Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 05]

by Tempting the Darkness (epub)

  Well, he had, hadn’t he? The hard way.

  Working late one night on his research, a gang of hoodlums led by Chaos had invaded the hospital where he’d worked, and he’d been taken hostage and brought to Avadur. His life had taken on a drastic change that very day.

  “Make him better.”

  Cooper had been shoved hard into a room that smelled of fresh blood and festering flesh. As the light came on, he saw the man on the bed. Having seen plenty of injuries in his day should have prepared him for what he saw then, yet it hadn’t. On a bed covered in some sort of gray fluid was a huge man, moaning in pain, his body riddled with wounds like nothing Cooper had seen before.

  He had turned to the men who had captured him and held up his hands. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to help him.”

  “Well you’d better figure out a way if you want to keep breathing.”

  He’d been forced to tend to Avadur’s wounds, which he’d sustained in a battle that nearly took his life. He’d had gouges taken from his body, huge gaping wounds and several internal injuries. He’d had no idea how to heal a vampire but did his best to tend to Avadur.

  Cooper’s mistake had been to save him.

  Another mistake had been to believe him.

  Avadur had promised that if Cooper remained at his side, as his physician, he would leave Cooper’s father unharmed. Not that he’d had much of a choice staying as he’d been locked up most of the time.

  It wasn’t until months later during a horrendous bout of humiliating torture that Cooper learned the truth.

  “Your father served me well in both nourishment and in sex, but his sweetness is nothing compared to yours.” He’d penetrated Cooper, tearing him up not only physically, but emotionally as well.

  If it hadn’t been for his need to protect Basil, Cooper might have very well succumbed to the horror. Basil was his saving grace, his light at the end of a very tempting dark tunnel. He made it his life’s work to protect Basil from that day on, and he had.

  But the darkness had always been inside of him, threatening to creep in.

  Until he’d met Gabriella.

  She loved him for who he was, cared for him as only a lover could. He’d worried that he may not be able to satisfy her sexually, hadn’t even had any sexual encounter since leaving Avadur, but she had been so kind to him, so gentle, and had shown him a world filled with beauty.

  He wished now that she was with him to soothe him once more.

  Maybe there was a way she could be with him, that all of this pain could be forgotten. Though he had vowed never to use his powers of mind control on her, perhaps this time it would be all right. She was in pain without him; he was in pain without her. He could very easily use his mind control to convince her that she had asked him to turn her. It wouldn’t take much, a simple persuasive thought to penetrate the negative and erase the pain that separated them.

  He could just as easily do the same for Basil.

  All he would have to do is put them both into a sedative sleep, then slip into their minds and rework their memories. Everything would then be as it was supposed to be.

  The knock on his door startled him and he was curious who it would be paying him a visit. His hopes rose as he ran to the door, but were dashed when he saw it was Trinity and not Gabriella.

  “Hey. You busy?”

  “Never for you. Please, come in.” He stepped aside to allow her in, then closed the door. “Is everything all right?”

  “Everything is fine…well, as fine as it can be. How are you doing?”

  He held the chair for her and they both sat at the kitchen table. “I’m holding up as well as expected. Any word on finding Felicity?”

  She toyed with the lace place mat on the table. “Starla has a spell that we’re going to try. It’s complicated but, to put it plainly, I’m going to try to grab Rajana and convince her to tell me where she’s keeping Felicity.”

  “Sounds dangerous.”

  Her eyes met his and he saw the sadness deep inside the pool of blue green. “It has some negative points and that’s kinda why I’m here.”

  “Oh?”

  “I want you there when I do the spell, and before you say anything, I know Basil doesn’t want you around him right now. But if something goes wrong, he is going to need you to ground him.”

  “He doesn’t need me for anything any longer.” It saddened him to say so but it was the truth.

  “He does need you and that is why what you did to him hurts so much. He’ll probably kill me for telling you this but…well, I can take him on.” She smiled lightly, then continued. “I don’t believe it’s the lies as much as what you did to him by using mind control on him that hurts. When you controlled his mind, he felt like he was back with his father and we both know how much he hates his father for what he did to him.”

  Cooper did and simply nodded, letting Trinity continue.

  “When you controlled his mind…he told me that it was exactly what his father once did to control him. He felt safe with you, Cooper, but when you did that, you broke his trust. He’s having a hard time getting past that.”

  Cooper lowered his head, his earlier thoughts shaming him. He hadn’t thought about what controlling Basil’s mind would do to him and he knew that if he followed through with his plan to wipe his memories clean, it would only break that trust even more. Severing it forever, if Basil ever found out the truth.

  He couldn’t risk losing him forever.

  “Thank you for telling me that.”

  “I like you, Cooper. Since I met Basil, you have been nothing but kind to me. I’ve come to think of you as family. I hate seeing you hurt like this, and I especially hate seeing Basil hurting. You need to work this out with him. He needs you in his life. Especially if I don’t come back.”

