Fall of Darkness (The Chronicles of Darkness) (21 page)

Alexander threw himself back into preparations
for their departure. Kate watched as he darted unnaturally about the room in a
golden flash. He tossed her a bottle of sun block, SPF 50.

“Put it on. Everywhere,” he instructed
her. She gave him a withering glare and obeyed, for lack of a better option.
She slathered the thick white cream on her face, neck, bare arms, and legs.

“Now what?” she asked.

“Finish putting sun block on the rest of
your body, then dress in these,” he said, dumping a pile of clothing on the
foot of her bed. Kate sighed and rolled slowly to a sitting position at the
edge of the bed. Her head swam with sluggish dizziness.

Glancing at the IV in her hand, she
decided to keep it for a while. Maybe she could convince Alexander regular
transfusions were not such a bad way to live. She reached up to shut the
infusion pump off, and unhooked the tubing from the hub taped to her hand. Pushing
up on shaky legs, she hobbled to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door
behind her.

Kate stared at the reflection in the
mirror, relieved to see she still had one. She looked the same, but different.
She was definitely thinner, almost emaciated looking. Her normally fair skin
had faded to a ghostly white. Her naturally high cheekbones were emphasized by
dark, shadowed hollows where her cheeks had been. The dark shadows beneath her
eyes had darkened. She looked like a concentration camp survivor. Lovely.

Kate bared her teeth in the mirror, just
to check. Nope, no fangs. Her incisors had always been a little pointed and
they looked a bit more elongated now, but they were nowhere near the razor-sharp
fangs of a bloodsucking monster. Had she imagined the sensation of her teeth
sharpening in response to the nurses’ blood?

Maybe she’d been hallucinating. It could’ve
been the medication they’d given her. Indulging briefly in that fantasy, she
reluctantly returned to reality. The thirst was real. Her throat still burned from
it.

Kate stripped out of her faded hospital
gown. Naked except for the chain bearing Dominic’s ring, she applied sun block
to her newly vulnerable skin. Her hands ran over taut, corded muscle, firm and
powerful beneath her pale skin. She’d always been fit, but this was a new
development. Moving and flexing her limbs, she relished the newfound strength
in those muscles. Interesting.

Turning to the pile of clothing
Alexander had given her, she wondered if the infuriating golden boy had a thing
for black. With a sigh, she slid into a pair of black cotton panties and a
sensible black cotton bra. She tugged the thick black turtleneck over her head
and stepped into the black jeans. With a rueful shake of her head, she pulled
on the thick hooded sweatshirt. At least she wouldn’t be cold. Steadying her
weight on the counter, she rolled on the black socks and slipped her feet into
a pair of black athletic shoes.

Decked out in black from head to toe and
feeling like a robber, Kate stepped out of the bathroom. Alexander studied her
appraisingly and nodded in approval. She eyed his apparel in return. He wore a
fitted black turtleneck sweater, black slacks, and black dress shoes. Yup,
golden boy definitely had a thing for black. Someone needed to introduce this
guy to some color.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Kate said, stuffing a
handful of saline flushes and alcohol wipes into the pouch of her hoodie.

Alexander gave her a quizzical look, but
didn’t say anything about her filching supplies. “Let’s go then. Keep your head
down” Alexander ordered, hoisting a pack onto his back. He put on a black ball
cap of his own and started out the door.

Kate followed him out into the unit. He
took her hand and steered her toward the exit. Creeping through the unit,
dressed as she was, Kate felt like a criminal making a stealthy getaway.

The nursing unit around them bustled
with life as visitors and staff milled about the halls. Squeezing her hand in a
vise-like grip, Alexander rushed her past the nurses’ station. No one paid them
any attention. 

Oh, but Kate noticed every single one of
them. She couldn’t ignore the thrum of pulses all around her, calling to her.
Stumbling behind Alex, Kate shook her head. The world spun in a kaleidoscope of
colors and overwhelming, decadent fragrances.

