Shackled to the Night, page 1
Shackled to the Night
A Dark Forces Novel - Book 1
By Carly Fall
Copyright 2011 Westward Publishing
All Rights Reserved
Smashwords Edition
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my husband. Thank you for your support, your encouragement, and helping me get out of my own way. I love you.
I would also like to thank my editor, Allison Itterly. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Praises for Carly Fall
"Your narrative voice is so strong and unique, raw and honest . . . "
"Shackled to the Night was a great introduction to the "dark side!" It was very hard to put away, I look forward to more of Carly's work."
"This was a great story. It's very well written. The author has a great writing style that is easy to follow & pulls you in. If you enjoy steamy, dark novels, you'll enjoy this book."
"I LOVED this book! I can tell this is going to be another great series in the paranormal romance genre. I can't wait to read the next in the series, which I am going to guess has to be about Aiden. Hurry up and write, Carly!"
"That book was absolutely wonderful! I gave it 5 stars. When will the series continue? Oh PLEASE don’t make me wait too long!"
"I love that you have this ability to take the reader on a journey with your characters, and there’s no stopping the fact that you fully engage the reader in every point."
"Your writing is so poignant, funny, realistic . . . "
"This gripping, and often sexy, story leaves the reader wanting more . . . "
For more information on Carly Fall, read interviews with your favorite characters, and to sign up for all sorts of freebies, you can visit: www.CarlyFall.com
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And don't forget to visit Carly Fall on Facebook!
Prologue
50 Years Ago, Northern Canada
Thaddeus stood on the edge of the rooftop, scanning the dark street below. The air chilled him, and he was getting cranky. He didn’t like being cold.
He heard a thump behind him and turned to see his brother, Aiden, walking toward him. Aiden had just leapt from the adjacent building, checking out the street behind them. As members of The Council’s Dark Forces, they had sworn to uphold the Behavior Doctrine that stated that all of those in the vampire race had to abide by two simple rules: First, that humans must never find out about the vampire race, and second, humans were to be revered. They were looking for a vampire who had defied both rules.
Big Time.
They had heard about some serious vampire attacks happening in this area. Humans were being killed. There were witnesses. The humans hadn’t believed the accounts of what the witnesses had seen, but the threat to the humans had to be eliminated before the situation spun out of control.
“Anything?” Thaddeus growled.
Aiden shook his head.
“We’ve been hunting this fucker for two nights now,” Thaddeus spat. “I’m tired of being cold.” He watched the breath that carried his words drift away into the starlit sky and thought of moving somewhere warm, like Death Valley, California, or El Azizia, Libya. He had read somewhere that it once reached one hundred and thirty six degrees in both places, and he was so cold that one hundred and thirty six degrees sounded downright balmy.
Aiden chuckled. “Buck up, soldier,” he drawled, taking out a quarter and tossing it in the air, catching it before it hit the ground. He closed his eyes briefly, and Thaddeus knew from hundreds of years of experience that he was using his sixth sense to locate any danger in the vicinity. When Aiden resumed his coin toss, Thaddeus guessed he hadn’t detected anything.
“He’ll come out eventually,” Aiden said. “He’s got to be getting hungry.”
Thaddeus decided he was getting hungry as well. Hungry for a cozy bed and a nice, soft woman to keep him warm. He hoped like hell they could wrap up this mess early tonight, and he could hit the club to find that warm body he craved and needed.
Aiden, on the other hand, relished the hunt. He enjoyed the waiting, the searching, and the inevitable violence that he would deliver on his subject.
They stood in silence for a couple more minutes until Thaddeus spoke. “Are you sure this is where Cy said the attacks were happening?”
Aiden rolled his eyes, nodded once, and tossed the coin again. Cyril, or Cy for short, was one of their other brothers and had never been wrong about a damn thing in his life, and both of them knew it.
