I Am the Storm (The Night Firm Book 2)

by Karpov Kinrade

  My thoughts again turn to Adam. To Mary and the baby, dead at his feet. I exchange a worried glance with Derek.

  “I am as concerned as you,” he says quietly, “regarding recent developments. But I don’t know anything more. Only that, once her sisters, the other Fates, learned of what the Maiden was doing, they fought. And no one has seen them since. Without the Fates, the Order collapsed.”

  “Were you close to them?” I ask.

  "To the Fates?" He chuckles. “Not at all. We never even saw their faces. The Fates were...more goddesses than leaders. Something to be grasped at, worshipped even, but never fully understood.”

  A light rain begins to fall, and it quickly picks up. I look to Derek, but he shrugs. The brewing storm isn't his doing. Nor mine. My cloak is getting soaked and Liam puts an arm around me, his fire powers warming me. “Hurry,” he says, guiding me forward, the others following.

  He guides us under an archway still intact, towards stairs that lead underground. Before descending, I pause to take a last look at the statues. Three silhouettes in the distance. Rain splashing on their cloaks. Lightning flashing behind them. It reminds me of a dream I once had.

  Of a voice in that dream. 'You should have died with your mother.'

  Shivering, I descend into darkness.

  We enter a tunnel that smells of mildew and old dirt and something dead. I crinkle my nose and try to acclimate my night vision, but there isn't enough light to do much good. I feel around and find old torches lining the walls, long ago made useless by time, the elements, and lack of use. But with a flick of his hand, Liam lights them all.

  "You'll have to teach me how to do that," I say.

  Liam nods with a smile.

  As each fire comes to life, the hall lights up, revealing crumbling old stone and the remains of dead rats.

  I grab one of the torches since I don't have the see-in-the-dark superpowers they do, and we travel deeper and deeper. I do my best to avoid stepping on anything dead…or alive, as we walk.

  "What will you do if…if your brother is still here?" I ask, my voice echoing off the walls.

  Liam glances at me, his brow furrowed. Sebastian avoids my gaze and Elijah and Derek keep walking.

  "Will you free him?" I ask, pressing the issue. "If he's still imprisoned?"

  “Never,” says Sebastian, without looking at me. “He would be a danger to us. To you.”

  “We would have to vote,” says Elijah, glancing at his brother with a frown.

  “Over a thousand years of imprisonment,” says Liam. “I think Cole has paid enough.”

  I look to Derek, who answers after a moment. “Perhaps Cole deserves to be free,” he says. And then more softly, “Perhaps we should be the ones to pay.”

  I study his solemn face, his wounded eyes, and I reach for his hand and squeeze it. Despite our recent arguments, he squeezes back. It was only a few days ago that these men were ready to take their own lives in payment for their sins. Their demons still haunt them...even if they’ve chosen to fight on.

  “We’re here,” says Liam, and I follow him through an opening and into an antechamber. It's a massive stone room with painted carvings in the walls, most of which have faded with time.

  But there's one I can still make out.

  A woman's face framed by flowing silver hair that match her eyes.

  I catch Elijah staring at it, then he quickly glances away.

  In the center of the room a black, steel sarcophagus hangs from the ceiling, wrapped in silver chains.

  I shiver at the sight of it, and the brothers all stop, staring at it as well.

  I can't even imagine what it would do to a person to be locked in that for over a thousand years. I would go mad. Anyone would.

  Even the shadows seem to swirl around it as if they, too, fear getting close to the monstrous prison. There's a dark energy in this room. A dangerous poison that creeps over my skin and bleeds into me.

  “The bindings have been tampered with," Elijah says, taking a step closer. "It’s closed but...” He reaches out, touching the black steel. The chains around the sarcophagus drop and he pulls it open.

  It's empty.

  My heart leaps into my throat when someone behind us begins clapping. I spin around, and there I see him.

  The man from my dreams.

  Pale skin in the torchlight. Dark tattoos covering his arms. A black cloak wrapped around him.

