Between Darkness & Light

by Theresa Van Spankeren

  I shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about him.”

  Jeffrey looked at me. “What are Kali and Samuel discussing?”

  “I have no idea. All I know is that she said she wanted to talk to him tonight.”

  Jeffrey sighed and leaned into the hall. “Samuel, hurry it up! I’m getting hungry!”

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Samuel called from his room.

  “Don’t be too long!”

  “Matthew, maybe you should have taken Christina’s offer,” Mary Anne said as we waited.

  He shook his head. “They don’t trust Julia and she doesn’t trust them. This is better.”

  She looked at me in surprise. “Is that why you didn’t come last night?”

  I nodded. “I would have to worry about more than Amita or the Hunters if I went with them.”

  She sighed. “There are only four of you going tonight. I should come too.”

  Matthew shook his head. “No. Someone has to keep an eye on our guests with Kali and Stephen in the house.” She frowned, but nodded and headed into the kitchen. Samuel rejoined the rest of us fifteen minutes later.

  “Well, it’s about time. We’re hungry. You slept over half the night away,” Jeffrey said.

  Samuel shook his head. “Are you coming too, Matthew? I thought you went last night.”

  “Yes. I didn’t feed last night. Besides, an extra person can’t hurt.”

  “Let’s go before it gets any later,” Samuel said.

  “That isn’t our fault,” Jeffrey grumbled as we left the villa. “It was you who slept half the night.”

  Samuel made a face as we walked toward the center of the city. As we passed a smaller road, he turned onto it. A few minutes later he veered into an alley. I shared a concerned look with the other two and followed. We all had smelled blood.

  “Samuel, what is it?” I whispered.

  “Come and look,” he said.

  Matthew and I exchanged looks. “Do I really want to know?” he asked.

  “Do not be a coward,” I hissed and headed toward Samuel.

  “Look who’s talking, She Who Can’t Sleep,” Matthew shot back as they followed.

  “You’re just cranky,” I replied as I knelt beside Samuel. A body of one of the Hunters who had attacked us lay a foot away. His throat looked as if it had been slashed, but oddly there was only a small pool of blood around the Hunter’s neck. A vampire did this? Most vampires who killed didn’t bother attempting to conceal it.

  “How long do you think he’s been dead?”

  “A day at most,” Samuel replied. “Looks like Lane had dinner.”

  “Most humans will see the blood around his neck and assume the blade killed him.” I paused thoughtfully. “That’s a useful trick . . . slashing the throat and leaving some blood to disguise the fact that it was a vampire attack. He knows how to cover his tracks very well.”

  “He has to,” Samuel answered. He got back to his feet. “If Lane only knew he was teaching my fledgling something,” he said under his breath.

  “I heard that,” I said.

  Samuel shrugged. “Well, it’s the truth.”

  “Why didn’t you ever show me that?” I asked, exasperated.

  “I never thought of it. We rarely kill. We usually conceal our bites by healing them, so I never considered this as an alternative.”

  “Does this mean Samuel isn’t the Great One after all? Lane is?” Matthew asked.

  Jeffrey and I laughed as Samuel rolled his eyes. “I never said I was great, Matthew.”

  Matthew smirked and looked at Jeffrey. “I bet I’ll find dinner before you.”

  “You want to make that bet?”

  “I’ll race you back to the main road.”

  “You’re on.” They bolted back the way we came.

  “Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell who the youngsters are,” Samuel muttered under his breath. “Let’s go. They’re probably halfway there by now.”

  I nodded and we walked at a pace much slower than the one they took off at. When we caught up with them, Jeffrey was feeding from an older woman and Matthew was scowling a few feet away. “That was supposed to be my dinner,” he growled.

  Jeffrey answered. After he fed, we continued toward a couple of taverns to find meals for the rest of us. Since it was so late, there were very few people still about. As we walked, Matthew shoved Jeffrey in the back. He spun and knocked him to the ground. They rolled around, punching each other. It seemed serious when it started, but soon I heard laughter mixed in with the curses.

