Darkest Hour (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (2 page)

“So what should I expect?” Thomas
asked the next day when Elsbeth came in, carrying a tray. He tried not to
notice how her hips swayed as she crossed the room, or how the sky blue velvet
dress hugged her curves, or how her generous cleavage was exposed when she
leaned down and set a bowl of piping hot porridge on the small bedside table.

“What do you mean?” She pulled up
a small wooden stool and sat, folding her hands in her lap. For some reason he
found himself wishing she would sit on the bed, closer to him, then shook his
head. It was good that at least one of them had the sense to put some distance
between them.

“You said that I was developing
super human powers,” he reminded her. “What exactly should I expect? Will I
start growing fangs? Thirsting for blood? Is superhuman healing the only ‘gift’
I have to look forward to, or will there be others?”

Elsbeth flinched at the heavy
sarcasm in his words, though she couldn’t blame him. “I’m not entirely sure,”
she confessed. “It’s different for each person. It depends on what extent the
vampire venom bonds to your blood. The more it does, the more vampric you
become.”

Thomas brought a spoonful of
porridge to his mouth, but even though he could smell the honey she’d flavored
it with, he only tasted hot ashes on his tongue. “I’m honestly not sure what
I’m supposed to think about this.”

Elsbeth swallowed and dropped her
gaze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen to you.”

Thomas sighed. “There’s nothing
to be done about it now, I suppose. I wish it hadn’t happened, but unless
there’s some way to undo it I have no choice but to deal with it.”

Elsbeth nodded, a small smile
gracing her lips, but the look in her eyes was still cautious, wary—an
expression similar to that you’d find in a beaten dog’s eyes. Thomas knew that
he should feel glad she was so obviously remorseful, but instead he wished that
she would look at him the way she’d done the first time he’d awoken, with
kindness and compassion rather than guilt and remorse. As though he were a
human being rather than some terrible mistake she’d made.

You’re not a human anymore,
remember?

“Is there any way I can get out
of this bed?” He asked, trying to steer his mind away from the painful reminder.
“I will go mad, confined to this bed all the time.”

Elsbeth nodded. “You are free to
have the run of my house, but I strongly advise against going outside until I
have confirmation from my Seethe Mistress that no harm shall come to you.
Malachi is still out there, no doubt waiting for an opportune moment to strike.
And the Mistress is unaware of your presence as of right now, so you have no
protection save me.”

“When are you going to see her?”

Elsbeth smiled. “I do believe I
have an appointment with her shortly.”

* * *

“Mistress.” Elsbeth curtsied
deeply, her head nearly grazing the plush carpet covering the hardwood floor.
She could feel Amelia’s gaze on her, heavy with power, but she held the pose,
refusing to so much as tremble. It did not pay to show fear in front of any
vampire, especially one more powerful than oneself.

“You may rise,” the Seethe
Mistress said, and Elsbeth lifted her head, allowing her skirts to fall to her
sides again and trace the carpet with their hems. “What brings you here today,
my child?”

The Seethe Mistress referred to
all her members as children, regardless of whether or not she’d personally
sired them. Elsbeth’s sire had been executed for breaking the Seethe laws, so
in a way Amelia was the closest thing she had to a sire now. Though she was
nearly three hundred years old, Amelia looked no older than the twenty-two
years she’d lived before being turned. Her dark red hair was thick and
lustrous, her emerald eyes glowed in the candlelight, and her voluptuous figure
was showcased to perfection in the black satin gown she wore. Rubies winked at
her ears, wrists and throat, and the large black stone she wore on her third
finger shimmered as she lifted her hand.

“Mistress, I come bearing
terrible news. An innocent was attacked by one of our own last night.”

Amelia’s eyes flashed red, and
she sat up straighter on her high-backed, ornately carved wooden throne. “Who?”

Elsbeth swallowed, uncomfortable
with the rage in her Mistress’s eyes even though she knew it was not meant for
her. “It was Malachi. I was out hunting the other night, at the edge of a
forest, watching a human male. Malachi was nearby, and decided that my interest
was unnatural, and attempted to remove the problem… forcefully.” She decided
there was no need to mention she’d been watching him for weeks—even
though her Mistress had banned the killing of innocents, she would still find
Elsbeth’s behavior to be strange. “He is jealous that I have continued to spurn
his ‘amorous’ advances, and decided to take it out on the human. I managed to
keep Malachi from killing him, but too much blood was taken.”

