Darkest Hours

by S. K. Yule

  He should have used a small compulsion on her, and they would have been back at his estate by now, but for some reason, it didn’t feel right to use it on her. Reading her mind and forcing her will were two entirely different things. Yeah, right. ‘Cause when did you become such a caring, sensitive bastard?

  “Stop telling me what to do, and my attacker was a woman not a man. She also had a weird half moon scar on the back of her hand.” She took two steps and plopped down on the end of the bed like a sullen child. She fixed a determined, stubborn stare on him. “I can take care of myself. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  Well that solved the problem of what her attacker was. Every drudge was marked with the same half moon on one of their hands. The situation had just become more dangerous. “You can’t protect yourself against your attacker because she was a drudge, but I can because I am a vampire and immortal like her.”

  Ashe watched her, fully expecting her to bolt after this news sunk in and didn’t have to read her mind to know she was thinking just that by the way her eyes darted wildly to the door every few seconds while she paced the room.

  “Don’t run Ebony. I can easily catch you, and it will only make this situation harder. I swear to you, I won’t hurt you, and I don’t belong to a cult.” He refused to acknowledge the insanity issue again. The thought of chasing her down was a little too appealing, and he found a certain body part reacting to the possibility. “God Ebony, please don’t run.”

  “Stop doing that! What do you mean you’re a vampire? There are no such things.” She threw her hands up in the air clearly frustrated. “And, what are drudges?” Ebony looked at Ashe as if she couldn’t wait to hear the next load of crap he fed her.

  “Look, I am a vampire, and drudges are servants of vampires. Since vampires can gift any of their powers to a drudge for a short period, it is possible for a drudge to vanish. Therefore, I can only assume that another vampire is behind your attack. To make matters worse, it is most likely a shadow drifter vampire.”

  Although, now that he thought for a moment it probably was not a shadow drifter’s drudge. Drifters could make drudges, but it was almost unheard of as drifters were so violent their poor drudges usually didn’t last long. That left the only other possibility. It was a vampire’s drudge, but why would one of his kind have a drudge attack Ebony? It just didn’t make sense. Ebony remained staring at him like he was the lunatic she accused him of being. He knew she didn’t believe a word he said, but she would, soon.

  “Yeah, surrrre, whatever you say. You’re a blood-sucking creature who can read my mind and disappear into thin air. Anything else? Oh yeah, you probably sleep in a coffin, have super strength, hate crosses, holy water, and have spidey senses.” Good grief, he is crazy. “Tell me something. Do you give Stephen King pointers for his books?” She pinched her arm hard. Ouch! Nope, I’m definitely not dreaming—vampires, drudges and shadow drifters, oh my!

  He let her sarcasm pass for now. “Look, I don’t sleep in a coffin. I do possess considerable strength and heightened senses. Crosses or holy water don’t bother me in the least, and I only have to drink blood once or twice a week. You already know I can speak to you in your mind since I’m doing it at this moment. Now, I’m giving you five minutes to get your things together so we can get the hell out of here. We can discuss my strengths and weaknesses in more detail later.”

  He only drinks blood once or twice a week. Eeww! “Whatever you say, but I’m still staying—”

  Ashe gently grabbed her by the arms and pulled her against him. One minute they were in her bedroom, and the next they were standing in Ashe’s study. He watched her skin turn ghostly white. She blinked rapidly as if trying to focus and swayed before he put his big hands on her shoulders to steady her.

  He leveled a determined stare at her. “Ebony, this is your last chance. I’m going to take us back to your bedroom and give you five”—he looked at his watch—“no four minutes, to get your things together. If you aren’t finished in four minutes, we will come back here with nothing.”

  Just like that they were standing in Ebony’s bedroom once again. Ashe knew shimmering would most likely scare the hell out of her, but it was the quickest way he knew of showing her that her world of reality was not absolute.

  He watched as she moved around the room, opening the dresser drawers and throwing clothing into the duffel bags with choppy motions. She reminded him of a zombie as she collected her things. Her were eyes flat, her body stiff. After she finished packing the clothes, she went into the bathroom and collected a small makeup bag, toothbrush and hair dryer then threw them in the smaller duffel. She zipped them and stood rigid with her back to Ashe, white knuckling a bag in each hand.

  He gently placed his hands on her tense shoulders and turned her to face him. He took the bags from the death grip she had on them, let them drop to the floor then cupped her chin. He stroked his thumb back and forth on her soft cheek. “Look at me Ebony,” he said coaxingly.

  When she turned those beautiful, confused and tired green eyes fringed with thick lashes up to him, he almost groaned. God the woman was beautiful and had skin like silk. Letting his gaze travel to her lips, he could almost feel how soft they would be if he kissed them. He wanted to kiss her, taste her. Desire rode him hard, and he knew without a doubt his turquoise eyes were black now, betraying his emotions.

  Her eyes skittered to his lips, and her green eyes turned deep green reflecting his own desire. He watched the confusion and indecision play across her lovely face until her pale skin turned pink. He could feel the excitement bouncing off her in rolling waves. He could hear the thundering of her heart. Even though she had been through hell, he knew without a doubt that she wanted him to kiss her.