Thirst, bloodlust, and need became her.
That dark and dangerous creature rustled from deep within. Each unique scent
beckoned and enticed, their delicious aromas spurring to life a temptation
beyond measure.

Vicious thirst clawed its way to the
surface, fighting to consume her as Kate struggled for control. Her incisors
pricked her tongue and she tasted blood. Wild with need, her body tensed in
anticipation. Just one bite.

Alexander clamped a forceful hand on her
forearm. “Focus. We’re almost out.” His voice sounded distant and garbled to
her ears. He continued to haul her toward the nearby stairwell.

With deep breaths, Kate struggled to
combat the red haze of thirst drifting across her clouded mind. As they
increased the distance between her and the busy nurses’ station, her head gradually
cleared. They reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped. Alexander donned a
black hat and pushed a pair of dark shades up onto the bridge of his nose.

“Put them on,” he instructed, handing
her a pair of dark glasses, black gloves, and a black ball cap. Kate’s hands
trembled as she obediently slid the frames over her eyes, tugged the cap low
over her face, and jammed her hands into the gloves.

Alexander pushed open the doors at the
base of the stairs and they were out in the sunlight. Kate no longer needed to
concentrate to forget her thirst. She was on fire. Every inch of skin, covered
or not, screamed in protest at the sensation of burning alive.

The light seared her sensitive eyes to
the point of blindness through the protective shade of the dark lenses.
Dropping to her knees, Kate clutched her head in her hands. But Alexander grabbed
her arm and dragged her to her feet. Tucking her protectively beneath his arm,
he continued their clipped progress to the car.

“It’s going to be alright,” Alexander
whispered, his tone low and reassuring. “I know it hurts. We’re almost there.
Be strong. You can do it.”

            Kate
stumbled along in blind, agony. Alexander unlocked the door and helped her
slide into the passenger side. He shut the door and Kate felt blissful respite.

No way was the tint on this car legal.
The world outside appeared dark as night through the tinted glass. Her eyes
still stung and her skin still faintly burned, but at least she could think again.
Sunlight equaled agony. Got it.

Just as the pain completely abated,
Alexander opened his door and popped his head in. The stream of light had Kate
plastered against her side of the car in an instant.

“Shut the door,” she cried, huddling
into a trembling lump of black fabric and vampire.

            “Sorry.
I’ll be right back. Stay here. Don’t unlock the door for anyone but me,” he
instructed her, tossing the keys onto the seat beside her. The locks clicked
and the door shut. Kate relaxed into her seat, watching his black silhouette reenter
the hospital. What on earth was he doing now?

            Kate
slumped low in her seat and closed her eyes, feeling unusually tired for
someone who’d slept for days. A few short minutes later, Alexander tapped on
the glass.

Kate hit the unlock button and mentally
tried to prepare herself for the intense pain of sun exposure. Closing her
eyes, she turned away from the driver’s side of the car as Alexander slid into
his seat and shut the door.  White hot pain seared her bare skin, but left as
quickly as it came.

Alexander smiled at her. “You okay?”

            “As
I can be, considering my skin was on fire a few minutes ago,” Kate shrugged.
Eyeing the small blue cooler on his lap, she caved to curiosity. “What’s that?”

            “Compromise,”
Alexander answered with a proud grin, flipping the lid with a flourish. Stacked
in neat layers were units upon units of donor blood. Kate gaped at him in astonishment.

            “I’m
not all bad, Katerina. I’ll take care of you. I won’t pretend to understand
your aversion to our natural food source. Hell, I’m not even sure if this will
work, but I’m willing to try,” he said with a rueful smile, tenderness in his
voice and in his eyes. “I’ll try anything to make you happy.”

            Kate
chewed her lip in pensive silence. She’d been determined to hate this guy, but
the jerk seemed equally determined not to let her.

            Dominic
slumped on the broken couch in the wreckage of his downtown Chicago penthouse,
chugging the fifty-year-old single malt scotch straight from the bottle as
though it was water and he a man stranded in the desert. All of the alcohol on this
God-forsaken earth couldn’t dull the pain. After hours of dedicated drinking,
with the strongest shit he could find, he remained painfully aware of his
pointless existence.

