Awaken the Darkness

by Dianne Duvall

  Stanislav nudged her aside and stepped out after her, closing the door behind them.

  Not even the light from inside reached them now.

  The abrupt shift from light to darkness blinded her. She heard a board creak as Alexei descended the wooden steps. How does he see so well in the dark?

  Stanislav led her forward. This may just be a little getaway place for him, but Alexei leaves nothing to chance. The first thing he would’ve done upon buying the house would be to memorize where everything is and learn to negotiate the place in complete darkness. He does it everywhere we live.

  Wow. Talk about being dedicated to his job. Why doesn’t he use night vision goggles?

  House lights and streetlights can hamper them. Fog, rain, and smoke can, too.

  And she’d seen a lot of fog since moving to the country.

  Careful, he warned. There are five steps here.

  She descended the steps without incident. The ground did indeed slope sharply away from the house in back. Her steps weren’t nearly as sure as the men’s while they followed the line of the back deck for a bit.

  Duck your head, Stanislav said. He cupped the top of her head with one large hand and protected it while she ducked under the deck.

  Her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness enough to make out shapes with the moon’s aid. From here, she would be able to see any men who crept around the back of the house. But those men wouldn’t be able to see her in the shadows.

  Stanislav whispered an epithet. “A second vehicle is on the way. I can’t tell how many men it carries. While I’m under here, I can only hear it, not smell it.”

  The first car arrived. Susan guessed the driver had bypassed the driveway and driven up onto the front lawn, shining its headlights directly on the house, because the meadows on both sides brightened a bit.

  The backyard, however, remained pitch-black.

  Stanislav pressed a kiss to her forehead. Stay safe. Seconds later, he slipped away. He made no sound when he did. Nevertheless, she knew he no longer stood beside her.

  Metal clunked as car doors opened out front. Boots crunched on gravel.

  Alexei touched her arm. Are you reading my mind?

  Yes.

  Stan is going to circle around and come up behind them.

  How do you know? Are you telepathic, too?

  No. I’ve just been with him a long time and know how he operates. I’m going to move over to this corner of the house. I want you to keep an eye on the other one and let me know if you catch any movement.

  Okay.

  “Hey, Jeff!” a man called somewhere out front. “You in there?” He was one of the two who feared their friends were dead but hoped he was wrong.

  “Way to let ’em know we’re here, dipshit,” another muttered. This one thought their friends had betrayed them, wanting a bigger piece of the pie. Which was why he had opted to come at night. He had wanted to take them by surprise, assuming they would be preoccupied with the vampire.

  The first man snorted. “If the package is what Brian says it is, then it heard us coming long before we— Umph!”

  “Oh shit!”

  Gunfire erupted.

  Cries of pain split the night.

  Alexei peered around the corner of the house, then took aim. His bullets made almost no sound when he fired.

  Susan kept her eyes trained on the opposite corner, hoping like crazy that no one would move into sight. Just in case though, she raised the 9mm in her right hand—supporting it with her left—and aimed it at chest level.

  The front door of the house slammed open. Thuds sounded overhead. Crashes followed. Then a body burst through the back door.

  Susan looked up. Oh shit. One of the men stood directly above her. Before she could redirect her aim, the man jerked and grunted several times to the accompaniment of soft thwits. Spinning around, she found Alexei firing up at him through the deck. The man’s weapon hit the wooden deck with a clatter, then his body fell hard.

  Dust sprinkled down onto Susan’s face, grit landing in her eyes.

  Stepping back, she rubbed them furiously with one hand and kept her other on the grip of the 9mm. As soon as she could open her eyes without tearing up, she saw Alexei returning to his corner and looked to the side she was supposed to be watching.

  A man backed into view, his semiautomatic rifle barking bullets aimed at the front of the house.

  Susan didn’t hesitate. Raising her 9mm, she pulled the trigger.

  Blood spurted from the man’s thigh.

