Into the Darkness (34 page)

“I don’t expect your cooperation,” he said, grunting softly

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as he hoisted her onto his hip, carrying her as easily as a sack

of potatoes.

She reached up to claw at his face and managed to punch

his jaw, but the blow held no real force due to the awkward

angle.

“Quit fighting me,” he said, giving her a hard jounce on his hip.

“I promise to make this quick. I’ll find no joy in killing you.”

“Then why do it?”

Fernando brought her behind the bar and pushed open

the swinging door, which led into a small kitchen. Then he

dragged her through the kitchen down a narrow, low-ceiling hallway, until they were in a small back room with boxes

stacked in every corner and a door to the outside.

He flung her into one corner and loomed over her where

she lay crumpled on the floor. He bent and placed his hands

on his knees. “We’re all vampires,” he said drawing a deep

breath and leveling a cold, hard stare. “But those of us who

were born human first, are treated like minions by your kind.

We’re good enough to fuck. Good enough to fill your ranks of

workers and protectors, but we have no voice on the council.

We’re going to change that.”

Natalie scrambled to put her feet beneath her, crouching in

front of him. “I don’t know anything about the council. I’m

not your enemy.”

His gaze narrowed, and his upper lip lifted in a snarl.

“Every Born is our enemy.”

“H-how did you know that . . . I was Born,” she asked,

her breaths growing choppy with her rising panic. Her teeth

began to chatter, so she clamped shut her jaw.

“I suspected last night at the bar. Chessa watched over you

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like you were her chick and she the mother hen. But the rats

only confirmed it.”

“Figures they work for you.”

Fernando’s low laughter, so cold and laced with a dirty

edge, made her quiver. “As if we had that kind of power. Don’t

you know you have enemies all around you?”

“I don’t know anything,” she said, hating the tears welling

in her eyes. If she was going to die, she didn’t want to give

him the satisfaction.

“Let’s get this over with.” He straightened and unbuttoned his cuffs and the front of his shirt. “Don’t want blood

stains, do I?” When he let it slide off his shoulder, she bolted

up and past him, running for the outside door.

Her hand turned the knob, but he slammed into her back,

trapping her against the door. His hot, naked skin burned

her through her blouse as he anchored her there, pressing so

hard she couldn’t expand her lungs. His breath stirred her

hair next to her ear, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

The hard ridge of his cock dug into her buttocks. “See

what you do to me? You shouldn’t have fought me.”

“What? You’re going to fuck me, first?” she asked, gasping

for air.

“Would you like that? One last time to get lost in it? I could

kill you at your climax. You’d never know.”

Tears leaked from her eyes. For once her hormones weren’t

firing on all cylinders. His offer left her feeling only sick to

her stomach.

“Back away from her, Fred.”

Natalie sobbed her relief at the hard-edged and deadly

sound of Chessa’s voice.

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“Now, what would be the advantage for me,” Fernando

murmured.

“You’ll get a chance to fight.”

“I think I’d be better off with the girl. I don’t really think

you’d risk harming her.” He twisted around, bringing Natalie

in front of him and stepped deeper into the room. Toward

Chessa.

Chessa stood with a gun in one hand and a two-by-four that

had been split so one end was pointed. She hefted it above

her shoulder, her gaze narrowing on him, never straying to

Natalie, who strained against the arm he’d slung around her

throat.

He kept moving forward until Chessa was forced to move

aside. “You can’t go through the bar, Fred,” she said. “You

won’t make it out alive. We’ve got your guys contained. Even

as we speak, they’re dusting them off, one by one.”

Fernando’s arm tightened, choking Natalie, cutting off her

air. He halted in the center of the room.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and rain swept inside,

carried on a wind that almost lifted them off their feet.

It howled around them, slapping Fernando’s long hair into

her face. Natalie stared at Chessa whose gaze had lifted beyond them.

A cry like a wild animal’s howl rose above the wind and

something large and heavy barreled into Fernando’s back,

pitching them both forward. But when Natalie’s knees hit

the concrete, Fernando’s body didn’t follow. Instead, his blue

jeans flapped around her ankles, empty, sodden. She untangled them and lunged away, not understanding what was happening behind her but knowing she needed to flee.

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When arms closed around her back, she rolled and fought,

clawing with her hands at the face above hers, until she saw

that Rene held her.

She drew back her fingers and stared in horror at the rivulets of blood she’d scratched along his cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

He captured her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve had worse.”

She let her head rest on the concrete and waited for her

heart to slow its frantic beating. “Where did Fred go?”

“You don’t wanna know.” He cupped her face with one

large hand, and she leaned into his warmth. “You all right?”

She nodded and blinked to clear the tears gathering in her

eyes. “It was close.”

Rene rose and helped her to her feet. “Let’s get you back to

our room. Simon’s there. It’s why I came lookin’ for you.”

“Simon?” Oh, yeah. He was going to help her leave. She

didn’t even have the rest of the night to spend with Rene.

Forcing back an inner wail, she let him take her hand and

lead her out of the room with the wind still howling from the

open doorway and water pooling on the floor.

Chessa preceded them, both weapons held at the ready, but

the black-uniformed security team from
Ardeal
had pretty

much cleaned the place out.

Clothing lay in little hillocks around the room as though

the bodies that had filled them simply melted away. Rene was

right—she didn’t want to know where they went.

Chessa lifted her chin to Nicolas, whose gaze swept Rene and

Natalie. As though satisfied they were unharmed, he turned

away and shouted. “I want two men to follow them. Post outside

their door while they pack until we can bring the van around.”

