Dark Angel

by Kim Richardson

  “I know,” I soothed. “I’m not giving up on her either.” I pushed Danto behind me and moved towards the couch, hoping he’d stay put. I knew I had seconds before he charged and tried to grab her, getting himself killed in the process.

  “Layla,” I said. My pulse hammered, and my palms sweated, my soul blade slipping in my grip. I flicked my gaze over to Lucian and then back to her. “Did you accept the gift?” I had to ask to make sure.

  Layla’s expression changed to a frown of consideration and then to an unsettling smile that never reached her eyes. “Of course I did. How could I refuse such a gift?”

  My pulse hammered in my ears. “Because you have no idea what it is.” I looked at Lucian, but his expression was unreadable as he blew out shoots of smoke through his nose. God, I hated him.

  Layla hesitated, and then she graciously sank back into the sofa. “You accepted it as well, dear sister. Why should you have all the fun?”

  “It’s not fun,” I answered, glaring at Lucian whose face wrinkled in a wicked grin. “It’s anything but fun. It’s evil. It’ll suck you right in and change you. Turn you into a monster. Is that what you want?”

  “I know exactly what it is,” said Layla, her face empty of emotion, but her eyes were hard.

  When she said nothing further, I kept going. “You won’t remember who you are. And then it’ll be too late.”

  Layla only smiled, infuriating me further when I knew I should be scared.

  “Do something,” urged Tyrius, his blues eyes wide and his expression drawn with worry. “We’re losing her.”

  “I know that,” I hissed under my breath, catching the amused expression on Lucian’s face. The bastard was enjoying this.

  “He tricked you,” I shouted, thinking it would have to sink in, one way or another. “Aren’t you mad? He lied to you.”

  Layla shrugged. “Maybe he did. But it doesn’t matter now. Does it? I’m good with it.”

  This was going nowhere. “I’ve been there,” I tried again. If she didn’t want to come with me, I’d have to punch her out. “I know what you’re going through. I know the power is seductive. Hell, I was tempted. But it’s bad. It’s evil. You need to come with us.”

  “I think I’ll stay right here,” answered Layla.

  “You didn’t want this, remember?” I prompted, frustration and fear making my voice quiver. “We were going to fight this… fight him together. You and me. We were going to find a way—”

  “With the angels,” she answered. “Yes. I remember.” Her eyes glistened, and I saw the hint of fury in her.

  “They can still help you.”

  “Help me!” she shrilled and leaped to her feet with a vehement expression, her finger pointed at me.

  “O-o-o-kay,” drawled Tyrius. “That got her crazy-ass attention.”

  Heart pounding, I stood my ground. “Yes. The angels can help you and me. If you’ll only come with us. I can make that happen.” I don’t know why, but I looked at Lucian again. The archdemon was blowing rings of smoke out of his mouth like a seasoned champion.

  “I don’t want their help,” she whispered feverishly, freaking me out. “I don’t need their help.”

  “Okay. She’s officially nuts,” interjected Tyrius. “I can see the crazy leaking out of her pores.”

  I stole a look over my shoulder to Danto. He looked even more pale than usual, but he hadn’t moved. Thank the souls, one less thing to think about right now.

  “You know,” I started, taking a step closer, my pulse reaching a new high. “Angels aren’t my favorite either,” I said truthfully. “But maybe that’s because they tell it like it is. Even if you don’t want to hear it.” Again I looked at the archdemon who flicked his cigarette butt on Danto’s spotless floors. I would have stabbed him just for that.

  I licked my lips. “And yes, some of them are bad,” I said and I gave Lucian a smile. “But most of them are good. At least, I think they are. And they don’t try to make you into something you’re not. Like what he’s doing. So… yeah… maybe we do need their help.”

  A smile eased her pretty features. “You’re just jealous because he chose me and not you this time.”

  Ah. Hell. This was not how I wanted it to go.

  I let out a loud sigh. “Believe me. I’m not.”

  Layla didn’t seem to hear or care as she paced around the room, circling around us like a predator. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I especially didn’t like the way she was looking at Danto, like he was a juicy piece of steak she was about to sink her teeth into.

