The Dawn of Darkness: A Paranormal Romance Read online

  Greed is one of my favorite sins. It’s the closest thing to understanding how vampires feel about fresh blood. The need for more. The hold it has over everything I do. One of the most powerful sins to overcome. And so easy to manipulate.

  Impatience exudes from them while we wait for someone to answer my knock.

  She’s glorious when the light spills from the house, like an angel at the end of a bright light. A red dot is near her mouth, and I cup her face with my hand and softly wipe it off with my thumb. There’s a glint of humor in her brown eyes since I rang the doorbell. She’s surprised I brought guests, but none of it shows on her lovely face.

  “Jenissa, you are exquisite.” Sweeping her silky brown hair over her shoulder, we greet each other with a quick peck on the cheek.

  “Oh, won’t you come in,” she says politely to the couple with me. For the first time, the man shows initiative and walks right in without so much as a glance at his girlfriend for permission.

  The door is locked behind me and there’s no graceful method. We pick the person closest to us and sink our fangs into their necks. Agonizing screams echo throughout the house. We feed, racing to see whose victim loses consciousness first. The man in her arms goes limp while the woman in mine is still trying to fight me off.

  The beach house we’re currently occupying was one of Jenissa’s achievements. A perfect candidate. Rich, lonely guy from China that had more money than he knew what to do with. According to his plane ticket, he’ll be on vacation till the end of the month. If anyone’s missing him, the investigation won’t start till then.

  When I finish and drop the dead woman on the floor, Jenissa teases, “You have a little something right here.” She taps the side of her mouth.

  At her side, in a blink of an eye, I lick the blood off her face. “You have more. Such a messy eater.”

  “And what do you want for this little treat?” She gets right to business, stepping over the dead body. Gracefully striding into the living room, she sits on a couch, stretching her long legs out in front of her, and waits for me to join her.

  “If all goes well tonight, I’ll be bringing someone here.”

  A mischievous shimmer dances in her eyes. “Must be someone important. You want me on my best behavior?”

  “I want you out of sight,” I say gently.

  “Ashamed of me,” she replies thoughtfully with a pout. “Who is so important that you need to hide your dearest friend?”

  “I need her to survive the night.”

  Disgusted, she spits, “Human. You want to bring a human here. For what? That’s absurd.”

  “If it works out the way I want it to, I’ll get to have my fun and a hunter will be dead.”

  Jenissa snaps her attention back to me with an intrigued grin growing across her face. “Oh, in that case. How can I help?”

  “The girl I’m after. She wants to be saved. And I need to be the hero.”

  “A knight in shining armor. I can make that happen.”

  ***

  Outside of club Hazard, I stand behind Darryl for a full minute before letting him know I’m there. He’s nervous, and irritation whirls around him when he finds out Jenissa isn’t with me.

  “This wasn’t the deal. She never said I was delivering the chick to a guy. If you want her, go in there and make your move like the rest of us,” he says in a lowered voice so no one can hear our conversation.

  Things never go as planned. Jenissa assured me he’d cooperate. He loves her too much not to. Very few survive when a vampire crosses their path, and he’s one of them. Due to his very unique skill with sleight of hand. They met because he stole her diamond bracelet right off her wrist.

  For a thief, his curly hair makes him non-threatening, and it gives off a friendly appearance. A soft teddy bear without the confidence to ask a girl out, but cute enough to get a second glance. Someone who grows on you, if he’s around long enough. He’ll do fine.

  My hand wraps around his arm in a vise, and I squeeze hard enough to leave a bruise. For every step I take forward, he takes one back until he’s up against the brick wall we’re hiding behind. In a nice, menacing voice, I reply, “Jenissa will be very disappointed if you don’t play your part. Do I need to tell her you’re being difficult? Because she doesn’t have time for people who disobey her.”

  “She promised nothing would happen to her,” he gasped out over the pain in his arm.

  I release him. “Nothing bad will happen to her. That, I can promise.”

  He nods warily and tries not to rub his hurt arm. “Which one is she?”

