“Just get the girl out of here. Now. Those who will come for her are no less than monsters. Don’t underestimate them. As soon as they’re close enough, stake them. Make sure you aim for the heart.”
“Killing with stakes? What are they? Fucking Vampires? Why can’t we just get the hell out of here and blow up the place?” Angel seemed to be their leader.
“Yes
, that’s exactly what they are. You must never speak of what went on here. If you do, there will be dire consequences to pay.” Dorian looked from one to the other, his eyes dark and menacing. “The C-4 must be detonated right before dawn. It’s the only way to be sure they’re all dead.”
“And you Mr. Taylor? Are you . . . one of those things too?”
Dorian glanced sideways at Angel. “What do you think?” he asked, his tone quietly threatening.
Walking toward the room where the other vampires waited, Dorian looked back. “Get her out of here and leave the blindfold on.”
Just as he reached the door it opened from the other side. Liam and Erik walked in. They’re eyes widened when they saw Dorian and the other three men. Raphael had the red headed girl in his arms and was carrying her out the door.
A low growl came from Erik’s throat. He leaped into the air and landed directly in front of Raphael.
Raphael took a step backward, almost tripping over the threshold. Erik’s eyes were red and ablaze with anger. His teeth protruded in a frightful display. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you it’s impolite to steal someone else’s food?” He grabbed Raphael by the throat, lifting him and the girl off the floor with ease.
Raphael dropped the girl. Lucas came to his side, picked her up and ran out, heading toward the Escalade. Liam went after him.
Angel stood behind Erik. Without hesitation he drove the stake through Erik’s back, aiming for the heart as he’d been instructed. Erik started to scream. Dorian clasped a hand over his mouth in a millisecond. He didn’t want to attract the attention of the other vampires.
The mortals stared at Dorian in both awe and fear at his extraordinary speed and agility.
Erik’s body went limp. He fell forward. Angel stood looking down at him. “Sorry, pal. Looks like we had a last minute change in the menu. We’re having stake for dinner tonight.” He kicked the wood protruding from Erik’s back. The body didn’t move.
“Go help Lucas. Liam went after him!” Dorian ordered with quiet urgency.
Raphael nodded. He and Angel went out the back door armed with stakes.
Dorian grew uneasy; knowing full well he needed to head back to the table before Malachi came looking for him. He stood at the door and looked out into the darkness. Thankfully, he had keen night vision.
He saw Angel and Lucas struggling to get a firm hold on Liam. Raphael got out of the Escalade and joined them.
It took all three of them to get hold of Liam. Dorian heard a loud snap. Liam was fast and strong. He’d snapped Lucas’ neck in seconds.
Dorian saw the look of horror on Raphael’s face as he watched his friend fall to the ground dead. He leaped onto Liam’s back.
“Angel, stake this fucker now,”
he whispered vehemently.
Angel thrust the stake through Liam’s chest
.
Liam clawed at the wood jutting out of his body,
blood spewed from his mouth. He hissed at them and finally lay unmoving.
Angel
dragged Liam’s limp, lifeless body away from the vehicle, putting him on top of Erik’s.
Both were in the woods. If they were able to rise again, the sunlight would put an end to that. Dorian wasn’t sure if stakes would be enough. He’d never seen another vampire killed. He remembered the day he’d been made. The sunlight had burnt his hand in an instant.
“We got him, Mr. Taylor,” Angel said, out of breath.
“Good job. Now leave this place and slide the outside dead-bolt in place.”
Dorian waited until he heard the lock click into place on the heavy steel door. He left the room and went back to the table where the others awaited him.
“Well? Is she as tasty as she looks?” Malachi asked.
He, Theodora and Bianca laughed.
“Oh, I think you’re in for a treat.” Dorian smirked.
“You certainly took long enough with her. We’re behind schedule. And where have Erik and Liam gone to? Oh well. We shall begin without them. I’m sure they’ll be back. They’d never miss this. Ladies, Dorian? Let’s begin.”
Dorian looked at them as they rose. He noted the look of lust for blood and sex in their eyes. They sickened him with their decadence and debauchery.
No matter what they did, dawn was approaching and there would be no escape at this point. The basement wouldn’t give them refuge. Not with the C-4 lying in wait.
Theodora, Bianca and Malachi walked together into the room. Dorian hung back.
“What the fuck! Where
is
she?” Malachi shouted.
The two women moved to the back door and pushed hard against it. It wouldn’t budge. Dorian knew they planned to chase down their prey.
Malachi turned swiftly toward Dorian, his eyes squinting with suspicion, hatred and finally horror as it dawned on him what was happening. “You!”
Dorian stepped back
ward, over the threshold from where they’d come and attempted to push the door closed. Before he could get out and slide the deadbolt, Malachi flew at him in a rage.
Moving fast, Dorian managed to bolt the door and trap the women inside. However, Malachi had slipped through. He and Dorian stood face to face, listening to Theodora and Bianca shout and bang against the steel door.
“Why would you do such a thing?” Malachi grabbed Dorian by the throat.
Dorian raised his arms and pulled Malachi off him. He dealt him a mighty blow with the back of his hand. Malachi went flying through the air and landed on his feet with ease in front of the fireplace.
“You know
exactly
why.” Dorian strode toward Malachi, his eyes burning with rage as they bore into his master’s.
“You would kill me for
her
? I saved your life, lest you forget Dorian. What can she possibly give you that I haven’t?”
“You may have physically saved my life, but she
gave
me a life! You refused to understand and thereby signed your own death warrant, Malachi. She loves me and she’s made me a better man.”
“But you’re
not
a man! You’re a monster same as me. You’re fooling yourself if you think otherwise.”
