Darkest Hours

by S. K. Yule

  He kept a discreet distance as he followed Blondie, trying to come up with other explanations as to why she had seen him while shielded. This had to be a joke his brother was playing on him. Ashe was the oldest of his siblings. Aldin was next to oldest and held an aura of quiet and lethal intenseness. At times his brother was unsettling and reminded him of a wild animal ready to pounce at any moment. Estril was the youngest and the only girl. She was the light, laughter and everything pure in the Aleksandrov household. Then, there was Aiston, the third youngest. Aiston lived to irritate the hell out of his siblings and loved to chase anything in a skirt.

  Aiston had come to the conclusion long ago that playing jokes and pranks on Ashe was one of his missions in life. He felt it would help his big bro be more carefree like him. However, this particular prank would prove on the cruel side even for Aiston, yet he didn’t want to accept the other possibility. There was no way Blondie could be meant for him. He couldn’t go through another betrayal.

  He settled on blaming his brother for the time being.

  Blondie must really be another vampire, and Aiston had found a way to disguise her as a human. Ashe didn’t know of any such thing ever happening, but who else could find a way if not his crafty, pain in the ass brother? He was going to follow Blondie back to her destination, and he bet his brother would be there waiting to reward her for her good deed.

  He was going to catch Aiston in the middle of this little farce, kick his prank playing ass all the way back to the estate, and make sure he felt guilty enough to leave him alone for a long time. Not having to worry about his brother’s irritating interferences for a while would be a luxury in itself. A slow smile crept across his face as he quietly continued his pursuit.

  * * * *

  The drudge followed close behind Ashe. The Master’s mind link kept its presence shielded from the vampire. The drudge was very careful of any betraying thoughts and did exactly as The Master wanted or the consequences could be extremely dire. Had the little blonde not come into the picture, the drudge was sure The Master would have called a halt to the surveillance for the day.

  The drudge knew The Master’s curiosity would have been assuaged had the vampire’s encounter with Blondie ended in the alley. But, since Ashe showed enough interest to follow the human home, curiosity had quickly turned to rage. The vampire had probably just signed the girl’s death warrant by merely showing a little interest, for the drudge knew The Master would not allow such a thing. Stupid, stupid, man.

  “The girl must not be allowed to interfere with my plans.” The Master’s voice interrupted the excited, begging, whimpering, boiling thoughts pleading for a chance to inflict pain.

  “Bring her to me unharmed.” The command was final.

  Disappointment flared, and anger ensued. The Master took away every opportunity for fun. It would have been nice to torture the human a little, to hear her scream for mercy as she was tormented for hours. She deserved it. Everyone deserved it. Why should anyone be happy after the horrifying life forced upon me? Setting in to wait for the right time to ambush the girl, the figure crouched, unmoving . . . waiting.

  Death would have been preferable to the horrible abomination The Master had made the drudge into so many years ago . . . too many years ago. Being a slave to a vampire was not exactly a gift, especially when you were thought of as ignorant, worthless and dispensable at any moment. Quality of life was knocked down a few notches when you were looked at in the same manner as something unwanted scraped off the bottom of a shoe.

  The countless years had proved useful in mastering the skills of deception and the ability to mask and hide true emotions at any time. The Master’s ignorance of the drudge’s true intentions gave intense pleasure. Who was the ignorant one after all? Revenge had a way of pumping life even into the soulless. Yes, all the relentless hell The Master had meted out over the years without sympathy would be worth it. Revenge was within grasp now. The chance would be coming soon, and this time nothing would stand in the way. Ashe Aleksandrov would die.

  Chapter Three

  Ebony slowly walked along the gray sidewalk that ran parallel to the pretty picket fence lining her front yard. The whole week she spent last summer stripping off the old paint and repainting the fence crisp white had been worth it. Avril had helped, and they had taken frequent breaks, sitting on her shaded porch fending off the humid day with huge, sweaty glasses of ice-cold lemonade. Memories such as those would live forever in her mind. Yeah, too bad forever is getting cut very short. She snorted at the irony and refused to allow the tears clouding her vision to fall.

  She hadn’t much extra money to fix up the old Victorian house and felt it her duty to tackle any job she thought herself capable, and a few that turned out to be a little too challenging. She had envisioned each improvement down to its last detail and made sure each job was done exact before starting the next.

  It had taken her two weeks to find the unique shade of pale blue paint on the house, and the burgundy color on the shutters that complimented the color perfectly. A local handyman had prepped the house then she, with Avril’s help of course, had painted it. It took her a whole month to get it perfect and complete. Unfortunately, right at this moment, the countless days she had spent on the house seemed such a waste. She hoped whoever ended up with her house after she was gone appreciated all of the work she had put into it.

  She shuffled along the walkway that led up to her porch and dug her keys out of her pocket. She bent down to pat the head of the huge, yellow tomcat with green eyes that hung around. Of course, that might have something to do with the scraps of food she handed out to him on a regular basis.

