Darkness Rising

by Cate Farren

  "I'm damaged," she said. "I killed my own mother."

  It was best to stick to the truth whenever possible. She was sure Loki would be able to see through any lies.

  "Didn't she deserve it?" Loki asked.

  Clover took a deep breath. "Yes, but..."

  Clover would regret killing her mother for the rest of her days. She'd killed her in anger and grief and hadn't stopped to think about the consequences. Yet a part of her was glad she'd killed her. Her mother had stolen Jared away from her and she deserved to be punished for it.

  Can I still hate myself for killing her, but be glad I did it at the same time?

  "She was my mother," she confessed. She wanted to laugh. What kind of mother would murder her daughter’s boyfriend? "I know I killed her because I was angry and she deserved it, but she was still my mother. How can I ever get past that? How can I reconcile what I've done with what my head tells me?"

  Loki regarded her for a moment. He reminded Clover of her Aunt Samantha during their therapy sessions. "I'd say your shapeshifter side is warring with your human side, but the truth is everybody does things they regret, even if they know they have to do them. I assume you know I was in love with Chorda once upon a time."

  Clover nodded. "Toren told us. She was in love with you and King Killian killed her."

  "She was the love of my life. Losing her was like losing a part of myself. I lashed out and started a war that I couldn't stop until millions were dead." He looked her in the face, crying. "I wiped out entire supernatural species. I may feel like I was vindicated in what I did. I may have taken great pleasure in some of my acts, like ridding the world of Prime Demons and halving the Fey population, but I can't ever take back the species I made extinct. Some of them...some of them were so beautiful you couldn’t even imagine it."

  She believed every word he said. Grief can make you do unspeakable things. She wasn’t sure she could kill millions, but she understood; a little, anyway. She was still disgusted.

  "You were going to cause a war anyway," Clover reminded him. "Chorda getting killed was just the catalyst that started it."

  "You only know what you've been told."

  "The same could be said for what you tell me."

  He was silent for a few beats. Clover began to wonder whether she had underestimated him. Maybe he was here to kill here after all. There was nothing she could do about it if he tried anything. She was defenseless.

  "How would you like to learn to the truth, unfiltered, unbiased?" he asked.

  “How would it be unbiased?” she said sardonically.

  “Trust me on this. I can give you the real, honest truth about everything.”

  Clover didn't need time to think. She was being offered an unprecedented view into supernatural history, a true account of what really happened. She might never get another opportunity like this.

  "Go on," she said. "I'm listening."

  "Shapeshifters have the ability to reach out into each other's minds," Loki explained. "I'm sure you've noticed. I felt you when you were in the other world, reaching out to me, but you were too far away."

  Clover nodded. "I thought I was imagining it."

  She wasn't sure she wanted Loki accessing her mind. He could make her do things, mess with her head, like he did with Byon in the hell dimension. He'd made the were-snake hybrid murder his own parents. What if he forced her to kill her father or someone else she cared about like Sheriff Trent or Adrian? What if he forced her to do something even more wicked that she could never take back?

  “I’m not sure I trust you to enter my mind,” she told him.

  “You’re wise, but you can trust me on this,” he said.

  She sighed and nodded. This was a risk worth taking. Besides, she had a hunch he wouldn’t do anything insidious while inside her mind. He wanted her to see his side of things. He wouldn’t jeopardize that just for the excuse to mess with her head.

  "I'm going to let you access my mind, my memories," he explained. "You're going to see what I felt and what I saw."

  "Then it's not really an unbiased view of history," said Clover.

  "It will be the truth," Loki stated.

  She nodded her head again, giving assent. It was time.

  Chapter 4

  "I wish we'd come here when there was snow," Wynn complained. He smiled wistfully, as if reliving a wonderful memory. His nose twitched in a cute way when he smiled. "I love the snow."

  I’ve never thought anything was cute in my life. I’m a moron.

  Toren sighed. "Close the curtains! There could be someone watching."