“I know what I am and what I’ve done. I’m not blaming you for any of it, Malachi. I take full responsibility for the choices I’ve made. The time had come for me to make other choices and you simply wouldn’t allow it.”
“Do you really think I’ll just let you go? You can’t kill me.”
“I don’t care if you release me or not. You will die here on this night. I hope you burn in hell.” Dorian wrapped one hand around Malachi’s neck, pinning him to the wall.
“If I’m going to hell, I’m taking you with me!” Malachi swung his arm powerfully, landing a hard blow to Dorian’s head. He stumbled and fell to the floor.
Malachi laid his body on top of Dorian and held him down. “Ah, the dawn comes soon. And here we shall die together. You belong to me and always will!”
Dorian knew full well he had only minutes to get away. Malachi was a very powerful vampire and he struggled against his weight.
Both of them stopped fighting when they heard loud banging on the front door.
“Jesus Christ, Dorian, get the hell out of there now! It’s time!” Ian shouted.
Malachi released Dorian and flew to the door. However, he made one fatal error. He went back toward Dorian.
His eyes went wide when he saw the small, sharp stake in Dorian’s hand. “No!” he whispered, incredulous.
Dorian thrust the
stake, which he’d kept concealed in his inside jacket pocket, into Malachi’s heart.
Malachi went down, but he wasn’t dead. Dorian had only temporarily incapacitated him, hopefully buying him enough to get the hell out of there.
Dorian ran at the speed of light for the door.
He felt Malachi tugging at his pant leg, not wanting to let him go.
Dorian tried in vain to shake him off.
Meanwhile, the door was opening.
Ian and Shane grabbed Dorian’s hands and pulled hard.
“Shane!”
Malachi’s eyes grew wide with the shock of betrayal.
Shane stared at his boss, his face a mask of utter terror.
“Don’t look at him Shane!
” Ian shouted.
Dorian finally shook loose of Malachi’s grip and shoved his way out the door, threw the dead bolt and ran toward the open door of the armored truck. Dawn was beginning to break and he felt the heat of it on his back.
Ian slammed the door shut. All was blessed darkness.
“Dorian, I’m begging you! Don’t do this. I love you!”
Malachi’s final screams echoed through the quiet air.
“Go to hell,” whispered Dorian.
He couldn’t see anything, but he heard an enormous explosion and felt the vehicle pitch forward.
Ian shouted they were all clear.
The vehicle picked up speed. Dorian knew they were on the rough road, heading off the dark island for good. He felt a burning pain on his back and the top of his head. He’d been burnt, but not badly. He’d heal by nightfall.
Ian’s voice came through the Bluetooth. “We just hit the mainland Dorian. Shane and the others are ahead of us. They’ll bring the girl to safety. Should I hit the detonator now?”
The road still remained. It had also been rigged with explosives. “Punch it Ian!”
“Copy that,” Ian responded.
Dorian felt the rumble of falling earth. The road to the dark island would crumble to the sea leaving nothing but a deserted, barren island.
“It’s finished, Dorian. You’re free.”
“Thank you, Ian. I owe you so much, my friend. I . . . can’t stay awake. I’ll see you tonight.”
He could fight it no longer. His body began to shut down and his last thought was of her. He’d be in Maine in a day or so. Entombed in the dark, he fell asleep, truly at peace for the first time in years.
Chapter 34
Jennifer paced back and forth, biting her nails furiously, stopping to stare at the frozen frame on the DVD. Her mind was racing. He’d said he loved her. Those three words held her entire world in them. And yet, he’d left her.
She thought of Julie and
Tina’s words, maybe he
had
to leave her; perhaps the choice wasn’t his to make. Then she thought of Dorian himself. He wasn’t a man who took orders from others. He was strong, confident and always got what he wanted. That led her to believe he didn’t want her.
God, I’m driving myself crazy!
she thought.
Maybe I should just call him and ask what he
meant.
She picked up the phone, hesitated, dialed the number slowly and got his voicemail.
“Damn it.” She didn’t leave a message.
She went to the kitchen to get her pills. She’d started feeling sick in the last week or so. Her body ached; she felt nauseous and had no appetite. Tina had mentioned how pale she looked before she left that night. Her cousin was no longer staying with her and still didn’t know about Jennifer’s illness.
Jennifer realized just how alone she really was. Her parents were gone. Her dog was living with another family. She thought about taking him back, but felt that would be to disruptive and unfair to him. She only had months left to live and he’d be shuffled off again. Even Ms. Prudinsky had abandoned her like a rat deserting a sinking ship.
She could bear all of it if only Dorian was here. Her arms ached for him. She wanted to feel his touch, be swept up in his arms and hear his voice at her ear just one more time before death closed her eyes forever.
She looked out the window. Unlike Miami, Maine got dark a lot earlier. The stars were nothing less than spectacular in the clear, chilly November night.
She jumped, startled when she heard a knock at the door in the dead quiet of the house. Must be Tina, maybe she’d forgot something.
“Okay, what did you forget?” She opened the door. Only it wasn’t Tina. It was Dorian.
Her mouth dropped open, she tried to speak but no words would come. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked upon his face for the first time in what seemed like forever. It took every bit of willpower she could muster not to rush into his arms. She dragged her eyes away from his intense, smoldering gaze.
It dawned on her then. “Julie told you, didn’t she?” She didn’t dare look at him or she’d fall apart.
“Yes she did,” he said in that quiet, solemn voice she remembered so well. The way he’d spoke when they’d shared their most intimate thoughts with one another. “May I come in, Jennifer?”
“Sure. Why not?” She stepped back, her head down and closed the door behind him.