Shadow Spy

by Tiffany Shand

  “No, you can’t die!” Drake sobbed against her shoulder, feeling his heart break. A thick mist filled the room, crackling with lightning. Drake shot up, letting go of his sister as he backed away. “No!” he screamed. “Stay back. I don’t want you. I refuse!”

  He ran from the room but the mist followed, wrapping around him like a cloak. Lightning flashed, sending a thousand volts of electricity surging through his body. Fire glowed all over him as pain shot through every nerve ending. His eyes turned black as the power of the Akaran took hold. Drake blinked, feeling stronger, more powerful than he’d ever felt.

  “Drake?” Daron appeared in the doorway. “By the hells, what have you done?”

  Drake looked down at his sister’s lifeless form. “I didn’t do anything.” His voice sounded harsher than before. Gone was the boy, now a man stood in his place.

  “You did this, you murdered our family.” Daron’s blue eyes, the same as their mother’s, stared at him full of accusation.

  “No!” Drake growled and fire formed in his hand. “I’d never do that. Brother, we only have each other now.” His hand clenched into a fist, snuffing out the flames.

  “You’re not my brother, you’re a murderer. Get out and don’t ever come back.” Daron raised his hand, a jewel of Amit flashed as an invisible blast of power sent Drake hurtling across the room.

  He winced as pain tore through him, both from the past and present as the knife cut into him, needles stabbed into his arms, trying to pull away what little power he had left.

  “Get up, Drakon.” His father’s voice boomed. “The Akaran doesn’t cower like a dog. You are the leader of all demons now. You will fight, not cower.” He’d heard those words when he’d run away from his home without looking back.

  He blinked, the memory faded as he found himself back, imprisoned and powerless

  “Ready to give up your power now?” Lochlyn’s voice echoed through the blackness.

  He looked up through blurred eyes as Lochlyn sneered down at him. “You’re dying, Drake. You won’t last more than a couple of hours,” the other demon said. “Why not die like a true demon with dignity? Give me your power, make me the Akaran.”

  “Power must be earned,” he muttered.

  His father had always said that, but what had Drake done to deserve any? He’d watched his family die, then run away from his true home and the people he was meant to lead.

  Blackness took him under again and back into memory.

  Drake walked through the desert, the sun burned his skin like the very fires of hell and glistened like a million diamonds. He’d never travelled this far from Kyral before, but he knew he couldn’t go back. Not until he found those responsible for killing his family. He’d prove to Daron his innocence. They had never been close but it pained him to think his brother thought him capable of such a thing. Drake had loved his mother, his sweet little sister, even his ruthless father and jealous brother. He sank to his knees, weak from hunger and exhaustion. What good was this power if it couldn’t save him?

  He collapsed, feeling the heat of the sand burn through him as he lay there, the sun glowing like a golden orb above him. He’d die here but his new immortality would revive him. He wanted to die, to be with his family again. To hear his mother’s songs and Arya’s gentle laugh.

  “One who walks in shadow.” Arya’s voice echoed in his ears. “Your mate. You must never stop looking for her.”

  What mate? Demons rarely ever found their life mates, many went mad then had to be put down. I don’t care, he thought. I just want to die here.

  “Would you leave your mate alone in the world, Drakon?” Arya asked inside his head. “She needs you as much as you need her.”

  Strange he could almost feel her there with him yet he saw nothing. Drake blinked, pulled himself up and summoned power. I need help. Send someone to help me.

  Nothing happened.

  He tried again.

  This time an old man with a bald head and a long pointed white beard appeared. He cackled, showing sharp pointed teeth, some missing in places. “You look too young to be the Akaran, boy.”

  Drake frowned, wondering if his new power had failed, but in truth he had no idea who to ask for assistance. All demons had no choice but to answer the Akaran when he needed them so he guessed he had to trust his unwanted power knew best. “I need help. You must assist me.”

  The old man laughed again. “Do I now? And how will I do that?”

