Dawn's Darkest Hour

From his vantage point, he had a full view of the counter. Few customers straggled in on a Sunday evening. He waited for one in particular to show. What Carter didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Eric reviewed the plan in his head. Set up the boy. Eliminate the infant human's vampire protector. Lead the Sons on a wild goose chase and get his hands on one ferocious beast. Child's play.

The dart gun pressed in a hard lump on his hip. Obtaining the necessary equipment was far too easy. Using it hadn't proven such. As a vampire, he used his fangs and a set of faithful silver daggers for defense, not modern devises. He'd never shot a gun before. After a few hours of practice, he'd gotten the basic hang of it. The thing was awkward and clumsy, by no means precise. But, all he had to do was get close enough to shoot a few darts loaded with tranquilizers, drop one overgrown wolf, and bingo, he'd have a new plaything.

Where was the damned boy anyway? O'Sullivan glanced at his watch. Late, of course, but what could one expect from a human? The boy, he could use. The vampire? Not so much. If the Sons didn't tear the vampire limb from limb, he'd have to do the job himself. What was one less vampire in the world when he could make plenty?

Rachael watched David give Cole a crash course in self-defense. The only thing missing was the popcorn. If this was the best Cole could do, he was in deep shit. David was so fast. He ducked and bobbed out of Cole's reach. Cole never even came close to delivering so much as a scratch on David's pale skin.

David abruptly ended Cole's lessons. They were out of time. Cole was a street brawler, clumsy, heavy on his feet, relying on bruit force. His face proved to be good for nothing but a punching bag. Without months of formal training there wasn't anything else David could do. He slid the blade into the holster strapped around Cole's waist and tightened the buckle. "Just do your best, ok?" If he got himself taken out of commission early. Cole's best wasn't going to be even close to being good enough to offer any defense against a Rogue. David's best was to hope that if he did get taken out, that the Rogues would kill Cole quickly instead of prolonging it.

Rachael hopped off the bed and slid her feet into her shoes. Her heart tap-danced in her chest and her palms were sweaty. For the first time since she'd come up with the crazy idea to go after Laney's murderer. She found herself rethinking the plan. There wasn't much a human girl could do to harm a vampire, let alone kill him. Maybe, she could do something tonight. It would give her a chance to see the enemy first hand and come up with a better strategy before she faced the vampire who had killed her best friend. Besides, Cole needed her help and weren't six hands better than four? Surely, she could do something.

"Where do you think you're going?" David huffed. The last thing he needed was to have another human to baby-sit this evening. Keeping Cole alive was going to be next to impossible without having to chase after Rachael too. As it was, leaving her alone at the hotel behind lock and key was dangerous enough.

Rachael squared her jaw and crossed her arms over her chest. She wished Cole had picked any color besides pink for her sweatshirt. The black yoga pants that he'd found on the sale rack were fine. But, the pink would make her too highly visible in the dark. "With you."

"Afraid not. You're staying here." David said with a menacing don't fuck with me expression pinned his face. Rachael was too soft, too weak, and too vulnerable to do them any good. Even if she had the physical ability to take down a vampire, which she didn't, she could not emotionally handle delivering a killing blow.

"But...I can help."

David scoffed harshly, "Help get us killed. Look. If you want to help, STAY. HERE. Don't leave this room till either Cole or myself come for you." He tucked another dagger beneath Cole's over shirt and nodded toward the door. "Let's get this over with."

Cole took a deep breath. The wad of cash that he was supposed to slip into the Styrofoam box in exchange for the goods felt like a loaded bomb in his pocket, tick, tick, ticking away each and every second he had left of his life. He'd left the big bills for Rachael, just in case. His contact never counted the money, just took it and gave him the drugs in exchange. Hopefully, tonight would go exactly like every other night had gone.

He knew what he was supposed to do. Go into the restaurant and order a large vegetarian mei fun to go. Stop at the self-serve counter and grab a pile of napkins and soy sauce. Slip the money into the bag with the napkins and the condiments and leave. Once he got to the mouth of the alley. He'd sit the bag down and pretend to use his cell phone and then walk away accidentally forgetting his lunch. While he rounded the corner and pretended to remember his forgotten lunch. His contact would have already switched the bags. Cole would pick up the new bag. The Styrofoam container loaded with drugs instead of vegetarian mei fun and head out.

