Dark Bound

by Kim Richardson

  “She wants something from me,” said Ugul, his voice strained. “I have something she wants. But she can’t have it. She must never have it.”

  “Like what?” My gaze rolled over the goblin’s clothing. “We searched all your pockets. There’s nothing on you.”

  “Maybe it’s back in his cave?” said Tyrius, and he looked up at the goblin. “Is it in the cave?”

  Ugul’s slow shake of his head sent a tug on my heart. “You cannot bring me to her,” he said, his face scrunching up in fear. “Please. She will bring only darkness to this world, a mighty darkness that will devour and corrupt everything. Please believe me. You mustn’t take me to her. You must let me go.”

  We were almost there. I could see the silhouette of Sylph Tower in all its ugliness through a clearing of buildings.

  I met his large brown eyes, reading a sad understanding there.

  “Rowyn?” came Tyrius’s voice, his eyes both worried and defiant. “What do you want to do?” I could tell he wanted me to let the goblin go. Tyrius believed him. And so did I. Maybe I always had.

  Making up my mind, I yanked a key from my bag and unlocked the iron cuffs at Ugul’s wrist. Before the cuffs fell to his feet, I had cut the bounds at his ankles with my soul blade.

  Ugul looked up at me, surprise flashing in his big round eyes.

  “I can’t do this,” I said, my throat dry and closing in. “It’s wrong. I won’t. I won’t do it.” I took a steadying breath because of the wrath I knew would come of my decision. “You’re free to go, Ugul.”

  Tyrius jumped to the ground as I lurched to my feet and pulled Ugul up with me. I gripped his elbows and steadied him until he stopped teetering.

  Ugul’s eyes filled with tears, and I let him go. I turned my head and looked away, blinking fast. Who knew an old goblin almost had me crying like a baby.

  “You have a kind soul, Rowyn,” said the goblin. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not perfect.” I turned to see the goblin rubbing his wrists. The flesh around them was raw and oozing.

  “Perfection is boring,” said the goblin, making me laugh.

  A scuffing in the street brought my eyes up from the goblin. I caught a glimpse of the faeries hurrying away and leaving the street deserted. Jax was staring at me like I’d lost my mind, but Danto was smiling, a beautiful dazzling smile, clearly pleased that in the end I wasn’t going to bring the goblin in.

  “You know what this means. Don’t you?” said Tyrius, a gleam in his eye. “Cheese cake and beer.”

  I laughed long and hard, breaking through the sullen silence of Mystic Quarter. “You’re one crazy cat. You know that?”

  Tyrius sat and curled his tail around his paws. “Don’t forget charming. You’ve never set your eyes on a more charming feline than this, baby.”

  I lost my smile when I looked back at the goblin’s face. Tiredness and worry pulled his shoulders down, and he looked older as though this ordeal had aged him fifty years. “Where will you go?” I asked softly. “Back to Elysium?”

  “No,” said Ugul. “It’s time for a new home.” His thin lips curved into a smile. “Maybe someplace warm.”

  “I hear Mexico is great this time of year,” said Tyrius. “Lots of caves near the Pacific shoreline.”

  An image of a beautiful golden beach and aqua-colored water flared in my mind’s eye. A vacation sounded great. But without any money…

  I knew letting Ugul go would be a devastating blow to my grandmother. I went cold at the thought of the look on her face when I told her. When I told her I failed.

  Something rough grazed my skin and I looked up, startled that Ugul was holding my hand in his. His skin was harsh and calloused like rock scratching my skin.

  Ugul looked at me, his face bright. “You do know what you are. Don’t you?”

  I shifted on my feet, awkward at his closeness and that he was still holding my hand. “That I’m both demon and angel? Yeah, I got the memo about six months ago.”

  “I wasn’t sure at first,” said the goblin, a thin smile on his wrinkled face. His eyes were tired and weary. “Yes,” he said as he put more pressure on my hand. “I can feel it. There can be no mistaking it.”

  “What? Is there something else I should know?” I leaned forward, having no idea what he was talking about. In my line of sight, I saw Tyrius moving closer until he nudged my leg.

  Ugul blinked and then smiled. “Shadow and light are two opposing and separate things. And yet you can hold them both inside you. It’s remarkable, really. It’s what makes you so special.”