  Drake frowned. He needed a place to stay, food, water. But where would a demon on the run hide? Daron had said he was the Akaran now and if people knew he’d lied Daron would tell everyone Drake was a killer. Where could he go?

  He couldn’t be around his own kind, not with his unpredictable powers. He remembered one of his mother’s stories of a beautiful woman called the Serenity who’d come and brought some of the Magickind races together. The Order she’d called it.

  “I – I want you to take me to Elaris to the Serenity,” he said. “I command you.”

  The man gave a toothy grin. “Why would the Akaran want to see the Serenity? The other races are no friend to Demonkind. They’ll kill you.”

  Drake shook his head. No, he didn’t believe that. The Serenity was said to be kind and just. He had to see her, beg for her help.

  “Now,” he ordered.

  Drake blinked as the memory faded. He thought he felt Charlie’s presence. Gods, let me see her again. He watched the screen, saw his energy drain away and felt blood dripping from the numerous wounds in his chest. “You haven’t won, Lochlyn,” he hissed. “My power’s mine and it will die with me.”

  The echo of gunfire sounded from somewhere close by.

  Drake frowned and wondered if he’d started hallucinating, but then he felt her presence. Charlotte. His lips curved into a smile. Drake reached the power. I am power. I am the Akaran. He gritted his teeth, pulled his hands free from his bonds.

  “Impossible!” Lochlyn raised his hand, the gem on his ring flashing.

  Drake fell to his knees in force, too weak to fight. He would die here, but he’d be damned if he went before he saw his witch one last time.

  The door flew off its hinges, clattering to the floor as one of the guards fell on top of it.

  Charlie bounded in, gun raised.

  “You!” Lochlyn raised his hand, the gem flashed as its power extended outwards. She gasped, gun falling from her grasp as she was forced to her knees.

  No, Drake thought, forcing himself up. “Stop,” he snarled, eyes burning with fire. It broke Lochlyn’s hold.

  Charlie span into a roundhouse kick, knocking him backwards and delivered another kick to his head. “Guard, help Drake,” she yelled.

  To Drake’s amazement, the guard caught hold of him. Drake grabbed the man’s arm, making him scream as Drake took his power. The guard vanished in a burst of flame. “The ring, Charlie. Break the ring!”

  Charlie and Lochlyn blocked, hit and blasted each other. The room vibrated from the force of their fight. Drake hated standing by helpless but Lochlyn’s control of the ring still forced him to stay back.

  Charlie’s body blurred as she fazed, gripped the ring and smashed it.

  “No!” Lochlyn screamed.

  She dodged a fireball, then grabbed the demon by the throat. Her eyes turned black as she unleashed her touch, thunder without sound shook the air. “Tell me who sent you to kidnap him,” she said.

  “I don’t know. I never saw his face. He gave me money – said there would be more once I took his powers,” Lochlyn murmured.

  Drake sagged against Charlie as she wrapped her arms around him.

  “Goddess, you’re bleeding. Come on, let’s get out of this awful place.” She put an arm under his shoulder to support him.

  Drake moved away from her and caught hold of Lochlyn, watching the other demon’s eyes widen in shock as Drake pulled magic from him. Lochlyn’s body burst into flame too. He glanced at Charlie, expected to see disgust on her face. �
�I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  She shrugged and hugged him. “You beat me to it.”

  He let out a hiss of pain but didn’t care. It felt so good having her back in his arms. “The energy won’t sustain me for long.”

  She wrapped an arm around his waist. Light blurred around them as she shimmered outside. Kaz and Nigel appeared.

  “Jeez, you look like hell,” Kaz remarked. “What did they do?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle.” Drake grimaced, knowing he could no longer hide the pain or weakness.

  “Nice to see you again, mate.” Nigel put a shoulder under his arm and helped Charlie to get him into the back seat of the vehicle.

  His vehicle.

  “Kaz, program the car to take us straight back to Setara City.” Charlie rummaged around, grabbed a med-kit. “Nigel, help me bandage up those wounds.”

  “No!” Drake gritted his teeth when she pressed a cloth to his stomach. “I need to go to Kyral.”