  It would be so easy to breach the tiny distance to her lips and taste her. Yeah, and you’d be a real asshole for taking advantage of her too. He took a deep breath and tamped down the fire burning through his veins.

  She licked her lips as he leaned toward her. Get a hold of yourself. You barely know the man! “No, I can’t—”

  He placed a finger over her lips, silencing her words. “You’ve had a terrible shock, but everything will be okay. I promise I will find out who attacked you tonight, and it will be safe for you to return home soon. My house is secure, and I can protect you there. The entire property is surrounded by ten foot fencing with monitors, not to mention that my brothers will be there to help.” He knew women well and was sure he wasn’t imagining the spark of desire in her eyes and the way she leaned into his hand. All the blood in his body rushed to his cock in response. He took a deep breath and once again tamped his desire down and silenced the beast. “Now are you ready?”

  Fear invaded her green eyes once again wiping out all trace of desire. “Please. I don’t want to leave my house. Isn’t there some other solution?”

  Her pleading eyes nearly cracked his armor, but he refused to compromise her safety. “No. I’m sorry. I know you want to stay, but I can’t protect you here. We need to go, now.”

  Her indecision obvious, he knew the exact moment she conceded defeat as she sighed in resignation. She looked around her comfortable bedroom, squared her shoulders and gave him a tight nod. The black circles under her eyes emphasized her exhaustion and vulnerability. Ashe had to admit he was proud of Ebony’s determination and courage. Any other woman would probably be crying uncontrollably or lying in a dead faint at his feet about now.

  “Let’s go.” He pulled her closer and shimmered back to his study once again.

  “Wait. Where are we?”

  “St. Louis.”

  “Oh.” She shivered and closed her eyes. At least he didn’t zap me to China or the Amazon.

  The books lining the walls and the huge desk sitting in the middle of the room were about all that was visible in the dark study. Ebony swayed against Ashe, and he picked her up, carried her out of the room, and up a huge set of stairs. She laid her head against his shoulder, buried her nose against his
shirt and breathed in deeply.

  As he reached the top of the stairs, she snuggled into his chest and gave a small sigh. Her softness pressed into him, and her hair smelled of honeysuckle and warm sunny days. His body became painfully aware of that softness, and he focused on anything but her closeness, trying to discourage his growing erection. Real good, Ashe, the woman is practically passed out, and you’re getting yet another hard-on. Stifling a groan for the second time tonight, he entered one of the many guest rooms off the hallway and gently laid her on the bed.

  A breathy sigh escaped her full lips when he placed her on the soft, comfortable bed and was like kindling thrown on the desire he was trying hard to ignore. “Ebony, the bathroom is to your left. I will leave a light on and the door cracked for you. Get some rest and we can talk more tomorrow.”

  She sighed. “Fine.”

  He knew she was asleep within seconds after laying her on the bed. He pulled her shoes off and tucked the comforter around her tiny frame. He turned the light on in the bathroom and once again found himself staring down at her sleeping form. He really needed to get control of himself. She was only a woman. He shut the door to her bedroom and walked to his own next door while his mind whispered, Not just any woman, your woman. Mine.

  He was too tired to argue with himself now. While he only required a couple hours of rest here and there and preferred to sleep during the day, he had been up for nearly a week now without any. He crawled into his own bed and nodded off, images of Ebony floating through his mind.

  * * * *

  “You failed me. I should just end your miserable existence right now.” Amusement crept across the lines of anger on The Master’s face as the drudge crouched even lower and shivered with terror. The Master reveled in striking fear into inferiors, and that included most. The miserable drudge should be killed. However, this particular one seemed very dedicated to following all plans involving Ashe Aleksandrov thus far, and this was the first time failure resulted.

  “Please, Master, give me another chance. I won’t fail you again. I swear it.”

  “Get out of my sight. I’ll deal with you another time.” The Master dismissed the drudge with a curt wave of the hand that had the drudge scurrying for the door. Now another plan would have to be organized to get Ashe’s attention. Kidnapping the human would have been a perfect way to lure him here. He was so dedicated to saving the pathetic things after all. Maybe that was still an option. Patience would see great reward, however patience was running thin. The drudge would be given one chance to make up for the failure of tonight, and if failure were the result again . . . “Hmmmm . . . ” A small smile crossed The Master’s face at the thought of teaching the drudge a little lesson about her inability.

  Chapter Four

  The throbbing headache Ebony awoke to the next morning drew a low groan from her throat. The familiar pain now seemed to plague her more and more often. Not another one already. This particular one she could probably attribute to the stress of yesterday. Memories of the night before rushed back. She abruptly sat up then slammed her eyes shut and winced at the sudden increased pain. She rubbed the back of her neck while mentally scolding herself for such a stupid move. After a few moments she cracked her eyes open and jumped in surprise to find a woman standing at the end of the huge bed.

  Ebony’s voice came as a squeak. “Who are you?”

  “I’m sorry I frightened you. I’m Estril, Ashe’s sister.” Estril slowly sat on the end of Ebony’s bed and demurely folded her hands in her lap.

