Twelve Shades of Midnight:

by Liliana Hart

  Appealing to my vanity and my sense of honor? That was low.

  The pair stood shivering in the cool night. Exhausted didn’t even begin to describe them. They were like two rag dolls, once loved but now kicked to the curb. They were dirt encrusted and knobby-kneed skinny. Baby wore a thin t-shirt and overalls two sizes too big while someone had altered Sage’s dress by cutting and tying two knots on each side of the waist. A normal, happy home life hadn’t been in their past, and I wasn’t sure I could offer anything close to that for their future.

  Anara’s beautiful face stared hopefully at me. She believed I was their best chance. What had I done to give her that impression?

  But more importantly, how did she know I wouldn’t say no?

  I moved closer to Anara, and my voice rattled in my chest with its intensity. “If I do this, you have to come clean. You have to tell me everything about you. Everything.”

  She looked over at the girls, dismay settling on her face. My demand had surprised her. It was a deal breaker for sure.

  And then she surprised me. “Okay. I’ll tell you everything, though I must warn you. You won’t like it.”

  I had to give her credit for taking the deal without a fuss. She stepped back to the girls and announced in a no nonsense voice, “This is Ryan. He’s going to take you to his house and take care of you.”

  Sage tucked Baby under her arm and pulled her close. “But you’re going too, right?”

  “I…” Anara glanced from the girls to me and then back again.

  The fear in the Sage’s eyes said it all. She didn’t trust me. Not yet.

  I flung my arm around Anara’s shoulders and showed them my bright, fangless smile. “Yep. She’s coming too. That’s definitely part of the deal.”

  The frustrated sigh that came out of Anara could have blown over a two thousand pound charging rhino, but she said exactly what the girls needed to hear. “Of course I’ll come. I promised…” Her lips thinned and she pressed them together, fighting to say what she didn’t want to say. She took a deep breath and shook off her hesitancy. “I promise to see you settled.” She bent and the moon glinted off her armor as she looked each girl in the eyes. “But I can’t stay. I have many responsibilities. You understand?”

  The pair nodded, their eyes wide and their mouths opened in awe. The oldest tried to sneak a peek at Anara’s back for some reason and Anara leaned close. “It’s our secret. Yes? Now go ready yourselves.”

  Someone wasn’t being upfront with me. As the girls collected their pathetically few belongings, I stepped near Anara and whispered in her ear, “Secrets make for cold friends.”

  Her lips fought not to smile, but failed. “We’re friends?”

  She didn’t have to sound so shocked. “Oh, we are definitely friends. Soon to be very good ones. You promised.”

  Her smile faded and she actually looked worried as she turned to oversee the girls. With a bedazzled backpack shaped like a flower riding high on her thin shoulders, Baby slipped away from her sister and grabbed my hand. I glanced down at her tiny fingers nestled within mine. She was a wisp of a girl. The monsters Boston harbored in its streets could so easily break her. I cocked my head and asked, “How old are you?”

  “Six and three quarters.”

  “You know fractions?” What was she, a math genius?

  “I know loads of stuff.”

  “Do you know everyone has a unique tongue print just like fingerprints?” I could be impressive when I wanted to be.

  It was her turn to cock her head at me, and she grinned ear to ear. “I like you. You’re weird.”

  “That’s…new.” Engaging. Charming. Sexy as hell. But I had never heard anyone say I was weird before.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “Well what?” I had a pretty firm gasp on the adult female mind. The little girl one? Not so much.

  “You’re supposed to say you like me too. Unless…” Her smile disappeared and a flash of uncertainty entered her soulful eyes. “Unless you don’t.”

  I swung her up into my arms and gave her the most serious look I possessed. “Baby, you’re so awesome, I can’t not like you. We’re going to be great friends.”

  All I had to do was keep her and Sage away from Beau until I could figure out what to do with them. Yeah. Simple.

  He was going to kill me.

  Chapter Six

  Anara

  “A car?” I’d never been in one. Though they’d been around for a hundred years, they didn’t look safe. “Can we not walk?”

