Templar Vampires - Midnight Sun Part 1

Midnight Sun.

by Rene Lyons.

Dedication.

My Jesse, you are the miracle of my life.

Frankie, I still get b.u.t.terflies every time I look at you.

Crissy, the bringer of dreams, thank you for letting me be part of your "family".

Angie, without you I'd still be wondering "when".I hope I never let you down.

Brother, I'm sorry through you I learned how fragile and short life is. I'll love you forever and miss you until I see you again. This one is for you.

Chapter One.

Pennsylvania: Summer 2005

If vampires suffered headaches, Sebastian of Rydon was sure he'd have a blinding migraine by now.

Though he loved his brother-in-arms, the idea of shoving a gag into Raphael's mouth was d.a.m.n appealing. After hearing Rogue go on and on about Allison Parker, it was all he could think to do to shut him up.

Enough was enough already.

It was months since they came here toDamascus and took on the ragtag redhead. You'd think Raphael would get the hint and leave him alone when it came to her by now. Did he believe if he went on endlessly about the woman, Sebastian would change his mind about her nosing around Randall Manor?

The last thing any of them needed was that woman poking around their house. It was ludicrous to so much as entertain the idea. Yet here was Raphael, trying his hardest to convince him she was "harmless".

Especially since Sebastian knew Allie was many things, but harmless was not one of them.

What surprised him the most was thatConstantine happened to be as enamored with her as Raphael.

Something about her having "bra.s.s b.a.l.l.s", as he liked to put it, appealed to the Dragon.

None of what they said was going to sway Sebastian. He had no intention of allowing them to open themanor toWayneCounty 's notorious ghost hunter. For all he knew, she wouldn't uphold her promise to keep her findings secret, but slap Randall Manor on the front page ofThe Specter . It didn't make sense , why he was the only one to see the idea was a disaster waiting to happen.

Even Lucian didn't seem to mind the idea of Allie invading their home. No wonder Sebastian was known as The Sage. Lately, it seemed he was the only one with any brains among the bunch.

Something about the woman got under his skin. Whenever he was around her, which he made sure wasn't all that often, he found himself getting all kinds of hungry. Hungry for her body, for her blood, and for the promise of warmth found in the strength of her lifeforce. Bad enough her occasional visits to Seacrest left her scent behind, he didn't need his home tainted by the blasted scent of gardenia. Randall Manor was his only sanctuary, and he'd not have it overrun by her.

Sitting at a table in the back of McHenry's Tavern, Sebastian and Raphael waited forConstantine . He was bringing with him a human who supposedly had a lead about the Daystar. Whether or not there was any truth to the claim remained to be seen.

Sebastian was not the type to sit idly by, which was why six long months of waiting for a sign of the Daystar was slowly driving him mad. WhenConstantine chanced to overhear Kenny Buckman make mention of a tattoo he wanted, which sounded remarkably like the symbol of the Daystar, it put an end to the maddening waiting game.

Since the Daystar wasn't something the average human would know about, it was definitely a good place to start to track the Druid relic down and destroy it. G.o.d forbid it fall into any other vampire's hands. They could use it to gain the ability to walk in the light and become nearly indestructible.

Not that Sebastian was in a rush to return toEngland . He liked it here, lost in the mountains of farm-countryPennsylvania . After nearly seven hundred years it was nice to have a change of scenery.

Though most of theWayneCounty countryside looked much like Northumberland, the subtle changes and different feel of the place gave him a peace he hadn't known since before he went off to Crusade.

"Do you think this is a waste of our time? Do you think he knows where it is?"

The sudden change of subject caught Sebastian off-guard. Only a moment ago Raphael was still going on about Allie, which was why Sebastian tuned him out.

Shrugging carelessly, Sebastian took a sip of his beer. By now he barely flinched when the liquid slid down his throat like broken gla.s.s.

He hated times like now, when a vampire was forced to perform basic human activities. When among humans, eating and drinking were the two main pretenses, though it caused intense pain to their dead bodies.

"Does it matter at this point? Be glad we've finally heardsomething ."

"I know it. It seems too easy, that's all."

"He'd be a b.l.o.o.d.y fool if he lied toConstantine ."

Though Templars made an oath to G.o.d in exchange for the chance at redemption, nothing in the rules said they couldn't beat a human near to death-the key words beingnear to death. As long as they leftthe poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d alive, their oath would be upheld.

Which was why lying to them would be a foolish mistake on Kenny's part.