  Inside, I follow her scent and point her out. She’s near the stage. He grabs a drink from the bar, drinking half of it before leaving my side. In his ear, I warn, “I’ll be watching. Take her across the street to the beach.”

  “I won’t get past the police.”

  “Trust me. They’ll be busy with something else.”

  From afar I keep them in sight, ignoring everyone vying for my attention. When Darryl moves toward the exit, I follow and glance back at Lyle, who is completely oblivious.

  Shadows welcome me into their embrace once I’m outside. No one is guarding the perimeter of the beach. Darryl easily meanders onto the sand with Amelia stumbling beside him. She droops against him and he struggles to hold her up.

  He’s breathing raggedly by the time he lays her down on the sand. Barely out of sight from the street where the moonlight takes over. I stand right beside him so he can leave. Startled by my sudden appearance, he asks, “You’re not going to hurt her, are you? What did you make me put in her drink?”

  Raising my eyebrows at the accusation, I question quietly, “Make you? I didn’t make you do anything. You volunteered.”

  He makes a decision. I can feel his bravado increasing. It pours off him in waves as he bends down and tries to lift Amelia up. “We’re done. I don’t like this. I’m taking her back.”

  Jenissa is between us with a fierce growl that gives him goosebumps. A hand is placed over his mouth and he claws at the arm wrapped around his neck. “Naughty boy,” she whispers in his ear. He’s gasping, trying to get oxygen, and she kisses his cheek. “Night night.” He falls limply to the sand, and she dusts off her hands as if she put in a hard night’s work.

  Stepping over him, she hovers over Amelia and reaches out toward her face. My hand whips out and closes around her wrist. Our fangs appear and a warning growl escapes from me.

  Jenissa retracts her fangs. “I only want to see her precious face.”

  The angelic voice she uses always puts me on edge. When she’s angry, I always know what to expect…but when she nice, I have to be wary of her intentions. Her moods are volatile.

  Rage is more prominent than any other emotion since I’ve known her. Especially with a species less powerful than her. She doesn’t understand why vampires stay hidden while mortals prance around freely. If anyone should bow, it should be the humans. They should beg for their lives, hoping she never finds them.

  Releasing her hand, I watch her carefully brush the hair from Amelia’s face. “Such a pretty, fragile thing.” My hand dashes out and blocks her nails from clawing Amelia’s face. Three shallow slash marks start to heal on my hand. Wrapping my fingers around her wrist again, I wrench her toward me.

  “This is why I can’t have nice things.” One arm goes around her waist, and my fingers twist around her hair. I hold her back steadily against me. She hisses and growls, trying to find a weakness in my grip. In a flash, I yank on her hair and snap back her head. The moonlight reflects off her pearly canines. I touch one. “Did you know, you can survive without fangs?”

  “Take my fangs and it will be my pleasure to make your life miserable. And we both know how capable I am,” she guarantees savagely and stops struggling. It takes seconds for her to calm down long enough to contract her canines. “I’ll behave. If you let me have the hunter.”

  The request doesn’t surprise me, but I don’t take kindly to demands. Curios
ity raises my eyebrows and the corner of my mouth lifts slightly. “Is that what you want?” Not easing my grip, I lower my lips to her ear and whisper, “His brother hunts too. But we need the girl.” Spinning her around, I pin her with my gaze to make sure she’s listening. “In perfect condition.”

  Revenge and hunger mix with the icy rage in her eyes before she bottles it up, and nods in agreement. I release her so she can deal with Darryl.

  Amelia’s in my arms, and her warm body sends a shiver down my spine. I wipe the speckles of blood that dripped on her face from my hand. The beach house isn’t far, and I use my speed to get us there. The wind tangles her hair but gets rid of most of the sand in it.

  ***

  Amelia stirs on the bed and I sit upright, ready to play my part. Squinting around the room, she places her hand on her forehead and throws the unfamiliar blanket off her.

  “Lyle?” she says in a raspy voice.

