Mastering Darkness

by Kate Wendley

  But in between his intense moments, he was relaxed. The tension in his muscles eased, he didn’t seem as closed off about himself, and she felt comfortable and cozy with him. And they had conversations that proved he was way more mature than anyone she’d ever met. She knew without a doubt she was falling hard for him.

  She rounded the top of the stairs and was just about to Ethan’s door when he suddenly appeared. He did that a lot and it always made her jump. How could he tell when she was walking down the hall? He claimed he recognized the sound of her footsteps on the carpet, but she didn’t understand how that could be since everything was extremely soundproof in this building, which she was glad for. There were a lot of night owls here, and yet she thankfully rarely heard a peep from them.

  Ethan’s eyes went wide and she felt herself blush. She hadn’t dressed up this nice for a date in a long time and now she felt self-conscious.

  “Wow, look at you.” He took a couple steps closer as he inspected her. “Were you on a date with Anthony?” He eyed the small bouquet of flowers she held onto.

  “Yes. You didn’t know that? You didn’t have me followed tonight?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her but had a silly smirk on his face at the same time. He always seemed to know when she wasn’t actually mad at him.

  “No. I didn’t.”

  “But you followed me every other time? Why not with Anthony?”

  His eyes trailed to her neck, then back to her eyes again. “You’re safe with him. Besides, I think you finally stepped up your game.”

  “Meaning…?”

  He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Tell me about your night. What did you guys do?”

  So Anthony wasn’t the only one being mysterious lately. Geez. Even so, warmth pooled in her belly thinking of all the touching, and kissing…

  “We went out to eat.”

  “Really? Where’d you go?”

  She told him about their failed attempt at India Star before they went to Starlight.

  “What was the witchy woman’s name at India Star?”

  “You know everyone there, too?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I know the owner.” He lazily leaned back against the wall between his door and hers and crossed his arms.

  “Katherine I think.”

  He nodded in a way that said it wasn’t all that important to him.

  “How are things going with Anthony?”

  Her face warmed up. “Fine. Good.” Ethan waited expectantly, but she didn’t want to go into details with him since there was obviously something not cool between those two.

  He eventually said, “I don’t see any hickies at least.”

  Her eyes went wide and she felt herself blush again, unable to stop thinking of necking in the car with Anthony. “Stop it!”

  Ethan caustically chuckled. “What, he doesn’t like kissing you?”

  Her face felt even hotter now.

  Ethan was still smiling, but the way he narrowed his eyes made her feel like something not good was going through his mind.

  “So are you going to keep seeing him?”

  She countered, “Are you going to tell me what the deal is between you two?”

  When he was silent long enough for her to get the hint he wasn’t going to fess up, she said, “Fine. Don’t tell me. It’s not like we’re friends or anything.” She’d meant to sound casual about it, but her hurt emotions came out more than she meant them to.

  He sighed and reached for her. “It’s personal, ok? It’s my issue it’s got nothing to do with you.”

  She looked into his sincere eyes and instantly forgave him. How could she not? They’d been friends for too long.

  She groaned in surrender. “Fine, but friends share their troubles with each other you know.”

  A tired smile quickly came and went. “And friends watch out for each other, too.”

  Her heart tightened in her chest. Ethan had been around for her for years. Back when she new to this big city, back when she was confused and had no idea or direction for this new life she wanted to make for herself, he’d been there. Why, she still didn’t know, but he’d befriended her and had never let her down in all the years she’d known him.

  “Ok.” They gave each other a hug, and she felt warm and safe.

  When they released each other, Ethan asked, “So you’re going to keep seeing him?”

  “Yes. I invited him over to watch a movie. I’m not sure what night yet. Maybe tomorrow.”

  He nodded. “Just be careful. If you ever need anything, you let me know, ok?”

  “I wish you wouldn’t worry so much. I am an adult, and I’m going to date once in a while.”

  He smirked. “Yes, I know. But I know what men are like. Just watch out for yourself, ok kiddo? Charge up that cell phone you always let go dead and make sure you know how to call me and Cory on it.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes dad.”

  **

  Kaia fell into an easy sleep, then dreamed about people she could never quite see in her mind’s eye. Her parents. She felt happy and mostly carefree in her dream, tagging along behind them as they meandered happily through the park, the sun shining through the trees overhead and a pleasant breeze keeping them cool. Her parents were ahead of her, happily chatting with each other, and she took her time getting distracted by flowers and friendly dogs and everything else going on in the park on this beautiful day.

  She felt happy, content and loved.

  She woke with a start, her eyes wide open in the dark, her ceiling fan on high enough to bat at a strand of hair in her face. She didn’t dream about her parents very often, and usually only when she felt either really good or really bad. This was one of the good times. In all her dreams, though, she could never quite make out their faces.

  Her happiness melted away as she thought about the family she never really had, and one that she’d never have the chance to have again. She always felt alone in life, and especially out here, away from her real family which unfortunately now only consisted of her uncle and cousins. Not that she wanted to be around them, but it still made her feel cold that she’d purposely chosen to cut all ties. She didn’t even have friends she was that close to. Ethan was her closest friend, but even he didn’t feel entirely like family. Close enough, but not quite.

