Dirk The Savior - Book 3 of the Raven Series

by Rhiannon Neeley

  Dirk The Savior

  Rhiannon Neeley

  Published 2004

  ISBN 1-59578-020-3

  Published by Liquid Silver Books, imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 10509 Sedgegrass Dr, Indianapolis, Indiana 46235. Copyright © 2004, Rhiannon Neeley. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Liquid Silver Books

  http://lsbooks.com

  Email:

  raven@lsbooks.com

  Cover Art

  by Jane Sommers

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  John Raven rested his elbows on the desktop and tented his fingers. He gazed across the massive desk, meeting his younger brother's pale blue eyes. “I can't allow you to do that, Dirk.”

  Dirk sat easily in the chair, ankle propped on one knee, arms resting comfortably on the arms of the chair. “I didn't ask your permission, John.”

  John shook his head. “It's too dangerous. We never work alone. It would jeopardize the Unkindness.”

  Dirk jerked his head, flicking a wayward strand of hair out of his eyes. “It doesn't matter what you say, John. I'm taking this assignment alone,” Dirk said, his voice full of quiet resolve.

  John opened his mouth to speak.

  Dirk raised a hand. “You can't go. You and Madison are expecting the baby any time now. I won't risk putting you in danger with a new Raven on the way.” He let his hand drop. “Eric has been placed in danger his last two times out. The first time we almost lost him. This last time was close and he still hasn't fully recovered from being put in that trance by Barack. If I hadn't been there … he may not have made it out.”

  John nodded, his long hair falling over his shoulders. “You're right. Eric needs the rest. Thank God he found Lydia though. She'll be his backbone. Like Madison is mine.” Immediately, John's thoughts went to his wife, Madison, and the impending birth of their first child. When John had met Madison Woods, he had been sent to observe her by the vampire Devlin Morse. John hadn't thought that he would fall in love with Devlin's quarry but fall he had. It had taken John a while to convince Madison that he was not a vampire himself, since he had purported to be one at first. But their love had flamed like an inferno and now, John didn't know how he could go on living without Madison.

  Eric and Lydia were the same. Lydia had stumbled into the Maine woods where Eric had been on a mission to destroy a Clutch of shape-changing vampires. Without Dirk's help, Eric may not have made it out alive. In the end, the leader of the Clutch, Anthony Barack, had escaped. But Dirk, Eric and Lydia had made it out, thanks to Dirk's level-headedness.

  Now, Dirk wanted to approach this next assignment on his own. He sat across from John, his calm countenance belying his determination to prove himself. John watched his brother's face.

  Dirk was the youngest of the three brothers. He had the dark hair of a Raven. It was normally in need of a trim, always falling across eyes that were a cool, clear blue. That was the one difference. Dirk was the only one of them to have their mother's pale eyes.

  John sighed. This Clutch of vampires that they were going after was dug deep into the hills of Kentucky. They were going to be hard to infiltrate. He didn't want Dirk doing it alone but he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop him. The other Ravens, their cousins Drake and Holt, were tied up across the country on a job already and they were too close to completing it to pull one of them out. “Alright,” John said finally. “But you will have to keep in touch with me.”

  Dirk's mouth quirked into a small smile. “Don't I always?” He rose from his chair in one fluid motion. He turned to leave the office.

  “Dirk,” John said, standing.

  Dirk turned.

  “Be careful.”

  With a nod, Dirk turned toward the door and silently left the office. John closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he had made the decision to leave Dirk to his own thoughts. It would do no good to confront him again. When Dirk made up his mind to do something, there was no stopping him.

  * * * *

  Dirk walked down the hall of the huge house, moving without a sound over the hard wood floor. He had packing to do and the sooner he got it done, the sooner he could leave for Kentucky. As he passed the portraits of his ancestors, Dirk was filled with the pride of the Unkindness's mission.

  Their mission to rid the Earth of the Vampire Horde.

  Over a century ago, a war had begun between the Horde and the Unkindness of Ravens. A Clutch of vampires had made the mistake of kidnapping a Raven daughter and turning her. Vengeance had been vicious and swift as the Raven clan swooped down on the Clutch of vampires and destroyed them. Ever since then, it had been their mission to wipe the vampires out of existence. They had created the Unkindness of Ravens for just that purpose. With every battle, the Unkindness took the chance of losing one of their own. And over time, they had lost many to the vampire's wrath.

  There were only five Ravens left to do the job now.

  Dirk, his two older brothers, John and Eric, and their cousins, Drake and Holt. John had retired, settling down with his love, Madison Woods. They were now expecting a new addition to the clan. Eric had almost been lost the last two times he had been assigned a mission. On the last one, Eric had found the love of his life, Lydia Cross. Dirk had luckily been there to stave off Barack's plan to take Lydia and then destroy Eric. It wasn't that Eric was weak, but when it came to Lydia, his concentration on the job at hand had been shaken. Eric and Lydia were battle-worn and they were now recuperating from the experience. It had been such a struggle that, to Dirk's amazement, a vampire had escaped. They had yet to track the monster, Anthony Barack, down, but when they did he was next on the list.