“He will become a half-breed,
then.” Amelia spoke calmly, but Elsbeth wasn’t fooled into thinking she’d
calmed down; her Mistress’s eyes continued to burn bright red.

Elsbeth nodded. “I would like to
petition you to grant him your protection. Malachi will no doubt try to come
after him again, once he discovers that I have taken him in.”

Amelia arched a brow. “Malachi
will not be doing much of anything for some time. I will see to it that he is
punished most thoroughly for the infraction. In any case, the protection is
granted since the damage inflicted was done by one of my own. I assume you have
decided to continue taking care of this new half-breed?”

“Yes.”

“Then I am formally assigning you
as his mentor and caretaker.”

Elsbeth bowed, relief nearly
making her swoon. “Thank you so much, Mistress. I am forever grateful to you
for your wisdom.”

Amelia waved her bejeweled
fingers. “Save your flattery, child. I know they are not empty words, but I
hear them so often from the honeyed-tongues of your fellows that I grow weary.”

Elsbeth smiled. “I do apologize.
I shall take my leave now.”

Amelia nodded. “When he is on his
feet again, I want to meet this new half-vampire of yours. Be sure to bring him
to me.”

“I will see to it.”

* * *

When Elsbeth set foot inside her
home, she instantly knew something was wrong. A chill of foreboding rushed down
her spine, accompanied by an icy tingling in her hands and feet. A faint groan
wafted from the hallway, and she sprinted towards the master bedroom, fear
clutching her chest and squeezing her throat tight. Had Malachi already come to
finish what she’d started? Had she been a fool to leave Thomas here unguarded,
even for just a few moments?

She burst through the bedroom
door to see Thomas lying on his back, face pale, cold sweats breaking out over
his skin to soak the sheets. His breathing was shallow, and when he lifted his
head to look up his eyes gleamed red.

“I’m… I don’t know what’s wrong with
me,” he rasped. “I feel so thirsty, but I don’t know what I need.”

Elsbeth rushed over to his side,
her fingers flying to the buttons at the top of her high-necked gown as she
sat. “The blood fever has taken you, she explained, hurriedly exposing her neck.
“You will have to drink from me in order for it to subside.”

Even through his obvious
suffering he was able to twist his expression to mirror the distaste flashing
in his eyes. “I don’t want to drink blood. Besides, don’t I have to drink from
a human?”

Elsbeth gently gripped him by the
shoulders and pulled him forward. “I have fed recently, so it’s all right. I
have heard that newly-made half-vampires often start out by eating from their
makers—or in this case, another vampire.” She ignored the insidious voice
in her head that pointed out she may as well have made him considering her part
in this disaster.

He protested feebly as she
pressed his face into the hollow where her neck and shoulder met, but the flash
of hunger in his eyes told her that he wouldn’t be able to resist the fresh
blood coursing through the veins near her throat. Her suspicions were proven
correct when his hot, wet tongue snaked out, trailing a path along one of the
tendons in her neck. Her nipples pearled instantly, and a shiver wracked her
body—this time one of pleasure, rather than fear. She had never fed
another before, so she was unsure as to whether this was a normal reaction, or
simply an extension of her infatuation with him.

His hands curled around her
shoulders, drawing her against him, and she curled her feet into his lap,
tilting her head back to give him better access. His fangs slid into her as if
her skin was gossamer, and the pain was fleeting, replaced by a pleasure that
started as a tingling, then spread throughout her entire body. Her breasts grew
heavy, the space between her thighs grew moist, and a moan escaped her lips as
she felt his manhood swell beneath the sheet, pressing against her inner thigh.

She didn’t know how long he fed
from her, too lost in the haze of pleasure that swamped her. She’d been told
that depending on the blood chemistry between two vampires, a feeding could
range from painful to neutral to pleasurable. It seemed she’d gotten the
positive side of that spectrum, and Thomas wasn’t even a full vampire.

