Darkest Hour (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (5 page)

“Oh, oh, OH!” she cried, nails
gouging into the dirt as her body exploded.

He rose up and gripped her hips,
angling her, and then slid himself inside of her still-pulsing entrance. Her
hot, wet core sheathed him, and his eyes rolled back into his head at the sheer
force of the pleasure.

Leaning over her, he braced one
hand against the forest floor as he began moving inside her, and used the other
one to fondle her breasts, pinching and tweaking the hardened nipples. Her neck
arched, inky hair spilling over her pale skin as she moaned her pleasure.

“Harder, Thomas,” she begged.
“Please.”

He was only too happy to oblige,
and soon she was convulsing around him again and he was shouting her name as he
shot his seed into her. The pleasure was like nothing he’d ever
experienced—it consumed him completely; he lived it, breathed it,
was
it. When it finally left him he collapsed on top of her, exhausted, then rolled
onto his back and pulled her against his chest.

“Well.” Elsbeth chuckled. “I
haven’t done anything like that in a long time. And never in a setting like
this.”

Thomas nuzzled her cheek. “I hope
I wasn’t too rough.”

“You were perfect.” She turned into
his arms and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips.

“Elsbeth.” He sighed. “I…” The
words stuck in his craw. “I really…”

She pressed a finger to his lips.
“You don’t need to say anything, Thomas.”

He nodded, feeling like a fool.
“Let’s get back.”

* * *

The next few weeks were like
floating on a cloud. There were no Seethe Mistresses or jealous vampire suitors
to ruin Thomas or Elsbeth’s days. They lived, laughed, and made love. He’d
never been so comfortable with a woman in his life; she fit him like a glove,
like a second skin he’d been waiting all his life to slip into. If someone had
ever told him he would be falling in love with a vampire he would have laughed in
their face.

Elsbeth continued to cook for him
as well as the less fortunate families in the nearby villages, and she allowed
him to come along to drop off meals for his family. But he soon discovered that
it wasn’t necessary—his grandfather miraculously seemed to have recovered
some of his sight, and was able to bring home meals just fine with the help of
the village boys.

The hardest moment for him was
when the village held a memorial for him. He had attended, feeling like some
kind of ghostly specter wrapped in a dark cloak, his face shrouded from prying
eyes. He’d felt incredibly guilty, but he knew that this was for the best. Even
though he had a much better handle on the bloodlust, and despite the fact that
he watched from the sidelines, he’d still been hungry. Thankfully the salty
smell of tears and grief had kept it at bay. Sitting there and listening to his
grandparents talk about what a fine boy he’d been was the hardest. He’d gone
back to Elsbeth’s home, shut himself in the spare room while she slept, and
cried for a full hour.

But now that it was all over with
he felt cleansed, lighter. No longer tied down with family obligations, secure
in the knowledge that his grandparents were faring well and cared for, he could
do whatever he wanted. He could travel the entire world like he’d always
dreamed of. Or he could stay right here and live in peace and contentment.

He was in such a good mood that
he felt invincible—cocky even. And Elsbeth was so happy at his lifted
spirits she didn’t think there would be any cause to worry.

“Are you sure you’ll be all right
on your own?” Elsbeth asked, her eyes round as she watched Thomas, who was
pulling on a coat as he prepared to go out.

“I’ll be fine.” He
chuckled—she was like a mother hen. “You’ve taught me very well these
past few weeks about how to behave. No animal out there is going to get me
tonight.”

Elsbeth smiled. “You’re right.
It’s silly of me to worry.” She crossed the room and leaned up on tiptoe to
kiss him. She still couldn’t get over how good it felt to just be able to do
that simple action every day. It was like coming home. “Still, I feel I should
come with you.”

Thomas shook his head. “I want to
try and see if I can catch something alone. It’s a test, of sorts.” He pulled
away. “I’ll be home before you know it.”

Turning away, he stepped out into
the cold night air, walking down the dirt path toward a nearby forest to hunt
for game. He noticed a figure standing by the line of trees, and as he came
closer realized it was Malachi, looking cool and comfortable in a warm woolen
coat, his expression not at all malevolent like it had been the last few times.
He seemed almost amicable, in fact.

“What do you want?” Thomas asked
as he approached, his body taut and ready for a fight.

