by Holley Trent
She whirled around to face him. “I think you’re the most incredible, smart, sexy man who’s ever walked this earth. I’ll admit aspects of your nature have scared me, but they don’t overshadow the remarkable man you are … inside.” Abby clenched a fist and punched the air. “Oh, God, I can’t talk about this now. Just remember, this stage may be the only place where you can be yourself, but you have to do it in a way that doesn’t ruin your life … as a professor.”
Malcolm squinted at her. “Perhaps you really do love me.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, you would finally realize that at a time like this.” Abby rolled her eyes, though it was just as much her realization. She did love this man.
“You don’t have to worry about me revealing myself, Abby.”
“It’s more than that. I also feel that this play has made you recall the life you had with your wife, and frankly — ” she drew a deep breath and then exhaled “ — I’m sorry I’ve forced you to relive those painful memories.”
“I’m not sorry, Abby. I’m grateful. I’d locked my heart away, and I didn’t feel worthy of love.” He reached for her, but she jerked away from his touch. “This play has made me remember many things in my life I’d suppressed. I haven’t wanted to recall what happened during the war and the fateful role I played, but you’ve brought me closure. By putting my ‘what ifs’ behind me, I can finally look forward to a future. I have a new perspective … and a reason to live.”
Tears streamed down her face, but she held her palms up in front of him. “I don’t know whether to hug you or slap you. Your new perspective couldn’t have come a moment too soon. Now, go out there and be you.” She shook her head. “No, don’t be you. Be a reasonable semblance of you. And please — ” She thumped her fist to her heart. “Please … be careful.”
“Rest assured. I am a vampire, but I don’t have to act it out on a stage. The woman I love believes in me, and that is everything.”
Chapter Twenty
Abby’s first exhalation came about ten minutes into Act Two. Reminding herself to breathe, she clenched and unclenched her fists. She’d stood on the sidelines with every sense tuned to the subtleties of Malcolm’s performance. Though she’d adjusted to and even appreciated the traits that made him more than human — like the immediacy of his reactions and the intensity of his stare — nothing he did in the second act seemed more than good acting. Even Karen recovered enough from her first act swoon to deliver a convincing role as the vampire’s love interest, parasol and all.
The cast beamed as a standing ovation from the audience signaled an encore bow, and Abby breathed a deep sigh of relief. But her elation was short-lived.
Kyle had been noticeably absent from the cast party. Just a few students remained as Abby and Malcolm left the theater.
At one A.M., the dark campus turned eerily quiet. Only the hoot of an owl disturbed the solitude. Abby shivered in the frosty night air.
• • •
“Attendez, professeur.” The voice whispered across the night sky.
Malcolm froze. He’d recognize that voice anywhere, and it wasn’t simply the French language. The breathy inflection could only belong to one person, Michel Auchamp, the chancellor of the vampire council. Malcolm pulled Abby behind him to shield her. “What do you want, Auchamp?”
“No formal greeting, Malcolm, after all these decades?” Auchamp dropped his French.
“I respect your age, Auchamp, but I don’t agree with the direction of the council. You know that.” Malcolm felt Abby’s breath catch at his words. No doubt she’d opt for a more diplomatic approach.
“I must admit we thought you would betray yourself through this play, but since you offered no corpus delicti, we have had to act outside our edicts’ jurisdiction. We did not count on you exhibiting such restraint, but I suppose that is what comes from your many years of humanity.”
Malcolm heard rumblings of many voices on the wind. Had Auchamp brought the entire council with him for this confrontation?
“Again, Auchamp, what do you want?”
Auchamp’s laughter shook the branches of an ancient oak and rattled an owl from its perch. The owl circled Malcolm and Abby, and then returned to the tree.
“My dear Malcolm, all we want is your cooperation.”
A chill ran up Malcolm’s spine. As he straightened, Abby’s arms tightened around him. “The word is coercion, not cooperation.”