  Ryan raised his eyebrows at me. “It’s the middle of the night and I don’t live close by.” He nodded toward the girls. “They’re exhausted.”

  He was right. Neither girl looked capable of walking to the end of the dock let alone to his house. “How long will you be gone?”

  “Not even thirty minutes.”

  A lot could happen in thirty minutes...

  “Stay here,” he directed as he started to move down the dock. “I’ll be back before you know it.” He pulled out his phone and glanced at me. “What’s your number?”

  “I don’t have a phone.” I had little use for one. Who would I call? Everyone important to me had died hundreds of years ago. Ryan and the girls were the first humans I’d ever allowed to get within talking distance of me. My goal had always been to surprise and instill awe, then save and leave as quickly as possible, doing it all without ever interacting on a personal level. I’d gotten remarkably good at the technique.

  Ryan stared at me as if I’d said something completely incomprehensible. “You don’t have a phone? Everyone has a phone. There’s a kid in my neighborhood who isn’t even eight, and she’s got a phone.”

  I blinked at him. “I’m wearing armor. Where do you expect me to keep a phone?”

  I’d invited his scrutiny, and now I regretted it. Under his gaze I felt exposed. I hadn’t had a man look at me so intently in over a hundred years.

  “In your…under your…” He sighed. “Nevermind. Just don’t leave the area.”

  “We will stay until we’re forced to leave.”

  “Don’t draw attention to yourself.” He frowned. “What am I saying? You’re going to draw attention to yourself because you look like…” He sighed even harder. “Just be nice, then no one will force you to leave.”

  I was pretty sure he didn’t mean that in a complimentary manner. What did he mean by nice? I was always nice until I was forced not to be nice.

  As Ryan walked away, the girls moved to stand on either side of me, creating a sensation of claustrophobia. I wasn’t used to being so close to another person let alone two smaller ones. My muscles tensed as if I would take flight any second. I had to force myself to relax.

  “I’m tired,” Baby announced. Her little face puckered and she wilted like a sunflower deprived of light. She was a bit overly dramatic, but she got her point across.

  I glanced around the area. Unless we got back inside a boat, there was no place to rest. Outside the marina, there was a tree-dotted park with benches. I headed down the dock and called over my shoulder, “Come.”

  Baby yawned and dragged her feet as Sage pulled her after me.

  “You’re kinda bossy,” Sage informed me as we flopped onto a bench under an old oak tree. Baby immediately laid her head on my lap and closed her eyes.

  “I am decisive. It’s a good attribute.”

  “Only when you say please and thank you. Otherwise it’s just rude.”

  My people skills were a bit rusty. Maybe I hadn’t been the most gracious person since I’d met them. “Forgive my manners. I shall endeavor to be more courteous.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to be nicer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I like you.”

  I stared at her open, honest face. It was the first time someone had said they liked me in over five hundred years. A warm sensation settled around my heart and I liked the feeling. Minutes ticked by. Darkness deepened, and the sound of wate
r lapping at the boats lulled us into a sense of security.

  A very attractive couple strolled by, stopped and glanced back at us. I scowled their way. The woman whispered to the man and they approached.

  “We don’t need your help,” I said, and then remembered to be nicer like Sage requested. “Please. Move on.”

  “Those aren’t your children, are they?”

  Sage laced her fingers between mine. She felt threatened. Her instincts were good. Something about them told me they weren’t a normal couple out for a late night stroll. I squeezed her fingers and said, “They are in my care. I suggest you back away.”

  “I don’t think they’re her children,” the man repeated.

  I pulled free of Sage’s grasp and gently pushed Baby off my lap. She woke up, blinking and yawning. “Is he back yet?”

  I stood, no longer interested in being polite. “Leave.”

  The woman smiled, and a nice set of fangs winked at me. “Those girls are ours.”

