B004SOYUR8 EBOK Read online

Even now that she was not with him, Alec was all she could think about. Though she struggled to keep him off her mind, his sensuous kisses kept intruding into her thoughts. He wasn’t with her now to weave his vampire’s spell. Could what she was feeling be real?

  She napped for a few hours on the couch, but her sleep was restless - full of disturbing images and those seductive eyes.

  After fixing her a sandwich, she sat at her living room window, staring out onto the world. People milled back and forth in front of her apartment, but she didn’t see any of them. The world had changed for her. It would never be the same.

  Alec was right. She longed to know what was beyond the veil of death - to see her little brother once more. Had he ceased to exist once he’d taken his final breath, or had he gone onto a better existence? If she could only know!

  They said it hadn’t been her fault, but she still felt responsible. If she just hadn’t taken that phone call, maybe he would still be alive today.

  The little boy across the street was pushing his toy trucks over a muddy hill. Though the child was covered in dirt, he was still so adorable. Tears flowed over Nicole’s cheeks, and she let them. She did not have the will to brush them away.

  She’d do nearly anything to hold Jay in her arms again, to wash his dirty little face. Ethan’s voice kept creeping into her head.

  The Place of Light.

  Ethan believed that the Place of Light could connect her to Jay again. Now she wished she’d taken Ethan a little more seriously and questioned him about this place. What did he know about it?

  For Nicole, the Place of Light gave her a sliver of hope. Maybe she could connect with her brother, without having to join him in death. The thought of death hadn’t bothered her in the least. Not since that day that God took her little brother. In fact, she’d wanted death. Alec had started to change that. Within the darkness that was the vampire, she’d found a ray of light - a source of strength for her soul.

  The sun had started to go down. She’d been so lost in her dark world that the time had slipped by without Nicole realizing it. She moved away from the window. It was time to prepare for the night.

  * * * *

  Alec stood in the shadows - out of the sun’s reach. He’d come out too early. Though the sun was almost completely down, he felt the familiar nausea come over him. His skin began to burn. The sun would not turn him to dust, as many believed, but it could make him deathly ill. The light could kill a vampire that was exposed to it for too long.

  From the dark alley he watched Nicole at her window - watched the grief twist her features and the tears she shed. She was a woman with mysterious secrets, but Alec had so far been unsuccessful in probing her mind. He could pick up on her emotions, and a couple of times he’d heard her thoughts, but she was different. Unlike many humans, Nicole was very good at blocking him.

  There were a lot of things different about Nicole. She embraced the darkness far too easily. The torment of her soul was transparent, even if her thoughts were not. She was darkness, but yet he could feel a light in her that was undeniable.

  How he’d wanted to take her as she lay in the grass, offering up her body and soul to him. His hunger for her had nearly possessed him to the point that he wanted nothing as much as to become one with her body. The darkness within him wanted to drink of the life essence that she’d offered him, but he could not bring himself to take her into the shadows completely.

  Nicole was becoming an obsession that he could not risk - for his sake, as well as hers. He wanted her more than he wanted to feed. If only her love could replace his hunger, his predatory instinct to kill. From the moment he’d seen her in the club watching him, he’d been drawn to her, but he could not understand why.

  Alec turned his thoughts to Ethan, hoping that it would cool his desire for Nicole. He was Ethan’s maker, and there was a certain paternal instinct to preserve his creation.

  Tackling Omar would not be an easy task, and though Alec wasn’t exactly a young vampire, Omar was ancient and extremely powerful. Most believed that he was one of the first vampires.

  Alec had been instructed to bring the girl to them, and then they would let Ethan go. Omar’s clan would have already killed Nicole, but they believe her to be under Alec’s protection. At least he suspected that is why they had not killed her, though it made little sense to him. He felt as if he were missing something - something important.

  Technically, he was not her protector, but he wanted to protect her and keep her from harm. His desire to shelter her, and his need to consume her, were at war with each other. This war raged within him as he tried to come to a decision. How could he do both, keep her from harm and save Ethan at the same time?

  Omar claimed he wanted her because she knew too much. Ethan had broken the code of silence. This was an unspoken rule that all vampires lived by. No human should know of their existence, unless they were feeders that would die eventually. Until that death, they would be under the vampire’s control.

  Alec had never paid a lot of attention to this code of silence, but he didn’t flaunt what he was. Any that he had confided in had eventually become a feeder, and had succumbed to that sure death that ultimately claims them all.

  Closing his eyes, he tried to recall his life before. It was a foggy night. The world was so much different than it was today. England had been at war. In the midst of battle there had been an explosion of pain radiating from his back. He’d turned to see the enemy. His sword was drawn and ready to strike. Something else had caught his attention and he’d turned away, giving his attacker enough time to strike. The enemy had left him on the battlefield to die. A woman found him as he lay bleeding to death from his wound.

  Not a woman - a vampire!

  She’d been scavenging the battlefield, looking for the wounded so that she could feed off of the blood that still remained in their bodies. Julia would have fed on him as well, but for some reason had changed her mind. Instead, she fed on him until his life force was nearly gone, and then she’d given him her own blood. She brought him into the dark world that he now lived in. Much like what he’d done with Ethan. But Julia was dangerous, her heart as black as the night.