  My eyes darted to Tyrius who looked up at me and shrugged. I pulled my eyes away from the cat and watched the smile disappear on the goblin’s face. “Why do I get the feeling you’re about to tell me something bad?”

  Ugul’s expression turned serious. “Have they approached you yet?”

  I frowned. “You mean the Legion? Yeah,” I said, thinking he meant the archangel Vedriel, though I didn’t know how he’d known that, seeing as he was stuck in a cave and hidden from the rest of the paranormal world. “Yeah they approached me all right. They tried to kill me.”

  The goblin narrowed his eyes. “No. Not the Legion,” he said, the worry in his brown eyes running right to my core.

  I felt a stab of fear. “Who then?”

  The goblin let go of my hand. “Rowyn, there’s something you should know—”

  Ugul was thrown forward and crashed into me. His legs buckled as he fought to rise. Grabbing his shoulders, I pulled him back as he gasped, blood pouring out of his mouth.

  And then I saw the bloodied head of an arrow sticking out of his chest.

  Tyrius swore as I felt the sting of darkness mixed with the scent of candy and rotten eggs. Faeries.

  Rage pounded through me as I turned around, slowly, still holding Ugul as he spat up more blood. Damn, the arrow hit a lung.

  Across the street, their dark eyes determined and full of hatred, was a band of Dark Arrows.

  20

  The warrior fae all wore the same long, black coat, matching shirts and pants along with an assortment of curved daggers sheathed along their baldrics. Fae symbols were tattooed over most of their skin, making them appear to have a darker completion and look more dangerous.

  Tyrius growled low and vicious. “Where’s a lightsaber when you need one?”

  Shifting sideways, I lowered Ugul as gently as I could to the ground behind a parked gray BMW sedan, never looking away from the Dark Arrows.

  “Try not to move,” I told the goblin. “It’ll only make it worse. Just stay put until I get back.”

  I straightened and moved away from the car, seeing Jax come over and stand next to me. His face darkened as he aimed his shotgun at the Dark Arrows, looking every bit the part of a warrior. Danto, Vicky and Keith moved forward, forming a protective line.

  “What do you want to do?” Jax turned his head and looked at me, tension rolling off his features, but the quirk on his face told me he was looking for a fight.

  “I’m not handing Ugul to the queen,” I said, my voice trembling with anger.

  “So we fight?” asked Jax, a gleam in his eye.

  “We fight.”

  I scanned the Dark Arrows’ faces as they leered. They were savage, cocky, and looking for blood. Our blood. And they all had arrows pointed at our faces.

  Daegal stepped from the band of faerie warriors, his bow on his hip and his dark eyes pinned on me.

  “Do my eyes deceive me,” said the commander of the Dark Arrows, “or were you about to free the faerie you were paid to retrieve? Letting the faerie go was not part of the contract. That wasn’t the deal. My queen will be very disappointed in you, Rowyn Sinclair.”

  I smiled at him. “Disappointing a faerie is like having an orgasm. It feels so damn good.”

  Jax let out a loud laugh and smacked his thigh for added dramatic effect. It worked.

  “You think this is a joke?” Daegal sn
arled, the words near guttural. His pointed features were twisted in a scowl, giving him more the appearance of an animal. He was the only one not pointing an arrow at us, but it didn’t mean he was any less dangerous.

  “Give us the faerie,” he growled, “and maybe we’ll let you live.”

  I showed my teeth in a Colgate smile. “How about I give you the finger,” I said and made a rude gesture with my hand, “and then maybe I’ll let you live.”

  “Good one, Rowyn,” snickered Tyrius.

  Grinning at the baal, I drew both blades and then faced the faeries.

  Daegal’s dark eyes held mine for a brief moment. “I won’t say it again. This is your last warning, Hunter. Give him to us, or the last thing you’ll see is my arrow sticking into your chest.”

  Pissed, I shifted my weight and lowered my body. “And I thought I told you to go screw yourself.”

  “Have it your way.” Unthinkably swift, Daegal reached back, drew his bow and nocked an arrow. “I hear the Netherworld is crawling with demons dying for a piece of your soul. They’ll be thanking me for sending you off early.”

