Embrace the Night

She was on edge all that day, unable to concentrate on anything for more than a minute. All she could think of was that Gabriel was meeting Quillan at midnight; that they'd have the formula in their hands. Only two weeks until Halloween, she thought. Only two weeks to make a decision that would have monumental influence on the rest of their lives. Quillan had said the journey back to life had always been fatal. Did she want Gabriel to be mortal again badly enough to risk his life? If the cure didn't work, Gabriel would die a horrible death. Gabriel had said he would not let her go in this life, that he would not stand by and watch her die again, and so there were really only two choices: they must find a cure for what he was, or she would have to become a vampire... and she knew that was something she could never do.



Maybe Quillan was right. Maybe Gabriel should transform her against her will. Maybe she could accept it then, but even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew she would never forgive him, that no matter how difficult the decision might be, it had to be her own.



Never had the hours of the day passed so slowly. She tried to read, tried to watch TV, but she was too restless to sit still, and so she paced the living-room floor, wishing the sun would hurry across the sky, wishing for dusk so she could be with Gabriel. She needed to feel his arms around her, to hear his words of reassurance chasing away her fears.



As the shadows grew long, she went out to stand on the veranda, watching the sun make its downward climb.



It had not yet disappeared when she sensed his presence behind her. With a glad heart, she ran into the house and flung herself in his arms.



"Hold me!" she cried. "Hold me and never let go!"



"Sarah, what is it?"



"I'm afraid."



"Of what?"



"I don't know. Don't go tonight. Forget about the cure. Stay with me."



"Cara..."



"Please."



"I have to try it, Sarah. If there's any chance at all, I have to try it." He tilted her head up. "It's what you want, isn't it?"



"Not anymore."



"Then it's what I want."



"I don't believe that. You're doing it for me, I know you are."



"I want us to be together, not just at night. I want to live as a man again, to walk in the sun with you at my side."



"But what if it doesn't work?"



"Then you must go on with your life. Find a man who will love you and give you children."



"No."



"You found me in this life, cara. If it's possible, I will find you in death."



His mind was made up, and there was nothing she could say to change it.



He carried her upstairs and made love to her, slowly, deliberately, savoring each sensation, storing them in his mind. If the cure proved ineffective, he would have only these last two weeks to live. To a man who had survived over four and a half centuries, two weeks seemed but a moment.



And now the hours sped swiftly by.



Too soon, it was almost midnight.



Lying in bed, Sarah watched him dress. He left the room for a moment, and when he returned, he was wearing his cloak.



"I won't be long," he promised, bestowing a kiss on her cheek. "Keep the bed warm for me."



She choked back a sob as she watched him leave the room, overcome with a terrible premonition that she would never see him again.



The door opened at his bidding. He stood in the entryway for a moment, his senses probing the darkness of the house.



"In here, Giovanni."



Quillan's voice. Deep. Predatory. Deadly.



Too late, Gabriel realized Quillan had not come alone.



Three vampires materialized out of the shadows; a fourth ghosted up behind him, cutting off his escape. Fledglings all, they circled him like winter-starved wolves, fangs gleaming even in the darkness, eyes aglow.



Fear slithered down Gabriel's spine. "What do you want?"



"We cannot let you rejoin the ranks of humanity," Quillan said flatly. "You know our habits, our weaknesses. We cannot take a chance that you might turn against us."



"Why would I do that? What would I have to gain?"



Quillan shrugged. "Everything. Nothing. As I said, it is a chance we cannot take."



Gabriel glanced over his shoulder. A tall, slender vampire stood behind him, a stake clutched in his gloved hands. "So you're going to destroy me."



Quillan nodded. "A stake through the heart has always been the preferred method," he said.



Gabriel was afraid, and he didn't like it. Afraid for himself. Afraid for Sarah. "What of the woman?"



"She dies, too. Delano and Sydelle are on their way as we speak."



"No!" The denial was ripped from Gabriel's throat.