  “Not quite,” I answer.

  She jolts and rolls off the bed, hitting the floor. In a terrified voice, hiding from me, she questions, “Where am I?”

  I force myself to stay put and not check on her. “Do you remember anything from last night?” I query concerned.

  “Where’s Lyle?” She peeks at me over the bed.

  “I have no idea,” I answer honestly.

  Bedraggled, onyx hair frames her anxious face. “Gabriel?” Her voice is filled with caution and curiosity. Suspicion laced with fear crosses her features, but she tries to act casual. Her eyes race around the room, landing on everything except me.

  Warm colors surround us, giving the space a cozy feeling with a feminine ambiance. The light-yellow sheets are soft and there’s a wooden trunk at the end of the bed. Bright paintings of famous Miami tourist spots adorn the walls. The only thing in the room that adds a little personality to it is the dark antique dresser that sticks out like a sore thumb because it matches nothing.

  It’s obviously not my room.

  I don’t say a word until her questioning eyes meet mine. “I didn’t know where else to take you,” I confess, not exactly lying. The only thing in her pockets is her keys, wallet, and cell phone, which is all you need nowadays. Everything I need to know about her is wrapped in one little device. While she was passed out, I used her index finger to break into it.

  “How did I end up here? With you? I was with—.” She scrunches her face up and tries to remember the last few hours. The drugs affect the potency of my allure. Her thoughts are not her own yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

  “You were on the beach. With a guy…” I trail off and lower my gaze to avoid eye contact.

  Losing all her color, she whispers in a shaky voice, “What guy? Lyle?” She stops breathing and her heart hammers against her chest. It beats loudly and taunts me with the chaotic blood flowing in her veins.

  “I don’t know who Lyle is,” I lie. “You weren’t moving and I—I refused to leave because you wouldn’t answer me when I asked if you were okay. You were unconscious. Do you remember anything from last night?”

  She shakes her head slowly and perches on the bed with her head in her hands. All her bad choices are beating her up, and she’s playing the what if game.

  Something vibrates on the nightstand, and she rushes to her feet. Jenissa lent me her phone to check in. I can read the text message without touching the device, reminding me about the coming sunrise.

  Amelia is checking all her pockets. “Where’s my phone? My parents are going to kill me.”

  Most of the calls from last night were from Lyle and Sherry until around 2 AM when her parents joined in. I stopped snooping and threw it down the hall. Accidentally breaking it in half didn’t seem like a good first impression.

  I leave the room to retrieve it, using my speed so she’s only alone for a few seconds.

  It vibrates in my hand before I toss it on the comforter. She glances at the caller and leaves the device where it is. Too scared to touch it, fearing it’ll answer a call she’s not ready for. In a shrill whisper, she asks, “What should I do? Do I answer? It’s 4 AM! There is nothing I can say—.” Not finishing the sentence, tears are threatening to spill down her face.

  How inconsequential her problems are.

  She paces one side of the room, letting the voicemail take over before she picks it up and starts scrolling through it. Covering her face, she finally stands still and groans loudly. Her emotions are a jumbled mess, skipping from one to another. The horror she felt over being unconscious with a stranger on the beach is insignificant compared to the dread of talking to her parents.

  I step in front of her, closer than before, but not close enough to reach out and give her hand a reassuring squeeze. “You can tell them you’re with me,” I offer softly so I don’t spook her.

  A tear falls, and she swipes at it. “Ha! Then I’d really be dead. Sleeping at a boy’s house is definitely not allowed.”

  The statement would make me wary if I hadn’t looked at her ID earlier. But I play along. Ever the gentlemen. “How old are you exactly?”

  Suddenly getting in trouble with her parents doesn’t matter as much as it did before and her demeanor changes. “Legally old enough to sleep wherever I want.”

  “Tell me, am I going to be charged with kidnapping in the near future?” I inquire warily and watch her cringe.

  A new thought creases her brow. “That depends. Are you going to be around in the near future?” It’s a simple question. An option she never thought about until now. I’ve been her savior. Not someone she’d consider dating.

