Hidden Darkness (Hidden Saga Book 4)

by Amy Patrick

  And what about your love? I set my glass down and gave him a direct look.

  I’m not sure what you mean, he said. I am offered love on a daily basis from any number of women… and men.

  He was trying to fluster me, to throw me off. Undeterred, I asked again. You care about Ava, don’t you?

  Culley didn’t answer me mind-to-mind. Instead, he gave me a chiding we’re-not-going-there smirk.

  “You seem to put a good deal of faith in love, my lady. I have never found it to be all that reliable. Let us hope the young king is as… dependable as he seems.” Watching his fiancée chatting amiably with mine, he stroked a finger across his full bottom lip. “Even the best of us can forget ourselves sometimes.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ava

  The dinner went as well as could be hoped with Culley constantly watching me and Ryann’s warning still ringing in my ears. What she didn’t know and probably would never believe was that I really didn’t plan to seduce her fiancé or harm him in any way—not anymore.

  When I saw them acting so loving with each other early in the evening, I was truly happy. Apparently it wasn’t too late. What I’d already done to him hadn’t been enough to alter their course. I could still live with myself.

  Of course once Culley had taken such a keen interest in my interactions with my intended target, I had to keep up appearances. It was horribly uncomfortable to flirt with Lad right in front of Ryann. Honestly, I was a little shocked she didn’t call me on it, or at least throw visual daggers at me. But she seemed content and unconcerned throughout the evening. Maybe she didn’t buy my act. I hoped Culley had.

  Now I was driving through the small town near Altum’s rural location—Deep River, the sign at the city limits had read. I was supposed to check in every few days with Mother and hadn’t spoken to her since we’d arrived in Mississippi. I was actually eager to talk to her for a change—I had something I needed to say.

  She answered the phone on the first ring. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you called? How is it going so far with the Light King?”

  “Hello Mother,” I answered, pulling into a grocery store lot and parking my car. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

  “Oh Ava, why must you always be so combative? Of course I care how you are. But the fact that you’re calling tells me your trip went fine. What I’m concerned about is the reason you’re there.”

  “Yeah… about that…” The words drifted as I chickened out. I had imagined myself boldly telling her of my decision, but years of conditioning kicked in, and the declaration faded on my tongue.

  “What? You haven’t been able to spend time with him yet?”

  I rolled down my car window. The sounds of traffic from the nearby street and a shopping cart rattling across the lot drifted in with a rush of heated air. Though it was fall, the weather here was still steamy. I rolled the window up again and turned up the air conditioner.

  “No. I have.”

  “What then? Your glamour isn’t working?”

  I got a quick mental image of Lad’s face, followed by a sharp blast of gut-churning guilt. “No. It works on him. I’ve seen the proof.”

  An exasperated sigh came through the line. “Just tell me what’s going on. I surely hope you’re not going to say Culley’s been a problem. He’s supposed to be helping you, not distracting you.”

  “It’s not Culley.” I hesitated, sitting up straighter in my seat, fighting through the fear. “It’s me. I’m not sure I can do it.”

  “Have some confidence,” she scolded. “You’ve already said your glamour works on him.”

  “No. I mean, I’m not sure I want to do it anymore. Not after actually meeting him and his betrothed. It doesn’t feel… right.”

  The silence on the other end of the connection was worse than a thousand explosions. Thora Morten never shouted, never even raised her voice. When she did speak again, her calm, measured tone was filled with a malice so deadly, I got goosebumps.

  “You ungrateful little brat.” The pause was so long I wondered if she was even going to continue, but unfortunately, she did. “You know how much we need this. Your performance in this task will ensure our survival or seal our doom. I am dependent on Audun’s good graces. If he learns of your treason, he’ll send us both away—penniless.”

  That was true. Audun wasn’t known for his generosity or forgiving nature. From what Culley had said, he could barely spare a concern for his own child. He wouldn’t hesitate to throw us out if I failed to complete my assignment. But how could I?