  Sage gasped and Baby whimpered. I ignored the girls, my attention firmly on the vampires in front of me. I acted as if I was going to turn away, and then quickly pulled out my silver dagger and slit the male vampire’s throat. He clutched his neck, surprised at what I’d done, and I drove the blade to the hilt into the female. Where once she stood, ash floated to the ground. I turned on him and ended his existence as well.

  The girls screamed, and Baby kept repeating, “Ryan said to be nice.”

  “I am nice,” I snapped.

  The lights in the park popped off one by one. Baby started to cry, great big sobs that shook her whole body. How had they found the girls so quickly?

  Sage called over Baby’s crying, “What’s happening?”

  I didn’t have time to explain. I scooped Baby into my arms and yelled at Sage to follow. I made for the biggest, tallest tree and shoved the girls into its branches. “Climb.”

  “I’ll fall,” Baby whined, her small chest jerking to find her breath.

  Sage pointed toward the other side of the park. “Those aren’t humans, are they?”

  I glanced to where she indicated and saw a group moving too quickly and stealthily for a normal stroll in the park. I pulled out my other sword and called up to them. “Get as high as you can. And don’t come down unless I call you.”

  They helped each other up the tree, and I faced my unholy enemy. Their mother hadn’t been over exaggerating how much the vampires wanted her daughters. I’d never seen them go to such lengths to capture someone.

  The first one ran full speed toward me, fangs bared, nails bent into claws. I stepped aside and used her momentum to slam her head into the tree trunk. The girls screamed as the tree shook from the impact. A quick stab and she turned to dust. The next met a similar ashy fate. After I killed the third, it became clear they had expected to find two lost and desperate children, not a full grown woman who had lethal skills with a sword. As I forced a woman up against the tree, I knew more of her kind weren’t far off.

  I pressed the tip of my sword over her heart. I had one important question I wanted answered. “Why do you want them? They are too young to turn.”

  She laughed. “You know what we are. We take our power from blood, and innocent, pure and untouched blood is the most powerful of all. It doesn’t matter what you do or where you go, our mistress won’t stop hunting them.”

  Their mistress was hunting children? It would be a rare find. There weren’t that many innocent children wandering the streets at night for the vampires to find. No wonder they were desperate to have the girls. “You’re willing to kill the innocent for…magic?” I could barely comprehend such a wicked act.

  “And power,” she admitted freely and then whispered throatily, “and the thrill.”

  My jaw clenched, disgust by their blood lust. She saw and narrowed her eyes. “Be careful judging what you know nothing about. My choice set me free from a life that was a living hell.”

  “Serving someone who doesn’t care if you live or die? That’s not living.”

  “And what you do is better?”

  How dare she compare us. “I don’t kill for the thrill. I protect others from monsters like you. Like your mistress. If anyone deserves to die, it’s her.” I pushed my sword threateningly. “Who is she? Where does she hide? Tell me and I will let you live.”

  She shook her head and smiled. “You won’t find her, but even if you do, you’ll never be able to touch her. She’s surrounded by too many of us.”

  “It’s either you tell me or you die.”

  Her smile widened. “Death is just another doorway to another life.” She suddenly grabbed the blade and shoved it into her own heart.

  Her ashes exploded in my face, and I jerked back, surprised by what she’d done.

  “Anara!” the girls screamed together.

  I whipped around and saw three more vampires coming our way, this time armed, and after seeing me kill their friends, they were hungry for revenge.

  Chapter Seven

  Ryan

  Anara didn’t have a cell phone. “What kind of person runs around at night without a phone?” I grumbled to myself. Didn’t she have friends? Did no one wonder what she did after strapping on that ridiculous armor? Sure, she had talent in a Nordic, barbarian, killer way—that was obvious—but she’d been lucky so far. It was a miracle she hadn’t gotten hurt.

  Beau’s old European junker squealed through a left turn as I raced back to the marina. He would kill me if he knew I’d taken his car. I forced myself to slow down. No doubt all sorts of car parts were falling onto the road by now.

