Darkness Comes (36 page)

He grinned, blissful in his ignorance, “I have no idea. Taella isn’t like the others, Mal; she can do things…. Being with her has been the most incredible experience of my life.”

“Jack.” He was a vampire; Oh, God. Tears welled in her eyes as she lost her husband all over.

“After you, of course,” he added awkwardly.

“She said you cried.” Malorie knew that it was a strange thing to say but it simply slipped out. A tear spilled down her cheek; oh, Jack….

“I loved you so much, it seemed such a betrayal to be making love to another woman.” A sheepish expression briefly passed over his face before he shrugged, “You see, I was still human; I didn’t know what I was missing, what I was fighting against. But, Mal, I still love you and we can be together again; just like before.”

Another tear raced down her cheek, “Before we were fighting against them.”

He shrugged his shoulders, dismissing her words and looking at her with his dead brown eyes. His thumb caressed her throat and he stepped closer; Malorie had to fight to suppress a shiver of revulsion. Death came off him in waves. “We’ll be together.”

“Jack… I’ve… I’ve moved on,” she said softly, watching the anger harden his eyes, feeling his fingers tighten around her throat.

After a moment, he heaved a sigh and his hold relaxed. “I’ve noticed but I can forgive you since you thought I was dead.”

“You are dead.”

“I’m a vampire, there’s a difference.” Brushing a strand of hair from her face, his touch cold and dank, he smiled lovingly. “You’ll see that soon enough, my love.”

Malorie wanted to throw up. Wondering if there was anything of Jack left, she pleaded with him, “If you love me, if you’ve ever loved me, kill me now before they convert me.”

“They’re not going to convert you,” he said with a smile and she almost breathed a sigh of relief. Then he said, “I am.”

Malorie swallowed, feeling his hand pressing against her esophagus. “I don’t want it.”

“But, Mal, we’ll be together, the way we were meant to have been together these past six years.” He tenderly stroked her cheek, wiping the tears away with his lifeless thumbs; his brown eyes glimmered with familiar affection. “I love you.”

She focused on Jack; or rather, the vamp who wore Jack’s body, trying to reach the man she had known. “Jack, you don’t want to do this.”

“Oh, but I do,” he said, stepping closer until the front of his body pressed against the length of hers. He slid an arm around her waist and held her against him. His voice was deeper as he murmured, “I remember how good it was between us, the passion that we shared. Once I bring you over it will be so much better. vamps can do things…. You can’t even begin to imagine the sex we will have.”

“No.”

“Damn it, Mal,” he growled. “It’s him, isn’t it? It’s always been him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve always held a part of yourself back.”

“I didn’t….”

“You did,” he countered. “I know you never loved me the way I loved you but that was okay because I loved you enough for the both of us.” His eyes moved over her face, touching her, loving her. “But once you are one of us, you will love me."

“You’re a vampire,” she rasped through the tears that were falling freely, her heart breaking in her chest for her dead husband who never deserved such pain.

He glared at her, dismissing her words as he stroked his fingers along her cheek, the tenderness in his touch at odds with the harshness of his words. “We’ll be together forever; you will love me forever.”

“You are a vampire!” She desperately tried to catch her breath but there wasn’t any air.

“I know that, damn it,” he swore, his eyes moving over her face in an amorous caress. “And soon, you will be one, too.”

“No,” she shook her head, feeling his erection pressed against her stomach; feeling his cool breath against her neck; feeling the tips of his fangs against her skin. Belatedly, she realized that her legs were free and with a cry she brought her knee up and slammed it between Jack’s thighs. Vamp flesh was far more giving than human flesh and she knew that she pushed his bits and pieces deep into his abdomen.

He released his grip on her and doubled over, spewing invectives at her. The Aradian laughed, obviously delighted with the exchange. “I see that there is no loyalty between husband and wife. And all of this time my pet has been pining away for his darling spouse. How long do you think you’ll be able to hold a grudge once you’re one of mine?”

