Prologue
Sounds of footsteps echoed somewhere behind her as screams in the distance
hung in the night like curtains of pain. Shade crouched under the
desk
until she heard the echoes fade. This was totally unexpected. Jayce had
given her his word that he would not send in the goon squad until the
club had been cleared. Now this, luckily most everyone had made it out
of
the building with no problem. Everyone that is but her and a few of
her
colleagues. She crawled to the door, as she grabbed for the doorknob she
hesitated for a moment. With no success she realized the gig was up so
to
speak, she had been caught. Jayce’s goons drug her out by her long
auburn
colored curls. Scratching and biting wasn’t helping but it
sure
made her feel better. She couldn’t believe how animal she was acting.
As she stood up and brushed herself off, she could hear his voice
through
the commotion; bellowing orders and putting fear in those around
him. Shade
watched as the crowd parted just as the Red Sea did for Moses,
and there he
was. He was more then a little pissed off, she
could feel his dark black eyes
boring holes through her. As she was about
to walk away she felt his monster
size hand seize and pull her close to
him.
“Just by being what you are I should haul you in for disobeying
orders.”
He cut her off before she could answer. “You were told not to
open the club,
and before you open your trap; there is no excuse for this.”
Pulling her arm from his confining grip, she stared into his eyes,
never
once looking away.
“You bastard! You gave me your word you would wait. And by the way I
know
what I am. It’s not like we hunt people down and feed. This is
the
millennium, not the old days where we chased peasants in the field for a
good meal.” Purposely she ran her tongue over her sharp fangs,
giving
him something to gawk at. Shade glared at him; then smiled, hoping for
some sign of the “Old Jayce,” but the stare she was getting from this
human
wasn’t one of understanding, compassion, or seduction; it was more
of
disgust. Shoving her hands in her pockets she let her eyes fall on the
ground below. He was the only one of his kind in the world that
could
make her feel ashamed of what she was sometimes.
“Jayce, does it bother you that bad that we exist? We are what we are.
I
didn’t choose to be a vampire; my mother and father didn’t even believe it
was possible for this to happen. But here I am and I am not ashamed
of
who or what I am. It’s people like you that make us out to be
monsters.”
Shade scooted the tip of her boot in the dirt. She hated that
she loved
this stubborn man in front of her. He loved her in his own way,
but
like her he was as pig-headed as all get out. This bothered her, she
defied him and no one did that. He stood so close she could feel
his
breath every time he spoke. She could have reached out and touched his
long
black hair, caressed his cheek, or even kissed his strawberry colored
lips, but that was something the old Shade would have done, there was
to
much water under the bridge to go back now.
“Look can I go or do I stand here the rest of the night?” Folding
her
arms she stood her ground.
“Shade, how much longer is this going to go on?” Dragging her off to
the
sidelines, gritting his teeth as he spit out his accusations. ”Do you
know
that a young girl was found on west 10th in an alleyway with her throat
torn out? Do you hear me, ripped flesh and all. Now you tell me, a
human
did this? I don’t think so Shade. No human could have done
this.”
Shade turned toward the club and was silent for a moment. Closing her
eyes
if just for a moment, she could see him the way he used to be. There
was
nothing he wouldn’t have done for her, now the only time they
talked was
when she was in major trouble, and then he chewed her up
and spit her out.
Taking a deep breath she collected her thoughts, and then
in a voice just
barley above a whisper she spoke. “You humans make me sick.
It’s not like
your kind has never hurt or killed anyone. There are those
of you who would
kill just for the sake of killing, preying on children and
old people. What
about all of the psycho freaks out there that go around
killing innocent
people? And you have the nerve to say these things to
me. You are a vampire
killer because you have been taught that what we
are blood sucking scum who
steal children in the night. That we go around
stalking people and take their
blood as we revel in a feeding frenzy
and
dance around the body after we
have drained them of their life.”
Jayce watched as she spoke, just the way
her lips moved made his insides quiver.
If he didn’t know her he would
have thought she was human. But he
did know her and he knew what she was.
Even knowing that she was part
human didn’t matter. She was still part
bloodsucker and she was dedicated
to helping them.
“Look Shade, what if I let you go, are you going to give up this cause.”
She stared at his blank eyes. “I guess I could lie to you and tell you
yes I would, but that’s exactly what it would be. A lie. That’s not
me.”
“Dammit! Shade, why do you have to complicate things? Can’t you take
your
people’? somewhere else. Try to be normal.”
“Jayce, I am normal, you’re the one whose having problems with this. When
we where kids and you didn’t know about my parents, things were ok.
We
were best friends, we even fell in love; once upon a time.” She was
right;
he couldn’t give her to those who would choose death. He watched as
her
emerald green eyes blazed as they with hurtful anger. Turning his back
on
her, he knew he would hold this image of her for the rest of his life.
Shade knew this was his way of making things right, but things would
never
be right. Not now, not ever. Never would she know how it felt to love
or to
be a mother; for the only man she had ever loved had turned his back
on her.
She would leave and forget this horrible place and the hurt that
had taken
her heart...
Written By: Anicet