  The shapeshifter pulled the curtains closed, plunging their hotel room into darkness. Toren sighed once again and flipped on the table lamp by the side of the bed, too engrossed in her email to hear his complaints.

  The email from Dracula troubled her. His agents still hadn't discovered where Loki was breeding his new shapeshifter army. They'd been scouring the globe for almost a year now and found nothing. Where could he be hiding thousands of shapeshifters? They had to be somewhere. There had to be some clue somewhere as to their whereabouts, something she’d missed. Was he hiding in plain site, or was somebody aiding him?

  If somebody is helping that monster, I will eviscerate them.

  "I don't understand," Toren admitted, slamming her laptop closed. She thought she cracked the screen. "There has to be some clue. How can an entire army stay hidden like that, even from idiotic humans? It makes no sense."

  "They still haven't found Loki's new army?" Wynn asked, sitting on the side of the bed, taking her hand. "I'm sure they will."

  She smiled sadly. "I doubt it. Dracula had a theory that they're not even on this world, which sort of makes sense. It also means we have no chance of finding him and stopping him. There's an infinite number of parallel worlds out there. It would take us literally forever to search every one."

  Toren had travelled dimensions before, a long time ago. After the shapeshifter war, and her brief stint as The Black Fey, she’d gone on sabbatical to clear her mind. She’d seen so much death and destruction she just had to get away. Seeing other universes where peace reigned and her friends and family were still alive made her feel sane again. She’d even found a world where Loki himself was a utopian ruler over a peaceful land of humans and supernaturals living together. It had made her sick it was so happy. The only change in that reality from her own was that Loki and her mother, Chorda, had married. If just one person had lived in this world, Toren’s precious mother, things could’ve been so different.

  Wynn said, "I just wish Loki hadn't cut me off from the shared mind."

  “It’s perhaps best he did,” said Toren. “Then he might know our plans.”

  Wynn had cut himself off from the shared mind that all shapeshifters had hundreds of years ago. When he'd recently tried to access it again he'd been shoved violently out. It bothered him a lot, despite the fact he was now actively going against his own people. Toren wanted to feel sorry for him, but she was kind of glad in a way. There was a chance he’d be pulled back towards his old master if he could see into Loki’s mind.

  Toren smiled and gripped his hand. Their romance had been a surprise to the both of them, though not totally unwanted. Their search for the remaining shapeshifters had brought them closer together after the tragedy of their last mission. She hated thinking about it even now. Things had been working well up to that point. They'd killed one shapeshifter and recruited two more. Now they were onto their last target – or so they thought, anyway.

  Two months ago...

  Toren sipped her expensive coffee, savoring its dark aroma. She gazed out over the vista of Paris, feeling a little peace in her heart for the first time in a while. It really was a beautiful city, even now.

  During the day she’d been shopping and spent a few hours in a spa. Her sparkling blonde hair was done up in a beehive and she wore a sleek green miniskirt that almost covered her silk underwear. Sixties fashions were all the rage in France right
now. She thought she looked like a chic model. From the admiring looks she got from both men and women she knew she was the most beautiful person in the room.

  "I was here during the Eiffel Tower's opening ceremony," Toren revealed. Her partners looked at her with awe. "It was March 31st 1889, and..."

  Roberta sighed with annoyance. "I was there too. I didn't see you."

  "Are you calling me a liar?" Toren demanded.

  "No. It's just...I remember that day differently."

  Roberta was the second shapeshifter they'd recruited after Wynn. They'd found her in Sheffield, England, working in Marks and Spencer's as a human. She'd only been too delighted to join them. Living on her own for so long had made her timid and afraid but desperate for friends. She despised the chaos inside her and was only too willing to help as long as she didn't have to actually kill anyone.

  I'm not so sure about that. This is a war after all.

  "What do you remember?" Toren asked. It was best to be patient with Roberta. The woman could be rude and abrupt, but Toren suspected it was because she was desperately lonely and unused to dealing with people. “It was a long time ago.”

