The Darkness Calls Page 2

  Miss Ferguson,

  I hope this finds you well. Inside you’ll find what I hope is a suitable replacement for your casualty of war.

  Regards,

  Talan McKenna

  Lilly thought back and realized that she’d referred to her torn bag a casualty of war last night. Talan McKenna had gotten her a purse? Really?

  She opened the lid on the box and her eyes widened. This was no $29.99 faux leather knockoff. This was Miu Miu. She reached in to run her fingers over the grey puckered leather surface. There were crystals that were embedded in the polished silver latch. It was stunning. This had to be worth a grand, easily. She put the lid back on the box. She had no idea how to return it. He hadn’t exactly provided contact information. There was no way she could accept this.

  Chapter Two

  Talan McKenna paced the floor of his darkened suite. It had been three days since he’d encountered the feisty Lilly Ferguson, yet he couldn’t get her out of his mind. He tried to maintain a safe workplace for his employees, human or otherwise. Not only because it was required of him by law, but because he had felt enough fear and seen enough violence to last him several lifetimes. Maybe he was becoming soft in his old age, but he didn’t want to play any part in that.

  There had been a time that their kind, the Transfigured, had roamed freely. They ate freely and took whatever they could get their hands on. That had all changed since The Great Reckoning. It had been a fifteen-year battle with huge losses on both sides. In the end, everyone finally realized there would be no winner. Instead, they had organized a way for the Transfigured to live in peace among the humans.

  Even though there had been some growing pains during the inception of the treaty, the peace hadn’t been broken. They had agreed to research alternate methods of feeding, through use of animals, blood banks, and later, synthetic blood.

  They primarily policed themselves, though some of them had even helped humans devise ways to contain them if necessary. Along with night vision, they’d been granted speed. Ostensibly this improved their hunting abilities, but it certainly helped in other arenas too.

  On each side there had been some rogue factions that fought against peace, but for the most part those were eliminated fairly quickly. It had been over one hundred and twenty years since the last skirmishes had ceased. In that time, he had gone from a solitary man hiding himself in the dirt to a man of power and distinction.

  Now the owner of this and several more hotels and casinos, he had become a keen judge of character. In order to thrive in this business, he had to be. That was why he was so intrigued with the beautiful Ms. Ferguson. Though he suspected her bag hadn’t contained much, she had defended herself fiercely.

  The type of tenacity it took to face down a would-be attacker was something that he both appreciated and identified with. Even in spite of her skeptical look last night, he’d felt compelled to tell her that. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt compelled to share anything about his past with anyone.

  It would be best, Talan realized, to distract himself somehow. He frowned. The thing that most didn’t realize is that the older the Transfigured got, the more difficult it became to distract themselves. Books were still relatively entertaining, but music and movies had mostly lost their thrill. He was a man with nothing but time on his hands and very little to fill it.

  Perhaps he would go downstairs to his office and work for a few hours. There was always something that needed to be done, even on the weekends. He glanced down at his dark slacks and dress shirt. It wasn’t likely he would be receiving any visitors. Even so, the receptionist could field almost any requests.

  A little over an hour later, he was going through the most recent marketing budget and enjoying a late meal. Well, enjoying would be a bit of an overstatement. The synthetic blood, while perfectly acceptable as a part-time substitute, was watery, unappetizing, and very nearly unpalatable.

  He sat the half-consumed beverage on his desk and refocused his attention back on the screen. He was startled when his intercom buzzed a few minutes later. As he listened to the receptionist, his eyebrows rose. Interesting. Lilly Ferguson was here to see him.

  He gave his approval for her to come in and then leaned back in his chair. Moments later, he heard a light tapping on his office door. He bade her to enter. He immediately noticed she was holding a large shopping bag. He suspected he knew what was coming, but still he greeted her.

  “Miss Ferguson. I trust you’re doing well?” he asked.

  “Better. I wanted to thank you again. I appreciate the kindness. I can’t accept this bag though,” she finished, looking apprehensive.

  “Is it not an appropriate substitute?” he asked.

  She snorted rather indelicately and then said, “My old purse was fake leather and cost me about thirty dollars. What you gave me has to cost more than a grand. I can’t accept that.”

  Closer to two thousand, but he didn’t bother to correct her. “Is your old bag in usable condition?”

  “No, but—”

  “Do you not like the bag that I sent you?”

  “Well, yes. I do, but—”

  “Then what’s the issue,” he asked, an edge of irritation in his voice.

  She hesitated and said, “I don’t like the idea of owing anyone.”

  “There are no price tags or strings attached to the bag. It was a gift to replace your old purse. Nothing more, nothing less. Be polite and thank me, Miss Ferguson.”

  She blinked at him, and then gave an irritated frown. “You just bought me a thousand-dollar purse. I think you can call me Lilly.”

  He couldn’t help the ghost of a smile that crossed his lips. She was completely audacious. Strangely, he found it rather...charming. “Very well,” he conceded. “Then be polite and thank me, Lilly.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  He watched her fidgeting in front of him. “I bought you a thousand-dollar purse, Lilly. I think you can call me Talan,” he teased.