  I’d taken too long. Leaving Anara and the girls near a known vampire hot spot to fetch the car didn’t sit well with me. Sweat rolled down my temple and popped along my upper lip. The bad feeling in my stomach wouldn’t go away.

  I turned onto Muger Way near the Marina and I peered toward a common area full of trees. I couldn’t see a thing. Only dark and really dark. The street lights along the road were on, but the lights in the common area surrounding the marina were off. Not good.

  I stepped on the gas and cut off the car behind me as I jumped the curb and spun the steering wheel. The tires dug into the soft grass for a second and then spit the car forward.

  Off to my left, the Charles River flowed blue-black. A flash of light coming from a nearby group of trees crossed my vision. It was Anara. The moon touched her armor, splitting its light like tiny laser beams. It drew monsters to her like moths to an electric bug zapper.

  I swung the car around several trees and didn’t see the guy running. One minute the way was clear, the next I had to slam on the brakes. The man jumped on top of the hood and snarled into the windshield, baring his fangs and gripping the wiper well. Two perfectly matched indents graced the hood.

  Beau was going to rip me to shreds.

  I flipped the windshield wipers on and watched them skin the vamps knuckles. “Dude!” I shouted. “Get off the hood!”

  He snatched one of the wipers and ripped it off; the hate on his face made my insides twist. I struggled to unbuckle my seatbelt, but the damn thing was twisted. He smirked at my dilemma, pulled out a cell phone and punched in a number. It stung to see him ignore me, like I wasn’t a threat. A few short sentences later he hung up, and whipped his head to where Anara fought off a couple of his buddies. His eyes narrowed on her.

  I finally got the seatbelt unlatched and turned to see what was happening. The air around Anara gleamed with ash—most likely ash from the friends of the guy squatting on my hood. A tight-lipped growl rose before he jumped off and headed her way.

  I struggled out of the car and waved Anara over, yelling, “Get in.”

  She shook her head, the braids pinging against her armor, and continued to stand her ground as she fought, not giving an inch of territory. Her ferociousness made my heart skip a beat.

  I’d dreamed of meeting a woman like her. Someone I didn’t have to explain every nuance of my existence to, someone who knew the
horrors and knew how to fight them. It almost didn’t feel real.

  Her bravery galvanized me forward. I searched for the girls. Anara would have hidden them in the shadows, but the harder I looked and without success, the stronger my doubts became. Had they been taken?

  My search drew a few vamps toward me. I palmed my wooden stake and collected a fine layer of ash on my clothes. That bad feeling started to grip my stomach. There was absolutely no sign of the girls. I called to Anara, and again she blew me off. I don’t know why, but I looked up and there, high in the tree were the girls, quietly clinging to the branches like terrified monkeys.

  I jerked my sword free and ran toward Anara. Swords flashing, we ashed the remaining vamps, but not before one scored a hit to my head. A nice, clean slice that hurt like hell and bled like I was hemorrhaging to death. Getting hurt definitely soured my mood.

  With one hand on the wound, I used the other to fan away the ash and glared at Anara. “I’m pretty sure one of them called for backup. What happened?”

  Anara glared back before helping Sage down. “They found us.”

  “Why did you leave us for so long?” Sage asked, her irritation clearly visible.

  I peered into the tree and saw Baby’s tear-stained cheeks. I held out my arms. “We have to go. Come on.”

  Her gaze latched onto the blood covering my hand. “I want my mommy.”

  Sage took a swipe at Baby’s dangling foot, but she was too short to reach it. “Stop being stupid. Mommy’s dead. You know that.” The sound of running reached us, and Sage grabbed Anara’s hand, her voice high with fear. “They’re coming back! Come on, let’s go…”

  The poor kid was quickly spinning towards a panic attack. I glanced at Anara. “Go to the car. We’ll be right behind you.” Turning back to Baby, I urged her to jump. “I’ll catch you. I promise.”

  Her gaze switched to my wound and she backed up. “You’re hurt. They got you. You’re one of them now.”