Eternal Hearts (A Darkness Within)

by Jennifer Turner

  Toni slapped her hands over her face, but peeked up at 8-Ball between her fingers. “He knows I call him that?”

  “Of course he does.” He leaned in close and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’s not like you were ever shy about it.”

  Toni let her arms fall and tried to keep her body from following. She waved as much frigid night air towards her face as possible when her world suddenly grew much smaller.

  She’d driven for days to meet with Brick and 8-Ball, spent what little money she’d managed to save on gas, worried for two weeks about how much trouble her friends might get into because of her...and for what? So that Lord Christian Locke, Mr. Fancy Pants himself, could laugh in her face for even thinking he’d let her back in to Chicago?

  What the hell had she been thinking?

  Maybe she hadn’t been thinking, maybe that was the problem.

  She stiffened as fear seized and tightened every muscle in her chest. Locke would never let her come back home and she’d been stupid to believe otherwise. She should’ve stayed on the outskirts of Albuquerque where no one knew her. She should’ve never called Brick in the first place. And more than anything, she should have never accepted his offer to talk to Locke on her behalf. No, much like every other decision in her life, she’d made this one way too fast, without weighing all the potential consequences.

  Toni whirled around, prepared to bolt straight for her Trans-Am when Brick’s black Chevy Avalanche slid to a stop on the street in front of her. He opened the door, slammed it closed, and was standing in front of her before she ever had a chance to move her feet.

  “I know that look, Honey,” he drawled, his southern twang more pronounced than she remembered. “Don’t even think about it. Everything’s gonna be fine. Everybody’s gonna be fine. Don’t freak out on me now.”

  She stared up into his gray eyes, wishing she possessed even a shred of the calm he seemed to be made of. “How do you know that, Brick? What if it’s not fine? What if he kills you? What if he kills 8-Ball? He can do that, ya know. No one will stop him. I can’t let that happen. I have to leave. I should’ve never come. I should have stayed…” Her words became nothing more than muffled sounds when Brick reached out, palmed the back of her head with one hand, and then pushed her face into the soft white t-shirt covering his wide chest.

  “What you need to do is take a deep breath.” His other arm locked tight around her shoulders as 8-Ball’s loud laughter rang in her ears. “Damn, I know us Thugs can mood swing better than anyone, but Lord girl, you’re going in fifteen different directions. And I can’t very well yell at you and your brainless bald friend over there if you’re already upset.” He gently stroked her hair. “I hate seeing you cry.”

  Toni flattened her hands against Brick’s hard chest and pushed herself back just far enough to look up at his weathered face again. “Why would you yell at us? We haven’t done anything yet.”

  A stern but genuine smile tugged at his mouth. “Because you’re standing out here on the sidewalk,” he said as he released her, then moved back and pointed at the building, “instead of inside the lobby like I asked.” Irritation crinkled the deep lines at the corners of his eyes. “The last thing I need is for someone to see you standing out here.”

  She slowly turned her head to glare at 8-Ball. “Why didn’t you tell me we were supposed to be inside? Does it look like I need any extra help getting into trouble?”

  He gave her a droll stare. “No, you don’t. But with the fit you threw over standing out here, I figured the last place you wanted to be was in there. So excuse the fuck outta me if my concern for your emotional well-being made me a little hesitant to suggest we go inside.”

  “Well, I can see some things never change,” Brick groaned as he rolled his eyes. He motioned towards the lobby again. “How about you two do me a favor and take the argument inside where God and everyone else in the world can’t see you.”

  “Don’t worry, Brick,” a deep, gravelly voice called from behind them. “Even God’s not crazy enough to be out here right now.”

  Toni turned around fully expecting to see a big guy, considering the gruff timbre of his voice, but big didn’t even begin to describe the man standing only a few feet away. She didn’t have to crane her neck to see his face, but she did have to tip her head back a bit.

  And what a face that is. She pressed her lips together in response to the errant thought. The last thing she needed to be doing was ogling some hot guy who had…the most depressing set of blue eyes she’d ever seen.