Constantine Draegon was not someone Kenny wanted to p.i.s.s off. h.e.l.l, none of them were, but the Dragon was given more to violence than the rest of them.

One thing they learned quickly after being turned was that living beings were terribly fragile. It would take nothing for a vampire to end them. It said much about the Templars that they used restraint and respect when dealing with their victims, especially when caught in the throes of bloodl.u.s.t. It would be all too easy to step over the line and take life, which once done would d.a.m.n the Templars straight to h.e.l.l.

"Constantinewill beat the s.h.i.+t out of him if he's lying," Raphael remarked, idly toying with the label of his Budweiser. When a waitress pa.s.sed close to them, giving him a seductive glance, Raphael threw her a wink.

Women couldn't resist Raphael's blond good looks, and he, living up to the name of Rogue, welcomed their attention wholeheartedly.

"h.e.l.l, if he's lying I'll beat the s.h.i.+t out of the kid for making me come here."

Sebastian may be the more levelheaded of the bunch, but that didn't mean he wasn't up for giving a good beat down if the occasion called for it-and being forced to stomach this place definitely called for Kenny to be beaten senseless. Noting heads turning in the direction of the door, Sebastian knewConstantine finally joined the party.

Dragon had a tendency to draw notice to himself everywhere he went. His look saiddon't f.u.c.k with me at the same time it screamed for attention.

There he was, all six-foot-three of him, dressed in a cla.s.sic Goth getup of baggy black pants teeming with dangling metal chains and a black tee s.h.i.+rt that readSarcasm: It beats killing people . His long, straight black hair was a mess of black spikes, falling in wild disarray around his deathly pale face. Even from a distance Sebastian saw he was wearing the silver hoop nose ring in his left nostril. Sometimes he wore it, sometimes he didn't. With C, everything he did, he had to be in the right mood to do, and tonight he looked like he wanted to do bodily harm to someone. Along withConstantine , was a grubby kid with beady brown eyes and a slop of brown curls-clearly terrified and obviously strung out.

"Come on,"Constantine order as he dragged the kid by the sleeve.

The kid, or rather, Kenny Buckman, scurried to keep up withConstantine 's long strides. The surly vamp all but hurled him at one of the two empty chairs surrounding the table Sebastian and Raphael occupied.

Kenny's eyes bugged out of their sockets as he took them both in, but it was when Raphael threw Kenny a wink that the kid looked as if he would be sick.

His frantic gaze darted to Sebastian, who c.o.c.ked a brow at him, waiting to see if the kid had b.a.l.l.s or if he would try to make a run for it. G.o.d, he hoped Kenny wasn't that stupid.

With his hair buzzed down to nothing but stubble and dressed all in black, Sebastian looked like a hit man On his right hand he wore a brand of the seal of the Knight Templars. The mark was of a circle, in the center of which were two knights on a single mount, arcing around it the Latin wordsSigillumMilitum Cristi de Templo . Translated it read,Seal of the Soldiers of Christ from the Temple .

All Templars bore the brand. It marked them for the warriors of Christ they were in life and the d.a.m.ned creatures they were now in death.

"Talk,"Constantine ordered Kenny, dropping down in the empty chair next to the kid. He leaned back arrogantly, crossing his arms over his wide chest.

Kenny reached into his pants pocket. His hand shook as he pa.s.sed a folded piece of paper to Raphael, the least threatening-looking of the bunch. "I found this in the attic of my grandmother's house."

The sc.r.a.p of paper was in fact a torn piece of parchment, on it a drawing of what looked like an "S"

with a dot above and below it.

All three Templars recognized it as the symbol of the Daystar.

Raphael gave the paper to Sebastian, who took one look at it before narrowing his gaze dangerously on Kenny. "You didn't find this in your grandmother's attic." Pus.h.i.+ng aside the black duster that concealed the sword he wore strapped to his back, he tucked the paper into the inner pocket.

"Yes I did!" Kenny nearly shouted, his voice taking on a hysterical edge. "It's like I told him, I was up in my grandmother's attic looking for something and found it in some old trunk."

"He's not lying, Sage. He and a friend were looking for s.h.i.+t to sell for a fix," Constantine added harshly.

"What did you tell your friend about this?" Sebastian demanded.

"Nothing, I swear. I don't even know what the h.e.l.l it is."

"Does your grandmother know you found this?" Raphael questioned.