Auchamp laughed again. This time, the owl hooted, fluffed its feathers, and resettled. “Call it what you will. We haven’t harassed you because we thought we could find your trait elsewhere, but after an exhaustive search, we haven’t been able to locate a single vampire immune to the sun. And since you’ve been reluctant to create any vampires with your unique quality, you’re our only hope. A few pints of your blood should enable us to create a strain of creatures with your special attribute.”
“Why is this so important? Vampires have been creatures of the night for thousands of years,” Malcolm said.
“We cannot make our mark on the world without entering politics, and to do that, we need to come out of the darkness. Soon, we should have enough vampires working in the daylight to make an impact on the world. We will be able to infiltrate every aspect of society once we are not restricted to nightfall. And since your girlfriend’s boss has been such an able accomplice, we’re going to let him be our first recipient.”
On cue, Kyle stepped from behind the oak, flanked by his Night Fright brethren. “And a delighted guinea pig I am.”
“You bastard!” Abby shrieked. She stepped from behind Malcolm and pointed a finger at Kyle. “If you think I’d let you use Malcolm’s ability for evil, you don’t know me very well.”
“Oh, I know you, Abby, and your honorable boyfriend, too.” Kyle chuckled. “But power isn’t based on honor, and these guys have the power.” Kyle swept his arm across the sky, and suddenly, dark shapes took form and drifted to earth, landing without a sound.
Malcolm quickly counted eight imposing vampires, each of them as old as him, which meant they would all be as strong as he was. This was far from the situation he’d faced with the Night Fright boys. He could take the council members one-on-one, but two or three of them could easily pin him down. They’d have no trouble strapping him to a board and getting his blood. “I’ll leave with you willingly, but Abby walks.”
“Nothing doing,” Abby said. “You’ve lived a noble life, Malcolm. You’ve used your gift to help generations of students become better people. You can’t let them have your blood.”
“Abby, we have no choice.” Malcolm tugged Abby back to his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She had no idea what they were up against. If he lashed out at the council, they’d subdue him and make him watch them drain Abby. As it was, the more agitated she became, the more fiercely her heart beat, and a thrumming human heart at this close proximity could only be tolerated for so long. If he didn’t get her out of here soon, they’d descend on her. And when they were through, there’d be nothing left but her boots.
The council formed a semi-circle around Malcolm and Abby, and they slowly encroached.
Abby gasped as Michel Auchamp ran his tongue over a fang and sneered. “She smells positively delectable, Malcolm. We may need to rethink our purpose here this evening.”
Malcolm tightened his grip around Abby’s shoulder. His mind raced with options for escape. None. “You came for me. Let her go.”
Michel moved one step closer to Malcolm and Abby. He inhaled deeply. “Her fear is seeping out her pores. I do not believe I can resist.” He bent to Abby, his eyes ablaze.
Malcolm grabbed Michel by the throat, but before he could give a good squeeze, the other council members pounced, pinning him to the ground. He couldn’t move a muscle. “Just take me now. Drain me. You can get human blood anywhere. You don’t need
her. I’m the one you came for.” He watched the slow dance of seduction build in Michel’s eyes. The old vampire had set his course.
“Don’t look at him, Abby,” Malcolm said just before a fist punched his jaw, and then clamped over his mouth.
But it was too late. Abby had fallen under Michel’s spell. She gazed up at him as he ran his finger down her cheek. He rested his index finger on the pulsing artery in her neck, and like a lab technician would tap the spot to bring it closer to the surface, Michel did the same to Abby’s carotid.
Malcolm writhed to free himself, but at least ten hands subdued him. They increased the pressure and held him still. He bit the hand on his mouth, and then a blow to his temple disoriented him. When he was able to refocus, Michel’s tongue tickled the spot on Abby’s neck where he would puncture her porcelain skin. Even his worst nightmares couldn’t compare to the terror of this moment.
