Darkness Comes This Way Part 19

Zarah took a fingernail and sliced a thin line across her wrist before thrusting it at Thomas.

"You're going to feed from me. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm not killing you."

Her brother stared at her in disbelief. She gave him an encouraging smile and pushed her wrist closer.

"If you do this, it'll not only cure you, but then you can cure Alyssa. Yeah, we're going to be a new race, but something tells me that it's important, Thomas." Zarah kept the bit about the dream of their mother to herself for the time being.

After a brief hesitation, he nodded, swallowing nervously.

"I just don't want to hurt you...again."

"You won't."

She watched him spare Alyssa a glance for rea.s.surance. When she nodded, reaching out and taking his hand in hers, he turned back to Zarah and sighed. Bringing Alyssa's life into it as well had helped make his mind up. Knowing Thomas could save her too was enough for him to make the decision.

"Alright."

Zarah saw Draven step up beside her protectively as Thomas began drinking from her wrist. She knew it was taking a lot of his strength to fight his Rogue instincts from caving to the bloodl.u.s.t. She remembered that dark menacing voice that once resided at the back of her own mind, enticing her to gorge until all of the blood was drained. But she knew he was a fighter. He always had been. His Fallen gene wasn't the only thing that helped him maintain a level of control even for a Rogue; it was his own strength, too.

After a few minutes, Thomas pulled away with a gasp. The changes were already starting as she saw the exhaustion taking over when she pulled away. He swayed in the chair and clutched at his temple like Ethan had done. The small change wouldn't take long.

"We'll let you rest. I'll see you later," Zarah said, directing Draven to follow her out.

"Stay with us as long as you like. Just don't annoy the h.e.l.l out of me."

Thomas snorted a pained chuckle.

"Yeah, right. You know I always like to annoy you, Sis."

She smirked and continued out the door with Draven.

Thirty.

"I'm glad you forgave him-" Draven started after they left the room. Relief flooded his voice and reached the growing smile on his face.

Zarah stopped and spun around so quickly that he nearly ran into her.

"I didn't forgive him. It'll be a long time for that process to go through. I merely just decided not to kill him."

"Why then?"

"Why then, what?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest with a frown.

"Why did you decide not to kill him?" His smile had disappeared, replaced with an unreadable expression and stern eyes.

She swallowed and dropped her gaze. Sighing, she shrugged.

"Because he's my brother and the only family I have left. It was only right, especially since I had a way to save him. It's what my mother would have wanted also, I think." Zarah's reply was soft as she shuffled her bare feet back and forth on the cold hallway tiles. The new building did not have the blindingly white hallways like the underground base had. These were a more muted ivory with a blue pattern, and had a cla.s.sic, yet high-cost feel.

Then after a pause, "He probably would have done the same for me if the roles had been reversed."

"Exactly."

"Hey, have you two been watching the news?" Seth's voice suddenly cut through the hall, coming toward them.

Zarah turned to see the Fallen looking extremely...human. He was even wearing plaid pajama pants and a white tee. She must've let her confusion show because he smirked at her.

"Our wings don't have a constant appearance, Zarah," he said as if reading her thoughts.

Quickly shaking her head to dislodge the distraction, she laughed nervously. Of course she knew that.

"Right. I should have known. Anyways, what's this about the news?"

"Oh, yeah, have you both been watching?" he asked again.

They both shook their heads.

"No, we had an issue to handle," she explained.

Seth nodded slowly and then motioned for them to follow.

"I think you need to see."

When they walked into the Lounge, Zarah was surprised to see most of everyone there. She recognized Guardians that had survived the earlier attack. Jerry, Nicholas, James, Markus, and Braydon. The Fallens were there, all eight of them, including Seth, she counted. She needed to learn the others' names still. Either way, she suddenly noticed she was the only female in the room. In all, her and Alyssa were going to be outnumbered by the testosterone. The thought didn't affect her much. She was used to it, having been one of the only female Guardians before as well.

