Vampire in the Night: In Darkness We Must Abide, #1

by Rhiannon Frater

  In spite of the coldness of his lips, she was on fire. The chasteness of their first kiss was forgotten in the heat of their second. His lips were cold, soft and demanding, yet all she felt was the burning need for his caress. Fingertips grazing her waist just below her tank top, his touch left icy trails of pleasure. Then it was over, his hands pressing her back gently, her lips naked without his.

  “Happy birthday, Vanora,” he said, his voice a little rough.

  Unconsciously, she reached for him, but he caught her hands. After kissing her palms, he slipped out the window, resuming his precarious stance on the windowsill.

  “Armando,” she breathed.

  “You’re not for me, Vanora,” he whispered. “I am not for you.”

  Ashamed of her impulsiveness, she retreated from the window, her head down. “I’m sorry.”

  “No. I am.”

  The words held such terrible sadness, Vanora raised her gaze immediately to seek the truth in his golden eyes, but he was gone.

  33

  Armando landed on the other side of the wall and strode swiftly to his car. Pulling out his cellphone, he stared at the small, darkened screen with trepidation.

  The lingering sensation of Vanora’s warm lips was an unsettling reminder of his weakness. His role as her protector was one he had taken seriously for several years now, but tonight he had unexpectedly crossed a line. Though he had always thought of her as a lovely child, tonight he had seen her as a beautiful woman. That realization had been both startling and upsetting. It had been sheer audacity and stupidity to kiss the young woman.

  Brushing the back of his hand over his mouth, he fought to regain his composure. Anger and frustration ate at him.

  The phone rang in his hand and he immediately answered it.

  “Did you give her the rose?” His Master’s voice, deep, dark, and dangerous, instantly chilled him.

  “Yes.”

  “Well done.” The sound of sirens in the background and the laughter of the Master’s primary enforcer were a tiny and eerie cacophony. “Acquire a photo of her soon. I wish to see her.”

  “I will as soon as I can. Roman doesn’t allow me to have access to her. I took a risk delivering the rose tonight,” Armando said, pacing beside of his car.

  “Find a way. You say she’s lovely. I want to see her.”

  “I’ll find a way.”

  “I know you will.” Another pause. Someone screamed on the other side of the connection. “There. Russian vampires die so slowly. It’s rather enjoyable.”

  “Master, she’s leaving here by the end of the year.”

  “I have a war to fight and cannot be constantly monitoring your progress. Make sure she continues to trust you.”

  Leaning against his car, Armando sighed. “I understand.”

  “How is the construction of my haven coming along?”

  “It will be ready when you arrive.”

  Another scream. Then a woman laughing.

  “Armando, you are my favorite. I trust you more than any other. I have given you the most sacred of duties. The care of my future queen.”

  Closing his eyes, Armando nodded. “I understand.”

  “Do not fail me.”

  The call disconnected and Armando snapped his phone shut. Resting his arms on the hood of his car, he stared at the moon glowing through the hazy cloud cover. He had to harden his heart and strengthen his resolve. Though Vanora was blossoming into a beautiful woman, he could not allow himself to be drawn to her or care for her personally. She was his duty and he had to keep his focus on that reality.

  Flipping his phone open, he made a quick call.

  “What do you want?” Carlotta’s voice demanded after several rings.

  “You. Meet me at my apartment in thirty minutes,” Armando said gruffly.

  With a delightfully wicked laugh, Carlotta said, “Did your little girl get you all hot and bothered?”

  “Don’t make me hurt you,” Armando growled.

  “But I want you to,” Carlotta said flirtatiously in response.

  “Be there.” It was not a request.

  She hung up without saying a word, but he knew she would come to him.

  Unlocking his car door, he forced himself to not look back at the mansion, nor the window where he had tasted the sweetest of lips.

  * * *

  “I’m sorry, Vanora,” the woman with the sea green eyes whispered. “The darkness is consuming everything around me and will soon drown me.”