  This new mission was deep in the hills of Kentucky and Dirk was anxious to get started. Rumor had it that a woman had disappeared into the hills and had not been seen since. Of course, the local police had searched but she had been missing for three weeks now with no sign of where she had gone. Dirk had a feeling he knew what had happened to her.

  It was just a matter of infiltrating the Clutch.

  He wished that he were already on his way.

  * * * *

  Casey Delaney opened her eyes to near darkness. She didn't move, only allowing herself to breathe shallowly so as not to draw the monster's attention. She knew he was near. Watching her. He was always watching her, his eyes spearing her in the darkness. Just thinking of Connor Fagan, her own personal monster, made her neck ache.

  The wound in her neck had healed over, mostly. He had bitten her once, sucking her blood. At the mere thought of it, her neck throbbed and her heart began a staccato beat. She bit her lip, wondering if he could sense her anxiety, knowing it was possible. He seemed to be almost able to gauge her every need, then he provided it. He supplied her with food when she was hungry—stealing it from somewhere—and he allowed her to bathe in a stream nearby while he stood guard. But that still didn't make him less of a monster. She had practiced cloaking her thoughts and feelings from him. Whenever he read her thoughts she felt so … invaded. Now it was harder for him to read her. And he wasn't happy about it, either. She knew it wouldn't be long now before he took her again. She knew what he was.

  Connor F
agan was a vampire.

  Her eyes roamed the darkness of the coal mine. It had been abandoned long ago, the miners moving to the other side of the mountain. She could smell the mineral laden water that trickled down the walls of the mine, knowing that the water itself was a danger. The water traveling over the walls and through the cracks in the rocks could be the catalyst that would cause a cave-in. Many men in these Kentucky hills had met their death in the dark of a mine. She almost wished that it would cave in. It might only bury Connor—no threat to his immortality—but at least it would kill her. Crush her. Before Connor could take her soul. She felt a tear form in the corner of her eye. Why had she come up here in the first place?

  Searching for old cemeteries was her job, that was why. She had come up the mountain to find a grave for someone who was researching their family. Had sprained her ankle climbing the mountain to find the cemetery in question. Of course, it had been one of the oldest. One of the ones that you had to use a GPS system to find your way to because there were no markers of any kind. And, she had failed to check the battery in her cell phone before climbing the mountain. Even though she knew that they should have found her car parked down the mountain by now, they would never venture this far inside the mine to find her. Everyone who knew her knew that she would never attempt to go inside a condemned mine. She was too afraid of the dark. But her fear was wearing off now. She had been in the dark for a very long time. She wasn't sure how long but she knew that it had been more than two weeks.

  There were others here besides the monster who watched. Three others. Two women and one young boy. She had only caught glimpses of them as they came and went. The others didn't approach her. Connor wouldn't let them. It was as if she belonged to him and him only.

  The tear in her eye fell to her cheek. She fought the urge to wipe it away, not ready to deal with Connor just yet.

  What she needed right now was someone to come and carry her weary body out into the light.

  Someone to smite the monster and send him into oblivion.

  Someone to save her from a nightmare surely worse than death. What she needed was…

  A savior.

  * * * *

  The Vampire, Connor Fagan, felt the anxiety rolling off of the woman in waves. He sat frozen, only his eyes moving over her supine body as he watched her struggle to be still and not betray the fact that she was awake.

  He frowned slightly. He had fed from her once. Her blood now flowed in his shriveled veins. At first, he knew her every desire and her every fear. But now, she was able to guard most of her thoughts. It puzzled him. He could have turned her completely by now. Then she would be unable to hide anything from him, but he wanted to take his time. She was a tasty morsel. More innocent than he had ever seen.

  A virgin.

  The Vampire drew in a deep breath, savoring her scent. A virgin. At her age. He knew her to be twenty-two. It was unthinkable in this day and age for a woman to be untouched at twenty-two years old, especially one as lovely as she.

  The Vampire had paid special attention to the feelings that filled the woman's body as he drank from her. It made him want to chuckle when he realized that she was feeling lust for the first time. She wasn't quite sure what it was. He could sense the confusion in her mind as he drank and the sensation bombarded her with sexual need.

  That's why he was taking his time with her. When he did finally turn her, he wanted to do it by allowing her to experience it sensually. He wanted to build the tension until she thought she would explode. Until she begged him to take her. And he wanted it to be Earth-shattering when she came. Binding her to him for eternity.

  He'd bide his time with this one.

  This one was special.

  Connor Fagan smiled in the darkness, running his tongue along his parched lips.

  * * * *

  Dirk arrived in Deer Run, Kentucky as darkness encroached on the tiny town. The heat lingered here between the mountains as he drove alongside the railroad tracks. He turned over the tracks and pulled up in front of a store that was situated on the side of the street opposite them. There were two men sitting in front of the store, smoking.

  Dirk got out, and with a languid stretch, rose to his full height. He glanced at the two men.

  They were eyeing him suspiciously.

  Dirk knew what they were thinking. He was a stranger. Strangers might be out to steal something from them. Strangers couldn't be trusted. Strangers didn't … belong.

