The Darkness of Sable

by Faith Bicknell

  “Yeah.”

  “You know he won’t leave you alone until you find out what he wants.”

  “I know.” She stood and threw her napkin on her chair.

  “Want me to go with you?” he asked, his gaze serious. “He can’t be trusted. I don’t like the thought of you being alone with him.”

  “I’ll be fine, Thomas.”

  “Like last night when you insisted it was okay for you to answer the door?”

  “Hey, after all of Hal’s rude interruptions, we had no way of knowing it was Rick.”

  “Yeah…”

  “We’ll be in the hotel café downstairs with other people.”

  Grumbling, Thomas leaned back and threaded his fingers together behind his head. “I don’t like this, but you’re right about being in public.”

  Frustration ate at her. “You’d think after being divorced this long we wouldn’t have to have these talks anymore, especially after we saved his ass from Emerald and her den.”

  “He might have questions about Cheyenne,” Thomas said, getting to his feet. “What if he remembered what happened to her, or worse, what if he’s remembered everything, especially if he is working for a vampire?”

  She shivered. “I hope not. If he shoots off his mouth about Emerald and her den, we’re all dead.”

  He stood, drawing her to her feet and kissing her. “Be careful, baby girl. Once he leaves, I want you to come straight back to this suite, understood?”

  “Don’t worry. I will,” Sable said. She rose on tiptoes and placed another kiss on his lips. “I’ll try to send Hal off as fast as I can, then when I come back, we’ll enjoy the day.” She offered him a wicked grin.

  “Oh?” He quirked an ebony brow. “Seems to me you have an insatiable appetite for something.”

  “Maybe.” She laughed and turned away from him, her cell in her hand. “I’m going to braid my hair, then hurry downstairs to see what Hal wants.”

  At the bed, Sable deposited the phone into her purse, withdrew a new brush she’d purchased from the hotel’s store, and passed it through her hair. She braided her tresses and fastened an elastic band around the end of the plait. Finished, she tossed the brush in the handbag, too.

  The sound of scratching kissed her ears. About to step around the end of the bed, Sable froze, her worried gaze skimming over and around all the furniture in the suite.

  Oh, please, no. Not again.

  Unease wrapped around her throat. “Thomas?” she called, a tremble in her voice.

  He appeared in the doorway. “Yes?”

  “Did you hear anything odd?”

  He scowled. “No, why? Did you?”

  “I don’t know.” She studied every corner, each piece of furniture.

  They stood quietly for a couple of minutes. Sable strained her ears to pick up any unusual noises. Giggling in the hall penetrated the door. Footsteps passed her suite. Somewhere in the corridor a maid called out, “House cleaning!” The distant honk of a horn in the street below drifted through the open balcony doors.

  “You must have heard a guest or even one of the maids cleaning on this floor,” Thomas said. Although he spoke calmly, Sable still detected a slight edge of worry in his words.

  “I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here alone.” Mentally, she cursed the waver in her voice.

  “Whatever those monsters are, Sable, they’re after you, not me.” He crossed the room, grasped her upper arms, and looked deeply into her eyes. “You’re the one who needs protection. I’ll go with you. Just say the word. I can hide in a potted palm or something.”

  “You’re too tall.” She chuckled. “I have my phone in my purse should I need you, and I’ll be in a very public place.”

  “You’re sure?” His grip tightened on her arms as if he wanted to send her some of his strength.

  “Yes.” She lifted her face, and he kissed her.

  “I love you, baby girl.” He released her and patted her ass.

  Delighted laughter drifted out of her. “I’ll be back,” she said, her heart so happy and full she thought she’d burst from it.

  She opened her purse and slipped her keycard into it as she left the suite. She strode to the elevator with lightness in her feet. He loves me! She grinned up at the lift’s security eye. He really loves me!

  Sable descended to the lobby where she stepped out and ambled through its lush, tropical decor toward the café, feeling as though she could float along the floor. Guests milled around. Some read the morning paper in the atrium, while others sat in chairs, enjoying the sunshine filtering through the front windows. Twin toddlers played in the soil of a potted palm just outside the café’s entrance. Nearby, a woman speaking with the hotel manager noticed them and gasped. She scooped the girls up, scolding them. The mother walked purposely toward the lobby restroom.