Malachi lifted a brow. “That’s no
way to greet someone.”

“You’ll excuse me if I don’t mind
my manners,” Thomas retorted. “You did try to kill me, after all.”

Malachi laughed. “Still holding a
grudge over that one, are you? Well, you’ve nothing to fear from me. As you
know, the Seethe Mistress has decreed that I am not allowed to kill you unless
I wish to forfeit my life in the bargain.”

Thomas frowned. “If you’re not
here to kill me, then what do you want?”

Malachi clapped a hand on his
shoulder and began walking into the forest, drawing Thomas along with him. “I
wanted to talk to you about Elsbeth.”

“What about her?” Thomas asked
warily.

“Well, you see, I care about her
very much.” Malachi kept his eyes on the trail. “She thinks my heart is made of
stone, but I have long had feelings for her. It is very difficult to stomach
the idea that after months of trying to woo her, you have won her heart so
easily.”

“Did you really come out here to
tell me that you are jealous?” Thomas asked incredulously. “I could have
figured that out on my own.”

Something hot flashed in
Malachi’s eyes, and Thomas couldn’t tell whether it was impatience or anger. “I
simply want to know that by turning away I am leaving Elsbeth in the care of
the right man. I know she has probably taught you to hunt, but should something
happen will you be able to protect her?”

Thomas drew himself up. “I can
handle myself.”

“Do you think so?” Malachi’s eyes
gleamed red in the darkness. “You are a young fisherman. What do you know about
fighting?”

“I’ve knocked a few heads
together,” Thomas objected, but there was a note of uncertainty in his voice.
What if he wasn’t qualified to protect Elsbeth?

Malachi laughed unpleasantly.
“You are a whelp. You wouldn’t last a minute in a fight to the death.”

They entered a clearing then, and
as Thomas stepped into the middle of it, he noticed several sets of yellow eyes
glowing out of the darkness. A chill ran down his spine.

“What—” he turned to
Malachi just in time to see the silver glint of a blade flash through the air
right before biting into him. A fiery trail of pain exploded along the blade’s
path—over his chest, his ribs, his abdomen. Blood gushed from the wound,
staining both his and Malachi’s clothes and shoes.

“It seems I was right,” Malachi
sneered, kicking Thomas in the abdomen, his foot pressing into the wound.
Thomas cried out in agony as he crashed to the blood-spattered ground. “You
barely lasted ten seconds against me.” A cacophony of growls and snarls rose
into the air, and Thomas watched through a haze as a group of massive wolves
stepped into the clearing, their long canines flashing wickedly in the
moonlight. “I’m sure you’ll make these fellows a fine meal. Wolves hate
vampires, and since you’re half I’m sure they’ll be more than delighted to
feast on your entrails.”

Smiling widely, Malachi drew the
shadows around him and disappeared. Thomas tried to struggle up into a sitting
position, but the wolves rushed him, snarling, their fetid breath washing over
him as they sank their teeth into every available surface they could find. His
shrieks of pain rent the night air as fangs pierced through his flesh,
splintering bone and sinew. He did his best to fight them off, but there were
simply too many, and the blood loss was making him dizzy. He was barely able to
keep them from tearing out his throat.

Is this really how it’s going to
end?
a voice in
his mind asked dimly.
Are you just going to die here and leave Elsbeth at
the hands of that monster? Without ever having told her you love her?

“NO!” Thomas roared, a new burst
of strength surging through him. Springing to his feet, he threw all the wolves
off him at once. They flew through the air, and he heard their whimpers as
their massive bodies collided with the trees, but they bounced back fairly
quickly and charged him again, hatred glowing brightly in their yellow eyes.

It should have been impossible
for Thomas to evade with the extent of his injuries, but as the first one
lunged for his throat he evaded with a surprising amount of speed and energy.
He felt a rush of power flow through him, and realized that his injuries were
healing at an incredibly fast rate. The pain was rapidly fading, his strength
and speed being returned to him with each passing second.

Another wolf lunged and this time
he struck out with his arm, backhanding the wolf so that he went flying. The
animal slammed into a tree with a loud crack of bone, and then lay limply on
the ground. The other wolves howled at the loss of their comrade and continued
to press the attack, but Thomas was relentless—he used his own fangs as
well as his extraordinary strength to rip through flesh and break bones. Soon
the snarls turned into whimpers, and the remaining few wolves tucked their
tails between their legs and ran off.