  And eyes like the night.

  Eyes that can steal your soul.

  Cole.

  The Beggar Queen

  A star’s light shines the brightest, When it’s starting to collapse. ~Supernova by Erin Hanson

  Sebastian steps forward first, his fists clenched, muscles tense. I can feel the ground beneath us tremble with his anger. "Are you here to take your revenge?" he asks.

  Cole smirks, looking unconcerned. "No, mon frère. I'm here to help."

  His French accent surprises me. I was expecting him to sound more British like his brothers.

  "Really?" Sebastian doesn't sound convinced. The tension in the room is so thick I'm gagging on it. "Then why not reveal yourself sooner? Why all these cat and mouse games? We know you were at the festival."

  Cole shrugs, leaning against the wall casually. Is he really this calm, I wonder? Or just good at faking it?

  “I thought this would be the more appropriate location for our reunion,” he says. "A walk through memory lane, as it were."

  Something in another part of the ruins crashes down as Sebastian struggles to control his powers. "This is just a game to you, isn’t it? You enjoy toying with people, you always have. Tell me, how did you escape?”

  Cole glances at the sarcophagus, and for the first time I see an emotion other than arrogance ripple across his face. Fear. But it's gone in an instant. “A thousand years is a long time. Perhaps the binding wore off...”

  “Liar—"

  Derek places a hand on Sebastian's arm, giving him a warning glance. "Control yourself, brother,” he says softly. “Or you'll bring the whole place down on our heads."

  Sebastian takes a deep breath and steps back, deliberately unclenching his fists.

  Derek studies Cole, his expression a mixture of wariness and hope. “Why help us?” he asks, in a much less combative tone than Sebastian.

  Cole steps forward, holding the palms of his hands open in petition. “Because I didn’t do it, even though you seem to think I did. This heist was masterful...but not my own. And I would never take credit for someone else’s work. You should know that about me, mon frère."

  "That's a very generous attitude, all things considered," Derek says. "What do you want from us, in return for this help?"

  "I want what I have always wanted. Peace between us, brothers. My family back." His voice cracks, and either he is a skilled performer, or he's being sincere.

  "After what you did?" Sebastian spits, his words creating another shift of stone and rock around us.

  Cole scoffs. "After what I did? I stopped a murdering stain on the fabric of humanity. What about what you did to me?" Cole asks, coming face to face with Sebastian. "You betrayed your own brother. Your flesh and blood? And for what?"

  Even Sebastian is put in his place by Cole's words, and he looks away, unable to face him.

  Liam stares at the scars on his arms, and Elijah and Derek look thoughtful. Lost in past memories.

  In the silence, a flash hits me, making my head spin and my stomach clench. As I take a step closer to Cole, the effects ease, and I realize something with certainty. Something the Night brothers aren't going to like. "We need him," I say, through clenched teeth. The closer I get to Cole, the better I feel, until I am standing inches from him, our gazes locked. "We need him to solve this and save Liam."

  Cole studies me, his lips curling into a smile. "Smart woman. Et belle. My brothers showed unexpected wisdom in bringing you into the family."

  Though we’re not making physical contact, I feel his touch nonetheless, as
if his hands are caressing my face. I blink and take a step back, my senses rattled by this intense intimacy I'm experiencing against all logic.

  "He could be useful," Elijah says. "Whether he is indeed guilty, or as innocent as he claims, he could help in gaining access to our other suspects."

  Cole doesn't break eye contact with me as he responds. "What are your leads?"

  "None of your business," Sebastian says, glaring at Elijah. "We shouldn't be sharing anything with him. We don't know what he's up to and we can't trust him."

  Elijah shrugs. "What can we lose by seeing what he has to offer? We haven't got many options and even less time in which to solve this."

  "Elijah's right," Derek says. "We must explore all possibilities, and if Cole can help, so be it."

  Liam steps forward, his eyes haunted. "If Eve says we need him, I trust her."