  She blinked hard then looked again. For a split second his deep set eyes appeared almost friendly, maybe even jovial, but then it was like some invisible curtain lifted, revealing so much sadness and pain she wondered how he could move with that much weight on his shoulders.

  “Drake,” Brick yelled, sounding a little surprised. “Holy shit, you’re actually home. Did you finally get some time off?”

  The man, who she assumed was Drake, tipped his head from side to side. “You could say that.” A smile spanned the hard line of his mouth as he leaned forward and extended a huge arm past her. “When was the last time you got a day off, Texan?”

  “I don’t get days off,” Brick said as he accepted Drake’s hand. “Keeping Chicago’s kids in line is a full-time job. And don’t even get me started on the damn Elders.”

  Drake’s muscular chest rumbled with laughter. “I hear that.” He shook 8-Ball’s hand while they exchanged a friendly greeting, and then slowly shifted his sad blue eyes to her. He seemed to study her for a long moment before he finally offered his hand. “Hi. I’m, Drake.”

  She considered the interlocked, black crescent moons tattooed in the center of his palm before she trailed up the sleeve of his black leather trench coat and refocused on his face. His very attractive face, she noted, only enhanced by his strong cheekbones, straight nose, and a firm jaw line shadowed by dark stubble.

  He didn’t have the dusky rancher allure of Brick, or the arrogant bad boy qualities that 8-Ball seemed to have far too many of, but his long black hair and hard features had a rugged appeal she couldn’t deny.

  She reached out to take his hand but tensed when her fingertips grazed the rough pads of his. His skin wasn’t cold like hers. He felt warm…just like a human. She gripped his hand tight, extending her index finger to rest on the inside of his wrist while she shook it.

  Sure enough, a rhythmic pulse drummed under the tip of her finger.

  She frowned. “I’m Toni. It’s…nice to meet you.” Unfortunately, her greeting came out as more of a question.

  “Don’t worry,” Drake chuckled. “I have fangs, too.”

  When an unexpected pang of jealousy twisted in her gut, Toni jerked his arm forward, yanked his sleeve back, and then pressed her nose to his wrist. She breathed in deep and closed her eyes as the rich, metallic scent of his blood confirmed what he’d said.

  The man was most definitely a vampire, and a powerful one at that. Powerful enough that fear quickly tainted her desire to taste the precious fluid coursing through his veins. But the sound of his steady heartbeat pounding in her ears, the delicious scent of his hot blood filling her nostrils – it was just too much.

  Toni immediately released Drake’s arm when she felt her fangs break free. She covered her mouth with her hands and staggered back as she wrestled with the beast for control of her own thoughts.

  It was a war she’d waged countless times over the last few years, but a battle she’d lost only once.

  And that specific thought, combined with the flash of a single bloody memory from the very night she’d lost that fight, were all she needed to force the animal down.

  She lowered her hands. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean—”

  “For fuck’s sakes!” Brick’s loud voice drowned out the hungry growls of the animal inside her. “What do you mean he got caught feeding in the middle of a club? Son of a bitch! I’ll be right there.”

  Toni felt her fangs slide back into plac
e just as Brick slammed his cell phone closed against his thigh. He jammed the phone into the pocket of his leather driving coat as he grumbled a string of curses she couldn’t quite make out. He must have gotten the call while she was busy fighting off the urge to chew on a complete stranger.

  How did you apologize to someone for something like that?

  She chanced a glance up at Drake only to find that his once sad eyes were now filled with no small amount of amusement. As the faint sensation of heat tingled in her cheeks, she turned and focused her full attention back on her friends.

  Brick shook his head as he glared at 8-Ball, his sharp gray eyes glowing with anger. “That was Kane. We’ve got a Veil breach down on Rush Street. I’m gonna meet him and your brother down there.” He started back peddling towards his truck. “I need you to get Toni to the safe house and stay with her until I can talk Locke into letting her back in. Don’t make any stops. Go straight there and stay there. Do you understand me?”