  Dirk made a mental note not to smile too widely. He had just had his upper and lower canines bonded and he didn't want to scare off these two old-timers by baring his fangs. All of the Ravens who 'hunted' had their teeth bonded to resemble that of a true vampire so that they would fit in when they infiltrated a Clutch. Dirk rounded the front of the car and climbed the two steps up to the sagging, wooden porch of the store. “Evening,” he said, his voice quiet in the stillness.

  The two men looked at Dirk, looked at each other, then back at Dirk. “It is,” the one with the red cap said.

  Dirk sighed. “I'm looking for a woman named Casey Delaney. I work for her family. She disappeared somewhere near here.”

  “Family send ya ta find 'er?” Red Cap asked.

  Dirk nodded. “Her, or find out what happened to her.”

  “Humph,” Red Cap said. “They done looked for her 'n couldn't find hide nor hair.”

  “Well, I came to take another look. Just in case something was missed.” Dirk squinted up toward the mountain that hunched over the little town to the south.

  “Yup. They found 'er car up the mountain a way. Up on Salt Lick. Was all they found.” Red Cap watched him from the corner of his eye.

  Dirk smiled a small smile. “Which way would that be?”

  The man sitting beside Red Cap let out a laugh. “You go on up there 'n they'll be 'nuther lost 'un.”

  “I'll take my chances,” Dirk said. “If you'll point me in the direction of Salt Lick, I'd like to take a look around before it gets too dark.”

  Red Cap jabbed a thumb toward the south. “Go on down a ways and take the first road to the left. That be Salt Lick.”

  Dirk nodded. “Thanks.” He turned to walk toward his car.

  “Don't you be climbin' up the mount' and getting lost in the old mine now,” Red Cap warned. “Many's a one been lost in there. They won't even look in there no more. 'Bout to cave, that one is.”

  Dirk breathed easy. “Thanks for the warning,” he said. Now he knew where a good hiding place was for the Clutch of vampires.

  In the mine.

  Dirk drove through the gloaming light, calm in the knowledge that his brothers were safe back at the Unkindness. Both his brothers, John and Eric, had found the loves of their lives. It made Dirk happy to know that the Raven line would continue. John and Madison were expecting their first child and Dirk didn't doubt that soon, Eric and Lydia would follow with their own.

  Dirk hadn't considered meeting anyone himself. He had plenty of time for that. Besides, he wanted to destroy a few more vampires before he thought about starting a family. The world was dangerous on its own. Add monsters to the mix and it was down right life threatening.

  Not many people knew of the existence of the vampires. The Unkindness had spent generations weeding them out. Still, more were being turned every month it seemed. Dirk shook his head as he drove the winding gravel road. He wished things were different. That the world was a kinder place.

  But then, the hunt was the only world that Dirk knew.

  The Raven clan had always hunted. They had developed certain powers over the generations. The power to enter another's mind. The power to move silently. An uncanny sense of smell. The power to shield their own thoughts from anyone trying to read their mind. The reason the Ravens had these certain powers was due to the fact that every once in a while, a Raven would be bitten. Vampire blood would mingle, affecting their DNA. Though not fully transformed into the monster, the Raven bloodline was slightly tainted.

 
Dirk didn't like to think of it. Their blood wasn't poisoned enough to make the Ravens 'inhuman', but still he hated the thought of any of them succumbing to the bite of the monster. It had happened though.

  Namely, to their father.

  Roth Raven, their father, had been killed by a vampire.

  It only served to make Dirk's resolve that much stronger. He would destroy every vampire that he could get within reach of.

  As the road wound its way up the mountain, the light grew dim and green. The sun was setting over the top of the mountain. It wouldn't be long before the mountain was draped in the night. Dirk slowed his pace, looking for a sign of the abandoned mine.

  He rounded a curve and caught a glimpse of a gate off on his right. He hit the brakes. Sure enough, it was the entrance road to the mine. Dirk backed the car up. He pulled it in close to the gate and killed the motor. Weeds had grown up beyond the gate, almost obliterating the road that after years of neglect and lack of use was now no more than a trail. Dirk sat unmoving for a moment, thinking. He was taking a huge risk just walking into the mine without somehow ingratiating himself with the Clutch. If they are there, he thought. But word had it that Casey Delaney had disappeared in this area and what better place for a Clutch of vampires to infest than an abandoned coal mine?

  The next thing Dirk knew, he was slammed back in his seat by a feeling of pure unadulterated need. In his mind, a woman's voice wailed for help, for release. Help me, her voice breathed in his mind. It wasn't the fact that someone had invaded his mind that sent him reeling. It was the pure white innocence of the source that rocked him.

  It was her. Casey Delaney. She was close. And she was in danger.

  Dirk shook his head, struggling to reorient himself. Her call to him had washed over his brain and dimmed his thoughts. He had to get his head clear. He would worry about how she had managed to send her call to him later. Right now, he had to find the Clutch's lair. That was where he would find her. Hopefully, he would be able to stop whatever was about to happen.

  Dirk opened the car door and fluidly slipped out, immediately breaking into a run. His feet barely touching the ground, Dirk used his keen sense of smell to seek the Clutch.