  He watched as her eyes widened in surprise. Like a predator, he could feel the moment that her pulse began to race.

  She quickly recovered and said, “If you’d like, Talan.”

  He picked up his drink and took another swig. He supposed that his displeasure must’ve shown because she asked, “Not enjoying your drink?”

  “Meal,” he corrected, wondering how far her curiosity would reach. “It’s synthetic blood. Imagine your favorite beverage. Now add a cup of soapy water. That…is synthetic blood.”

  Amused, he watched as she cringed and then said, “I feel the same way about Cafe Americano’s. They take espresso, which is heavenly, and then add all of this water to it. It’s a terrible waste.”

  “Sounds revolting,” he agreed, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his features.

  As if she’d realized she was making small talk with the owner of the company she worked for, she said, “Thank you, again, for this. I’ll let you get back to work. My break is probably over anyway.”

  “Until we meet again, Lilly,” he said formally.

  She gave him a smile and a wave as she gently closed his office door.

  Without the thick winter coat on, he had been able to truly appreciate her curves. Her tawny brown curls would fall to the middle of her back, he suspected, if she let her hair down. For work, it had been pulled back into a ponytail. He could imagine, though.

  Her face had been devoid of makeup with the exception of maybe some lipstick. Her stormy grey eyes created such a contrast against her pale, creamy skin. Her features were striking. She was shorter than he had expected. With her rather trim build, he still marvelled that she’d taken on an attacker armed with only her keys.

  He didn’t try to fool himself. His interest in her was certainly sexual. Not entirely, though. If it had been just about the sex, he could have more easily dismissed it. That was something new for him.

  There was something about her open, easy manner that he enjoyed. She had spoken to him
like he was any ordinary person. People either respected, feared, or loathed him too much to do that. Typically, they were polite and brief.

  Talan returned his attention to the screen in front of him and accessed the employee files. While she had been on his mind for the last few days, he hadn’t looked into what she actually did at the hotel. The attire suggested she could have been working in any of the bars or restaurants on premises.

  A moment of review showed that she had applied for the bar manager job in the piano bar they had recently opened. According to her resume, she’d had quite a bit of experience bartending. He was surprised to see she’d been placed in another position. She worked as lead bartender in the sports lounge.

  He did a bit of research on the current manager in the piano bar and found him to be adequately qualified, but he had slightly less experience than Lilly. After more digging, he was able to ascertain that the job had been given to another candidate before she had applied. That made more sense. Still, he would have to consider his options. If she was as skilled as her years of experience belied, she could probably be more useful in one of their larger venues.

  The little hole-in-the-wall where she worked was one of the least popular bars on the property. They didn’t serve food, so he imagined the tips were nonexistent. Perhaps he would speak with the bar manager in the sports lounge.

  His curiosity may have been motivated by his personal interest in her, but in any case, it made no sense to waste valuable talent.

  By the time Talan returned to his penthouse for his day sleep, it was almost light. He wasn’t tired yet, though. Instead, he drew the blackout curtains and poured himself a Scotch. He relaxed into an overstuffed leather chair and sipped. Technically, the Transfigured were able to eat and drink as normal humans did. It wasn’t really nourishment for them, but it allowed them at least the comfort of familiar habits.

  He had long since lost interest in most food and drink. Scotch was one of the few exceptions. Alcohol didn’t impact him the way it would a normal human. His body metabolized far too quickly to actually feel it. He rather enjoyed the complex flavors that played on his tongue though. When he had finished his drink, he stripped down and crawled into bed. The darkness called to him. Perhaps tonight he would dream.

  Chapter Three

  Lilly tilted the glass and watched as the golden liquid spilled down the inside of the pilsner glass. Hockey season was in full swing, and the Leafs were playing tonight. The business would be steady. She watched momentarily as the foam settled, then turned back to the bar.

  As she slid the pilsner glass down to the waiting woman, she considered the strange mix of customers in the bar tonight. One of the regulars, Daniel, must live in the area and had just come into the bar. There were a few couples, both Transfigured and not.

  She had always wondered what the appeal of watching human sports was for them. They possessed superior reflexes and strength. She had to admit she hadn’t considered the Transfigured much before now. She had avoided them since they had torn her world apart.

  When she was fourteen, a rogue group of them had broken into her family’s home. Her parents and her two brothers had been slaughtered. She had been in the cellar raiding the refrigerator. She’d stood at the bottom of the steps, listening as her family was killed. She had felt both lucky and unlucky to have been the one who survived. Even though they’d been quickly caught and put to death, it was still hard for her to separate what they had done from the group as a whole. Intellectually, she knew they weren’t the same, but there was certainly some bias there.

  She’d gone to live with her Aunt Magda in Mississauga. She’d been kept clothed and fed, for which she was certainly grateful, but that was where the care had stopped. She’d never come out directly and said it, but Lilly was pretty sure she was just a daily reminder of everything Magda had lost. She had no doubt that if Aunt Magda had any idea she worked for and directly with the Transfigured, she’d be rolling over in her early grave. She’d been bitterly angry. It was probably best that she wasn’t here to see it, Lilly conceded.

