Black Heart by Evernight Publishing

ran down his
neck.
    “ Damn!” Edward yelled. “Deegan,
quick! Get the other needle, the sedative!”
Deegan grabbed the needle off the nearby night table and stabbed it
in Laura’s thigh with a great deal of force.
    She hit the hardwood floor
unconscious. Blood covered Laura’s face, and some skin from
Raynor’s neck hung off her fangs like the shark in Jaws after chewing on
Quint. Deegan’s stomach turned. Damn, if there had been any food in
his stomach he would have brought it up. He glanced at Raynor. He
looked dazed, his hand to his throat disbelieving, blood oozing out
between his fingers. Tristan rushed to Raynor’s side, putting his
hand over Raynor’s to try to stem the blood loss. Edward helped
Tristan lead a confused and heartbroken Raynor to a nearby
chair.
    Deegan kicked at
Laura’ s
extended arm, no response.
    “ She should be out for a while.
There was enough trank in there to bring down an elephant,” Edward
called out. “Deegan, bring me my bag.”
    In a matter of minutes, Edward
stopped the flow of blood and stitched th e flap of skin closed on Raynor’s
neck. Already it began to heal.
    Deegan stood nearby, arms
crossed. “What in the hell, Edward?”
    “ It is The Concealment at its
worst manifestation. She is gone from us—forever.”
    A wretched animal howl tore from Raynor’s
bandaged and stitched throat, a yowl of utter anguish and torment.
Deegan laid his hand on his old friend’s shoulder. He had no words
to comfort, no words of encouragement. He knew what had to be
done.
    “ Raynor, come. We must speak
alone.”
    Raynor followed him into the alcove
across from the attic room while Edward and Tristan remained with
the unconscious Laura.
    “ You know what I must do,
Raynor,” Deegan whispered. “I must contact the Bureau, and Laura
must be destroyed as soon as possible. She is gone from us, and
there is no coming back, you know this. She is quite mad, beyond
all hope. I will leave the manner in which she is destroyed up to
you. We should contact the rest of your family.”
    Raynor shook his head emphatically. “No.
They have enough to deal with. If it must be done, I want it done
quickly and quietly and, Deegan, I have one request.” Raynor closed
his eyes. “I wish to be destroyed along with Laura. I am so fucking
weary of it all. Life without her is empty, wretched. These last
decades have been torturous. And now to know that I am responsible
for her condition, that I cannot bear. I will not bear it. I want
it over, and I want to be with her for eternity, if not in this
life then the next. You must grant me this request.”
    Deegan was aghast. “No! I will not
sanction that. What of Julian and Raylene? They have to be
told!”
    “ Julian is in Toronto. I will
not wait for his return and Raylene—she is yours. Deegan, look
after her, love her. She will need your strength. I will write them
both letters while you prepare for the Termination Ceremony. I will
not expose my children to their parents’ end. The horror of what I
have done to their mother. They cannot be witness to what she has
become at my hand.”
    Deegan could not stop the wave of
misery that covered him. His oldest friend, his blood brother.
Hundreds of years they had been together, through the best of times
and the worst of times. He turned Raynor without his permission,
yet his friend forgave him. He could not stem the tears that
gathered in the corner of his eyes. Emotion, which he usually
fought and tamped down, threatened to overwhelm him. Loss,
desolation.
    Raynor took a deep breath. “Look after my
family, Deegan, like they are your own. I beseech you to try to
make them understand. I have always loved you like the brother dear
to my heart.”
    The men embraced. “Your family is my
family,” Deegan whispered. “I shall guard and protect them with my
life, you have my word. You have my love, you always
did.”
    Raynor gripped Deegan’s arms. “We will use
fire, the incinerator room in the