Marked for Darkness

by Raven Woodward

  “I’ll leave the country,” she argued.

  Over my goddamn dead body you will.

  His knuckles turned white as his grip increased. The dull stabbing pain in his temples grew sharper. Bright light dotted his vision, obscuring the road ahead of him, but there was no other traffic in sight. He blinked it away. Odd that traffic was this slow heading back into the city…

  “Look, for now, just stay with me and we’ll figure it out. We can get you new bank cards and replace your driver’s license.”

  Harlow worried her bottom lip, turning the full flesh a delicious shade of pink that Rex found entirely too distracting. At last she nodded, relenting.

  His body relaxed a fraction.

  Until a deafening roar shook the ground.

  Harlow

  Fire licked through every inch of Harlow’s body as fear and determination mixed. “Go, go, go!” she screamed.

  Rex floored the pedal, their bodies sucked back in their seats as the engine roared and the car soared faster.

  But Harlow knew it wasn’t fast enough. She turned in her seat to try to find the beast.

  Five of them pursued the car, led by the largest and most terrifying. He had midnight fur and golden eyes burning with rage. She let out a whimper as they quickly gained ground.

  Rex’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. “Holy fucking shit.”

  The sunlight glinted off Arian’s ebony horns that twisted and curved like something straight out of a supernatural guidebook. Steam puffed from his beastly nostrils in the morning air.

  Close.

  Too close.

  “Faster!”

  “I can’t go any faster!” Rex shouted.

  Just as the black beast seemed close enough to crush the car between its impressive jaws, it leapt into the air.

  Harlow’s heart thundered as she realized a second too late what had just occurred. She whipped back around.

  Arian stood in the road ahead of them, blocking it.

  Her skin tingled, as though a thousand tiny insects danced over her. Even her scalp prickled.

  Rex slammed on the brakes, swearing loudly. Harlow jerked forward, hands catching herself on the dashboard, seat belt digging into her hips painfully.

  “Stay here,” he snarled, tearing the fabric of his seat belt clean in two.

  Harlow seized him by the shoulders just as he threw open his door. “No, stop!”

  Rex didn’t answer her. When Harlow glanced back toward the road, they were surrounded by four beasts. And Arian stood in front of them, wholly man.

  Yet fully dressed in the same immaculate suit she’d seen him wearing earlier that morning.

  Her stomach clenched as a dull ache started behind her eyes. She pulled at Rex’s shirt when he once again tried to exit the vehicle.

  “No, I’ll go.” He opened his mouth to protest. “Please, Rex, stay here. I didn’t mean to involve you in any of this. I’m so sorry.”

  Harlow pushed open her door and stood, facing Arian. Her chin lifted in a show of courage that she certainly didn’t feel.

  His eyes were still molten gold, giving him an undeniable otherworldly quality. Not that his flawless skin or the way he just seemed to exude unnaturalness could be considered fully human.

  The slight curl of his lip deepened when Arian’s eyes slid to Rex, who still climbed out of the car. Harlow sighed. Why couldn’t he have just listened to her?

  She walked toward Arian, pausing just before him as a rush of sudden fear filled her. He was clearly angry. Would he hurt her for running away?

  Arian’s eyes assessed her, then his lips turned down in a frown. In a blink it was gone, replaced with the cold, loathing expression he always wore around her.

  He grabbed her by the arm and began hauling her away.

  “Listen, man, I don’t know what your deal is, but we’re kind of together so—” Rex began.

  Arian’s grip disappeared and in the next breath he was in Rex’s face looking murderous. “I don’t know how you have any recollection of Ms. Marks. I’m assuming she somehow reversed it, but let me be right plain.” Arian’s voice was low and guttural, but when their gazes locked, his next words were like silk. “You will forget about me and Harlow Marks. You will leave, return to the city, and stay there until your mother has need of you again. Everything that seems out of the ordinary you will ignore. Understand?”