  “You’re afraid.” Layla’s voice turned cold again. “You were afraid of it. Afraid of this infinite power. That’s why it never embraced you. It couldn’t. You weren’t the right choice. You never were. You were too scared to begin with.”

  I gritted my teeth, my anger rising. “I wasn’t afraid of it.”

  Layla giggled, pissing me off even more. “Oh, yes you were. Still are.” She beamed, looking utterly delighted as she stalked around me. “It should have always been mine. Not yours.”

  “Fine, whatever you say,” I said. My gaze flicked to Lucian who lit up another cigarette. “Let’s just go and talk about it over coffee at my place. Me, Danto, Tyrius, and you. What do you say?” From the corner of my eye, I saw Danto creep up next to me.

  “Rowyn the Hunter afraid of a little gift of power. You should be scared,” Layla said calmly, putting herself in my face.

  My mouth went dry. “Is that a threat?”

  Layla gave me a radiant smile. “Is it? That depends on you. You came here to stop Lucian from giving me what is mine.” She raised a finger in my face. “Not very sisterly. I don’t like that.”

  Tension had my muscles stiffening all over. “I came to save you from him,” I said, wanting to reach out and break her finger. I had to keep reminding myself that she wasn’t herself. This was the darkness talking.

  Layla’s expression soured. “You’re a liar. Just like the Gray Council. Just like the angels. Just like everyone.” She dropped her finger, suspicion written plainly on her face.

  “Listen to me,” I said. Realizing that I still held my soul blade, I sheathed it. “Whatever he’s promised,” my gaze went to the archdemon, glad I had his full attention, “all lies. All of them. He doesn’t care about you. He cares about himself. Think about what this means. He’s just using you. What will you be? A soldier? A brood mare?”

  Layla beamed, making me feel ill. “Motherhood is a noble profession.”

  Tyrius whistled. “Easy on the crazy-sauce, sweetheart.” He then lowered his voice so that only I could hear and added, “Knock her out before it’s too late.”

  But I couldn’t just whack her across the head. Lucian would kill me. Then he’d kill Danto and Tyrius. Not going to happen. His smug expression confirmed my suspicions. He knew I was stuck. Either Layla came with me voluntarily, or we were screwed.

  I swallowed hard and tried again. “You have a life with Danto. Don’t you want that life back? This is not what you wanted. Remember? After what Evanora and Lisbeth did to you… why would you want someone to change you into something you’re not?”

  “I’m exactly what I should be!” exclaimed Layla, her eyes wide and manic. “The power you had? It was stunted. Half of what you could have been. But not me. I’m all. I’m whole.”

  “You’re a freaking whack job. That what’s happening here,” I insisted.

  Layla scowled, her eyes hard and dangerous, and I realized I had gone too far. I couldn’t help myself.

  There was a soft pop of displaced air. Layla straightened, her face shifting into a terrifying smile. And when she looked at me, her eyes were as black as oil.

  “Oh, shit,” I breathed.

  6

  “ U h—Rowyn,” cautioned Tyrius as he took a step back. “I don’t remember your eyes turning black. Did your eyes turn black?”

  “No,” I answered feeling a thread of fear in my voice. This was something new. Lay
la’s pale face was drawn into something ugly. She even looked different, twisted somehow like she was wearing a mask of her own face. The depths of her black eyes were total and absolute, laced with a manic desire to kill. Seeing the emotion on her was terrifying.

  Dear souls. What had Lucian done to her?

  “You’ll pay for that,” said Layla, but her voice was off, sounding more like two voices speaking as one, but neither of them hers.

  She was bathed in a black haze—that was new—with a black ball of death in her hand. Darkness dripped from it like blood as it trickled to the floor.

  Holy hell.

  “I’m sorry, Layla. I didn’t mean—”

  A tendril of darkness hit me, flinging me across the room like a rag doll. I hit a wall, my breath escaping me as I slid sideways to the floor. Ow. That. Hurt. I think my ribs are broken. I couldn’t breathe. Worse was the searing pain I felt as my skin burned. The scent of burnt flesh rose in my nose. I howled as the arc of darkness jumped inside and then out my body, burning the whole way.