  "I was afraid to go up the lifts," Roberta admitted. She laughed nervously, and Anton, their other new shapeshifter comrade, patted her shoulder. "The rest of the day was pretty much a blur."

  "You were okay with the lifts today," Toren commented, surveying the Jules Verne restaurant. It was packed with springtime visitors. "You seemed to quite enjoy it."

  "I love lifts now," said Roberta. She smiled happily, staring about the room. "They're almost like flying."

  Anton smiled. "They're called escalators in America."

  Anton was a different matter altogether. Toren wasn't sure whether she could trust him. His current form was that of a tall black man with intense blue eyes and a shaved head. He dressed in a black suit and seemed to be scowling all the time. He'd agreed to join them without giving her much of a backstory, though from what she'd gathered he appeared to despise Loki more than she did.

  Why would one of his children hate him so much?

  Toren supposed it didn't really matter. He was with them, willing to help her take down Loki. Did she really need to know every detail of his back story?

  They drank their coffees and ate pastries for a while longer. When their waitress came back to them to deliver the bill Toren decided she'd had enough. The server had to know who they were and yet she was deliberately ignoring them.

  "Would you like a tip?" Toren asked.

  The waitress looked worried. "You shouldn't be here."

  "We're here to talk to you," said Wynn. His tone was warm, inviting, though a little impatient. "You know that."

  Toren glanced at the nametag on the waitress; Anna. Toren had known many humans called Anna over the centuries. Most of them were bitches.

  "Anna, what's wrong?" Toren asked. She could be sympathetic when she needed to be. "You can talk to us."

  The girl was shaking now, visible signs of her face trying to shift on her skin. Toren stood up, realizing something was terribly wrong. Anna wouldn't be this scared over something as simple as meeting them.

  Toren looked around, searching for a face in the crowds.

  Loki was sitting at a table the furthest away from them. He tipped a flute of wine he was drinking towards them. His face warped back into the person he'd entered as, an old man with thinning hair. He ignored her and returned to his drink

  "That arrogant bastard," said Toren. She tried to leave but Wynn grabbed her arm.

  "You can't make a scene," Wynn warned her.

  "Why is he here?" Toren demanded. She suddenly realized she didn’t have her sword with her. “Damn it...”

  Anna opened her waiter's jacket, revealing a bomb strapped to her chest. It was counting down from one minute.

  "Why are you doing this?" Toren asked.

  "You wanted to recruit me for your pathetic little crusade, but I serve only Loki," said Anna, head held high. "I'm disgusted at all of you. Loki created you! You have his blood in your veins!"

  "Turn the bomb off," Toren demanded. "Now."

  Anna smiled. "You think there's a point to what you're doing? Loki has created thousands more of us. You think you can recruit all of them?"

  Toren felt sick. She needed to know more about Loki's new army, but she had to get out of there. There wasn't time to evacuate everyone in the restaurant, but there was time to see herself and her friends to safety.

  I'm going to kill Loki for this.

  She looked across at where Loki was sitting, finding him gone.

  "I hope being blown up is complete agony," said Toren, punching Anna in the face. The shapeshifter dropped to the floor, laughing manically.

  Toren turned to her three shapeshifter friends, knowing they had about twenty seconds left. Already they'd started a panic in the restaurant. More waiters were marching over to them to see what was going on.

  Wynn leapt onto the table and kicked at the glass window, shattering it. He nodded to his friends, who each turned into eagles and swooped into the open air. Wind blasted inside, blowing aside what was left on their table.

  "What am I going to do?" Toren demanded. “I can’t shift into an eagle!”

  Wynn grinned. "Just watch."

  He turned into some sort of giant reptilian bird, a pterodactyl. Toren couldn't help but laugh as she jumped onto the creature's back just as it took off, shattering more window glass in the process.

  But what about the people in the tower...

  The Jules Verne exploded. Fire gushed out, sending a wave of hot air. Toren lost her grip on the pterodactyl's back and fell, plummeting to the ground. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst, waiting to be reunited with her mother in death again, before she was grabbed violently by a pair of sharp claws.