  Rex’s eyes glazed over. Harlow rushed forward. “What are you doing to him?”

  Arian’s smile was a cruel slash of white. “Protecting what is mine.”

  Rex wordlessly got into his car, as though in a trance. He didn’t look at Harlow when he started the engine.

  Her throat threatened to close up. What was happening? Would he really forget her? Heat shot through her like bolts of lightning. She rushed toward Rex, an anguished cry caught in her throat.

  The car began to drive, and she lunged, palms outstretched.

  Boom.

  A wind shot out from her, tearing her wild, tangled mess of hair away from her face.

  Glass shattered.

  Rex’s car spun sideways.

  Harlow screamed and instantly, everything froze.

  The car.

  The air.

  Fallen leaves and other debris hovered midair. Unmoving.

  Rex’s eyes were squeezed shut, and trickles of crimson stopped their path down the side of his head. Harlow’s mouth gaped in horror as she ran toward him—the glass had cut him in at least a dozen places.

  She spun toward Arian. “What happened, what did I do?”

  Arian’s tie had blown over his shoulder, his hair looking windswept. Yet his lips twitched in a smile.

  “Although not ideal, I have so longed to see your powers break free from my binding spell.”

  She blinked. Okay, so he was insane then.

  Harlow looked for something to clean Rex’s wounds with, but there was nothing. A chunk was missing from the top of his ear and blood had pooled in the hollow space above his lobe. His dark T-shirt was stained with it.

  Frantically she searched for a way to help. But as long as everything was frozen, he wasn’t bleeding.

  She turned her pleading gaze back on Arian. “Please, help me.”

  The four beasts surrounding them didn’t move or blink either. Everything but the two of them had frozen.

  And she’d done it?

  But how?

  Arian rolled his eyes and strolled toward the car, looking bored. “Only you can heal him.”

  “That doesn’t tell me how,” she spat.

  Arian folded his arms over his chest, staring at Rex as though he hoped he’d burst into flames. “Would it be so tragic if the mortal died? Mortals die all the time. It could easily be staged as a hit and run.”

  Mortals?

  Harlow’s heart tripped over itself. She shook her head, disbelieving. “You really are the monster people say you are.”

  Arian’s eyes flashed. “Worse, Ms. Marks. I’m far worse.”

  When Harlow took a step back, stricken, Arian’s anger seemed to soften. “Put your hands on his face.”

  For a long beat, Harlow didn’t move. Arian sighed, and Harlow finally cupped Rex’s face gently. A muscle in Arian’s jaw flexed at the sight, then he said, “Turn your awareness to him. Feel for each of his wounds, and then imagine pulling them together. Make sure there is no glass inside them first. You’ll be able to feel it if there is.”

  Harlow’s lips parted as she considered telling him how absurd it all sounded. Yet she’d somehow done all of this. She’d frozen everyone and everything around her.

  So she could do this too.

  She closed her eyes and did as Arian said. Like it was a tangible, living thing, Harlow pushed her awareness into Rex’s body. Immediately she felt each nick and slice as though they were her own. She focused on the gash at the top of his severed ear and tried to imagine it closing. The flesh knitt
ing itself together.

  Halfway through, it slipped, and Harlow opened her eyes to find a fresh bead of blood well to the surface.

  She gave an exasperated huff as she looked up at Arian.

  “It may take you several tries, but you were able to heal yourself while your magic was bound. I know you can do this.”

  Harlow’s eyes widened. She had healed herself? That was why there was barely a scratch on her arm when the beast had clearly sliced through muscle and tendon.

  Closing her eyes again, Harlow focused on the cut and drew it together. She felt it seal. Her eyes shot open as excitement bubbled through her. She bent to examine Rex’s ear. Already it had rounded slightly, as though he’d received the wound years ago, instead of just minutes.

  She smiled as she started on the rest which were less severe, one by one forcing tiny fragments of glass from his body then closing the wounds. Her head pounded so hard, she was sure her skull would crack. She winced but carried on. When she was done, she brushed glass from his hair, then smiled sadly.