  “What do you mean by that?” She worried him now.

  She plucked at the placemat, her nervousness was very evident. “One of the risks in performing this spell is that Rajana could control my mind and pull me back into her realm. I’m damn determined to fight her, but there still is a chance I may lose. If I do, I need to know you will help Basil move on, protect him and save him from anything stupid he might try.”

  “Like getting you back?”

  She shrugged. “I know he’ll try. I expect him to try, but it’s the means he goes to in order to get me back that worry me.”

  “The Dark Mystics.”

  She nodded. “I do not want him going to them and giving himself to them in order to save me. I trust you, Cooper, to stop him if he tries.”

  “With my life,” he vowed.

  “That’s what I figured. Thank you.”

  “I care for you as well, Trinity. I never wanted anyone hurt. I know the pain I feel without my love, without Basil, but it must be miniscule compared to the pain you are feeling at the loss of your precious daughter. Anything I can do to help you get her back, I will. You have just to ask.”

  Her smile warmed her sad face and gave him a glimpse of the woman he once knew. Before tragedy befell her. “Thanks. And since you brought that up. Gabriella needs you.”

  His entire face must have lit up because she held up one finger and stopped him before he could respond.

  “She needs the man she thought she married. The man she trusted, who loved her beyond life. She needs to be reminded that he is still there, inside of you.”

  “I would give my life for her.”

  “I have no doubt. Show her that, show her how much you love her. Don’t demand she return, don’t force her. Convince her you are still the same man she fell in love with.” Trinity pushed up from her seat. “If that doesn’t work, whisk her off her feet and take her away someplace warm and away from this cold darkness.”

  He sat at his table, alone, after she left and k
new exactly what had to be done.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Gabriella was feeling a little hungry and decided to sneak down into the kitchen to look for something to eat. When she found Basil sitting at the tiny table, in the dark, she instantly turned around, not wanting to disturb his obvious need for alone time.

  “Was there something you needed?”

  She paused and cautiously turned around to speak to him. “Nothing that can’t wait.”

  “There’s no need for you to wait. I was only…well…moping I guess.” He stood up and flicked the overhead light on. “Were you hungry? Do you need some blood?”

  “I didn’t want to disturb you.”

  He shrugged, then pulled out a chair for her. “It was a good thing you did or I might have given in to my thought to drown my sorrows in a bottle of scotch. I’m afraid there isn’t much left in the refrigerator. I’ve sent some of my men to the nearest city to grab some groceries. I think there might still be some apple pie leftover.”

  “There’s no need to bother. I wasn’t that hungry anyway.”

  “It’s not a bother and I could use a thick slice of pie myself.”

  The charm he emitted when he smiled at her was enough to make her heart speed up. “Then I would love some.”

  “Perfect. How are you doing?” he asked as he removed the tin of pie from the fridge and placed it on the table.

  “I’m managing quite well. You are so kind to me, allowing me to stay with you here. I absolutely love your home. Nothing has really changed since I was here last.”

  He dished out two slices of pie and handed one to her. “You’ve been to my home before?”

  “Thank you. I was, several times, in the past. I helped Cooper plant flowers in your garden and terrace area.”

  Basil sat across from her, tilting his head as he spoke. “Yet I never remember seeing you.”

  “Cooper made sure you were away when I came by. That hurts you and for that I’m sorry. He was only trying to protect me.”

  “From me, apparently.” He dug into his pie with a great deal of anger.

  “Not from you, but your kind. He feared that if anyone ever wanted to destroy you, they would look to those closest to you first. He didn’t want anyone to know about me, especially Chaos and his men.”

  “I could have helped him protect you.”

  “I know you can’t see beyond your hurt, but he really was just trying to protect us both.”

  “Hard to see that from my angle.” He broke off another piece and shoved it in his mouth.

  “I can understand that, believe me I can. What I tell you now was told to me in confidence and if Cooper knew I was telling you, he would have my head.” She pursed her lips and continued. “He never wanted you to know who sired him because he felt if you knew, you would always look at him differently. It was hard enough for him knowing you knew the humiliations he endured, but to have you know that your father was the one who turned him was too much for him to bear.”

  “I’ve never thought badly of him for what he endured.”

  “But the way you reacted to finding out the truth now is exactly what he was trying to avoid.”

  “He should have trusted me.”

  She could see the hurt in his beautiful blue eyes and wished she could soothe him somehow. “You were all he had. His father was killed by Avadur’s men and he had no other family. He couldn’t risk losing you, so he lied. Yes, we may feel that was wrong, but we didn’t go through what he did.”

  “He’s told you everything, then?”

  She nodded, picking at her dish of apple pie. “It hurts me deeply to know of the horrors he experienced.”

  “I used to hear him, in the early days, begging for help, begging to be released, begging for the agony to stop. My father tortured numerous people in my time with him, but none affected me as deeply as what he did to Cooper. I felt so helpless not being able to help him.”

