Part 19 (1/2)

”I will never let you go hungry.” Kyle placed the woman on his father's lap. ”Hurry, before she wakes”

Diallo savagely twisted the woman's head, lifted her neck to his mouth, and plunged his fangs into her jugular vein. Blood spurted. The woman sighed, a sensual sound. The coppery odor of fresh blood permeated the air.

A pleasant chill pa.s.sed through Kyle as he watched his father feed. He marveled that he could enjoy watching a vampire feast on a human. The mere thought used to revolt him.

Something was happening to him, he realized. A profound change was occurring deep in his psyche, like tectonic plates s.h.i.+fting under the earth's surface.

He was certain that finding his father, finally, had triggered the transformation. He was metamorphosing into a mature vampire. More daring. More confident.

More in touch with his natural desires.

As he watched his father suck the human's blood, he licked his lips.

Suddenly, he was hungry. Famished. Although he had fed only a couple of hours ago on a packet of blood.

Perhaps his father would share the woman with him.

But Diallo did not offer. He drained the human's body, then carelessly flung the corpse off the bed.

Kyle's hunger vanished. He wasn't genuinely hungry. What was wrong with him?

He had to maintain control of himself. Hunting prey for his father was essential, but only until his father had adapted to packaged blood. He could not join his father in feeding on live prey. If he did, they would regress into predatory savages. The idea was madness.

But only yesterday, I had thought that murdering a human was madness, too, hadn't I?

”You are in turmoil, my son,” Diallo said. He rested his hand on Kyle's shoulder. ”Sit with me.”

Kyle sat on the edge of the bed.

”What troubles you?” Diallo said.

”Mother has taught me a different way of life for a vampire,” Kyle said. ”A way that she feels is more civilized.”

Diallo smiled. ”Lisha is wise. But she is a female. You are a male. And I am your father. Only I can show you how a powerful male vampire ought to conduct himself.”

His father's eyes were dark, absorbing.

I needed you to save me,” Diallo said. ”You need me to guide you. We need each other, my son.”

”Yes, Father,” Kyle said. Intense emotion swelled his lungs, making it hard to breathe.

He had never experienced such a heartfelt connection with anyone, vampire or human.

”We need a daylight watcher,” Diallo said. ”I understand that the man you had befriended served in such a capacity. But he is no more. I will show you a watcher that is better than a man”

”What do you mean?”

”Help me walk. Let us go outdoors”

Kyle a.s.sisted his father in getting off the bed. Across the bas.e.m.e.nt, a short flight of steps ended at a solid set of storm doors. The doors were unlocked; Kyle had brought the woman into the cellar through this doorway.

They ascended the stairs and walked into the night.

It was cool and quiet. The sky was clear, sprinkled with stars and a pale half moon.

Diallo drew in a deep, deep breath. He laughed, like a giddy child.

”The night!” Diallo said. ”I have missed the freedom of darkness. At night, all things are possible for us. Always remember that truth.”

”All things?” Kyle said.

Instead of answering, Diallo dropped to his knees in the gra.s.s.

Alarmed, Kyle went to him, but Diallo waved him away.

His father ripped away the sleeves of his silk s.h.i.+rt, exposing his muscular arms. He spread his arms to their full length. He closed his eyes and raised his face heavenward. Moonlight seemed to s.h.i.+mmer around his head, like a halo.

What is he doing? Kyle wondered. His father's behavior did not follow anything Mother had taught him. What was this talk of finding a watcher that was better than a man?

Tension thickened the air as his father meditated, his body like an onyx statue.

The silence endured for several minutes ... and then Kyle heard, faintly, the gallop of approaching animals.

It sounded like dogs.

David and Nia were in the living room when the dog went berserk.

They had temporarily given up discussing the Bible, the ghost, and the other strange things that David had experienced lately. They just didn't have any solutions. Tomorrow, David would visit the psychic woman, Pearl, to get some answers.

They were watching a sappy romantic comedy movie that Nia had insisted he would like, when King went nuts. The dog had been lying on the floor, viewing the television as if engaged in the story. Abruptly, King jumped up and began to bark.

”What's wrong, boy?” David said. ”What're you barking at?”

King ran out of the living room. He continued to bark.

Confused, David looked at Nia.

”He could be hungry,” she said. ”Or want to go outside.”

”He doesn't normally act like that”

He found the dog in the hallway. King stood on his hind legs, scratching the front door, barking.

David looked outside the window. There was no one in sight.

King quit barking, and whined.

”What is it, boy?” David said.

The dog looked at him with yearning, as though frustrated by their inability to communicate directly.