  Crying out, he ceased firing as his leg buckled, landing him on his ass. He gripped his leg, spewing curses. Fuckers! Rolling onto his side, he squinted at the back deck. How many are there? I can’t see them! Where are they? More curses colored the rest of his thoughts until he pinned his gaze on Alexei, unable to find Susan in the shadows. There.

  She glanced over her shoulder.

  Alexei was turned away, firing toward the front of the house.

  Heads up, she warned him mentally.

  Ducking back into the shadows, Alexei swung around and fired all in one motion.

  Susan’s jaw dropped as blood spurted from the attacker’s right shoulder.

  How the hell did he do that?

  Lots of practice, Alexei thought to her. Stay sharp.

  The downed man swore and gripped his injured shoulder.

  Susan divided her attention between keeping an eye on the moaning man and watching for others to come around the corner.

  As the man clumsily reached for his gun with his left hand, she tensed.

  Crap. I’m going to have to kill him.

  A blurry form shot past.

  A deep gash opened on the man’s neck from one side to the other, spilling a stunning amount of blood. Eyes wide, he clamped his left hand to the gaping wound and slumped back, his gun forgotten.

  The blurred form slowed to a stop. Stanislav turned glowing eyes upon her, the shoto sword he held glinting crimson. “Susan?”

  She swallowed. “I’m all right.”

  Bright light splashed him as a second car arrived and hit him with the high beams.

  Blinded, Stanislav threw up his free hand to shade his glowing eyes.

  Blood spurted from his chest as multiple shots echoed in the night.

  Susan’s heart stopped. “No!”

  Alexei swore and took off around the far corner, heading toward the front of the house. Stay under the deck!

  Stanislav stumbled backward beneath the unceasing volley of bullets and dropped his sword.

  Stan! Ducking out from under the deck, Susan aimed her weapon at the corner of the house and raced toward him. As soon as the headlights touched her, she opened fire.

  Damn it! Alexei fired at the same time from somewhere out front. I told you to stay under the fucking deck!

  Still privy to his thoughts, Susan ignored him and just kept firing.

  The attackers ducked for cover, their guns going silent.

  Stanislav staggered back a last step as the barrage stopped. Blood poured from his lips to coat his chin as he leaned forward and tried to catch his breath.

  Squinting against the bright light, Susan shifted her aim to the open driver’s door she thought one or more of the men hid behind and finished emptying her magazine.

  A man cried out. Then a second.

  Ejecting the empty mag, she slid another from her pocket and inserted it just before she reached Stanislav.

  He shook his head. Get back under the—

  Gunshots rang out. Something struck her hard.

  Pain erupted in her chest and raced down her right arm. Her fingers went numb. The 9mm tumbled from her grasp. Her knees weakened.

  “Susan!” Stanislav leapt forward and caught her before she could fall.

  Alexei continued firing.

  Another attacker cried out.

  Susan fought to draw in breath as Stanislav clutched her to him and muttered something in Russian.

  A figure appeared a fe
w feet away in the headlights, a dark silhouette standing between them and the shooters. He just… appeared… out of thin air.

  As the pain in her chest multiplied, Susan stared at him. He had to be at least six feet eight inches tall and had obsidian hair pulled into a ponytail that fell down the back of his long, black coat, all the way to his hips.

  Stanislav’s jagged breath sawed in and out through blood-coated lips as he clutched her to his chest and limped toward the back deck. “Seth!” he called.

  Gasping, the man spun around. His eyes widened, then flashed a brilliant gold.

  Bullets struck the newcomer in the back as the remaining attackers resumed fire.

  Thunder split the night, as loud as a bomb detonating overhead.

  Susan jumped, then moaned at the pain the sharp movement spawned.

  Lightning streaked across the sky like skeletal fingers, clawing through rapidly gathering clouds as she watched with wide eyes.

  His face darkening with fury, the mystery man vanished.

  He didn’t move away in a blur of speed like Stanislav. He vanished.

  Screams erupted.

  Alexei’s gun quieted. So did the weapons of their attackers.

  Garbled cries of fear and pain accompanied thuds.