  “I don’t mean to be disloyal. I just want to do the right thing. Now that I’m here and I’ve seen it, I don’t think the Light Court means us any harm. I don’t think destroying the peace pact is necessary.”

  “What is necessary is loyalty to your family, to your mother—who has sacrificed everything for you,” she hissed. “How will I survive without the support of the Dark Court? Hmmm? What would you have me do—sell my body to the humans? You’re lucky your glamour isn’t sexual glamour. It’s utterly useless when your bond-mate has died. I can’t marry again unless I marry a human man and glamour him every day all day long to keep him away from my bed and make him think he’s satisfied so he’ll allow me to live with him. I can’t think of anything more exhausting or repugnant.”

  “Mother… no, of course not. I can still model. I can support us. You could probably model, too. Or work in news again. Or… I don’t know. There are all sorts of jobs.” Mother had been a national news anchor until her perpetually youthful appearance became too difficult to explain. Then she’d retired, and we’d lived on my father’s considerable income.

  “Jobs.” She repeated the word as if it were in some guttural foreign language. “Yes. That sounds like a wonderful future. I’ll take a never-ending succession of monotonous, low-paying jobs for the rest of my eternal life. If I’m banished from the Court, I’ll have to move continually and take on new identities in order to cover for my lack of aging. I might as well kill myself now.”

  “Please don’t say that. You could come here to Altum. I’m sure Lad would welcome you.”

  “Ha! I’d rather sleep on a bench in downtown L.A. than rot in that moldy hole in the ground, taking charity from some… glorified cave-dweller.”

  I thought of the warmth of Altum, its glowing mineral-rocks, its slow, gentle way of life, the way the people had welcomed me, an outsider. An enemy. A liar.

  Mother was wrong, but I clearly wasn’t going to convince her.

  “Can we maybe tell Audun to send someone else? Tell him my glamour doesn’t work on Lad or something?”

  “It would be too suspicious to switch ambassadors now.”

  “I could tell Lad I’m sick and need to go home.” I certainly felt sick at the prospect of what I’d been asked to do.

  “No, Ava. You were very carefully selected. You’re the only one who can do this. No other glamour will get the job done without casting suspicion on the Dark Court. And you must be joking to suggest lying to Audun—you do remember what I told you about his glamour, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” I shivered again, though the air temperature was perfectly comfortable now.

  “Please darling.” Mother’s tone had changed, becoming soft and placating. “I need you to do this, for me, for us.” She paused. “Your father would have wanted you to take care of your family—the way he always took care of you.”

  The guilt swamped me, just as she knew it would. Closing my eyes and tipping my head back against the headrest, I visualized the horrible night we lost him.

  Christmas Eve. Not a holiday our kind celebrated, but I was in first grade, and having gone to school with humans and becoming familiar with their ways and customs, I’d become totally enamored of the idea of Christmas. It seemed so magical.

  I’d been crying that night, feeling sorry for myself that I wouldn’t have a gift to open—not that I needed anything. I had far more possessions than most of my human schoolmate
s would ever have. But at the time, it seemed tragic.

  My father had made up some excuse for leaving the house early that evening—and he’d gone out to buy me a Christmas present. The police came to our house two hours later. The next morning, my mother’s hair was pure white, and her eyes… they’d never looked at me the same way.

  “All right,” I whispered into the phone, barely managing to choke out the words.

  “What did you say?”

  “I said all right. I’ll do it.”

  “That’s my good girl,” Mother cooed. “You’ll see darling. It’s for the best. When you succeed, you’ll have the gratitude of the Dark Council and especially of Audun—his good side is the safest place to be, you know.”

  “Okay, fine. I’ll check in on Thursday. There’s a banquet Wednesday night in honor of Nox and his bride—they’re taking a quick break from their honeymoon.”