Eventually he lifted his head
from her jugular, sliding his hand beneath her skull to push her head up to
meet him. His eyes burned like white-hot coals, his thirst satisfied, but lust
burning bright in his eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but was
unable to form any words. Though she’d known it was wrong, a part of her had
yearned for that handsome face to look at her just the way he was now—as
though he wanted to devour her, and certainly not the way Malachi had tried to
do to him.

“Elsbeth,” he whispered hoarsely,
tracing her cheeks with his fingertip. His forefinger glided over her bottom
lip, and her tongue darted out to taste his flesh—salty, sweet, and warm.
His groan of pleasure sent another rush of moisture between her legs, and she
tilted her head to meet his lips as they came crashing down onto hers.

The metallic taste of blood
filled her mouth, made even more seductive by Thomas’s own taste than it had
been when she’d sucked those evil humans dry. Tangy copper threaded with smoky
spice and man. It was addicting and she couldn’t get enough. Fingers tangling
in his hair, she pressed his hard body closer against hers, no longer clammy
and pale but hot with the lifeblood she’d just fed him flowing through his
veins. Her thighs clamped on either side of his hips, and they both groaned as
she began rocking her core against his shaft.

“Oh Gods, Elsbeth,” he groaned
into her mouth. “I… I don’t…”

The desire in his voice was as
great as her own, but it was the threads of uncertainty she heard that had her
stopping cold. What was she doing? He had just been attacked, nearly drained by
Malachi, and here she was riding him like… like some… like some harlot. Or an
animal in mating heat, completely selfish, with no regard to his feelings.

“I’m so sorry.” She scrambled off
him and the bed, tugging her dress around her hips and keeping her eyes trained
near her feet. “I didn’t mean to take advantage of you like this. Forgive me.”

Without once looking at him, she
turned and fled the room.

Bracing himself, Thomas turned
the door handle and pulled it open, allowing sunlight to flood the doorway and
hit him directly in his face. He waited for his skin to catch on fire, but when
only warmth and peace flooded him, he stepped outside and shut the door behind
him. His lips curved as the morning breeze tickled his skin, and birdsong
cheerfully met his ears.

His legs trembled with the effort
of holding him up, but he wouldn’t let that bring him down. He could stand in
the sun! He would not be doomed to stay to the shadows, to only be allowed to
walk the Earth when the sun had died. Maybe he might even be able to go home,
eventually.

Don’t be foolish
, a voice in his head chided.
You’ve
no idea what other transformations your body will undergo. You’ve already
exhibited a dependency on blood.

An image flashed in his head, of
Elsbeth straddling his lap, the pale column of her throat curved back as he
drank from her, her sweet, dark blood saturating his tongue as he sucked and
sucked and sucked. He hadn’t seen her face, but he’d heard her moans, felt her
hardened nipples abrade his bare chest, and the combination of feminine desire
and sweet blood had his own body responding. Kissing her had been a nearly
transcendent experience—he’d never met a woman who tasted so good. And
when she’d started rubbing herself against him…

Gods. He would have rucked up her
skirt and pushed himself inside her if she hadn’t stopped them both. Sex would
only complicate their already strange relationship. He didn’t know what to think
of her. She’d saved him, and yet by her own admission her very presence had
caused his life to forever be altered. She was a vampire, and he’d been human.
She should have had no business coming onto his land and spying on him,
especially since she didn’t feed off innocent humans.

And yet she wasn’t a monster.
She’d been kind to him, and had never once responded to his barbs in anger, but
shown only humility and guilt—an emotion he’d bet no one associated with
vampires. She fed the poor and the starving, and preyed on the evil. She’d not
only given him food and clothing, but had shared blood from her own body with
him.

She’d admitted that she was
infatuated with him, yet at the first sign of resistance from him she’d bolted,
and he wasn’t sure why. He might’ve been weak, but he wasn’t an invalid. Was it
her guilt that had gotten in the way? He honestly wasn’t certain why he’d
resisted. It hadn’t been because he didn’t want her—the fact that his
body ached for her even now was proof that he wasn’t immune to her charms. But
the intensity of his reaction to her had startled him, and he hadn’t been sure
if it was really him, or the bloodlust.

He knew now that he’d been wrong,
since he was standing outside in broad daylight, his mind and body clear, and
he still wanted her. She was inside, asleep in another room—he’d heard
her light breathing as he’d passed by a closed door, which wasn’t something
he’d have detected before he’d been bitten.