  “There’s still blood on him and his window is shattered.”

  Arian was quiet for a moment, assessing. “You could fix all of that, but you expended a fair bit of magic with your earlier tantrum. I’ll do the rest for you.”

  “Tantrum?” Harlow rounded on him with her hands on her hips. Everything swayed in her vision. Arian’s lips tugged up in faint amusement before he brushed past her.

  With a wave of his hand, an eerie green light flashed. Then the jagged pieces of glass floated up and took their place like puzzle pieces. Before Harlow’s eyes, the window looked as though it were brand-new.

  The sun peeked out from the clouds and cast a glare on the window, drawing her attention back to Rex.

  His face was free of blood. There was still a chunk missing from the tip of his ear, but that was the only evidence of what had just occurred.

  Arian moved to stand behind her then bent low, brushing his lips against the shell of her ear, causing her to shiver.

  “Now put his car back in line and let everything resume.”

  “I’m not sure I can,” she said as the pain behind her eyes grew.

  “You must, Kuzukah. I cannot undo it.”

  Harlow raised a hand and pulled the car to her as if with invisible threads. The tires squealed in protest on the pavement until the car was situated back in the lane. Her knees knocked together and Arian’s arms went around her waist. Steadying her. But the heat of his body only seemed to pull her farther from consciousness.

  “Now let everything go.”

  He said it as if she’d been holding everything in place, but it didn’t feel that way. Her eye lids fluttered shut before she willed Rex to go. To get as far away from her as possible.

  A cool breeze brushed her flushed skin, and she groaned. She heard the roar of the engine and sounds of life as darkness closed in. Her eyes refused to open. For some reason her heart ached and something in her brain told her to look. To open her damn eyes. To do…something.

  “That’s right, sleep now.”

  And she did.

  Harlow

  Harlow’s head ached like she’d smashed it against a brick wall. It felt swollen. Everything felt swollen.

  Her fingers were cold. Bloodless.

  Her hands were above her head.

  And her wrists…

  Her head snapped up and her eyes flew open. The light pouring in from a short, elevated window assaulted her vision. Everything blurred, and her eyes burned. They watered while she struggled to make out her surroundings. She was upright, hands secured above her head, sitting on a cool, concrete floor. The wall at her back was rough and ridged like brick.

  The shadowy figure leaning against the wall to her right brought her a strange sense of déjà vu.

  Then it clicked back into place.

  “How are you feeling?” Arian asked. “You’ve been asleep far longer than I’d anticipated.”

  How long had she been sleeping? Harlow strained against her bonds, feeling the coarse fibers of rope bite into her skin. “What the hell? How long have I been here, and why am I tied up?”

  Arian peeled away from the wall and strode toward her. Even with the sunlight all around him, shadows seemed to cling to him. As though he wore darkness like a garment.

  He flicked open the buttons of his black suit jacket, before squatting in front of her so they were eyelevel. She flinched when he lifted his hand, giving him pause. His expression darkened.

  “I have told you, you have nothing to fear from me.”

  “Except I’m literally tied up in your basement or wherever we are.”

  Arian trailed a finger from her temple to the underside of her chin like the delicate caress of a lover. He tilted her head up, forcing her to make eye contact. Heat radiated off his skin. This close she saw just how dark his eyes were. Saw the gold starbursts like beams of sunlight shining through the darkest part of the forest. And his scent was intoxicating.

  “I brought you here yesterday, and you are tied up, Ms. Marks, because you are a flight risk. The fact that you were able to slip past Elentis’s impeccable tracking capabilities says I cannot allow you a second chance. There is nowhere on this planet you could hide that Oricus would not find you. Better you stay chained in my basement and safe than trying to outrun an immortal with a penchant for revenge. His reach is greater than mine, and believe me when I say my network is vast.”