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The van? No! Natalie started to pull away, to make another

dash for freedom, but Chessa gave a sharp shake of her head.

Something in her eyes reassured her everything would be all

right.

The trip to their room was made in total silence. Chessa

stood aside as they entered, then closed the door, leaving the

guards posted outside.

As soon as they were alone, Chessa tossed her weapons to

the bed. “Simon, you can come out now.”

Simon strode out of the bathroom, his sodden T-shirt

clinging to his lean chest. He gave a half-hearted smile to

Natalie, and then turned to Chessa. “How much time do

we have?”

“About five minutes.”

When his gaze returned to Natalie, he reached out both

hands to grasp hers. “You have two choices, Nat. You can accept the protection you’ll find at
Ardeal
until you deliver, or

I can send you someplace they can’t ever touch you or your

child. The problem is, you won’t be able to return.”

Neither choice held any appeal. At
Ardeal,
she’d have to

give up her child, perhaps forever. If she took Simon’s offer,

she’d never see Rene again.

There really was no choice. She sighed. “How do you propose getting me past those guards?”

His smile held a hint of regret. “I’m going to miss you.”

Natalie forced a smile. “Thanks for everything. Thanks for

being my friend.”

His gaze searched hers then he nodded. “You’re going to be

okay, you know. Say your good-byes quickly.”

Natalie stepped toward Chessa whose expression was shut-into the darkness

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tered, her lips a grim line. Only her eyes betrayed what she

was thinking. They glittered with tears.

“Chessa, I’ll miss you.” She cupped her cheek and leaned

in to kiss her mouth. Chessa’s clung to hers for a moment before she backed away. Natalie cleared her throat. “I’m curious

though. That phone call—”

“That was Nic, telling me he was on his way. The birds,

those rats—he found some in a crypt his men patrol. The

creature that dwells inside—well, it sent the animals.”

“The rats left me alone this time—just as quickly as they

surrounded me. Why?”

“You don’t have to worry about creature attacks anymore.

You’re already pregnant.”

Natalie shook her head, knowing she didn’t have time for

her to fully explain what she meant. “Then I won’t worry

anymore.”

She drew in a slow breath, preparing herself for her final

farewell. Rene stood with his fists clenched at his sides, his

face all harsh angles, his jaw flexing. His dark gaze scanned

her face as though committing it to memory. Like she was

doing now.

“I’m going to be okay,” she said. “Trust Simon on that.”

He didn’t move. Didn’t respond to her words in any way.

Not wanting to make a scene or let him see how badly she

hurt, she reached up and kissed his cheek. “Good-bye,” she

whispered and turned back to Simon.

Only Simon didn’t stand behind her. In his place stood

a rugged, handsome, much older man with brown hair and

a beard. Only the crooked smile he wore told her it was

him.

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“I’m starting to think the whole world’s crazy,” she said.

“Is nothing what it seems?”

“Not in your life, my dear. Ready?”

“What do I do?”

“Nothing, yet. I’m going to open a portal. When I tell you,

you’ll step through it and you’ll be somewhere else. No turning back. There will be a trail in the forest. Follow it to a

church. Say my name to the priest who opens the door. You

won’t be able to communicate with him, but trust him. He’ll

lead you to sanctuary.”

“I’ll never see you—any of you, again—will I?”

“Perhaps. If you live long enough.”

Natalie stood still, feeling hot and cold at the same time,

light-headed, and near to tears. So much she didn’t understand, but she couldn’t really think and didn’t know what

other questions to ask.

“Take this,” he said and handed her a leather pouch that

she nearly dropped due to its surprising weight. “It’s gold.

You’ll need it to start your new life.”

Then Simon held out his hands and made a motion for all

of them to move back. He turned and reached for a bag on the

bed and emptied its contents onto the mattress. Round, colored stones, like polished crystal balls, rolled out. He picked

up a yellow and a pale blue stone and spread out his arms with

one crystal orb resting on each of his open palms.

Natalie gave Chessa a questioning glance. Chessa smiled

and lifted her chin. “Watch,” she mouthed.

For a long pregnant moment, nothing happened. Then

a flicker sparked inside the yellow stone—a small, wisp of

flame that brightened then nearly winked out. But it flared

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again, this time brighter, and it burst to cast a golden light

into every corner of the room. While they watched, the blue

stone erupted, its radiance more brilliant than the first and

seeming to draw the yellow rays into its aura.

Simon began an intonation, his deepening bass murmuring

words in a language she’d never heard that sounded soft and

liquid, like water burbling in a stream.

As he chanted, the stones brightened into the intensity of

two tiny suns, the rays they cast bending and curving, yellow

and blue, interweaving until they seemed to melt together

in a brilliant green braid, forming a circle. Looking through

the center of the circle, the bed seemed to stretch and curve

until it swirled into a vortex, leaving only a smooth, glinting

surface, like that of a pond in sunlight.

Simon’s incantation faded, but the shimmering, vertical

pool remained.

“Now, Natalie,” he said softly. “Step through the portal,

love.”

Natalie looked back one last time at each of them, her gaze

resting finally on Rene.
I love you.
She couldn’t say the words

aloud, didn’t want to leave him with a burden. Turning back

to the portal, she took a deep breath and straightened her

shoulders.

“Oh, hell no,” Rene muttered behind her.

Natalie glanced back to see him striding toward her, and

her heart stopped as she read the determination in his squared

jaw as he pinned her with a glare.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m not letting you go alone to wherever the hell he’s sendin’ you.”

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