  Vanora could barely discern the outline of a woman floating above the ivory organza of her canopy. Sitting up, she stretched out her hands, reaching up toward the shape. “Mommy!”

  The fabric tore free from the bed frame and fell, covering Vanora. Abruptly, it transformed into foamy water. Gasping, Vanora felt herself dragged beneath the waves into the darkness below. Struggling, she fought to ascend, her hands dragging through the water. A white hand emerged from the darkness to grip hers, then Vanora was lifted through the churning waves. When she arrived at the surface, she coughed violently, trying to breathe again.

  To her shock, she saw her mother close to her, tawny curls flattened by the water and clinging to her pale face. On the banks of the river, a car was on fire. Within, Vanora saw a man thrashing about inside, trying to escape.

  “Daddy!”

  “Vanora! Listen to me! I don’t have much time. He’s coming for me. He’ll come for you.”

  “Mommy!” Vanora kicked at the water, trying to draw closer to her mother.

  “He’s going to kill me, Vanora. He knows if I’m alive I’ll protect you from him.”

  “We have to get away! We have to get out of the water!”

  “It’s too late,” Carys whispered. “I’m already dying.”

  The firelight revealed red-tinged waves lapping around her mother’s body. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and Carys wiped it away. Just below the surface of the water, the hilt of a dagger bobbed and sparkled in the moonlight. It was thrust into her mother’s chest.

  “Mommy, no. Please, no.” Vanora wailed.

  Carys seized her daughter’s shoulders and pulled her close. More blood spilled from the corners of her mouth and bubbled on her tongue when she spoke. “My power is your power. He claims you because of a prophecy, but I have seen my own vision of your future. The darkness will consume you, but you will always be a child of my light. Don’t let his lies cloud your mind.”

  “She’s over here!” A woman’s voice called out of the night excitedly.

  Vanora looked up to see a slight young woman with blond hair racing along the banks.

  “You have to go now,” her mother whispered. “You have to return to the world of dreams and leave me to my fate. Remember what I said. My power is your power.”

  Then her mother plunged Vanora’s head beneath the waves and the darkness of the river swallowed her. Vanora fought the currents, trying to kick her way to the surface, but the tendrils of darkness dragged her deeper. Above her, she saw her mother’s body silhouetted against the moon in the night sky. A dark shape flitted past the glowing orb, then her mother was violently wrenched out of the water.

  Screaming into the murky depths of the river, Vanora struggled to follow.

  * * *

  Waking, Vanora kicked at her bedclothes and flailed at the darkness filling her room before realizing she was no longer trapped in the river. Blind, Vanora struggled to see through the murk around her, then slowly her vision returned and she saw the angel nightlight on her vanity gently glowering. Sitting up, Vanora dragged deep breaths of air into her lungs.

  “Just a dream,” she whispered.

  Trembling, Vanora hugged herself, pressing her forehead against her drawn up knees. She clung to the memory of her mother’s voice and her beautiful eyes but was horrified by the dream itself. Her parents had died when their car had plunged off a suspension bridge over a river in East Texas and crashed into the banks below. It had burst into flames, killing
both her parents.

  Wiping her eyes, Vanora sniffled as she wept.

  Her brain had to be playing tricks on her. Carys had died in the car with her father. She hadn’t been thrown into the river or stabbed by an ornate dagger. Carys had burned to death in the arms of her husband.

  Flopping over, Vanora clung to her pillow, which was soon damp with her tears. It had been a long time since she’d had a nightmare about the death of her parents, but it had never been so terrifyingly real. The dream clung to Vanora’s mind like thorny vines. What if it was some sort of message from her mother? What if she was truly warning Vanora about danger? And if she was in danger, who was the man she was supposed to fear?

  Vanora rolled onto her back and pressed the heels of her hands to her closed eyelids.

  She was terrified she already knew the answer.

  Maybe she was supposed to fear the man who had already stolen her heart.