  “From their tour of destruction, rather. I hear he’s been decimating the remaining fan pods in Europe. Such a shame. We’ve got to put a stop to this soon or risk losing everything we’ve built. You must—”

  “I know, I know. I will.” There was a knock on my car window. A man stood just outside it, but I couldn’t see his face because he was too tall. All I got was a glimpse of a lean waist encased in faded jeans. “I need to go. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Bye sweetie. Mummy loves you.”

  “Kay, bye.”

  Hitting the end-call button, I rolled down the window. A face appeared in it. Not a man—a boy. Well, a guy about my age. He was kind of a man.

  I had a quick, dazzling impression of black hair and strong features and a bright sunny smile. And his eyes—they reminded me of a trip my family had taken to an island in the Caribbean. Our seaplane had flown over what seemed like miles of the clearest turquoise waters. I’d never seen anything to match their color until now.

  “Um… can I help you?” I asked, sounding a bit dazed.

  His smile widened, revealing dimples in both cheeks to match the small one in his chin. Wow.

  “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I noticed your car here when I went into the Food Star a while ago—we don’t see many California plates around here. Or many Corvette convertibles. When I came back out of the store just now, you had your head back on the headrest there, like maybe you were having a problem. I thought maybe you were lost or something.”

  “No. No thank you—I’m fine.”

  “You sure about that?” He reached into the window and touched my cheek lightly with a fingertip. I jerked my head back away from the surprising contact. Rubbing the drop of moisture between his fingers, the guy stared at me, waiting for my answer.

  I was momentarily stunned by his concern—and those eyes. Finally, I snapped out of it. “I’m fine. I don’t need any help. I don’t have any problems.” What a lie. I had so many problems I didn’t know where to start.

  “That’s too bad,” he murmured.

  “What? Why?”

  The sunny smile reappeared, making those turquoise eyes twinkle. “I’m pretty good at solving problems. Name’s Asher, by the way.”

  His hand came back through the window, leaving me no choice but to shake it. It was a big hand, warm and work-roughened. This was no pampered pretty boy—he had to be a mechanic or a construction worker or farmer or something. I released it quickly.

  “Ava. I’m just passing through.”

  Asher backed away from the window, still smiling, as if something I’d said amused him. “Okay Ava-just-passing-through. If you do need any help, just look for Big Red here.” He patted the enormous pickup truck parked next to my car. “I’m usually around.”

  He dipped his chin in a respectful little nod and walked away from my car, going to the driver’s side of his own vehicle. I let out a long breath, watching him go. That was by far the strangest encounter I’d ever had with a human. Usually they weren’t so… interesting. Or well-built.

  Great, Ava. The last thing you need is another human to sympathize with. Get your mind off the Levis and on the mission.

  I put my car in reverse, backed out of my spot, and left the lot of the Food Star. Just before making the turn from Main Street onto the county road that would take me out to Altum, I noticed a flash of red in the rearview mirror.

  Asher’s truck had been behind me, but was now fading into the distance.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lad

  Wednesday night

  I couldn’t wait to dance with Ryann. With all the time we’d spent together, it wasn’t something we’d done yet. I couldn’t exactly go to her school dances or join her in a night club, after all.

  Banquets in the Light Court always involved ballroom dancing, something similar to what I’d read about in Regency novels. I was looking forward to teaching her all the steps to our traditional dances and seeing the delight in her eyes when she realized it was actually a particular skill of mine. Growing up in the royal family, I’d had no choice but to put up with a dancing instructor during childhood.

  The members of my court were in their best formal attire, the men in white shirts and long pants, the ladies in dresses that swept the floor. Festive music flowed through the room as thick and delicious as the scents of the food displayed on the buffet-style table in the center of it. I sat at the front of the ballroom with Ryann by my side.

  Taking her hand, I raised it to my lips for a kiss. It was the most affection I could get away with in this situation. I would have preferred a real kiss, or better yet, a dark corner. “You are gorgeous. Is that a new dress?”