Panting, Thomas knelt beside one
of the dead wolves. The adrenaline and power rush was fast wearing off, and he
had lost a fair amount of blood. He wanted to pass out in this clearing and
rest for a long while, but that wasn’t possible. Neither he nor Elsbeth would
be safe until Malachi was finished.

So he forced himself alert, and
sank his fangs into the dead wolf’s neck. The blood was still warm from the
recent kill, and though it wouldn’t be as nourishing as live blood it would
still do. Sated, he wiped his bloody mouth with the back of his hand and went
to find Malachi.

It was time to
end this.

Elsbeth paced back and forth in
the hall, her anxiety mounting like a tidal wave, ready to crash on top of her
at any moment and render her senseless. She knew there was no reason to worry.
Thomas hadn’t been gone that long—maybe an hour, perhaps less. He was
strong and smart and knew how to take care of himself. He might have been her
lover, but he was right that she couldn’t continue to baby him. He needed to go
out on his own, learn how to survive on his own merits.

If she spent one more moment
pacing inside this house, she was going to scream.

“Oh, who am I kidding?” she cried
aloud, throwing her hands in the air. Her instincts were screaming that
something was wrong, and they were almost always right. She wasn’t acting like
a misguided mother hen. She wasn’t.

Whirling around, she wrenched
open the front door to see Malachi standing right outside, his hand raised as
though he were about to knock. He blinked, seemingly as startled as she, and
then rearranged his features into a sober expression.

“What are you doing here?”
Elsbeth snapped. “You know you are not welcome at my doorstep.”

Malachi sighed heavily, his eyes
downcast. “I’m afraid I have some unfortunate news for you. I found Thomas’s
body in the woods.”

“What?” Her throat closed up, and
she felt as though she’d been punched in the gut.

“It seems that the wolves were
out hunting tonight,” Malachi’s eyes were round, full of sympathy, but Elsbeth
caught a flash of glee in them he wasn’t able to smother. “I suppose you hadn’t
warned him about them?”

“You bastard!” She slapped him.
“You lead him right to them, didn’t you?”

“If he was stupid enough to be
lead, that’s his own fault.” Malachi stepped forward, trying to crowd Elsbeth
into the house, but she stood her ground, even though it meant she had to
endure the presence of his body, only millimeters away from her flesh. “He
might have some of my blood flowing through him, but he’s still mostly human,
Elsbeth. He’ll never be able to take care of you.”

Elsbeth pushed at his chest,
trying to create some distance, but it was like trying to budge a mountain.
“Get away from me, you monster! I would never give my heart to someone like
you!”

Malachi grabbed her by the arms
and pulled her against him. “I’ll make do with your body for now, Elsbeth,” he
whispered against her ear. “The rest of you will come over to my side in time,
once the sickness that human passed onto you has been purged.”

Elsbeth tried to struggle, but
Malachi’s grip was too strong. “Our Mistress will punish you for this!”

Malachi laughed. “How could she?
I didn’t actually kill him, darling. I’ve broken none of our laws.”

“Let her go, you bastard!”

“No,” Malachi whispered, his eyes
going blank. “Not possible.” He whirled around, moving out of Elsbeth’s line of
sight, and her heart swelled as she saw Thomas closing the distance at a rapid
pace. His clothes were torn, and his face and body were covered in blood, but
he was alive! She wanted to rush over, to gather him up in her arms and kiss
him all over, but his eyes were full of murder and all for Malachi.

Thomas stopped a foot away, his
eyes burning with hatred, his bloody fangs bared. He looked like a wild man, or
perhaps a demon, and a tremor of real fear shot down Elsbeth’s spine. “Twice
you’ve tried to kill me now, Malachi. I’m not going to give you a third try.”

Before Malachi could respond,
Thomas flashed in front of him, grabbing for his throat. Malachi barely evaded,
then countered with a side kick that caught Thomas in the ribs, who barely
groaned as he was knocked sideways. He flipped back up right away, then caught
Malachi by surprise by kicking his feet out from underneath him.

