Templar Vampires - Midnight Sun Part 24

That information hit Sebastian hard.

Hard enough to cause him to stumble backwards and collapse into one of the chairs. He dragged a hand over his head as everything in him rebelled at the idea of Allie bound in the dark.

His fury too great for him to control, he needed to put his fist through something. Anything. But most especially, he needed to hurt the renegades hurting his Allie.

"Dead. Every last b.l.o.o.d.y one of them." The declaration was pulled from the dark place within Senbastian he rarely set free.

"I can see the house she's in," Constantine gritted out hoa.r.s.ely. "Old farm house. Boarded windows."

Rage, pure and hot, surged through Sebastian as Constantine's words took shape in his mind.

Constantine began shaking furiously. "Just relax now, C. Go easy," Tristan said soothingly. "Raphael's not even back, so we're not going anywhere yet."

Sebastian stood and went over to the sofa. Standing next to Lex, he was surprised when Allie's sister rested her hand on his leg. Such a simple touch, yet in it was a wealth of emotion. The poor girl was terrified she was going to lose her sister.

He put a hand on her shoulder and felt she was shaking with fear. "We'll find her and bring her home,"

he said to her. She sniffled and nodded before wiping the tears from her face.

"Sorry."

Gaping, Sebastian looked to Constantine when he whispered that hoa.r.s.ely. This was the first time he'd had ever heard the word "sorry" pa.s.s Constantine's lips. "Rest now, you miserable b.a.s.t.a.r.d," he said lightly. "We're going to need you battle-ready come tomorrow night."

Constantine nodded before his head sagged to the side. His eyes slid closed. "Put your hands on me."

She complied without hesitation. She ran one hand through his hair. The other, she rested lightly on his chest. "I'll be here as long as you need me." Constantine gave him a barely perceivable nod before slipping into unconsciousness. As soon as he was out, Tristan sank down on the one of the high-backed chairs to keep vigil over Constantine along with Lexine.

Tonight was going to be a long night.

Sebastian used the time to do something he hadn't dared in centuries.

He went to the chapel to pray.

Knowing they wouldn't be able to go out tonight and hunt the renegades, he stalked out of the hall, his destination the chapel. He knew if he stayed, watching Constantine suffer, the walls would close in on him, adding to his already dangerous level of fury.

He didn't know why he came here since he knew G.o.d didn't want him near His house. Nor did he know why he was torturing himself with being so close to holy ground. Though he stood a good distance away already the bottoms of his feet began to heat, a promise of the burns to come. Not even the thick soles of his boots could protect him from G.o.d's wrath for daring to put his d.a.m.ned feet on His hallowed ground.

He looked at the chapel, his eyes aching as he looked upon the holy building. Such a simple structure, small and unremarkable, no one would ever imagine the power housed within. He felt the pull of it throughout his body, whispering promises that filled his head and body with need. This was the temptation Tristan faced every moment of his existence and which forced the Templars to avoid Seacrest to the point of making their home at Randall Manor instead of the castle.

His gaze lingered over the stained gla.s.s windows, which depicted the Templars journey from living Knights to the d.a.m.ned creatures they became. It brought back so many memories. Painful memories best left forgotten.

Sebastian didn't dare enter the chapel. He tried that nonsense once when he felt he needed to feel G.o.d's warmth on him. Once was more than enough. He wasn't up for that party again. As the chosen Guardian, only Tristan could enter the chapel. Only he could touch the ancient relic it housed. The rest of them were here to protect Tristan. It was what G.o.d demanded of them in order to earn redemption.

Remembering the day he died, the feel of the flames licking at him, Sebastian couldn't stop the s.h.i.+ver of revulsion that ran through him. Even after all this time he couldn't forget the stink of his melting flesh, or the agony of slowly burning to death. Nor could he ever forget what it had felt like to have Michael tear his soul from him.

He wished he could say he was wrongly arrested. Wrongly imprisoned. He wanted to be able to say he didn't deserve that awful death or his d.a.m.nation. But that would all be lies. He did deserve it. All of it.

They all did. They were the guilty among the innocent.

Genuflecting, Sebastian bowed his head. He made the sign of the cross. A horrific burn cut a path across.h.i.+m in the wake of his hands.

"In the name of the Father."

"And of the Son."

His flesh was scorched from head to heart.

"And of the Holy Ghost..."

A trail of a fire ran shoulder to shoulder.

Sebastian prayed to G.o.d to watch over and protect Allie. He asked the Lord to keep her safe and whisper in her ear that he was coming for her and to not be afraid of the dark she was in, for He was with her. He prayed for G.o.d to look past Lucian's sins and watch over the Knight as well.