  Toren kept her eyes closed until they landed on the roof of a building. He let her drop and she felt her shoulder dislocate. It took her a mere moment to pop it back into place with minimal effort.

  Wynn changed back into his Fey form and ran to hug her, surprising Toren. She'd known he was developing feelings for her but it wasn't until that moment that she realized she felt something for him too. Maybe nearly being blown up had something to do with it.

  "Are you okay?" Wynn asked.

  "I'm feeling a little sick from my impromptu flight across Paris but I'm sure I'll be fine," she assured him, staring into his eyes. “Your eyes...”

  She took a chance and pulled him in for a kiss. He started to reciprocate just as they heard what sounded like the waking groans of a vast sleeping monster.

  "Oh Mother Goddess," Toren whispered.

  The two of them watched in horror as the Eiffel Tower, standing for nearly 130 years, collapsed to the ground. Toren and Wynn jumped to the floor, covering their heads, as a massive storm of dust swept Paris for almost a mile around the fallen structure.

  Wynn gripped her hand as the tearing and groaning of metal continued for another hour or more. They could hear people crying and screaming in pain. Ambulances and police sirens came and went. Still Toren couldn't move, terrified to look at the devastation Loki had wrought.

  He brought down the Eiffel Tower to kill me

  Toren opened her eyes, panic setting in. The air was still covered with dust, so much that she could hardly see. She pulled herself to her feet, stretching her limbs, looking around for signs of her friends.

  "Where are they?" she said, starting to cough. Her throat was dry. "Do you think they're okay?"

  Wynn stood up, wiping dust off his jacket. "They're fine. The three of us have our own shared connection, remember?"

  Toren could just about see the mangled wreck of the tower peering out from the dust. She'd never seen anything like it.

  "They're going to blame this on terrorists," she said.

  "Loki is a terrorist," said Wynn.

  "This is a major attack, Wynn. I fear he's only just warming up."

  THE DESTRUCTION OF th
e Eiffel Tower was blamed on terrorists, though not the ones Toren had imagined. The day after the attack her face, as well as the faces of Wynn, Anton, Anna and Roberta, appeared on the news as suspected terrorists. They were now wanted by every government agency in the world.

  There was a knock at the door of their hotel room.

  "Room service," a voice called.

  Toren sighed with relief. She'd ordered an elk steak dinner nearly an hour ago. She quickly performed a spell to alter her face, watching as Wynn shifted into his other form, that of a thin red haired man with glasses. He wasn't nearly as handsome as his regular Fey body.

  She answered the door, gave the room service guy a tip, and took the dinner trays from him. The meal smelled delicious. She'd never had elk before and she couldn't wait to get stuck in.

  "I'm not sure I'm that hungry," Wynn admitted, now back in his perfect Fey body. "Though it does smell good."

  Toren placed the trays on their table and got stuck in. It wasn't until she was about to stick her fork into some fries that she noticed something moving. She felt sick. There was a cockroach in her dinner!

  She was about to stab it with her fork when Wynn grabbed her hand.

  "Don't," he said.

  She was about to ask why when the cockroach crawled off her dinner plate and leaped onto the floor. It shimmered and shifted into the form of a teenage boy. He had broad shoulders and thick black hair and beautiful caramel skin. He looked to be about nineteen.

  "I hate being so small," said the boy, a disgusted look on his face. “It makes me feel vulnerable. I hate being vulnerable.”

  Wynn looked up at him with disdain. "You were supposed to meet us days ago. What took you so long?"

  "I thought I'd let you soak up the atmosphere of Banff for a while," said the boy, pulling up a chair. He poured himself a glass of water. "Isn’t this the most beautiful place on Earth?"

  Toren watched as the newcomer began eating from her plate, acting as if he hadn't a care in the world. His arrogance astounded her. It reminded her very much of Loki, and for a second she was wary. Could this be a trap? Would he try and kill them?