  Reaching across the table, Gabriella laid her hand over his. “You were the only thing that kept him going. He loves you beyond reason. He would give his life for you. What he did by not telling you the truth was save you both from any more agony. Whether you can forgive him is up to you.”

  “I won’t lie by saying the deception doesn’t hurt, but I can look past that. What I’m having trouble with is that he controlled my mind, making me do what he wanted me to do and disregarding my feelings. He knew how much I resented my father for controlling my mind and that is what hurts the most.”

  “I can understand that. I guess it is something the two of you need to work out.” She took a bite from her pie and smiled. She chewed it, swallowed, then spoke. “This is one of Cooper’s.”

  Basil cocked his head to the side. “Yes, how did you know that?”

  “I know my darling’s work. The faint tang of lemon is a calling card. Cooper loves his sweets tangy.”

  “Yes, he does.” Basil laughed and stuffed more pie in his mouth.

  “I guess we both have a lot to think about in regards to Cooper,” she said after a while.

  “I guess so.” He looked up at her, pursing his lips. “I never really envisioned a woman that would be perfect for Cooper, but if I had, she would be you.”

  “Why thank you.” Her heart longed for the man she had first fallen in love with oh so long ago.

  ***

  Both Trinity and Basil had given her plenty to think about. With her belly full of delicious pie, Gabriella decided to relax with a book before retiring for the night—or day—whichever the case was. She couldn’t see how anyone could thrive off of a life in total darkness. The short time she’d been in it was more than enough for her to wish to never see darkness again.

  It pleased her that Basil kept a large library in his home. Perusing the rows full of books that lined the shelves, she had a hard time deciding what to read. She wondered if Cooper had saved any of her novels. She’d had a shelf of books in her home but nothing that came close to the stacks she saw now.

  Her mind wandered to the many times she’d lain in Cooper’s arms while they both read a novel together. He had always read faster than her, but he always found something to occupy his time while she finished the page. The memory brought a smile to her lips and a warmth to her heart. He loved to play with her hair while they read. She missed that.

  She missed a great deal.

  What Trinity had said to her gave her thought. Gabriella had trusted Cooper to find a cure for her while she was asleep. She had even signed a document, encouraged by Cooper and her doctor, that they could try any cure needed without waking her for consent.

  “At least he woke you before turning you.”

  Trinity was right. Cooper could have just as easily turned her while she was in her comatose state. Or could he have? She really didn’t know how it worked. But she did know that she had trusted Cooper to find a cure…and he had. Though she had made him promise her early on when she’d learned what he was not to ever turn her, she was beginning to see the reasoning behind his choice.

  For her it had been no more than falling asleep and waking. No time had passed for her. Yet for Cooper, twenty years had gone by. Twenty years to sit by and watch his love lying asleep in a glass case, not able to touch her, kiss her, or hear her speak to him. How difficult that must have been for him. Why had she never given that any thought before now?

  Because she had felt betrayed.

  She’d needed Trinity to refocus her mind and the next time she saw her, Gabriella was going to make sure and thank her.

  Oh, what a fool she had been.

  Cooper had done exactly what she had asked him to do, in a roundabout way, and she had pushed him away as if he was nothing more than some monster that had taken her life. It was amazing that he didn’t hate her for what she had done. What she was
doing.

  Deciding there was no book here that would take her mind off of her love and what she had done to him, Gabriella decided to go to her room, change, and go see Cooper instead. She needed to apologize to him.

  Racing up the stairs, she hurried to her room and throwing her door open, came to an abrupt halt. There, before her, was a plethora of posies in every shade possible. Yellow daffodils, white daises, red roses, bluebells, bright orange lilies, and so many more. She was awestruck and could only stand there, staring.

  “I grew these in your room while you slept.”

  His voice startled her and as he stepped out of the shadows, her heart sped with love.

  “I worried that when the darkness came, I would not be able to tend to them regularly, but they managed quite well. I thought you should have some beauty in your life.”

  Her eyes welled up as she stepped towards the man she loved. “I have plenty of beauty in my life.” She touched a hand to his cheek as the first tears spilled from her eyes. “I have you.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  The touch of her fingers along his cheek was a sensation he had loved and had done without for so long. To be this close to the woman he adored and know he’d been destined for was unimaginable. Seeing the way she looked at him now, with so much love, was something he’d feared he would never see again.

  Was he dreaming?

  “I’ve been such a fool. Can you ever forgive me, darling?”

  Maybe he was dreaming.

  “Cooper?”

  “Hm?” He had to be dreaming.

  “Oh dear…I should have thought of this.” She pulled away and he stood there, staring. “I hurt you deeply by pushing you away, by rejecting you. Of course you would have difficulty forgiving me. How stupid of me to think you could forgive me so easily.”

  He wasn’t dreaming. “Gabriella—”