Resisting Darkness

by Kate Wendley

  Isaiah must have been with her for some time. He usually took a lover closer to his human age, which was only a year younger than Anthony’s human age of thirty three. His father was a devoted man, though, and had always seen his relationships with women through to the very end of their natural lives. Everyone except for Anthony’s mother, but that was another story, and well before his father had turned vampire.

  Anthony somewhat tersely said, “Friends of my father are of course welcome in my home.” Knowing his father would expect no less, and seeing no harm in the social courtesies of the old days, he reached for the woman’s hand and laid a chaste kiss on her knuckles.

  She was tense at his touch, so he quickly released her, though she couldn’t seem to take her curious eyes off him. Most people were like that when they saw Anthony and his father together. Their resemblance to each other in looks and in the sound of their voices was just too similar. It had long ago become a boring point of topic for him.

  He turned to the other shifters and less meaningfully said, “And I welcome you as well.” He took a step back and gestured to the door. “If you don’t mind, I’d like a word alone with my father. Perhaps Bethany would be kind enough to show you all around. I’ll make sure you have guards on you due to the nature of unrest here tonight.”

  Bethany looked daggers at him for daring to tell her to do something, even if she would’ve done it anyway. She quickly covered her disdain and said in a tone as if it were her idea, “Daphne, you must come see our library. There’s a lovely view from there.” She stood as if she were bored with the current conversation, then turned to the shifter bodyguards. “Come along if you like. Perhaps there will be something there you like as well.”

  Anthony was forever tired of Bethany’s snobbish ways. She’d tried to come on to him once, insisting she’d be a good Queen to him, assuming him a King after his father left all those years ago. She hadn’t even tried to hide the fact that she found him hideous because of his disfiguring scar on his face. Since that night when he rebuffed her, she’d been nothing but snide to him, but he couldn’t find it in himself to punish her for her attitude since she hadn’t actually done anything to break any of his rules.

  It had always been harder for him to keep women vampires in line, though. He didn’t put up with insults from the men in his family, but he’d been raised to never lay a hand on a woman. He liked to think that just because he could be a cold blooded killer, he still had some morals. He hoped, anyway.

  Tonight he felt mentally tired as he watched her, then flicked a glance at the bodyguards. “If you’ll be staying in Atlanta, I suggest you have a discussion with Sebastian. He’d be your alpha, even if you remain a loner as far as choosing a family.”

  The guards all stood up and it was immediately obvious who the leader was. He was a little taller than Anthony and much more muscular. His face was chiseled with hard lines, and his eyes seemed to catch everything. He also seemed like he was trying to intimidate Anthony, as pointless an exercise tonight as it’d been last night.

  He said in a harsh voice, “My assignment isn’t done here. I’ll stay with Isaiah, the others will stay on Daphne.”

  Anthony would laugh in his face if he weren’t so irritated. “I appreciate your determination, but I assure you my father doesn’t need your protection. You’re free to join Daphne and Bethany on their tour of the building, so long as you abide by the rules of the complex.” Anthony let just a little of his power seep out and said in a more bitter tone, “If there will be trouble tonight, I’ll throw you out myself.”

  The man fought a grimace of pain, and Isaiah popped out of his chair. “Gentlemen, gentlemen. Please. Walker, I’m quite fine here. My son and I should have some privacy. Please watch over Daphne. Our agreement is still intact with this minor change. I assure you.”

  Anthony pulled his power back and heard quiet gasps from others in the room, but he didn’t take his eyes off the man named Walker. The shifter didn’t look happy, but finally gave a sharp head nod before leaving with the group.

  Anthony waited patiently for the room to clear, then closed the door. He used his power to create a sound barrier before turning back to his father.

  They watched each other for a time. This office had been considered Isaiah’s office for far longer than it’d been Anthony’s, and his father’s desk had been the one Anthony now used as his own.

  Memories came rushing back of his father sitting in that very spot, going over ledgers for their investments and the companies they either owned or were partners in. He and his father both worked extremely hard on keeping business going and making sure they had enough money to support the family in order to make this community work. But Anthony had also had to act as his father’s assistant much of the time over all those years, and now that he’d been his own Master for so long, he didn’t want to go back to their old arrangement.

  He stepped across the small room and half sat on the other desk. He crossed his arms and said, “We have a problem. Ethan’s family is still very upset with you.”

  His father leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms as well. “We haven’t spoken in over seventy five years and you want to talk about my Maker?”

  He unintentionally flinched. “It’s not my fault we haven’t spoken.”

  Isaiah studied him, which only irritated Anthony even more than he already was. “I didn’t want you to feel like I was checking up on you. I wanted you to have space to become your own Master. I kept in touch with a few others, though, just in case.”

  “Who?”

  Isaiah waved it away. “It doesn’t matter. I just wanted to be sure you were getting by.”

  “And who’s opinion would you trust enough for that?”

  Isaiah cocked his head. “Alistair. Benicio. Bethany.”

  Anthony curled his lip and practically spat, “Bethany. Please.”

