Darkness Taunts (8 page)

My shoulders sagged. “Are we done yet?”

“Hmmm, when was the last time you hit the gym?” she asked.

“A couple days ago, but I don’t have time for it now.” My body felt like hammered shit. Working out in the gym would have to wait.

“You’re about to go up against demons and they won’t be as nice as I am.” The innocent look she attempted did not work at all.

I sheathed my sword and gathered my things. “They aren’t demons. They’re humans possessed by demons, which makes them not quite as strong and a lot easier to take down.”

“Not that easy.” She grabbed my arm. “If you aren’t going to work out, then you’re at least going to get your injuries healed.”

“Oh, no.” I dragged my feet as she pulled me along. “You can’t make me do it.”

My struggles didn’t slow her down. “Wanna bet?”

I should have kept my mouth shut. She tossed me over her shoulder and moved at warp speed through the house. As his second in command, Kariann was one of the few keyed to the magic protection barrier surrounding Nik’s bedroom—wouldn’t want just anybody to interrupt the unholy acts that happened in there. She could pass through it without his permission.

As soon as we entered, she dumped me on the floor. I glared at her and got up as gracefully as I could manage. Too bad she insisted I keep my gun put away when we trained. It’d be interesting to see how her brains looked with a big hole in them.

The master vampire stood a few feet away with his hands on his hips. At least he had clothes on this time and no women wrapped around his appendages. That’d make this visit slightly easier to handle.

“I see she came without too much fuss,” he said, grinning at Kariann.

“
She
is not drinking your blood,” I said, backing away. “You can forget about it.” I swiveled on my heels and moved for the door. Kariann stepped in front of me.

“Melena.” She gripped my shoulders. “You have cuts and bruises all over your body. You could hardly keep your sword up when we fought for reasons you refuse to explain. We aren’t going to let you go to Juneau without at least getting you healthy again. Stop being such a baby and just suck his blood.”

That didn’t come off sounding dirty or anything. Vamps always had their minds in the gutter. I crossed my arms. “No.”

Nik motioned Kariann aside. “Remember what we talked about last night? If you want to deal with the demon problem, you’re going to have to do it the smart way. Keeping yourself strong and healthy is part of that. Is your stubbornness and pride really worth risking people’s lives over?”

I exhaled a deep breath. He had a point—even if I didn’t have to like it. “Fine, but it has to be from the wrist.”

He bit into his arm and held it out to me. No look of triumph. At least he had the decency not to gloat this time.

I had to take it fast or the puncture wounds would heal. The act disgusted me, but not as much as it once did. I’d had to drink from Nik a few times when circumstances turned desperate. He tasted something like honeyed mead. Euphoria filled me with each swallow. If I drank for too long, I wouldn’t want to stop. It was the real reason I fought against drinking from him every time. Older vampire blood had an addictive quality to it.

Less than a minute passed before I forced myself to pull away. It didn’t take much to heal my wounds, though he’d probably have let me take more out of sheer amusement. My tongue traced over my lips—God he tasted good. Too good.

I grabbed my stuff from the floor where Kariann had dumped it. My shoulder didn’t scream from the weight of the bag this time, and other than my cheek still tingling from the freshly closed cut, everything else had already healed. “I’ll catch you all later.”

“Melena,” Nik called out as I opened the door. I turned back. “Kariann will be by your place at seven tonight to take you to the airport.”

“No need. I can get myself there without anyone’s help.” They’d done more than enough already.

He lifted a brow. “Lucas is sending some paperwork with his men that Kariann needs to pick up. He said it has something to do with your agreement.”

I’d almost forgotten about that.

“Fine.” I nodded at Kariann. “I’ll see you then.”

***

I sensed the shaman’s arrival while taking a shower. He’d come early. I still had to take Emily to school. The old guy could have waited for a more decent time to come. I went downstairs to find him looking through some sketches I’d done recently. Drawing landscapes had become my escape when things got to be too stressful. I had a lot of pictures of trees and mountains from the last few months. Boring and peaceful—the exact opposite of my life.

“Those are private,” I said.

He glanced up. His graying black hair looked a bit wild today without it slicked back like he normally wore it. “These are good. You have some talent.”

