Dusk Before Dawn
Fiona Davenport
Copyright © 2020 by Fiona Davenport
Cover designed by Elle Christensen
Edited by Editing4Indies
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Contents
Dusk Before Dawn
Prologue
1. Thana
2. Kieran
3. Thana
4. Kieran
5. Thana
6. Kieran
7. Thana
8. Kieran
9. Thana
Epilogue
Epilogue
About the Author
Dusk Before Dawn
Kieran Bancroft has spent almost a thousand years saving humans from evil vampires. Protecting potential consorts from nightwalkers gave Kieran something to focus on other than his dwindling hope that he’d ever find the one who was meant to be his.
Thana Fernsby had no idea vampires existed. Not until her aunt sprung an arranged marriage on her, and she went running into the night. Thana ended up at the door of a daywalker--the good kind of vampire that had been born instead of bitten.
Kieran would help any damsel in distress. But when he touched Thana and discovered she was his destined consort, the fight became personal.
Prologue
Kieran
“Kieran! Watch your back!” shouted my brother Stephan as he tossed me a wooden stake. I’d broken mine when I stabbed that last nightwalker a little too enthusiastically against a wall. Catching the spare, I spun around and slammed it into the ribs of the vampire who’d charged at me. With my own vampire strength, I tilted the weapon and shoved it up so it went through his lungs and into his heart. Yanking it out, I didn’t bother to stay and watch him burst into flames, then turn to ash. I ran over to the young woman huddled inside a gazebo behind my other brother Athan, who was finishing off the last of the murdering leeches.
My two brothers and I had been on our way home from celebrating a friend’s mating. We could have simply popped back to each of our houses, but we enjoyed some human activities, such as driving.
We saw the young woman surrounded by at least six men. We knew immediately that they were vampires, and with so many, it was doubtful this was a catch and feed.
No, when they banded together like this, it was usually because they’d cornered an unmated consort, a human destined to be with a vampire before she was even born.
I’d been driving, so I wasn’t able to teleport over there right away. Athan and Stephan had been gone in an instant. Pulling over, I parked the car and quickly popped over to the group. I’d ushered the frightened woman over to a nearby gazebo and told her to hide inside before handing her a clove of garlic and a small bottle of holy water. Then I joined the fight.
Not just any kind of vampire, though. These assholes were bitten, not born, and unable to be in the sun without turning to ash. They were susceptible to garlic, holy water, crosses, etc, and were destroyed by a stake to the heart.
This girl was intended for a vampire of a different breed, like my brothers and me. We were born vampires—daywalkers—though that didn’t mean we didn’t prefer the night. When you were as pale as we were, sunburns were a bitch. Plus, our eyes were very sensitive to the light.
The deterrents that helped to defeat the others had no effect on us. We had to be beheaded and burned to be destroyed. We survived on blood but had the luxury of enjoying food. Whereas the frozen bodies of the undead were unable to process anything except blood.
Every daywalker was given a destined consort, human or otherwise, although Fate hadn’t exactly made it easy for us to find them. I was almost a thousand years old, Athan was nearing eight hundred, and Stephan had just celebrated his six hundred and twenty-eighth birthday. We’d searched the world over many times, but none of us had been lucky enough to find the other half of our souls.
The nightwalkers wanted to rid the world of our kind and sought to kill our consorts to keep us from procreating.
“Are you alright?” I asked softly as I approached her. She watched me warily, her eyes not as wild, but still swimming with fear. “We won’t hurt you, I swear.”
She blinked a few times, her expression showing her indecision, but after a minute, she slowly got to her feet. The girl pushed her hair back over her shoulder, and I spied the mark that confirmed my suspicion. Every human consort was born with what they thought was a birthmark on their neck. It consisted of two round, reddish-brown marks, similar to freckles, but much larger. They were, in fact, the very spot the vampire would need to drink from to turn their mate.
They were the only humans who did not become nightwalkers filled with bloodlust that dissolved any trace of their humanity when bitten. They were the only ones who could become daywalkers through a bite.
Athan had glided over to the entrance, and she held out the items I’d given her. He took them with a smile, his hand brushing along hers in the transfer. His bright blue eyes, the staple of the Bancroft bloodline, flashed with disappointment, but he wiped it away as fast as it had appeared.
Our kind were born with the inability to feel any sort of sexual stimulation for anyone but our mate. Only through the touch of our skin were we able to discover them, simply because our bodies would stir to life. We would also know through the taste of their blood, which would be the sweetest of ambrosia on our tongue. Drinking from any other human source was bitter and disgusting. We procured our blood through a service since it didn’t taste terrible once it had left the body.
“What is your name?” Stephan asked as he walked to my side.
“Beth.”
“And do you know what we are, Beth?” He kept his tone gentle, trying not to frighten her any further.
