They Come by Night

Chapter 1: Come to Pass-5

“No. I’ve done this before.” Although truthfully, not in twenty-six years, since Phillip had been an infant.

Joe sat and took the bottle the nurse offered him. She left the room, and he brushed the n****e across the baby’s lips. Tyrell latched on and began sucking vigorously.

Have no worry. Joe heard the words as clearly as if the Rege were still in the room with him. This child is precious to us. We will see he comes to no harm.

* * * *

Phil

Phil was getting restless. Every eight weeks or so, a vampyre would come to feed from him, and it was approaching that time. He had to get home for her. Vidalia was the most beautiful of all the vampyres who’d come to him, and he loved her.

Of course he loved whichever vampyre came to him but only for the time they were with him. Once they were gone, the emotion was gone. That was the way sabors were.

But with Vidalia…it was unheard of, but even after she left, he still loved her. And she loved him, too, he was certain of that. In the past couple of years, she’d come to him more than any other vampyre had ever done, even if she didn’t need to feed. They’d spend evenings together, listening to music or simply talking.

She’d been his first vampyre, and she’d treated him so kindly, taking the time to soothe his nerves.

For a moment he lost himself in the wonder of her, her waist-length hair the color of corn silk, her eyes that put the blue of the spring sky to shame. Such a cliché, but so true.

And when she did have to feed, there was the intense thrill he got as she ran her tongue along his neck over the birthmark that marked him as a sabor and then slid her fangs into him. He shivered at the almost orgasmic memory. What would it be like if she did that while he was making love to her? More and more during the times they were apart, he found himself wrapped up in that fantasy.

Phil sighed. He had to snap out of it. He couldn’t have what he wanted, and he’d better stop mooning over it.

Besides, he had to be here for Ben; that was what family was all about.

* * * *

They were in Ben’s room. A nurse had brought Ty to them, wrapped in the softest blue blanket, and now they were just waiting for the doctor to discharge them.

Phil held the baby while Dave helped Ben get dressed. He smiled down at his nephew. Ty was the closest thing he would have to a child of his own. Maybe that was why he had no problem touching the baby.

They hadn’t been sure Ty had gained enough weight to be discharged when Ben was, but the baby was healthy in all other aspects, and so his pediatrician had given them the okay to take him home.

The doctor didn’t know—no one knew—that Ben wasn’t going home to the house that had been trashed. Their dad had gone through the motions, as if they were going to have it repaired, but that was just to throw off Ben’s in-laws. Ben and Ty were leaving town.

“How are you going to manage?” Their father had a reason to be concerned; Ben’s arm was still in a sling.

“I’ll find a way.”

“I can stay with you, if you want,” Phil volunteered.

“Thanks, Philly, but I know you need to get back to your own place.”

“Not right away.”

Ben reached out to squeeze his arm, but then drew his hand back, and Phil was grateful. Once sabors reached a certain age, they couldn’t bear to be touched by anyone who wasn’t a vampyre: not by family, not by friends, and of course never by lovers, because they had to remain virgin.

“Thanks,” Ben repeated, “but I can’t let you do that when it’s so close to the time for a visit.”

“I’ll go with you, Ben.”

“I appreciate the offer, Dave, but people would start wondering if you didn’t go home.”

“Dad could tell them I found a hottie on vacation and I’m exploring the possibility of a relationship.”

“And when you go home without said hottie?”

Dave grinned and shrugged. “She dumped me?”

“What woman in her right mind would dump you?”

“It’s happened.” Dave hunched a shoulder. “Listen, I’ll go down and bring the SUV around to the front entrance. Don’t dawdle, Benjamin.”

Ben tried to flip him off, but the action with his left hand wasn’t as smooth as it would have been with his right, and Phil wasn’t the only one who had to stifle a laugh.

“I’m really worried. How can we be sure word won’t get back to the Crists? Noah Crist managed to find us before.”

“Only because Magdalena contacted him.” Phil hated reminding him his wife had so easily turned her back on him. Even more, he hated the defeated slump of his brother’s shoulders. He wanted to offer him the comfort of human contact but was unable to. The entire family knew that as Ty grew older, it would be the same for him.

Their father had no problem with physical contact, however, and he did hug Ben.

“Will the vampyres really be able to protect Ty?”

“Yes.” Their dad handed Ben a gold bar.

“Heavy,” Ben murmured as he hefted it.

“Yes. This token is their pledge to you and the baby. The Rege said they would send one every year on his birthday. And you know I told you the one called Adam will be guarding Tyrell.”

Phil recognized the bar. He had a lockbox filled with them in a secure location in his little house. He’d been given his just the year before, and it would be the same with the little nephew he held—when Ty turned twenty-five, he would inherit a fortune. Not that he would need it. Vampyres took very good care of their sabors.