  8-Ball’s eyes flicked between her and Brick, indecision marking his face. “Shouldn’t I go with you? It’s Friday night.” He took a step in Brick’s direction. “Rush Street’s packed with humans right now. You’re gonna need more help.”

  Toni blew out a sigh. While she appreciated their concern, if there was one truth her past actions had proven – the last thing she needed was a bodyguard. “Just go guys, I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m defenseless.”

  “No!” Brick boomed. “This has shit to do with you being defenseless. You know damn well you’re fair game right now, and our kind is nothing if not opportunistic. If someone sees you and tells Locke before I get a chance to talk to him…you don’t even wanna know what’ll happen.”

  “Go with your Sire, Baller,” Drake interjected. “I’ll keep Toni with me until you call. I’ll even play nice.” He pressed a hand to his chest, just above his heart. “I promise.”

  Both 8-Ball’s and Brick’s eyes went as wide as the Chicago skyline. “What?” they asked in unison.

  Drake pointed at 8-Ball with one hand. “It’s fairly obvious you wanna go with your Sire.” He motioned to Brick with the other. “And it’s pretty clear you’re torn between making sure she’s safe and needing all the help you can get. So go do whatever you need to do. I’ll stay with her until I hear different.”

  Brick’s eyes narrowed on Drake. “Are you sure?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. I don’t have anything else to do right now anyway, except finish my walk and maybe grab a bite to eat.” Something strange seemed to pass between the two men before Drake raised both hands then waved him and 8-Ball away. “Just go. Trust me, I got this.”

  With no further argument, Brick and 8-Ball made a break for the truck. The engine had barely roared to life before the squeal of tires against icy pavement filled the air. Within a few seconds, the men she’d driven hundreds of miles to see…were halfway down the block.

  Didn’t need the protection, but could’ve used the company. Toni silenced the voice in her mind as she looked up at Drake. “You didn’t have to do that. I would’ve been fine.”

  “Yeah I did.” He inclined his head to where Brick and 8-Ball had been. “If I didn’t, they’d still be standing right there fighting with each other.”

  She puffed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “You’re probably right.” She shifted between her feet when he smiled at her and the tingles from before fluttered in her cheeks again. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to grab…it’s just that sometimes it’s hard to…oh, never mind. I’m just, I’m really sorry.”

  “Hard to control your beast?” The curtain over his eyes lifted as she nodded, but this time a sliver of understanding split the sadness and pain. “I know exactly how you feel.” He blinked hard, as if his mind had wandered off somewhere, but then smiled at her again. “So is that why you got kicked out? Did you bite someone you shouldn’t have?”

  She tilted her head. “How did you know I got kicked out?”

  He raised a hand to rub the back of his neck, his biceps straining the leather sleeve of his long coat. “Well, since Brick mentioned he needs to talk Lord Locke into letting you back in, I assume you’ve already been here once. And the only reason you’d need Locke’s permission to come back is if he’s the one who kicked you out in the first place. So what’d ya do?” His smile stretched into a rather lopsided and equally as adorable grin. “Did you set his tailor on fire?”

  Toni tried to mirror Drake’s smile, but the grin she’d tried so hard to match faded as she caught sight of the white sedan creeping up the street towards them. With its lights off, the car nearly disappeared against the street, helped even more by the snow covered pavement reflecting off the tinted windows.

  “You were right the first time,” she absently mumbled as she watched the white Mercedes roll to a stop on the curb behind Drake. “Are you expecting some…” Panic stole the remainder of her words as the rear passenger door swung open.

  Sign one that her night had just taken a turn for the worse was the golden blond hair pulled into a severe ponytail at the base of his neck. Sign two was the way his cold blue eyes locked on her as he stepped up onto the curb. But sign three, and the one that really drove the last nail into her proverbial coffin, was the pristine Armani suit that expertly hugged every inch of his regal body.

  Chapter 3

  Every muscle Toni owned tensed as she stared up into the angry eyes of Lord Christian Locke, Mr. Fancy Pants himself, right there…in the flesh. She silently cursed her horrible luck as he deftly stepped around Drake and moved to stand directly in front of her.