  Susan closed her eyes and clung to Stanislav with her good arm, not knowing how the two of them remained upright. His shirt was saturated with warm blood. Hers was, too. His breath wheezed in and out of lungs that were clearly damaged. She had difficulty drawing in any air at all. Every movement felt like someone had packed her wound with shards of glass. Her head began to spin. Cold suffused her. Her legs weakened, refusing to support her.

  But Stanislav didn’t let her fall. Stay with me, sweetheart. His hands fisted in the back of her shirt. I know it hurts, but stay with me. It’ll be okay. He buried his face in her hair. I promise it’ll be okay. Just stay with me.

  The tall mystery man abruptly reappeared beside them.

  Susan jumped, then moaned again.

  Stanislav lifted his head.

  The mystery man stared at him as though he were seeing a ghost while ominous clouds continued to gather overhead.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Stanislav met Seth’s tortured gaze as lightning flashed and raindrops began to fall with a pitter-patter that swiftly coalesced into a downpour, a reflection of the intense emotion buffeting the powerful Immortal Guardians’ leader.

  “Stanislav,” Seth whispered, his handsome face tight with emotion. “I thought you were dead.” Moisture glistened in his eyes as he shook his head. “I reached out to you so many times but couldn’t feel you. Not until tonight.”

  Clenching his teeth against the pain, Stanislav nodded. He didn’t think he would be able to remain upright much longer. He wanted to tell Seth he’d explain everything later but had difficulty finding his voice. Tightening his hold on Susan, he choked out, “D-Don’t let me drop her.”

  “Of course.” Leaping forward, Seth gently took Susan from him and lifted her into his arms.

  Susan cast Stanislav a frantic look. He knew she couldn’t read Seth’s mind to tell if he was friend or foe. Seth was far too powerful.

  And Stanislav was too damned weak to suppress her fear.

  Limping forward, he brushed a bloody hand over her hair and wheezed, “It’s okay… I trust him… with my life.”

  Alexei jogged around the far corner and approached them, his boots splashing in the water that rapidly pooled on the lawn and rolled downhill. Blinking against the large drops, he faced Stanislav. “All of them are down. Three dead. Six unconscious.” He smiled up at Seth. “You showed up just in time.”

  Seth nodded to Stanislav. “Help him inside.”

  Alexei looped his rifle strap over his shoulder and moved forward to offer his support.

  Stanislav leaned heavily on his friend as he watched Seth carry Susan up the steps, across the deck, and through the back door, which the body of one of their attackers propped open.

  Alexei cursed as he took in the wounds that decorated Stanislav’s torso. “I can’t remember the last time I saw you with so many wounds. You’re off your game.”

  Stanislav laughed, then grunted as pain knifed through his chest. “Yeah. A little bit.”

  Once inside, they found Seth kneeling beside the sofa.

  Susan lay on it, her eyes wide as she looked from Seth to the large hand he rested upon her chest. That hand acquired a golden glow as Seth healed her wound.

  Her breathing grew smoother. The lines of pain in her face receded. Some color returned to her pallid features. Her teeth even stopped chattering as the elder immortal flooded her with warmth and banished the cold produced by autumn temperatures and the sudden rain.

  As if on cue, a fire roared to life in the fireplace.

  Seth withdrew his touch. His hand ceased glowing.

  Susan tentatively tucked bloody fingers into the neckline of her shirt and lifted it a few inches. Tilting her chin down, she eyed the flesh that should have borne an ugly bullet wound but now was completely healed.

  Her lips parted as she released the shirt and looked at Stanislav. “That’s amazing.”

  He mustered what he hoped was a smile rather than a grimace. “Susan, this is Seth… the eldest and most… powerful amongst us.”

  Seth rose and crossed to him.

  Stanislav transferred the smile to his friend and leader. “I’m afraid I’m too… weary to explain it all. Just… read it in my mind.”

  Seth gripped Stanislav’s shoulder, his fingers squeezing and releasing as though he needed to confirm again and again what his eyes told him. Placing his free hand on Stanislav’s bloody chest, Seth met his gaze.