“And they aren’t meant to be seen by anyone.”

He set the sketch pad down on the table and grinned at me. “Then why leave them out where anyone might find them?”

I crossed my arms. “This is my home, Charlie. You’re early.”

“Emily won’t mind if I ride along when you take her to school. We have someone to visit after that.”

“Does this someone have anything to do with the demon possession problem?” I asked.

He grunted and moved over to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. I supposed when you were over two hundred years old you stopped concerning yourself with proper guest etiquette. “He does not, but you need to see him before you go.”

“Who is this mysterious person I’m supposed to be visiting?”

Charlie poured another mug of coffee. “Cream and sugar?”

“Yes.” I cocked my hip against the counter and watched him put heaps of both into my cup. “That’s enough. Now quit stalling. Who are we going to see?”

He handed me the steaming mug. “Derrick. He’s getting worse and I think you’re the only person who can reach him right now.”

I took a sip and almost spit it back out. There was enough sugar in there to send a healthy person into a diabetic coma. “He hasn’t answered my calls since Christmas. Trust me, he won’t listen to me either.”

Charlie’s looked tired. “He can’t avoid you if you go in person.”

“It’s a pain in the ass to get to his cabin in the winter. After the way he acted the last time I saw him, I’m not sure the trip’s worth it.”

“You forced him to look at the reality of his life with Variola. The more he lets himself think about it, the more it gnaws his hide.” He saw me roll my eyes. “Sorry, bad werewolf joke. The point is, sensor, he’s going to get himself killed if you don’t do something about it.”

“In case you haven’t noticed,” I said, taking another sip of the awful coffee and cringing, “I’ve got enough to deal with right now. Can’t it wait until I get back?”

“It may be too late for him by then. Nik’s tolerated him so far for your sake, but it won’t last.”

I set the mug down. “What do you mean
tolerated
him? What’s he been doing?”

“He’s stopped covering his tracks. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks or, more importantly, sees. Go talk to him. We’ll discuss your demon problem after that.”

I dumped my coffee out and poured another cup. It would take a lot before I was ready for this trip.

The trip to Derrick’s cabin didn’t go any easier than I thought it would. The first ten miles went alright, but the last half-mile had me cursing up a storm. If I hadn’t used a hefty amount of my savings to get a used Jeep Cherokee after settling here, I’d never have made it. The private road leading to his home did not get plowed regularly. I’d needed every bit of my military off-road driving skills to get through it. Something told me Derrick had let it get that way on purpose.

“You coming?” I asked Charlie as I hopped out of the Jeep. Damn, the snow came up to my knees. There’d only been a narrow place to park.

“Nope. This one is up to you. I’ll be here waiting when you get out.” He sat there as if he had all the time in the world.

I tossed him the keys. “Fine. You can keep it warm so I don’t have to find a place to plug the vehicle in.”

The visit probably wouldn’t take long, but after hearing numerous horror stories I lived in constant fear of my engine block freezing. I didn’t want to take any chances. During the winter in Fairbanks, you had to plug your vehicle into an electric outlet or have some other way to keep it warm when it wasn’t turned on. If the engine froze and you tried to start it, you could forget it ever working again. The temperature was still about negative thirty this morning and the forecast didn’t expect it to heat up to more than negative ten. Better to be safe than sorry.

I trudged through the snow to Derrick’s porch and knocked on the front door. My senses told me he was inside but in another part of the cabin. A full minute went by while I stood there shivering. Damn, it was cold this morning. I’d never get used to this crap no matter what anyone said.

The doorknob twisted in my hand—he hadn’t bothered to lock it. A werewolf living out in the bush didn’t exactly have much to worry about. There weren’t any humans living nearby and he could handle most wild animals, except maybe bears. I never wanted to have another run-in with a black bear again. We’d barely come out of the last incident alive.

I walked into the cabin to find it a mess. For me it would have been a step up, but for him it was bad. Papers and empty beer bottles littered the coffee table. A blanket stretched across the couch as if he’d slept there instead of his bed. The open kitchen had a few dirty dishes. Nothing near what I’d let it pile up to if Emily didn’t have that chore, but much more than Derrick would normally allow. Things had gotten much worse than I realized.