  Armando.

  Part V

  Present Day

  It was the hum of the car that drew Vanora out of her slumber. Her dreams weren’t of HIM, much to her relief, but they had not been pleasant either. In the last one, she was standing on the lawn of the Socoli Mansion, watching great waves of darkness pouring out of the mausoleum. Frozen in place, she could only watch in horror as the surge rushed her and inky tendrils lifted from the miasma to wrap around her. She awakened just before she was entangled and dragged into the mausoleum to be claimed by the dead as one of their own.

  It was a sweet relief to escape the nightmare until she remembered she was on the road to Houston to hopefully save the life of her brother. To make matters even more stressful, Armando was driving her car. Lifting a trembling hand to her head, she winced at the painful thud behind her eyes. The interior of the car was a blur of darkness streaked with light. She lowered her eyelids and rubbed them with cold fingers.

  “Are you okay?” Armando asked.

  Opening her eyes again, she barely discerned his pale face in the murk that clouded her vision. Reluctantly, she reached into her purse and pulled out her glasses. Shoving them onto her face, her vision improved, but was still hazy.

  “Vanora?” Armando sounded worried.

  “I’m okay,” she lied.

  “You’re wearing your glasses.” His tone was slightly accusatory.

  Shoving her trembling hands into her white-blond hair, Vanora rubbed her scalp. “I have nightmares, and sometimes afterward my vision is...off.”

  Armando’s elegant fingers slid beneath the mantle of her hair and massaged her neck. His digits were so cold, they actually felt quite delicious against her aching muscles. Turning her face from him, she tried to ignore the way her heart sped up, fighting the urge to jerk away. Didn’t he realize what his touch did to her?

  “Did you just have another nightmare?”

  She nodded.

  “About what?”

  Did she sense fear in his voice? His fingers stilled against her flesh.

  “Darkness consuming me.” She shivered at the memory.

  “I won’t let that happen,” he said at last. His voice was rough and grim.

  The cool press of his fingertips elicited terrible, desperate feelings of desire, but they also frightened her. He was so strong; she was so weak. He was a predator; her kind was his prey. Fear slithered through her and she pulled free of his grip. Pressing herself against the door, she folded her arms across her breasts. The soft exhalation of a sigh from the vampire surprised, thrilled, and frightened her. Armando was so very good at twisting her all about.

  “Armando, what aren’t you telling me?”

  As her car sped down the darkened highway, the vampire behind the wheel remained stoic and quiet. She let him fall into silence for just a half minute before she said loudly, “Well?”

  “Tell me about your other dreams.”

  “They’re not important,” she answered crossly. She didn’t want to talk about HIM. She didn’t want to even consider that HE was real.

  “You’re keeping something from me.” Irritation flared in his tone and he glanced at her, golden eyes dangerously bright.

  Vanora smiled at him triumphantly. “Then I guess we’re even.”

  “This isn’t a game, Vanora. This world is very dangerous.”

  “I know that! Why do you think I ran away?” Anxiety shredded her calm and she clutched her hands together. The bracelet he had given her so long ago glinted in the pale illumination of the dashboard lights. “I know what you really are. What my brother and sister really are. Remember, I saw it!”

  Armando slammed his hand against the steering wheel.

  “Armando, you can’t be angry at me for being afraid of you! Of them! Of what they did! I thought you weren’t like…like…” She resisted the urge to clutch his arm. A piece of her wanted to feel his touch again, to be consoled, but a much larger aspect of her was terrified of him.

  “Like the one who made Roman?” The vampire’s laughter was cold and inhuman. “Vanora, we are monsters with human faces and human hearts. The worst sort of hell, don’t you think?”

  “What happened that night...what they did…it haunts me. Terrifies me.” Vanora shuddered, pressing her hand to her forehead. Her vision swam and nausea gripped her. She didn’t want to remember, but the truth was that she couldn’t forget.