  “You’re in no fit state to go anywhere. You need time to heal and recover,” Charlie insisted, eyes flashing. “We’re going to Setara.”

  Kaz glanced between them, unsure what to do.

  “I still run Division – I still have rank,” Drake said.

  Charlie snorted, rolling her eyes. “Now you choose to pull rank, unbelievable!”

  Drake shoved Nigel away and sat bolt upright. “Charlie, I will get to Kyral one way or another. Are you coming with me or not?”

  Charlie bared her teeth. “Of course I am, I’ll be damned if I let you leave me again.”

  “Good, my body just needs time to heal – I won’t die.” He slumped back against the seat, sinking into unconsciousness as he gave into oblivion.

  Chapter 6

  Charlie scowled, wrapping up the last of the bandages. “Guess we’re going to Kyral. Bloody stubborn demon!” she said, glaring at Drake. “We’re making a pitstop first though. Are there any other towns or villages nearby?”

  Kaz glanced at the map on the car’s screen, pulling up the local areas. “There’s a small town about fifty miles from here. It’s inhabited by demons.”

  “Good, they should have a healer. I don’t know enough about demons to know how to help him much.” She bit her lip. Maybe in all my recent study of Demonkind I should’ve read more about healing.

  She and Nigel bandaged and cleaned Drake’s wounds the best they could while Kaz drove. Charlie watched Drake as he slept, relieved to finally have him back. It would take at least a day to get to Kyral. Neither they nor the car had enough energy to teleport there. Charlie decided teleporting would be a bad idea anyway since they had no idea what they’d be walking in to.

  Darkness had fallen by the time the town came into view. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the stone houses with their tiled roofs and latticed windows. She made sure the Srimtar had returned to its hidey hole in the spirit. The last thing they needed was anyone trying to track that.

  “Kaz, keep an eye on Drake. Nigel and I will take a look around.” Charlie made sure her gun was secured beneath her jacket.

  “Why aren’t you taking Kaz?” Nigel asked, running a hand through his mop of blonde hair.

  “You’re a shifter. You can smell danger. Let’s move.”

  They headed for a pub called the Grey Dragon. The smell of ale and stale smoke hit them as they walked inside. Dark wood covered the walls and a worn out green carpet looked almost threadbare. Every man and woman there fell silent when Charlie approached the bar. Guess my look screams enforcer. Hell, it’s in the blood. Can’t change it.

  “Hey,” she said to the massive giant who stood behind the bar. “We’re looking for—”

  “Get out,” he barked, glowering at her. “Ain’t no enforcers welcome here.”

  “I’m a Denai. Denais can enter any town and demand custom.”

  “No witches allowed here either. You ain’t the GM, you have no authority. Out!” He banged his fist on the bar and pointed to the door.

  “Hey, we’re—” Nigel started to protest.

  “We’re outta here,” Charlie grabbed his arm. She wanted to pull rank, demand bed, board and a healer; but instinct told her not to. It wasn’t worth starting a fight with these people and drawing more unwanted attention, not even for Drake. Plus she thought he’d be okay for tonight at least, and wouldn’t have welcomed a healer.

  “Why didn’t you argue back?” Nigel demanded once they were outside. “Drake needs a healer.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “I won’t force my way into somewhere we’re not welcome. If they found out about Drake they might attack us. There’s no structured law and order in this country. It’s every demon for himself.” Charlie hurried back towards the jeep. There was no moon out tonight so she hoped no one would’ve spotted their vehicle. But still, she wanted to make a quick getaway just in case anyone from the pub tried to follow them.

  “What happened?” said Kaz, straightening up and lowering her gun.

  “We’ll have to set up camp in the desert.” Charlie climbed in next to Drake, touching his neck to make sure he was still breathing. To her relief his pulse felt steady. She climbed into the driving seat.

  “Are you serious? Drake doesn’t look good.” Kaz stared back towards the bar.

  “We have tents and camping gear.” She engaged the jeep into drive. “We’ll head out again at dawn. There’s another village about forty miles away. Let’s go a few miles away from this place first. I didn’t get a good vibe from those people.”