  I stood watching, then glanced at Samuel. I hadn’t seen the two tussle like this since Matthew had left us. It amused me, reminding me of days of old when they would occasionally have a brotherly fistfight.

  “That’s enough!” Samuel finally intervened and yanked them apart.

  “He took my meal!” Matthew protested.

  “I was quicker. Your loss!”

  “Good grief,” Samuel said. “We’ll find some dinner if you two will stop behaving like children!”

  I doubled over with laughter. “Don’t scold them too much. I think it’s cute when they act like five- year-olds.”

  “Cute? We aren’t cute,” Matthew said.

  “Bicker, bicker. I never knew your group quarreled so much, Samuel.” I gasped and spun around. Gregory stood at the edge of the street, his eyes filled with murderous rage. “It’s not very appreciated – you sending your new friend out to attack us, Juliana.”

  I took a stumbling step back toward Samuel. Within seconds, he was between Gregory and me. “Leave her alone, you bastard. You’ve done more than enough to her,” Samuel hissed. “Matthew, get Julia out of here.”

  As I glanced at Matthew, I saw people turning onto the street from the other direction. Remembering the Hunter’s body we saw earlier, I realized that Lane’s encounter with them might have been tonight. “I would love to, Samuel, but seven Hunters have us surrounded.”

  Gregory stepped closer. “Why should she leave? Such beauty . . . hair the color of fire, creamy white skin . . . and it was all mine before it was ever yours. I only want what’s mine, Samuel.”

  Samuel stiffened. I saw it even though his back was to me. “She is not yours, Gregory. She’s not anyone’s. Julia has always been her own person.”

  “Juliana, darling,” Gregory said pleasantly. I flinched at his words. “Where’s the little girl you were with the other night? The one that looks similar to Marie?”

  “Damn you! Don’t you dare hurt her!” I screamed. Doesn’t that plea sound familiar, I thought bitterly. I felt Matthew’s hand tight on my shoulder.

  He smiled. “Of course, if you go with me, I’ll leave her alone. I miss touching you, Juliana, holding you.” He looked at Samuel. “I miss sharing the bed with you most of all,” he said with a sneer.

  I let out a strangled cry as Samuel lunged at him. He threw him to the ground and the other Hunters closed in on us. Matthew tightened his grip on my shoulder almost painfully. “Stay close, Julia,” he instructed. His touch brought me out of my daze and I ducked as a Hunter swung a sword at me.

  Matthew stepped away as Donna swung a quarterstaff at him. “You burned my brother!” she screamed.

  “You don’t think it’s strange that your brother is answering to a different name?” Matthew questioned as he blocked her attack. The woman didn’t answer, but swung again, hitting him in the face. “I think you’re both insane,” he muttered as he spit out blood.

  Two of the Hunters tackled me. I punched one in the face and kicked the other in the stomach. “I want her alive!” Gregory yelled. I had almost made it to my feet when the first Hunter recovered and kicked me in the face.

  “She is weak, Stefan,” he commented.

  I hissed and knocked into him, slamming him into the ground. I glanced toward my left and saw Jeffrey struggling against three more Hunters. I got to my feet again at the same time the two Hunters I was fighting did. I kicked out the knee o
f the second man. He had stayed down the longest the first time, so he was the easier target to dispatch. He fell and I stepped on his knee, crushing it. He screamed in pain. I tore out his throat, savoring the small amount of nourishment I got as I did it.

  Straight ahead of me were Samuel and Gregory, fighting viciously. They were snarling in a mix of English and Italian. Samuel hit Gregory across the face and slashed at him with a dagger he pulled out.

  I spun and knocked a short sword out of my opponent’s hand. “How dare you try to stab me!” I snarled and backhanded him across the face.

  I caught sight of Matthew on my right. He hit Donna in the stomach and made a grab for her staff. “That’s a very dangerous weapon,” he scolded and yanked back on it. Donna resisted a second then suddenly went slack as Matthew jerked back again. He tripped and fell flat on his stomach, losing his grip on her weapon. She swung the staff down. Matthew rolled out of the way. “Oh no, you don’t. I did not survive three weeks as Valentino’s prisoner to be killed by the likes of you!”