The room had been buzzing with conversation when they'd entered. A large screen television was switched on in the corner of the room while everyone lounged on couches and chairs. But then the silence stretched when they looked up and saw Zarah standing in the doorway.

She ignored their stares and instead focused on the news. There was an image coming across the screen, constantly being repeated. The United States Capital was facing a lot of panicked humans. There were protestors waving signs pleading the President to "flush-out" the vamps before they take over, people attacking others if they looked like a vampire. Which, of course, was often wrong because the people getting attacked were only defenseless humans that liked the darker fas.h.i.+ons.

In twenty-four hours, everything had already become an uproar.

She could feel both Draven and Seth watching her intently. It made her uncomfortable to be under their gaze.

"We can't allow Vampires to live in this world! Haven't you read anything in the last hundred and fifty years? They'll enslave us!" One citizen shouted into a reporter's microphone.

"Is this news only spread in America?"

She started to suggest packing it up and leaving the country, but frowned knowing how ridiculous it sounded. Even if it wasn't world-wide yet, it would be a matter of a few more hours before it was.

"It's already breaking international news organizations," Seth replied, changing the channel on the television. Then she saw women crying in a panic, and men screaming curses in Spanish when she realized that Seth had put it on a foreign station. They were showing images of citizens in Spain. Zarah shook her head in disbelief.

"What about you guys? Were you seen?" She was frowning at Seth, then directed her glare around the room at the group of Fallen residing with them. He shook his head with a sly smile.

"I guess we were lucky." She heard the mocking tone in his deep voice. There was an unusual accent there she hadn't heard before.

"Yeah, I guess so." Her arms crossed over chest in annoyance.

"Zarah," Jerry cut in, standing from his seat and stepping forward. She turned and looked at the Guardian to see his eyes were full of determination and admiration. Suddenly, the others were standing, too. In any other situation, she would have felt nervous, but when she looked around at the Guardians, all she saw were pride and respect.

"We heard you can create a new race of Vampires-ones with a special power like you and Draven," Jerry continued. She stared silently at him, waiting for the sneers or the disgust, but it never came.

"Yes."

"Change us."

She looked at them in shock.

"Do you even know what you're asking?"

"We know exactly what we're asking. We're asking for you to change us. Make us a part of a new race. The world is about to drastically change. There's most likely going to be some very dark times ahead. War. Let's start building our own army. We want you to lead us."

She sucked in a deep breath and looked around at the guys. Catching Seth's gaze, she was slightly relieved to see the Fallen not seeming affected by the Guardians so open by her changing them. She remembered their reaction to her when they first picked her up at the base. Turning to Draven, he nodded his encouragement but remained silent.

"Alright," she finally said.

Her eyes strayed back to the television and there she saw the aerial video clips of their fighting at the base, occasionally being zoomed in on a Rogue whenever one hissed and bared its elongated fangs. Those were the images the humans were being shown. They were spared from the truth-they wouldn't know the amount of countless hours spent that Guardians and other Vampires had always protected humans. She could still remember her years of training before being brought onto the team and how important it was to always maintain the att.i.tude that humans should be helped, not harmed. They could work in peace together secretly but with the impending future, Zarah knew it was no longer going to be possible. There were going to be too many stereotypes and too many Vampires who wanted the opportunity for superiority.

"For now, let's just party like it's the end of the world," a voice came from the doorway.

Everyone turned to see Thomas and Alyssa standing there. Zarah noticed the amused smirk on his face before she saw his eyes. The old, red rabid color was gone, replaced with a mix of amber and gold. Her brother was back. She almost laughed out loud when seeing the others' stunned expressions. Draven did laugh beside her causing warmth to blossom in her chest.

"I do believe it may already be the end of the world, Thomas," Zarah said sarcastically, returning his smirk.

Epilogue.

As Thomas had announced, there'd been a party. Perhaps not really much of one, but they all let loose for a while at least trying to forget the current worries. They waited until the next night to gather up again so everyone could catch up on rest, and Zarah could get a shower and a change of clothes.