  Estril’s hair glimmered red with natural sun-kissed, coppery highlights, the kind of color women would pay a fortune for. The color enhanced the unique golden brown of her shining eyes, eyes that reflected age-old wisdom and knowledge even though she appeared to be nineteen or twenty. She was slender and taller than Ebony, of course. Everyone was taller than Ebony. Dressed in an emerald green dress she portrayed perfect elegance. Easing her way off the bed, Ebony winced again at her head’s protest and ignored the pain the best she could.

  “Where is Ashe? I need to talk to him.”

  “Ashe is in his room, which is next to yours on the left. Mine is across the hall to the right. Aiston and Aldin, my other brothers, sleep in the West Wing of the estate. They prefer to be able to come and go as they please without disturbing anyone else in the house. I think it’s more so they can bring their women friends home without getting caught, but they would never admit to it. Well, at least Aldin wouldn’t anyway.”

  West Wing? Good grief. How big is this place anyway? Ebony swayed a little after standing.

  Estril casually leaned on one hand and continued talking while a gentle smile curved her lips. “McKayla is our housekeeper and cook. She stays in a room off the kitchen which is down the stairs to the left. If you want to shower and change, McKayla will have breakfast ready in about forty-five minutes. It’s ready every morning at nine.”

  Dizziness robbed Ebony of balance for a moment after she stood, and a small but surprisingly strong hand slipped around her arm, supporting her with seemingly no effort. “Thanks, Estril. I just have a bit of a, um headache. I g-get them sometimes.” Remembering Estril’s depthless, all-knowing eyes and her own inability to lie, Ebony stared at the floor, focusing on the plush carpet. “After I shower I’ll feel better.” She didn’t know if she was trying to convince Estril or herself of that at the moment.

  Estril watched the young woman tentatively. Then her eyes flew wide. “Ebony, you should see a doctor. I’ll go get Ashe immediately and inform him of your condition.”

  Estril knew, but how? Ebony grabbed her hand in wide-eyed alarm and confusion. “No, please I don’t want anyone to know about my illness. I know it’s silly of me, but I don’t want to be pitied for the rest of my life, however long that may be.” Surely Estril couldn’t have figured it out just from her lie? Then how does she know? Did she read my mind? She decided not to ask because she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer at the moment. She had too many strange things to come to terms with already regarding Ashe and his claim of being a vampire.

  Estril didn’t so much as wince at the death grip Ebony had on her arm. “Oh, Ebony, no one will pity you. You need to be under a physician’s care.” She smiled encouragingly and gently squeezed her hand.

  “All I need is some aspirin, and I’ll feel as good as new. Please, I don’t want Ashe or anyone else to know. I just want to live the rest of my life as normal as possible. I want to be like everyone else as long as I can be. Please, please don’t tell anyone.” Ebony began to wonder if it was wise to keep her condition from everyone. After all what did it matter? Yeah, and then everyone would be saying, “Oh, poor Ebony this and poor Ebony that.” No! She couldn’t handle the pity.

  Estril sighed. “I’ll keep your secret for now Ebony, but you have to know that I don’t think it’s right keeping this from Ashe. But, I’ll only keep quiet if you promise me something.”

  Ebony looked at Estril with hesitancy in her eyes and released her hand. “What?”

  “I’ll let you come to your own terms on when and how, but you must tell Ashe, but, Ebony, if you get worse I will tell him if you haven’t.” Ebony barely kept the tears from her eyes when she nodded in agreement. “Have you told anyone?”

  “No. Not even my best friend, Avril. Actually, I just found out less than twenty four hours ago myself.” Hopefully this mess would be cleared up, and she would be out of here before she had to make good on her promise of telling Ashe. “I decided not to tell anyone right before I bumped into Ashe in the alleyway on my way home yesterday afternoon.” Ebony reached down for one of the duffel bags, unzipped it and rummaged through the contents. After pulling out a pair of jeans, socks, shirt, a bra, toothbrush and a bottle of aspirin she tossed the bag back on the floor. She headed for the bathroom in hopes of getting away from the uncomfortable situation of talking about her illness any further. “I’m feeling better now. Thank you for your understanding about my wishes.”

&nbs
p; “Wait a minute, Ebony. You saw Ashe yesterday? During the day?”

  Ebony nodded in confusion wondering why this question seemed so important. “Yeah.”

  Oh my God! Ebony is Ashe’s viata amant. Estril’s shoulders tensed a little.

  Ebony asked the obvious when Estril remained silent. “Why?”

  “Oh, I just wondered that’s all.”

  Ebony knew by the way the woman studied her that there was way more to it than that. Why would Estril wonder at such a trivial thing as what time Ebony had seen her brother? Ebony shrugged her shoulders. “Oookay. If you say so.”

  Estril assessed Ebony one last time. “If you’re sure you’re all right, I’ll give you some privacy and see you downstairs?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks again.” Ebony turned to enter the huge bathroom after watching Estril’s exit. The small smile Estril had given before she left—the one that resembled the expression the cat would give after getting the cream—made her wonder what Estril knew that she didn’t. That thought fled her mind as she gaped at the vast space she had just walked into. Good grief, the bedroom and bathroom alone were as big as the whole bottom floor of her house.