"We have survived thousands of years only because we have never let mankind know of our existence. They may suspect. They may have seen or heard something for which they have no logical explanation, but they do not want to believe. The woman dies."



"Quillan, please..."



"Too late, Giovanni."



They moved toward him, closing the circle. But Gabriel had not survived as long as he had by being foolish. In 464 years, he had trusted no other vampire, and only two mortals.



With a low growl, he sprinted past the two young vampires in front of him, his hand reaching inside his cloak, delving into his pants pocket as he vaulted the stairs to the second-story landing.



Whirling around, he fired the pistol four times in rapid succession. The bullets, made of solid silver, had been loaded into the gun by the man who owned the gun shop. They struck the fledgling vampires with deadly precision, and then Quillan was on him, knocking the pistol from his grasp. Locked together, they tumbled down the stairs. Quillan, heavier, older, was on top when they hit the bottom of the stairs.



His hands closed around Gabriel's throat, his weight pinning Gabriel to the floor as he bent toward him, his fangs bared.



"Do not fight me, Giovanni," Quillan rasped, his hand closing over the stake that had fallen from his fledgling's hand. "You are too late to save the woman, and in a moment, you will join her..."



Sarah heard the front door open and breathed a sigh of relief. He was back!



She sat up, combing her fingers through her hair, her heart pounding with happiness. So much for premonitions, she thought.



And then she heard footsteps on the stairs.



Unfamiliar footsteps.



Her gaze darted around the room, seeking a weapon, but found nothing. Muttering a silent prayer, she climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom. Locking the door, she pawed through the drawers, but the most dangerous thing she found was a blow dryer.



Tears of frustration welled in her eyes as she bunched her gown in one hand and climbed out the window. Behind her, she heard someone pounding on the door, and then she heard Sydelle's voice, soft and seductive.



"Let us in, Sarah," the vampire called. "Gabriel is dead, and there's nowhere you can hide."



Dead! No! He couldn't be dead. She slid down the slope of the roof, grabbed hold of a tree branch, and made her way to the ground.



Hide. She had to hide. But where?



She heard a faint crash as the vampires broke down the bathroom door. A moment later, she saw Sydelle's face at the window.



Adrenalin pumping, Sarah ran toward the corral. Never in her life had she vaulted onto a horse's back, but she did so now. Wrapping her hands in the stallion's mane, she drummed her heels into the horse's flanks and Necromancer bolted forward. A sharp kick sent him sailing over the six-foot fence. For a moment, Sarah swayed precariously on the stallion's bare back, and then they were racing toward the back gate.



The horse came to a gravel-scattering halt when they reached the block wall. With fingers that trembled, Sarah opened the gate, then drummed her heels into Necromancer's flanks once again.



She could hear Sydelle calling her name, but she paid no attention. Gabriel, she thought frantically. She had to find Gabriel.



The stallion's iron-shod hooves clattered loudly as he trotted down the middle of the street.



The horse snorted and shied as they reached the bottom of the hill. Sarah screamed as two dark shadows crept up behind her. Delano and Sydelle! How had they gotten there so fast?



With a shriek, Sarah jumped to the ground and sprinted up the walkway to the front door of the vacant house. With a sob, she flung the door open and raced inside.



"Gabriel!"



"Here."



She peered into the darkness, acutely conscious of the two vampires entering the house behind her.



And then she saw Gabriel. He was sitting with his back against the staircase. Moonlight poured through the sliding glass door a few feet away.



"Gabriel?" She ran to his side, Delano and Sydelle forgotten as she saw the dead vampires sprawled on the floor. Nausea rose in her throat when she saw Quillan's body. A wooden stake pierced the vampire's heart. "What happened?"



But Gabriel wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the door.



Afraid of what she'd see, Sarah glanced over her shoulder.



Delano and Sydelle stood silhouetted in the doorway. Even from across the room, Sarah could see the blood hunger burning in their eyes.



"The stake, Sarah," Gabriel said quietly. "Get it."



She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind, her whole being recoiling in horror at the thought of pulling the wood from the vampire's body.



