny her anything, even if his back and feet ached from a hard day’s work?

  “I’ll be right back, sweetheart.”

  Whistling, he’d swung the bucket back and forth on the way to the well he’d dug just days before the wedding, which stood only a few feet from the house. It was when he’d leaned over to hook the bucket onto the rope that he’d felt a chill travel down his spine, and turned to see if anyone was around.

  Two men materialized out of the shadows, and Malachi heard a dull thunk, followed by a splash—he’d dropped the bucket. They advanced on him, baring long and impossibly sharp fangs, and Malachi recoiled in horror as he realized what they were.

  “Vampires!”

  He tried to fight them off, but he was only human, and no match for their strength, and it took only a few well-placed hits for him to crumple into their arms. He still remembered the excruciating pain as the vampires had taken him into their arms, and had pierced both his shoulders with their fangs at the same time.

  He wasn’t sure how long they’d fed from him, only that he was in a haze of pain and shock as they did so, which was broken with a sharp, feminine cry.

  “Malachi!”

  One of the vampires raised his head. “He has a woman, does he?”

  The other one chuckled. “It has been a long time since I’ve tasted a female. I wonder if she’ll be as sweet as I remember them.”

  “Only one way to find out, eh?”

  They dropped him, and though Malachi tried to pull himself from the ground, he was too weak from the blood loss. He was forced to lay on the ground, much as he was doing now, except that the cries and shrieks he heard did not come from a battle between vampire and werewolf, but from a helpless woman being ravaged and drained, a woman whom he’d promised to love, honor and protect.

  CHAPTER 10

  Elsbeth forced herself to keep moving, placing one foot in front of the other as she walked briskly through the forest. Several times she caught herself trying to walk back toward the battle scene and she had to forcibly reroute her path—she would not break her word to Thomas no matter how much she wanted to.

  No matter how much help she might have been to them, in the end Thomas was right. She would be more of a liability than anything, simply because she was such a huge distraction to Thomas.

  The scent of blood came wafting to her nose, and she stopped dead. Had the battle carried this far? She sniffed the air, then shook her head—the blood belonged to one person. But who? Was there a human wandering these woods that had become the hapless victim of the wolves?

  Elsbeth picked up her pace as she followed the scent, and before she knew it she was stumbling onto a small path, where a man lay sprawled on his back, staring aimlessly up at the sky. As she drew closer, she got a good look at his face, and her fists clenched, her breathing becoming ragged. Even though it was encrusted with blood and dirt, she would have recognized that hooked nose anywhere.

  It was Malachi.

  “You bastard!” Elsbeth dropped to her knees, fisting her left hand in his shirt and hauling him up. “How could you do this to me? To Thomas? How could you?”

  His pale blue eyes struggled to focus on her, and then rolled back as she slapped him across the face. As his neck snapped back she noticed the healing gash—someone had sliced his throat. Well, it served him right.

  “It is a good thing that whoever did this to you did not slice deep enough to behead you,” she snarled, drawing the long dagger she’d belted to her waist. “After everything you’ve put us through, I want that honor to be mine, and mine alone.”

  Malachi’s lips moved then, and Elsbeth frowned—no sound came through them. He tried again, but nothing came out other than a hoarse gurgle.

  “What is it?” she jerked him closer so she could catch the words, unable to help herself despite everything. “If you have any last words, speak them now?”

  “They… are… coming…” he rasped, his lips nearly touching her ear.

  “Who is coming?” Elsbeth nearly shrieked, thoroughly disgusted with him. “They are already here! You led them to us and because you, they are going to kill Thomas and Xander!”

  Malachi drew in a labored breath, and Elsbeth saw the gash close a fraction more.

  “Our brothers…”

  * * *

  Thomas laughed as he gutted one of the wolves, dragging a dagger through its side, then kicking its body away as it fell to the ground. He and his fellow vampires were bloody and bruised, but they were all still standing, and Khan had already lost ten wolves. Perhaps there was hope for this battle after all.