  Sebastian throws up his hands in defeat and crosses his arms over his chest, sulking as Elijah answers Cole. "The Collector could be behind this, and if he isn't, there's a good chance he knows something."

  Cole nods. "And?"

  "And the Beggar Queen," Derek says. "She's been at odds with the dragons for as long as anyone can remember. She had the motive and the means to pull this off."

  Cole finally breaks eye contact with me to look at his brothers, and in that instant, I feel his touch—his presence—vanish from my body. I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding and shiver. Liam puts a protective arm around my shoulder, his heat and strength a comfort.

  Cole paces, his finger on his chin. "The Collector will be tricky. He is hard to get close to, even for me, and keeps his secrets well hidden. But you know I can get you in to see the Beggar Queen, as you call her, though she would never refer to herself as such."

  "What is she the queen of?" I ask.

  "The lost and forgotten," Cole says softly.

  "Indeed," Elijah says, though he doesn't sound particularly happy about it. He turns to the rest of us. "I think we may need him."

  "I don't," Sebastian says, stepping forward once again. "He betrayed us once before and he will again."

  I pull away from Liam to stand before Sebastian, placing a hand on his chest. "It's Liam's future on the line. He should decide."

  Everyone looks to the fire Druid, who sighs and turns to Cole.

  I already know what Liam will decide. Not just because he wants to get out of this mess, but because he wants to atone for his own sins.

  "We have no way of knowing your true motives," he tells Cole. "Even still, I say we give you a chance."

  Cole smiles a wolfish grin.

  "The Order would never have accepted this," Sebastian roars, causing the sarcophagus to crash to the ground, startling everyone.

  Derek frowns. "Look around, brother. We are all that's left. The Order is gone."

  And with that, the decision is made. We make haste back to the Otherworld with Cole in tow. Kaya seems impatient to get on with her other errands, though she catches my eye as we head to the carriage and nods briefly at me, mouthing a simple ‘thank you.’ The woman and child we helped earlier are both being cared for by the dryads, the child nursing peacefully as the mother rests against one of the trees, and I hope that they find a good life here. That their terror and pain will be things of the past as they try to rebuild.

  We are all shaped and haunted by our pasts. I haven't yet lived thirty years, and already I feel the weight of my life tugging at my heart, clouding my mind, shaping my choices for good or ill. I can't imagine having hundreds of years piling on me, like dirt on a coffin, burying me in the darkness of my past decisions, stealing away my breath with each handful of years dropped on me.

  What must each of the Night brothers be feeling as we climb into the carriage and set off to meet the Beggar Queen? What memories must be resurfacing as they all face their own darkness?

  Cole sits in the front with Elijah, guiding the carriage to our destination, since he's the only one who knows where we're going. Sebastian, Liam, and Derek sit in the back with me, though all are quiet and lost in thought.

  I don't want to disturb them, but I reach for Sebastian's hand, who sits beside me, and he takes it, though he doesn't look my way. But with the touch, his shoulders seem to relax just a fraction, and I hope that he can find some peace in all this mess.

  They have their brother back, and it's a mixed bag for them. I get it. All too well. I kind of have my twin back, but I still don't know how to feel about all he's done…all he's become. Is evil done in the name of justice justifiable? Do we have the right to take a life preemptively to protect future innocents? Do we have the right to take a life in righteous justice when it goes against the laws of the land? At what point do we need to stop blindly following other people's rules for what's expected of us and take a stand for what we believe is right?

  Both Cole and Adam clearly believe their actions—their murders—were justified. Righteous, even. And yet I am left with questions my soul cannot answer. Questions all my reading and all my knowledge and all my intelligence cannot find a definitive solution for.

  Maybe there is no answer. Maybe the whole point is to question, and to keep questioning as we strive to find our way in this messy world.