A wave of dizziness washed over
him, and he had to make an effort to stay upright. Looking down at his bare
torso, he was surprised to find that his chest and arms were a bright
pink—sunburn. He winced—that was going to hurt later. A wave of
sadness washed over him; it seemed that even though he could stand in the sun,
he had developed sensitivity towards it. As a human he had bronzed in the sun;
the last time he’d gotten sunburned he’d been a child.

Shaking his head, he stumbled
back inside the house. Elsbeth was right; he needed to rest. He just wished
that his life weren’t so damned confusing right now.

* * *

Elsbeth woke the moment the sun slipped below the horizon; it’s harmful rays
once more out of reach. Yawning, she stretched, the sheet slipping down her
torso to reveal her thin, black nightgown. She knew many of her brethren liked
to sleep in coffins, but the extra protection they provided wasn’t worth the
discomfort of being entrapped and enclosed in such a small space. She supposed
it was probably because she was barely a year old, but she still liked sleeping
on a full bed with all the trimmings. A coffin couldn’t compare with a
featherbed, or with the mountain of stuffed pillows and comforters that kept
her warm.

The only thing missing from that
bed was a man.

Sighing, she slipped her legs out
from beneath the blankets and touched her feet to the cold, wooden floor. There
WAS a man, and he WAS in her bed. Why she hadn’t put him in the guest room to
begin with she wasn’t sure, but it was her own fault she’d given him her room
and she didn’t want to seem rude by asking him to move.
Especially not after
what she’d done to him.

Sighing, she went to the closet and
pulled out her hunting outfit—a pair of black breeches, a tunic, and
sturdy leather boots. She loved her dresses, but they did not make good hunting
companions. Skirts had a tendency to catch on branches or drag against tree
roots, which could be dangerous when chasing prey.

When she stepped into the
hallway, Thomas was waiting for her. Leaning against the wall, the single
candle in his hand illuminating his face, he was both beautiful and
sinister—like a vampire.

“I want to come with you.”

Elsbeth shook her head. “It’s too
dangerous, and you’re not well.”

He flexed one of his arms. “I
can’t just sit here cowering in this house. If I’m going to survive in this
new… form, you’re going to have to teach me how.”

She frowned. “You’re so eager to
take a human life to prove your worth?”

“Have I any choice?” The hint of
bitterness in his voice had her throat tightening. “I must make the best of
this life.”

“We could hunt animals,” she said
after a moment. “Their blood is not as satisfying as a human’s, but it will
do.”

A long moment passed before he
finally nodded. “Let’s go.”

She took him to a forest; not the
one where she’d first seen him, as she didn’t think it was wise to put him in
such proximity with his home yet. It was very strange, to have him so close to
her, and though he was obviously not at full strength yet, his virility and
emerging power was electrifying. She suspected that if he’d been turned into a
full vampire he would be powerful enough to have his own Seethe.

He was a quick learner, and in no
time was flitting through the trees along with her, quieter than the flutter of
a moth’s wing—though he did have to stop every so often for a rest. Not
much was out at this time of night, but he was able to catch a brace of
rabbits, and she stood by watching him sink his fangs into his first kill,
wondering if mothers felt the kind of pride that swelled her. Except that
nothing else she felt for him could be called motherly.

“It’s bitter,” he finally said
after tossing the second rabbit carcass aside. He wiped his bloody mouth with
the back of his hand. “Not sweet, like yours.” A mixture of hunger and pleasure
flashed in his eyes, and moisture pooled between her thighs again.

“Animal blood is not quite so
satisfying,” Elsbeth admitted, her voice steady even as Thomas drew closer to
her. “I would offer to let you feed from me again, but I have not yet eaten so
I’m afraid I’ve not much to spare.”

“I see you have yourself a new
pet,” a familiar voice sneered out of the darkness, and she jumped. “Tell me,
does he do tricks?”

“Malachi!” Elsbeth whirled around
to see him leaning against a nearby maple, a sinister grin on his face. “What
are you doing here?”

He laughed darkly. “Don’t you
mean ‘why aren’t you still being punished’?”

Elsbeth’s cheeks flushed, but she
lifted her chin and met his gaze. “And so what if I do? Your behavior was
inexcusable. I can’t believe she let you go.”

