After Daybreak: A Darkness Before Dawn Novel Read online

  Victor lowers his head. His lips graze my ear. His voice is low, mesmerizing. “I’m sorry we can’t have this forever.”

  My heart gives a little lurch. Is he answering my earlier question when I asked what would become of us? Or is he simply referring to the fact that it’s as though we have no cares?

  “What exactly is this, Victor? What can we not have forever?”

  A hideous screeching fills the room and the music stops. I glance over to see Richard standing by the phonograph, holding up the needled arm.

  “Hate to break up the party, but if we don’t get on the road soon, we’re not going to get to the capital before the sun rises,” he says.

  Victor steps away. I want to clutch him back to me. I want to keep dancing. I want to pretend that no dangers exist in our world. But these few moments were only an illusion.

  “Stay the night,” Xavier says. “Go tomorrow.”

  “We can’t,” Victor tells him. “Richard’s right. We have to go.”

  Xavier turns to Faith. “Stay with me.”

  Faith smiles and pats his cheek. “I wish I could, but Victor will be taking his place on the Council. I must be there to give him my support.”

  “Afterward, come back. You’ll never want for anything. I’ll make you happy. We can dance every night.”

  Leaning in, she brushes her lips over his. “We’ll see.”

  With that she turns from him, marches across the room, grabs my hand, and begins pulling me toward the door. “Come on, Dawn, we can’t travel in these clothes.”

  It seems the moment of pretending all is right with the world has passed.

  Half an hour later, we’re hurtling through the night, Victor at the wheel. The tension in the backseat is so thick that I could pierce it with a stake.

  “Richard, don’t pout.”

  “I’m not pouting, Faith.”

  “Then don’t be angry or whatever it is, because I don’t like it.”

  “I’m not angry, either. I’d just forgotten, that’s all.”

  “Forgotten what?”

  “That you’re all about flirtation. A new guy steps into your path and off you go.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “Isn’t it, Faith? In Los Angeles, I thought—” He sighs. “Never mind. We have larger issues. I intend to focus on those.”

  I dart a glance back to see Richard staring out the window. I can’t blame him for being upset. I know he and Faith have some sort of past. I know he cares about her. While we were in Los Angeles, they actually had a date. I thought maybe they were becoming a couple. I think Richard thought the same thing. Guess we were both wrong.

  “This system that VampHu set up doesn’t seem to be a good thing for anyone,” I tell Victor. “It isolates humans and vampires.”

  “All humans, not all vampires. We travel as we please, and Old Family tend to socialize with one another whenever we get the chance.”

  “If they’re not forced to watch over humans. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the walls came down?”

  He glances quickly over at me. “You’re thinking of Crimson Sands.”

  I sigh. “Yeah, I am.”

  “Their way isn’t practical on a large scale.”

  “I think it is.”

  “The Council will never go for it. VampHu, the walled cities, they are here to stay.”

  “We’ll see,” I murmur.

  Chapter 9

  The sky has turned from pitch black to shades of blue, signaling the sun’s rise. It’s a familiar color to me. How many nights have I seen it, waiting on the balcony for my parents to come home from Valentine Manor? I always held my breath when I saw the carriage coming down the street, heading home.

  Now, I hold my breath again. Through the fading shadows, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I’ve only ever heard of this place, never seen a picture. The tallest tower looks as though it could pierce the moon and make it rain blood across the gray city. A place made like this, of stone and mortar, of towers and walls, would take decades if not centuries to build. Yet it’s been completed in only a few years. And as we approach along the road, which has turned from mere dirt and gravel to deeply inset cobblestone, I see how this monolithic city was made. Those who crafted the stone march across the fields, an exhausted race of enslaved Lessers. Dawn is approaching, and their slumped shoulders and dragging feet indicate a need for blood. But where is it? This is the capital, New Vampiria. Shouldn’t it be the most affluent of all?

  Then, as we draw closer to the wall, my expectations of a Victorian era reborn are quickly dashed. The wall isn’t a wall at all, but merely the outcropped buildings of the city, small cottages made of ill-fitted stone. Is that where the Lessers live?

  In the blink of an eye we’re inside the city itself, the road turning into a street that shoots straight to the massive tower in the center. On all sides we’re surrounded by gray buildings, weathered far beyond what should only have been their short life. Trash litters the street, nothing like the clean upkeep of the Valentine house that I’d expected. Instead of well-dressed vampires, the envy of the Lessers that surround Denver, I see bedraggled vampires looking at our car as though it may offer hope in this place. When we zoom past them, their stares continue to be reflected in our mirrors.

  “Not what you expected?” Victor asks, my silence telling him everything.

  “It looks . . .”

  I struggle to find the words, so Victor does it for me. “Pathetic.”

  “Yeah. Not at all like I’d imagined. I mean, it’s the vampire capital. Where’s the grace and elegance? Where’s the spoils from the war that they won?”

  “When we talk to the Council, you’ll see why some of them consider the war a defeat instead of a victory.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” I say, angry that the vampires would be so arrogant that after nearly wiping humanity off the map they claim it wasn’t enough. Did the VampHu, which my father helped create, not go far enough in giving the vampires everything they wanted?

