NightFall (NightFall: Book One)

by Anastacia Kelley

  There was no way on this earth she would ever forget what he did for her when she found out what a harassing sleaze ball Michael turned out to be.

  When she looked into Saldivar’s eyes, she felt protected. She didn’t think that was possible. Sure, with other men she, maybe, had some feelings of security. With Saldivar, it was almost instantaneous.

  She’d never seen eyes colored quite like his. It was like amber thousands of years old. The color was ancient and warm, framed in mile long sooty lashes and black eyebrows. His hair was deep ebony. Inky black. Her fingers itched to run through the dark locks. She wanted to pull his head down and kiss his full and luscious lips thoroughly.

  She wanted him. That, she was sure of. He was like a fever in her blood. No man has ever affected her that way, even when she’d gotten to know them. All she knew about Saldivar was minute. She knew that his name was Saldivar. He saved her from Michael’s groping hands and wandering mouth. Every time she though about it, it gave her a chill. And not in a good way.

  It was just shocking to her. She loved to have a good time. She was a bit of a flirt but not extremely so. But she didn’t bed them. She didn’t bed many men at all. Just because a woman flirts a little and dresses nice or sexy doesn’t mean you are easy or sleep around. She wasn’t a prude but she certainly wasn’t easy, either. There was a happy medium. One that a person could live with and not be ashamed of.

  Of course, she wanted Saldivar. He was so remarkable. So different from any other man she’s ever known. She may want him but that didn’t mean she would jump his bones the next time she saw him.

  If she saw him, she amended silently. And she really wanted to know more about him.

  Perhaps she would ask Simone to mention it to Van when she meets him at the Louvre Museum tomorrow night.

  Decision made, Indea got into bed and slept.

  CHAPTER VIII

  By six o’clock, Van had already dressed and fed. He was sitting in a chair reading a book of poetry when Saldivar entered the room.

  “Oversleep?” Van asked without looking up from his book.

  Saldivar sat next to Van. “Yes. Odd isn’t it? I’m usually a stickler for punctuality.”

  “Indea making you a little restless, mon ami?” Van closed the book and set it on the small wooden table beside him. He raised his head, eyeing Saldivar as he got up to fix himself a drink. He waited patiently for an answer.

  Saldivar took his time getting a small goblet and a decanter of fresh blood since sipping from people sometimes couldn’t be done. He poured slowly, put the top back on the decanter and took his goblet with him to a chair near Van, who knew he was stalling. It was apparent by the way he was looking at him.

  Van kept silent waiting for Saldivar to answer his previous question and elaborate.

  Saldivar raised the goblet to his lips, avoiding Van’s gaze. “All right,” he finally said, forgetting to drink from his goblet he so painstakingly and slowly filled. “I am usually such a sound sleeper. But Indea has been popping in and out of my mind all day. I can’t stop thinking about her. I know she’s the Eternal Entity.” He lifted his goblet and sipped, then pointed it toward Van. “Speaking of which, Simone’s been on your mind more than you want to admit.”

  Van’s unwavering look didn’t surprise Saldivar. Over the years, Van has grown accustomed to never backing down. It’s wonderful to have that kind of confidence given he didn’t have much of it before he was transformed. Sometimes too much of a good thing is not a good thing any longer. It could be Van’s downfall later on down the road. Van was still young and had more to learn. More challenges to overcome. But there was a difference in being proud and being stubborn. Eventually, Van was going to have to decipher between the two.

  Van held up his hands. “Guilty as charged. I am just unsure how to broach the subject with her. I’m quite positive she’s attracted to me. Believe me, the feeling is mutual. But if I tell her tonight about me and that she is the Eternal Entity, I’m sure that will take me off her list of sane men to date. You remember as well as I how you came to me to help and how you presented the case as it may be. You earned my trust.” Van paused and gazed up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes for a moment. He inhaled. Exhaled. He faced Saldivar. “Times have changed drastically. You’ve seen women of you time, my time and now in the present day. Women today are just the opposite from the women I’ve come to experience over the years.”