“They’ve found you a home and a job in Clewiston.”

“We’re going to Florida?”

“There is more than one Clewiston, Benjie,” Phil teased. “This one’s in—”

“Not here, Phillip.”

He turned pale as the thought of how his careless words could have jeopardized his nephew. “Sorry, Dad.”

“The Crists won’t have a clue where you are. Tyrell will have a good life.”

“Maggie…She’s really going to annul our marriage?” Ben put the bar in the duffel bag Dave had brought, along with the clothes.

“Yes. I won’t offer you any false hope. I’m sorry, son.”

“No more sorry than I am. Why couldn’t she divorce me if she felt she had to get rid of me? Doesn’t she realize that will make our children bastards?”

Dad had no answer for that, and Phil was glad he’d fallen in love with a vampyre, even if nothing could come of it. It broke his heart to see his brother like this.

A nurse brought in a wheelchair. “Ready to leave us, Mr. Small?”

“Yes.” He settled himself into the chair.

“We have a little something the nurses in the department put together for you.” She put the bag in his lap.

“Thank you. That’s so kind of you.”

She blushed and poked into it. “It’s not a lot, just some diapers and baby wipes, a few cans of formula, and a couple of Onesies.”

“Still, that’s very kind. My son and I appreciate it.”

“We were all just so sorry his mother…I mean…” She blushed deeper. “Ty is a little sweetie.”

Phil wasn’t surprised the entire floor was aware of what Magdalena had done. Word of her spectacular breakdown had spread like the proverbial wildfire.

He looked down at his nephew, who gazed at him with wide, unblinking eyes. All newborns were supposed to have blue eyes, but he had a feeling Ty’s would remain the same dark blue as Ben’s. He rested his hand on the baby’s head for a moment. He also had a feeling Ty would be truly remarkable when he grew up.

“Thank you,” his brother said again.

The nurse gave a weak smile and scurried out of the room. She obviously meant well, but Phil could tell his oldest brother was going to fall apart in a second.

So could their dad. He took the bag from Ben’s lap. “Phil, let Ben have Tyrell.”

Ben reached out his good arm, and Phil gave him his son.

“It’ll be okay, Ben.” Phil swung the strap of the duffel over his shoulder.

“Sure.” Ben tightened his hold on Ty. The baby didn’t even whimper. Maybe he’d grow up being able to tolerate being touched.

Although it wasn’t likely, for Ty’s own sake, Phil hoped so.

“All right,” Ben said. “Let’s go.”

With Phil at his brother’s side and their father pushing the wheelchair, they left the room and headed for the world outside.

* * * *

Ben

They’d been in Clewiston for almost five months, and Ben found it a nice town. His neighbors were good people who welcomed him with open arms, especially Mrs. Wilson, the woman who lived next door. She thought a “widower” raising an infant son on his own would be perfect for her niece, who was single and almost thirty. Ben didn’t know who was more relieved—Honey or himself—when he finally managed to convince Mrs. Wilson it was too soon for him.

The house was nice, too, a two-story brick Tudor with the bedrooms on the second floor. The room he chose for the nursery was at the back of the house, away from street noises.

Ben stood beside the crib, watching as his son slept. Lashes like sooty spikes fanned over the baby’s smooth, pink cheeks, and tiny, perfect lips pursed from time to time as if in kisses.

“Oh, little one, what do I tell you when you ask about your mother and your brothers and sisters?” For the first time he regretted the day he’d ever met Magdalena Crist. Having a child like Ty should have been a joy, a wonder, and she’d made it a source of sorrow and heartache.

How could Ben tell his youngest son of his mother’s reaction to what he was? How was he going to tell Ty what he was?

No. He shook his head. Ty wasn’t even six months old. There would be plenty of time for Ben to figure out the best way to broach this subject.

He dropped a tender kiss on the wispy black curls that covered his son’s head, then strode to his bedroom and picked up the small cedar box from the dresser. Maggie had planned to give it to Sarah when she turned thirteen, but it had been left behind. He’d put his marriage certificate into the box, as well as Ty’s original birth certificate, the other kids’ birth certificates, and the handful of photos and the sole videotape that Dave had managed to rescue.

He needed a good place to conceal this, a safe place.

Against one wall was the door to the master closet. He walked in and looked around.

A cord dangled from the hatch in the ceiling. He tugged on it, and the hatch opened, enabling him to unfold the ladder that gave access to the attic.

The attic was empty right now, but in the coming years Ben knew he’d store Christmas decorations there, as well as the clothes, toys, and books Ty would outgrow.

He found a shadowy corner and placed the box there.

Without looking back, he returned to the ladder, climbed down, and folded it in on itself. With that done, he put it back in place and closed the hatch.

He’d look in on his son a final time before he got ready for bed.