  After spending too much time studying the brothers and thinking about Cole, I turn my attention to the window and watch as the landscape changes. Where before we crossed through either wide expanses of open land or crowded but comfortably situated populated areas, now we move into the type of area I haven't seen in this world before, though I'm familiar enough with it from my own. Ruined buildings scatter the landscape, climbing with ivy and covered in moss as nature takes back its own. The roads are dirt and full of holes and rocks, making the journey dangerous and painful. As we come closer to the town, the poverty and unsuitable living conditions become more glaring. Malnourished children of various races run around naked, covered in dirt and slime. Entire families live in shelters constructed with bits of stick propping up palm branches as makeshift roofs. Insects buzz everywhere, more well fed than any of the people living here. What little clothing exists consists of torn rags hanging off emaciated bodies.

  Though there's plenty of wilderness, there's little in the way of farmland or food sources. It's clear no Enforcer has been here in ages, if ever. Nothing has been done to create suitable living arrangements for the people here. The world has forgotten them.

  We reach the end of the road and have to disembark and make our way on foot from there. The smell hits me first. Rot and bodily waste mix with the smell of cooking grains and unwashed children. I stifle the urge to gag and take shallow breaths. Cole steps up next to me, leading the way down a small alley.

  "This is what coloring within the lines gets you, mon cher," he says. His eyes are full of pain as he looks around at those suffering. "Playing by the rules, following those in command…it only serves those in power. These are the people who pay the price."

  We reach the end of the alley where two basilisks guard one of the only standing structures in this village. They’re both dressed in dirty white robes, their large serpentine bodies framing a double door made of ashen wood. They are more snake than human, and like the guard who died at the nest, they wear blindfolds over their eyes. Their reptilian tongues flick out of their mouths, tasting the air.

  "It hassss been sssssome time, Cole," one says, his words coming out as a hiss.

  "It's good to see you, Raz. How are the kids?"

  Raz nods his head. "Sssstrong, like their mother. And you? What do you sssssseek?"

  "We request an audience with Lyx, if she is able to see us," Cole says with respect in his voice.

  The second basilisk hisses and turns her face to the other Night brothers. "I know you," she says. "Traitorsssss to our causssse. You are not welcome here." Then she turns to me, testing the air with her tongue. "You, I do not know."

  "Bron," Cole says to the female, "this is Eve Oliver. She's with me."

  "Eve Oliver," Bro
n says, testing my name aloud.

  The basilisks pause, and the two of them touch their heads together, whispering through hisses.

  Raz raises his head to speak. "Cole and the woman may enter. The resssst musssst remain."

  Sebastian steps forward and I cringe, knowing this is not going to go well.

  "I'm not leaving her alone with Cole. He's dangerous," Sebastian says.

  "It's my life on the line," Liam says. "I should be the one to go."

  "Guys, I'll be okay. No good will come from making a scene. This is our one chance to talk to her. Trust me, okay? I can take care of myself," I say, giving both of them a reassuring hand squeeze.

  Then Cole, not helping matters in the least, throws an arm over my shoulder. "And I'll be sure to look out for her, too. She'll be well cared for in my very capable hands."

  The earth tremors slightly as Sebastian clenches his jaw and fists, ready to strike out at his brother.

  I slip away from Cole and glare at him, then shoot a look at Sebastian. "Wait for us at the carriage," I say.

  He nods, then turns sharply away. Derek and Elijah give me half-hearted smiles but say nothing.

  Liam grabs my arm. "Be careful. With all of them."

  I nod, then follow Cole, leaving the others behind.

  We enter through the double doors into a large room. Intricate rugs are intermittently spread over the dirt-packed floors and pewter lamps with colored glass hang on the walls. The air is perfumed with burning herbs and scented oils, and at the end of the room several people are lounging on purple and red pillows. In the center of the group is the Beggar Queen—Lyx. Though she, too, sits on a pillow, a goblet of wine at her side, she stands out amongst them all. Her gown is pure white. Her hair is long and silver—the same color as her eyes. She glows like a star against the night sky. Like a diamond.

  "I recognize her," I whisper to Cole. "Her likeness was carved into the ruins in England."