  The Hunter punched and shoved me closer to Samuel and Gregory. I retaliated by slamming my elbow into his ribs. He gasped and stumbled back. “You little bitch. I’m going to get you for that,” he wheezed.

  “Go ahead and try, you scoundrel,” I replied. I glanced toward Jeffrey in time to see him snap one of the Hunter’s necks. The man I was fighting lunged at me again and I reached for his neck. Before I grasped it, someone grabbed me from behind, pinning my arms. I struggled, trying to twist free.

  I glimpsed Jeffrey crumpled on the ground. It was one of his other attackers who held me. I kicked back at him. The Hunter blocked, then plunged a knife into the back of my left knee. It went straight through my kneecap. Pain sliced through me. I screamed as my leg buckled and gave out. My attacker let go that same instant and I fell forward. I hit the ground, the blade in my knee bending, ripping downward with the fall. The pain was so excruciating everything went black with the intensity of it.

  Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how one wants to view it, I came to within seconds, a minute at most. My original foe was now helping fight Matthew, and the bastard who had put this blade in my knee was approaching Samuel from the rear. He was still fighting Gregory.

  I warned as I tried to reach the knife that was in me. Even that slight movement caused agonizing pain and I stopped, afraid of blacking out.

  Samuel whirled around, knocking a stake from the Hunter’s hands. He grabbed him by the throat with a snarl. Before Samuel could fling him away, Gregory swung a long dagger and drove it into his upper back. Samuel let out a harsh cry of pain and went down, taking the other Hunter down with him.

  Ignoring him, Gregory walked toward me, a cold confidence in his stride. “Isn’t that painful Juliana? Surely, I can help that.”

  “Do not touch me, you Goddamn murderer,” I hissed. “Why don’t you go back to hell where you belong?”

  He seemed to think a second. “Been there, done that. I figured this time you can join me there. Either that or I kill that brat you have become so fond of.”

  Terror and disgust filled me as he reached down to touch me. For a split second, I seized the new power I had discovered, but let it go when I remembered how weak it could make me. I hadn’t had a chance to feed before we were attacked. If I didn’t use it correctly, it would leave me helpless against him.

  Instead, I drew upon the ka-tet’s power and unleashed it. The force slammed him into the building closest to me. “Child killer!” I screamed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone grab the Hunter that had teamed up against Matthew.

  Gregory slowly got to his feet. “Impressive, Juliana. You finally hit me. I doubt you will do it a second time.”

  “Leave her alone.”

  I recognized the voice. He only said three words, but they changed everything. The confidence on Gregory’s face vanished and in its place was rage . . . and fear. “Why can’t you stay out of this? We have no quarrel with you!” he yelled.

  “Stefan, we can’t fight him and the fire setter. Let’s go,” Donna shouted. They fled with the other Hunter.

  I heard cursing from my right. “Matthew?” I asked, trying again to reach the knife in my knee. I grabbed it, but the blade was twisted and would not come out. I aborted the attempt to pull it out as pain again tore through me. “Ow! Damn, that hurts!” I clenched my eyes shut. My attempts at removing the cursed blade only brought searing agony.

  Someone knelt beside me. “That must be uncomfortable.”

  I opened my eyes and saw Lane. “Very,” I managed to say.

  “I never thought I would say this – but Lane, I’m happy to see you,” Matthew said. We glanced toward him and saw him kneeling beside Samuel. He held his doublet to the wound on Samuel’s back.

  Lane looked back down at me. “Can you please get this out?” I asked.

  “Yes.” He grasped the handle, but hesitated and said, “I can make it painless if you want.”

  I knew he was referring to his ability to hypnotize others of our kind. Many vampires, including my own ka-tet, feared that power. I looked at him and nodded, meeting his gray eyes without fear. I trusted him more than I trusted half the people at our villa right now. As I stared, the sounds around me became muffled, the throbbing in the injured knee felt distant, and then everything faded to darkness.

  Chapter 19

  When I came to, I realized immediately that I wasn’t on the road where the attack occurred – there was a hard wood floor beneath me. Must be in an abandoned building, I thought.