  For the second time that night, she shifted between her feet as a pair of veiled blue eyes bored into her. But unlike Drake’s, Christian’s eyes weren’t filled with sadness and pain – his were as cold and calculating as she remembered. And if anything else lurked somewhere deep behind them, anything at all, she either couldn’t see it or didn’t know how to recognize the emotions.

  What she hoped was inside him somewhere was compassion and warmth. She wanted to believe that behind those frigid blue eyes and kingly demeanor was a good man, who just did everything he could to hide his true feelings from the world.

  That’s what she wanted to believe – but that didn’t mean it was true.

  She’d been burned enough times to know that what you wanted to believe was inside someone, and what was truly there…were sometimes two very different things.

  Silence stung the air for what felt like an hour before he finally opened his mouth. “Miss Tutoro, I’m so happy to see you’ve made it back to our fair city unharmed. Please, enlighten me as to why you’ve come home. I’m absolutely dying to know.” His smooth English accent made him sound every bit as snotty as he looked.

  Feeling forced to defend herself in a way she wasn’t prepared for; Toni returned his sarcasm with a dash of her own. “As always, Christian, you’re looking lovely this evening. Did Armani make that suit especially for you? It’s simply ravishing,” she quipped, trying to mimic his accent.

  It didn’t mix well with the Spanish hint she already had.

  She tried not to smile when she heard Drake snort, but she couldn’t help it. She knew she should be nice, knew Christian Locke held everything she wanted in his fancy little manicured hands, but something about the smug, holier-than-thou look on his face just screamed for her to do everything in her power to annoy him.

  “Do you find my suit unacceptable?” His sharp tone practically dared her to respond.

  “Well, since you asked,” she said as she took a step back and gave him an obvious once over, “you might wanna tell him to keep his eye on the scissors. Your right sleeve looks a tad longer than your left.”

  He didn’t react. Instead, he continued to stare at her with glaring disinterest. She thought she remembered how unsettling that stare was, but she was wrong. It made her feel icky all the way down to her toes this time. Last time it was only to her knees.

  But she just…couldn’
t…stop. “Oh wait, that’s right.” She waved a hand at him. “It’s all coming back to me now. It’s you that’s off. Your right arm’s just a little longer than your left, isn’t it?” She blew out a sigh then offered him her most sympathetic smile. “We can’t all be perfect, can we?”

  “Miss Tutoro, it would seem to me if one was seeking solace in a city they’d already been thrown out of once, one would adopt a little more humble attitude. Wouldn’t you agree?” The new, much darker edge to his voice sent fear tap dancing down her spine.

  Toni sucked in a deep breath and slowly nodded. He was right. He was the only one who could give her permission to stay in Chicago, and here she was, treating him like crap.

  She looked back up at him, hoping he could hear the truth in every word she was about to say. “I just wanted to come home, Christian. I’ve been driving around the country, trying to find a place that feels right. I’ve been in more cities than I can count, and I still haven’t found one that feels like home.” She struggled to keep her voice steady. “I’m not here to cause trouble, I swear. I just wanna see faces that actually smile at me again. I wanna sleep a full day without nightmares.” She turned away when she lost the battle against her tears.

  How could she explain what Chicago meant to her? How much she needed to be home?

  After a few moments passed, Toni wiped her cheeks and cleared her throat. She had to make him understand. But as she turned to face him again, a feeling of doom settled deep into the pit of her stomach.

  He seemed to be watching her with an odd, detached curiosity.

  Wanting desperately to believe she could reach him, she forced herself to continue. “This city stays with me wherever I go. I was born here, and for every awful memory I have here, there are still fifty good ones.” She lowered her eyes when his face didn’t change. “I don’t know what I was thinking…you wouldn’t understand.”

  “Have you secured yourself a place to stay? I know you haven’t purchased any homes or leased an apartment. There are also no reservations for you or any of your aliases at any hotel in the city.”