Cole would then go home and peddle the product according to the arrangement until the next pickup was ready. Only, David was going to be there and he'd take care of the dude exchanging the bags. Haul the vamp's nasty blood sucking, drug dealing ass to the vampire police or whoever handled justice in the world of the undead. Cole didn't really want to know or care what David did with the vamp after his part was done.

"Rachael, we'll be back before you know it," Cole said. Not knowing exactly whom he was trying to convince, her or himself. "This is going to be easy. I do my part and David swoops in like...Superman...and nabs the bad guys. Simple," Cole nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. By the frown on Rachael's face, she wasn't buying it. Only a total idiot would. Truth. They were out numbered. Truth. One member of their team was human and therefore, the weakest link. Truth. David promised that he'd try, TRY, to keep him alive. Not that he would or even could.

"Rachael, please. Stay here. I don't want to have to worry about you. I need to know that at least I did one thing right and that I kept you safe. Please." The hard look in Rachael's eyes faded. Cole used the tone of voice he used on girls to get what he wanted from them. Luckily, she wasn't immune to his power of persuasion. Weakly, she nodded her head. "Good." He blew out a sigh of relief.

Since he was most likely going to die in a few minutes anyway. He figured it was best to go out with a smile. David wasn't likely to pulverize him to a pulp in the middle of a busy hotel hallway. Hopefully. Cole slipped his hand behind Rachael's neck and pulled her in close. Greedily, he stole a quick kiss. Grinning like a banshee as David snatched him by his collar and dragged him toward the back stairwell.

Rachael closed the door behind her. She didn't have a lot of time. She hadn't exactly promised that she wasn't coming. A quick semi nod didn't count. The Chinese place couldn't be too far from here. Deftly, her fingers searched the map of downtown included in the hotel's city guide and found the restaurant. Only four blocks, she could jog that in her sleep. She felt like she was invading Cole's personal space as she dug through the bag and pulled out the gun he'd left behind.

Her fingers shook, loading the bullets into the chamber one by one. She only had five bullets. She didn't know what kind of gun it was. Only that the butt fit nicely into her small palm. She'd never shot a gun in her life. But, she'd watched plenty of cop shows on TV. How difficult could it be? Point and shoot, just like a camera, right? Nervously, she clicked off the safety and tucked it underneath her bulky sweatshirt. Bullets wouldn't protect her. David had told her that they wouldn't kill a vampire unless her aim, and her luck was very, very good. One shot, right between the eyes, that's all she needed.

Pulling the door closed behind her, she wiped her sweaty palms on the thighs of her pants and trotted down the hall toward the elevators. David and Cole had enough of a head start for her to slip out undetected. They needed her, even if they didn't know it yet.

Chapter 68

Dark came early in the fall. The clock on the dashboard read, six forty-five and already the sky above was a velvety black blanket. The interstate was blessedly free of traffic and her drive into the city had been an incredibly easy one. She pulled to a stop and parked right in front of the Chinese restaurant. RIGHT IN FRONT! How about that for luck? Downtown was more of a ghost town than a major urban hub of commerce on Sunday nights. Not even the prostitutes hung out on their usual corners. Everyone rested on Sunday to reenergize for the upcoming week.

Nora shivered and pulled her jacket up tighter around her neck. Things were a little too quiet and she felt, chastised herself for the ridiculousness of it, as if she were being watched. She wrapped her fingers through the strap of her purse and hustled for the flashing neon sign. A string of bells knocked against the plate glass door as she opened it, greeted by the smells of decadence. Her mouth watered in anticipation, her eyes scanning the brightly illuminated menu on the wall behind the counter.

Nora took her tray, loaded with fresh, hot, steaming shrimp mei fun and headed to the seats by the windows for a better view of the city. Not that she could see much through the thick layer of grime that caked the windows. But, she sat by them anyway, dumped more soy sauce over the shrimp and veggies than what was allowed by law and wound the first bite around her fork. A burst of flavor, the slight pop of sweetness as she bit into the shrimp, the rich nutty flavor of the noodles, the crisp crunch of a piece of broccoli, and the salty tang of the soy sauce, exploded onto her tongue.

