He’d only gone a few feet when he heard… “Help…” A weak cry.
Ben lunged forward.
The desperate cry was greeted with grating laughter. “There’s no help for you, human. You’re too weak to turn, but plenty good enough to kill.”
Ben rushed across the snow and saw the boy—Cale. He was on the ground, and a hunched figure was above him. The hunched figure appeared to be a male with blond hair. The male turned a bit, and Ben caught sight of his gleaming fangs.
Fuck, it’s the future I saw. The vamp is going to kill the boy!
Ben’s jaw locked. Not on my watch. Ben raced forward, grabbed the blond, and tossed the vamp into the air.
The boy screamed, “You!” when he saw Ben, and then the kid tried to back away, moving crab-like on the snow.
“Yes, me. It’s your lucky night, kid.” Ben took up a protective position in front of the human. “Because I’m your guardian angel.”
Help.
The blond vamp rose. He dusted snow off his shoulders. Took his time. After a few, tense moments, his head tilted back. His eyes—a gleaming gold—met Ben’s.
I know him.
The blond vampire grinned and asked, “How do you like the darkness?”
Ben’s teeth were fully extended in his mouth. “You took away my life!” This was the bastard who’d attacked him in New York.
The vampire’s face twisted with fury. “You ungrateful bastard, I gave you life! I sensed your potential, and I gifted you with my blood. I made you—”
“Into a killer.” Ben could see it now. His own reflection, in the eyes of that vampire.
The blond waved his hand carelessly. “If you want to dine on the boy, go ahead. I’m sure I’ll find more prey in this Podunk town.”
The kid was crying behind Ben.
“No,” Ben said softly. “You won’t.” He advanced toward the other vampire.
The blond shook his head. “You think you’re going to fight me?” His teeth snapped together with a click. “I’m over three hundred years old, I’m—”
Ben drove his fist into the vampire’s jaw. That shut up the jerk. “I don’t attack innocents, and you…you’re as far from innocent as anyone can get. So I’m ready to give you a serious ass-kicking.”
The punch had sent the vamp spinning away from Ben. The blond leaned near a tree. “As if you’re innocent,” the other vampire called out. “Your hands are as blood-stained as my own.” The vamp spun around. Ben saw that the vamp clutched an old, gray tree limb. The guy must’ve ripped it off the tree.
The vampire smiled at Ben. “Let’s see how you fare in this battle, shall we?” The hint of what could’ve been an English accent sharpened his words as the vamp lunged for Ben with the broken tree limb.
But Ben twisted out of his way. He grabbed the vamp’s wrist. Snapped it and shoved that broken limb right back at the bastard.
Back toward his heart.
“No!” The blond vampire thrust Ben away. Ben slipped in the snow, but he was able to stay upright.
“I created you!” The vampire screamed at Ben. “You don’t kill me! You don’t—”
Ben ran straight for him. He went in low, football-style, and grabbed the vamp’s waist. Ben’s momentum sent the vampire stumbling back, back—
And right into the twisting branches of the tree that waited behind the blond vamp. The branches drove into the blond’s back, and then they burst through his chest.
That got your heart, you sonofabitch.
Ben left the vampire hanging on that tree. The blond’s blood dripped down his chest. “Hey, bastard…” Ben growled. “Welcome to the darkness.”
A whimper sounded from just a few feet away. Hell. Ben turned, slowly, and found the kid staring at him with wide, desperate eyes.
Ben lifted his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
The boy trembled.
“I know I look like the bad guy.” Okay, he was bad but… “I’m here to help you.”
The boy gave a jerky nod. “Th-that’s what the pretty lady said…”
Ben’s hands fell. “What lady?”
“Th-the blonde lady, with w-wings.” He shuddered. “When he bit me, I saw her. She was—was beside him. She said someone would come to help me.” His gaze trekked to the vamp who was still impaled on the tree. “Is h-he…dead?”
“Mostly. He’ll be gone for good when I cut off his head.” Was the boy another one of Simone’s charges? She’d guarded Ben, Jamison, and now this lost human.
The boy gulped.
“Do you still see the blonde woman?” Ben asked, barely breathing.
The boy glanced around. “No.”
Dammit. But she had been there. Hope rose within him. If she’d been there before, Simone could appear again.
The boy whispered, “What happens now?”
“The vamp loses his head.”
The kid blanched.
I have to stop scaring the boy. “What’s your name?” Ben demanded. Simone had called him Cale, but that was—
“C-Cale. Cale Parker.”
Ben smiled at him and hoped too much fang wasn’t showing. “Cale, it’s time for you to get a new life.”
Because that boy wouldn’t be dying alone on that snow-filled road. Not that night. Not any f**king night.
***
He’d done it.
Simone turned away from the scene on that snow-covered lane. Her wings lifted her up, taking her away from Ben and Cale. Ben had changed. In the course of one night, he’d proven that he was worthy of redemption. That he was more than just a monster.
She flew back to the little town of Desolate. Headed into the town’s only bar. William and Jamison were already inside, waiting for her.
William glanced up at her approach. His lips quirked. “A demon, a shifter, and an angel walk into a bar…”
“And all hell breaks loose,” Jamison finished with a laugh.
She shook her head. “I’m not an angel. Not anymore.” Her wings were so light now. Because they were barely there at all. In a few more minutes, they would just be a memory.
The laughter faded from Jamison’s eyes. He seemed to tense as he glanced around the bar. He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple clicked. “The vamp…Ben didn’t turn feral on us, did he?”
“No.” It was her turn to smile. “He saved the boy, and now Ben’s going to be all right.” Ben would have his life back. It wouldn’t just be about darkness for him. Not anymore.