“Go to hell,” Malorie growled. She gathered moisture in her mouth and spat a large wad at the bitch. It splattered across her exquisite face, giving Malorie a brief moment of satisfaction. The feeling quickly disappeared when the vamps holding her arms twisted them painfully behind her back. One of them grabbed her hair and yanked it hard, exposing her neck to the vile creatures. The Aradian’s look of horror faded as she wiped the spit from her face and closed the distance between them.

The corners of Taella’s lush lips curved upwards as she glided closer to Malorie, the venom blazing in her unnaturally brilliant blue eyes. Her hand raked across Malorie’s belly and tears fell unheeded down Mal’s face. Her baby….

But instead of excruciating pain of having her stomach ripped open, she only felt the cool night air fondling her skin through the shredded shirt. Her eyes shot open and she met Taella’s disbelieving eyes. As Malorie watched, the malice was rapidly replaced with unholy fear as the Aradian stared at the iridescent pattern dancing gracefully across her stomach and disappearing into her cargo pants. “He’s marked you? And so… so extravagantly?”

Malorie’s smile was grim, “Oops; it looks as if he has something worth losing after all.”

Taella’s eyes were bulging with terror as she paced the ground in front of Malorie, her finger tapping nervously over her lips and she mumbled incoherently. Then she paused, turning to Malorie with a slow, cruel smile. Closing the gap between them once more, she ran her fingers through Malorie’s hair, in a cruel mockery of a lover’s caress. “I think I will still allow you to be converted; of course, I will not be the one to do it.

“When he sees your lifeless body he will once again destroy all of the vampires in his grief.” She glanced around at her creations, a moment of regret in her eyes at the knowledge that they were about to be destroyed. She didn’t give any indication that she was going to suffer, which didn’t make any sense….

Sighing, Taella shrugged her slender shoulders and turned back to Malorie, “It will destroy him when your body implodes along with the others.”

“I’ll already be dead,” Malorie spat.

“And then, I think, I will go after Toby,” Taella continued, nodding to herself as she discussed her plans. She ignored Malorie’s anguished cries as she continued to taunt, “He will be all alone in the world, with both of his parents having been killed by Feryn. Of course I will let him grow up, until he is sixteen. I think sixteen is the perfect age to become a vampire.”

A guttural scream broke from Malorie’s throat making the Aradian’s smile widen. Vehemently, Malorie cried, “If you convert me, I swear to God I’ll kill you.”

“Tsk tsk,” the woman scolded. “If I die, so will you.”

“It’s a price I’m willing to pay,” Malorie vowed darkly.

“Jack, make her one of us,” the Aradian said, taking a step away from Malorie and then another and another. If Malorie hadn’t been watching closely, she might have missed the glimmer of fear that flashed behind the mocking eyes.

“I won’t be able to fuck her,” he complained, tugging at his impacted dick.

The Aradian waved her hand, her backwards retreat quickening, “Have Felix help; he’s always eager to get into a girl’s pants.”

“What’s your rush?” Malorie asked, numb to what was going to happen to her. Holding the Aradian’s eyes, she smiled, “Afraid to stick around?”

The woman laughed but there was fear in her eyes. “I have no need to get my hands dirty since I have no intention of turning you myself.” She turned to Jack and her smile returned, “In fact, I think you should have Travis convert her.”

“Travis is barely old enough to bite!” Jack complained. “She’ll be more animal than vamp, if he doesn’t kill her.”

“Then make sure he doesn’t kill her,” the Aradian ground out.

“But….” Jack looked at her with a mixture of bewilderment and devotion.

“You’ll still be able to have your fun with her,” the Aradian said, turning around now and talking over her shoulder. “And she’ll be less trouble when she is one of us.”

“I don’t want to do it,” a muscle-bound vamp raised his hands in the air and stepped back, his pale eyes wide and afraid in his head. “There’s something… sparkling about that girl that is… wrong.”

No one seemed to pay any attention to the protesting vamp and as Taella disappeared from her sight, Malorie turned back to Jack. “Jack, please; I’m begging you; don’t do this. Either kill me or let me go.”