  “Hello big boy. How are you today?” The cat arched and rubbed against Ebony’s hand, and she smiled as his soft fur tickled her skin. That would mark the second time today that a male had distracted her from her problems. Giving the cat one last pat, she straightened and unlocked the door.

  She set her keys on the side table inside the entryway after she shut and locked the door. She was probably the only one in town that actually locked her doors. She kicked off her shoes and decided to have a quick shower before fixing dinner, which would probably consist of some frozen concoction being thrown in the microwave. Her walk through the cozy living room with pale green walls, ivory lace curtains, dark stained wood floors and color coordinated furniture, was suddenly interrupted as a fist curled painfully in her hair and wrenched her backward. She gasped, was then pushed forward and started falling as a scream bubbled up from her throat and pierced the air. She threw her hands out to break her fall a little too late as her face hit the floor with enough force to make her eyes water. What she could only assume was a knee, pushed hard into the middle of her back, imprisoning her.

  Ebony fought to turn her head, but the brutal fist pushing her cheek hard into the floor was relentless, holding her seemingly with no effort. Terror engulfed her body and spurred another scream to bubble in her throat as she tried to wiggle and buck the person off her back, desperate for escape. But before the piercing sound could erupt, her head was yanked back, and a cold hand slammed over her mouth.

  “Don’t fight me, or better yet, please do.”

  The words drifted heavy in the air, so close to her ear, warm breath fanned across her cheek, the sound so cold and menacing Ebony froze. The fear inside screamed at her to bite, claw, kick, get away! Yet common sense and the threatening voice triggered instinct that warned doing so could get her hurt . . . or worse. If she had had any inclination her day would be so horrible, she would have never gotten out of bed this morning. She hadn’t thought it could possibly get any worse after the doctor’s visit, but she had been terribly mistaken.

  “Tsk, tsk, I like it better when I have to force compliance. Don’t you have a little fight in you? I would so enjoy teaching you obedience, human.”

  Though it was hard to define the gravelly whisper, Ebony was positive her attacker was a woman, and she found it strange to be referred to as hu
man. No matter, if she didn’t figure out a way to get free soon, she had a feeling the cancer wouldn’t be what killed her. Think, Ebony, think. Genius she wasn’t, but she valued herself as being more than passably intelligent, yet her mind remained paralyzed by the situation and struggled to come up with any ideas.

  How could this woman be so strong? She had barely moved when Ebony had struggled with all her strength to get free. Maybe she’s hyped up on drugs. If that was so the whole situation just became scarier, if that was possible. Before she had a chance to think on that scenario further, the voice grated in her ear once again, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

  “I’m going to take my hand off your mouth now, and I promise you, if you scream, it will be the last thing you hear as I slit your throat from ear to ear. Do you understand?” Before Ebony could nod, the woman shifted off her back, apparently satisfied she had adequately threatened her into silence. The fist painfully tightened in her hair a second before she was pulled up, her back to her attacker’s front. “Now we are going on a little trip. My Master wants to meet you.”

  “Please!” Ebony cried. “If you want money I can give you money o-or just take w-whatever you want.” She didn’t want to leave the house with this woman. She knew statistics proved that anytime a person was taken from their house or car against their will, it usually proved a bad outcome for the poor victim. She didn’t want to die this way. She didn’t want Avril to get a call to come and identify the body of her best friend.

  “You stupid human! I don’t want money or anything else in your repulsive little house. I’m just doing what I was told which you should be thankful for because I assure you had I no instructions, you would be screaming in agony at this very moment.”

  What was the deal with the human referral again? Ebony frantically searched the room for something, anything to fend this woman off. It seemed useless, but she couldn’t give up. Suddenly the front door exploded and splintered small chips of wood throughout the entryway and living room. Oh god! Now what?

  * * * *

  A piercing scream shredded the peaceful air and startled the hell out of Ashe. Heart pumping he shot off in a blurred speed toward Blondie’s front door.

  After smashing the front door in, he calmly surveyed the scene unfolding before him and was upon Blondie and her attacker in two steps. With age-old instinct, he dropped to the floor and kicked his leg out in a clean sweep that had them both pitching headlong to the floor, landing in a sprawl. The impact of the fall was jarring enough to cause the release of Blondie’s hair, and she let out a cry of relief for her freedom.

  In an instant Ashe was back on his feet, and pulled his trusty sword from the scabbard strapped to his back, camouflaged perfectly by his black trench coat. He lunged at the cloaked figure, swinging the razor sharp blade in a deadly arc only to slice through air as his target vanished a split-second before contact. His senses had warned him Blondie’s attacker was immortal, and now the opportunity to remove the threat once and for all was gone. Dammit!

  He initially thought a shadow drifter was attacking Blondie. He assumed that when she had stumbled upon him in the alleyway earlier, the drifter he had been hunting must have observed their encounter and then seen Ashe following her. Taking out a human associated with him would be a honey-coated opportunity since he was dedicated to protecting humans from drifters and well-hated among them. No drifter would pass up a chance for any type of violence, especially one that had even a slight possibility of annoying a hunter.

