Darkness Unleashed

by McKenzie Hunter

  He listened intently and kept a steady gaze on her as he leaned in, placing his hand on her waist. He pressed his cheek against hers and inhaled. His lips brushed against her ear as he whispered something I couldn’t make out. She pulled away enough to look him in the eyes. They stood in silence as if they were the only people in the room, and in Demetrius’s mind, they were. His narcissism made his desires and needs the only things visible to him. Everything else was inconsequential. We were no more important than the furniture.

  “We have to do something to help. They can’t keep shouldering the responsibility of protecting us. They’ve done everything, and all you’ve done is benefit from it,” she said.

  “I’ve done enough.” It was loud enough for us to hear—his only acknowledgment of our existence.

  “Then do more than enough,” she urged, leaning in to let her lips brush delicately against his. It started off innocently enough and quickly escalated into something intense and heated.

  He gently purred, “Chris, don’t be fooled. Nothing they do is out of pure selflessness; the agenda is always to help themselves. Don’t be naïve and think otherwise.”

  “Whether selfless or not, we have benefitted,” she countered.

  His jaw clenched, and he allowed his gaze to drift to the other people in the room. Eventually, he brought it back to her. Once again forgetting our presence, he slipped his hand under her shirt to caress her bare skin. He whispered something, but it was for her ears only. He kissed her, and it was definitely a prelude to something far more lascivious. I wasn’t totally confident they’d give us the courtesy of going somewhere else before they took things to another level. I could feel the heat of their interaction and smell the lust and hormones that wafted through the air.

  I cleared my throat—loudly. They ignored me.

  When they finally pulled apart, Chris asked, “Will you do it? If you don’t, I will. You have a better chance of surviving than I do. It will be easier for you.”

  He nodded slowly. “Will you come back?”

  Not even giving the question a moment of consideration, she shook her head. He sucked in a ragged breath and looked down at the floor. After a long pause, he looked at me and asked, “What is needed of me?”

  Everyone knew his decision had nothing to do with goodwill. He hoped that pseudo acts of kindness would curry favor with her and sway her decision, and there was something in the way she looked at him that made me believe it might work.

  Ariel waved him toward the infirmary where Josh was lying on his side. Dr. Jeremy stood nearby, frowning at the single orange circle that covered Josh’s mark. With the book that held the Gem of Levage in hand, London went to Josh and tenderly stroked his hair before leaning in to say something in his ear. No one was sure whether he could hear. She pressed her lips to his forehead.

  London was faltering under the pressure; it showed on her face and the way she shrank into herself. She pulled out a knife. “Demetrius, you’ll need to make a blood sacrifice, and so will Josh.”

  He nodded, moving closer to Josh and taking the knife from London. Demetrius offered the knife to Chris. She inched forward enough to take it from him.

  London had laid everything out: the books, candles, and a bowl with several herbs and salts. The other witches gathered close to her, although they weren’t needed to do the spell. I figured it was for support. She instructed Demetrius on what he needed to say to initiate the spell and told him she would take over after that.

  Ethan’s heartbeat at an unnatural rhythm, and his breathing came so irregularly I feared he would pass out from the lack of oxygen. I interlocked my fingers with his, but he was so distracted by what was unfolding that his fingers stayed straight.

  Josh’s hand was cut first. He jerked. He’d felt it.

  Chris, knife in hand, took Demetrius’s hand in hers. There was an unintentional intimacy to their interaction. They held each other’s eyes as the knife slid across his arm and blood welled. He winced but kept his eyes on Chris with an undeniable longing that demanded empathy I fought not to give in to. I hated him. I wanted him miserable. Actually, I wanted him dead, but I’d find comfort in his misery, too.

  “Do the spell,” Demetrius instructed. He whispered the same things he had in my dreams when I’d seen visions of what would have occurred if they’d used me during the sacrifice with the Gem of Levage. Despite failing that time, the vampires had ended up with what they wanted: an unrestricted life.

  As the spell was initiated, magic flowed through the room, twining around me and everyone else. It came to life. It mellowed to the comfortable breeze that was solely Josh’s resting magic. It wasn’t as aggressive and defensive as it had been before.

  Demetrius fell to the ground. Gabriella, Chase, and Sable came to his side, ripping away his shirt and exposing graying skin that was showing signs of reversion. The witches didn’t move.

  “He needs blood.”

  “Not yet,” Ariel told them. “We need the spell to run its course.” All eyes went to Josh—the last ring around the mark disappeared. Slowly, the mark faded. Ethan squeezed my hand. His heart beat so hard that Sebastian looked up from across the room. With the orange ring of wards and the mark that had sustained his life removed, Josh lay there, unmoving.

  “Josh, wake up,” London commanded, her soft voice as hard as it could be. Nothing.

  Ethan released my hand and started toward his brother, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. My heart broke for him. There wasn’t a heartbeat or respiration, nothing to indicate life coming from Josh. I clung to the fact that Demetrius was going through reversion at an advanced rate—something a well-fed vampire of his age shouldn’t do.

  “He’s going to die. Feed him. Now,” Chase demanded, rising to his feet and baring fangs. He was only going to give the witches a few seconds to do it willingly.

  Ariel was the first to kneel, but she kept a careful eye on Josh. Still nothing. Reversion had crept up to Demetrius’s chin. Ariel hesitated, waiting for Josh to respond. Again, nothing.

  Ethan held back his tears; London couldn’t, and they streamed down her face.

  “Josh, please,” Ethan whispered.

  Nothing.

  Ariel and the other witches conceded failure and began to feed Demetrius. The stench of grief and sorrow filled the room. The only thing that could be heard over the overwhelming silence was Demetrius feeding on the witches.

  It took five witches to make Demetrius whole again. He sat up, his charcoal eyes alight, and he was breathing—real breaths. Not the ones vampires took to not seem off-putting. He looked fearful when he heard a heartbeat coming from himself. He cursed under his breath, enraged. No one cared that he was breathing and had a heartbeat. I knew it was selfish and cruel, but I didn’t have room in my heavy heart to care about anything other than Josh’s life and the fact it was ending. Just as the beating of Demetrius’s heart stopped and his breathing became nonexistent, Josh’s started.

  He was slow to move, rolling to sitting but slumped, too fatigued to stay fully erect. Ethan moved quickly to his brother and pulled him close enough so that he could rest his forehead against Josh’s. Both closed their eyes, and they remained in that position as seconds became minutes. Ethan moved back. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  Josh grinned. “Well, I’m always good for an adventure.” He looked pale and weak. His eyes traveled around the room, taking everyone in. He didn’t seem surprised by the crowd of people. When he saw London, he attempted to stand but decided against it and opened his arms to her. Neither one seemed concerned about their public display of affection. IV nutrition hadn’t been enough to maintain his strength, and he leaned too much into the hug.

  “We’re glad you’re okay,” Ariel offered, keeping her distance from Demetrius and running her fingers along the red mark where he’d fed. He’d laved it to close the wound, but it didn’t take away the pain caused by someone puncturing the skin and drawing blood from a vein.

  “Tha
nk you for all your help,” Josh offered sincerely, nodding his gratitude to every member of the Creed. “I’m indebted to you.”

  Ariel shook her head. “No, you are our brother in magic. No debts. I expect you would do the same if the situation were reversed.” Her words seemed earnest and sincere, and for Josh’s sake, I hoped they were. I couldn’t hear any deception or changes in her vitals and looked to Sebastian for his thoughts. He was unreadable.

  I hoped she didn’t plan to exploit Josh, his resources, or the pack, but the witches had helped; they wanted to be allies and had proven invaluable when we’d needed them.

  Gabriella, Chase, and Sable concentrated on Demetrius, who lay on the ground, unmoving. The beating of his defunct heart and his need to breathe appeared to have stunned him. I wondered if he missed them or hated the reminder that he had once been human.

  Dr. Jeremy politely tried to usher everyone away from Josh to examine him; he became more assertive and less gentle with his request as time ticked by and people didn’t respond.

  Chris started to ease out of the room, but she stopped in front of Ethan. She pulled out her phone and punched a few things into it. Both Ethan’s and Sebastian’s phones buzzed. In unison, they looked at them and then her.

  “You’ll have money later today,” Ethan informed her softly.

  She nodded.

  “Thank you so much,” he added.

  She shrugged indifferently, a direct contrast to her dark, blistering stare. “I helped save his life. That’s what you do when you see someone about to die and you can help him. You don’t let them die.” Her attempt to keep her emotions out of her voice failed—and her voice cracked.

  “I’m sorry.” It was an earnest, heartfelt apology that put cracks in Chris’s composure. Clearly unable to rebound from his apology, she stood frozen in front of Ethan. They’d had an antagonistic relationship, even when together. This piece didn’t fit. They’d never shown remorse for anything they’d done to each other, and they’d done plenty they should not only have regretted but been ashamed of. Never before had they been capable of either.

  Moments passed before Chris was able to find her words and still she struggled. Fumbling her acceptance, her voice low and raw, she rasped, “I accept.” Then she was gone.

  CHAPTER 21

  Josh didn’t like the twenty-four-hour observation he was put under after the curse was transferred to Demetrius; he liked being released to his brother even less. He stood by the door, arms folded across his chest, glaring at his brother as Ethan brought his things into the house.

  “Are you kidding me! I’m not staying here. As you can see, I’m fine.”

  Ethan didn’t dignify that statement with a response. “You can stay in the first guest room to the left. It’s larger.”

  Josh’s face reddened as his lips tightened and his eyes hardened in a glare. It definitely wasn’t the time to point out that he was behaving the same way his brother was treating him—like a child.

  Ethan’s defiant demeanor and indignant scowl indicated he wasn’t in the mood to be reasoned with. He’d thrown reason to the wind. He was riding high on overprotective-big-brother crazy. It had started when Dr. Jeremy had given Josh the okay to leave the infirmary. It only escalated when Ethan had taken Josh home only to get more clothes. They’d had a short battle of obstinacy and posturing, and since Josh was now in Ethan’s home, it was apparent who’d won.

  “I’ll stay tonight, but that’s it. Tomorrow I’m going home to sleep in my own bed.” I was sure he wanted to add “with London.”

  Once again, Ethan ignored him. “I’ll take your bags to your room,” Ethan said in a stolid, controlled voice as if he were handling a business transaction and not dealing with his brother. He’d expended so much emotion over the past two days he didn’t have much left. He was on autopilot protection mode.

  Ethan shrugged the large overnight bag over his shoulder and turned to take it upstairs. Josh glared at his back, letting the small illumination of magic twirling in his hand expand each time he rolled it between his fingers. It started off like a small snowball, and grew bigger until it was the size of a kickball. He’d been about to hurl it at his brother’s back when I caught his hand.

  After a few moments, he squelched it, but fragments of it lingered in the air, powerful enough for Ethan to notice. He turned and saw me holding Josh’s wrist, with him backed up against the wall. He gave Josh a warning glare, which just agitated his younger brother. Most of the pack found their antics amusing, and at times, I did as well. I found them exhausting now.

  “Let me talk to him. You’ll go home tomorrow. Okay?”

  He shrugged. “You can talk to him if you want, but it’s not up to him. I’m giving him today and that’s it.”

  I sighed, exasperated. It’s like you just met Ethan today. I smiled, placating him, and went about my day.

  Observing them throughout the day, it appeared Ethan and Josh spent most of the day in conflicting states of appreciation that the ordeal was over and quiet frustration with the way the other was handling it. A little past ten, after they’d settled on a truce, Josh retreated to his room. They were similar, not only in their good looks, but also in their tenacity and dogmatic ways when they felt they were right. And they both thought they were right. After negotiating the two-day stay with them, I felt like I was thoroughly prepared to do a world peace talk.

  It had taken a lot of coaxing, but Ethan had found some semblance of rationality. Staying upset with him was hard because he occasionally looked past Josh, and the fear and heartache at the idea of losing his brother crept over his features. We’d come too close, and those brief moments when the memories were too raw and deep for him to maintain the facade revealed a vulnerable Ethan. A side he wasn’t used to or able to deal with.

  I was ready for a drink, a whole cake, and a nap, and I was trying to figure out how to do all three simultaneously when someone knocked on the door.

  I pressed my eye to the peephole and stared incredulously.

  “Sky, I can hear you breathing,” Chris pointed out.

  I opened it.

  “Will you have a drink with me?” she asked. That would’ve been pretty far down on the list of all the things I expected her to say or ask. Matter of fact, I wouldn’t have put it on my list at all.

  “O-okay,” I stammered, apprehensively.

  I opened the door wider. She shook her head. “No, let’s go out to a bar.” Answering my furrowed brow of curiosity, she said, “I want to talk.”

  “To me?”

  “No, to the surly werewolf you’re mated to,” she replied sarcastically. I was never quite sure if her sarcasm was actually mocking. Chris always had odd bedfellows and didn’t discriminate against who she dealt with. The person who was her enemy on Monday could easily be her ally on Wednesday.

  “Sooo …” I drawled. “Do you really want to talk to me?”

  “Yes, Bambi, I really want to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  “Now Bambi, if I wanted to discuss it here, I would’ve accepted your invitation to come in. Instead, I invited you to a bar. I’m pretty sure that indicates I want to discuss it there.”

  “You know, you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”

  Blowing out a breath of irritation, she softened her voice. “Bambi, I would like us to go out and have a drink or two and talk. Would you join me?”

  That did not feel good, did it? She wore it poorly on her face. If she rolled her eyes any harder, they were going to slam into the back of her head.

  I gave her a saccharine smile and responded in a similar voice. “I would love to join you for a drink, Chris. Thank you so much for your kind gesture and for asking me so nicely.”

  She turned on her heel and left without making the acerbic comment she had to have chambered, ready to release. She seemed to practice a lot more restraint than most vampires and more than she had as a human. Well, as much restraint as Chris could manage. After
all, she’d held a knife to Demetrius’s throat and had been prepared to use it if I hadn’t stopped her.

  Ethan was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room, a disbelieving half-smirk on his lips as he looked over at the door.

  “I’m having drinks with Chris,” I informed him.

  With a wolfish grin firmly fixed on his face, he stalked toward me. Once, I would’ve felt like prey under a predator’s watch. I didn’t feel that way anymore.

  “Are you?” he asked, amused. “I don’t want you to go.”

  “Now I really want to go,” I taunted.

  He kissed me lightly on the lips and trailed more kisses down my jawline and my neck. “I’m sure we can find more interesting things to do.”

  I moved out of reach. “Seriously, are you trying to seduce me? Now? Did you really think that would work? If you can figure out how I can sleep, eat cake, and have a drink all at the same time, you might have something I can work with.”

  He frowned.

  I grabbed my purse and backed out the door. He growled, baring his teeth.

  I growled back. Mine were never as aggressive as his. Mine were cautious. His were roaring sounds of displeasure. He growled again, louder.

  Giving him an exaggerated shiver, I said, “Oh, the big bad wolf is angry. Whatever will I do? Don’t wait up. Instead of worrying about me, you can check on your brother. I think he’s a flight risk.”

  He frowned. “What does she want?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I won’t know until we talk.” That answer wouldn’t relieve any of his apprehension—or mine. “If it weren’t for her, Demetrius wouldn’t have agreed to help us. I … we owe her this much.”