Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 04]

by Charming the Darkness (epub)

  Shoving his hands in his jeans pocket, Dante nodded. “She told me and, no, she didn’t tell me where you are hiding. Look, I understand you wanting to keep it dark—”

  “I’m sick of the darkness,” Danny answered. “I miss seeing the trees in full bloom and the pleasant aroma of the flowers.”

  “Then let us take Chaos out and bring back the sun.”

  Danny leaned against the truck, crossing his feet at the ankles. “I’m not ready to give him up yet.”

  “Danny—”

  “Look, I know what he did to me was wrong. I know he took me only because he wanted to experiment with me, breaking us up and seeing if he could keep us apart. He told me everything after he woke up and, yeah, it hurts but…” He let out a long breath. “Imagine if you suddenly found out Mom and Dad kidnapped you from your real parents, your real family, and all these years they’ve been your family. Could you just walk away from them and go back to your natural family?”

  “It’s not the same. You knew about us, you knew you had family.”

  “And I believed all of you were glad I was gone. Yes, Chaos brainwashed me into believing that, but for twenty years I thought of him as family. Even now, knowing what he did to me, knowing I mean nothing to him I still can’t give him up so you can kill him.”

  “Hearing you say that breaks my heart. I love you, Danny.”

  “You love the memory of who I was. You don’t even know who I am now.”

  “Only because you haven’t given me the chance to get to know you. I want to.” Dante ran a hand through his hair restlessly.

  “You kill my kind.”

  “I protect my city.”

  “By killing my kind,” Danny reminded him. “How are we supposed to be friends, let alone family, when you kill what I am?”

  “My best friends are vampires, Danny, so don’t give me that shit. I don’t have a problem with vampires, unless they give me a reason.”

  “I can’t give him up, Dante. So I guess I’m one of those vampires you have a problem with. Catch you around, bro.” Yanking the driver’s side door open, Danny slipped behind the wheel, started the truck, and drove away.

  In the rearview mirror he saw his brother watching him drive away.

  ***

  It was disheartening enough to wake up alone after such glorious lovemaking but to find the man who’d given you so much pleasure gone, was even worse. Starla wandered through the hallway from the back office where she’d been sleeping, calling out to Danny, only to receive no response. She couldn’t imagine where he could be, but she wished he was with her now while she was feeling so mushy.

  She was in love. With a vampire, no less.

  What would her parents say when she told them?

  Entering the office area that overlooked the cells, Starla saw the large rifle lying across one of the desks. Baffled, she walked towards it and saw the note. She lifted it and was in the midst of reading it when Danny walked in.

  “You stepped out?” She glanced up at him and saw his arms full of bags. In one hand he held a huge bouquet of artificial flowers in every form and color. He had the widest grin on his face she had ever seen. “What’s that?”

  “Flowers. Okay, so they’re fake and plastic, but it was the best I could do. Not sure what you like so I got a variety. Hope you like them?”

  Her heart simply swelled with love. He’d gone out to find her flowers. Wasn’t he the sweetest? She blinked back her tears as she walked up to him. She didn’t take the flowers but instead leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. “That…is romantic.”

  “I was going for romantic.”

  “You achieved it.” She kissed him again, then finally took the huge bouquet. “And you know what’s best about these? They’ll never die.”

  “There’s that. I got you something else.” He set the bags on a desk and began scrambling through them until he came up with a small package. “Seeds. It says they’re a small flowering shrub that grows hardy in partial shade and blooms in late summer. I figured you could get one of those sunlamps and maybe plant it somewhere inside and watch it grow. Kinda makes up for you taking stuff.” He shrugged, grinning like a fool.

  Could she love him anymore? “Or I could plant it when the sun comes back after we hand Chaos over to your brother. This is so sweet.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him long and slow but felt nothing in return. Pulling away, she saw the frown on his brow. “What?”

  “Who says I’m handing him over to my brother. Oh, and by the way, thanks for telling me you talked to him. I met up with him after getting my supplies,” he said when she tilted her head in confusion.

  “I was going to tell you when I let you out of the cell but we kind of got side tracked.” She smiled, hoping to bring back the happiness she’d seen on his face moments before. “And what do you mean you’re not handing Chaos over to your brother?”

  “Just what I said.” He broke away from her and began unloading the groceries.

  “But I thought after you talked with him, after he told you how he truly felt about you, that you’d be more than eager to turn him over?”

  “Well, you thought wrong.”

  “How can you want to keep him alive after what he told you?”

  “I haven’t decided what to do with Chaos yet. Twinkie?”

  She shook her head and he ripped open the package and helped himself. “So you didn’t tell your brother where you have Chaos?”

  He shook his head, swallowing what was in his mouth before speaking. “Nope.”

  “Did you at least make amends with your brother?”

  Danny’s brow furrowed. “Why would I make amends with Dante?”

  “Because you know now that Chaos used you. He kidnapped you, brainwashed you, and used you as an experiment. He kept you away from your family. I would think that would make you want to welcome your real family back.”