The news was switched off. Instead, someone turned on a stereo and began blasting music-some of Zarah's favorite heavy rock bands-as everyone began taking turns playing each other against various games of pool or foosball. A couple of the guys pulled out a game console. The noise and laughter that echoed around the room made her smile when she entered.

No one talked about the issues they were going to have to worry about soon. They were talking about anything and everything else. The windows opened as night rose and she enjoyed the view over the city. Apparently the new Compound was its own building, seven stories high, where most of their activity and living quarters were on the top floor.

Draven was distant from her again. In a way, it bothered her. Hurt. Over the past couple of months, she knew she had developed feelings for him. She would have to clamp them down so she could focus on the coming work ahead of them.

She had to take a break from the crowd so she stepped onto the adjoining balcony from the Lounge. The wind outside was cold, but the chill didn't affect her. Zarah ran her hands along the balcony railing, looking down at the pa.s.sing humans on the street.

"You look like your mother. I don't think I've managed to say that to you yet." Seth's voice carried to her from the doorway.

Zarah turned and saw him stepping up beside her, looking out over the city and not at her. His face showed no signs of emotions. His strawberry-blonde hair ruffled lightly against the night breeze and she surprisingly picked up a scent. Seth smelled like vanilla.

"Thank you." Her words came out quiet, a bit unnerved from his comment. He nodded and then turned his heavy gaze, his eyes darker amber than before, on her as if he waited for her to continue. She swallowed nervously.

"How did you know her, anyway?"

"She was an Exiled One. She saved me once."

She nodded as if she understood but didn't ask him to elaborate the story. Maybe he would tell her more one day. He didn't seem much up to telling her more than that then.

Zarah turned away from the city view and looked back into the Lounge at everyone. She stared at Draven for a long time in silence. Her mother had told her to start looking into Draven's past. Was that a good or bad thing? What would she find if she started digging around? And should she go to him about it at all? Questions seemed to nag at her a lot recently that she was struggling to find answers to.

"I talked to her in a dream. My mother. Does that sound crazy?" she asked Seth.

"No. She is still a part of the spirit world. Kathleen needed to reach you, so I believe that she would have found a way."

Zarah felt a weight lifted from her as she took a deep breath and nodded.

"So, Seth, can I trust you?"

Her fingers thrummed the railing nervously.

He blinked at her sudden mood and subject change. Then, a slow, mischievous smile spread across his gorgeous face.

"I'm still a Fallen. It's wise that you never trust one of us." With that, he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek before leaving her alone on the balcony. His lips were soft and left tingling, warm stirring waves flowing over her skin. She stared after him in shock, her mouth agape. Surely he had seen the way she stared at Draven, sensed the way she felt? Why would he do that?

When her eyes darted to Draven, she knew he had seen what happened by the way he glared darkly across the room at her before leaving.

She had no time to protest, to go explain anything to him, because then shots started echoing through the streets of the city and sirens blared. She glanced around.

"Well, it seems war has started a bit quicker than expected."

Acknowledgments.

All I've known since childhood was that I wanted to write. Even before I could lift a pen, I was telling stories and creating characters. My imagination has always been a bit chaotic, but without it, I wouldn't have met the amazing beings that bounce around in my head on a daily basis.

Of course, I've had many people along the way to thank for the support while I chase after my crazy dreams. Thank you to all of my great family. I'd name you all, but I don't have the s.p.a.ce. You know I love you though! Steven, I stay up so many late nights "cheating" with my characters. I'm glad you've got used to that. Jerry, you're a rocking brother. Of course, your name is in here. Thanks to you and Kim for the support, in both writing and life.

To my best friend, Chasity Grigsby, who has been a huge part of my life for almost twenty years.

I'd also like to acknowledge Kelly Watt, a great friend and confidant, and writing partner. Through a lot of critique and commentary, we have helped each other out through the years. Thank you, Kelly.