"Are you kidding?" Kenny looked away, his shame clear. "If I told her I found it, she'd know what I was doing there."

The look on Constantine's face told Sebastian he was poking into the kid's mind again, searching for the truth.

Once Dragon discerned if Kenny was telling the truth leaned forward in his chair and give him a threatening glare. "If you breathe a word of this to anyone, we'll hunt you down and hurt you. Do you understand, Kenny?"

Seeing the threat in Constantine's eyes, the kid turned white. "I won't. I swear it."

Constantine leaned back in his chair, a satisfied and humorless grin tugging at his lips, allowing a hint of his fangs to show. "Good. Now get the f.u.c.k out of here."

Kenny did exactly that, nearly overturning the chair when he shot off it. He ran out of the bar as if the devil himself was at his heels.

"Do you think he'll talk?" Raphael questioned once Kenny made a mad dash out of the bar. Constantine watched the kid disappear through the grimy gla.s.s door. He gave them a curt shake of his head. "He'd never risk me coming after him."

Sebastian felt as if the parchment burnt a hole clean through the thick fabric of his duster. What a h.e.l.l of a thing that even the symbol on a piece of parchment carried enough power to give off supernatural heat.

It left no doubt in Sebastian's mind that they had to find the Daystar and find it fast. They couldn't risk any other creature finding it.

G.o.d help them all if a renegade got his hands on it before a Templar. To give a renegade, a vampire of the lowest order, the power to walk in the sun would be to unleash h.e.l.l on earth.

"What's our next move?" Raphael threw the question out.

A slow smile spread across Sebastian's face. "I say we pay a visit to Grandma Buckman."

Chapter Two.

Whoever said drowning sorrows at the bottom of a bottle of beer was a good idea, was an idiot.

Actually, Allison Parker was the idiot for attempting it knowing full well how much she despised the stuff.

Drinking, drugging, hanging out and raising h.e.l.l, they were never her things. She was more the "hang out in a graveyard and wait for the spirits to rise" sort of person, which was why ghost hunting was the perfect profession for her.

It also made her the town weirdo, but by now it was a reputation she could live with.

Of course, it left her friendless and dateless most of the time, but again, those were things she could live without if it meant doing what she loved. Ghost hunting was a pa.s.sion of hers, made even more so after the death of her brother two years ago. It pushed her to find any evidence of life after death.

Unfortunately, she found it when three vampires thought to make a meal of her five months ago.

The only good to come of that incident was it caused her to cross paths with the Templars, who descended on the scene like two avenging warriors. With a few swipes of their swords-yes swords-they reduced the vampires to ash.

If they would have come only a few seconds earlier they might have saved her from having been bitten and fed from, something she knew Constantine and Raphael still felt guilty about.

Pus.h.i.+ng aside her opened, but not even sipped at bottle of Budweiser, Allie felt her stomach twist as Jude's cruel words came back to her. She'd have gone straight home instead of making a pit stop at McHenry's Tavern, but the thought of returning to her empty house only added to her melancholy.

The entire day was a total disaster. Jude ending their relations.h.i.+p wasn't what bothered her so much, It was his spiteful admission of cheating with Denise Tanner that pierced her pride. It reinforced her reasoning for why she made a point to steer clear of "normal" people.

Jude, as ordinary as they came-barring his multi-million dollar bank account of course-was Damascus' darling. Everyone loved the Golden Boy, who'd taken a small construction business and turned it into thriving company. If people only knew what Allie learned about him in the ten months they were together, she wondered if they'd still adore him.

A coward and a mama's boy, there wasn't any justification for his arrogance. She had to wonder if the break-up had anything to do with the fact that she called five tremendous men, all whom looked every bit the medieval warriors they were, friends. Knowing him, it had to be a blow to his fragile pride.

Guess that's why he thought to even the score by cheating on me.

Jude picked a real winner with Denise, who was known as the town bike. Everyone got a chance to ride her, didn't matter to her if the guy was old or young, ugly or hot. All it took to have a go at her was a p.e.n.i.s and a beer.

Sometimes, not even the beer.

It was a swift kick to Allie's pride. It made her want to give Jude a good hard kick back. Only instead of to his pride, nail it right to the b.a.l.l.s.

Staring at the beer, she admitted defeat and hopped off the uncomfortable barstool. Slapping a ten-dollar bill on the bar, she turned to leave. All her misery was replaced with overwhelming relief when she spotted Raphael and Constantine walking in.