“They were vampires, right?” She looked past us, as though she’d see their corpses littering the ground. By now, there was no sign of them, their ashes having been blown away or blended into the dirt.
“Yes,” I responded. “We are too, but you needn't fear us.” I gave her a brief rundown, and to my relief, she seemed fascinated by the information rather than skeptical. Those who didn’t believe were so much harder to deal with and usually required some compulsion to get them to the council.
I closed the distance between us and held out my hand. She took it, and I helped her down the steps, feeling nothing between us. Stephan proffered his arm and when she took it, he patted her hand. His slight shake of the head told us he’d experienced the same lack of reaction.
Whenever we came across a consort—human or vampire—we were tasked with delivering them, or at least their information, to the vampire council that kept records to help pair mates. They also assigned protection to keep the human ones safe from those who would seek to kill them.
Beth had relaxed and seemed quite comfortable in our presence, so I explained her destiny and hoped she wouldn’t try to bolt. I hated using compulsion.
“Do you know what the mark on your neck is?”
Her hand reached up to cover it, and she looked at me curiously. “My birthmark?”
I shook my head and told her about its significance. Her eyes brightened, and she looked at the three of us, scanning us each from head to toe. “One of you?” she asked hopefully.
“No,” Athan replied with a chuckle. “But thank you for the compliment.”
Vampires were naturally beautiful creatures, but my brothers and I had long ago accepted that humans particularly liked our muscular bodies, black hair, a
nd light blue eyes. Although, that was where our similarities ended. We were all on the taller side, but at six feet five, Stephan had outgrown both Athan and me by half a foot. None of us shared the same facial features, but it was still hard to miss that we were brothers.
“Word of you will have spread through the nightwalkers by now,” Athan continued. “If you contact our council, they will help you in any way you need.”
I retrieved my wallet from my back pocket and pulled out a card with the information she required. “They will already have a car on the way to pick you up. It’s your choice whether to go with them, but it’s your safest option.” She took the card and held it to her chest as she nodded.
In eerily perfect timing, a black Town Car pulled up to the park and idled by the curb. Most humans took some time to get used to teleporting, so the council always sent a vehicle.
After escorting Beth to her ride, we watched in silence as it drove off. Then Athan sighed, audibly expressing what we were all feeling.
We didn’t dwell on our lack of mates often, living enjoyable lives, but it didn’t mean the longing wasn’t always with us. Hunting nightwalkers was one of our jobs, though we’d each made a fortune with other talents as well. Athan was also particularly gifted at growing our portfolios, making us each a billionaire. These days, I ran a billion-dollar tech firm that worked with black ops agencies all over the world.
“Do you want a ride home?” I asked as I pressed my thumb to the pad on the driver’s side door of my SUV. I had a collection of sports cars, but since we were such big guys, I took the larger ones when we were together.
They both nodded and climbed in. We each owned a mansion just outside of town—among other homes around the world—around ten minutes from each other. Considering we could teleport, the proximity wasn’t necessary. But we’d always been close, and living near each other had felt right.
After dropping them off, I made my way to my empty house. I grabbed a snack and worked for a few hours to distract myself. As the sun peeked over the horizon, I yawned and decided it was time for bed.
I stripped down and hopped into a quick shower, making sure there wasn’t any residual ash from the fight. Then I fell naked into my large, empty bed and passed out.
1
Thana
“I don’t understand what we’re doing here. Whose house is this?” I peered out the window of the limousine at the imposing gate that was swinging open. My aunt had been acting strange all day, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. I’d lived with her mood swings ever since she’d taken me into her home after my parents died when I was twelve years old. One of the first lessons I’d learned was to stay out of her way when she was wound up about something. That hadn’t been possible today, though. Not when she had been dead set on getting me all gussied up to celebrate my birthday tonight. “And what are we doing here?”
“It’s your birthday celebration, dear. The Thackers offered to host a dinner for you, and I couldn’t turn them down.” Aunt Judy waved her hand toward the mansion looming outside the limousine’s door. “They’re a very powerful family. It wouldn’t do to alienate them.”
My aunt didn’t really have friends, but she was obsessed with cultivating the right connections. She would never turn down someone she was trying to impress. I had no doubt that she fully expected me to go along with whatever she promised the Thackers. Shaking my head, I huffed out a sigh. “Why would people I don’t even know want to throw a party for me?”
“I’m not certain how you managed it when you normally don’t bother to dress up or do anything with your hair, but their son is apparently quite taken with you,” she explained, smoothing her hand down the skirt of her dress.
I tilted my head to the side, trying to come up with whom she was talking about but drawing a blank. “I don’t think I know anyone with the last name Thacker.”
Aunt Judy shrugged and angled her body toward the door as the driver pulled around the curved driveway and stopped in front of the steps leading up to an imposing mansion. “He knows you, and that’s what’s important.”