Abby’s eyes closed as she leaned into Michel’s embrace. He cradled her head in one hand and bent her back. His other hand crushed her pelvis to him, and Malcolm watched as Michel rubbed himself lasciviously against her. He summoned every ounce of his strength to break his captors’ hold, but chains couldn’t have held him more tightly.
Michel turned to Malcolm. “I am wondering how she will taste. Tell me, Malcolm, will I be able to stop drinking her? I feel I owe it to my compatriots to allow them at least a few ounces of this precious elixir.” He smiled. “But sorry fellows, this little coquette is all mine. In fact, what was I thinking? I cannot simply drink her. I shall multi-task.” The hand that had been grinding Abby’s body into his moved to the front of her jeans and began a slow rub.
Until he’d met Abby, Malcolm had frequently considered how sweet death would be, and now he wanted nothing more than to live … with her. From the depths of his being, he assembled a strength borne of love. Against all odds, he churned with a will that transcended logic and physics, and he broke free.
• • •
Startled by swift movement in her peripheral vision, Abby’s head snapped to Malcolm. Though disoriented from the glamour, her body jerked as she looked back to Michel’s face. She immediately closed her eyes, and then she eased a hand into the little purse she wore across her body. She’d stuck an extra garlic bulb there from the handout at the play, just in case she ran into one of the Night Fright boys. Crushing the bulb in her hand, she smashed it into Michel’s face.
Michel screamed.
Strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her away from Michel.
Temporarily distracted by the distress of their leader, the vampire council rushed to Michel’s side as Malcolm backed away with Abby in his arms.
• • •
And then feathers flew.
The owl launched from its branch and scraped its talons across Michel’s head, causing the old vampire to pull back and scream. Blood from the gouges the owl inflicted oozed out of his scalp and down his forehead.
The owl landed at Michel’s feet, and then began spinning. Malcolm thought the creature would burrow into the ground from its whirling action, but amidst flying feathers, it rose and grew. As the spinning slowed, feathers morphed to brightly colored cloth. The jingle of hundreds of bells accompanied the show. A mane of curly hair settled on a purple crocheted shawl.
Pat, the costume mistress, smoothed down her skirt and patted her mane. She cleared her throat. “I apologize for my late arrival. Sorry I was unable to intervene earlier, but I only expected the Night Fright boys to be here. I hadn’t anticipated the whole shebang.”
Malcolm had long known Pat was a witch, and though she was dedicated to the forces of good, he’d always given her a wide berth, and not just because of her size. In spite of super strength and immortality, vampires were helpless under a witch’s spell.
“Who are you, old woman?” Michel blinked at Pat through his blood-soaked eyes.
“Old woman, eh?” Without further preamble, Pat swung her arm over the vampire council and the Night Fright boys, Kyle included. As though she were speaking in tongues, a voice emanated from her that wasn’t her own. Deep and melodious, her Latin chant vibrated on the wind. Malcolm caught a few of the phrases, like “a mari usque ad mare,” which he took to mean that whatever she was intoning would last from sea to sea.
The vampires stood mesmerized through her chant, and when she finished, with a deep bow, they looked at each other like they had no idea why they were there.
“Malcolm McClellan, what a lovely performance. We wanted to commend you.” Michel tipped Malcolm a salute, and then looked quizzically at his bloody fingers. “Uh, we will leave now.” He nodded to the members of the council, and in unison, they sprang up and disappeared in the dark sky. The Night Fright boys followed suit. Only Kyle remained.
“Yeah, good performance,” Kyle said, shaking his head. He sauntered off in the direction of the theater, and then changed direction in favor of the faculty parking lot.
Once Kyle was out of sight, Abby turned to Pat. “What in the world did you do to those guys?”
Pat shrugged. “I just wiped their knowledge of why they were after Malcolm. That’s why they all looked so clueless. And don’t worry about Kyle. I fiddled with his state of mind. Any day now, he’ll tender his resignation from the university. He’s heading for Montana.”