She tried to be inconspicuous and purposeful in her eating alone. It was a difficult task to manage, since she was the only person in the restaurant. Eating alone was never fun and she always felt pitiful and so damned pathetic sitting all by her lonesome at a table for two. She stared out the window into the dimly streets. Thanks to recent budget cuts by the mayor, only half of the streetlights were lit, left to the task of cutting through the darkness. There wasn't much to see anyway. This part of downtown was growing more and more dilapidated with each passing day.

The ring of the chimes battering against the glass door caught her attention. Nora shrank in her seat and blushed winsomely. She was busted. Caught eating alone by one of her students. She swallowed down her bite and dabbed at her mouth with a paper napkin. "Hi, Cole."

Great. Cole forced his most perfect Mr. Teen USA smile at the woman sitting alone at the table. "Hi, Ms. Temple." He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans and sauntered to the counter to order. He leaned casually on the counter, resting his hip against the wall to conceal the bulk of the dagger David had strapped to his hip earlier. The counter was sticky with...something. From the back, he heard voices, chattering rapidly in a language he didn't understand. A sleek haired, petite, young, Asian, woman with a coy smile patiently waited behind the counter to take his order. "I'll have an order of vegetarian mei fun, extra large, to go."

David ducked from the view of the restaurant windows. Luckily, Nora's attention was turned to Cole and she hadn't seen him. This was not the face, although it was just as much a part of him as the one he wore, that he wanted her to see. The alley was empty. A cold wind gusted from the tops of the buildings, stirring up tiny dust devils in its wake. "What the..." he rested his hand on the blade at his hip and walked toward the bag. It was just sitting there for someone to collect it. It wasn't the bag that drew his attention, but the scent. Dried blood.

He snatched the bag up off the pavement and looked inside. He opened the pristine white Styrofoam container at the bottom of the bag. Pink. Plastic bags, at least a dozen, filled with the brilliant sparkle of pink. "Son of a..." He didn't have time to draw a weapon or drop the bag before a rough hand jammed him face first into the wall and the razor sharp edge of a blade bit into the back of his neck.

Bianca glanced at her diamond-encrusted watch. The dainty platinum numbers shone in silvery perfection as the gold second hand ticked from one digit to the next. By now, the Sons had David in custody. If they were nothing, the Sons were punctual. David had told her that his human contact was supposed to meet the dealer at seven o'clock. She'd in turn, told the Sons, seven-ten. She watched the minute hand slide down to the next mark. About right now, David was figuring out that she'd double-crossed him. In another five minutes, the Sons would have extracted all the information from him that they needed and would have no further use for him. Shame. She was really going to miss him.

Carter slid out the side door with O'Sullivan on his heels. He inched through the narrow space between the decaying brick that housed the restaurant and the identical building next to it. Although the movements felt incredibly slow, he was moving fast, nothing more than a breeze to a human. O'Sullivan and he were to part ways at the mouth of the alley. Fine by him. He wanted no part of it. O'Sullivan wanted to stick around and watch the carnage. Whatever. He wedged his shoulders free of the narrow gap between the buildings and beat feet up the sidewalk as fast as they would carry him. But, not fast enough though for him to avoid the scent of fresh blood.

O'Sullivan cursed under his breath as the sleeve of his coat ripped when he tore free of the confining space between the buildings. Carter was already far from his view, having melted into the night. Good. He followed the ghostly cast of shadows across the street. He would claim to have been in the neighborhood and to have moved in to investigate, if the Sons bothered to ask. Obviously, judging by the smell in the air, they were otherwise engaged.

The dart gun was heavy and clumsy in his right hand. Where in the hell were those damned wolves? At best, Eric guessed he'd have one shot, one chance to aim and get it right. He hoped the human at the ASPCA, who had been ever so helpful, right before he died, guessed the dosage right and Eric didn't accidentally kill his intended target. He scented the air, sifting through the various nefarious scents of humanity. No, not that, no, no, no...ahhhh, there to the west, he detected the scent of musk and pine, the scent of beasts.

In anticipation of what she might do. David had taken her tennis shoes and left her with nothing. Luckily, the hotel was more than happy to provide a pair of cheap, rubber courtesy flip-flops for their guests in hopes of luring them out of their rooms and down to the pool. It was a simple thing to call room service and have a pair brought up.