  Sable entered the café. She spotted the hostess and pointed at Hal sitting at a table for two next to a large aquarium. The hostess nodded. Sable hurried through the establishment, dodging waitresses. She reached the table and sat on a chair already pulled out for her. As she coiled her braid in her lap, it was difficult not to glower at her ex when all she wanted to do was rush back upstairs to Thomas.

  “Coffee for the lady,” Hal said and motioned to a server.

  “What’s so important?” she asked and thumped her clutch on the tabletop. She waited for the server to finish placing a saucer and cup in front of her.

  “Creamer?” the young Cuban woman asked in a thick accent while she filled the mug with coffee.

  Sable shook her head. Once the waitress had moved away, Sable added, “I hope you’re not going to drop one of your classic bombs on me.” Picking up her cup, she regarded her ex-husband over its rim.

  He stared back at her, without blinking. At a table behind Sable, a woman laughed, the sound shrill and irritating. Two tables over, a little girl asked her mommy where the restroom was, and amongst the background noises, Sable detected the low hum of the aquarium’s air pump.

  An odd sensation wriggled over her skin. Why is he looking at me like that? I haven’t seen him look at me like that since… She frowned. “Hal?”

  “I wanted to clear the air between us, Sable,” he began. He reached for his pipe where he’d set it by his cup, hand hovering over it, but his gaze moved to the small no-smoking sign on the wall next to their table. Beside the pipe lay a package of expensive vanilla tobacco. Sable blinked. He’d switched back to vanilla? Hal sighed and retrieved two packets of sweetener from the condiment caddy instead. “I know you were honest with me when you said you saw Cheyenne on the street.” He tore the ends off the packs and dumped their contents into his cup.

  “You’re telling me this now? After months of trying to get you to listen to me?” Sable stated, uncertain how to respond. If she said the wrong thing, it might trigger his memory, and all the dreams, feelings, and misgivings he was experiencing would make sense. He’d remember what had occurred—Goldie, Isa, Emerald, the vamps, Cheyenne, and everything else—and she, Hal, and Thomas would be in jeopardy of a pissed-off den.

  “I know I’ve been a jerk,” he said.

  “Try a jackass,” she snarked.

  He kept staring at her. Hundreds of mental cogs whirred behind his eyes.

  Sable’s unease intensified.

  “You’re right,” Hal continued, his voice softer. “I am a jackass. So much so that I married another woman when I’m still in love with you.”

  Shock rushed through every part of Sable’s body. She blinked.

  “Did you hear me?”

  “Uh-huh.” She nodded. “I’m just waiting until the warning sirens stop wailing in my head.”

  He smirked. “I deserve that, but I’m serious, Sable. I still love you. I need to know if there’s any chance we can patch things up and get married again.”

  “No.”

  This time he blinked. “No?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Why?”

&nb
sp; “Hal, it’s impossible for us to get along,” she began. She couldn’t stand that wounded-puppy look on his face. She focused on the aquarium instead. Angelfish and some sort of bright yellow species swam to and fro through the air bubbles coursing upward in the tank’s center. “When I say black, you say white. If I had an opinion, you insisted it doesn’t count. When I’d try to help you, you didn’t want it. When I needed help, you refused it or you just weren’t there for me, period.” She sat back, her hands flat against the tabletop, and met his gaze again. “Should I recite the entire list? Do you really have that much time?”

  The derisive snort he issued answered her question. “It’s funny, but I guess it’s true when they say that you never realize what you have until you lose it.”

  “I’ve moved on.”

  “I see that.”

  “I just don’t love you anymore. I’m sorry, Hal.”

  Hal shrugged, picked up a spoon, and stirred his coffee. He cast a longing glance at his pipe just inches away from his cup. “Don’t be sorry.”

  “I don’t understand this sudden change of heart, Hal.”

