Resisting Darkness Read online

  Resisting Darkness

  A

  Forest of Darkness

  Novel

  Kate Wendley

  Titles by Kate Wendley

  Forest of Darkness Novels and Novellas

  Untamed Darkness, Novella .5

  Mastering Darkness, Book 1

  Abandoned Darkness, Book 2

  Resisting Darkness, Book 3

  Shifting Darkness, Book 4

  Resisting Darkness

  A Forest of Darkness Novel

  Copyright copyright 2016 by Kate Wendley

  Cover by Damonza

  Moonlight Magic Publishing

  ISBN: 978-1-944538-05-7

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any manner whatsoever.

  Prologue

  He gripped his chest as an unexpected need to travel back home yanked at his vampire soul.

  “Isaiah, you’re going to be late for your meeting.”

  He let his hand drop and jerked his attention to Daphne standing behind him in their bedroom doorway.

  “Thank you for reminding me, dear. I’m nearly ready.”

  She narrowed her eyes in question as he turned away and finished buttoning his shirt cuffs. He smoothed his hair back one more time, though it was neat already and pulled back in a low tail that he tucked under itself. An old fashioned hairstyle, for sure, but familiar habits were hard to let go of after hundreds of years.

  He avoided Daphne’s eyes as he gathered his jacket off the bed, then brushed past her into the living room to get the rest of his things. Her werewolf senses could no doubt pick up on the fact he was anxious, but he wasn’t ready to talk to her about what was suddenly on his mind. He doubted she’d be happy to hear it anyway. Seattle was her home and had been for years, besides that she’d gone to great lengths to painstakingly create this opulent lair for them both. It was a pleasant enough place, but Atlanta had been and always would be the only place that truly felt like home.

  **

  “Isaiah, this is Seth Hoyle. He’s been involved in a lot of renovations in Pioneer Square downtown.”

  Their small group of investors didn’t often invite new members to join. Seth must have impressed Mitch somehow… or else planted a suggestion in his head.

  Seth was vampire. Isaiah didn’t run into them a lot in his line of business, not at this investment level anyway. He shook his hand, letting a little of his power snap at him. Seattle had its fair share of vampires, and most of them called Conrad their Master. Isaiah had long ago been allowed to be free and be considered a loner, so long as he didn’t cause trouble and kept to himself.

  Of course, that didn’t mean vampires didn’t try to test him. Isaiah had once been a Master himself, though, and found long ago that it was best to let others know right up front who they were dealing with.

  He felt Seth’s quick tension, but he didn’t react visibly besides to stare Isaiah down.

  “Mr. Foster. Good to finally meet you.”

  There was no push back to his blatant attack, so he inclined his head. “Please. Call me Isaiah.” Perhaps they could have a working relationship after all.

  They took their seats as everyone dispensed with the pleasantries, and as the presentation began, Isaiah’s curious homesickness grew. It troubled him that he felt so strongly about home now, after almost seventy five years away.

  Discussion began about the merits of the proposed redevelopment of a shopping center that seemed to be struggling to stay relevant, but Isaiah’s mind wandered to Seth. The man had long, dark, free hanging hair… just like his son had always worn. Anthony.

  He hadn’t heard from him in years and wondered if he’d find Isaiah untrusting if he were to reach out to see how he was. Surely just because he was now Master of Atlanta didn’t mean Isaiah couldn’t check on him.

  Except they’d never had that kind of relationship. Ever. But he wasn’t about to ignore this gnawing in his gut, either.

  “So, gentlemen, that’s the proposal.”

  “I’ll take a pass on this one, Mitch.”

  His long time business partner looked stricken. “What? Why?”

  He wouldn’t understand if Isaiah told him the truth, that for some strange reason he felt now was the time to finally go home again, so he just said, “Family business. I need to head back to Atlanta and I don’t know how long I’ll be there.”

  The words felt right coming out of his mouth. Yes, Atlanta. It was time to go home.

  “Isaiah, you know this kind of thing doesn’t happen overnight. We can get the permits going and by the time you’re back you can−”

  “Stop. I don’t know when I’ll be back, if ever. But I’m willing to be a silent partner on this one. I’ll provide a percentage of the capital, you all head up the renovations.”

  The group of six men, six humans, were all overly anxious to keep the project moving forward, but Seth sat across from him looking calm and relaxed. He was an old vampire, then. The younger ones were still building their wealth, and in the beginning, when they began seeing bigger and bigger numbers in their bank accounts, they couldn’t help acting greedy because money still excited and motivated them. The older vampires were mostly bored of money for its own sake, not that they’d ever give up the luxuries they’d acquired. They were simply more interested in the games of life.

  Seth wasn’t his mystery to solve, though, so once the details of everyone’s commitment to the project were laid out, Isaiah quickly left. He had plans to make and a significant other to disappoint.

  **

  Isaiah stood in front of his car as he fished his keys out of his pocket. A stir in the air told him someone had joined him. He turned casually around. “Mr. Hoyle. What can I do for you?”

