Nikolai: A Dark Light Novella (Dark Light #2.5)

by S. L. Jennings

  Moose. Somehow I just knew. The blood in my veins pulsed with excitement. My body trembled with the need to run. Sensations overwhelmed me; my heart was pounding in my ears, my elongated teeth throbbed, and before I knew it, I had dropped all my belongings except for my knife, stripped off my remaining clothing, and made a mad, naked charge for that moose.

  It didn’t even turn toward me as I charged it, running, snarling, and shaking with a hunger I had never felt before. The beast inside me exploded, bloodlust for the hunt giving me strength I didn’t know I possessed. As my feet pounded through the forest toward my prey, the muscles in my body flexed and tightened, blood rushing through me with the pounding beat of my heart.

  Several feet before the beast, I landed in a crouched position before flinging myself on its back. Grabbing fur that felt curiously like a deer’s, I didn’t hesitate before plunging my knife into the side of the creature’s impossibly thick neck. The moose let out a deep baritone cry while I plunged the knife deeper, twisting it. It thrashed and fell to its knees, bucking and crying out. I swung my free arm around its neck and twisted free my knife, then reached around its neck and thrusting the blade deeply once again before ripping it across.

  Blood spurted from the gaping wound, drenching the leaves on the forest floor, and the animal gasped before dropping heavily to the ground. A moment later the moose lay dead beneath me, and I held it tightly until my heart rate returned to normal. Straddling its body, arms covered in the lifeblood of my kill, I let out a full-belly cry of pure satisfaction.

  The wood sprites buzzed about me excitedly, giggling shrilly, their eyes glowing with the excitement of death which would have bothered me if I were still human, but I wasn’t. The beast inside me pranced around its trophy, rejoicing in the thrill of the kill and the triumph of reigning gloriously supreme in the food chain.

  Fevered with hunger, I took my knife and began to split the hide of the animal from the base of its skull to its tail, then peeled it down on both sides. At some point I had a passing thought that I should cook the meat, but it was fleeting as the beast continued to rage inside me. So I ripped into the carcass with fangs, claws, and mindless abandon.

  I had become an animal.

  Sated, feeling fuller and healthier than I could ever remember feeling, I sat back on my haunches with a bloody grin. I may not have known what I was or how I came to be that way, but I was alive and strong with one thing on my mind.

  A loud chuffing rumble erupted from behind me. I whipped around into a crouch, ready to attack, a growl forming from deep within me. But the second I laid eyes on him, the aggression drained instantly from my body.

  He was naked.

  He was also incredibly tall, around seven feet, if I had to guess, and fearfully well-muscled, his arms and legs resembling bulky tree trunks. And as for his nakedness…well, that was intimidating all by itself. Framed with long, white-and-black-streaked hair, his face was every bit as strong and fierce as his body. His features were too rough, too harsh to be considered classically handsome, but he was beautiful, magnificent even, in a most terrifying way and I couldn’t seem to tear my gaze away from him. Standing before me was the definition of a warrior, with features reminiscent of both human and beast, but his human visage was one that had long expired.

  Between his features and his body, a body born to inflict pain in the most expedient ways, I should have been afraid. But I wasn’t. I took in every detail of him with a childlike greed and found my heart fluttering.

  As I stared, the air between us seemed to open up, leaving an almost visible pathway that stretched from his chest to mine. As my heart rate increased, the beat now pulsing strongly in my ears, I felt my body moving forward. For some reason, I needed to get closer, to be near him.

  “Who are you?” I whispered. Silly of me, because I already knew who he was; he was the tiger who’d saved my life, the large and unblinking blue-white eyes and the three thick stripes above his eyebrows proved as much.

  The air around me suddenly shifted and a slight breeze blew past me, circling me several times before completely encompassing me. Feeling every bit as real as actual fingers, the tendrils of air tickled my skin and a shiver splintered through my body. Gasping in shock, my eyes widened.

  Shifters had magick?

  His facial expression remained completely impassive, but the humor in his eyes would have been hard to miss from miles away. It sparkled and glinted in the moonlight, making the fierceness of his features soften just the tiniest bit.

  Come here…

  I’d heard the words as clear as day, yet the shifter’s lips hadn’t so much as parted. It was the air around me, thick with magick and full of this man’s essence, that carried along with it his unspoken words.

  My feet began moving against my will, one step after another until I was face to stomach with him. I looked up and my breath left my body as our eyes met again. From the corner of my eye I saw his arm move as he reached his hand slowly toward my face.

  His large palm engulfed the side of my head, the contact of his skin nearly melting me to nothing. The only thing keeping me on two feet was probably the simple force of his will, compelling me to stand before him. I trembled beneath his hand, the fire that was his skin heating my face, sending sparks of flames to my neck and chest in waves that pulsed in time with my heartbeat. How I was managing somewhat rational thought eluded me since I could barely keep myself from drooling, and he well knew it. His lips curled into a smirk and his black pupils expanded, darkening his gaze.

  That’s when I felt it, the hardness jutting against my stomach. Awareness slammed into me; awareness of his nudity, of my own, of our skin touching, connecting us. Apprehension mixed with fear began to gather, slowly permeating my wondrous haze.

  I had never had sex before.

  Screw that, I’d never even kissed a boy before.

  But instead of kissing me, he pulled away from me and gestured to his left. I followed his gaze across the ruined earth until I saw the darkness. Miles of darkness no human dared to venture within.