  Isaiah looked wholly confused. “She’s a bright woman.”

  “She’s a heartless, manipulative−”

  “Watch your tongue.”

  Anthony stared flatly at his father. “A lot’s happened during your time away. Things have changed. I’ve changed.”

  “I can see that. I can feel that. I’m sorry I hurt that human woman you’re so attached to, but I’m extremely disappointed you feel like you need to create thralls. It needs to end. Tell me how many others you’ve created.”

  “What are you talking about? She’s not my thrall.”

  Isaiah tiredly scoffed. “Oh really? You’re telling me you’ve never given her any of your blood? You haven’t bespelled her to make her your obedient servant?”

  He glared in growing fury at his father. “That’s what I’m telling you.”

  Scornful disbelief filled his features. “Look at her. She’s sickly and was walking freely among the supernaturals at the club. No one even batted an eye that she was there. And then she claimed to love you, a vampire. Everything about that tells me she’s a thrall.” He shook his head and said in a patronizing tone, “You don’t need to deny it, son. I’m here now. We’ll take of the situation together.”

  Anthony clenched his fists. “The woman I love gets the flu and you assume the only way she could love me is if she’s my thrall? Now I understand why you and Bethany are friends.”

  Isaiah looked shocked. “Son, no. That’s not what I−”

  Anthony popped up from the desk he was sitting on. “Save it. You know nothing about me anymore.” He paced the small room, then turned back to his father. “Are you staying?”

  “What?”

  “Are you staying. In Atlanta.”

  After watching him for a time, Isaiah said, “If you want me to leave, just say so.”

  Anthony gave him a look. “I didn’t say that. I’m simply asking a question.”

  “And if I said yes?”

  He clenched his jaw, then tried to relax. “That is, of course, up to you.”

  There was silence between them again.

  Fin
ally Isaiah said, “You’re wondering if I’d like to claim the Master role again.”

  Anthony didn’t say anything to that.

  Isaiah more quietly asked, “Would you let me?”

  He frowned and clenched his jaw again.

  “No, I thought not.” Isaiah sighed. “I hadn’t planned on returning just yet, but now that I’m here, that’s not what I want.”

  “What do you want?”

  He took a deep breath, then stood up. “I’ve been gone a long time. Things have changed, as you said. I’d like to get to know the family again. I’d like to get to know my son again. If you’ll let me. I almost lost you last night. You scared me.”

  Anthony suddenly felt like he did all those years ago when his father finally appeared in his life. He’d been told as a child that his father died before he’d even been born, so seeing him for the first time as an adult had been unbelievable. He’d been so incredibly thankful to have actual family back in his life that he’d gone out of his way to please him in those early days.

  Having him back now almost felt like meeting him again for the first time, except things were different now because Anthony was different. And he wasn’t so eager to do whatever his father asked anymore. Still, this was his true family, so he reluctantly stepped into his open arms.

  His father gave him a good squeeze. “It’s good to see you, son.”

  Anthony pat him on the back. “It’s good to see you too, father.” Regardless of the issues they might still have between them, it did feel good to know his father still cared about him.

  **

  Harmony tried her best to continue showing interest as the night wore on and Ethan, Seth and Nala all talked about their lives apart following Sonya’s death. For as fierce of a Master Vampire Ethan obviously was, it sounded like he’d really enjoyed living the married life and spending time with their friends. It made them all seem like unusually decent people.

  An image of Ethan’s hand plunged inside Anthony’s chest roared through her mind, reminding her that being decent for a vampire was an entirely different thing than being a decent human. Still, Ethan had left Anthony alive, and his father. And even before that he’d been making plans for how to keep his family safe in case something happened to him.

  Her eyes trailed over his face, down the contours of his strong jaw, and just took him in. Listening to them all talk, you’d think Ethan had been like a normal, human family man. Knowing that he was also a powerful Master Vampire made his personality all the more complex. In her experience, when vampires had a lot of power, they tended to get greedy about it and actively sought out ways to either show it off, or get more. But Ethan seemed perfectly happy being able to live a good life with his family and friends.

  None of them went into specifics about what happened right after Sonya’s death, but the gist was that Ethan was so distraught that he pushed all his friends away, then numbly went through life focusing on whatever would distract him from his grief. That’s how he became closer friends with Christopher, someone he’d never gotten to know very well before. They partnered up and worked like mad making money together, leaving little time for anything else in their lives.

  Harmony quickly lost interest in the stories. It was Sonya this, Sonya that, and never a bad word about her. Not that it would be nice to say bad things about a dead person, but it was painfully obvious that Ethan had much deeper feelings for Sonya than he did for her.

  And she sat facing the television set all night, where Sonya’s memorial painting hung right above it. When her attention wandered, which happened more and more as the night turned into early morning, her gaze kept going back to it. The longer they all sat here talking and reminiscing, the more she hated that painting. Even though Christopher said it looked nothing like the real Sonya, Harmony now had that image cemented in her mind and had no other reference for what she really looked like. Currently she was a beautiful angel with a world of emotion in her eyes as butterflies danced around her in the night.