  “Layla! Stop!” I heard Tyrius shout. “That’s Rowyn. Your sister!”

  I heard the scraping of her high-heeled boots coming closer before I saw her. With my head and ribs throbbing in pain, I pushed myself up on my knees. Every breath sent a wave of nausea through me. God, it hurt.

  I opened my eyes to find Layla standing resolute, her fingers wreathed in blackness and her smile promising more pain, an echo of her dark power.

  If I had any doubts whether Layla had accepted the gift before, I didn’t anymore.

  I caught a glimpse of Lucian behind her, beaming like a proud father whose baby had taken her first steps. This was so twisted.

  Layla was staring at her hands and arms in amazement as more power than she knew existed spun through her. It wasn’t that supernatural or celestial power was wrong. The problem was only in how you used it, as Gareth put it. But this was dark, archdemon power. It was inherently wrong, and it was only us fooling ourselves that some of it was good because all of it was bad.

  I blinked up at her, feeling some of the pain subsiding as my body healed, thanks to my angel essence and super-duper healing abilities.

  “I’ve changed my mind. Maybe I will hurt you… just a little,” I croaked, my hand going for my soul blade. I wasn’t about to let her kill me.

  “You lied to me!” Layla screamed, her eyes glowing black. “This power, this gift… it’s everything. It’s not evil. This feels wonderful. Natural. Like it was always meant for me. It’s not evil… it’s beautiful. You didn’t want me to have it! You wanted this gift for yourself!” She flung out her hands.

  I knew that move. I’d seen Ethan use it enough times. Hell, even I used it.

  I lurched myself to the side—

  A cry escaped my throat as I was lifted again and the side of my head slammed the wall again. I heard something snap. My skull? The world tilted, and I hit the cold concrete floor. My breath went in and out, my lungs on fire.

  “It’s mine now! You can’t have it! Never!” she shrilled.

  “Layla! Stop! That’s Rowyn! You’re hurting Rowyn!” I heard Danto cry hoarsely along with the sharp slap of his feet smacking the concrete floor.

  Damn. He was going to do something stupid.

  Panic pulled me to my feet and I picked myself up off the floor. My head pounded, but I could still fight. She hadn’t hit me that hard or she hadn’t mastered the darkness just yet. I was hoping for the former. My heart thudded and I cringed when I remembered the ugliness of what I’d felt and the scorched bodies of the fae I’d killed with this darkness. She was going to barbecue the vampire’s ass if I didn’t reach her in time.

  “Layla. Don’t do this,” Danto pleaded, looking disheveled as he stared at his lover but saw someone else. Poor guy. I didn’t think she knew who he was anymore, and I was pretty sure he could see that but just couldn’t accept it.

  “The power is mine,” she shrieked, the blackness in her hands flickering.

  I wobbled forward like a drunk. “That’s great. I don’t want it. You might be my half-sister, but there’s no rule that says I can’t kick your ass.” My head throbbed, and my focus was blurry. It wouldn’t be so easy.

  For an instant, our eyes locked, her black eyes searching mine.

  “Fight it,” I shouted because I didn’t know what else to do. “Fight it, you stupid child! You’re stronger than this. You can’t give up,” I argued, my heart thundering in my chest. “You have to fight. Fight damn it!”

  Layla’s smile was utterly serpentine. “Okay. I’ll fight.” She flung her hand at me.

  “Rowyn! Duck!” shouted Tyrius.

  He didn’t have to tell me twice.

  Instinct and too many fights telling me to move, I pitched myself out of the way, but something grabbed hold of me and I was yanked back. Spinning in the air like a top, I felt my chest and throat squeeze as something pressed into me, crushing me and cutting off my air.

  Black tendrils danced in my vision. They were wrapped around me like black rope. I was suspended in the air by Layla’s darkness as it held me up like an extension of her hand. She’d wrapped me up like a goddamn gift. I’d never done that either. I would have been impressed if she wasn’t trying to kill my ass.

  Layla was standing in front of me. It was hard to tell what she was looking at since her eyes were completely black—iris and the sclera both—but I was pretty sure she was looking at me with hatred pouring from her. Her power visibly danced over her skin, cresting over her like black waves with little sparks of energy flashing in her eyes in the light of the room.

