Darkness Dawns by Dianne Duvall

Roland had elected not to pursue him.
    If Sarah had known Roland was the one trailing her, would she have stopped or continued to run? He had seen the horror suffuse her face when she had realized what he was. It was the same he had seen consume Mary when he had mistakenly taken her into his confidence.
    He barely knew Sarah, so it shouldn’t have hurt.
    But it had.
    “Arghhhhhhhhh!”
    Roland stiffened when that male roar rent the air.
    A warning? A charge sounded?
    “What the hell happened to my car?”
    Marcus.
    Relaxing, Roland shook his head and started back to face his friend’s wrath, jostling his precious burden as little as possible.
    He snorted, a sound rife with self-mockery.
    Precious burden?
Sarah didn’t mean anything to him. Never
would
mean anything to him. Never
could.
    It didn’t matter that she was one of the most intriguing women he had met in centuries. Nor that she had been all that is kind to him, laughed with him, teased him, slept curled up against him on her futon. So soft and sweet.
    Now that she knew what he was, she would despise him.
    And, knowing that, only a fool would allow himself to care for her.
    Sighing deeply, the self-proclaimed fool trudged up the hill and forged through the trees.
    Marcus paced back and forth beside his car in long, angry strides that would’ve been more impressive if they weren’t hampered by a pronounced limp. When the lead vampire had taken off after Sarah, Roland had quickly finished off his foes and followed, leaving Marcus behind to battle the half dozen who were left of the new arrivals. Not that he had minded. He could handle it and had, though not before a Marilyn Manson look-alike (why did so many new vamps find it necessary to submerge themselves in goth facades?) had shattered his right kneecap.
    That particular vamp had then unwillingly supplied the blood that had healed his leg enough for Marcus to continue and eliminate all comers.
    After which he had raced here and found this.
    Freakin’ vamp would pay!
    Swearing fluently, he stepped into the open driver’s door and, despite his wounds, effortlessly pushed the vehicle off the road. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with it beyond the obvious damage done to the body (it looked like someone had dropped a wrecking ball on it), but it wouldn’t start.
    Slamming the door shut, he resumed his pacing.
    He was full of rage and pain and adrenaline and hadn’t felt this alive in years.
    Seven years to be exact.
    And Marcus liked it.
    A lot.
    Which was why Seth was worried about him.
    Seth must have intuited it. Marcus didn’t know how, because Seth had not hunted with him or witnessed the change firsthand. Yet Seth had accused him of taking unnecessary risks and being self-destructive before banishing him to small-town North Carolina, where vampires were generally fewer in number.
    Marcus smiled grimly.
    Ah, but Seth’s plan had backfired.
    Tonight had been great. Tonight he had been presented with a challenge that could very well have defeated him. Tonight he felt alive.
    The foliage on the other side of the car parted and Roland emerged, carrying a bloody and battered Sarah.
    Marcus halted, thinking her dead until he picked up her racing pulse. “Is she okay?”
    “She will be.” Roland glanced at the white Geo Prism parked several yards behind the Prius.
    Marcus shrugged. “I thought we might need it to catch up with her if the vamp didn’t get her first.”
    “Sorry about your car,” Roland muttered, heading for the Prism.
    Marcus followed and opened the passenger door for him. “Don’t worry about it. I already called Reordon. He and his cleaning crew will take care of it.”
    Roland said nothing, just eased inside the cramped vehicle.
    Marcus watched his friend curiously. Roland wasn’t behaving in his usual irascible, distance-himself-from-everything-and-everyone manner. In fact, he didn’t seem to want to distance himself from Sarah at all, curtly refusing Marcus’s offer to take