  “Look around you, Dawn,” Victor says. “The world of isolated, walled cities is a strange one for humans. But a world running rampant with Lessers is stranger still for vampires. Now you’ll see that our grip on humanity is not as strong as we’d like you to believe.”

  We pass under arches that connect buildings, walkways that act as tendons bringing the city together. But even from here, at this speed, I can see the cracks forming.

  Victor turns down a street, away from the tower in the center.

  “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “We arrived too late to see the Council until tonight. They’ll need to know of my arrival in the city first. It’s been a long time since a Valentine has sat at the table. My father was the patriarch, but he remained on his throne at Valentine Manor. He hated this place.”

  “Why?”

  “He didn’t like what they were trying to do. He thought the Old Families shouldn’t attempt to create human-like cities. I never agreed with him on things, but I did on that point. The heads of the Old Families live here, but it’s like they’re strangers in their own land. We were never meant to be like this. We were always meant to be in the shadows. Now that we’re in control, we don’t know how to be.”

  “Wow.”

  “That’s why I’m afraid of Sin,” Victor says. “He wants control. He wants power. And I think he knows exactly how to keep it.”

  Victor slows to a stop outside a three-story building. Nothing unique about it. It could easily be mistaken for one of the many that we passed. I remember what Murdoch Valentine once said to me: “We vampires have never had imaginations.” I can see that now. Every building looks as though it was cast from the same mold, thought of by the same designer. But Victor must know this is the right spot as he gets out of the car.

  “Should I be worried?” I ask. “I mean, the Lessers here look starved.”

  “No,” Victor says. “The fact that you’re with me signals to them that you’re
my . . . companion.”

  “I have a feeling that means something else in the vampire world.”

  “It does, yes. It translates into: You’re for me. Not for them. Nothing else needs to be said.”

  I hope he’s right.

  Richard and Faith climb out of the backseat and glance around.

  “It’s been a while since I’ve been here,” Richard says. “It’s worse than I remembered.”

  “New Vampiria has always lacked charm,” Faith says. “It’s the reason I’ve avoided it for so long.”

  We open the trunk, gather our bags, and follow Victor through a wooden door, half eaten away by rain and rot.

  The inside has the same glow of oil and gas lamps that haunted Valentine Manor. It looks like something that was made out of necessity and desperation. None of the tables really match; there’s no paint, simply the natural wood tones and textures.

  Behind the front desk a vampire, clearly a Lesser, stands up. “Ah, Mr. Valentine. Oh, I do beg your pardon, Lord Valentine. Lady Faith, Mr. Carrollton. It’s a pleasure to have you all again gracing our humble hotel.”

  “Thank you, Louis. We’d never dream of staying anywhere else. And please, call me Victor.”

  “I’m afraid my manners would never allow such a thing.” Apparently his manners don’t extend to humans because he gives me a once-over as though I’m something he’d scrape off the bottom of his shoe. It’s obvious that, like Xavier, he considers me a blood diva. “How many rooms shall it be?”

  “Just one. Your largest.”

  “Straightaway, sir.”

  When Louis takes the key off the rack, it becomes the only one missing; all the others hang silently. We’re the only guests staying here. And judging by the dust that’s gathered on those keys, we may be the first guests for some time.

  We head up two flights of stairs, each board creaking and threatening to give way. The top floor is divided into two suites and we take the one on the right. Louis opens the door for us, gives Victor the key, and Victor passes him a very large envelope, which I suspect is filled with a different kind of payment. Blood. The only currency a vampire really needs. It’s obviously much more than Louis normally charges and he tries to give it back, but Victor won’t hear of it and practically pushes him out of the room to prevent any more protesting.

  After we turn on all the lamps, we see that the suite is, much like the rest of the hotel, humble, as Louis put it. Brass fixtures on the walls and in the bathroom a giant bathtub with copper lion’s feet. The windows in the main room are covered by thick curtains, closed against the encroaching sun. The bedrooms, however, are completely windowless; probably a wise idea for a hotel catering to those who scorch in the sun.

  “We’ll sleep through the day,” Victor says. “This evening we’ll meet with the Council.”

  “Come on, Dawn,” Faith says, and strolls casually toward one of the bedrooms.

  I look at Victor, and he merely nods.

  “I can get another room,” Richard says, and I realize that before we stopped at Xavier’s, he probably would have shared a bedroom with Faith.

  “No, I want us to stay together,” Victor says.

  “I’ll take the couch, then.”

  Victor slaps his back. “We all need to be well rested.”

  With a shrug, Richard heads toward the other bedroom.

  “You are pouting,” Faith calls out.

  “Don’t start on me, Faith,” he says before going into the room and slamming the door shut.

  Victor gives Faith a narrow-eyed look.

  She angles up her chin. “What?”

  “Your timing isn’t the best. If you wanted to make him jealous—”

  “I didn’t. I was just being nice to Xavier.”

  “Nice? If that was you being nice, I’m not sure I want to be there when you’re really grateful. I’m surprised he didn’t get down on one knee and propose.”

  “That would have been a bit premature.”

  “Faith—”

  “I’m going to bed.” She stomps off to the other bedroom and bangs the door shut.