  “It’s not a sudden change,” he said. “I’ve just ignored it for a long time. I married Jacquelyn because I thought I was in love with her when I was actually marrying the idea that she made me feel young, that maybe I could start over, and that if I had someone else to occupy my thoughts, then I wouldn’t think so much about you.” His hand shook, and he left the spoon in the cup, placing his hands in his lap.

  “Oh, Hal. I don’t know what to say.” She fought off the tightness in her throat. If she showed any sympathy whatsoever, Hal would jump on it, hammer away at it. She didn’t need the upset, nor did he, really, especially now that he realized she didn’t love him anymore. On the flip side, it felt good to know that despite nearly a quarter of a lifetime together, she was truly over Hal. She’d grown as a person and had moved on, where Hal clung to the past. Sable had dreams and aspirations with someone who waited upstairs for her, and Hal would return to a woman who was undoubtedly using him like he’d used Sable.

  “Well, I should be going.” Hal stood, pulled out his wallet, withdrew a ten, and threw it on the table. “I made the choice to marry Jacquelyn, so I should go home and try to make things work. Maybe if I can make her happy like I should’ve done for you, I can redeem myself.”

  “But wouldn’t she want you to love her, too?” Sable picked up her cup and sipped.

  His eyes hardened into pale ice chips. “I really don’t think Jacquelyn gives a shit as long as the money keeps coming in. The sex isn’t even good. When she comes on to me, my dick crawls up my ass, elbows the hemorrhoid, and says, ‘Hey, buddy, stick your head out and see if she’s still there.’”

  Sable snorted and coughed, trying not to spew coffee through her nose. “Hal!” she cried through her laughter.

  He chuckled heartily, the action softening the hard lines of his face. For a moment, Sable caught a glimpse of the man she’d married so many years ago. He grabbed his suit jacket slung across the back of a chair and snagged his pipe, cupping it in his free hand. “Sable, it’s obvious Thomas loves you. He’ll be good for you.” He stooped and placed a kiss as soft as dandelion fluff on her temple. “I’m sorry I wasn’t the man you needed, but take care, because the chance I just offered you is gone now.” He remained there by her ear, his breath hot on her neck.

  She froze, unsure whether to be angered by his remark. Finally, she gazed up at Hall. Something sinister tickled the edges of her senses, and she suppressed a shiver.

  “Wh-what are you saying?”

  “If you had taken me back, I could have protected you. Now you’re on your own.”

  She gulped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “What you and Thomas pulled last night was a nice try, but I’ve been a step ahead of you both all along.” With a very cool hand, he brushed the tendrils of hair from her face.

  Sable couldn’t move. Cold and dread filled her heart. She glanced away, her mind scrambling to process what he’d just said and the profound meaning of it.

  “Look at me, Sable,” Hal whispered.

  It seemed like it took ages for her to gather enough nerve to turn her head toward him again. Slowly, she met Hal’s blue eyes, eyes now glowing with a feral light.

  “I warned you,” he said. “I tried. I really did.” He smiled, revealing sharp incisors. “You see, I’ve discovered another way to remain young forever. However, the next time we meet…” He strode from the café.

  With tears trickling down her cheeks and trembling so hard she nearly vibrated off the chair, she watched Hal hold his jacket over his head and dash to the waiting limo where he dived through the open back door.

  Heaven help me! Hal’s a vampire!

  Chapter Thirty

  Sinner

  S able dried her tears with a napkin and finished her coffee. Her hands quaked, and she tried valiantly to lift the cup to her lips without spilling it everywhere. All she wanted was to return to Thomas, crawl into bed with him, and forget about everything.

  Was someone watching her at this very moment? There had to be more going on than even Thomas knew. Also, why were vampires involved?

  Finished with her cup, she rose, tucking her purse under one arm. She left the café, crossed the sunshine-lit lobby to the elevator, and jabbed the button. How could Hal be out in the daylight if he’s a vampire? If he can move around during the day, then am I safe right now? The doors slid open. Thoughts of Cheyenne, Thomas, and every incredible thing she’d seen or that had happened crowded in with the image of her ex-husband’s brand-new fangs.

