Dark Swan

by Gena Showalter

  She stared after him, her heart pounding. She paced, but her desire never cooled.

  As one hour passed . . . two . . . she began to hate her body. The aches were worse than ever. Her nipples were hard little points. Her core was drenched and ready. Her limbs trembled. Her skin . . . was too sensitive for her clothing.

  She stripped to her brand-new lingerie. Chilled air kissed her, but even that was a stimulant.

  Finally she could take it no more. She knocked on the bedroom door. --Dallas! We're making out, and that's an order. We'll stop before going all the way.--

  Desire was strong, stronger than ever, but this time, not even it could stop the flow of the bond.

  --Said the seductress to the helpless victim. No!--

  --I'll straddle your waist and grind against your erection. We'll both climax and--

  --You are killing me.--

  --I'm killing myself.--

  A tension-laden pause stretched between them.

  --Screw this. Yes. Hell yes.-- The lock turned--only to turn again a second later. A fist banged into the door, rattling the frame, and this time he shouted his denial. "No!"

  --Don't think you can control yourself?-- She clawed at the door, her nails sharp enough to slice little slits into the metal. --Have a little faith in your strength.--

  --I know I can't control myself with you!--

  Another hour passed, the most torturous hour she'd ever endured. He'd finally stomped out of his room to demand satisfaction, but she'd been unable to forget his valiant fight and hadn't wanted him to lose, so she'd denied him. The push-pull maddened her!

  And she seriously regretted her act of mercy.

  When she could fight her arousal no longer, she got down and dirty, trying to bring herself to climax, letting Dallas see, hear, and feel her through the bond. But nothing worked. Satisfaction remained a pipe dream.

  Dallas opened the door with frenzied lust in his eyes, took one look at her splayed on the couch, legs open, and slammed the door without touching her. And she needed him to touch her! She was nothing but a husk for hormones and lust.

  Finally--blessedly!--the madness began to fade. "Distract me," she croaked. No more speaking inside his head unless absolutely necessary. Too intimate.

  "How? I can't think about anything but your beautiful . . . hot . . . wet . . . delicious body."

  Deep breath in . . . out . . . good. "Tonight Jade is going to pull Trinity and me into the spirit world. How is AIR going to capture her?"

  "While you're in the spirit realm, you'll use our bond to tell me where Trinity's physical body is located. We'll swoop in and contain it while she is unable to fight back. By the time her spirit returns to it, she'll already be in prison."

  A sound plan, and yet Lilica's nerves threw a fit. Surely Trinity would prepare for such an eventuality. "What if she leaves her physical body in some kind of trap?"

  "It's a chance we have to take. I'll be careful, though, and so will you. Understand? If you're hurt . . . or worse . . ."

  His concern thrilled her, easing an underlay of strain she hadn't known she still carried.

  When his internal cell phone rang a few seconds later, they both breathed a sigh of relief. Another distraction! But their relief evaporated in an instant. Devyn delivered devastating news. Bride was missing. No one had seen her since she'd left the diner. Her husband was enraged, frantic, and beyond worried.

  If Trinity had taken her . . . harmed her . . .

  Motions jerky, Lilica dressed in a black leather vest and a pair of black leather pants.

  "It's time." Dallas emerged from the bedroom. His dark hair stuck out in spikes, and his clothes were torn, as if he'd ripped them off and put them back on a hundred times. His tortured expression gutted her.

  "If Bride is with Trinity, I'll bring her back," Lilica told him. "No matter what I have to do."

  "There's been a change of plans. You stay. Jade goes alone."

  "What? Why?" she demanded.

  "Trinity is out for blood. You're not going to do anything but anger her." He cared more about Lilica's welfare than Trinity's demise? When had that happened?

  "I'm going, and that's that. I have to do this." She closed the distance and hugged him tight before returning to the couch. In a tug-of-war, only one side could win. She'd tried to work both sides. Trinity, then Dallas . . . Dallas, then Trinity. Well, no more.

  A thousand and one things could go wrong tonight, but she finally had a clear goal: the safety and wellness of the world and the innocents who populated it. She would start with the safety and wellness of Bride.