  I frowned. He thinks when I die I’m going to the Netherworld?

  My thoughts died at the sound of strings going taut and arrows being nocked.

  “Get cover!” I shouted.

  Heart pounding in my throat, I spun into action.

  Arrows, dark and fast shot for me, and I plunged down and away. But another one, and another kept coming. Arrows whistled past me, biting the side of my face like icy wind, and I hurled myself sideways to avoid getting an arrow through my face. They ripped through my hair like the brutal claws of a beast. Shit. I’d be a Rowyn shish kabob if I didn’t find cover soon.

  Adrenaline coursed through my limbs as I pitched forward and rolled on the ground next to a gleaming black Infinity sedan. Arrows hitting the roof and side of the car pinged like a machine gun. It had been a very nice car.

  Arrows shot through the air like black hail, deadly black hail. I’d never seen anything like it. The only way to stop the volley of arrows was to kill the Dark Arrows. Somehow, I had to get to them.

  Panting, I rocked forward on my flat boots. Feeling the stir of adrenaline, I lowered myself behind the car’s trunk. I risked a glance and I saw someone running. Jax.

  I watched in horror as he hurled himself forward, pumping and shooting into the band of Dark Arrows like target practice.

  Jax’s shotgun went off, louder than a clap of thunder. The bullets soared and exploded in a burst of blood and flying chips of bone. The faerie sailed back and was driven flat onto his back by the sheer force of the bullets slamming into him. He didn’t have time to jerk, much less scream. He just dropped like a rock. There was a bloody, pulpy mess where the shot had ripped open the faerie’s chest.

  The sudden sharp smell of burnt powder told me this time Jax had put in real bullets and not the salt-filled ones.

  Our eyes met and he grinned. But then his smile vanished at the sudden shower of arrows that flew at him. Jax cursed and leaped behind a lamppost.

  “You idiot! Are you trying to get yourself killed!” I shouted. He poked around the lamppost to give me a thumbs up and then lowered his shotgun and started firing again. I shook my head. Crazy SOB.

  Faster than the wind, faster than death, Danto shot forward, fist rammed into the faerie’s face and rocking his head back. There was an ugly sounding crunch, and the half-breed crumpled. He flew at another fae, knocking his bow from his grip and with a quick succession, tore a hole in the faerie’s neck the size of his fist. Blood sprayed out of the wound and into Danto’s face. Arrows flew at the vampire, but pulling up the dead faerie’s body as a shield, he spun and drove through the showers of arrows.

  Vicky was a blur, moving too fast to readily follow. She grabbed the wrist of a faerie. There was a crack, the snap of bone clear in the night air. The faerie’s scream died in his throat as she sliced his jugular with a slash of her claws. Keith followed it up with a savage kick at one of the faerie’s knees. The faerie’s eyes widened, but he had no time for anything else. Before the faerie collapsed, Keith had snapped his neck and slipped around to stalk the nearest Dark Arrow.

  Impressive. It took some serious mastery of hand-to-hand combat to know where to hit, and they were making it look as easy as breathing. I mean, say what you will about the vampires, but they killed with serious style.

  I had always envied the vamps’ supernatural speed. They moved like The Flash. They were badass, and I was glad this time they were on my side.

  A high-pitched girly sounding scream hit me and I whirled to see a cat clawing out the eyes of one of the Dark Arrows. The fae’s face was covered in blood as he thrashed around, trying to dislodge the cat, but Tyrius wouldn’t let go. I knew Tyrius was still recuperating, so he couldn’t Hulk-out. But his tiny form was a ploy. He was perfectly capable of gouging the eyes out of his opponent with his razor-sharp claws. He also had a mean bite, his tiny teeth like white-hot needles clamping down into soft flesh and severing arteries. He was awesome.

  “Attaboy, Tyrius,” I mumbled, my chest swelling with pride. My gaze shifted and fell on Daegal. Bingo.

  Grinning, I leaped around the car and charged at the skinny faerie. His attention was focused on Jax, trying to hit him with his arrows as he moved around the lamppost. I tasted rage in the back of my throat. He hadn’t seen me.

  He was mine. I had him.