  As he was fending off another attack, he noticed three wolves ganging up on Xander. The older vampire was fighting valiantly, but there was a deep gash in his side slowing down his movements. Thomas jumped to his aid, dispatching one of the wolves, but as he turned to face the other, some kind of strange vision hit him—a blur of faces swept through his mind, followed by a cacophony of voices sounding oddly like a war trumpet, and a call to battle. He reared back, staggered by the power behind the caller’s voice, and cried out as someone kicked him hard in the back, propelling him across the clearing so that he smashed his skull into a tree.

  Groaning, he slid to the ground, his face scraping against the bark. He struggled to turn himself around even as the crack in his skull threatened to send him into unconsciousness, and came face to face with Khan, who was hulking over him, his muzzle bared, ribbons of saliva hanging from his razor-sharp fangs.

  “NO!!!” Ranulf cried, and Thomas jerked his gaze past Khan to see Xander fall to the ground, his head severed roughly from his body by a pair of werewolf teeth. Blood seeped into the ground, pouring from the neck, and Xander’s head rolled twice before stopping on its side, his dark eyes wide and blank as they stared straight into his own.

  “XANDER!” Thomas shouted hoarsely, grief clogging his throat. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He’d only known the vampire for a few days, but he’d become both mentor and friend. It wasn’t right that he should have died when the pack wasn’t even after him. Elsbeth would be devastated when she found out.

  He lurched to his feet, intending to cross the clearing to his dead friend, but Khan blocked his path with a thunderous growl, and Thomas froze. It was clear by the expression in the wolf’s eyes that his time was up. He was going to die.

  “THOMAS!”

  Khan froze, and Thomas jerked his head toward Galen, who was pointing off into the distance. Thomas followed his gaze, and his jaw dropped—a group of vampires were charging full-tilt toward them, their gazes fixed on the wolves. Khan turned away with a fierce howl, and the wolves immediately changed position, regrouping and facing the approaching hoard.

  As Thomas focused his eyes, a flash of recognition lit his brain—these were the same faces he’d seen earlier, when that battle cry had sounded in his brain. These vampires were there to help them—no, he realized instinctively. They weren’t vampires.

  They were half-vampires. Just like him.

  Thomas dropped to his knees, overwhelmed by a combination of joy and sheer relief. He knew he should get to his feet and help, but his body was so badly bruised that, like his fellow vampires, he could do nothing but watch as the two groups clashed. The half-vampires tore through the werewolves like a knife cutting through gossamer—the advantage was clear not only in superior strength and powers, but because the half-vampire was at full strength, whereas the wolves were already battle-weary.

  Khan lifted his muzzle and howled again
, but this time with a plaintive note rather than a menacing one. He rushed off, his four legs moving as fast as they could, and the wolves followed him—a retreat. Thomas rushed to his feet again, a surge of rage propelling him. After all this, he wasn’t going to let the Alpha get away to fight another day.

  One of the half-vampires, a female with short, bright red hair, stepped in front of him. “It would be wise of you to let him go.”

  Thomas halted, an incredulous expression on his face. “Let him go? He just tried to slaughter us! Why should I do that?”

  Another half-vampire stepped up next to the female, this one tall, with long, dark hair. “Because we will need you at full strength. This is only just beginning, and it would be wasteful for you run after him while you are weak and can be defeated. We will need to prepare for future battles.”

  “Future battles?” Thomas’s heart sank. He hadn’t planned on future battles. He’d gone into this thinking it would be a final confrontation, but now he was being told it would be one of many.

  “THOMAS!”

  Thomas turned to see Elsbeth running toward him, tears running down her face, which was wreathed in smiles. Relief threatened to buckle his knees yet again—sending her into a forest hadn’t been a guarantee of her safety, and he was incredibly glad to see her alive again.

  “ELSBETH!”

  He ran across the clearing, but just as he’d closed the distance to but a few feet, Malachi stepped out from behind her and Thomas halted abruptly, his feet skidding in the dirt.

  “YOU!” Thomas roared, pulling the last remaining knife from his boot as he charged, the intent to kill clear in his eyes, but Elsbeth stepped in front of his nemesis, her arms thrown wide.

  “STOP!”

  Thomas skidded to a halt, his eyes darting back and forth between them. “What?” His knife arm dropped. “I thought he… I thought he was trying to kill you.”