Rachael panted, heaving deep breaths as she rounded the corner. The flip-flops were not as easy to run in as her favorite joggers. They were clumsy and noisily, thwap, thwap, thwapping against her heels. Hell, anybody would hear her coming a mile away. She balanced on one foot and then the other, tearing the hazardous summertime footwear free and tossing them onto the sidewalk. The concrete bit into the soles of her feet. But, her steps were quiet. Padding cautiously toward the restaurant, she freed the gun from the waistband of her yoga pants, cradling it with her trembling fingers.

Light from the restaurant windows cast a warm, golden glow onto the sidewalk. Rachael could almost believe this was any ordinary Sunday night in downtown and she was simply picking up some take out. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of movement in the shadows across the street. The gun wobbled at her side. Fear jolted through her as the realization of who was stalking down the opposite side of the street, almost half a block ahead of her.

The man had haunted her nightmares every night for the past year! Laney's killer! The ponytail of sleek luxurious brown curls gathered at the nape of his neck. The square shoulders draped in expensive wool. His gait was confident, as if no one would dare fuck with him. She didn't have to see his eyes to know there was murder in them. An opportunity like this would never arise again. All she had to do was get closer.

Her loyalty to David and Cole wavered. David was a vampire. He could handle his own problems and as for Cole, David could take care of him too. She knew it. Her one chance to make things right in the world had finally come. The moment destiny had sent her on a collision course with was at hand. If she didn't do this now, she never would. One shot. That's all she needed, just one shot. Blast a hole the size of a meteor crater in the back of his head and it would all be over. He'd never kill and she'd never have another nightmare again. The butt of the gun nipped deep into her palm. Determined and desperately clinging to the hope that David and Cole would forgive her for abandoning them. She ran across the street to get closer to her intended target.

Cole rested the Styrofoam container in his palm. Ms. Temple returned to her plate of noodles, staring idly into the darkness, as he slipped the money into the bag along with napkins and plenty of soy sauce. If he lived through this he was never going to eat Chinese food again. Ever. He made his way to the door and nodded at his English teacher. "Guess I'll see ya at school tomorrow."

Nora nodded and took a sip of her hot tea. "You too, Cole." Sometimes when not surrounded by his band of teenage worshipers and working to uphold their esteemed opinion of him. Cole could be a nice kid. She saw potential in him, even if he buried it deeply beneath layers of fake smiles and cockiness. She watched as he passed in front of her window and disappeared from her view. Just a few more bites and she was calling it quits. At least, she had supper for tomorrow. Leftovers paled in comparison to the real thing. But, there was no need to waste what had once been good food.

Cole took a deep breath and gripped the bag tighter between his fingers. The dark entrance to the alley was on his right, open like the black maw of a hungry beast. He slid closer and dropped the bag into the darkness. Not really caring if the Styrofoam split open from the impact and the money was covered in hot, slimy, mei fun noodles and crunchy vegetables or not. A pair of hands reached out and snatched him by the nape of his neck dragging him deeper into the alley. "One peep and you're mine," a faceless voice growled.

Shit! Cole thought he peed his pants he was so scared. He fumbled ineffectually for the dagger David had given him. "Don't." David's voice ordered from someplace in the darkness to his right. The vamps had David too. They were both so dead. God, he hated that self-fulfilling prophecy bullshit. But, he was going to die, no ifs ands or buts about it.

Marcus moved into the crowded alley and was shocked to see the Guardian symbol tattooed on the vampire's inner forearm. He reached into the bag and pulled out a plastic bag of pink, and waved it under the vamp's nose. "This is your shit?"

David wrangled for his freedom and failed. The hands that held his biceps clamped down even tighter. "Hell no!" He had to save himself now. Cole was human. The odds of the Sons killing him were nil. They'd work him over and scare the piss out of him, but they wouldn't kill him. They didn't murder in cold blood, at least not humans. As for him...well, Guardian or not, that was another story. Especially if they believed that he was behind the drug dealing. The Sons would torture him first and then kill him...slowly. The tattoo on his arm wouldn't be enough to grant him any sort of clemency. "I've been set up!"