“Derrick,” I called out. I sensed him in the bathroom, but I didn’t want to go in there unless I had to.

A full minute later—no answer. I knocked on the door. Nothing. No strong emotions came from him either, though I thought I heard light snoring. I shifted from foot to foot. I really didn’t want to go in there.

The door slid open without having to twist the knob. I groaned when I saw him. He lay completely naked in the bathtub. Good thing weres didn’t get hypothermia since he’d filled it with water at some point before passing out. He must have shifted to his wolf form last night and gone on a run. There was a definite reddish-brown tint to the water, implying he’d been out on the prowl. Derrick didn’t like to hurt animals, but his wolf had no problem hunting them when it took over.

I hesitated at the doorway. How to wake a man as large as him without risking getting hurt in the process? The longer I stood there debating, the more my eyes took in his naked form. I’d had enough temptation in the last couple of days without adding to it.

Derrick didn’t have classic good looks. His face was too rugged and square for that, but his body was enough to make any woman drool. I’d seen it all before from other times he’d shifted and not dressed right away. That didn’t stop me from noticing the cold water didn’t affect him the same way it did most men.

I really needed to find a human guy who could keep my interest long enough to get him in bed. This was getting ridiculous. I grabbed a bottle of Listerine mouth wash and tossed it at his head. His eyes popped open, but the glazed look in them told me he wasn’t aware enough to recognize me.

Shit. I closed the door and dashed for the living room. Running from a werewolf always made things worse, but I didn’t want to deal with him in the confines of his bathroom or the hallway. He’d figure out who I was eventually. If not, maybe Charlie would come in and do something to stop him. Maybe.

Derrick came barreling though, half stumbling as he went. I could smell alcohol on him as he got closer. He must have drunk a lot after getting back since his wolf would have burned it off. I let him take me down to the couch. His weight covered mine and made it hard to breathe. Every instinct told me to fight, but I knew that wouldn’t do any good. He needed to smell me and figure things out for himself.

I forced my muscles to loosen and bared my neck. His nose went straight for the spot under my left ear. Hot breath blew across my skin as he breathed deeply in and out. He nipped my skin before moving on to my hair. He rubbed his face in the long strands, and then buried himself in it. I lay there with my eyes closed, trying not to think about how he could rip my throat out at any moment.

“Melena?” His voice came out scratchy and rough.

“Yeah, Derrick. Don’t suppose you could get off of me?”

He still hadn’t moved his face from my hair. “Give me a minute.”

“Derrick, I can’t breathe.”

He lifted his body a few inches, but his head stayed in place.

“You remind me of her sometimes,” he said. “I ever tell you that?”

I opened my eyes to look at him, but his long brown hair got in the way. I brushed it aside. “No, you never told me that.”

“You don’t look like her, but you’re strong like she was. Always know the right thing to do.” He pulled back farther to sit on the end of the couch. “I’ve failed her.”

I sat up. He was talking about his dead wife. She and Derrick’s kids were killed a few years after the civil war ended. A couple of vampires and someone else he couldn’t identify had attacked his home one night. He’d been badly injured as well, but his werewolf healing had kept him alive long enough for help to arrive. I didn’t like to think about who had showed up. Variola was dead now. Saving him was probably the only decent thing she’d ever done.

“You haven’t failed her, Derrick,” I said. “You just have to find another way to avenge her. Running around exposing yourself to humans is not the answer.”

He shook his head. “Nikolas shoulda killed me by now. I turned last night in front of a whole group of them in Fairbanks.”

I kicked him in the leg. “You idiot. What did you do that for?”

His hand rubbed the spot I’d hit—my boots had hard heels. “Nothin’ matters anymore. All these years wasted. I stayed loyal to a woman who hurt people. Same as was done to my family. Don’t know how I didn’t see it for so long.”

“You only saw what she wanted you to see. She promised to help you get revenge and gave you her blood so you could live longer, get more powerful. It probably seemed like a good deal at the time.” Not to me, but I hated Variola from the start since she had me tortured. “People make mistakes. The point is you have to move on.”