  “The hunger is a power so overwhelming it crushes us into slaves,” Armando said in a voice that was both softer and remote.

  “And nothing can defeat it?” Vanora wiped a tear from her eyes.

  The touch of his hand on her cheek rendered her speechless. She desired to nestle into its soothing caress. Instead, she drew away.

  “No, Vanora. Not even love.”

  34

  July 2007

  Vanora was bone weary and a little ragged from her long trip home from the ranch in Bandera. Uncle Nicolau had insisted on accompanying her to Houston, riding shotgun as she drove her new car home. Though she was physically blind, she had passed her driving test with flying colors. She was so adept on relying on her sixth sense that she could pass an eye exam. A new doctor had even declared that the prior diagnosis was inaccurate. Apprehensive about her abilities and her youth, her uncle had insisted on tagging along. She’d dropped him off at the airport before driving the last leg of her journey to the Socoli Mansion.

  It was early evening when she arrived and the sun was just below the horizon, yet she knew her brother and sister were awake. After nearly a month and a half away, she could acutely feel their presence, her stomach fluttering slightly. The energy of the house whispered over her skin, darker than she remembered, yet she was very excited to be home with her family.

  Summer vacation this year had been different from previous ones. At the insistence of her aunt and uncle, she had spent several weeks in Austin followed by a long stay at the Bandera ranch owned by Aunt Crystal’s family. Vanora had spent long days lounging on the porch of the big ranch house, snuggled in the shade of the tall pecan trees reading novels and chatting with her extended family. Barbecues, horseback riding, and late afternoon dips in a nearby creek had rounded out her adventures. She’d been very cautious with her skin, making sure to always be covered, but she’d still had fun.

  Now she was home and the imposing mansion was a welcome sight. Parking her car, she slid out of the driver’s seat.

  “Can I help you carry your luggage?”

  Vanora started to a stop. Since their unexpected intimate moment on her birthday, she’d not spoken to Armando in private. The few times she’d seen him after their kiss, he was with her brother. The vampire had been cordial, but nothing more. Now he stood near the car with the night wind playing with his curls and an amused smile on his face. The mere sight of him made her body sing with pleasure and her cheeks blush.

  “Sure,” she said awkwardly.

  Armando held out his arms, offering a welcoming hug. “It’s good to see you. You were missed.”

  A month of late-night talks with Fel
icia over her deepening feelings with Armando and admonishments from her aunt rang in her ears. Armando had been right when he’d said she was not for him and he was not for her. They were separated not only by their natures but hundreds of years of life experience. It hurt her to realize that she was probably a mild form of entertainment in his eyes, so she ignored his offered hug. Unlocking the trunk of her small sedan, she tugged out a suitcase and handed it to him.

  “Did you have a good time in Bandera?”

  “It was a lot of fun. I learned how to ride a horse, shoot a gun, and how to use a hunting bow.” She kept her voice clipped and unemotional, or at least she hoped she did.

  Armando grinned with delight. “My, my, you are becoming a force to reckon with.”

  “Are you teasing me?” She arched an eyebrow.

  “No, no. I’m serious. And you drove all the way home alone. That’s impressive.”

  Vanora narrowed her eyes at Armando. It was difficult to discern if he was having a bit of fun with her or being genuine. “Uh huh.” She handed him another bag.

  “I did miss you.” A touch of seriousness infected his smile, his eyes sobering.

  Vanora pulled her makeup case and overnight bag from the trunk, slamming it shut with her elbow. “What do you want, Armando?”

  Armando blinked, then let out a startled laughed. “Excuse me?”

  Too tired to feel anything other than cranky, Vanora stepped toward him. “Uh, you kissed me on my birthday, then hardly talked to me before I left for my summer vacation, and then when I return you’re like what…my new best friend?”

  “Ah, the kiss…” Armando said rather dramatically.

  Peeved, Vanora set off toward the house. To her surprise, he grabbed her arm, stopping her in mid-stride.