“Montana?” Abby asked.
“Big bad Kyle wants to be a cowboy.”
“I’d hate to see him at liberty, even with cows.” Abby winced.
“When the time is right, I’ll conjure a fitting demise.” She tapped her nose. “A stampede could be fun, with Kyle in the middle.”
Malcolm pulled Abby close, and then gagged.
“Oh, sorry. I forgot about the garlic.” She held her hand out, away from his face.
Malcolm recovered enough to speak, “How can we ever thank you, Pat?”
“Shucks, I live for this stuff.” She brought Abby in for a hug, shook Malcolm’s hand, and sashayed off, jingling all the way.
• • •
When they finally reached the solace of Malcolm’s house, Abby hurried inside to wash the garlic off her hand. Returning to the living room, she removed her coat, throwing it over the back of Malcolm’s wing chair. She took a few deep breaths. “For the first time in a very long time, we don’t have to watch our backs.”
“I was ready to take to the sky with you in my arms, and then Pat intervened.”
“You saved me.” Abby touched Malcolm’s cheek.
“We saved each other, my love. That garlic provided the perfect distraction.”
“Yeah, but you’d have gotten us out of there.”
“We could have made our escape, but we’d be forever watching our backs. We’d have to move far away from Gettysburg.” Malcolm walked to the fireplace, picked up a poker and stabbed at the spent logs. He placed two new logs on the grate, lighted a folded newspaper and stoked a new fire.
“Well, Pat solved that.” Abby chuckled.
Malcolm turned from the fireplace. “If Pat hadn’t wiped their memories, would you have left all you know and escaped with me?”
“Of course, Malcolm.” Abby walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
He cradled her head in his hands. “It’s time you heard the story of how I became the creature I am.”
“So, you’re finally going to tell me. Is this because you want to make me a vampire?” The prospect of joining Malcolm’s world … for eternity … gave her heart a jolt.
“Only if it’s what you want.”
“I’ve been so worried about you revealing yourself through the play, I haven’t thought much about me in the equation.”
“Equation?” Malcolm stared into Abby’s eyes.
Abby could tell from his blank expression that he had no idea what she was talking about. “Yes, y
ou know — one human female plus one vampire male equals … ?”
“Ah, that equation.” Malcolm nodded. “You are clearly the essential factor.”
“I’m not sure how you figure that. You’ll live until the end of time, and I’ve got about twenty years at best before my wrinkles would make you look like a gigolo.”
Malcolm grinned. “I’d relish being your gigolo.”
“This isn’t funny, Malcolm.” Abby disengaged from his embrace, backed into the wing chair and sat, her arms folded across her chest.
“I’m sorry, love. No, it isn’t funny, and I apologize.” He sat on the footstool in front of Abby’s chair. “Over these past weeks, I’ve seen how much you care for me, and I have fallen deeply in love with you. I think I’ve known it since I rescued you from that bar in Philadelphia. I took one look at those spiderweb earrings, and I was hooked.” He reached behind her head, gathered her hair up and held it in a temporary ponytail, then let it go. “I could spend eternity just twirling your hair between my fingers.”
Abby’s heart did a somersault, but she didn’t buy his timing. “You weren’t in love with me at that bar. You may have been attracted, but you were also annoyed.”
“I wasn’t ready to hear the truth. I knew I’d become a rote imitation of the teacher I used to be, but you nailed me. I also needed to be sure you weren’t like any number of women who are captivated by vampires. I knew you were different, but I didn’t completely trust you. But you’ve showed me your true character, Abby. I’m in love with you, and I think you really love me.”
This was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but if she remained human, his life wouldn’t track with hers. What if she became a vampire? A jolt of electricity shot up her spine. Yes, it made perfect sense. “I do love you, Malcolm.”
“And now there is something I need to tell you — something I’ve never told anyone.” Taking both of her hands in his, Malcolm began his story.
Chapter Twenty-One