  This had been no shadow drifter. In fact, he wasn’t sure what it was. He wasn’t able to see its features being cloaked in black from head to toe. Sighing, he knew it would now be his responsibility to protect Blondie until this whole mess was under control. After all, a mere human didn’t have a chance against an immortal, much less an evil immortal.

  He turned to find Blondie sitting on the floor, resembling a deer caught in headlights, but even that couldn’t detract from her beauty. Her eyes were enormous, clear pools of green, and her mouth moved as if to speak but remained silent. He walked toward her after putting his sword away and held his hand out to help her up only to witness her crab-walk backward away from him after her mouth snapped shut. Her fear lashed at him with tiny invisible fists. He stopped and crouched slowly in front of her, hands up in surrender and spoke softly to her.

  “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. Let me help you up.” Again, he held his hand out toward her. He knew by the way her cool green eyes assessed him that she was not sure if she could trust him, and he couldn’t blame her under the circumstances. He tried to keep his voice soft and reassuring. “Come on. Take my hand. I just want to help.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief when her eyes flashed recognition, and she took a deep breath and reached for him. He nearly smiled at the way his bigger hand engulfed her tiny one. She shivered at his touch, and he wondered if she could sense the upcoming upheaval of her small world of reality. He pulled her to her feet gently then made sure she was steady before releasing her.

  He ignored the fact that once again simple contact from this unknown woman had sent a current crawling through his skin. Teasing long lost feelings and coaxing them back to life. Her green eyes stared into his turquoise ones, and his heart missed a beat.

  Ebony blinked several times. “Who are you? Why are you here? Did my attacker just vanish? What the hell is going on?”

  She cautiously watched him and waited for answers, chin jutted out in defiance. He admired her courage, situation considered, but was a little amused by it as well. He didn’t think she’d appreciate the latter and hid any sign of it by clearing his throat before answering her questions.

  “My name is Ashe Aleksandrov, I’m here saving you, yes your attacker vanished, and I haven’t a clue yet.” He studied her, hands on his hips.

  He knew she was going to have a hard time with the vanishing bit and could tell she was mulling this information around by the way her small, white teeth chewed on her bottom lip and her brows drew together. Too bad, he thought it best for her to know a little about what she was dealing with right off so she would know the danger she now faced. Maybe if she knew, she wouldn’t fight him as hard when he informed her that she would be staying with him until he figured this mess out. Yeah, right. If he knew one thing about women it was that they never made anything easy.

  Even though he tried to respect other people’s privacy he read her mind. Her thoughts were typical. She knew it was not possible for someone to just disappear into thin air and looked at him like he was an alien or just plain crazy.

  “Yes, it is and no, I’m not on both counts. So get used to it.”

  Her eyes widened. He knew the sound of his voice floating around in her brain would rattle her already frazzled nerves.

  “No, you’re not hallucinating, and there are things you are going to learn that will be hard for you to understand, but you must try.”

  Her eyes widened farther, and she took a small step back. “How are you doing that? Are you some kind of psychic or ventriloquist or something?”

  “Yeah or something.” He ran his fingers through his thick black hair, contemplating pulling it out. First, tell me your name, and then I will explain a few things to you while you go get packed.” Ashe glanced around the house and immediately headed for a door leading off the living room that he correctly guessed to be her bedroom.

  Ebony followed Ashe and watched as he grabbed a couple of duffel bags then threw them on her bed. “My name is Ebony, Ebony White.” Her teeth clenched. Wait, what did he say? She marched over to him and poked her finger in his chest. “What do you mean while I get packed? I’m not going anywhere, and what do you think you are doing in my bedroom going through my closet?”

  He quirked a brow at her name but figured she probably had had her fill of remarks about it and decided to keep quiet. “Well, Ebony White, I suggest you get whatever you need for a possible lengthy stay at my estate.” He knew she
was angry and would have found it amusing at another time, but right now he just wanted to get her to safety.

  She caught a laugh before it had time to escape. “Are you crazy? I don’t even know you, and you think I’m just going to your estate. I don’t think so. I’ll make a report to the police, and I will be just fine on my own. Now, please leave.” Ebony crossed her arms in front of her chest and moved from the doorway to make room for him to go by, but he remained exactly where he was. “Don’t look at me with that smug look. Leave.”

  “We’ve already been through the crazy bit and again, no I’m not. Ebony, I’m not leaving, and you won’t be fine on your own.”

  “I have been fine—”

  He took one intimidating step toward her, sufficiently cutting her protest short. “You will pack, and you will be staying with me until I figure this mess out. What did you plan on telling the police? Your attacker just vanished? Do you think the police will believe that one? You can’t even describe him.” Ashe was trying to be patient, but the need to get her out of here gnawed at his gut and increased in intensity with every minute.