His Dark Embrace

Skylynn stared at him in shock. Sam was a vampire. He couldn’t be dead.

Heedless of the danger, she retrieved the gun from the floor and got out of the car, her only thought to protect her brother if he still lived, or to avenge his death.

She was halfway across the street when Desmarais sprang toward her.

With a shriek, she fired the gun, hoping it would slow him down enough for her to get away. And it might have, if she hadn’t missed. Pivoting on her heel, she sprinted for the car, but she was too slow. She screamed when Desmarais’ fingers dug into her arm, causing her to drop the gun, which went skittering off into the shadows. She stumbled and fell when he suddenly released her.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a blur of movement launch itself at Desmarais.

“Kaiden!” Her relief at seeing him was short-lived. The fight between Desmarais and Kaiden was far more vicious than the one between Desmarais and Sam had been. This battle was like a full-blown nightmare come to life, the flash of fangs, the hellishly red glow of their eyes as they engaged in a brutal, silent struggle that was like nothing she had ever seen before.

Kaiden moved with a quickness and grace that seemed to defy gravity. Desmarais fought like a demon, but he was no match for Kaiden’s ancient strength.

Skylynn held her breath as Kaiden shoved Desmarais against the crumbling wall of the gas station. At this distance, with his back toward her, she couldn’t see what Kaiden was doing, but Desmarais’ shriek sounded as if it was being torn from the bottom of his very soul. The anguished sound hung in the air, then died away, followed by an eerie stillness.

Skylynn’s gaze was fixed on Kaiden’s back. He stood there a moment and then, to her horror, he produced a long, wicked-looking knife from inside his jacket.

Skylynn pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from crying out when Kaiden lifted the blade. Afraid she was going to be sick, she turned away, her arms wrapped tightly around her middle. She felt numb inside, cold all over. She knew it was just nerves, the aftermath of everything that had happened, but she couldn’t stop shaking.

“Skylynn?”

She opened her eyes at the sound of Kaiden’s voice.

He stood in front of her, his brow furrowed. “Are you all right?”

“Y ... yes. Are you?”

He nodded. “It’s all over now. He’ll never bother you again.”

She glanced across the road but there was no sign of her brother. How could that be? He’d been there only minutes ago. What had happened to him?

She tugged on Kaiden’s arms. “Where’s Sam?”

“He’s taken Desmarais’ remains into the woods. The sun will take care of what’s left.”

She nodded, her mind filling with grotesque images of Desmarais’ body going up in flames. And then it hit her. It was over, really over. She didn’t have to be afraid any more. Desmarais was dead.

She looked at Kaiden askance when there was a sudden tremor in the air.

“Go get in the car,” he said. “I’ll be right back.” He took a deep breath, then turned to face the vampire. “Cassandra.”

“You killed him.” It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact.

Thorne nodded. “He didn’t give me much choice.”

“Such a waste,” Cassandra murmured, her voice tinged with regret.

“If you say so.”

“He was born to be a vampire.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t come rushing to his defense.”

“Kaiden, you know I would never have chosen him over you.” She made a vague gesture of dismissal. “I warned him several times to leave you alone. He should have listened. Ah, well.” Rising on tiptoe, she pressed her lips to his.

Cassandra kissed him far longer and deeper than usual. Thorne knew her well enough to know she was doing it not only to prove that, in some ways, he still belonged to her, but because Skylynn was there. He could see her staring at them, wide-eyed, through the car window.

“You’re such a tease,” Thorne muttered irritably when Cassandra broke the kiss.

“You’d better go,” she replied with an impish grin. “Your woman is watching us, and she’s jealous.”

“Yeah, thanks a lot.”

“See you soon, love,” Cassandra said cheerfully, and with a wave of her hand, she disappeared into the shadows.

“Wow, she’s something else, isn’t she?” Sam remarked as he came up beside Thorne.

“You have no idea. Come on, let’s go home.”

Skylynn sat on the sofa wrapped in a blanket while Kaiden lit a fire in the hearth.

Try as she might, she couldn’t erase the memory of Kaiden and Girard Desmarais locked in combat. Even though she hadn’t watched Kaiden take Girard’s head, her imagination had no trouble painting the grisly image in her mind.

“Are you warm enough?” Kaiden asked, coming to sit beside her.

She nodded, though she couldn’t stop shaking. She told herself there was nothing to worry about anymore, no reason to be afraid. Desmarais was dead. Sam and Kaiden were home, safe, and all was well, but that knowledge did nothing to ease the queasiness in the pit of her stomach. She frowned, wondering if it was the events of the night that had her feeling like she needed to vomit, or if she was catching the flu. Now that she thought about it, she had been feeling queasy for several days.

Kaiden put his finger beneath her chin, his gaze meeting hers. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine.”

“So, all’s well that ends well,” Sam remarked, dropping into the chair beside the sofa.

Skylynn looked at Kaiden. “You could have been killed.”

He shook his head. “No way. I’m older. Faster. Stronger. He never had a chance. I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist coming after you, even though he knew I’d be waiting.”

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” Desmarais was dead. Tomorrow, she would move her things into Kaiden’s house and they would start their life together as man and wife. There would be adjustments to make and problems to work out, but she would worry about all that later. For now, she just wanted to enjoy being with Kaiden.

“Well, I’m going out for a little midnight snack,” Sam said. “See you guys tomorrow night.”

Kaiden nodded.

“Be careful,” Sky said, but Sam was already gone.

She stared at the flames a moment before asking, “Who was that woman, Kaiden? And why was she kissing you?”