As he prayed he felt his knees burning at the prolonged contact with the consecrated ground. Not that he cared. To pray for Allie and Lucian, he would risk his entire body bursting into flames.

Besides, he'd been burned worse.

Burned until he died.

He'd stay here praying until the skin d.a.m.n near melted clean off the bone if that was what it took for G.o.d to hear his prayers.

Chapter Twenty-Four.

When Allie blinked open her eyes, she was met with complete darkness. Forcing down her panic, for a fleeting moment she actually believed she might be dead.

Or undead-since she still felt very much alive.

As she quickly as the possibility came was as fast as it went. Aside from feeling like warmed over s.h.i.+t, she quickly regained all of her functions and realized she felt her heart not merely beating, but hammering against her ribcage painfully as terror ripped through her.

Once her head cleared of the haze after being knocked unconscious, Allie felt too weak to sit. Instead, she turned her head from side to side in an attempt to see where she was. She saw nothing but black.

She felt as if she were in a tomb. And for all she knew she was, since her eyes saw nothing but the dark.

Robbed of sight, Allie's other senses flared to life, making her aware of the stench that rose around her like a living, breathing thing. The stink of filth sat on the still, stale air, making each breath torturous. She heard faint sounds coming from beyond the room, m.u.f.fled voices she couldn't make out clearly.

Facedown, when she went to move to push herself up she became all-too aware her hands were bound behind her back. "Oh Christ," she swore, pulling at the ropes binding her wrists.

Like a wild-woman, Allie fought against the rope, twisting and turning until she was grunting with exhaustion from the futile effort to free herself. Her only thoughts were of those other women. They'd been tortured, used as food, raped, and slaughtered before being left to rot like garbage. She didn't wantto go out like that, her soul stolen, trapping her between life and death like the very ghosts she devoted the last years of her life to hunting.

When she was done with this world, Allie didn't want her eternity spent as a ghost. Caught between realms. Haunting life. Dear G.o.d, the thought was enough to have her growing physically sick. Gagging, she fought down her vomit and tried not to think about what might be waiting for her in the dark.

Fighting for calm, Allie used her face as leverage to somehow manage to sit up. Once she was on her knees, her gaze darted wildly around the room, trying to see through the darkness. She couldn't make out a d.a.m.n thing. Though Allie never had a fear of the dark, she found this complete blackness terrifying.

If she was the type to give in to terror, she might have wept from fear. Thankfully she was the type who fought, not about to waste her energy on tears.

With no idea how long she'd been knocked out, she didn't know how much time went by since the two renegades brought her here. For all she knew it could have been hours or days. All she did know was that by now, everyone had to know she was gone.

Hopefully that meant they'd find her and come charging in to rescue her from whoever it was who wanted her brought here.

You have no idea what's waiting for you...

The renegade's words came back to her. Sick dread rose in the form of bile in her throat as she searched through the darkness. Something nagged at her, whispering to her. Telling her she wasn't alone in here. Violent tremors wracked her when she could feel eyes on her.

Oh G.o.d,help me.

Terrified or not, she wasn't about to sit there and do nothing, waiting for whoever-whatever-was in here with her to leap at her through the dark. "You might as well say something since I know I'm not alone."

When a match flared to life her entire body went numb with fear. The light of it barely illuminated the man holding it. Still, she could vaguely make out long, thick brown hair that fell around a gorgeous and deathly pale, face. Twin burning silver eyes cut through the dark to pin her with a savage stare.

The vampire brought the match down to a taper set in a wrought iron holder. Its light broke the complete dark, giving Allie an idea of the man who lit it and room she was in.

She saw the vampire sat with his back against the wall. His long legs stretched out before him and crossed at the ankle, he looked extremely relaxed.

Young, though not as young as the renegades who abducted her, what he lacked in years he made up for in the evil reflected in his chilling eyes.

Taking advantage of the faint light, Allie gave the tiny room a quick once over. Stripped bare, the only furniture was the mattress she was kneeling on. The window was boarded up to keep out the sun.

These creatures were faster and stronger than her, leaving her no hope of being able to either fight or sneak her way out if their guard happened to be down. They'd smell her wherever she went and drag her right back. The vampire pushed himself off the floor. Long and lean, he came at her in four long strides. He took up all the s.p.a.ce around her. Allie fought down her fear, staying perfectly still, watching him as he set the candle down. When he sat on the edge of the mattress, she felt her heart slam against her ribcage as terror washed over her like an icy wave.

"I was afraid you were going to sleep the entire night away." His English accent added to his air of aristocracy.

"Next time I'm knocked cold by one of your dogs, I'll try not to stay unconscious so long."