Cursing his immortal liver, he hurled
the bottle at the wall and watched in apathy as it shattered in a fireworks
display of glass and splattering liqueur. It didn’t matter. He’d already
trashed the place in a fit of animalistic rage. Still the broken mess of rubble
around him looked a hell of a lot better than what remained of his life. Hands
shaking, he raked his fingers through his disheveled hair and cradled his
throbbing head.

Damn it. He believed Kate would come to
him. He never imagined she wouldn’t, once she knew he spoke the truth. Over the
past few weeks, he’d clung to that hope as a drowning man to a life preserver.
Now, nothing remained to keep him afloat. Kate knew the truth, but she still
didn’t want him.

            That
vile bloodsucker of the Cacciatori guard had her now. Alexander Ambrogio. He
even thought the name with revulsion. Of course, that Greek bastard would be
her
tutore
. Dominic should’ve figured as much. And of course, the
disgusting leech had called to gloat, to torment Dominic with the pain of
Kate’s rejection. Dominic replayed their conversation over and over again in
his mind, torturing himself with the pain of his new reality.

Instantly recognizing the number, his
heart had soared in wild anticipation. It was Kate. She believed him, was ready
to be with him.

            “Kate?”          

“Greetings, Dominic,” a silky male voice,
laced with menace, had greeted him. Dominic recognized the speaker at once. The
loathsome Greek spoke in flawless Italian.

“Ambrogio, where’s Kate?” Dominic
growled back in his native tongue.

“Katerina is fine, no thanks to you.
She’s where she belongs—with me.”

“So, she has changed.” Dominic closed
his eyes, shutting out the pain. Lindsey had told him what had happened. He
knew exactly what it meant, but still didn’t want to accept it.

“Yes, she is one of us,” Ambrogio
confirmed. His voice reeked of smug satisfaction. “So don’t hold your breath.”

“Excuse me?”

“Katerina wanted me to instruct you to
stop waiting. It’s never going to happen. A woman like her needs a real man, not
a dog,” the Greek taunted. “She was, after all, promised to me. And I shall
have her. I hope you think of her in my arms every time you try to sleep.”

Images of Kate, writhing in pleasure,
tangled in the golden vampire’s embrace as she had once been in his, flashed
through Dominic’s mind. It was enough to drive him insane.

“Burn in Hell, you blood sucking
parasite,” Dominic growled.

Ambrogio chuckled. “In due time, dog,
but I’ll have your girlfriend there too. You know all too well the end our kind
must face if the prophecy is not fulfilled. She’s as damned as I am.”

The pain was more than Dominic could
bear. Kate was lost, as good as dead to him. Even if she changed her mind, he
couldn’t save her from the Hell fires of eternal damnation.

“Well, I hope you like sloppy seconds,
because I already broke in your new play thing,” Dominic snarled, lashing out
in pain. He regretted the words, even as he said them. Kate deserved better,
whether she wanted him or not.

Ambrogio let his breath out in a low
hiss. “You son of a bitch. I will find you and when I do, you’ll beg for death.
I will make you regret ever having the audacity to lay a hand on her. I will
make you hurt, make you bleed. I will cut you apart, piece by piece, just like
that slut sister of yours.”

Dominic flinched at the mention of
Caprice, but shook it off. Ambrogio was not going to rattle him. “I dare you to
try,” he challenged, mocking the Greek’s threat with a dark laugh.

“Either way, your days are numbered,
dog. The prophecy will be fulfilled. Everything you love will be destroyed.”

Not everything. Kate would be saved.
With all his heart, Dominic hoped she could fulfill the prophecy. True, the
demons would be free to roam in daylight and the humans would be defenseless.
But what did he care? He’d be dead. Half alive and broken beyond repair, he was
merely a shattered remnant of the man he’d once been. Death would be a welcome
respite from the hell he lived in.