  She blinked, and suddenly she was standing in the center of a thick white fog with Jade at her side.

  --Dallas?--

  --Yes?-- His voice drifted through her mind, fainter than ever before.

  --I'm with Jade.--

  A pause. --Be careful, sweetheart. If anything goes wrong . . .--

  --I know. Save everyone, then run like hell.--

  --No. Hell, no. Save yourself.--

  "Is John here?" she asked Jade, forcing thoughts of Dallas to the back of her mind.

  "Yes. He's hidden deep in the mist, where he'll remain unless something goes wrong." Her voice grew louder on the last few words, directed not just at Lilica but at John, wherever he was.

  "So, what do we do now?"

  "Now I take us to Trinity. I've been practicing with John. I can find her while also anchoring you to this realm, allowing you to exit the mist without returning to your body. Come." She linked their fingers and led Lilica forward. Though they moved step by step, the apartment and then the outside world whizzed past at a dizzying speed, leaving Lilica unable to track the path they took.

  By the time they stopped, they were in an underground tunnel, dark and damp. Rats--among the only animals to survive the war--scurried along the edges, toward a wall of cages. Fifteen people were trapped inside, all otherworlders.

  Trinity's captives provided another hated blow to the memory of the sister Lilica had cherished. Her gaze landed on the dark-haired beauty crouched in the back of the middle cage, and acid filled her stomach. Bride.

  I'm doing the right thing. Trinity cannot be allowed to roam free.

  Waves of fury and fear pulsed along the bond. --I found Bride. Trinity has her, and a handful of others. No one looks to be infected, and there's no taint of the Schon disease in the air.--

  --Thank God.--

  --I think . . . I think Trinity stole their abilities, though.-- Why else would she have taken them and not infected them?

  But. If she had taken Bride's voice voodoo . . .

  Did she know the ability wouldn't work on Lilica or Jade?

  --Thanks to John, we've got a lock on your location.-- Dallas's voice again. --Devyn and AIR are already on the move.--

  "Our sister is a grade-A bitch," Jade said, her hands fisted.

  "Shhh."

  "Why? No one can hear or see us."

  --What the--Lilica, the Schon have invaded my building.-- Dallas's voice filled her head once again, fainter than before, barely audible. --You have to . . .--

  Silence.

  Panic turned her blood to icy sludge and her skin to smoldering coal.

  "What's wrong?" Jade demanded.

  Her throat was as dry as the air in No Man's Land. "Trinity sent the Schon to Dallas."

  Her sister paled. "Did she send her people to John? Without his spirit, he's--"

  "I don't know, but he can handle himself." And so could Dallas. There was no need to worry. He'd probably slipped into silence because the bond was weakening. They'd made it through the worst of the animal hunger without having sex.

  Sorrow joined her fear. Going to lose him.

  "They've trained for situations worse than this," Lilica added.

  "But John is vulnerable. A body cannot move or fight without a spirit."

  "He knows it. He would have taken measures to protect you both."

  Jade rallied quickly. "You're right. Of
course you're right."

  "Now, where's our infamous sister?" Lilica camouflaged herself out of habit, even though she was hidden by mist, and walked toward the cages, amazed by Trinity's capacity for evil. She'd taken men, women, even children. The children were scared and sobbing, the women doing their best to remain strong and unaffected, calming influences. The men--those who weren't cowering in back--were murmuring about ways to escape.

  Two half-naked men--guards?--strode from behind a series of boulders. Those boulders were a block to another room in the cavern, she realized. The two men carried a naked male between them, who didn't have the strength to hold himself up, his legs dragging behind him. The scent of the Schon accompanied all three, a mix of sweet, salty, and rot. Each of the three sported at least one open, oozing wound.

  "I hate this," Jade said, a tremor in the words. "I hate the woman Trinity has become."

  "I know."

  The trio stopped at the last cage, the only empty one, and placed the man inside. The guards turned their attention to the cage with the most women, licking their lips as if they were starved.

  Brave Bride marched to the forefront and smiled a cold, hard smile. "I'm going to enjoy killing you."