  She sighed and rolled over, hugging a pillow to herself as she closed her eyes and tried to think about good things. Like getting to know Anthony better. She smiled to herself. Maybe he could be her family someday.

  Chapter 15

  Anthony drove back home feeling like something was off. Was it him? He focused so hard on trying to figure out if he felt anything different about himself from the Vampire Mother’s gift that he nearly rear ended a car while exiting the highway.

  He scowled and chalked up his paranoia to just being anxious about Kaia. She was beautiful, down to earth, and God help her, she still seemed quite interested in him. All of those things made him nervous for a lot of reasons, mostly because he felt guilty thinking about bringing her more fully into his world.

  He cursed himself and tried to put that out of mind as he pulled into the garage, then gave his keys to the attendant before walking next door. He’d had a wonderful night with a gorgeous woman, and thanks to his vampire power of having a near perfect memory, with a little effort he could replay tonight in his mind whenever he wanted.

  His ringing phone startled him, and he paused when he saw the number wasn’t in his contacts. He hated telemarketing calls, but since he was Master over so many people he always tried to answer his phone, no matter what. This was a local number at least.

  “Hello? This is Anthony.”

  A hurried voice was on the other end. “Sir, Master Anthony. Help me! They took my daughter! They took Shania!”

  He stopped in front of the outer door to the building and frowned. “Who is this?”

  The man whimpered and sounded like he was crying. “Joey Sumter. I’m family. Wolf.”
<
br />   “You own the Quick-N-Go on the southwest side of town?”

  “Yes.”

  The urgency in the man’s voice sounded real, so Anthony raced inside to find Zach and Sebastian while they talked. “Tell me what happened.”

  Joey spoke in a hushed voice, “Hurry. People think I’m calling the police. A woman vampire came in while Les and the new vampire Miller were here visiting with us. She forced the vampires to go with her, and her shifters took Shania. We couldn’t fight them! They were too strong! Please help! I can’t lose my baby girl!”

  Anthony regrettably realized what he’d been feeling on his drive home. A new, powerful vampire in town, as well as Les’ distress. Les was one of Anthony’s vampires and Miller was a loner that recently came to town trying to escape his former Master. He was voluntarily staying in a vampire room downstairs from the club until he decided if he wanted to join Anthony’s family or not. Anthony had given him a month to decide. That was three weeks ago.

  If Anthony hadn’t been so paranoid about the Vampire Mother’s gift, or been distracted by thoughts of Kaia, he might’ve recognized the feeling of this foreign Master Vampire for what it was a lot sooner. Being Master of this territory gave him a link to the energy in Atlanta and its surrounding towns, for better or worse. It was up to him to pay attention to it.

  “How long ago did they leave?”

  “Almost fifteen minutes ago! It took me that long to find someone who had your number.”

  “I’m on my way. I can feel the vampires. I’ll find them. In the meantime I need you to calm down and follow my instructions to the letter. Get a pen and tell me when you’re ready.”

  Joey sobbed, “I’m ready.”

  Anthony gave him a number at the police to call and told him who to ask for and what to tell them. The shifters on the force that were part of the family would go out and hopefully smooth this over as best they could with the oblivious humans in the store while Anthony found the Master and everyone she abducted.

  He quickly filled in Zach and Sebastian and told them to use their blood connection to him to try and follow him to Shania and the others. He left the building as he opened up his magical link to all his vampires and beckoned them to himself.

  **

  Anthony turned into mist and took to the skies, focusing all his power on finding Les’ and the Master Vampire’s energy signatures. Focusing on Miller would be harder since he wasn’t very powerful and because he wasn’t one of Anthony’s vampires yet, so he concentrated on the other two instead. He could tell the Master was strong, but she either wasn’t trying to mask her presence or didn’t know how. He’d go on the assumption she knew how and was just being arrogant. It wasn’t wise to underestimate another creature’s power… as he’d recently been reminded.

  With his rarely used link to his own vampires thrown wide open, as soon as he put his mind on Les he felt his mind being pulled down into his, though he could tell he was physically still miles away.

  Anthony looked out Les’ eyes and felt his sensations, though it was a heavy, foggy feeling, as if Anthony were in a dream. Les was in an SUV and it was packed full. A very large shifter was driving, the Master Vampire was in the front passenger seat, and Les was in the next row in between a couple shifters. He sensed people sitting behind him in the vehicle, but since Les was facing forward, Anthony couldn’t see who they were. He had a sense from Les they were friends, though, so he hoped they were Miller and Shania.

  Anthony overheard Les’ thoughts about feeling outmatched and hated that this vampire and the young shifters were stronger than him. He dreaded what the group wanted with him and worried they were driving so fast that they’d be out of Anthony’s territory before he even realized they were gone.

  Anthony vainly wished he had the power to speak telepathically. Instead, he focused as hard as he could to get Les’ attention while continuing to race through the night sky. It was hard to do both at the same time, but their lives could very well be in danger if he didn’t reach them soon.