  Desire courses through her. I’m being assessed in a new light. A potential boyfriend.

  Across from her, I take slight movements forward. A tear is forming in the corner of her eye and I gently wipe it away before it falls. My fingertips slowly caress her cheek and her breath hitches. We’re perfectly still. I tilt my head forward a tiny bit with my eyes on her lips. “Something tells me you might need me.” My lip brushes against hers and then our foreheads collide when her phone vibrates again. Ruining the moment.

  “May I?” I ask for her phone.

  “What are you going to do?” The phone is held out of my reach just in case I decide to snatch it from her hands.

  “Give me a name of someone you work with that your parents don’t know very well.”

  “Nora.”

  She gives up the phone and I answer, “Hello? This is Dominque.”

  No one replies at first, and then her mother’s voice blares through the phone and I have to pull it away from my ear. “Where is my daughter? Are you with her? What happened to her?”

  Amelia holds both hands over her mouth to stop herself from making a single sound and carefully sits on the edge of the bed with wide eyes.

  My fingers find their way to her shoulder and I softly trace the length of her arm. “The girls went to pick up some coffee. She must have left her phone here. I’m sure they’ll come back for it.”

  A tentative, malicious question. “Who is this?”

  With a smile, I say, “I’m Nora’s boyfriend. They work together at the Steak N’ Bake. Amelia had a hard night. I’m sure she’ll tell you about it. When I got home, they were asleep on the couch.”

  There’s a long pause before her mother says, “Tell her to call me immediately when she gets back.” She hangs up without saying goodbye.

  Amelia lets out an audible gasp. “I stopped breathing.” She falls back on the bed and lays there for a few seconds before taking the phone from me to text Lyle and Sherry to tell them she’s fine.

  “Thank you.” She gazes up at me. Her voice is on the verge of hysteria. “Can I—last night…what else—was I—did he—.”

  Interrupting her because she can’t get the question out, I explain, “I saw you fall on the beach. He didn’t help you up, so I jogged over to make sure everything was all right. It was out of the question to leave you there unconscious with him. So, I brought you here.”

  “I’m so stupid,” sh
e groans. “What if—.”

  “Don’t play that game,” I sharply cut her off. “No one wins at it. Misery does not love company. It loves to scare you into submission or regret until life moves on without you. Misery isolates you from the world you should be living in. Life is not made of one moment in time to dwell on.”

  A skeptical eyebrow is raised at me. “Sounds like you get into a lot of trouble.”

  “Not more than I can handle.” The corner of my mouth lifts and I hold out my hand to help her up. “Do you think we can get coffee? It’s been a long night.”

  “My head is killing me. And I really have to get home. But promise me I can buy you a coffee as soon as I’m ungrounded.”

  “How old are you again?” I ask when she takes my hand.

  She realizes her mistake and combs her fingers through her hair. “Lots of adults still live with their parents.”

  “If I show up at the restaurant, will I be carted off to jail? Or maybe I can pick you up sometime? I have other places in mind I think you might enjoy.” The statement comes out nervously like I don’t already know she’s going to say yes. Rocking backward on my heels, I place my hands in my pockets.

  Scarlet seeps into her face, and she tries to hide a small twist of her lips. “I’m 18. It’s perfectly legal for me to take you out for coffee. Or find out what other places you have in mind that I might enjoy.”

  The allure is working its way into her system. A grin spreads across my face and I hand her the leather jacket hanging on the doorknob without taking my eyes off her. “Where should I take you? Home?”

  She starts to nod and then shakes her head. “To my car. It’s still parked in the lot near the Boulevard.”

  We linger in the room. I want her to stay. And she doesn’t want to leave.

  But I have a secret to keep.

  Something she will not understand—not yet anyway.

  Why do I need her to understand?

  By the time I’m done with her, she’ll be dead.

  A warm hand touches my arm, and I flinch away from it. Amelia’s eyes flicker from her hand to me and she furrows her eyebrows.