“Why should I care if some random guy thinks he knows me when I have no idea who he is?” I leaned my head back and squeezed my eyes shut, dreading the evening ahead.
I heard the driver’s door open and close before my aunt slapped my thigh hard enough that the sound echoed through the limousine. My eyes popped open, and I glared at her while rubbing my leg through the silky material of the billowy, light blue dress she had insisted I wear. “Because the Thackers are important people, and you owe me for taking you in after your parents passed away.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. My aunt didn’t become my guardian out of the kindness of her heart. My parents’ will gave her plenty of reasons to put a roof over my head. My mom knew her sister well, but there hadn’t been any other options. She had structured my trust to give my aunt plenty of reasons to keep me out of foster care in case anything ever happened to them. It was a good thing she’d had that foresight or else my aunt would’ve shipped me off somewhere right after they’d been laid to rest.
“You will be respectful while we’re inside. Or else,” she hissed.
“Yes, ma’am.” Aunt Judy didn’t seem to notice the sarcasm in my tone, which was a good thing since she still held the purse strings on my trust for another year.
The driver opened the door, effectively ending our conversation. My aunt slid out of the limousine, her foot tapping the ground as she waited for me to join her. I took a fortifying breath before exiting the vehicle. It was bound to be a long night, and I wasn’t old enough to drink to help me make it through a stuffy dinner with people I didn’t know. As I followed her up the steps, I vowed to celebrate my next birthday however I wanted. I’d start by moving out of my aunt’s home. Three hundred and sixty-five days from now, she wouldn’t have any more control over me.
Tonight was a different story. Without any other decent options, I pretended to be thrilled to meet the Thackers after their butler let us into the house. I definitely didn’t know their son, Jonathan. He sent off all sorts of warning bells in my head in a way I wouldn't have forgotten if we’d met before. “It’s nice to meet you,” I lied as he lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
“The pleasure is all mine.” After he released my hand, his gaze drifted over my face and body. The masculine appreciation in his dark orbs would’ve made most girls melt since he was rich and handsome, but it made my skin crawl. I must have masked my reaction to him better than I thought because he smiled at me and suggested, “I’d love to show you our garden while my parents and your aunt enjoy a drink.”
“Go on, dear,” Aunt Judy urged with a pleased grin. “A walk in the garden before dinner sounds like a lovely idea.”
I parted my lips, prepared to argue that it was too dark outside for me to really see anything, but then thought better of it when she glared at me. Pasting a smile on my face, I turned back to Jonathan. “Thank you.”
One of the things I loved about my dress was the pockets hidden in the folds on both sides. I had a tiny clutch with me, only big enough to hold my phone, ID, and a lip balm, so when he held out his hand, I slipped the reticule into one of the hidden slots. Then I slid my palm against his, allowing him to lead me through several long hallways and out a set of French doors. He didn’t release me until we neared a break in the wall of precisely trimmed hedges. “After you,” he murmured with a gallant sweep of his arm.
I stepped through the opening and gaped at the perfectly manicured garden. I loved flowers and couldn’t help but gasp, “It’s beautiful.”
“Not nearly as beautiful as you.” He pulled a small jewelry box from his pocket, plucked something shiny from inside, and reached for my hand. “I’m glad I’m the one who gets to claim you.”
I stared down at the diamond ring as he slid it onto my finger. The cushion-cut solitaire was stunning, but I didn’t understand why he had given me such an expensive gift—let
alone putting it where an engagement ring belonged. “I don’t understand.”
“What’s there to understand?” The gleam in his dark eyes—with a hint of red that must’ve been a trick of light from the moon or something—sent an uncomfortable shiver up my spine. “Your aunt came to an agreement with my parents, and we’re to be married next month.”
“Married?” I shook my head, trying to make sense of his announcement.
“Of course.” He swept his thumb over my finger directly beneath the ring, and I tugged my hand away. “That’s the reason for tonight’s dinner—to celebrate our engagement.”
I took a couple of steps backward, wanting some distance between Jonathan and me. “But I didn’t agree to marry you.”
“You will.”
He seemed unbothered by my negative reaction, standing so still that it seemed like he wasn’t even breathing. His unblinking stare and certainty about our relationship were completely freaking me out. I stumbled back again, making Jonathan laugh. “Go ahead and run, Thana. I’ll even give you a head start.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the opening in the hedges, my heart racing so hard that I felt each beat at the base of my throat. “Run?” I echoed, wondering how far I would get and if it would do me any good since my aunt was behind the mess I’d found myself in tonight.
“The chase will be fun, and the outcome is guaranteed—I’ll catch you and claim a prize before we go in and share the happy news with our families.” I looked back at him, my stomach sinking when he licked his lips. “Hunting you down in the dark will turn me on. Now that the engagement is official, we might as well consummate the occasion.”
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