  My life has changed so much over the past six years, but the last few days have turned it upside down.

  “And it’s about to change even more,” a familiar voice said behind her.

  She stepped into the elevator and turned. “Goldie? Isa? What are you two doing here? And how did you know what I was thinking?”

  “We came to help.” Isa punched the button to Sable’s floor. She adjusted the thin, sparkly shawl over her frail shoulders.

  “Do mean to help me deal with Hal?” Dread clenched her innards.

  “No, we already know about Hal.” The old woman turned and faced the doors. “Right now, it’s Thomas who needs us.”

  Goldie touched Sable’s arm. “You have to be strong. We can’t avoid them anymore. They’ve reawakened to wreak havoc on the world. They’re weak and must learn how to manipulate magic again because the Paranorm worlds have changed so much over the centuries. We’ve pinpointed their whereabouts, but sadly, it might be too late.”

  The elevator opened to Sable’s floor.

  “Who has reawakened?” Sable’s voice cracked. The scratchy noise in her suite came to mind. “And why does Thomas—is he in trouble?” She bolted out of the lift and raced down the hall.

  “Sable, wait,” Goldie called. “You need to be prepared for what you’ll see!”

  Sable snatched the keycard out of her purse as she reached the door. With a quick swipe, followed by the lock’s beep, she burst into the suite.

  She stopped, her mouth falling open. The handbag dropped from her numb fingers and hit the floor with a soft thud. Fear clogged Sable’s throat. It swam through her blood, turning everything so cold in her body she couldn’t feel her legs. She shook until she thought her teeth would rattle out of her head.

  “Thomas,” she whispered.

  He stared back at her with wide, frightened eyes. Mouth agape, he strained to draw in air.

  “You must be strong,” Isa said, entering the suite behind her.

  “We’ll do what we can,” Goldie stated, her tone grave, “but this is your fight.”

  “But…but how do I fight those things?” Sable stared at the humanoid creature and two black, misshapen monsters.

  The thing from the restaurant’s powder room had Thomas pinned to the wall by the desk. Its hand gripped his throat, and long smoky tendrils of its hair wrappe
d around his arms and legs, holding them immobile.

  “Oh, Thomas.” Tears welled in Sable’s eyes.

  The she-creature turned, its hand still grasping Thomas’s windpipe. “Well, well, if it isn’t the famous Sable Hendricks-Tade,” it snarled. “You forced us to this. If you’d just repented and taken your own life, things would not have come to this.”

  Slowly, Sable approached it. “Why are you doing this?” she asked. “How can you do this to a Paranorm Marshal?”

  “We don’t discriminate,” it said, eyes blazing violet. “The fact the Old World uses Paranorm Marshals has no bearing on our judgment. The Old World wouldn’t need them if they had let us do our job, what we were created to do.”

  “Please, let him go.”

  The creature’s laughter chilled Sable further. “You’ve sinned, but you deny what you know you should do. We had to resort to other tactics to get your attention, and now, we have found that if we have your power, we can make the mortal and Paranorm worlds fear us again.”

  “You’ve had my attention since I arrived in this wretched city,” Sable said.

  She glanced at the two monsters crouched on the carpet. One looked like a genetically mutated bulldog gone horribly wrong. Even in the sunshine spilling through the balcony doors, its purple eyes glowed brightly. The monster-dog’s claws gripped the carpet, its belly dragging the floor, but Sable would bet if provoked it could move at lightning speed.

  The other nightmare resembled an animal flattened on the road. Its thin tattered body looked deceptively weak, its narrow, horizontal head more teeth than anything else. Violet eyes blinked at her, their neon-flame centers flickering. It licked its lips as she passed by.

  “Let Thomas go,” Sable said, trying to keep the terror out of her voice. Vaguely, she sensed Goldie and Isa behind her.

  “I might,” the she-creature said, “if you give up.” Her gaze shifted to the women behind Sable. “Do I know you? I do, don’t I?” An odd expression crossed the humanoid’s face, and for an instant, Sable thought she saw fear in its eyes.

  “What you’re doing is wrong,” Isa said.