Darkness Comes This Way Part 7

Twelve.

Zarah hesitated in the shadows of the corner where she stood, the gun still gripped in her hand. The tone of Draven's voice was enough to chill her. He was fuming, she knew, for leaving the confines of the Compound without him and going to Thomas'-a place that they shouldn't be trusting so easily yet to begin with.

"Maybe she's not," Thomas remarked, a sarcastic edge in his voice. She could hear the teasing smirk in his voice. She peeked around the corner with caution. This could end badly if she didn't step out soon. Draven's eyes glowed with rage as he took a step forward and withdrew his gun, directing it at Thomas.

"That's enough," Zarah said, stepping out into the light and coming between the two.

"Put your d.a.m.n gun back."

Thomas let out a low chuckle and shook his head in disbelief before stepping aside to let Draven into the apartment.

"You should really learn to trust me, Guardian, because I'm all you have right now as a source for information. Otherwise, you'd be blind, and then defeated, and my sister would be killed."

Zarah had already walked back into the sitting room, leaving the two guys at the front door. She hadn't noticed the way Draven stared over at her in concern after her brother's remark.

"That's what I figured." The Rogue muttered under his breath as the two entered the room. Only Draven had heard what he'd said.

"What are you doing here, Draven?" Zarah asked, finally looking over at him. She was seated on the couch again, her gun back in its holster, and she had relaxed by leaning back and propping her boots on the heavy gla.s.s coffee table in front of her, crossing her feet at the ankles. Thomas looked at her feet in annoyance. She raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged. He could clean his table later. He probably cleaned it ten times a night anyway.

"Looking for you, obviously," Draven answered, frustrated. Thomas took a seat in a black leather recliner across the room while Draven sat down on the other end of the couch with Zarah. His eyes remained on her, his lips pressed in a firm, stern line.

"You should have waited on me."

Thomas watched on in silent amus.e.m.e.nt.

"I don't answer to you, and I didn't have to wait," she turned and growled at him.

"It's apparent you had no trouble finding me, anyway.

"Zarah, it's too dangerous for you to be out walking alone!" He was in a near shout.

"I take care of myself just fine, thank you." She sat up straight, taking her feet off the table and glared at him. Thomas seemed to relax more when her feet came down. She refrained from making a sarcastic comment to him when his shoulders slumped in relief. Instead, her aggravation continued with Draven and she continued her argument.

"You, of all people, should know that."

"Up until recently, you didn't have Rogues hunting you down either," he remarked with raised eyebrows. His eyes s.h.i.+mmered in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"So? Bring them on." Her eyes narrowed.

"d.a.m.n it, you're stubborn."

"And you're an-" she started furiously.

"You know, you two argue like a married couple. This is quite a show," Thomas interrupted with a wide smile.

"Shut up!" The two turned and yelled at the same time. He only laughed and held his hands up in defeat. After his soft laughter died off, the room fell silent for a while with the exception of a nearby clock on the wall ticking away the seconds.

"In all seriousness, though, I do have to side with him, Zarah. He's right. You shouldn't be out alone during this time. They are seeking you specifically to take to the Commander," her brother finally said with a sigh after a long pause. She glanced over at him and saw genuine concern...even within the depths of the red irises that marked him as one of them.

She gave a slight nod of defeat, lowering her gaze, but remained silent.

"How did you know she was here, anyway?" Thomas asked curiously, turning his attention to Draven.

"I know her well enough, I would have a.s.sumed her to have gone out hunting rather than here."

Zarah turned her eyes up sharply and clenched her teeth.

"Nathanial forced a Bonding Pact between us during my cure. I only just now found out about it recently," she answered before Draven could respond.

"Very interesting news. I never thought my sister to settle down with a mate," he joked, chuckling.

"I am not settling down with a mate and it's not funny!"

"Relax, Zarah, I'm teasing."

She rolled her eyes and leaned back against the couch again, crossing her arms over her chest. Draven had decided to remain silent during the conversation, but now he stared at her with interest.

"What are you doing here, Zarah?" Draven asked.

She frowned and shook her head.

"I came to tell Thomas about Mitch.e.l.l."

"No, not just that. As I said before, you're here for more, too," Thomas interjected, raising his eyebrows.

"I highly doubt the two of you are here to just hang out and watch movies all night."

Zarah sighed. "Alright, fine, I came to also ask a favor of you."

"Always with the favors...and yet, you're just going to kill me in the end when it's all over."

Her lips twitched in a smirk.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, brother."

"Well, maybe we won't," Draven cut in.

"You have been helpful. If you continue to help us, maybe we could let you go when this is all over."

"We? There is no 'we', Guardian. You're lucky I let you slide when you put that gun in my face at the door," Thomas started with a growl, standing up from the chair.

"I will fight for my life against anyone else with the exception of Zarah. Only she can terminate me...and when she's ready, she can gladly put her gun to my temple and fire away."

Thomas' mood had grown dark, and Draven had pulled back at hearing those words. When he glanced at Zarah, he saw that she was staring at him in return, but there was a look in her eyes he didn't quite understand. Sorrow. Dark, deep, sorrow had filled her bi-colored turquoise-amethyst eyes and a moment of silence pa.s.sed between the three of them.

"The cure. The Rogues are after Zarah for the cure, but what if we found it first?" Draven suddenly asked, finally managing to pull away from her gaze.