  Saldivar cracked a small grin and crossed his arms. “And what have you learned so far?”

  Van let out a low whistle. “Women just half a century ago seemed quite content with letting the man run the show. The man happened to be the breadwinner. The woman would stay at home cooking, cleaning and taking care of multiple children.” Van’s eyes took on a saddened look. “Children. Saldivar, I----“

  “There is no need to depress yourself with misplaced worry. I know you desire children. With Simone, it is possible.” Saldivar got up and walked beside Van. He put a hand on his shoulder. “But you, under no circumstances, can get her pregnant while she is still a human. You don’t want her to bear children with your DNA mixed with her human DNA. We still don’t know the effects of mixing vampire and human genes. It could be a mutation we cannot deal with and would have no way of knowing how to fix any anomalies the child could be born with. What would make the half-breed sick? Would it have no defenses against the common ailments that humans suffer?” Saldivar shook his head. “No. There is no way we should risk it. Were the child to get sick and have to see a doctor, it would be the end of our existence as we know it. All the doctors would need is proof of us, send it to some money hungry publicity hound and leak a story to the press. Even if some didn’t believe, they would still be intrigued. You know how hard we work to keep our existence a secret.”

  Van thought for a minute then shot up out of his chair, worry etching his face. “Saldivar, do you think that there are half-breeds out there that we do not know about? I mean, it’s possible, is it not?”

  Saldivar laced his fingers behind his back and walked to the bar, quiet for the time being.

  Saldivar’s reluctance to speak was fuel enough to Van. He quick-stepped to Saldivar and placed a hard grip on his arm. “Saldivar. Tell me. Are there any half-breeds out there?”

  Saldivar put his hands on the bar, letting his head drop. “Yes,” he whispered as if it pained him to answer.

  Van pursed his lips and sighed loudly. “Why didn’t you tell me? Do you know how many there are? Do you know who they are?” When Saldivar didn’t answer right away, Van pulled his arm, jerking Saldivar to face him. “Tell me, Saldivar. We’ve been through near hell together before. Just tell me,” he urged once more.

  Saldivar put his fingers to his right temple, rubbing slightly. “Fifty years ago, I found out that a group of what I call ‘imitation scientists’ were dabbling in experiments. Experiments that was uncalled for. They were evil men. They didn’t care who they tortured to find out anything they could on the unknown. They were also willing to pay for DNA, blood or information as well. That is the first time I have ever heard of a vampire turning against his own kind. He is a traitor. He allowed the scientists to take his DNA, his very own seed, and implant it into a young, willing human female subject. She was kept under constant surveillance. She carried to term but died during childbirth. Such a loss of a girl in her prime. The child-if she’s still alive-is about fifty years old. They only thing I know is that it was a female half-breed. I know nothing of what became of her.”

  “She’s a neophyte,” Van stated but didn’t expect Saldivar to answer.

  “Yes,” Saldivar said anyway.

  Van’s perplexed look was obvious. “Who would do such a thing? What did he have to gain by giving his very existence away? By making it harder on us to remain in shadow?”

  “Notoriety. Attention.” Saldivar sat on one of the available bar chairs. “I still do not understand it myself.”

  “Who was this traitor, Saldivar? What
is his name, if you know?” Van was desperate to know who could turn his back on his people like that.

  Saldivar’s eyes clouded over. It haunted Van to see him like this. This terrible dilemma he seemed to be going through. It was as if it were tearing him in two.

  Van was getting a little impatient when Saldivar kept silent. “Who, Saldivar?” Van urged a little harshly this time. “Réponds-moi! Answer me!”

  Saldivar looked as if he had to brace himself. He whispered so quietly Van could barely make out the name. But when Saldivar spoke the man’s name, Van stopped breathing.

  “Zane.”

  “Zane?” Van repeated, stunned. “Zane? As in your father who made you who you are? That Zane?”

  Saldivar nodded. “He may have transformed me but he didn’t make me into the vampire I am today. That, I did on my own,” he said roughly. “You remember when I told you about your kindness being more so once changed? How I explained to you that if you were evil or loving as a human, it would be more magnified when transformed?”