  Elsbeth shook her head. “He saved our lives.”

  Thomas scowled. “What are you talking about? He led the wolves straight to our doorstep, did he not?”

  Elsbeth nodded. “I was about to kill him myself, but I realize he had no choice—they would have found us regardless of whether or not he’d led them here. Malachi is the one who called the half-breeds here to help us. He is a half-breed himself.”

  Thomas took a step back, shaking his head. “No. No. That can’t be true.”

  Malachi stepped out from behind Elsbeth. “True as I am standing here before you.”

  “If this is really true,” Thomas spat, “then why did you try to kill me when I was a human, and then again when I had been turned? I would have thought you would have been on my side, as a fellow half-vampire!”

  Malachi’s eyes closed briefly. “It was my own selfishness,” he admitted, and then locked his pale eyes steadily with Thomas’s. “I was projecting my own failings onto you. Before I was turned, my wife…she was killed by the vampires who had bitten me. I was weak, helpless, and unable to protect her as she was raped and slaughtered mere feet from me.” Bitterness filled his voice, a bitterness Thomas knew could not be contrived. “When I became aware of Elsbeth’s infatuation with you, I could not bear the thought of her falling in love with someone who would be unable to protect her as I was unable to protect my own wife.”

  Malachi let out a breath, and then continued. “When I failed to kill you the first time and you were turned, I feared that you would be like how I was in the beginning—a raving animal, unable to control your thirst. I never expected you to be able to control it so quickly, and thought that you would only put Elsbeth in danger, since she and I are members of a Seethe that—generally—does not kill innocents. I admit that my main motivation was jealousy because I did not find you worthy of Elsbeth, but I also didn’t think you would want to live the life I’ve been cursed with, and so I thought that by killing you, I could spare you of that.”

  Thomas arched a brow. “You make that sound much more noble and self-sacrificing than it really was.”

  Malachi sketched a mocking bow. “I try.”

  “But I still don’t understand why you helped us. Why not just let Khan kill me, instead of calling these others?”

  “Regardless of my enmity towards you, I could not let Elsbeth be slaughtered for something that was my doing,” Malachi glanced briefly at her, and then looked away as though he was not worthy to gaze upon her. “The half-breeds are our brothers-in-arms—” he swept a hand to indicate them, “—and the only ones who would answer my call for aid. The Seethe might not have been willing to go against Khan, but as half-breeds they hold no allegiance to anyone but each other… which includes us, being half-breeds ourselves.”

  The redhead stepped forward. “We know what it’s like to live in the shadows, lost forever between the life we once knew, and the life we are now forced to live. The two of you—” she laid a hand on Malachi and Thomas’s shoulders, “—are not so different from one another.”

  Thomas eyed Malachi for a long moment, and then slowly extended a hand. “If they are willing to back your story, then I am willing to try and extend a hand of friendship one more time.”

  Malachi smiled crookedly, and gripped Thomas’s hand firmly. “Thank you. For understanding.”

  Thomas nodded and stepped back. “There won’t be a third time, Malachi,” he warned. “If I find you at my throat again, I will kill you, and no amount of pleading from anyone will stop me.” He glanced at Elsbeth, who nodded.

  “I would expect nothing less.” Malachi inclined his head.

  “Good. Now, if you will excuse me for a minute, I have something important to do.”

  Thomas turned away and headed straight for Elsbeth, sweeping her up in front of all the onlookers and crushing her against his chest as he kissed her. He let all of his other emotions fall away—his grief for Xander, his anger at Khan, his wary confusion at Malachi—and allowed himself to be filled with his love for her. She returned his embrace wholeheartedly, and soon they were lost in each other.

  After a few minutes, he pulled away. “I am so glad you’re safe,” he murmured, pressing his forehead against hers.

  “And I am glad you are safe, too.” Elsbeth smiled. “You were in much greater danger than I. I love you so much, Thomas.”

  He kissed her nose. “I love you, too.”

  “Are you two done?” the dark-haired half-vampire called.

  Thomas reluctantly pulled away. “For now.”

  “Good.” The half-breed folded his arms. “Because we have a war to prepare for.”