“She seemed to think flaying the
skin off my back was good enough.” Malachi’s eyes glowed menacingly.
“Thankfully one of her ladies-in-waiting took pity on me and gave me a
restorative potion, so the majority of my wounds are healed. Strange how I can
get pretty much every vampire woman to fall at my feet, save you.”

“This is the one?” Thomas asked,
stepping forward before Elsbeth could respond. “The one who tried to kill me?”

Malachi sketched a mocking bow.
“I would say pleasure to make your acquaintance, but we both know that’s a
lie.”

Thomas curled his fingers into
fists. His dark brows were drawn over his eyes, his jaw set at a mutinous
angle. “Why would you do such a thing? I’ve never done anything to harm you.”

Malachi arched a brow. “Why
should I give you my reasons? You’re simply cattle. Your sole purpose is to
feed my kind. The lion does not give his reasons to the antelope before he
brings it down.”

“Why, you—!” Thomas lunged
for Malachi

“Don’t!” Elsbeth threw her arms
around his waist, dragging him to a halt.

Malachi laughed. “Are you going
to let a woman hold you back? You’re weaker than I thought.

“Don’t listen to him,” Elsbeth
hissed in Thomas’s ear. “He’s trying to goad you into attacking him so he can
finish you off without retribution. If he claims self-defense, our Mistress
won’t be able to hurt him.

Thomas’s chest rose and fell
rapidly, his vision hazed red with bloodlust. He wanted revenge against the one
who’d done this to him. But he wasn’t so far gone that Elsbeth’s words did not
penetrate. He would not allow Malachi to make him the victim in this
cat-and-mouse game.

He stopped struggling, and gently
removed Elsbeth’s hands from around his torso. “You’re not worth the trouble,”
he sneered at Malachi. “I’ll take my revenge on my own terms, not yours.”

Malachi’s expression morphed from
condescendingly amused to outright livid. “You will pay for this, Elsbeth.” His
murderous gaze found hers, and a shiver rolled down her spine. “I won’t forgive
you for siding with filth like him.” He drew the shadows around him like a
cloak, then disappeared.

The two of them stood for a long
while, staring at the spot where Malachi had been. Elsbeth was almost dizzy
with relief; she didn’t know what she would have done should Malachi have
chosen to finish Thomas off. She wondered if she should speak to her Mistress
again, but what would she say? He hadn’t actually done anything wrong this
time.

“Well.” Thomas finally broke the
silence. “Your friend certainly has some interesting opinions.”

Elsbeth shook her head. “He’s
despicable. I’m ashamed we’re members of the same Seethe.”

Thomas shrugged. “It’s not your
fault he turned out the way he did.” He put an arm around her shoulder. “What
do you say we go home for the night?”

Elsbeth leaned against his side.
“I think that sounds like a good plan.”

She hid her smile, and decided
not to mention that he’d called her house ‘home’.

* * *

Over the next few days, Thomas
grew stronger. His senses grew sharp, his movements faster, and he adapted
fairly quickly to taking nourishment from animal blood. Since he needed so
little to survive, Elsbeth never tried to teach him how to hunt humans. Since
he was only part-vampire, she could easily understand how such a thing would be
abhorrent to him, even if it were only evil humans he hunted.

“And how is it that you know
these humans are evil?” He’d demanded of her one night, when she’d come home
from a hunt. His eyes had latched onto the spot of blood at the corner of her
mouth, which she’d missed when she’d stopped by a small brook to clean off.

“We can scent it in their blood,”
she’d told him. The corruption from evil souls often translated to the
bloodstream, tainting it so that it had a slightly bitter flavor, which could
also be scented.

He’d shaken his head. “What if
you’re wrong? What if you’d gotten the scent wrong?”

She’d shrugged. “We might mistake
the scent, but certainly never the flavor. It’s very distinct. If we’d gotten
it wrong, we would let the human go, of course.” Though in the case of new
vampires, they often didn’t have the tremendous amount of self-control required
to stop a feeding once started. Innocents did die on occasion, and that was
unfortunate. But such was the way of life.

He hadn’t been completely
satisfied, but the knowledge that she did her best to ensure no innocents were
harmed seemed to appease him. For the next few days, they were content to
exist, to grow, to learn.