  He was sure his impatience showed on his face. He didn’t want to deal with distractions now that he’d made his decision.

  “You have family in Atlanta?” His tone was overly curious, almost hopeful.

  “Yes. My son is Master there.”

  Seth’s eyebrows climbed high on his forehead, no doubt because it was rare for vampires to still have living family.

  He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Is it true that Atlanta vampires and shifters are friendly with each other?”

  “It is. At least it was, last time I was there.”

  If he wasn’t pretty sure where Seth was going with his curious questions, he’d be irritated at how close he stood. Supernaturals weren’t known for being friendly, and he’d seen his fair share of deaths via ripping someone’s heart out, though never in front of humans. No matter where he traveled, humans were kept in the dark about their kind, even in cities that vampires still fed from them. Like Seattle. Shapeshifters were a more obvious choice to feed from since they healed so quickly, but there was no love lost between most of them here, and Isaiah wasn’t about to lead the revolution to change that.

  The next words out of Seth’s mouth weren’t much of a surprise.

  “Could I join you on your trip? My wife and I?”

  This conversation annoyed him. He had plans to make and a driving need to get on with things. “Having trouble feeding here in Seattle?”

  “My wife. She has a condition. She needs a lot more blood than I do and it’s difficult to get enough for her without the humans noticing. I heard…”

  Seth’s words sounded too honest and heartfelt. Good Lord. How could he turn away someone trying to help their wife simply be able to feed?
/>
  “It’s true. There are plenty of blood volunteers in Atlanta. Shifters, though. No humans.” He pulled his wallet out and handed him a card with his number. “Get your affairs in order. I’ll be leaving very soon.”

  Chapter 1

  Ethan pummeled the trunk of the big fir over and over. Branches and needles showered down around him. As he crushed bones in his fists with each new assault, he healed just as quickly, then freshly destroyed himself again. The blessed distraction of pain was what he was after tonight.

  He screamed in anger, rage, and heartache. Living without the love of his life, and knowing her killer was still out there somewhere drove him insane in this fiercely private nightmare of his own infuriating making.

  Something heavy slammed into the back of his head and he was nearly knocked down. He whirled on the freshly fallen limb of the tree he was tearing apart, and viciously attacked it as he imagined over and over again that it was Sonya’s killer, finally in his grasp.

  When there was nothing left but splinters, he panted and gasped for air as if he needed it to survive, then took a reluctant look around himself. He hated it when he destroyed parts of the forest in his rages, yet was never able to stop himself from doing it the next time.

  The ground was safe to beat on so he dropped to his knees and screamed in fury until his war cries sounded more like piteous sobs. He forced himself to stop, refusing to give in to his centuries of heartache, not when he was so close to finally getting his vengeance.

  **

  “Back off. And my eyes are up here.”

  Bryce leered as if she were playing with him. His eyes were firmly fixated on her chest as he clumsily attempted to put an arm around her shoulder again.

  Harmony shrugged out of his grasp and slid her chair away from the obviously expensive oak dining room table. No doubt his parents had paid for it, just like everything else in this place. They paid for her tutoring services, too, not that she really cared where her money came from. She at least came by it from honest work.

  Bryce took his time studying every inch of her with a scuzzy smirk on his face. “Oh come on. You didn’t come all the way up here just to help me with my homework.”

  “Actually, yeah I did. But all you boys pretending to be men is getting really tiring. I think we’re done here.”

  She could see the shift in his eyes when he went from being obnoxiously playful to resolute, so it was no surprise when the smile slid from his face and he made a more determined grab for her. She effortlessly avoided him, a little surprised at his bravado. He’d been drinking when she got here tonight, but lots of the college crew had a drink or two while they studied so she didn’t think anything of it. Apparently he’d had more than one, though, enough to give him some liquid courage.

  He didn’t seem to realize how useless his attempt at overpowering her actually was, and she groaned in her head at the wrong turn this night had taken. She tried to be careful with him when he lurched from his chair and made a fool of himself trying to wrestle her to the ground.

  Harmony would be nervous if she were human. Luckily she wasn’t, but she had a reputation to protect and had no doubt Bryce was the kind of guy to turn this around and accuse her of assault. That was something she didn’t need. Above everything she had to remain under the radar as far as the authorities went, so she looked deep into his eyes and called on her power.

  “Bryce, you’re feeling sleepy and want to take a nap. When you get up later you’re going to call your parents and tell them you decided to start going to class more often and won’t need a tutor anymore. Then you’re going to actually go to class and pay attention to the professor.”

  She smiled when he said what everyone in a vampire trance says. “Yes Master.”

  He shuffled off to his room while she quickly tossed her things in her backpack and let herself out.

  On her drive home she decided she was done in Berkeley. Bryce was the sixth jackass to get fresh with her in two month’s time. Maybe her tutoring days were over, but teaching was something she loved to do. It was getting harder every day to find decent clients who didn’t want to dig too hard into her past and obsess about her credentials, though, and it was even harder to create new identities all the time, especially without any help.