  "We're already dead." The guard reached through the bars to pinch a lock of her hair. "Soon you'll join us."

  She yanked the strands from his grip. "How sad for you. You just guaranteed you're going to lose your hand."

  "Quiet." Trinity strode out from around the boulders, tightening the belt at her waist to cinch her robe in place. Her pale hair was tousled, her skin pink with health, her eyes glittering with far more power than yesterday.

  Lilica pressed her heels into the ground, stifling the urge to leap across the cavern and smack her sister silly.

  Trinity stopped before the cages. Searching the masses for her next victim? Then her shoulders squared, her spine as straight as steel. Slowly, so slowly, she turned, her gaze roving here . . . there . . . everywhere. Had she sensed her invisible audience?

  "Welcome, sisters. I'm so glad you've arrived." She smiled just as slowly, though her gaze never locked on Lilica or Jade. "I expected you earlier. No matter. Let me tell you how this is going to work."

  Oh, yes. She'd sensed her audience.

  "Jade, you're going to pull me into the spirit realm. If you fail to return me within five minutes--and trust me, my men will be counting down--everyone in the cages will be decapitated. If I return and my prisoners are gone, I will infect the entire city. I've found a way. . . ."

  No. A lie! If she'd found a way, she would have done it already.

  --Dallas, you there? Trinity is threatening to infect the city if we don't do what she wants.--

  No response. As if the bond was already gone.

  Her gut tightened in fear, and her fingers curled into fists. For the first time, she knew she could kill her sister.

  She had to try one more time. --Dallas?--

  Again, silence.

  "What should I do?" Jade asked her.

  Split-second decision. "Exactly what Trinity demanded. Pull her into the spirit realm."

  Jade closed her eyes before nodding. She approached Trinity . . . reached through the girl's body and yanked out her spirit. Suddenly there were two versions of her: the body and the spirit. One unmoving, the other gloating.

  "How can you be so cruel?" Jade took a step back.

  Trinity flicked her long mane over her shoulder. "I told you. I've learned I can only ever rely on myself. You would do well to learn the lesson yourself. Now. You're going to give me your abilities, strengthening my own. And you," she said to Lilica, who allowed herself to appear. "You'll do the same."

  Voice voodoo. Bride's voice voodoo. No, Trinity didn't know her blood relations were immune.

  Trinity had done many terrible things, but this might be the worst. Planning to steal her sisters' powers, leaving them helpless in an unforgiving world.

  Jade played along, holding out her hands as if complying helplessly with Trinity's command. Trinity linked their fingers, initiating skin-to-skin contact.

  Sensing what Jade wanted her to do, Lilica clasped her forearm. A second later, Jade whisked the three of them to a new location, preventing Trinity from reentering her body.

  A thicker cloud of mist surrounded them, nothing else visible.

  With a screech of fury, Trinity ripped free of Jade's hold. "Take me back. Take me back, or you will suffer in ways you can't even imagine."

  "Lilica?" Jade asked, unsure now.

  "No," she said. To Trinity, she added, "You should have done your homework. Compulsion doesn't work on family."

  "You aren't my family!"

  The words cut at her. "I suppose we aren't. Not anymore."

  Trinity wasn't done. "This is your fault! You should have used your gifts to free us from the institute rather than sentencing Walsh to death. After that day, they kept us so drugged we couldn't even think straight. If I'd been free, I never would've had a worse doctor see to my care. I never would've been forced to absorb the Schon. I never would've done any of this."

  So much resentment . . . Am I truly at fault? "Is that why you wanted me dead?" Lilica whispered.

  "Wanted?" Trinity laughed without humor. "I want you dead, and I want to see it happen."

  Cutting deeper, making her bleed inside. "Surely you don't hate me so violently because of something I did as a child."

  Trinity hissed, "You're the ugly one. The one they didn't want. And yet here you are, the one bonded to Dallas. The object of his fascination. But he's mine. I have plans for him."

  Her sister was . . . jealous? Trinity wanted Dallas to be her man.

  Rage . . . "Your plans just got canceled." Her sense of possession flared. "He's mine, and I'm keeping him."