  Lilly hadn’t been sent to therapy or any sort of counseling. She’d learned to deal with it on her own. She had kept quiet and read as much as she could about handling grief over the last ten years. For the most part, she’d been able to let go of the anger, both rational and irrational.

  Now, she found herself for the first time actually interested in them. Well, maybe not them as a whole, but certainly one of them. Talan was undeniably gorgeous. His hair was auburn and his eyes were such a pale blue that she wondered if they were actually made of ice. He didn’t have the typical freckles that you’d expect. Just a smooth, ivory complexion. He looked to be in his late thirties, even though she knew he was several hundred years older than that. His features were sharp and angular, as if they’d been carved in granite. She imagined he was rock hard under his dress clothes, too. She could totally picture him as a Highland warrior preparing for battle. Perhaps it was his expression. It could be so unyielding.

  Every so often, though, she could see something behind the mask of composure. It made her want to know more about him. He had been kind to her. Hell, he bought her a new purse. It had been in no way his responsibility to take care of that. Still, he dropped over a grand on it. Clearly he cared about people.

  Lilly took a quick glance around the bar at the patrons. Their drinks were mostly full, so she stood patiently behind the bar and continued to daydream. Not that this was wise. He was her boss. Actually, she realized, he was her boss’s boss’s boss’s boss. Which made her fantasies even more inappropriate. Maybe that added to the thrill a bit. She figured he could have his pick of women. There was no reason he’d be interested in an employee. She wasn’t one of those girls that needed someone to constantly tell her she was pretty. She knew she was attractive. She just considered herself realistic. She was a young, relatively broke college student. She had a loud mouth. She wasn’t the refined sort of woman that she imagined he’d go for.

  Over the next two hours, the hockey crowd filtered in and out of the lounge. When the game was finished, the bar had pretty much cleared out. By midnight, even those few stragglers were gone.

  When the last patron left, she slid her book out from under the counter. Her boss, Marcus, had given her permission to read behind the bar in the event they didn’t have any customers. That made school much easier for her. She was always able to get in at least part of the required reading, except on nights when there were foreigners in watching games from their own country. She was engrossed in her psychology textbook when she heard the door open. Her heart began to pound when she saw Talan step into the bar. Tonight he was dressed in a suit again. She suspected he considered the dress shirt he’d worn on Saturday as casual wear. She wondered what he would look like with no clothes at all. Tamping down the stray thought, she quickly slid her textbook back under the bar and greeted him.

  “Lilly,” he said, his voice so stilted and formal.

  “Sir,” she answered. “How are you?”

  “I thought we talked about this, little one. Call me Talan when we’re alone.”

  A smile curved her lips when she asked, “Fair enough then, Talan. How are you?”

  He considered her for a moment and then said, “I’m well. How are you?”

  “I’m doing pretty good. We were pretty busy tonight with the hockey game. As soon as it was over, the excitement died down.”

  She watched, confounded, as he slid onto a stool and said, “Well, we can’t have that, now can we?”

  Lilly cleared her throat and asked, “Would you like a drink?”

  He asked, “What would you suggest?”

  Tongue in cheek, she studied him for a moment and said, “Your choice in womens’ accessories and the obviously tailored suit lead me to believe you’ve got refined tastes. Molson Ice?”

  His lips twitched. “Do I look as if I like cheap beer?”

  “No. I’m going to guess that you’re a Scotch fan,
” she said by way of response.

  He raised an eyebrow and repeated the question, “What would you suggest?”

  “We’ve got a nice Macallan 21 Year. If you’re looking for something less smoky, then the Glenmorangie Signet might be to your liking. It’s sweeter.”

  He grinned, obviously enjoying the game. “And if you didn’t know that I owned the casino? What would you suggest then?”

  She laughed and then said, “Laphroaig Triple Wood or Balvenie 12 Year. Both still high quality even though they’re less expensive. The Balvenie has a nice, sweet vanilla undertone and the Laphroaig is going to be much more smoky.”

  “Impressive,” he said. “A glass of the Glenmorangie Signet, please.”

  She smiled at him. “I’m glad you enjoyed my parlour trick,” she said as she reached under the bar for a rocks glass and then poured his Scotch.

  “Neat?” he asked, watching her carefully.

  Confused, she asked, “You’d ruin a fifty-dollar glass of Scotch by watering it down?”

  Talan laughed and said, “You really are a delight,” as he swirled the Scotch and took in the scent.

  “Enjoy,” she said.

  He took a small sip and then asked, “So what were you reading when I came in?”

  Lilly flushed slightly. “My psychology textbook.”

  “Ah. You’re in school then?” Talan asked, obviously in no hurry to finish his drink.

  “I am. I go during the day,” she said. Talan waved his hand, prompting her to continue, so she added, “For restaurant management. It’s in my DNA.”

  If he noticed the sadness in her voice at the last statement, he had the good grace not to mention it. Instead he asked, “So one day we’ll lose the talented Lilly Ferguson to a restaurant of her own?”

  “Don’t get me wrong. This is a great place to work, but yes, one day I’d like to have something of my own.”