Thaddeus cursed violently, ran his fingers through his short, blonde wavy hair and walked to the other end of the building huddling his hard six-foot-eight and two-hundred and seventy-pound frame into his long leather coat, his black combat boots crunching on the pebbles. The wind whistled across his ears, stinging them. He peered down into the street, reminding himself that a watched pot never boils, and patience was a virtue, good things come to those who wait…whatever.
A few people were out and about, hurrying along and trying to keep warm in the bitter night air.
And then he saw her.
A lone female walking the street-huddled in her dark jacket, her face down as she tried to conceal herself from the cold wind. She was small and thin. The wind blew her black hair behind her, and from the rooftop it almost looked like a cape flowing from her shoulders. A perfect target for the one he hunted. As if on cue, the street suddenly became deserted. There wasn’t a soul in sight, except for the woman. Besides the click of her heels on the sidewalk and the sound of the wind whistling through the trees, silence blanketed the night.
Seemingly out of thin air, the male Thaddeus was hunting appeared. He struck the woman quickly and with force, pinning her arms to her body while wrapping his big arm around her stomach, his other hand wrenching her head back to expose her throat, lifting her off the ground. Thaddeus heard the woman gasp as his prey sank his fangs into her neck with an animalistic growl. She tried to fight back, but was no match for the sheer strength that held her in place.
Thaddeus called for Aiden, then jumped off the nine-story building, landing silently behind the vampire. Aiden was right behind him, and landed in front of the woman.
The vampire panted as he drank, so engrossed in his meal that he didn’t notice his two assailants for a second, and that second was all they needed. Thaddeus put a blade to the neck of the vampire, while Aiden leveled a gun to his head. The vampire hissed, tossing the woman to the side, ready to fight off his two attackers. Thaddeus glanced at the woman. She was sprawled on the sidewalk, her black hair in disarray around her shoulders. The wound on her neck was ugly, raw, and bleeding. She didn’t move, just stared wide-eyed at the violence that was about to play out in front of her. Her breath sawed in and out as she brought her hand to her neck, and then looked at the blood that pooled in her palm.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. She put her hand to her neck again, as if she couldn’t believe what was happening.
“Oh my God! He bit me! He bit me!” she said louder, and Thaddeus could see that the situation was about to spiral out of control as the woman’s panic grew into hysteria.
“Watch him,” he said to Aiden, who sneered at the prey down the butt of his gun, flashing his gleaming fangs. With his dark skin and hair, as well as the black camo jacket and pants he was wearing, he blended into the night, except for those fangs. They were long and white and a begging to be used. With his huge size, standing at six-foot-six and weighing at two hundred and seventy pounds, the guy was pure menace.
Thaddeus got down on his haunches in front of the woman.
“Stay away from me!” she yelled, trying to back up from him.
Thaddeus gently placed his hand on her forehead, instantly putting her into a light trance, and she immediately calmed down.
“That’s good,” he murmured. “On the count of three, you are going to get up from the sidewalk. You will not see the three of us standing here in front of you. You will walk for two blocks and realize that you are hurt. You will then find the nearest hospital and go get yourself fixed up. You’ll tell them that a dog attacked you. You won’t remember anything that has happened here tonight, do you understand?”
The woman nodded, Thaddeus counted to three, and she got up and walked away, completely oblivious to the snarling vampire who still had her blood caked on his chin, his black eyes tracking her, or the two other vampires who were holding guns and knives.
“Now,” Thaddeus said, turning to his prey. “Let’s the three of us have a little chat, shall we?”
“Why did you interrupt my meal?” the vampire growled. The male looked like a deranged homeless person. His brown hair was short, but stood out from his head in greasy spikes; he face was gaunt and pale. Dark brown pants cinched at the waist with a rope hanging from his thin hips, his upper body swimming in an old gray trench coat. But at least he had on a new pair of Nikes. A male had his priorities, and from the looks of things, good shoes were definitely in this guy’s top five.