  He set the half eaten Twinkie on the desk and licked his fingers. “Just because I know the truth about Chaos doesn’t make what Dante did to me any better. He locked me up and left me to die when the house caught on fire.”

  “But it’s easier to forgive Chaos for kidnapping you, brainwashing you, and making you a vampire?” He was truly confusing her now. “Look inside of yourself, Danny. You know deep inside what’s right.”

  “Quit pushing at me, Starla.”

  “I’m trying to make you see what’s right.”

  “And why is killing Chaos right?” he demanded sternly.

  “Because he’s a killer.”

  “So am I,” he blurted out.

  “I refuse to believe that.”

  “I drank blood from humans and I didn’t give a damn if they lived or died as long as I got what I wanted.”

  She refused to cry and bit the inside of her cheek to prevent it. “That was then, this is now, and you’re not the same.”

  “And maybe Chaos can be reformed.”

  She drew in a deep breath. “So you’ll let the city wither away on the off chance that you can rehabilitate a madman?”

  “It’s just one city.”

  Her heart was breaking. “And what about your brother?”

  “He’ll manage.”

  Her throat was threatening to close up. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. He’s your blood; doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  “He left me to die,” Danny yelled at her, starling her.

  “And Chaos killed you,” she blurted back.

  “I’m not doing this.” He threw his arms in the air and spun around to leave.

  She sniffled back her tears and fought with the words she was about to say. “I won’t be here when you get back.”

  He turned around, his face gruff. “What the hell does that
mean?”

  “I’m leaving. I can’t stay here knowing you’re willing to put the life of someone as callus, as cruel as Chaos who murders innocent children for his own gain in higher regard than your own blood relatives.”

  “Starla—”

  “I love you, Danny. But I’d rather suffer a broken heart than stay here and watch you throw your life away.” She dropped the flowers as she ran from the room.

  Chapter 26

  Danny stood where he was, staring blankly at the space Starla had just vacated. What the hell had just happened? Then his brain began to register what she’d said.

  She was leaving.

  In a dead run, Danny raced for the front doors. She wouldn’t leave him. She couldn’t leave him. She was all he had.

  Pushing the doors open, he watched as she sped off in the truck. She was leaving him.

  Furious and hurting, Danny sulked back to the cells. Damn it, why did she have to push him? Why was it everyone always wanted him to do things he wasn’t ready or willing to do? He hadn’t made up his mind what he was going to do. All he’d wanted was some time to think, to plan, to spend some quality time in the arms of the girl he loved. He wished now he hadn’t mentioned his brother and had simply swept Starla off her feet and carried her to bed. Damn it, he didn’t want to lose her.

  The sound of laughter coming from Chaos’ cell caught his attention. As he moved closer, the laughter grew louder. “What the fuck are you laughing about?”

  “You’ve got no one now.” Chaos continued to laugh.

  “Shut up!” Danny kicked the cell door good and hard, rattling it.

  “Your family doesn’t want you, your kind doesn’t want you, I don’t want you, and now your girl doesn’t want you. What a pathetic excuse of a man you are.”

  “Shut up!” Danny ran at the door, ready to rip it open and beat the living pulp out of Chaos. Then he realized it was exactly what Chaos wanted. He was on to his game now and, this time, Danny was smarter.

  He backed off and took a deep breath.

  “It won’t work this time, Chaos. I won’t let you ruin me a second time.” And everything Starla said to him came full circle. She was right. Why was he keeping Chaos safe when Chaos had done nothing to deserve it?

  “I don’t have to do anything, my boy. You’re doing it all on your own,” Chaos laughed hardily.

  Turning his back, Danny saw the flowers Starla had dropped on the floor. Picking one long stemmed rose up, he held it against his cheek, remembering the smile on Starla’s face when he’d handed them to her. He popped the head off and shoved it in his pocket, then ran from the room. He had to find Starla, and the only way he knew how was to ask for help.

  From the very people he’d turned his back on.

  ***

  Starla drove with tears clouding her eyes and a pain in her heart so great she thought it might do her in. Her knuckles were white with the grip she held the steering wheel with. She sped through the city, heading for the exit, and refused to look back.

  She’d thought Danny had changed, she was sure he’d wanted to end Chaos’ life after finding out the truth, yet he hadn’t. She didn’t understand how he could turn his back on his family and protect a man as evil as Chaos. But now that she knew how to find Chaos, she was going to make sure he paid. Even if it meant Danny would never speak to her again.

  She just couldn’t sit by and let Danny ruin his life.

  She drove out onto the highway, heading for the nearest city where she would take a bus back home. Starla knew she could keep the truck and just drive it all the way home, but it was wrong. The truck didn’t belong to her and since she wasn’t willing to risk looking for her vehicle, she decided just to use the one she had until she got to another city.

  She would leave a note indicating where the vehicle belonged and hopefully someone would return it or look for the owners.

  Sniffling back her tears, Starla knew what she was doing was right. Still, her heart ached for the man she loved.

  Once High Priestess Essema took care of Chaos, Danny would be better off.

  She hoped.