Elsbeth watched as they kicked,
punched and grappled, moving almost faster than the eye could see. She couldn’t
believe her eyes. Thomas was holding his own with Malachi… no, he had the upper
hand! Thomas’s fists were connecting far more than Malachi’s, who was being
pushed back. She had no idea that Thomas was this strong. Her Mistress had
severely misjudged him. Any vampire who could fight off an entire pack of
wolves was worth his weight in gold.

Finally, Malachi stumbled to the
ground and Thomas pinned him there, squeezing his throat. “No more games,” he
said hoarsely. “Now, you die.”

As Elsbeth watched Malachi’s face
turn purple, a terrible coldness stole through her body. “No!” she cried,
running forward. “Please, Thomas, don’t kill him!”

Thomas didn’t look up. “And why
shouldn’t I kill him? He will only come after me again.”

“Please…” Malachi managed, his
lips a deathly blue, eyes bulging as his arms weakly flailed.

“If you kill him you’ll be no
better than he is!” Elsbeth pleaded. “I know he’s rotten to the core, but the
Seethe Mistress is the only one who has the right to determine his punishment.
Please, don’t become a monster like him!”

Thomas turned slowly to face her.
“Do you think me a monster, Elsbeth?”

Eyes round, she shook her head.
He did look monstrous, with those wild eyes and blood caked skin and hair, but
he was her Thomas. Her gentle fisherman. “I love you. Even if you kill him I
will still love you. But I beg of you, don’t go down that path.”

Thomas released his grip a
fraction so that Malachi could get some air down his windpipe, and the vampire
sagged in relief. “I will let him go if you agree to leave with me?”

“Leave?”

“To start a new life together.
Let’s get away from this place, Elsbeth.” The red faded from Thomas’s eyes, to
be replaced with a desperate intensity. “You must understand what it’s like to
live so close to home and yet never be able to go back to it. I want to leave,
but I don’t want to leave you. I love you.”

“Of course.” She smiled, almost
weak-kneed with relief. Thomas wasn’t going to kill Malachi, and he’d just
declared his love to her. “Whatever you wish.”

“Good.” He smiled back, and then
his eyes hardened. “Get me some rope, please”

* * *

“Are you ready to go?”

Elsbeth sighed and turned to
Thomas. A half-smile played on his lips that tugged at her heart, and she
almost hated herself for what she was about to say because she knew it would
dim the hopeful look in his eyes. He was standing in the middle of the hall, a
brimming sack of clothing and supplies hanging over his shoulder, dressed in
the woods gear she had bought for him. He was clearly anxious to get on the
road.

“I am if you are, but if we are
going to embark on this you should know that there will be consequences.”

Thomas frowned. “What do you
mean?”

Elsbeth hesitated. “Well, there
are a few things, one of which is that Mistress Amelia is unlikely to give me
permission to leave with you.”

“Why the hell not?” Thomas set
his bag down. “You’re a grown woman, aren’t you? You shouldn’t have to stay
somewhere against your will.”

Elsbeth shook her head. “It’s not
that I couldn’t leave, it’s that by doing so I will no longer be under her
protection. Furthermore, any Seethe member who leaves without her approval is
automatically considered an enemy, and since my reason for leaving is to be
with you, I don’t see her granting approval.”

Thomas propped his hands on his
hips. “And what is the matter with you wanting to leave to be with me?” He
stepped forward and gripped Elsbeth’s hand. “Come. Let’s go and see her. Surely
if we talk to her we can make her see reason, and give you permission to leave
with me.”

He tugged on her wrist, but
Elsbeth didn’t budge. “It’s not that simple, Thomas.”

He threw up his hands. “Why not?”

Elsbeth’s dark eyes searched his
face. “Do you recall the wolves you killed back in the forest?” Thomas nodded
warily, and she continued. “They were members of the Lyrian Werewolf Clan, and
they used to be sworn enemies to our Seethe. The feud lasted for centuries, and
grew increasingly bloody until shortly after Mistress Amelia came to power. The
Alpha and our Mistress sat down and forged a treaty between them, and signed it
in blood. The wolves offered us their numbers for protection of our territory,
in exchange for never going against them or their ways—no matter how
merciless their killings or cruel their methods for protecting their
territory.”

“Why would your Seethe Mistress
agree to a peace treaty with such a vicious clan when she is so adamant about
the protection of innocents?” Thomas demanded after a moment. He was shocked.
In the legends vampires and werewolves had always been enemies, so the very
idea of a clan of werewolves striking a peace treaty with a vampire seethe was
mind-boggling.