  Holding my soul blade by the sharp edge, I whipped it. The silver of the blade winked in the light of the moon as it flew, spinning straight and true while gathering speed. And just when the blade was going to hit its mark, Daegal shifted his bow at the last second and met my blade with an arrow. There was a clang of metal and my blade hit the pavement along with the arrow.

  My jaw dropped. So did my smile. Crap. How did he do that?

  The bastard sneered at me, but before he could nock another arrow, I was running again. Death blade in hand, I was going to gut the bastard once and for all.

  Something sleek and dark came at me. Too fast. I dove forward onto the pavement, but not fast enough. Slamming hard onto the ground, pain exploded on my left thigh.

  Shit. I’d been hit.

  Whirling, I clenched my teeth as a wave of pain hit me. An arrow had gone through my thigh and out the other side. Great. I was freaking skewered. My leg was meat on a stick. There was no way in hell I could fight with that thing in me, let alone try to run. It had severed muscle, but not my femoral artery as far as I could tell. Cursing, I reached down to pull the arrow out—

  I screamed as another arrow shot through my hand, pinning it to my thigh right next to the other arrow.

  Now I was really, really pissed.

  A shadow moved into my line of sight. I didn’t have to look up to know it was Daegal. Of course he would come over to gloat and relish in my pain.

  Daegal tsked. “Hunter. You should have given up the faerie when you had the chance. Now I’m going to waste you with my arrows. Then, I’m going to gut you like the pig angel that you are.”

  I felt a small, sharp, throbbing pain in my thigh and hand. I looked down and found a trickle of yellow seepage coming from the wounds. A slow burning sensation began to spread from the wound in my thigh to my hand. I felt hot and cold all at once, and a cold shiver slipped down my spine. Then a burning sensation became a greater presence with each heartbeat.

  The arrowheads were poisoned.

  The faerie’s mouth spread into a wide, smug grin. “Faebane. Our deadliest poison.”

  Fear squeezed my throat as I thought of Jax. If he were hit with one of those arrows, he wouldn’t survive. I knew faebane. It was the faerie’s version of a death blade’s poison. Especially deadly to non-fae, other half-breeds and us angel-born.

  But I was different.

  Sweat trickled into my eyes, burning them. My death blade was a welcome weight in my hand, meaning I wasn’t defenseless.

  Blinking, I snarled at him. “Bite me, you pointy-e
ared bastard.”

  Daegal raised his brows and said in a sultry voice, “In another lifetime, perhaps.”

  Yikes. “I don’t do faeries,” I said, hearing the disgust in my voice. “There’s something about faerie dust ending up in places it just shouldn’t be.”

  The Dark Arrow snickered as he nocked another arrow. “You should have taken the deal, Hunter. Now your grandmother will lose her house.”

  “What?” I jerked, only to feel the ripping of my muscles as I pulled on the arrows. “How did you know about that? Answer me!”

  Daegal gave me a shark’s smile. “Was the faerie’s life really worth your grandmother’s demise? You are a very selfish, brat of an angel-born. Now your grandmother will be reduced to poverty because of you. What will she think of her only granddaughter when she finds out you could have saved her home but decided she wasn’t worth it?”

  I felt myself go rigid. “You knew,” I said, my face going cold. “Now it makes sense. Why she sent you that night. The money you offered was the exact amount I needed. Smart. I’ll admit. I never saw that coming. She knew I couldn’t say no. She played me well.”

  Damn. Danto had been right. The queen had laid her trap and caught me. I was a damn fool.

  The Dark Arrows were stirring and shifting amidst shouts and weeps. My blood roared in my ears.

  “She’s going to kill him. Isn’t she?” I shifted and hissed as the arrows pulled at my skin. I needed to get them out.

  Daegal laughed, playing with the end of his arrow. “Of course she will. He killed her only son. No mother should go through the horrors of losing her only child.”

  “In self-defense,” I said. “This was never a hunt. This was an excuse for murder. She lied to me. She tricked me. This isn’t justice. It’s an execution.” I shook with rage. I’d been tricked, deceived and blinded by my own desperate need to find some cash.

  “Yes, it is that.” Daegal pulled his lips into a cunning smile. “And you were the perfect pawn. You played right into her game. The queen has lived for over seven hundred years. You’re no match for her.”