  “Yes. I remember.”

  “Zane turned out to have a sinister black soul.” Saldivar shook his head and amended his statement. “No. Something like him doesn’t have a soul. He’s just an evil shell of an everlasting entity.” His jaw was rigid as he finished. “He’s my father no longer.”

  Van touched Saldivar’s shoulder gently. “I am terribly sorry, mon ami. You have lost your real father unnecessarily. I know you miss him still. And now your second father is eternal and you want nothing more to do with him.”

  “Can you blame me?” Saldivar snapped.

  Van decided not to let Saldivar’s anger get in the way of what was truly important. He knew Saldivar was hurt by his broken past. So he spoke calmly. “No. I cannot.”

  “It is not your fault Zane is the way he is. Greed chose for him. It made him immoral. He lost his self respect when he turned his back on what he is.” Saldivar gave Van a weak smile. “I am sorry I snapped at you.”

  “It is all right, mon ami. It will work out in the end,” Van speculated brightly. “The one thing that irks me is that you knew about this for fifty years yet you didn’t trust me enough, or not at all, to let me in on what was going on. I could have assisted you in some way,” he offered.

  “No. It is my problem. Zane is over two thousand years old. Maybe older. He isn’t even the first vampire. No one knows who is or if he, or she possibly, is still alive. Now you know why you could not help. Zane is extremely powerful. Not only can he turn Invisible or Blend, he can hurl you hundreds of feet in the air with a mere concentrated stare. You see, his is telekinetic. He can kill with his mind if he chose to do so.

  “You have not yet mastered Invisibility. What makes you think you could stand up against someone like him?” Saldivar wanted to know.

  Van clenched his jaw. He had to make Saldivar see his side of things. He spoke loudly and firmly. “I would face him with no fear in my heart. I would do it. For the people I love. For my friends. I would face death itself if it meant I could save my loved ones. You transformed me. You know who I am, Saldivar.”

  Saldivar clapped Van on the back. “Yes, I do. I know you would do that, no questions asked. I would do the same for you, mon ami.” He glanced at the clock. “You have less than half an hour until you are to meet your future mate.”

  “How do you even know if she will be my future mate?”

  Saldivar shrugged. “I’m not psychic for nothing. As you said earlier: ‘it will all work out in the end’.”

  “I hope it is true.” Van slipped his black boots on, and headed out the front door.

  *

  “Raven! Wake up, you lazy excuse for a vampire.”

  Raven opened her black eyes. “Oh, father. I sprung from your loins. I have to say, I get it honestly.” She smiled deviously.

  “No. You get it from your human mother. May her rotted corpse rest in peace.” His voice held no sympathy for Raven’s deceased mother. He actually despised her. She was surprisingly willing to be injected with his DNA to see if she could get pregnant with a half-breed mutation. She must have been pretty desperate to have a baby. They result: his sorry, no-good daughter, Raven. She wasn’t even a full-blooded vampire. There was nothing worse in his book. He only did it for the money. It was a good thing they only needed his DNA. He didn’t want to have to touch the human woman, much less have sex with her.

  Raven’s black eyes flared with fire. “Don’t you dare talk about my mother! She gave birth to me. They only thing I’m sorry for is to be your offspring!” she said scathingly.

  She was rewarded with a harsh slap in the face. It stung, but by now, she was used to the abuse her father doled out. She brought a hand to her stinging cheek. She didn’t bristle too much like she used to. It was more humiliating than painful.

  “Now listen up, Raven,” Zane ground out. “You have to be on watch tonight. Van Pironẻ is meeting a human by the name of Simone Timms. Find out what you can. Blend if you have to.” He laughed dryly. “They one good thing about being your father is your quick ability to do things it takes most vampires decades to centuries to master.”

  He finished filling her in. “They will be at the Louvre Museum. Follow them,” he commanded.

  Raven stepped into her room, dressing in blue jeans and a lavender blouse. “What are you going to be doing in the meantime?” She asked from behind the door.