  “Come,” he said.

  “Where?” I’d whispered.

  “To the shadows,” he had rumbled. “To my home.”

  ***

  Pain ripped me free of my memories and I found myself dropping to my knees, clawing at my chest as I tried and failed to scream. He was out there, somewhere, but no matter what, I couldn’t find him. Loss, when I allowed it consume me, felt like blades, hundreds of them digging through my insides, tearing me apart as every fiber of my being was reaching, stretching and pulling, desperate to seek him out, desperate to be whole once again.

  But I refused to cry at what could not be changed. The first few months had been the worst, constantly thinking of him, wishing for him. I’d quickly learned that I had to let go, to go on, to survive despite the pain, just as I had after losing my family.

  And I made do. Because I had to, because it’s simply too painful to live inside your memories: it distracts from survival. So I’d learned, every time I found myself lost inside my past, to push it back inside the darkness.

  Months became years, and years became decades. Before I knew it, a century had passed and during that time, my memories had begun to feel like dreams, a sort of déjà vu that didn’t hurt quite as bad because you were no longer sure if you’d ever really had it to begin with. Or maybe because it was simply too painful to believe that you’d ever had something so wonderful, so perfect, that made you feel so complete, only to realize that it was gone and you were never going to have it again.

  Gritting my teeth, forcing my body into submission, I once again was on my feet. I glanced around at the beginning of my second chance at life, at what so long ago had been only a barren, charred stretch of wasteland but was now a dense forest full of color and teeming with life. My nostrils flared, filling with the scents of the lesser prey around me: rabbits scurrying quickly from swooping owls, and a doe and her young foraging for food.

  Ig
noring my growling stomach, my exhaustion grown too great to give chase to even the smallest of animals, I swung myself back up inside the knotted mess of gnarled branches and thick foliage, this time climbing higher than before. Settling myself into a comfortable notch, I curled up my body and with a heavy sigh, closed my eyes.

  I was no stranger to being alone; I had lived this way for many, many seasons, only seeking others when it was necessary or unavoidable, but never for lengthy companionship. I’d learned the hard way that allowing myself to cry, allowing another creature to comfort me, instead of burrowing the never-ending hollow ache inside of me, only worsened it.

  And, as always when I drifted off to sleep, I dreamt of…him.

  Most known for her starring role in a popular sitcom as a child, S.L. Jennings went on to earn her law degree from Harvard at the young age of 16. While studying for the bar exam and recording her debut hit album, she also won the Nobel Prize for her groundbreaking invention of calorie-free wine. When she isn’t conquering the seas in her yacht or flying her Gulfstream, she likes to spin elaborate webs of lies and has even documented a few of these said falsehoods.

  Some of S.L.’s devious lies:

  FEAR OF FALLING

  THE DARK LIGHT SERIES

  v Dark Light

  v The Dark Prince

  v Nikolai (a Dark Light novella)

  v Light Shadows - coming soon

  v Untitled – coming soon

  TAINT- coming in 2014

  Meet the Liar:

  www.facebook.com/authorsljennings

  Twitter: @MrsSLJ

  First & foremost, I want to thank YOU, the readers, for taking a chance on me, and my writing. There are a million titles on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, yet, for some reason, you chose mine. Thank you. A thousand times thank you! You have no idea what that means to me.

  I want to thank my friends and family for their unconditional love and support throughout my journey with publishing. It’s been scary, exciting, frustrating, exhilarating and emotional, and you have been there every step of the way. I could not have done this without you guys. Seriously.

  Big thanks to the blogs and reviewers that have pushed the hell out of my books and have been so incredibly gracious with their time and efforts. Y’all are amazing. Simply awesome. I could not have gotten this far without you!

  Along this crazy ride, I have met some amazing people. Readers, bloggers and authors that I am now honored to call friends.

  Ashley Tkachyk: I love you, babe. I can’t even imagine where I’d be without your help and support. Since TDP, you’ve been such an incredible beta reader & friend. See you soon! We can party with the moose and bears!

  Claribel Contreras: We’ve come a long way, C, and this is only the beginning. Thank you for putting up with my whining and pessimism, and all the corny songs I send you. I can’t even describe how much your support means to me. Started from the bottom…lol

  Emmy Montes: My sister from another mister…love you, girl! So amazing that after a year, we’re still together. And although we may not be living next door like we planned, we’ll build our slightly inappropriate bond through memes and raunchy pictures.

  Gail McHugh, Madeline Sheehan, Karina Halle, Cindy Brown: Thank you for being amazing women and writers. Especially for putting up with me this long. I’ve learned so much from each and every one of you. The talks, the advice, the encouragement, the inspiration, the bitch fests, the love fests… Love you all!

  My flippin’ awesome editor Tracey Buckalew who has had my back through it all. Love you, woman!

  Angie McKeon for twisting my arm and forcing me to promote, lol. You rock, babe.

  Elle Chardou for swooping in and being awesome when I needed you. You saved my life, girl!

  Stephanie White for yet another amazing cover! Three down…

  And to everyone who has ever shared, tweeted, commented, posted or simply told someone about my books, this is for YOU. You made this happen. Keep pushing me to give you stories, and I promise, I will do just that.

  -S

  Table of Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Donners of The Dead by Karina Halle

  Excerpt from The Beginning of the End by Madeline Sheehan

  About The Author

  Acknowledgments