Darkness In The Flames Read Online Free

story with me?” Sidney glanced at the windows. “Before dawn arrives. I assume you prefer the darkness.”
    Czaplinek inclined his head. “I do. I can tolerate small amounts of daylight, but the full light of the sun is anathema to me.” He sighed. “Just one of the things I lost through my own stupidity.”
    Sidney raised an enquiring eyebrow. “Surely you did not choose to become what you are?”
    “Of course not. What I did choose was to fuck a woman. And I chose foolishly, allowing myself to be attracted by her sexuality, her heat, her body. I paid no attention to her .”
    “Young men seldom do.” Sidney could have pointed out an amazingly similar parallel in his own life but decided not to. This was Jadranko’s story, not his. “You said your name was Jadranko.” He stumbled a little over the pronunciation. “If I am correct, that is a Romanian version of Adrian?”
    “Close enough.” Jadranko shrugged.
    “Then Adrian you shall be. Easier for my old tongue to pronounce and less unusual in this neck of the woods.” He smiled. “But please…continue your story?”
    Jadranko—no, Adrian now—stared into the dying fire. “She was all flames and savage passion and she devoured me. Literally.” He glanced up at Sidney. “That, in essence, is it .”
    Sidney bit back a laugh. “Well, you certainly know how to condense a story into its fundamental points.” He sobered. “How long ago?”
    “Ten years, give or take.”
    “Good Lord.” Sidney was stunned. “How have you survived?”
    “I haven’t. Survived, that is. In case you failed to notice, I am dead . That which was me is now possessed by a demon of the darkness. A creature from Hell, bestowed upon me by a vicious succubus of a red-haired temptress.”
    Sidney shook his head gently. “Wrong, my dear Adrian. You are quite wrong. You are not dead , as we use the term.”
    The newly-christened Adrian lifted his head and looked straight at Sidney. “I’m not dead?”
    Sidney felt tears gather at the back of his throat and swallowed them down hastily. The pain he could see in Adrian’s eyes was almost overwhelming. He couldn’t begin to imagine what life must have been like for this young man in Europe over the last ten years.
    And something deep inside Sidney responded to Adrian.  They shared a similar pain, a similar loss. Both men pretty much considered themselves dead, albeit in different ways. Perhaps—they could help each other.
    “I don’t believe you’re dead in the regular sense of the word, Adrian, no.” He noticed the first rays of light blooming into the darkened sky. “But dawn approaches. You need rest. If you would accept my hospitality, I have rooms I believe would suit you. They have few windows, and are heavily draped. Old buildings such as this tend to be drafty.”
    Adrian looked around him. “’T’would be an unaccustomed luxury, I’ll confess, and one I would enjoy.” He stood and bowed correctly to Sidney. “My thanks, Sir Sidney. I will accept your offer. For this day at least.”
    “Good, my boy, good. Let’s go and see if the rooms suit. I expect they’re a bit dusty…”
    Sidney Chesswell led his new vampire guest through the silent corridors of St. Chesswell and saw him settled in one of the empty suites. They had fallen into disuse because they were so dark, but in this instance Sidney was glad of it. “Sleep well, lad. We will talk more when you are rested.”
    “Thank you.” The words were spoken awkwardly, as if they had been unsaid by those lips for many years.
    “Think nothing of it.” Sidney left the room and closed the door, reminding himself to let the servants know not to disturb Adrian.
    Then he sought his own suite of rooms. He had much to consider.
    A plan was forming in his mind—and his heart. A wild and risky plan, yet one that would bring a little pleasure back into what remained of his life. There were details to be resolved, issues to discuss and a lot of talking to be