  He’d learned what he could from her and then left her. She still followed him - even now she was in New Orleans. Julia had gone to Omar. Alec only hoped that she would remain there, and let him be.

  At last the sun faded and Alec stepped from the shadows.

  * * * *

  When Nicole opened the door to leave, she ran right into Alec. Startled, she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Oh … you scared me. I was just getting ready to go to the Dark Wind and look for you,” she told him.

  “I will not be going back there for a few days. We have some things to take care of.”

  “Well okay. Are we ready then? Are we going to get Ethan?” she asked as she followed him down the stairs and out to the street. She could not help but notice the grim look on Alec’s face.

  “Yes, but we have to talk first.”

  Alec was leading her into the alley and this made her a little nervous. Again she felt that rush that came with being close to him. His nearness sent a surge of adrenaline through her and her heart pounded painfully in her chest. Being next to him, but not touching him, was like being just beyond the reach of total bliss.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “My car is parked back here.”

  As they rounded the corner to the alley, she saw his car parked behind some large dumpsters. It seemed a little strange that he would park in such a place, instead of in front of her apartment building. Nearby, a rat scurried across the pavement, missing her feet by mere inches. Nicole shuddered.

  “Why did you park over here?” she asked.

  “I didn’t want anyone to see the car here.”

  When they reached the car, he opened the door for her so she could get in. Nicole couldn’t help but smile at his gentlemanly manners. Too few men opened doors for ladies these days.
/>   Alec pulled out of the alley and onto the main street. “I am going to the Cell. It is one of Omar’s nests.”

  “So how are we going to get him back?” Nicole asked, not liking the way Alec was acting. His usual sarcastic sense of humor was missing, and his mood was dark, or darker than usual.

  “We are not doing anything. You are going into hiding while I go and get Ethan out of there.”

  “What do you mean … I’m going into hiding?”

  “Omar wants me to trade you for Ethan.” Alec did not so much as glance in her direction as he spoke.

  Her mouth dropped open, unsure of what she was hearing. “Why does he want me? I am no threat to him.”

  “He claims it is because you know too much, but I don’t believe it. He wants you for some other reason.”

  Stricken with anxiety, Nicole bit at her bottom lip and began to fidget in her seat. The thought of Alec biting her was frightening and tantalizing at the same time, but to think that another vampire was after her.

  Nicole cleared her throat. “What … what could he want from me?”

  “I’m not sure, but I intend to find out.”

  “Who exactly is this Omar?” she wanted to know.

  Alec seemed absorbed in the task of driving, and said nothing to acknowledge her question.

  Finally Alec took his eyes off of the road long enough to glance over at her. “He is as close to the devil as you will probably ever get.”

  “Hmm … well that’s nice to know.”

  “Omar is an old vampire … and he is very secretive so no one knows just how old he is. According to legend, he comes from Sumer. They say he is a descendant of the heathen gods of the Sumerians. The very translation of the word Sumer means Land of the Civilized Lords, but these were dark lords. The ancient vampires ruled Sumer at one time. At least that is the story.” Alec smiled.

  “And Omar is one of these ancient ones? But I thought that vampires could not reproduce?” Nicole was enthralled, but chilled by the story. She couldn’t imagine a place where vampires ruled.

  “There is a lot you don’t know about vampires, but even more that is unknown about these ancient ones.”

  Nicole stared out of the car window, taking notice of their location. They appeared to be in the swamps, but it was so dark that she could not make out any details. Alec slowed the car. He pulled off of the highway and onto a dirt road.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “You’re not worried are you?” Alec’s sinister laughter had returned and Nicole found it comforting, if a little unnerving.

  Nicole stared at him intently, still wondering just how far she could trust him. She kept reminding herself that if he wanted to kill her, she’d be dead.

  “Should I be?” she asked.

  “Maybe you should be.”

  When Alec pulled to the side of the road, Nicole could make out a small dock in the beam of the headlights. He was planning to take her into the swamps.

  “Sorry, I don’t have a flashlight. We’ll have to make the trip in the dark.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing that you can see in the dark,” she commented.

  Beneath the light of the waxing moon, she could make out a small airboat bobbing in the water. A rope tethered the boat to the wooden dock, preventing it from floating away with the current that stirred beneath the surface of the water.

  Alec gripped her arm to help steady her as she stepped onto the boat. “Why didn’t you just fly us?” she asked, a half smile on her face.

  He chuckled, her question obviously amusing to him. “It is quite a distance that we’ve traveled. It would be too much for you. It is also a drain on my energy, which I will need when I confront Omar.”

  Alec followed her onboard, and quickly untied the boat from the wooden post. A moment later the engine came to life and they moved slowly away from the dock. After a few minutes, Alec slowed the boat and cut the engine. They seemed to be near a small shack that was built on stilts above the water.

  The boat bumped against a rickety old dock, and Alec secured it with the rope. Nicole stared at the shack. Even in the dark she could see that it was in an obvious state of decay.