  With a screech, Trinity launched at Lilica and knocked her to the ground. A bundle of fury, Trinity punched, scratched, and kicked her, and Lilica let her do it, accepting the abuse as her due. Punishment for her sins. Trinity was right. At least in one regard. Lilica should have worked on escape rather than retribution.

  But the next thing she knew, Jade was there, pulling Trinity off her and . . . not letting go.

  Trinity began to tremble. "No. No! Stop." A scream parted her lips. "Noooo!"

  "You don't get to hurt my sister." Jade finally released her, and Trinity went limp.

  "No," Lilica said, shaking her head. "Jade! Tell me you didn't--"

  "I did." The green-skinned beauty eyed her with a devastating mix of determination and remorse before grabbing her hand and yanking her to her feet. "I stole the Schon life force. Took what I could, anyway. She's weakened, and we . . . we have to act fast."

  14

  Lilica woke up crying, and it broke something inside Dallas. Resistance, maybe. Or a link to a past he would rather forget, where a little boy feared losing the people he loved and did his best to remain detached.

  This beautiful, strong woman should only ever laugh . . . or moan with pleasure.

  When more than twenty Schon had swarmed the apartment building, Dallas had remained by Lilica's side. He and the agents positioned nearby had put their SS guns to good use, bagging and tagging every soldier. Trinity had planned ahead, but so had he. No one had reached Lilica's vulnerable body. He would have died first.

  Now he gathered her in his arms, needing contact the way he needed air. She buried her face in the hollow of his neck and wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him as she sobbed, her hot tears trickling over his skin.

  He combed his fingers through her hair, some strands black, others honey brown. "Trinity's men had orders to hide her body the moment her spirit left it. AIR was able to free her prisoners, but not capture her. Not at first. John followed her and was able to lead us straight to her. She's now in custody and on her way to a holding cell."

  "Good. I'm glad. But Jade . . ." Shudders racked Lilica. "She stole a portion of the disease, as well as a portion of the otherworld abilities Trinity acquired."r />
  Silence. Such oppressive silence.

  "She's going to be all right," she said. "Yes? She's never kept what she's stolen. Ever. She's never been strong enough. The abilities have always returned to their owners."

  "I don't know. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

  "I want to see her. I need to see her."

  "She'll have to be locked away. For her own good," he added before she could protest. "For yours too. For everyone in New Chicago."

  Her nails dug into his shoulders. "I don't care. I love her, and I have to know she's being treated well."

  "Yeah. I thought you'd say that."

  He made some calls before driving her to the facility in No Man's Land, where AIR had also locked away the rest of Trinity's victims. Lilica stared out the window, her features blank. The worst part? He couldn't feel her emotions through the bond.

  Why couldn't he feel her emotions?

  As soon as he was parked in front of the warehouse, he gave her a mask and gloves to cover every area of exposed skin. The filters in the nostril holes would prevent her from breathing in the acidic air.

  "I used to live out here, you know," she said, her voice soft and yet heavy. "The institute is only a few miles away. From one prison to the other."

  Wind whistled as it swept over the car, and sand pelted the doors. Ping, ping, ping. An eerie soundtrack. The only one audible within the thirty-mile stretch of desolation and ruin. This was no place for a child.

  "Your life is better now," he said, squeezing her hand.

  "Is it, though? Both of my sisters are suffering."

  The words haunted him as they raced inside the building. Armed guards were hidden throughout the terrain, and the number of ID scans had tripled. After decontamination, Dallas and Lilica stripped off the extra gear. He took her hand, holding on tight. Too tight. But he couldn't help himself. He felt as if he would lose her. As if he was already losing her.

  Mia was there, staring into Trinity's cell. "I can't believe we have her."

  Trinity huddled on the floor, despite the cot in the corner. Her pale hair was tangled, her skin smeared with dirt, but she bore no sores.

  Dallas said nothing, following Lilica.

  "Lilica," Trinity called. "Lilica!"

  Lilica paid her eldest sister no heed, moving past her cell to stop in front of Jade's. John was there, silent but not stoic as he watched her pace from one side to the other. Fury pulsed from him.