  She smiled. “It is. You like it? It’s part of my honeymoon trousseau, but the seamstress allowed me to wear it early because this is a special occasion. When do you think Nox and Vancia will arrive?”

  “Rikard said they should be here any minute. They called when they reached the Deep River city limits. Be patient.” I laughed, squeezing her tiny hand. “If I didn’t know how much you love me, I’d be jealous over how eager you are to see your old flame.”

  She slapped lightly at my arm. “Lad. I want to see both of them. I want to hear about Europe.” And you do know how much I love you.

  I nodded, kissing her hand again before scanning the crowd. “It looks like our esteemed guests are enjoying themselves.”

  Ava and Culley were talking with a group of people. She looked especially nice tonight in a dramatic black gown that made her stand out among all the light-colored dresses. The females around her wouldn’t be jealous of her wardrobe, though—they probably hadn’t noticed it.

  Their eyes were firmly locked on Culley. With his thick, dark hair and deep tan, he was the perfect picture of a glamorous Dark Elf, dangerous and charming. He reminded me of Nox in many ways—a little too much for my liking, actually, especially when he trained his predatory eyes on Ryann.

  Her fingers, still laced through mine, tightened. “They’re here.” She jumped up, pointing toward the ballroom doors. “Nox and Vancia. They’re here. Come on.”

  I laughed as I followed my gleeful companion across the dance floor. “You know, they’re supposed to come to us.”

  “Don’t get all high and mighty on me now. You’re both kings—it doesn’t matter whose court you’re in.”

  Reaching the new arrivals, we exchanged greetings and handshakes, or in Ryann’s case, hugs all around.

  “Wow—you look great,” she told Vancia. “You’re so tan and relaxed-looking. Have you been painting a lot?”

  “Yes, every day. It’s been glorious,” Van said, her eyes glowing. “I set up a canvas along the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris, painted on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Italy is almost too much—there’s more beauty there than an army of artists could ever begin to capture. I’m glad to be home for a few days, but I can’t say I’ll be sorry to head out again for the next leg of our tour—we’re going to Asia next—China! I can’t wait to learn some new paintin
g techniques there.”

  “First you’ll have to fill us in on all the details of your trip so far,” I said to her, then realizing my mistake, turned to Nox with a sheepish grin. “How are you brother?”

  He laughed. “Very well. And you won’t be getting all the details—you’ll just have to wait for your own honeymoon to find some things out.”

  “That’s not what I meant—I was speaking of the fan pod situation, of course. How are relations with the European tribes? You mentioned some resistance?”

  “Yeah. It turns out the French are very attached to the fan pod system. It’s been a little harder to convince them than I’d hoped. But I think we’re making progress. How’s the domestic diplomacy going?”

  His eyes scanned the room, no doubt in search of my new ambassador.

  “Very well, I think. They’re both pleasant enough.”

  Nox’s eyes came back to me. “Both? What are you talking about?”

  At that moment, Culley turned toward us, then whispered to Ava and tugged her across the room toward our group.

  “Our ambassador brought a considerable bit of luggage,” I said under my breath as they approached. Then, smiling widely, I started the conversation. “Ava Morten and Culley Rune, I believe you already know Nox and Vancia Jerrick.”

  There was a tense silence as Culley and Nox stared at one another. Ava and Vancia shared a similarly hostile glance. Okay… so there may have been a little more history than I’d expected.

  Finally, Nox extended a hand to Culley. “Audun didn’t mention he was sending his own son to the Light Court as Ava’s plus-one. What an honor. Good to see you again after all these years, Culley.”

  “Oh, the honor’s all mine. And believe me, no one was more surprised than I. Ava and I are betrothed, but Father sprang the happy news of our trip on me at the very last moment. Of course, we know the Dark Council members sometimes keep things to themselves when it serves their purposes.” He paused for effect. “You’re looking good for a dead man, my friend. You seem to have a talent for re-birth.”