He shook his head though there was no remorse. “I’m afraid I can’t let you go; I’ve waited too long to have you by my side once again. The only thing I can do for you is change you myself.”

“What difference does it make?” she cried in despair.

“I’m powerful,” he said proudly. “Lady Taella converted me herself and she lets me feed off her more than any of her other vampires.”

Desperate to buy some time before she was killed or converted, Malorie blurted, “You don’t have to do this, Jack; she’s just using you.”

He ignored her, closing the distance between then and pushing her hair away from her neck. His dull brown eyes moved over her face and he smiled tenderly, “I’ll make this quick.”

“Don’t; please don’t.” Her voice fractured as she pleaded with him.

Bending his head, he took a deep breath from the curve of her neck, groaning in desire. “You’ve always smelled so delicious, Mal. I would spend hours watching you sleep, just to be near you; just to breathe you in.

“I remember when you would get out of the shower,” he smiled to himself and she could see remnants of the Jack she knew. “You always blushed when you saw me standing there but you would drop the towel and let me look my fill until I couldn’t bear anymore and I had to have you and we made love where we were standing. God, I’ve missed you.”

“She’s left you to die.” It wasn’t her husband standing in front of her; it wasn’t Jack. It was just a cruel monster wearing Jack’s body, remembering Jack’s life. It wasn’t Jack.

“Why are you fighting this, Mal?” Drawing the moisture from her cheeks, he looked down at her, his dull eyes still glistening with love. “Let me do this for you. Once you’re a vampire, we’ll be together forever.”

“Jack,” she breathed, sadness consuming her, pushing out the fear of dying. If she became a vamp, she had faith that it wouldn’t be for long; either Feryn would kill her when he finally showed up or she would take out the merciless Aradian who betrayed her own people, or she would die trying. “She killed you.”

“No,” he protested fervently, reaching up and trailing a cool finger along her cheek, “No, you’ll see.”

Malorie closed her eyes. She never should have gone to the mall on Christmas Eve; if she had just headed home, none of this would be happening. She could be enjoying the temporary peace with her son and father, working in the nursery, maybe even think about a more permanent home. Even if it meant never having met Feryn, she wished she hadn’t gone to the mall.

They were bearing her back to the hard ground and her only hope was that Jack would take too much blood and inadvertently kill her. Maybe if she had met Feryn under different circumstances it would have worked out. Granted, she couldn’t imagine ever just randomly running into an Aradian but it could have happened. Maybe he would have visited the nursery for… God, there was no reason for him to visit the nursery.

She hoped he would take care of Toby, protect her son from her if necessary, if she ever came after him to bring him over, to keep him by her side. She could only hope that enough of herself would remain to fuel her need to kill the Aradian bitch first.

A cold, dead weight covered her body and Jack whispered, “Open your eyes.”

She wondered if Feryn would miss her once she was gone. She hoped he knew that she loved him; she wished she had had a chance to tell him. He had to know; he swept into her life and changed everything, teaching her so much about herself, both good and bad. A future with him would have been full of passion, both in the bedroom and out of it. Ultimately, she would have been happy, even on the days she would have wanted to kill him for his bull-headedness.

She loved him.

“Open your eyes,” Jack growled again.

Slowly, her lids opened and she saw the boy she had once loved. It had been an immature love, nothing like what she had with Feryn. Perhaps, in time, it would have grown into more but he had been so young when he was taken from her. She wished she could reach up and touch his face. Softly, she whispered, “I forgive you, Jack. I’m so sorry that it has come to this.”

He tilted his head to the side and looked at her, not sure what to make of her. She wasn’t the same girl he knew; that girl had been young and desperate, a fighter. His expression hardened once more, “I don’t need your forgiveness.”

Then he bent his head and sunk his teeth into her neck, forcing a cry from her lungs. Twisting her body, feeling it ripping her throat, she squeezed her eyes shut and cried, “Please stop! Please don’t do this! Jack!”