  When she huffed, the strand of red that had fallen into her eyes blew away from her face, then fell back into place. “You can’t keep me locked up forever. I have basic human rights like eating with my own hands and using a proper bathroom. Showers, a bed, and the like.”

  Arian reached out again, this time clasping her stray curl and twirling the fiery strand around his finger. He inclined his head as he tucked the strand behind her ear. “You will have all those things. I have no wish to be cruel, but you cannot be trusted.”

  Harlow scoffed.

  He rose to his full height and fastened his buttons once more. As though he couldn’t stand the idea of anything being amiss. Then he examined his cufflinks.

  They were round sapphires.

  “Now that your magic is awake, you’ll have to be warded at all times, so you don’t flatten my house or think to escape.”

  “What do you mean, now that my magic is awake?” She still couldn’t fathom that magic was real, let alone that she possessed any sort of magical capability.

  Arian’s lips flattened as though he were disappointed in her. “It’s always been there. Your paintings? Those images were not the workings of your imagination, I’m sorry to say.”

  Her brows furrowed. Her paintings were almost always the result of a vision, but she hadn’t thought it magic, just her mind filled with fantastic ideas that allowed her to step inside whatever scene she was painting.

  “How does it work? And why haven’t I done anything else like I did yesterday?”

  He held silent for several seconds, but that was long enough to glean that he was keeping secrets. “Every so often a person with your abilities is born. When I came across you the very first time, you were quite young. It was at a playground surrounded by other children and parents who couldn’t be bothered to quit their gossip-mongering long enough to make sure their spawns were even alive. An older girl had pushed you out of your swing. Your face hit the ground and it split your lip. In the next instant the girl was on the ground, bleeding from her nose and ears. I was able to step in to prevent the girl from dying. After that, I bound your magic. For your protection, and for everyone else’s too. Too much power in the hands of one so young could easily turn fatal.” There was something guarded in his expression that made her think what he’d said wasn’t entirely true.

  Harlow shook her head in disbelief. No, she didn’t remember that. She’d have known if that had happened…

  “You were just wandering near a playground at th
at time?” she asked suspiciously.

  Arian’s eyes narrowed as though warning her of asking the wrong questions. “I was in the neighborhood. I can smell magic.”

  “And then what? You kept an eye on me to make sure I didn’t accidentally try to kill anyone again?”

  He dipped his head in acknowledgement. “I checked in from time to time. Once you began painting and drawing things you couldn’t possibly know about, I kept a closer watch on you.”

  “Were you the anonymous buyer every time?” She couldn’t keep the sadness from her voice. It pained her to think that no one knew who she was. That her paintings went to one place. Were seen by one man.

  “Yes,” he answered flatly.

  “Why?”

  Arian stalked back toward the wall where the shadows embraced him, his expression hidden from view.

  “The things you saw. The paintings you created were of a different world.” He hesitated. “My world. Most of them contained sensitive details that would have been disastrous in the wrong hands.”

  Harlow laughed. “What things? Are you telling me you’re an alien?”

  She saw the outlined form of Arian shrug. “A great many things that seem inconsequential to you, but to my race, they are closely guarded secrets.” She heard, rather than saw the smile in his next words. “If by alien, you mean a ridiculous green creature with less intelligence than your species, then no, I am not.”

  Her own smile faded. “What are you then? Where are you from? I know you can do magic like me, move faster than anyone can see, and turn into a…bear-type thing. Now you say you’re from a different planet?”

  Arian moved through the shadows like smoke, from one end of the room to the other. Then, in a blur of motion, he crouched in front of her once again. Almost like he needed to be close to her.

  His proximity stirred to life an energy, a slumbering creature stretching awake. It drew her toward him, but she fought against it.

  His lips curled in a slow smile as though he could sense the war taking place inside her. He leaned forward as if sharing a secret, and she found herself doing the same, waiting to hear what he would say. When Arian stopped, their lips were mere inches apart.