  A soothing heat infused him. Stanislav hadn’t realized until then that his whole body trembled from the cold.

  The many bullet holes that marred his form began to heal, spitting out any projectiles that hadn’t passed through him, the ragged flesh weaving itself back together.

  “You were weakened before the battle even began,” Seth pronounced hoarsely. “You should have called me.”

  The muscles in Stanislav’s shoulders relaxed as breathing grew easy again and the pain dwindled to nothing. “I didn’t remember you until minutes before the attack. I didn’t remember any of my past.”

  As soon as he finished healing all of Stanislav’s wounds, Seth dragged him into a tight hug. His emotions flowed into Stanislav: joy, grief, guilt, and half a dozen others.

  Stanislav tightened his hold, regret filling him over the turmoil his absence had caused.

  “We lost Yuri,” Seth choked out.

  Stanislav nodded, unable to speak past the lump in his throat.

  “I thought I’d lost you, too,” Seth uttered. Shame and self-loathing entered the mass of emotions writhing within the powerful leader. “I failed you both.”

  “No,” Stanislav insisted, “you didn’t.” Glancing over Seth’s shoulder, he saw Susan sit up on the sofa. Compassion softened her blood-spattered features as she watched them.

  Drawing in a deep breath, he loosened his hold and stepped back. “Why couldn’t I remember you?” He doubted Seth had wasted any time combing through his memories to discover where the hell Stanislav had been for the past two and a half years. “Was it brain damage caused by the explosion?”

  “No.” When Seth’s voice once more emerged hoarse, he cleared his throat and tried again. “No. It was a consequence of the stasis.” He drew a hand down his face, erasing the tears that mingled with the rain on his cheeks. “Even I’m not clear on how the odd state of hibernation immortals can slip into affects the various portions of the brain. But I have learned over the millennia that the longer an immortal remains in stasis, the more likely he is to forget his past. It all depends on how long he sleeps. Sometimes the memory loss is partial. Sometimes it’s total. Or near total, as it was with you.”

  Stanislav nodded. “I remembered what a gifted one was, but not what an immortal was. I remembe
red how to shield my thoughts from telepaths but couldn’t remember any telepaths. And I kept seeing flashes of the battle.”

  “It has been centuries since an immortal remained in stasis longer than a day or two,” Seth said. “Such has rarely happened since I began assigning you all Seconds to watch over you and keep track of you. But thus far, the memory loss has never been permanent, even for those who slept longer than you. With more blood infusions, you would’ve regained your memory faster.”

  Alexei spoke up. “Is the stasis the reason you couldn’t feel him? Couldn’t locate him?”

  “Yes. Until the immortal heals and regains his memory, he remains off my radar, so to speak. I don’t know why.”

  Stanislav inched closer to Susan, needing to be near her. He had come damned close to losing her tonight. If any of those bullets had struck her in the head…

  Seth was an exceptionally powerful healer, but he couldn’t resurrect the dead.

  Reaching out, he took her hand. She started to rise but reeled dizzily and sank back down. Her heart beat quickly in her chest. Her skin, though free of wounds now, remained paler than usual. He cast Seth a look of concern. “Is she okay?”

  Alexei spoke before Seth could. “She needs a transfusion. You do, too, Stan.”

  Seth nodded. “Forgive me. We will see to it now. Do you wish to go to David’s place or to the Network?”

  Both had infirmaries, but Stanislav would much rather go to David’s home.

  David—the second eldest and most powerful Immortal Guardian—always opened his doors to immortals and those who served them. Stanislav and Yuri had lived there ever since their transfer from New York. But even if his things had been removed, there would no doubt be a room available for them.

  “David’s.” Stanislav bent over the sofa.

  Seth touched his shoulder. “Let me.”

  Stanislav stubbornly shook his head. “I’ll do it.” He didn’t care how weak he was, he would carry Susan himself now that his wounds were healed.

  Susan’s emotions flowed into him as she reached for him.

  He smiled and lifted her into his arms. She needed his touch as much as he needed hers. The events of the night and nearly losing him had shaken her.