  Kaz and Nigel got to work setting up the tents which sprang up while Charlie set up a perimeter of crystals around them to warn of any unwanted visitors.

  Kaz lit a small fire to brew some of their food on whilst Nigel carried Drake onto one of the makeshift camp beds.

  “Why do I have to share a tent with Nigel? He snores,” Kaz grumbled. “Stupid question, I know you want to jump Drake’s bones.”

  Charlie snorted. “No chance of that happening. He’s too injured.”

  “What was he like before that?” Kaz arched an eyebrow. “I’d kill to get my hands on that body.”

  Charlie shrugged, cheeks flushing. She didn’t want to talk about her sex life, or lack thereof.

  “Are you serious? You dated and lived together for over two months and you never—”

  “Shush!” she hissed, checking to make sure Nigel hadn’t heard them. “No, we didn’t have sex.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Again, why? Scott’s out of the picture.”

  Charlie gritted her teeth, not wanting to think of her ex-boyfriend either. “If we sleep together our link becomes stronger. We both wanted to wait until it’s the right time.”

  “When he’s healed, make it the right time. I know how much you care about him.”

  “Yeah.” She sighed. “I never thought I could care for a demon but that doesn’t matter. He’s a good man. I do know it’ll be more than sex between us, I just want —”

  “There’s no right or wrong time for sex.” Kaz grinned.

  “What about you and Nigel?”

  Kaz burst out laughing. “Nigel, are you joking? Gods, he’s like my brother.” She clutched her stomach as she tried to breathe. “No, I wanna find my own hunky demon to hook up with. I’m not ready for the life mate thing yet.”

  “No one’s ever ready for the life mate thing – it’s just something that happens.”

  Nigel came out of the tent. “Drake’s fast asleep. I’ll take the first watch.”

  After what was meant to be a meal of roast chicken potatoes and vegetables, Charlie settled on the makeshift bed next to Drake. She sat reading through maps of Kyral. The country looked much larger than she’d imagined, and most of it uncharted too since demons weren’t big fans of mixing with the rest of Magickind.

  A glance over at Drake showed him still sleeping. She pulled off one of the bandages, relieved to see it had started healing.

  P
utting her PDA on the floor, she snuggled closer, careful not hurt him as she wrapped an arm around his waist. Closing her eyes, she let the dream draw her in until she reappeared in her room in the spirit realm. “Drake?” She didn’t know if he had the strength to find her now but she hoped he could. “Drake?”

  Drake flashed him beside her.

  Charlie threw herself into his arms and kissed him hard. “I missed you,” she murmured against his lips.

  “I missed you too.” He ran a hand through her hair and hugged her again. “I can feel your anxiety.”

  “Can you blame me after what those bastards did?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve been through worse, believe me. They can hurt my body but they couldn’t touch my mind.”

  “Promise you won’t leave me again. I mean it. If you want this to work between us we have to be honest with each other.”

  “I promise, little witch. I thought –” Drake shook his head. “I thought I had to face my past alone.”

  “I saw your memory on how your family died. I can’t believe your brother blamed you.” They sat down on a misty sofa together. “Does he still…”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I tracked down and killed every demon involved but Daron refused to see me. I still don’t understand why he summoned me.”

  “Guess we’ll find out when we get there.” She clutched his hands. “I think we should seal our bond, or at least take the next step, so we have more than a telepathic link.” She didn’t know when the idea of being bonded had stopped terrifying her but now it didn’t seem to matter anymore. She wanted it more than she ever thought possible.

  Drake shook his head. “I can’t.”

  Charlie’s mouth fell open. “Why not? I thought it’s what you wanted.” she said. “I want it too. I care about you.”

  Drake stroked her cheek. “I do want it, but with you possibly being in transition I won’t risk triggering your ascension.”

  Charlie scowled. She hadn’t expected him to react like this. He’d wanted them to become bonded before, what had changed? “My ascension might not happen for months yet. The sooner I’m immortal, the better.”