  Victor sighs and I can sense his frustration. I walk over and slip my hand in his. He looks down at me, smiles, and says, “We really don’t need their drama right now.”

  “What happened between her and Richard so long ago?”

  “I’m not sure. I hate to say it because she’s my sister, but if anyone is at fault, it’s probably Faith. Old Family females tend to be spoiled, used to getting their way.”

  “I can’t see her with Xavier.”

  “No, neither can I.” Victor leads me over to the couch and pulls me down beside him.

  “Thought you said we needed to be well rested,” I tease him.

  “Are you going to be able to sleep?”

  “Probably not.”

  He holds me. I wish we could pull the draperies back and look out over the city, but that will have to wait for nighttime.

  “Are you disappointed with the vampire capital?” he asks, his fingers sifting through my hair. I can feel each strand being tugged, lulling me into forgetting the world around us, until there is only us.

  “I thought it would be beautiful. Why didn’t you tell me it was like this?”

  “Because it should be beautiful. It’s mortifying that it isn’t. We consider ourselves superior, and yet we’re reverting to the Dark Ages.”

  “I don’t think it’s that bad.” I shift around to face him. “Victor, will I even be allowed into the council chamber?”

  “Hopefully as my guest, yes. You’ll be the first human to ever step inside.”

  “Though technically I’m not human,” I say.

  “You have a drop of vampirism in you, the remains of a legacy long forgotten.”

  “But it’s still in me.”

  Victor sighs gently. “It doesn’t matter. You aren’t human or vampire; those definitions are beginning to lose their meaning. You’re Dawn.”

  “Am I?” I swallow hard, hating to admit some secret part of me still hopes that everything I’ve learned isn’t true. “I’ve been noticing some changes.”

  “Like what?”

  “My senses seem sharper. I can make out things in the dark. My skin is more sensitive. My hearing is better. Taste—the meal at Xavier’s was really good, and I’m not entirely sure it was all because he has an excellent chef. Maybe it’s all in my mind, maybe I’m just imagining it.”

  He brushes his thumb over my lower lip. “How does that feel?”

  “Incredible. It’s like sensations are shooting all through me.”

  He slides his fingers over to the tattoo on my neck, to the place where he buried his fangs. “When did you start noticing the heightened sensations?”

  “After you took my blood. Octavian said that your bite awakened the vampire traits that exist in me.”

  The corners of Victor’s mouth turn down and he studies me sadly. “I didn’t know, Dawn. I didn’t know taking your blood would do this to you. I’d rather die than have you be unhappy.”

  “I’m not unhappy.” I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. “Maybe I am a little. Mostly I’m confused. Do you know anything at all about dhampirs? What I can expect? A longer life? Faster healing? Will I want to sleep during the day?”

  “I don’t know. Someone on the Council might.”

  “They’re going to hate me, aren’t they? Hate what I am? That’s why they killed the Montgomerys.”

  “Not because they hated them, but because they feared what they didn’t understand.”

  I know he’s trying to reassure me, but he wasn’t there when the death warrant was signed. It all happened long before he was born.

  “And you’re wrong,” he says slowly as though he’s beginning to become lost in the sensations of touching me. “They won’t hate you. Once they see how strong you are, how brave, how much you care for others—they’ll love you as I do.”

  “But love’s not enough. It doesn’t hold you. You keep
telling me we can’t be together.”

  “And each time we’re together, it’s getting harder to separate.”

  He skims his lips across my temple. It’s as though each cell comes to life. I lean into him, drawn to the promise of pleasure. His mouth covers mine, his tongue sweeps inside. Warmth spirals through me, pools in the pit of my stomach. My toes curl. Suddenly it’s like he’s kissing all of me.

  As I shift around until I’m stretched out on the couch, he follows my movements, never breaking from the kiss. Although we’ve slept in the same bed, he’s always done little more than hold me near, but I sense that his restraint might be slipping. I know he wants me. I want him. But giving into temptation will complicate our relationship further, would prove a distraction when we need to concentrate on destroying Sin. Still, I can’t give up the hope that when all this is over, we’ll have time to truly explore our feelings for each other.

  Drawing back, he rubs his fingers in circles over my cheeks, his gaze holding mine. “I wish I could hold you while you sleep.”

  I give him an impish smile. “We could sleep here.”

  “You deserve a bed and a good day’s rest.” He rolls off me, holds out his hand.

  Reluctantly, I let him pull me to my feet.

  “I have faith in you,” he tells me. “You’ll impress the Council.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “We’ll have to overthrow them because they’re obviously idiots.”

  Victor’s teasing words stay with me as I go into the bedroom I’m sharing with Faith. Okay, it looks like we’re also sharing a bed. A big one, but still . . .

  I expected her to be asleep by now. Instead with her back against all the pillows, she’s sitting up in a slinky red silk tank and boxer shorts. She doesn’t look up from the romance novel she’s reading, which must seem more like an instructional manual to her than a story. I grab my duffel bag, go into the bathroom, and change into my flannel pants and tank top. When I step back into the room, she glances over and rolls her eyes as though I pulled my clothes out of the trash bin.