Shade's Loss

  Browns, blacks, and grays were the main colors with two lamps and one or two pictures hanging slightly askew on the walls. This one did not come with a kitchenette but it did have a microwave on one of the counters next to the bathroom sink. A nineties style television sat heavily on the only dresser that bowed in the middle obviously old.

  Shade dumped the pillows on the first bed, and smiled when she saw the second. Apparently she had been worried they would have to share one. He only wanted a bed to relax in. He could not afford to sleep and risk her escaping.

  A brown bible set on the end table between the beds. Shade hissed when she noticed it. She avoided the table completely. Damien would have laughed if the moment had not been as somber.

  The curtains were thick to keep out direct sunlight. He pulled them so that they blocked all the light, not letting in a crack here or there.

  “You should try to drink a blood bag again by the sink before you shower. I am sure you will get much more down this time.”

  Shade merely glanced at him and moved towards the TV immediately finding the power button and locating some kind of metal music channel.

  “I have contacted an old friend with whom we will stay for a night or two until your brother and his mate can welcome us,” Damon whispered looking out the window as the black night lightened to gray.

  “Did you say mate?” She asked quickly.

  Damon sighed. He had forgotten that she did not know everything. He was weary and being near her caused him to slip up.

  “Does everyone who changes get a mate now or something?” she asked suspiciously.

  “No, the female werewolf is an ancient that came across him and knew him as her mate. Ancients think in a completely different way. Like I am old school as you so clearly put it, she is extremely old school.”

  Shade seemed confused and kind of irritated.

  “That doesn’t answer my question,” she said settling onto one of the beds carefully. She was still in pain he could see.

  “No sometimes the one who sires either a vampire or werewolf is the same sex. You can turn anyone. She turned him out of selfishness without asking or preparing him as I was trying to do for you,” Damon answered bending his head forward and resting it on the cool wall.

  “She was the one who bit him in the park?”

  Damon nodded.

  Shade growled but after a moment closed her eyes and sighed.

  “I know you tried to explain how I died but I was still fuzzy before. Could you explain that again please?”

  She seemed to be more accommodating now that he had mentioned her brother. He would explain as much as it took for her to understand.

  “I had gone to put your brother down thinking he was feral. I was trained to bring down the savage and feral werewolves, same for rogue vampires. When I got back the door was ripped off the hinges and your brother had escaped. The female Shayla had come back for him when she realized that I had killed the true feral that she herself was hunting. She was trying to get Mikhail to calm down enough to return to his human form. When I found them she told him to run and tried to stop me from pursuing him. She explained that he was not a feral and that I have been deceived by my superiors so they can stay powerful and rule all paranormals.”

  Shade nodded completely caught up in what he was saying. She was still favoring the side she had been bitten. In time she would no longer feel pain.

  “I saw for myself she spoke the truth, I swore your protection because he is unable to at this moment and then I returned as quickly as I could to you. I had my Master Gideon’s mate watching over you…”

  “Making sure I didn’t escape right?” Shade interrupted.

  “Not entirely but yes. I do have some enemies. I was not entirely blind there. I just did not know they were aware of where I lived. I move around so much and the house is usually empty. I have several in various remote locations.”

  Shade was quietly listening but staring at the wall above the television.

  “When I was nearly back to you I had this immense dark feeling in my head. I could feel you needed me and I could not get there fast enough. The only thing I could think of was how vulnerable you were.” Damon was still leaning against the wall with his back to her.

  Shade felt something inside her that she had never felt before. She wanted to go to this man, to show him she was okay now. That made absolutely no sense because she was scared to death right now. The flashbacks from the attack apparently would carry over into this new life.

  That was the main reason she wanted to be turned into a vampire, that and she thought her brother was dead leaving her alone in the world. Now she was a vampire, a weak one at that, and he was a damned werewolf. How is that for irony?

  “I should have of course called Gideon on the way but I had thoughts only for you. Once inside I came face to face with the demon and upon realizing what realm it was from immediately realized your chances were not good. I dispatched the demon quickly. It had been coming out of the closet so I assumed you found the escape route and I immediately went to the basement. Once inside I went to the bureau and began to unlock it while I called for Gideon. By the time he arrived and I had you out of there, you were…” Damon paused, unable to go on.

  Shade understood. She was beyond saving.

  “He had bitten your neck. The venom only needs an hour or less to be fatal to mortals. The nerves in your arm were dead. Your ribs were cracked and your ankle broke in at least two places. The poison was the worst of your injuries. For any human other than you, well, I could not have saved anyone else. They would have died.”