Elsbeth’s eyes dropped to the
ground, her dark eyes fixating on a whorl in the wooden floorboards as she
searched for the words to explain, but it was difficult. The history behind
this treaty was so murky and convoluted that even she had a hard time
comprehending it.

“Mistress Amelia was once in love
with Khan, the Alpha of the Lyrian Clan,” she began softly. “They fell in love
when she was a human, still innocent and in her first blush of womanhood.
According to rumor, Khan imprinted her in order to keep her safe, so that he
could protect and serve her, to stay by her side. But one day she was attacked
by a vampire, and turned. She left him shortly afterward, refusing to start
another war between the clans simply for the sake of their love.”

She raised her eyes then, searching
Thomas’s face for comprehension, but his furrowed brow told her that he was
only more confused. “Does this not make any sense to you?”

He ran his fingers through his
hair. “Are you saying that because of her love for Khan, she allows his clan to
kill indiscriminately? Regardless of the innocence of the victim?”

Elsbeth shook her head in
frustration. She wished it wasn’t so hard for her to explain this. “The Lyrian
Clan doesn’t kill innocents, Thomas. Not unless they are forced.”

“But they tried to kill me!” he
spat, his eyes sparking furiously. “How can you say they do not kill innocents,
when they would have killed me without a thought of remorse had I not fought
back?”

Elsbeth sucked in a breath and
firmed her trembling lips. “Malachi’s plan of attack was very well thought out.
He led you to their hunting grounds and left you there, knowing they would not
recognize your scent. When a vampire joins a Seethe, they are required to do a
blood exchange with the Seethe leader in order to create a bond, and by doing
so each member has a marker in their scent that identifies them as a member of
Mistress Amelia’s Seethe. So when they found you, all they knew was that you
were not a member… and that you were a half breed, whom they do not consider
innocents.”

Elsbeth swallowed at the flash of
hurt in Thomas’s eyes and reached out to touch his cheek, but he stepped back
and turned away from her. “Half breed.” He spat the words out like a poisoned
man might spit out his wine. “You know better than anyone else that I did not
choose such a fate for myself. Regardless of what I have become, I have harmed
no one. Why am I not considered innocent?”

Elsbeth cleared her throat of the
tears that had gathered there as a reminder of what she had done to him; how
she had ruined his life simply by being unable to find the strength to stay
away. “Half breeds are not allowed to exist,” she whispered. “They are not
always able to control their thirst, and because of this they are looked on in
much the same way as wild animals. Uncontrollable, dangerous.”

Thomas whirled around, his face
stark with fury. “Then why did your Seethe Mistress allow me to live? If I am
such an abomination, why was I not gutted where I stood the moment I stepped
into her chamber?”

Elsbeth turned her face away,
unable to bear the accusation in his eyes. “She did not choose to share that
with me. All I know is that she offered you protection for as long as you chose
to live here. But now…”

“She’ll have me killed,” Thomas
said flatly. “Slaughtered like a hog by one of her own. Perhaps even by you.”
His eyes cooled as she whipped her head back to look at him.

“I would never harm you!” she
cried, her voice shrill as panic rose up to grip her throat at the thought of
Thomas believing she would ever hurt him intentionally. “I brought you to my
home, kept you in seclusion while you healed, hoping that I could help you
transition, which you did beautifully. I’ve never seen a full vampire control
his thirst as well as you have, never mind a half breed. I brought you to my
Mistress so I could show her that, so she could see your potential as a
powerful ally, and perhaps even a member of our Seethe.”

“So that is why she asked me
about my powers, and subjected me to all those ridiculous tests,” Thomas
sneered, his eyes overflowing with accusations as he glared at Elsbeth. “She
wanted to assess my strengths and weaknesses so she would face the least amount
of resistance when the time came to kill me. You knew that, didn’t you?”

“No!” Even now, with the amount
of danger they were in, she felt compelled to protect her Seethe Mistress.
“Yes, she wanted to learn of your strengths and weaknesses, but only to find
out how you would best be able to serve the Seethe. Half breeds often come with
unusual powers, and she wanted to see if you had manifested any because then
you might have been invaluable to her. Had your talents not manifested so
latently, she would have insisted you become a Seethe member on the spot.”