Darkness Falls (20 page)

Dragging her exhausted ass into the cheap hotel room, Malorie threw her keys onto the nightstand and collapsed onto the bed. Staring up at the ceiling, trying not to replay the night with her brother, she dug out her cell phone and called the number her father left Nadine all of those years ago. Her eyes slid shut as the phone started to ring and for a brief moment she thought she found a way to get ahold of Gustav.

When the call was answered, her heart was in her throat. Until an automated voice boomed in a heavy Jersey accent, “
You’ve reached Benny’s Sub Shop. Sorry we missed your call but feel free to leave a message and we’ll get back to you when we can
.”

Taking a chance, she waited for the tone to beep and said, “Hey. If you get this, we need to talk. It’s life and death. Call me.”

Still holding the phone, her hand fell to the bed and she was out as she imagined falling asleep in Feryn’s arms.

God, she missed him.

Chapter 8

The ringing of the phone yanked her from a blissfully dreamless sleep. Maybe sheer exhaustion was the trick to getting a peaceful night’s rest. Glancing out the window at the bright sky, she amended that thought to a peaceful
day’s
rest. The clock said that it was just after three and she realized she had slept the day away and she wondered what had woken her up when the phone rang again.

Pulling the phone up to her ear, she hit answer as she mumbled, “’Lo?”

“Malorie.” A familiar, feminine voice came over the phone

She sat up, wishing she had remembered how stupid it was to sit up too abruptly when the baby made its displeasure known. Pressing a hand against her stomach, she asked, “Nadine? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” the woman said quickly then hesitated. “Well, it’s Hunter. I was wondering what you said to him.”

“I just explained a few things that he needed to know,” she said, swallowing the bile that threatened to choke her. Lying back down, she wished Feryn were there to comfort her when she suffered from another bout of morning sickness. Nadine made a sound as if to talk, but Mal spoke first, “Just give him a few days to let everything soak in and he should be okay.”

“Are you sure?” Nadine asked, the uncertainty and doubt apparent in her voice.

“Yes,” Malorie said with more conviction than she felt. Sitting up and shuffling towards the bathroom because she was going to throw up whether she was on the phone or not, Malorie hoped the words she spoke were true. Hunter had a lot of anger when she left and she really hoped he didn’t do anything stupid. As soon as she got into the bathroom, her stomach rebelled, rumbling its warning.

“Well, if you’re sure….”

“I’ve got to go,” she choked out, hanging up before losing everything that was in her stomach, which really wasn’t a lot. Sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, she tried to figure out what to do next, starting with getting some food into her system. She’d keep an eye on Hunter for a few days to make sure he was alright and then she’d go back to the island and regroup, try to figure out how another way to find her father.

Of course, she had to figure out how she was going to get back, since she had told Jiro she needed a few days and he had no way of knowing she had left New York. Was she going to have to drive back to New York in order to meet him at their prearranged time and place? God, she’d just buy a plane ticket and fly up.

Pushing herself to her feet, she rinsed her mouth out with some water and the small bottle of mouth wash that was on the counter. The dingy mirror reflected back a pale girl with too much to deal with but she’d soldier on because that’s what she did. It would be so easy to reach out to Feryn and beg him to come and get her but she still needed time to adjust to all of the changes in her life, to all of the changes in Feryn. It wasn’t long ago that he considered humans and Breeders disposable. The things he had done….

She knew that he wasn’t that man, that
Aradian
, anymore…. Well, he may be that passionate and sensually dominant but it was all directed towards her now and she could handle that. Taking her shirt off, she stared at the glimmering mark along her ribs in the reflection. Even in the grimy mirror, it still radiated light and a sense of peace washed over her. Being with Feryn was the right thing to do and she knew that she was exactly what he needed. Once she got everything sorted out, she’d finally be able to settle into her new life.

“Just a few more days, Feryn,” she whispered to the empty room. “And then I’m coming home.”

Gingerly, she stripped off the rest of her clothes and climbed into the crappy shower. The water pressure was pathetic but the water was warm and she was able to wash away the stress of the past couple of days. After a shower, she’d go to Nadine’s house and try to talk with her brother again. Maybe he’d had enough time to cool down and would actually listen to what she had to say. He’d probably yell at her some more and condemn her to even deeper pits of Hell. Groaning, she didn’t want to think about her brother and the difficulties he was going to have, the difficulties he was causing.

Her phone rang in the other room and hoping it was her father, she hopped out of the shower with shampoo still in her hair. Naked, she raced over to the phone, stumbling over a stupid chair and hitting her shin on the corner of the bed frame. Her eyes were starting to sting from the bubbles sliding down her face by the time she reached the phone. Breathlessly, she picked it up and answered, “Father?”

But she had been too late and there was no one on the other side. Cursing, wiping the bubbles out of her eyes, she looked at the number to see who had called but it came up as unlisted. Throwing the phone down in disgust, she stalked back to her still running shower. Luckily the water was still warm as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair and body. When the phone started ringing a second time, she groaned as she hurriedly washed the conditioner out of her hair and turned the water off. Listening in frustration as her phone stopped ringing, she hoped whoever it was would call back. Hopefully it was Gustav.