  He could feel the sun rising and was impatient to know if she carried the gene or not, only another moment to go.

  “You should try to eat soon and wash up. We have a ways to go Shade.”

  He knew she was awake and listening to every word.

  “I will in a minute, it feels so good to just sit here and relax, not worried about dying anymore or being alone.”

  “I will never leave you alone again. You at least have me now,” Damon whispered.

  Shade didn’t know what to say to that. Surely he meant that as her Sire he would be there for her always.

  “I am sorry…” Damon said a moment before he cracked the curtain.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Holy shit,” Shade cried.

  Damon whipped around, immediately dropping the curtain, thinking she was burning. She merely had her arm up to block the bright light from the window.

  “What are you sorry for? Blinding me? Jeez…”

  Damon fell to his knees in agony. Why her? Should he have let her die? He passed his curse on and now they would always be on the run, for even if the Royals allowed her to live others would constantly be trying to either steal her from him or kill her because together they were a major threat.

  Shade looked over at Damon after the light faded.

  “It didn’t hurt me vampire, I was just being sarcastic as usual.”

  He didn’t move which began to concern her.

  She stood hesitantly and inched towards him hoping this was not some kind of test or something. She only wanted to try and drink some nasty blood and sleep if she even could. Judging from his immense reaction something was really wrong.

  “Um, what are you sorry for?” She asked again.

  Shade now stood beside him and realized he was shaking.

  He was murmuring something repeatedly. He was acting like she did when she had a flashback. What did she do?

  “It’s alright, I think. You’re beginning to worry me though vampire. I kind of need you here with me…” she tried.

  Ah crap, she was no good with guys. Anxious, she looked around knowing belatedly there was nothing in the room to help. Just as she took a step towards him Damon screamed and jumped up, swung around and put his fist through the wall.

  Shade immediately scampered back to her bed and hid behind the pillows. Damon was terrifying when he was angry and this time was
no exception. Fire burned in his furious blue eyes. Despite the youth of his face he was clearly dangerous.

  Shade took a second to really see Damon, his dark angelic features. All this time with him which seemed like forever, she had never really tried to look at him. No, that was a lie. The one time Shade had tried she had wound up unconscious. Now she was a vampire with a not so human body that could handle it. Another errant thought made her wonder if she too had unbelievably breathtaking good looks. She would figure that out at a later time. She so did not want to see her reflection until she had a hot shower and clean clothes on.

  Right now she saw only Damon standing with his fist against the wall, head down, and hair covering his eyes.

  Shade peered sideways at him, trying to lean around the pillows to see him better, but with such agonizingly slow movements as to not attract his attention. Her ribs still ached.

  He crumpled into the chair beside the window and rested his head in his hands and elbows on knees. He was extremely upset about something.

  “Did I say or…” gulp, “do something wrong?” She asked quietly.

  “No not you, me, always me.”

  That was not the answer she was expecting by far.

  “Um, if you are my um, Sire then we are in this together right?”

  “Correct, little one,” he replied, still avoiding her.

  “So could you stop freaking me out and explain why you are so angry right now? Hitting walls does no one any good, you know.”

  She was completely right, Damon thought to himself. Letting his anger get the best of him would be, correction, could be a fatal move.

  “I tested you. You failed, or passed depending on how you look at it.”

  Now Shade was super confused.

  Damon looked over at her and realized she was trembling on the farthest bed behind pillows, nearly falling off the opposite edge. Only her eyes, round with fear, were showing. Apparently it was scaring her as well.

  Shade got a good glimpse of Damon’s features now for the first time. It was mesmerizing but she would not be passing out now, maybe from fear but not from being captivated by his unearthly good looks.

  His eyes were now a dark, hard gray. She was sure when he was in a better mood they would sparkle a silver blue. His dark, nearly black hair, made his features pale. His eyes stood out, full of self-pity and anger. Maybe there was pain. The reason for the pain she could not fathom. The longer he stared at her the sadder his eyes became. Until his face was a mask of pure, unadulterated misery and agony. Her heart pounded with many emotions, some she was unable to identify.

  “Tested me how?” Shade asked to break the awful silence. The television had faded into the background some time ago.

  “The sunlight, I had to see if you were a Daywalker.”

  “So because I didn’t burn up, explode, or become crispy fried I am a Daywalker like you?”

  “Yes, you are and I am so, so sorry,” He replied, voice breaking.

  “Being a Daywalker is bad why?” she asked him, coming out from behind her pillows a little at a time.

  “You need to feed. I will explain if you will try again.”