  Zane rolled his eyes in exasperation at having to answer her. “A family reunion of sorts.” His malicious smile always gave Raven the creeps. “You have a half brother, Raven. What of that?”

  Raven snorted, but was surprised nonetheless. She wondered what other poor human woman agreed to take his DNA this time. “I have a brother?”

  “Half! In a way. I transformed him,” he admitted haughtily.

  Raven was relieved Zane didn’t impregnate another poor soul. She managed to look unimpressed. “Whatever. Why didn’t you tell me about him? Afraid we’ll be one big happy family?” She laughed dryly.

  “His name is Saldivar,” he said, choosing to ignore her cheeky remark. “He is over eight hundred years old. Quite the adversary if we were to battle. Maybe you should have a go at him first,” he quipped, which Raven didn’t find the least bit funny.

  “You would just love it, wouldn’t you, Zane? Pit me and Saldivar against each other, hoping we would kill one another off? Then, you would be free of me.” She simpered melodramatically. “We both know what a huge burden I am to you.”

  Zane glared at her. “Oh, shut up, Raven. Do as I say,” he boomed.

  “Fine. Fine. I’m outta here.” Raven picked up her purse and left. She would have to feed quickly so she’d have plenty of time to spy. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered, given how crass Zane always treated her. But then, she knew why. Zane kept her from laboratories and mean doctors with strange probes. If they ever found her again, she would never be able to leave the clutches of those people and that hideous, sterile hospital. She shuttered. No way was she going back.

  But what Zane didn’t know was that she was working with the OVI. Mr. Hobbs agreed anonymity for information on vampires. And he protected his sources well. He was paid well enough to keep his mouth shut. And he would. He wouldn’t want to face the wrath of Raven if he breached that trust.

  Raven smirked impishly. She wasn’t her father’s daughter for nothing. She could keep secrets from him just as easily as he could from her.

  Raven scanned the back alleys. She managed to find an unsuspecting male. She’d feed quickly. No need to relax him. The abundance of alcohol he’d consumed earlier should work nicely. He certainly wouldn’t remember. He probably didn’t even know his own name right about now.

  She grabbed him and tapped a vein and drank, savoring his blood as it flowed warmly down her throat. She finished and then let the drunkard sink back down to the ground in a drunken stupor.

  Man, she thought, wiping her mouth when she finished feeding. She hoped she didn’t
get drunk. The man had downed enough alcohol for the both of them.

  She knew she would be fine, of course. Besides, she had work to do. Reluctantly, she headed for the Louvre Museum, not bothering to Blend or turn Invisible. She could only stay Invisible for twenty minutes at the most. It wouldn’t bode well to reappear in the museum. Van and Simone wouldn’t even notice she’d be there. She’ll walk around, sipping a cafẻ au lait, pretending to be engrossed in the archaic pieces of art, never letting on that she was eavesdropping. Zane would tell her she was taking unnecessary risks. Well, what he didn’t know………..

  She stopped at a vendor to get a coffee then walked through the museum’s doors.

  *

  Saldivar tread back and forth on Van’s hardwood floor. Were it carpeted, he would have left it threadbare by now.

  Something was amiss. He could feel it. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. The thought frustrated him. His psychic abilities were revered amongst vampires. He could normally pinpoint a problem or a solution to one rather nimbly. He could foresee things before they came to pass.

  Now all he could feel was a sense of prescience. His stomach felt like he had swallowed a boulder and a ton of bricks was resting on his shoulders.

  No, something wasn’t right. Something was coming. But from where?

  Not more than two minutes later, Saldivar heard a rustling outside Van’s front door.

  Odd. He didn’t feel a presence. But someone was there. He stared at the door, his gaze, steadfast. He saw a slip of folded paper slide under the door. It was just a piece of ordinary white writing paper but it seemed to stare at him, waiting for impending doom. He had a feeling that this was more than a slip of paper.

  Saldivar gradually made his way to the paper. He bent down, picked it up and unfolded it. He gasped. He was in complete shock as he read a poem called ‘Heart of Darkness’. He read aloud: