Pitch Black (Until Dawn, Book 4)

by J. N. Baker

  “He’s in the war room,” Lindsay told me as she stood, concern flickering in her eyes. “Is everything okay?” she asked, lowering her voice.

  Scarlett tugged on my hair and I gave her a soft smile. “I don’t know,” I said, kissing Scar’s forehead before reluctantly handing her to Lindsay. She quickly wiggled out of the shift’s arms and went back to her excited twirling, no doubt fascinated by how the fabric of her dress spun around her.

  “Baldric made her your flower girl,” Lindsay said from beside me.

  It took me a minute to figure out what she was talking about and then I remembered. Today was my wedding day. How could I have forgotten? Maybe because I’d married Josh in secret last night. The vision of William only further clouded my memory.

  “She looks like an angel,” I said honestly and then turned to head in the direction of the library.

  “He’s in a meeting,” Lindsay called after me but I kept going.

  Pushing open the double doors to my dream library, I turned right and headed straight for the one room in the castle Baldric didn’t want me to go into: the war room. As I was about to knock, I decided better of it. I was hours away from being the damn queen, right? I deserved to be part of these meetings.

  The sidelines weren’t the place for a queen.

  I flung open the door and barged into the room like I owned the damn place, only to be met with Felix’s blade, the sharp edge of it kissing my throat. The moment the big vampire registered who I was, the weapon was back at his hip, his bronzed skin looking just a little pale.

  “My apologies,” he said. “I did not realize it was you, my la—”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him and he cringed.

  “—Zoe,” he finished before promptly turning and reclaiming his seat.

  Baldric and his inner circle sat at a—shocker—circular table much like the one from the great hall in William’s castle. The two ancients apparently had a hang-up on round tables, like the one they’d once shared about a dozen lifetimes ago. Josh sat to Baldric’s right, then Olive, Felix, Philip, and two others I didn’t know by name. There was an empty seat to Baldric’s left and I wondered if that one had belonged to Roland before the vamp lost his head.

  Their eyes followed me as I moved around the table, taking in the numerous maps on the walls. Maps that looked nothing like the world as I’d once known it. There didn’t appear to be seven continents anymore. More like three, and they were close enough together that one could easily get there by boat in under a day. I assumed the pin in the middle of one of the maps was where we were. Easy to rule the world if you’re smack dab in the center of it.

  Didn’t hurt that most of the population had been wiped out either.

  “We need to talk,” I told Baldric, turning to face him.

  “We are in the middle of a meeting,” one of the two nameless lackeys said. I wanted to say he was a shift.

  My hard eyes pinned the man where he sat until I was sure he was about to piss himself. There was something about being stared down by an apex predator that made your insides quiver. Didn’t hurt that the predator had lightning dancing around her fingertips.

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” I bit out.

  Baldric chuckled. “She is not one to be ordered around. A true queen.”

  “Scares the shit out of me,” Philip said with a snort.

  Olive rolled her eyes, her boots kicked up on the table. “Everything scares the shit out of you.”

  “We need to talk,” I said again, a little louder. “Now.”

  “Very well,” Baldric replied, getting to his feet. “Clear the room. Everyone out. Not you,” he added, pointing to Josh as he started to stand.

  Once the others were gone and the door was shut, Baldric sat, intense eyes watching me. “What is going on?”

  “I had a vision,” I said, taking Olive’s vacated seat at the table, which just happened to be the seat beside Josh. “William had me as his prisoner.”

  “Impossible,” Baldric snarled.

  “Apparently not.”

  Josh growled beside me and I pressed my legs together under the table, reminding my over-sexed body that this wasn’t the time. “He’ll never have you.”

  “No, he will not,” Baldric agreed, eyes inky black as his nostrils flared. “We will make sure of that.”

  The two men were on their feet and pacing the room, hitting me with a serious case of déjà vu for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. I’d been through this exact same situation before with Alec and William when I’d had the vision of ending up with Baldric. Only William had tried to use that for his benefit.

  “Maybe we can use this to our advantage,” I said, thinking aloud.

  “Pointless, because it will never happen,” the would-be king said with such finality that I almost believed him. But there was just one little problem.

  “The visions will always come true,” I told him and Josh threw his fist into the wall, no doubt thinking about my vision involving him. He was still in denial. “You have said as much yourself,” I continued, facing Baldric. “It is what I do when I get there that will matter most.”

  And that was the truth of it, wasn’t it? It wasn’t what I did when I’d gotten to Baldric, it was what I learned from him and did when I got back. Which was kill William. And that was exactly what I’d do.

  “We can use this against William,” I went on, looking between the two seething men. “If he takes me—and you know he will—I’ll be closer to him. Whether I earn back his trust or simply escape, it’ll put me in striking distance. You could turn me and I’ll have an even greater advantage. He won’t stand a chance. I can kill him and end this once and for all.”

  “No!” Baldric shouted, his voice echoing in the small room as he slammed his hands into the tabletop, fingers digging into the edge so hard, he was leaving dents. “I will be the one to watch William’s life leave his eyes. His death belongs to me and me alone.”

  I was tempted to tell him that beggars couldn’t be choosers, but I didn’t think that’d go over so well. The man was controlled by his need for revenge. If it were up to Baldric, William would rot in a cell for centuries, endless night or not. All the more reason for me to end this.

  “You know I’m right,” I said instead.

  A roar ripped out of Baldric as he picked up the large table and hurled it against the wall. It snapped in half as it crashed against the stone.

  Josh raked a hand through his hair. “We have to cancel the wedding.”

  “You would like that,” Baldric snapped, taking an imposing step in Josh’s direction.

  “He’s right,” I said, putting myself between them. “This isn’t the time. Not when we know William might be coming. We need to be planning our defense and preparing for possible battle, not a damn wedding. I’m already here fighting on your side. A title will change nothing. The wedding can wait.”

  “This union will happen,” Baldric said, closing the space between us until he was towering over me. “William will not take one more thing away from me. The wedding will go on as planned and that is final. Now, go back to the room. Lindsay will be in shortly.”

  “To do what?” I asked but Baldric was already halfway out the door.

  Josh’s hand fell to my back. “The castle is the safest place for you right now, Zo. Promise me you’ll stay in it. And try to do your best to keep someone around you. You’re strong, but there’s power in numbers.”

  I wanted to argue with him; I could protect myself. I shouldn’t be hiding away, especially not from the likes of William. And I especially didn’t need a damn shadow. But I forced myself to nod. Josh was right…probably. Out wandering around in the darkness alone wasn’t a good idea right now.

  “I promise.”

  When I got back to the room I shared with Baldric, Lindsay was already waiting for me along with a full-length mirror, sewing kit, and pile of white fabric.

  “What are you doing?” I closed the door behind me
, hand lingering on the handle, wondering if maybe I should be getting the hell out of here.

  “What does it look like?” she asked, gesturing to her supplies like that should tell me everything I needed to know. When she realized I wasn’t putting it together, she rolled her eyes. “I’m making your wedding dress.”

  I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled out of me. “You can sew? You couldn’t even figure out how to use a hot glue gun when we were in school.”

  “I learned,” she shot back.

  “Guess you can teach old dogs new tricks,” I mumbled with a snort, moving farther into the room to look at the fabric she had laid out on the bed. There were two different types. One lace and the other I didn’t know the name of, but it was buttery soft to the touch, and I had a feeling it would flow beautifully on whoever wore it.

  I guess that would be me.

  “We could go with Philip’s idea instead,” Lindsay mused.

  “Dare I ask?”

  She shrugged, her lips tipping up. “He said to just wrap a sheet around you, toga style.”

  It was my turn to roll my eyes. “I swear Philip and Cody are the same person,” I said. “Or at least related.” Or maybe I just missed my shift friend so much that I was creating someone to fill his place.

  “Philip is Cody’s uncle,” Lindsay deadpanned, picking up the incredibly soft fabric.

  “Seriously?”

  “No,” she said. “God, you’re gullible for an all-powerful immortal. Now strip, I’m supposed to make an entire gown in the span of a few hours.”

  I did as she said, and not because of the way she was holding the scissors in her hand like she was about to stab me with them, but because I was sure she was making the dress under Baldric’s orders. I didn’t want her to get in trouble because of me, despite her past transgressions against me. Baldric was already heated enough with the William news. We didn’t need that anger directed toward someone who was technically mortal.

  When I was standing in no more than my bra and underwear, Lindsay shot me a disapproving look. “Nope,” she said. “It all has to go. You won’t be able to wear anything under this fabric or it will show.”

  “Okay,” I drawled, removing the final scraps of clothing so I was standing in front of her in nothing but the skin I was born with. Not that she cared. Shifts and their nudity.

  Lindsay got right to work, draping the luxurious fabric over different parts of my body, pinning it to me in various spots as she went along.

  “Why does Baldric need me to be his queen so badly?” I finally asked when I could take no more of the silence.

  “What do you mean?” she said around a mouthful of pins.

  “Why the rush to marry me? We have more important things to deal with than a wedding.”

  It had bothered me from the beginning, but I’d managed to wrap my head around it. To Baldric, his marriage to me meant his people seeing me as one of their own. Not to mention, the king would look that much stronger with a fellow Chosen at his side, especially one who had also ascended. But to rush it like this, especially after what we’d learned from my vision… It had been bugging me more and more since my meeting with Josh and Baldric.

  Not even considering that we were in the middle of a damn apocalypse, we knew that William was planning to make a move and was going to take me prisoner, and Kaziel believed it was going to be soon. This really wasn’t the time to be pushing for a wedding. So, again, why the damn rush?

  Lindsay was silent for longer than I liked, her hands stilling at my waist. Finally, she began to move again. “I don’t know,” she said.

  “That’s bullshit and you know it.”

  She removed the remaining push pins from her mouth, putting them back into her kit. “Look, I honestly don’t know. I told you, I’m not kept in the loop with that sort of stuff.”

  I lifted an eyebrow, meeting her gaze in the mirror. “But you have a theory, don’t you?”

  Yep, I could see the truth clearly on her face. She was never good at hiding anything from me. Not much had changed in that regard.

  She chewed on her bottom lip. “It’s just a theory,” she told me and I nodded. “Okay, so your people know you. They followed you when you were with William and they respect you and saw you as a leader, right?”

  I wasn’t sure about all that. “I guess,” I said anyway.

  “When William is defeated and his people are left without a leader—people who have been following orders for years—what do you think many of them will do when offered a place in Baldric’s kingdom?”

  “They’d tell him to pound sand,” I said and then realization dawned on me, making me suck in a breath. “Unless there was a familiar face standing beside him. Someone they once thought of as one of their own.”

  “Exactly.”

  I stared blankly into the mirror, unseeing, as Lindsay got back to work.

  It made more sense than I cared to admit, and I was a little upset I hadn’t thought of it on my own. Baldric planned to defeat William, leaving, from what Kaziel had said, thousands of people without a ruler. If they saw me, someone they knew, united with Baldric, they might be more willing to follow him. Sure, there were those who would gladly choose death over switching sides, like Rhett. But many would join Baldric if it meant living. And if they thought I trusted Baldric myself…

  Son of a bitch.

  With me at his side, Baldric would stand a better chance of increasing the size of his followers, giving him a bigger kingdom to rule over.

  “He has no intention of ending this,” I breathed.

  The next few hours passed in a blur of fabric and needle pokes that I was fairly certain weren’t accidental. Lindsay wasn’t kidding when she said she’d learned how to sew. She’d done a miraculous job of putting an entire dress together, and if I was being honest, it was gorgeous.

  The dress hung from my shoulders by tiny straps, dropping into a plunging neckline that showed off the white sunburst nestled between my breasts. The soft, somewhat shiny material hugged my body until just past my butt, where it flowed out to the ground and pooled around me in a short train. Lindsay had embellished the bodice with lace, some of the intricate pieces bleeding into the skirt.

  It looked like a real wedding dress, but it wouldn’t be a real wedding.

  I already belonged to Josh.

  Lindsay wiped a tear from her eye, sniffling. “You look beautiful.”

  “You did a great job,” I told her, running my hands over the silky fabric.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said, heading for the door. “I need to see how we’re doing on time and get some stuff to do your hair and makeup with.”

  Remembering Josh’s words about the buddy system, I took a step in her direction and then stopped. No one else knew about my vision yet and I didn’t want to worry her. “I’ll be here,” I told her, turning away from the door as she shut it.

  I couldn’t lie. I had a hard time not admiring the dress in the mirror while I waited for Lindsay to return. I’d missed my senior prom due to the “accident” and I wasn’t sure of when the last time I’d dressed up was.

  “I always knew you’d make a beautiful bride,” an all-too-familiar voice said and the blood froze in my veins. It couldn’t be. And yet I knew it was.

  I turned around just as Alec stepped out of the shadows, a malicious grin etched into his face. To think I once thought of him as handsome. Now I only saw evil. He unsheathed his longsword, stalking toward me.

  “Alec,” I hissed, lightning flashing to life in my hands. I told him I’d kill him if he ever stepped foot back here and I’d meant it. The power within me swelled, electricity encompassing my whole hand, burning through the skin.

  In an instant, he vanished, his laughter the only thing remaining.

  “I just never thought I’d see the day where you would be standing in Baldric’s bedroom,” he continued, reappearing by the window, “preparing to marry him, no less,” he said with disgust.

&nbs
p; I shot my hand out, sending a bolt of lightning straight for him. It crashed into the stone wall, missing him as he once again flickered out of existence. Someone had to have heard that. It was just a matter of time.

  I felt the cold bite of steel in my back before I heard his words.

  “You were supposed to be mine.” Alec shoved his blade farther into me until nearly the entire thing was protruding from my stomach. “And you will be.”

  I stumbled forward a step, crimson staining the white fabric. Lindsay was going to kick his ass, right after I killed him. Pushing past the pain, I spun toward him, jamming my hand into his chest and sending my power shooting through him. Alec grunted as the force sent him sliding across the floor and into the bedside wall. And then he was gone again.

  Where the hell was everyone?

  An explosion rang out from somewhere outside the castle and the walls shook with the force of it, bits and pieces of stone crumbling to the ground.

  Alec reappeared behind me once more, twisting his sword through my gut until I cried out. Then he was in front of me, shoving another blade through my ribs, puncturing a lung in the process. Then he was kneeling at my feet, slashing a knife through my ankles, bringing me to my knees. Disappear, reappear, strike, repeat, until the entire dress was red with my own blood.

  “Enough!” I screamed, my power exploding out of my hands, bolts of lightning encompassing the entire room until it looked like one of those 1980s plasma balls on overdrive.

  When the flash of light faded, Alec was nowhere in sight, but that didn’t mean shit for a teleport.

  I winced as I took a step forward, body trying desperately to heal the many cuts, burns, and any internal damage that Alec had caused in his attack. He’d caught me off guard, I wouldn’t let that happen again. I knew I was stronger than him—more powerful. But just like Baldric, being a teleport gave Alec a clear advantage. It was like bringing a gun to a damn fist fight. I just had to get my hands on him…