  Shade wearily got off the bed and grabbed a blood bag, her eyes on him with every step she took. Her nose automatically found the scent in front of her, and her mouth began to water. Her fangs, tiny but definitely there, dropped and pricked her lip.

  Her stomach turned at the thought but the intense icy fire in her throat was beginning to make her irritable. It was no longer background noise as they say. It was intensely distracting and altogether painful. She ripped the bag open and gulped it down as fast as she could. This time she got the whole bag down.

  Shade waited a moment, realizing Damon was watching her the whole time, and made her way slowly closer to the sink just in case.

  Part of her wanted another bag, she was starving and one was not going to cut it.

  “Congratulations you are officially a blood drinking vampire. Your body has fully converted and you are a Daywalker. We should celebrate…”

  The change in Damon’s character and attitude was so obvious that Shade jerked around to stare at him. He was hiding whatever was bothering him behind a sexy half smile. Did she just call a guy sexy? Wow he was having some effect on her.

  “First explain the bad parts about being a Daywalker. Since I’m one I should know right?” Shade asked, wide eyed.

  She was slightly suspicious but absolutely thrilled her stomach wasn’t rejecting the blood anymore.

  “Well, we are loyal to superiors just like your mortal government. We have one just like yours but ours is a much older and compact one.

  “England came here in the late fourteen hundreds, although originally your government started with the kings and queens of England. Sometime around the time the Son was born, died, and rose again vampires were made. We are not sure exactly as our oldest living vampires were not directly made. We may have even been created before that. You should know that your calendar is wrong though and that the B.C. and A.D. is off by a few hundred years.

  “One of the oldest of our Princes has claimed that the Son of your god created them from the disciples. Each of the thirteen disciples, yes thirteen, were made immortal by drinking his blood and followed in the Son’s footsteps. They swore not to share their blood with others. Only the son could share his and give longevity to the ones who deserved it. When the disciples families aged and began dying most could not bear to lose them, so they shared their blood in hopes their loved ones too would be immortal.

  “And like fallen angels the disobedient disciples were cast out and cursed. Tainted so that the gift they were given was now a dark curse. In order to stay immortal they had to find a way to survive, to stay young. Starving they turned on the closest humans, their family and friends and slaughtered them. Of course none of this is in your precious book. My belief is that the book itself was written by man who is fallible, and twisted everything to benefit their religious views. Who would want to hear that their prevalent religion had created demons?

  “After the fallen disciples had fed they continued turning others to serve them. With their kind of power they were considered deities. All except by Christians of course who saw it one way only. The fallen could not walk in the light therefore they could not walk in the glory of their god. Darkness equals evil and therefore based on that supposition and the fact that they raped, pillaged, and forced others to become like them they were forever known as demons. Eventually over time the word vampire came about.”

  Shade was completely entranced into the story. So much of it made sense. It did not answer her question though.

  “When he said everlasting life he meant it literally. That has what to do with Daywalkers though?” Shade asked sarcastically.

  Damon’s eyes darkened as he looked away. He dreaded coming to this part.

  “My government is not happy with me. I am a threat to them and as long as I stay on my Master’s chain then I am tolerable. If I move one iota of an inch out of line I am to be executed on sight without trial, or if I make another of my kind without permission than I am to be executed on sight. Gideon has given us time to get things in order, to give us a chance. He has saved us, my miserable life and therefore yours.”

  Damon hesitated glancing outside again and then back at her before reclaiming the chair and indicating that she should sit as well.

  Shade was still weak but had begun to feel stronger since the blood stayed down. Once it was throughout her system she would only be newborn weak.

  “As a Daywalker I have the ability to do more or less whatever I want. The sun cannot stop me as it does normal vampires who must sleep as a part of the curse. Having only half a day to do evil deeds greatly slows us down. At least that is according to what the ancients say. I can literally walk into their homes and slaughter them all without any problems. Humans cannot really stop me. Therefore I am a danger to them.”

  “So am I then.”

 
“Well once you have aged as I have yes, especially once I have trained you. All vampires must serve time in the ranks until like me they have served seven hundred to a thousand years. I do not think I will be allowed to hit my thousand year mark. Vampires grow stronger, fiercer, and more intelligent as they age. Ancients are feared and admired. They are the wisest of us all and therefore called Royals. After so long you are considered a Prince and among those, we have five currently, they rule,” Damon replied.

  Shade was overwhelmed with all the information but she did know that she had to learn and understand it because apparently their lives depended on it.

  Damon sighed and looked at her once more.