  Nala caught her eye a couple times and tried to draw Harmony into the conversation, but Ethan and Seth didn’t seem to be as aware of the fact that she was the odd man out of this group as they kept talking over her whenever she tried to add anything to the conversation. They were all just so excited to see each other again that they didn’t seem to be aware of their manners or the passing hours.

  Finally, when Nala realized the sun would be up soon, she blessedly told the group they needed to stop.

  Ethan said, “Stay here tonight. There’s a free apartment in the building next door. Please. You belong here, not at Anthony’s.”

  Seth and Nala went quiet, then Seth finally said the thing no one had brought up all night. “We had no idea Isaiah was the one, Ethan. I met him for the first time in Seattle, about a month and a half ago. I was going to work with his investment group on a commercial redevelopment deal, but he suddenly pulled out and said he was traveling back to Atlanta. We’d heard so much about this place, especially about the abundance of blood volunteers, that I immediately asked if we could come along.”

  Ethan waved it away even though the topic obviously irritated him. “You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”

  **

  Ethan felt emotional as he showed Seth and Nala to the spare apartment next door. Harmony stayed behind while he did, which gave him a little alone time with his friends.

  Nala said, “She’s beautiful, Ethan. A lovely, feisty woman. We’re so happy for you.”

  He smiled. “Thank you. We’re still getting to know each other. It’s a very new relationship.”

  Nala gave him a look. “You could’ve fooled me. You two seem so in sync.”

  He lightly chuckled. “That’s the thing that’s surprising to us both, I suppose.”

  They hugged goodnight and Ethan left his friends with a smile on his face.

  Chapter 19

  Anthony waited at the end of the vampire hall for his father. Kaia was at home tonight, by his request, even though he wished she were here. He’d barely seen her in the last week or so, and didn’t like spending another night away from her, but tomorrow was the Thanksgiving holiday. She’d have the rest of the week off from work and could then stay here with him, where he preferred her to be.

  It was another half hour before his father made his entrance. He looked like his usual regal, confident self with Daphne beside him on his arm. Anthony didn’t know how he pulled off being so sure of himself, especially after coming home to a beating in front of the entire family. To his credit, he hadn’t tried to make excuses for killing Ethan’s lover, even in the face of more beatings. He’d been direct and honest, which meant he did in fact still have some morals.

  “Good evening father. Daphne.” Anthony kissed her hand in greeting. It was an outdated gesture, but his father had always been big on social etiquette. Since Anthony still wasn’t sure where they stood with each other, he wanted to keep things civil for now.

  “Father, there’s some business we need to attend to tonight. Perhaps I could have someone escort Daphne into downtown Atlanta while we take care of it. Wherever she’d like to go, of course. Tristan is in charge of public relations and is available this evening to be a tour guide. If your guards are still here, I’m sure they could go along as well.”

  Isaiah locked eyes with him. Even after they’d briefly talked last night, there was still tension, as well as many unanswered questions between them. Anthony was Master here, but his father was his Maker. If he wanted, he could control Anthony, just like Ethan had controlled Isaiah.

  Or maybe not. With the Vampire Mother’s gift, and the seventy five years Anthony had had to handle the city, and this family by himself, there was a possibility that Anthony had outgrown his father’s power over him.

  Luckily he didn’t seem ready to test that. “If you feel it will take that long, then please, by all means.” He turned to Daphne. “You wanted to do some shopping, right? I trust my son’s picked someone fitting
to show you around. Have a pleasant evening, dear.”

  Isaiah didn’t look pleased to be sending her off, and Daphne didn’t look happy about it either, but they let him pack her off with Tristan, the wolf shifter who was waiting for them in his office. The hired bodyguards had apparently already left Atlanta, their job considered done since everyone made it here safely.

  Anthony closed his office door after Tristan and Daphne left. He pointedly took a seat at his desk before his father could, then turned to look at him. He sat on the sofa looking only slightly put out.

  “Ethan’s coming here tonight with his vampires. They’re still upset and want to talk to you about who else you killed when you were a vampire hunter.”

  Isaiah didn’t look all that concerned. “They may be upset, but their Master has already shown there’s a line he won’t cross when it comes to you and I. The others in his family are no match for us.”

  Anthony frowned. “This isn’t a game of wills, father. These are members of our community, and Ethan has been a partner to this family for over seventy years. He may have hated the sight of me because of my resemblance to you, but he always stood by the rules of this territory and even helped me enforce them. I won’t steamroll over him or his family in this matter.”

  His father’s expression became scornful. “And what do you suggest? I killed that woman. There’s no recourse for that.”

  “Facts. They want to know who else you killed. If nothing else, perhaps it could provide closure for their grief.”

  He quietly scoffed while he fidgeted with his jacket sleeve. “Then they’ll be sorely disappointed. She was the only one I personally killed.”

  Anthony sat back in his chair and looked his father over. “You need to tell them that. They want to hear you say it and for Ethan to hear it himself in order to confirm you’re not lying.”

  Isaiah shot him a furious look.