Wrapping a towel around her body, she walked over to the curtains and drew the blackout shades closed, plunging the room into darkness. Then she crossed over to the bed and sat down to wait, checking out the bruise that was already forming on her shin. As she picked up her phone, she once again dialed the number Nadine had given her.

“
You’ve reached Benny’s Sub Shop. Sorry we missed your call but feel free to leave a message and we’ll get back to you when we can
.”

Grinding her teeth, she bit out, “We need to talk, damn it. Call me.”

Hanging up, she stared at the stupid phone and willed it to ring but of course it didn’t. As she waited for nearly an hour, she became frustrated when it didn’t ring. Glancing over her shoulder, she stared longingly at the shower. In the years since the end of the hostilities, long showers had become a luxury that she frequently indulged in, one that she really needed at the moment. It didn’t matter how crappy the shower, as long as the water was warm and she could close her eyes and let her troubles melt away for a few minutes.

She stood up and threw her traitorous phone onto the bed, dropping the towel as she headed back to the shower. As warm water slid over her skin, a wall of hot flesh and bone pressed against her back and Feryn’s arms wrapped around her. His breath was hot against her ear as he whispered, “Don’t open your eyes or I’ll disappear.”

“You’re not here?” she asked in surprise since he felt very real.

“No.”

“How?” She relaxed against him as his hand swept over her stomach and cupped her breast.

“You’ve fallen asleep,” he whispered, trailing hot kisses along the nape of her neck, sending barbs of awareness and pleasure down her spine until she shivered. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“I tried but I was in the shower,” she murmured, realizing Feryn was exactly who she wanted and needed in that moment, even if only in her dreams. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.” His tongue was doing something wicked to her earlobe and his fingers were toying with her nipple. His other hand slipped between her legs and touched her most intimate flesh and she nearly combusted on the spot. “Come home.”

“I’m almost ready to come back.” Her words came out as a moan as he hit a particularly sensitive spot and she slammed her hand against the wall in front of her to keep steady. He wasn’t really there so he wouldn’t be able to stop her from falling. “I just need a few more days.”

“It’s killing me being so far away from you,” he crooned, sliding two thick fingers into her empty body, rubbing his thumb over her aching clit. As he slowly worked his fingers in and out of her body, he pressed his erection against the curve of her butt and rocked forward. “And it’s not just the sex I miss.”

She almost smiled until he slipped his finger from her and filled her completely with his thick erection in one swift move. Her back arched and a low scream came from the back of her throat as pleasure exploded outwards. Light flashed behind her eyes and she felt as if she were floating, making her desperate to open her eyes to see if Feryn was truly there.

Squeezing her eyes shut even tighter, she softly chanted, “He’ll disappear if you open your eyes. He’ll disappear if you open your eyes.”

“I could be there in a heartbeat if you want me,” he purred.

“You’re only a dream,” she managed to say through bloodless lips as her body slowly returned to normal. “And even if you weren’t, I still have to find my father. It’s too important.”

“If you’re certain,” he trailed off, pressing a tender kiss to the side of her neck. After her hesitant nod, he murmured, “Go to bed, Malorie. It’s unwise to sleep in the shower.”

Her eyes shot open and she spun around but he wasn’t there and it hurt far more than she expected even though she knew he had been a dream. She tried to close her eyes again but the water had grown too cold and without the heat of Feryn she was freezing. Shivering, she turned off the water and wrapped another too-small towel around her body and went into the other room. Opening up the new package of panties that she had picked up the day before, she pulled them on and finished getting dressed.

It was then that she realized that the lights were off and it was her mark that was illuminating the room. Touching the swirling design in wonder, she watched as the light slowly faded and she was plunged into darkness once more. Was there more to her dream than she realized? Had Feryn been there, at least in spirit?

Hopefully her father would call soon because she really wanted to return to the island, to Feryn and to Toby.

Sipping the cup of hot tea, Malorie sat in her car across the street from Nadine’s house. Squinting against the late afternoon sun, she sighed as she thought about her time in the old neighborhood. They had lived here for a couple of weeks before that fateful day when Nadine came across the street and welcomed her into her home. The house that she had lived in had been torn down at some point and was replaced with a small park, which was a vast improvement. Still, it was a little sad that another piece of her past was gone.

She hoped Hunter would call because she was worried about the stubborn boy. Watching from across the street wasn’t going to help him adjust to everything she had told him. In the back of her mind, she hoped that her father would call and he would be able to deal with Hunter. Her father would know what to say, what to do, to calm the boy down because God knew Malorie wasn’t having any luck.

After another dark memory of how close Feryn came to ending it, Malorie found she couldn’t return the Aradian compound just yet because she wasn’t ready to face her mate. Her emotions were too close to the surface and she didn’t want him to think she pitied him, not ever. Her heart still trembled in her chest at the thought of losing him, of never knowing him.

“What are we doing?” Jiro asked, suddenly appearing in her front passenger seat.

Startled, she jumped and spilled hot tea down the front of her t-shirt. Glaring at Jiro, she growled, “Bastard.”