  ***

  His chest aching, Danny slowed his run as he came up to the Digital Domain. He hadn’t stopped once since he’d left the police station, knowing time was crucial in finding Starla. He took a moment to catch his breath before stepping up to the front doors. Trying the doorknob, he found it locked and contemplated breaking in. Deciding against it, he hammered his fists on the door instead, hoping someone would hear him.

  “Dante, Dante, I need to come in. I need help,” he screamed as loud as he could. When the door thrust open and his brother stood on the other side, Danny was reminded of the time in their youth when he’d had snuck out of the house late at night and had thought no one had noticed. Until Dante opened the door as Danny had been about to and scowled at his twin in that all too familiar annoyed look.

  This time however, Dante didn’t have that look on his face. Instead, Danny saw concern.

  “What’s going on? Someone after you?” Dante asked, grabbing Danny by the shirtfront and yanking him inside.

  Dante had always been the protector. “No, no one’s after me. I need help finding Starla. We had a fight, it was stupid, I was stupid, and she left me. I can’t lose her, bro. I’m in love with her.”

  Dante shut the door, hit a few buttons on a keypad by the door, then turned to his brother. “Do you know where she went?”

  “She said she was leaving town. I can’t lose her, Dante.”

  “Where does she live?”

  Danny stood there a moment, trying to think. “I don’t know. She never told me. Damn it.” He punched the wall beside him. Why hadn’t he asked her where she was from? He didn’t even know if she had a middle name and what it was. When was her birthday? What was her favorite color? He knew so little about her. But one thing he did know was that he was in love with her and didn’t want to live the rest of his life without her.

  “Trinity,” he blurted out. “Trinity has all these neat powers now. Maybe she could help me find Starla. Where is she? I need to see Trinity.”

  “Danny, stop.”

  Racing through the shop, Danny came to an abrupt halt when Basil stepped down from the steps.

  “What is the problem?” he asked in a stern, dark voice, his icy blue eyes narrowing in on Danny.

  “I need to see Trinity. She has to help me find Starla.” Precious time was being wasted. “I know where Chaos is,” Danny blurted out. “If Trinity helps me, I’ll tell you where Chaos is.”

  “Why should we trust you?” Basil snarled, blocking the stairway up.

  They had no reason to trust him, Danny knew that. Swallowing, Danny decided in order to get what he needed, he had to give first. “Chaos is at the police station, locked in a cell on the main floor. Now can I see Trinity?” He caught her standing at the top of the stairs and instantly pushed Basil aside and made a run for her. “You have to help me find—whoa…you’re pregnant!”

  Then Basil appeared before him, lifting him off his feet.

  “Its okay, Basil.” Trinity laid her hand on his shoulder and slowly, Basil lowered Danny to his feet. “He’s telling the truth.”

  “You can read my mind?” Danny asked, straightening his shirt out and giving Basil a heated look.

  “When it’s screaming at me, yeah.” She looked over at Basil. “Go, get Chaos. Do what you have to do to stop the darkness.”

  Basil cupped her face in his hands, kissed her once on the lips, then turned to Dante. “Grab the others and let’s roll.”

  “Come with me,” Trinity said to Danny and motioned for him to follow her.

  He did, and as they entered a small apartment he couldn’t stop the questions. “That’s why no one has seen you for months. You’ve been hiding be
cause you’re pregnant?”

  “Do you have anything of your girlfriend’s that I could use to find her?” Trinity asked, avoiding his questions.

  Remembering the flower in his pocket, Danny pulled it out and handed it to Trinity. “This was the last thing she touched. Can you pick her up from this?”

  Trinity took the bud, holding it in her hand. She closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath. “It’s faint.” She drew in another deep breath. “I only get a sense of her. She’s driving…fast…on Highway…Forty-five. Oh—” She buckled over, grabbing her belly and dropped the rose.

  “You okay?”

  Trinity nodded. “Just a twinge.” She looked up at Danny. “If you hurry, you might be able to catch up to her.”

  “Thank you. Thank you so much.” He picked up the rose, ready to tuck it back in his pocket when he thought otherwise. “You should keep this. Maybe you’ll be able to sense her a little more when I’m gone. Do you have a cell phone I could borrow? In case I need more help.”

  “Table.” She winced, then started panting.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  She nodded, then pointed to the door. “Take my car. Keys are by the door. White car in the parking lot.”

  “Thank you,” he said again, then grabbed the keys and ran. He had to find Starla.

  ***

  “We take him out here and now,” Basil stated as he stood before the entrance to the police headquarters. Dante stood at his right and he could feel his energy vibrating inside of him. Dante had a stake in wanting to take Chaos out just as much as Basil did, and Basil knew it was going to be a fight as to who would be the one to actually shove the dagger into Chaos’ heart.

  But Basil also knew he had the advantage. He proved it by vanishing and sending himself into the office area where the cells were kept.

  He instantly knew it to be a mistake.

  Before him were twenty beasts in a variety of shape and form, including vampire and werewolf.

  He heard Dante coming up behind him and before he could tell him to turn around and leave, he was attacked by two vampires. He saw the werewolves protecting Chaos and before the vamps could approach him, he vanished and reappeared in front of Chaos.