  He felt it when Les realized what was happening, so Anthony attempted to push a thought at him. He wanted him to use his power to try to stop the car. He immediately heard in Les’ mind that there were two other vehicles as well. There was a large group with them, but the woman was the only vampire. The shifters were pretty damn scary, though.

  Anthony saw through Les’ eyes as the Master turned to look at him. She was a petite woman with fine, sharp features and heavy eye makeup. She was dressed in a dark, long sleeved top, her silky brunette hair up in a high ponytail.

  Her shrill voice set him on edge when she snapped, “Are you doing something? What’s that I feel?”

  Anthony left Les and focused all his energy on finding the group as fast as possible. He hadn’t made out any landmarks just now, but as Les’ Master he didn’t need them. He shrugged off the remainder of his usual self-imposed restraints and let the rush of his power freely push and pull on the energy of the night around him until it settled into an equilibrium.

  Being Master was more than just a title. Anthony could actually feel every one of his vampire family, as well as the more general supernatural energy in the territory he ruled and protected. And on this night, just like the night he killed Jim, he let himself be freely guided by his vampire impulses. He let go of his thoughts and worries and became an open conduit to the magic of the night so he could be pulled towards his destination.

  Cars, roads and landscape raced by faster than he’d ever be able to fly using just his own power. His obsessive need to find his family and make sure they were safe fueled the fires of power within him, and soon he was slowing down enough to make out a haphazardly parked Suburban with a shredded tire on the shoulder of the highway. Two other SUV’s were parked nearby with no one inside them.

  Les was close, so the kidnapped werewolf had to be also. Anthony’s link to her was weaker because she wasn’t vampire. Where he was truly the Master of the vampires in Atlanta physically and magically, he was just head of the family to the shapeshifters. He couldn’t link to them or feel them individually like he could his vampires, but he was sure he’d be to figure out which one was Shania as soon as he was close enough.

  His misty form raced past the abandoned vehicles and into Atlanta’s ever present labyrinth of trees and greenery. The vegetation by this quiet stretch of highway was thick, but quickly thinned in a small, open area.

  Les lay flat on his back, motionless on the ground while a group of ten or so shifters ignored him. Les’ face and chest were bloodied, and a large knife handle stuck straight up in the air, the blade planted deep in his stomach. He still had his head, and the knife didn’t look planted high enough to be in his heart. Anthony had a sense of his life energy, weak though it was, but that meant he’d recover from this.

  Miller was on his knees at the other end of the group, though he didn’t look much better. He was awake and aware with two shifters holding him up while the Master Vampire stood in front of him, her hand still on the hilt of the knife she’d just quickly stabbed him twice with while making excited noises.

  Anthony swooped down expecting that the Master knew he was here, and expecting her to fight dirty. She knew better than to enter his territory without seeking him out, and she for sure knew better than to kidnap and torture his family. So her brazenness meant she was either completely overconfident, which many Master Vampires were, or she was insanely powerful.

  He hadn’t heard any gossip about another powerful Master Vampire in his area, though he hadn’t heard anything about the Vampire Mother, either. That was a puzzle for another time. For now, he’d assume the woman here tonight was being overconfident. Either way, he’d be cautious with her because of the company she kept. Vampires that didn’t regularly associate with shapeshifters were more civilized fighters. Vampires that did freely associate with them learned how to fight dirty. You had to in order to hold your own against an animal’s natural instincts.

  Luckily for Anthony
, he learned how to be a vampire while living amongst mostly shapeshifters. He’d learned every dirty trick in the book, so when he materialized behind the petite, slim woman, he crouched and fully expected her to attack him in all of his vulnerable spots.

  Without even a look back, she swung around from stabbing Miller with the large hunting knife in her hand, and Anthony barely stepped back far enough for it to whiz past his abdomen. He hadn’t expected it to be so large, but other than that, he was mostly relieved that there was no vibe of the incredible feeling of power he’d experienced with the Vampire Mother. So this woman in front of him might just be sick and twisted, or perhaps insane. The old ones got that way sometimes.

  Her knife attack missed him and she overextended, so he grabbed her hand as it flew by and pulled her forward, then kneed her as hard as he could in the stomach. She lurched into the air from the force of it, then dropped to the ground.

  But she immediately popped back up. He blocked a punch and stab meant to neuter him, then kicked her in the face. She fell back and he lunged for the knife. A sharp crack sounded and he felt a sting in his left shoulder, reminding him there were others here. He’d disregarded them because they were only shifters, and he’d never met a shifter who was anywhere close to him in power.

  But firearms were another matter. He quickly grabbed the vampire’s knife and flung it far away, then grabbed tight to the energy in the air. He made a fist to help him focus, then yanked down. Everyone fell to their knees with a surprised grunt, their firearms frozen by their sides.

  A twinge of something caught his attention and he realized one of the shifters was his family. After scanning the small group, he finally noticed the young woman because she wasn’t dressed all in black, and she was quite a lot younger than the rest of the shifters. She looked to be around nineteen or twenty with darkly lined eyes painted to look catlike. Long, stick straight hair was pinned neatly back and she had large, golden hoop earrings dangling from her ears. A stiff uniform top held a name badge that he assumed said, ‘Shania’.