  I wondered if Matthew moved both Samuel and me alone or if Lane stuck around to help. If it had only been Matthew, it was a miracle we weren’t dead because with our luck the Hunters would have doubled back or Amita’s group would have found us and attacked. At least I was pretty sure Samuel had been unconscious before I blacked out or he would have said something.

  “Matthew?”

  “I’m here, Julia.”

  I struggled upright. I looked first at my left leg and saw the knee had been bandaged with pieces of cloth. I then looked up in the direction of Matthew’s voice. He sat on the floor in the middle of the room. Samuel lay a couple of feet to my left. “Did you bring us here by yourself?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No, I had help,” he replied and looked toward the far left corner of the room. I followed his gaze and saw Lane propped against the wall, blending in with the shadows.

  I smiled and tried to move my leg a bit. I groaned. “That hurt.”

  Matthew rolled his eyes. “Why do you always try to move the injured part, Julia? Your knee was torn up. It’ll take a while before you can stand on it.”

  “It’s always worth a try,” I said. “How long have we been here?”

  “Almost an hour,” Matthew answered.

  “Has Samuel been unconscious the entire time?”

  Matthew nodded. “Yes. He –”

  “He lost a lot more blood than you did,” Lane said abruptly.

  I looked toward him, surprised he was still here. I had to smile to myself. Matthew and Lane sitting here for an hour, being the only ones awake? That had to be awkward. I knew he appreciated Lane’s help, but he was still wary of him as well.

  “Stefan . . . I mean Gregory.” Matthew stopped and scowled. “Seriously, what am I supposed to call him now?” Shrugging, he continued, “The bastard sank the blade in deep, but Samuel should be all right.” He glanced at Lane, then back at me.

  I nodded and said,

  He still looked a little concerned, but said,

  Lane asked, “What power did you use to send that Hunter flying into the building?”

  “The ka-tet.”

  He studied me, then said quietly, “I am surprised you agreed to be hypnotized.”

  Ignoring Matthew’s shocked look, I smiled and replied,
“Your offer was too tempting to pass up. Why would I want to suffer extra pain?”

  Lane seemed perplexed by my answer and we lapsed into silence. I replayed Gregory’s latest threat. “Either that or I kill that brat you have become so fond of.” The memory of holding Marie, her blood soaking the cream dress, the lifeless stare of her dark blue eyes, flooded my mind. I whimpered her name as I thought of Kali in my daughter’s place. I doubled over groaning, actually feeling physically sick.

  “Is she all right?” Lane asked, sounding concerned.

  Matthew made a noncommittal sound, crawled over, and knelt beside me. His hand on my forehead felt cool and comforting. “It’s all right, Julia. He’s not going to hurt her. He’s just trying to scare you.”

  I opened my eyes and stared at him. I’d been down this road before. I only hoped I could avoid making the same mistake I did almost a century ago. “Trust me, Gregory never makes idle threats,” I whispered.

  “I know. We’ll stop him. He’s not going to hurt her,” Matthew replied.

  With a sigh, I sat back up. Matthew squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. I wanted to believe him, I truly did, but I couldn’t shake the doubt that had settled into my mind.

  Samuel groaned. “I’m really starting to hate that man,” he muttered.

  We looked toward him. “Gee, I wonder why, Samuel. He only put a knife in your back,” Matthew said.

  Samuel grimaced as he sat up. “Are you two all right?”

  I took a few slow breaths. “I think so. Samuel, Jeffrey . . .” I started.

  “I know,” he said. The three of us stared at each other for a long moment. The sadness, regret, and anger in their expressions mirrored my own emotions. We were all in silent agreement. Those Hunters were going down.

  Matthew suddenly looked back at the far left corner of the room again. “Thanks for the help,” he said.

  Lane nodded. Samuel looked stunned. His gaze swept over Matthew and me, lingered at my knee a moment. He looked back at Lane. “You stayed with us?” He nodded again. Another emotion flickered in Samuel’s eyes but I couldn’t decipher it. “When’s dawn?” he questioned.