  “Let’s go,” Alec urged.

  Nicole stayed in the boat, eyeing the dock. All around them the sound of the night creatures added to the eeriness of the moment. Her imagination went wild and she could almost see all of the predators beneath the water’s surface, just waiting for the dock to give way. There were probably alligators, snakes, and who knew what else. Holding her breath, she stepped onto the dock, hoping that it would withstand her weight and she wouldn’t crash into the water below. The wood beneath her feet creaked, but it held.

  Alec stepped up behind her. His weight rocked the dock, causing Nicole to lose her balance. He quickly wrapped his arm around her to keep her from falling. Nicole looked up at him and saw his eyes shining with hunger.

  It should have frightened her, but it didn’t. He leaned down and kissed her, his passion so intense that even as his touch chilled her, it felt as if she were being consumed by fire.

  The kiss ended and he moved away from her. Nicole wanted to scream at him not to stop, but instead she looked away. She should be thankful that he wanted to preserve her life and her soul, but her heart ached every time he pulled back.

  “So what is this place?” she asked.

  “It once belonged to Bellea. She was an old voodoo woman.”

  “How did you come by it?”

  Alec stayed behind her as she climbed the stairs to the front porch. Nicole stepped aside and let Alec go inside first. She wasn’t sure she wanted to risk going into the abandoned shack. There was no telling what kind of creature might be hiding inside.

  “I knew her grandmother,” he explained.

  Nicole was confused until she remembered how old he was.

  Alec had found a lantern and some waterproof matches that had withstood the humid Louisiana air. He quickly lit the lantern and the room was bathed in light. She had been in the dark so long that she had to shield her eyes from the glare.

  When Nicole’s eyes adjusted to the light, she examined the two-room shack. It was dusty. Spanish moss had made its way through a broken window, but other than that, it seemed to be intact.

  “So how did you know Bellea? Did you continue to visit the family?”

  “No … once you become a vampire you must be dead to the world.” Though Alec smiled, Nicole thought that she detected a note of sadness in his voice.

  “Bellea’s grandmother and I were partners for a while. I helped her and she helped me. They were slaves of course, but I was very close to the family. I have always watched over them. Old Bellea though … she was sharp. I think that she could sense when I was around.”

  Nicole smiled. She liked the fact that Alec had held on to enough of his humanity to watch over the family of an old friend. “What happened to Bellea?”

  “She died a few years back. Now the only family left is her niece and nephew. They both live near here.”

  “What if they find out that I’m squatting in this shack?” Nicole was alarmed to realize that the place might still belong to someone.

  Alec shook his head. “They don’t come here anymore. At first her nephew came to grieve, but he hasn’t been here for a long time. Besides, I’ll be back for you soon.”

  “How do you know this?” Nicole was curious.

  “This is where I come when I want to escape. I am very tuned in to the creatures of the swamp, and I can know what they know.”

  “No kidding?” Nicole found that Alec continued to stun her with the strange beauty of his world.

  “Did you have anyone special … before?” she asked.

  He stood near her. Nicole sensed that he wanted to touch her, but was holding back.

  “I must be going. Omar is waiting for me now, but he will soon send others to look for me … and you.”

  Nicole didn’t miss the fact that he had failed to answer h
er question, but she didn’t push him.

  “What do I do for food and water?”

  “In the bedroom there is bottled water. I have to confess that the food part didn’t cross my mind, but I will be back for you soon.” Alec leaned down and kissed her forehead.

  Then he was gone and Nicole was left alone.

  Chapter Six

  The Cell was a nightclub that had been converted from a vacant warehouse. This area of town was littered with derelict buildings that had long since been abandoned. It was the perfect place for Omar to house his coven, but it was not the only nest they had in New Orleans.

  The nightclub was what they used to lure the unsuspecting. If those that made the mistake of getting too close to the immortal were lucky, they would be killed. The unfortunate among them would be sentenced to become feeders. Death would come swiftly for the victim of the vampire, unless they were chosen to become feeders. This was a fate far worse, as the death of a feeder was slow and hellish.

  Alec was positive that this is what Omar had in store for Nicole. She had already known so much misery, how could he let her experience such suffering?

  From where Alec stood, the building almost appeared to be deserted, but he knew better. It was well past midnight. Soon Omar’s brood would scatter to hunt. The coven could not sate their hunger with just the Cell’s victims. Taking too many of them would draw unwanted attention.

  The vampires would leave the Cell and go out to prey on the city of New Orleans. With their numbers thinned, Alec would at least have a fighting chance if Omar turned on him. As Alec watched, they began to emerge into the night, one - two - three at a time. There would still be a few that remained, but at least he would have a better chance.

  At last they were gone. Alec walked toward the building, still unsure of how he was going to get Ethan away from Omar.

  * * * *

  Nicole jumped at the splashing sound that came from just outside the cabin. She didn’t even want to think about the creatures that inhabited the swamp beyond the confines of the little shack. With the lantern there was enough light inside, but outside it was pitch black. The canopy of trees and Spanish moss that covered the shack, kept away any light that the moon might provide.