  Being a loner in a world where vampires were expected to answer to a Master wasn’t an easy thing to do. She didn’t have assistance with human issues when she needed it, and she had to constantly watch her back for the families that didn’t like loner vampires with their own agendas. Not that she had one besides not wanting to answer to anyone.

  She wearily opened the door to her adorable apartment that had taken her forever to find and sullenly admitted to herself that it was time to move on again. The annoying human boys were just a lame excuse and she knew it. She’d never stayed anywhere for longer than about ten years anyway. She’d only been here barely two and already felt her usual restless urge to get going. She was always searching for something… or someone.

  She frowned as she tossed her backpack onto the loveseat, then one by one disarmed herself of all the daggers she kept hidden in various places on her person. She might have extra strength and heightened senses as a vampire, but she wasn’t stupid. She’d become vampire in the first place because she hadn’t known how to protect herself. She’d never be someone’s victim again.

  Leaving just one dagger tucked safely in a hidden pocket along her thigh, she flicked on her computer and plopped down in front of it. She got distracted with emails and then watched Nürburgring racing videos for at least an hour until she realized there was no use putting off the inevitable decision of where to move next.

  It frustrated her that no place ever felt like home because she didn’t like moving all the time, even for as anxious as she always was. And her constant restlessness made her desperate to stay away from the families, too, even the ones that didn’t seem all that bad. If she were forced to join one she wouldn’t be able to move on again once she figured out where she wanted to go next, so she’d lived hundreds of years as a loner.

  Luckily her Maker, Samson, was able to shield her from different Masters’ demands, but only if she stayed close to the West Coast states where his reputation was both respected and feared. Of course, she also had to visit him for a few weeks each year when he beckoned her. It wasn’t ideal, but the arrangement worked for them both and seemed like a small price to pay to maintain her freedom. The devil you know and all.

  But she’d already been to a ton of cities on the West Coast and still hadn’t found her place of calm and happiness. That meant if she wanted to keep searching for her nirvana, she’d have to strike out on her own, outside of Samson’s area of influence, and hope for the best with whatever new Master she came across.

  That thought made her tense as she pulled up a map on her computer. She let her eyes wander over it, trying to remember all those places she’d fantasized about seeing as a vampire. Places she’d either never been to or hadn’t seen since she was human, when she’d also been a teacher and a tutor.

  Her gaze kept wandering to the green crossroads of Atlanta, Georgia. She’d heard stories about Atlanta. Unbelievable stories that intrigued a lot of vampires. Supposedly no one was forced to join a family there. And all vampires were welcome, but they had to live side by side with shapeshifters, feeding only from them instead of humans.

  Not being forced to join a family was intriguing. It meant she wouldn’t have to keep using Samson as a shield. She wasn’t sure she believed that bit of cryptic online babble she’d stumbled across years ago, besides the fact that things could’ve changed since then, but it was incredibly tempting to daydream about. If the stories about Atlanta were true, though, it would allow her a new area of the country to freely explore and search for whatever it was she felt like she was always yearning for.

  Some well-meaning, ironically Buddhist vampire tried to help her find her calm at one point in time, back in the sixties or seventies, but the philo
sophy didn’t sit right with her. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the things she had, or that she felt like she needed more, it was that it felt like something was calling to her. Something or someone, she wasn’t sure which, but it wasn’t the same feeling as when Samson beckoned her back to him.

  Or she was just crazy.

  She chuckled in weariness at her age old problem and sat back in her chair, arms crossed, as she stared at Atlanta on her glowing computer screen. The city had a fairy tale mythology to it, and just like actual fairy tales, not everything was flowers and beautiful moonlit nights. There were also the mixed stories about who the Master of the territory was, and if it was actually true that she could just waltz in there, no questions asked, and settle in.

  Oh, and how to feed. Most shapeshifters she’d ever met hated the life out of vampires, and the feeling was mutual. If it was true she’d have to feed from them instead of humans, well, that was going to be interesting. The only shifters she’d ever met that were friendly with their kind were either sick in the head or ended up dead before too long. Usually both.

  She smiled. Sounded like a crazy adventure. Time to hit the road.

  Chapter 2

  “Can you feel the connection yet?”

  Ethan stared dully at George, his friend and trusted advisor for well over three hundred and fifty years. “Not yet.” The lie rolled smoothly from his lips.

  George didn’t bother hiding his irritation. “Try harder.”

  “I try every night.” That was actually the truth. Ethan’s head was a mess, though, and he didn’t want to discuss this topic with George anymore. He even regretted admitting to him recently that he’d turned Sonya’s killer into a vampire on that horrible night over three centuries ago. He thought the murdering bastard would commit suicide when he realized he’d become something he hated. That scenario would’ve sat easier on Ethan’s conscience since Sonya had always been so strongly against killing, no matter the consequences.

  George had a vested interest in all this, though, since he was Sonya’s adoptive father. She was a reminder of the family he’d lost. A young girl when he found her, she was the same age as George’s human daughter had been when she died, along with her mother, of an illness that would surely be cured in today’s age with no more than a doctor’s visit and some antibiotics.