"Do it!" Gabriel hissed, and only then did she notice how pale his face was.



Her gaze swept over him, and she saw the blood, blood so dark it was almost black, seeping from a hideous wound in his chest.



"Hurry," he said urgently.



She glanced at Delano and Sydelle, saw the rage contorting their faces. Bloodred tears welled in Delano's eyes as he stared at Quillan's body.



Closing her eyes, Sarah wrapped her hands around the wooden stake and jerked it free, and then she scooted back toward Gabriel.



"What now?" she asked, but she didn't need or expect an answer. Everything she needed to know was written on the faces of the two vampires as they slowly stepped into the entry hall and closed the door.



Sarah was shivering now. Cold sweat beaded across her brow and ran in cold rivers down her back. Try as she might, she couldn't draw her eyes from the two vampires. She was going to die, she thought, here, tonight.



There was one brief moment when everything seemed to happen in slow motion.



A soft grunt of pain escaped Gabriel's lips as he stood up.



She saw Delano bare his fangs as he lunged forward, his hands looking like claws as he reached for Gabriel's throat.



And then Sydelle sprang toward her, and time ceased to exist. The vampire's strength was incredible. Sarah gasped as she was driven backward. The breath whooshed from her lungs as she fell against the staircase. Her head struck one of the steps and bright lights flashed before her eyes. She felt Sydelle's hands wrap around her throat, heard a blood curdling growl as the vampire attacked her. Using her teeth and her fingernails, Sydelle savaged Sarah's face and neck.



Fear lent strength to Sarah's limbs and she began to struggle wildly. Lifting her arm, she jabbed the stake she was still holding into the vampire's side.



With a roar, Sydelle plucked the stake from Sarah's hand and flung it aside. And then Sarah felt the woman's fangs at her throat. There was a sharp pain, and then everything went out of focus. The room and its occupants seemed to blur. As if from far away, she heard sounds of a struggle. Gabriel was fighting for his life, she thought numbly. She had to help him. But her arms and legs refused to move, and then everything went black...



She was drifting, floating on a sea of darkness, when she heard his voice. He was crying, and the sound of his heartache made her want to cry, too.



Crying, she thought, and she knew in that instant that Gabriel was crying for her, because she was dying.



The knowledge didn't frighten her as it should have. She looked around, puzzled by the darkness. Where was the tunnel and the bright light everyone talked about, she wondered.



And then she heard his voice again, sobbing for her to come back, pleading with her not to leave him again. Begging her to forgive him for what he was about to do.



She tried to speak, tried to tell him that everything would be all right, but she no longer had the power to speak.



She heard his voice grow faint as she floated farther and farther away. She tried to call his name, tried to tell him she would find him again no matter how long it took, but it was too late... too late...



She was on the very brink of oblivion when a sudden warmth filled her. It was thick and hard to swallow, but it drew her back from the edge of the abyss. She felt it course through her body, and then she heard his voice again, urgent, filled with love. And regret.



"Drink, Sarah," he said. "Drink."



Obediently, she opened her mouth, and he pressed his wrist to her lips again.



"Drink," he commanded, and she felt his hand at the back of her neck, holding her in place.



And because she feared the darkness, because she didn't want to leave him again, she did as he asked, her throat convulsing as she swallowed again and again, until, with a groan, Gabriel jerked his arm away.



"Enough, cara," he murmured.



Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked up at him.



"Gabriel, what happened?"



"I'll explain later," he promised, gently brushing a lock of hair from her brow. "Sleep now."



"Don't leave me!" She couldn't bear the thought of being parted from him again. "Please don't leave me!"



He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, until she felt her heart beating in time with his.



"I won't leave you, cara," he promised, his voice infinitely sad. "But you must rest now."



She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to know what had happened to Delano and Sydelle, wanted to know why she felt so strange, why the thought of being separated from him for even a moment filled her with such gut-wrenching anxiety, but a lethargy unlike anything she had ever known was creeping over her, dragging her down into oblivion once more.