“Didn’t look much like a meal to me,” Aiden drawled, looking as if he were anxious to get the beat-down started. “Looks more like you are a mobile slaughter house, asshole.”
The vampire smiled broadly, reminding Thaddeus of something out of a bad Hollywood horror movie. His large fangs gleamed through the blood crusted on his lips and chin. No wonder vampires got such a bad wrap in the human world.
“Who cares,” the vampire hissed at Aiden. “They are nothing more than food. Our race should be their mas
And that was the crux of the problem. There were vampires who did think that way, and they were usually the ones who got a visit from Thaddeus or his brothers.
“That’s not the way The Council sees it,” Thaddeus said mildly.
The vampire roared again, and Thaddeus fed the male a quick knuckle sandwich to shut him up while suggesting they take the chat somewhere a little less public. They walked down the street—the angry, rabid vampire flanked by Thaddeus on one side, Aiden on the other, the male’s own blood now flowing from his nose and mouth, courtesy of Thaddeus’s fist.
They reached an abandoned building and helped themselves inside. The resident rats scattered. The windows were boarded up, plunging the place in to pitch darkness, but that was fine with the three of them as seeing in the dark was not a problem for those of their race.
The place had once been a busy office building. A front desk stood in the middle of the large lobby like an old sentry guarding its space. There were a couple of chairs thrown about, but other than that, nothing but a few rat droppings. Aiden threw the vampire into the nearest wall, smiling as the plaster cracked from the force. The vampire sank to the floor in a puff of dust. Aiden then leisurely leaned against the far wall.
Whenever Aiden and Thaddeus teamed up, Aiden always let Thaddeus take the lead. The guy was a natural front man. He was a negotiator, enforcer, and a politician all wrapped into one. Aiden had always told Thaddeus would be more effective behind a desk instead of out in the field. Aiden, on the other hand, would just as soon kill anyone who broke The Council’s rules instead of trying to reason with them. He wasn’t much of a talker.
Thaddeus explained to the male that there had been reports of extreme vampire activity in the area. If humans had any idea of the amount of crime vampires were responsible for, it would mean nothing but trouble. Or total anarchy in the streets. The fact was, at least wayward vampires caused 25% of all crime, and it was Thaddeus and his brother’s responsibility to make sure that the perpetrators were punished so that the vampire race could continue to live amongst humans.
The vampire said nothing, just stared at Thaddeus with a hateful glare, and stood to his feet.
“We can’t have that going on, man,” Thaddeus stated. He stood in front of the vampire relaxed, his hands hidden in the pockets of his coat. Although they were inside, it was still cold enough to make a snow cone crave heat. Never in his time as a protector of the race, which had turned into protecting the race from itself, had another vampire made a move against him. But as the song went, there was a first time for everything.
The vampire moved quickly, lunging out at Thaddeus with a knife. Thaddeus didn’t see the attack coming, and his big chest made an excellent target. The blade connected with his flesh, leaving a large gash that began to bleed immediately. He stepped back in stunned surprise, his adrenaline shooting through his body, masking any pain from the slash. He looked down and saw that the knife had sliced through his favorite leather trench coat. Now he was downright pissed, and his fangs punched through his gums. Forget talking and reasoning—he was ready to do some damage.
The vampire sped for the door to the street, but Aiden got there before him. The vampire growled, throwing himself into the air as if to attack Aiden from above. Aiden met him above the floor, their bodies crashing together like two semis meeting while speeding down the highway. When they landed, Aiden took the brunt of the fall, landing on his back as he held on to the vampire face-up, trying to keep the knife away from himself.
Being the soldiers, the Dark Forces of the race, disarming a civilian vampire should have been easy. Aiden struggled with the vampire as he twisted and growled. Then the vampire then let out a roar and bit down on Aiden’s exposed flesh at the wrist.