"I will not be a d.a.m.n guinea pig," she argued as she shot down his idea.

"Can you do me the favor or not, Thomas?" She turned back to the subject she had started.

"I would never turn you down, you know that. What is it?" He crossed his arms. He was beginning to grow impatient she could tell. It didn't take her long to figure out then that Alyssa was out getting them 'dinner' and that he was probably growing thirsty. She quickly swallowed back her thoughts and concerns over whether or not they would still be there when her brother's mate would return with a human meal.

"We need someone on the inside so-to-speak for this Rogue Army. Think you can join it? You certainly have the credentials being an ex-Guardian," she finally stuttered out.

Thomas smiled.

"How do you think I've been getting some of my information lately? I'm an officer," he began.

The two Guardians stared at him in shock, waiting for him to continue with an explanation.

"The other night when you asked me to find out more information behind everything they're doing, that's the step I took for you, rather than just randomly questioning and having them get suspicious of me." He shrugged.

"And, Zarah, many of them live in this apartment complex... So, it's not very safe for you to be here," he added, concern crossing his features.

"We should go," she quickly said, standing as Draven followed. Just as she did, the bolt on the front door unlocked, capturing their attention, and causing the two Guardians to draw their guns in a flash.

Alyssa appeared in the doorway with a human male at her side. He seemed to be in a daze, unaware of the three other people in the front room. While she closed the door, she looked between each vampire nervously before meeting Thomas' gaze.

"I didn't realize we were going to have company," she said quietly.

"It's alright, sweetheart. Our Guardians were just leaving."

Zarah glanced over at her brother and nodded before she grabbed Draven by the arm and began to tug him toward the door.

"You mean we're just going to let them take the human?" he hissed in her ear.

"It's what they do. Besides, Thomas already said that he and Alyssa only take the bad ones," she replied quietly.

"Let him enjoy himself. I'm still killing him when this is all over, and he knows it."

"Goodnight!" she called over her shoulder as they walked out of the apartment with a slam of the door.

When Draven and Zarah made it to the car, he stopped her before she could climb into the pa.s.senger side by touching her arm. She turned and looked at him in confusion. The night air had cooled some in their time at the apartment. Storm clouds were moving in, bringing in strong winds with them. The south always had strange, unpredictable weather. More so in the last two decades with many contributing global climate factors creating problems all over the world. Zarah loved autumn though, the season they were in right now. Nights were cooler, and the occasional storm was soothing.

"I want to know why you want to kill your brother. He is helping us. Don't you think that maybe we could help him in return?" he asked softly.

Zarah narrowed her eyes.

"He's Rogue, Draven. It's our job."

"And if there's a cure found?"

"No. I'm still killing him."

"So I think it's more than that. There's something you're not telling me. Tell me now. Why do you really want to kill Thomas?" he said, stepping closer to her. His voice was soft and he tried to reach out and touch her arm.

Her face grew dark as the wind continued to tumble around them. She turned without an answer and climbed in the car. She would not fall for the charm. He sighed and walked around to the other side to get in also. Zarah didn't want to tell him. They drove slowly in silence back to the Compound.

When they arrived, she tried to walk as quickly as she could to her room without any more conversation with him. There was no such luck. He caught up to her, grabbing her shoulder when she approached her bedroom door and spun her around to face him.

"I'm not letting this go. I want to know why it is you want to kill him. It isn't just because he's Rogue." The charm he'd tried before was gone. Now it was serious.

"d.a.m.n it, Draven. It's not your business!" she started, her voice rising. It was becoming high-pitched and on the squeaky side.

"I want to know," he pressed. His volume was beginning to match hers. If they kept this up, they might draw some attention to themselves.

"Why the h.e.l.l do you want to destroy Thomas? And why is he so set on letting you as if he expects it?"

She opened her door and took a step inside before turning back to face him. He was taken aback by the sorrow and fury etched in her features.

"Really, I'm going to bed. Don't worry about it," she started, trying to soften her voice although her teeth were clenched. Her mind swirled and pleaded inwardly for him to go away. This was one of the many conversations she didn't want to have-a memory she wanted to lock away forever. She kept trying to push him away from her door. He was too tall. His hands held firm against her doorframe.

"No, I'm going to worry about it. Tell me." He'd reached the yelling point. She broke and dropped her hands, forgetting about trying to move him for a moment as tears sprung forward at the corners of her eyes.

"Thomas was the one that had turned me Rogue!" Zarah screamed back.

Thirteen.

Zarah tried to slam the door in Draven's face.

"No, wait," he quickly said while shooting his hand out and stopping her again. "Stop doing that. Stop shutting me out every time you get angry. I'm tired of this door being slammed in my face."

She stared at him with narrowed eyes and shook her head.

"I have nothing else to say to you."

"Tell me what happened the night he turned you then." His voice had grown soft. When she met his gaze, she saw compa.s.sion and curiosity. His cerulean eyes shone intensely down on her, and his hands held steady on the open door.

Zarah remained silent, closing her eyes as the memory and images flooded her from that night. All she wanted to do was forget, but it only haunted her now more than ever.

She had been chasing that b.i.t.c.h Rogue around on the rooftop of some abandoned building. After having finally shot the thing in the leg to bring her down, she got the job done with quickly in hopes to hurry and get back to the Compound before daylight.

But when she turned to go down the fire escape, there he was.

Thomas-her Rogue brother.

And what did she do? Absolutely nothing.