  “You’re not my sister,” she accused, her features twisting to make her look more feral, more animal. I was losing her.

  Shit. I tried to move, but the only thing that moved was my head. The black tendrils burned through my clothes, to my skin, like ropes of fire. It felt like my lungs were exploding and I’d just swallowed molten lava.

  A moan escaped me, and I felt the panic cramping across my heart to wend its way to my gut. Panting, I tried to inch my fingers to my soul blade, but I couldn’t even move at all. I took a gasping breath as I realized the tendrils were squeezing further with each exhale.

  I understood at that moment she was playing with me. Showing off her talent, her control of the darkness, of Lucian’s gift.

  She was either going to burn me or squeeze me to death with her darkness. Talk about a lame way to die.

  “Rowyn,” whined Tyrius, his blue eyes flashing with his demon energy, his ears flat on his head as his eyes bored into mine. My heart almost stopped. My Tyrius…

  Teeth clenched, I lifted my head and met Layla’s gaze.

  Her smile shifted, the only warning I got as she pulled on her darkness, willing it to crush me.

  And it did.

  I cried out in pain, feeble from the lack of air. Oh, God. It hurt.

  “I’m going to crush you to a pulp.” She laughed.

  I had no doubt about that. If this were rope, I could cut my way out. But this was darkness in the form of tendrils, squeezing the life out of me. There was a tweak on my awareness. I was going to pass out.

  Through my tears, I saw Danto standing next to her, trembling with both fear and rage, unable to move as he looked at Layla with his features twisted in shock and pain. He couldn’t bring himself to hurt her, not even to save his sorry ass—or mine. For a horrible moment, I saw Danto’s face shift. I saw his mind working through his eyes as he made the decision to go after Lucian.

  Crazed, Danto spun around and lowered himself in a crouch, teeth bared and claws out. Lucian blinked, surprise crossing his features, but the bastard never even moved.

  Stupid vampire!

  I felt a release around my ribs and then I hit the floor, landing hard on my ass. I took a breath. Then another. My lungs were suddenly overflowing with air, feeling as if they were going to burst as the oxygen filled them. But fear choked me as though the black tendrils were still wrapped around my c
hest.

  Layla’s attention wasn’t on me anymore. It was on Danto.

  Finally, I found my breath. “Danto!” I yelled in warning, but it was too late.

  In a blur of movement, the vampire threw himself at Lucian with incredible vampire speed, which only the supernatural could match.

  But Layla’s darkness was something else entirely.

  A terrifying scream broke through her throat, and tendrils of darkness sailed from her hands to hit the vampire square in the back.

  Danto was blasted off his feet. A whimper escaped me as he soared in the air and hit the far wall with a chilling crash that would definitely have killed any man. He collapsed to the floor in a heap of smoking skin and flickers of black energy, seizing as if having hit an electrical field. Then Danto’s breath rasped in, and his entire body went limp. Panting, he lay on the floor and didn’t move.

  “Danto!” I pushed myself to my feet, staggering like a fool and not caring that Layla was probably going to fry my ass too.

  I stumbled forward and dropped to the floor next to the vampire. Tyrius was already there, sniffing his face. He looked up at my approach, his ears lowered, a sad look on his face.

  The vampire’s once beautiful porcelain skin was charred and blackened like burnt toast. I wrinkled my nose at the stench of burnt skin and swallowed the bile that rose in my throat.

  “Oh, my God, Danto,” I moaned. She’d hit him really hard with her darkness, a lot harder than she’d hit me. “You idiot. Why didn’t you stay put?”

  “Because he was trying to save you,” mewed Tyrius, eyes narrowing.

  I looked up and glared at Layla. “How could you do this?” I howled, fury replacing any fears I was harboring before. “He loved you. You idiot. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Or are you so far gone with this darkness that you don’t care about your friends anymore?”

  Layla’s face was empty of emotion as she moved to stand next to Lucian, who was off the couch and watching the scene with amusement playing on his face. His red eyes found mine, and he smiled as he took another drag off his cigarette. He blew out his smoke, his movements slow, tantalizing me.