Aiden let go. The vampire turned to bury the knife in Aiden’s sternum, but Thaddeus grabbed the his arm as it came down to connect with Aiden, pulling it backward while pushing on his upper middle back. The torque resulted in a nice pop as his shoulder dislocated, and still the vampire didn’t stop. He howled in agony and rage, leapt off Aiden and spun around to face the two brothers again.
Aiden was on his feet, shaking out the pain in his wrist, drops of blood splattering to the floor. “He’s got to be on something,” he said.
Thaddeus nodded in agreement. Human recreational drugs were easily available to vampires, and many ended up experimenting with them. Thaddeus had seen the effects of cocaine, heroine, and some of the “club drugs” on vampires, and it was never pretty. The drugs affected vampires differently than humans. The high was always much more intense for vampires, and lasted much longer. The more of the drug the vampire ingested, the more intense the effect, and it often led to complete psychosis. There was no doubt that this vampire was under the influence of God-knows-what.
Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done except to put the guy six feet under, so to speak. What they would actually do was leave the body to burn to ash once the sun came up in the morning. But first they had to get control of the crazy motherfucker darting around the room at vampire speed itching to get to the door. His fangs were long, he breathing labored, and his sole focus was to break up the party and get moving.
Thaddeus approached him from the left, Aiden from the right. The vampire crouched, lunging at them with the knife, his black eyes shifting from one to the other.
Unfortunately for civilians, but fortunately for Thaddeus, Aiden, and their brothers, civilians were not trained in combat. The lunging eventually took on a pattern, and both Aiden and Thaddeus tracked it.
“Now,” the brothers said simultaneously, springing on the vampire at the same time. Aiden applied pressure to the dislocated shoulder while Thaddeus relieved him of the knife and tossed it to the other end of the room. Thaddeus spun out of the way as Aiden restrained the vampire in his big arms.
“We need to get you stitched up,” Aiden said, his fangs long, his brown eyes glistening, ready for the kill.
Thaddeus looked down at his chest. The lower half of his white turtleneck had turned red. He pulled up the shirt and looked at the gash. Yep, stitches would be necessary. As he looked at the angry flesh, his adrenaline ebbed and the pain began move in, making the slash feel as bad as it looked.
He met Aiden’s gaze, gave a nod and turned for the door. As his hand touched the door, he heard the loud crack of Aiden breaking the vampire’s neck. He then heard the body being dragged across the room. He didn’t look back as he pushed his way outside, but Aiden would most likely leave the body by a window, tear off the wood covering, and the body would be gone with the first rays of the morning sun. No one would be the wiser.
As he headed for the car, Thaddeus thought about what just happened. He really didn’t enjoy the violence. He was bone weary of killing his own kind, but he followed the rules and enforced them. His very life depended on it. The Council, the oldest vampires of the race and the creators of the half-breed vampires that now walked the Earth, had deemed that the vampire race shall hold all human life in high regard, revere humans, and humans shall never know about the vampire race.
By taking out that crazed vampire, he and Aiden had done just that.
Chapter 1
Present Day
At the south end of Virginia Street in Reno, Nevada, Thaddeus sat in a booth in Atlanta Casino’s nightclub. The club and casino were packed with people who had come to enjoy the large snowfall the last storm had dropped when it rolled into town two days ago. The people at the Atlanta were those who couldn’t get a room up on the mountain by the ski resorts, or those who simply couldn’t afford one. No matter though, from the looks of things, no one really cared.
The club was dark, except for the strobe and laser lights that pulsed around the room. These brief flashes of light gave a flicker of the activity in the club. People writhed against each other on the dance floor, as well as in the booths and up against the walls to the techno-beats blaring over the speakers. The place was filled with people wanting to have sex, actually having sex as discreetly as possible, and those who had already done the dirty deed for the night but were always interested in going another round. Drugs were subtly consumed on tabletops, and paraphernalia was put away hurriedly as the security made their rounds and pretended not to see what was going on around them.