His smile was unnerving. Even though she was used to seeing fangs, his caused fingers of dread to inch up her spine. "Brandon said you had spirit."

She imaged Brandon had to be the vamp with the good right hook. She hoped he was the first one Sebastian sent to h.e.l.l-if the Templars ever found her.

The vampire took her chin in his hand. Allie's skin crawled at the contact. He examined her swollen and bruised left cheek with an almost feminine pout. Allie knew he wasn't as apologetic about it as he tried to appear. He was a vampire, and though that wasn't always a bad thing-look at the Templars-hewas a renegade. That made all the difference in the world. It made him a cold killer.

"He shouldn't have damaged your face." How dare he have the nerve to look sincere? "A face as beautiful as yours was made to be cherished."

Oh, he was good. He had the whole charming Dracula thing going for him. Shame Allie wasn't buying his bulls.h.i.+t. "So, is this what you did to Sarah, Jordan, and Amanda before you murdered them? Did the whole 'nice-guy' thing?"

He released her jaw and fingered a lock of her hair. He inhaled softly, taking in the scent of her. She s.h.i.+vered with disgust, not wanting any part of her person to give this monster any pleasure.

"I had nothing to do with their deaths."

Sure he didn't. "Am I supposed to believe that?" she shot back.

Scared to death, Allie couldn't stop her shaking no matter how hard she tried. She knew the vampire could feel that fear and she hated that fact.

"Stephan killed them, though I won't lie and say I didn't enjoy those women before he did." He ran his knuckles down her cheek. He grunted when she pulled away from him. "Once he had what he wanted, he made good on his word and gave us what was promised."

She didn't know who Stephan was, having never heard the name before. "Why me?"

The candlelight played off of his rich brown hair and the sharp planes of his face when he stood. He turned and stared down at her. It was unnerving to have him towering over her like that. "Ah, right to the point. I like that." He moved around the room with astounding grace. "You have something I want."

Something he wanted? What in the h.e.l.l was he talking about? "What could I possibly have that you would want?" What Allie didn't add, but thought, was,What is so important that you would risk the Templar's wrath for it?

"The Daystar."

Well now, that surely was enough for any renegade to put their existence on the line for. To kill for.

Allie's blood ran cold. "I don't know what you're talking about."

In a swift and seamless motion, he yanked her up by her arms. She held in her cry when the rope bit into her wrists. He set her roughly on her feet and pulled her to him. Only an inch or two away from his face, she was close enough to see that his eyes weren't nearly as cold as she first thought.

No, they weren't cold at all. This close, she saw the fires of h.e.l.l blazed beneath that icy surface.

And it scared her. She went to move away from him but his hand closed around her upper arm, his fingers squeezing her until she thought the bone might snap.

"Don't play stupid with me, Allison. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You have the Daystar and I want it."

The determination she heard in his tone was reflected in the depths of eyes. It chilled her to her bones.

"Constantine, you'd better be listening. Get me the h.e.l.l out of here. This crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d thinks I have the Daystar."

Allie shook her head frantically. "I don't have it. If I did, don't you think I would have given it to the Templars by now?"

He gave her such a hard shake her head snapped back and forth. "Stephan said you have it."

"I swear to G.o.d I don't." She tried to keep her terror out of her tone, but failed horribly.

He brought hervery close to his face. His growl actually had the power to pull a whimper of fear from her. "Mention that name again and I'll cut your tongue out."

Allie shook with such violent force her teeth clashed together. "I'm telling you I don't have the Daystar."

His eyes narrowed on her. He sniffed at her like an animal took in the scent of its prey. She heard a deep rumble coming from him that only added to her terror. "Then it's you. You're the Daystar."

For a second Allie thought she heard him wrong. When what he said finally registered, Allie choked out a sick sound and tried to pull away from him. "Are you crazy? Do you hear yourself? The Daystar isn't a person."

With her hands tied behind her back, Allie couldn't fight him when his other hand came around her throat like a vice. He squeezed hard enough to restrict her air without completely cutting it off. "No one knows what the Daystar is, do they? The legend was lost over the ages. So you see, Allison? The Daystar could very well be a person. It could even be you." Blinking back tears, the same tears she swore not to waste her energy on, she fought for air. "You're wrong. I'm just an ordinary human."

He tilted his head, his lips playing over the skin on her throat. Allie s.h.i.+vered with disgust. "Ordinary? No, I don't think so."

His hold on her throat lessened even as his hand on her arm grew firmer. He sniffed at her again before glancing around her to look down at her b.l.o.o.d.y wrists. He spun her around, his hands hovering at the rope. "I would hate to have to end our fun before it begins." The warning in his tone d.a.m.n near scared the life out of her. "If you fight me, I'll make it hurt."